Happy Wednesday, everyone! Another angst-filled chapter, and a cliffie!. Buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Disclaimer: Not mine.

PsychPsychPsychPsychPsych

There was a long silence. "Good evening, Juliet. I told you we'd be speaking soon."

A chill ran down her spine. "You did. Where are Shawn and Carlton?"

Vick left the room, returning with a tech.

"Slow down, Juliet. All in good time."

"No. I want proof that they're alive."

"This isn't your game, Juliet."

"This isn't a game at all!" Juliet snarled. "Now, let me talk to them, or this is over."

There was a long silence, then the sound of shuffling feet followed by a muffled voice.

"O'Hara?"

Juliet's shoulders slumped in relief. "Carlton? Are you okay?"

Lassiter closed his eyes. "I'm fine." His voice was hoarse. "Listen to me, Juliet. Find Spencer. He has to be given priority-"

There was the sound of a hand striking flesh, followed by an angry curse.

Juliet panicked. "Carlton? What's going on? Talk to me!"

"That's enough, Detective," the kidnapper's voice growled. "He's alive, but he won't be for long if you don't listen to me."

Juliet scrubbed a hand over her face. "What do you want?"

"You took my wife from me, Juliet. Now I'm going to give you a choice. Carlton Lassiter, or Shawn Spencer. You can only save one of them." He chuckled, and the sound made Juliet flinch.

"What...?"

"One of them will die, and the other will live. You get to choose who."

Beside her, Gus was pale and wavered unsteadily on his feet. Vick looked sick.

"You'll only be able to save one of him. The death of the other will be entirely on you."

Juliet's stomach immediately sank. He was absolving himself of this by giving her a choice. Whoever died, their blood would be on her hands. She shook her head. No. No one was going to die. She wouldn't let either of them die.

"Juliet?"

She jerked her head up. "Carlton?" The sound of his voice steadied her, and she leaned closer to the phone.

A piece of paper was shoved in his face, and Lassiter glared at his captor. He had constantly refused to comply in any way, and it had cost him. His lower lip was split, his right eye was swollen, and he was certain at least one or two of his ribs were broken.

When he didn't immediately begin to read, his kidnapper slammed the butt of his gun into Lassiter's head. The sound of metal against skull made him shiver with delight.

Pain exploded in Lassiter's head, and he couldn't contain a miserable groan.

At the sound, Juliet panicked again. "Carlton? Carlton, are you okay?" She leaned even closer to the phone, her eyes wide and fearful. "Talk to me, Carlton!" she begged, feeling sick. "Carlton!"

There was a long silence. Finally Lassiter began to speak again.

"You put discarded things here, to part with you cannot bear."

"What?" Juliet was confused. "Carlton, what are you talking about?"

"O'Hara, remember your training. Civilians come first-"

There was another blow, another cry, and finally the kidnapper came back on the line.

"I'm afraid your partner cannot speak anymore right now. And since Mr. Spencer is also...unavailable, the answer to finding him is in this riddle."

"What riddle?" Juliet demanded desperately.

"The man who built it doesn't want it. The man who wants it doesn't use it. The man who's using it doesn't know he's using it." He smiled. "I've given you the answer to each of their locations. But you only have time to save one of them. So make your choice, Detective. And make it fast. They're counting on you."

There was a click, followed by silence.

Stunned, Juliet sank down into the nearest chair.

Gus ran his hand over his face. "The man who built it doesn't want it..."

Vick crossed her arms over her chest, glancing around. "The man who wants it doesn't use it." She repeated it to herself, her voice soft as she tried to think of an answer.

"It's a damn riddle!" Henry yelled, running both hands over his head. "The answer is a coffin! Shawn's in a coffin!"

Juliet and Gus looked horrified.

"There are half a dozen cemeteries around here," Vick said, running a hand through her hair. "It could take days to comb through them all."

"But there's one under construction near here! I go by it on my route!" Gus shifted anxiously. "They're making room for more plots."

"Okay, I want all available officers at the-"

"Willwood Cemetary," Gus supplied.

"Willwood Cemetery. Take dogs and get heat sensors out there. Let's go!"

Before they could leave the office, a tech ran in, holding a piece of paper.

Vick pounced on him. "Do you have a location?"

"Not an exact one. But Detective O'Hara kept him on the phone long enough to pin the location within a five mile radius." The tech laid a map down on Vick's desk. "There's a bunch of warehouses-"

"A place to put things you can't part with!" Juliet snapped her fingers. "Carlton has to be there!"

Vick studied the map. "McNabb and I will go check out the warehouses. O'Hara, you lead the team to find Spencer."

Juliet hesitated, but Shawn had to come first. Not only was he a civilian, but he was... She stopped that thought immediately. "Yes, Chief."

"I'm going with her," Henry spoke up, giving Vick a look that dared her to argue with him.

Vick held up her hands. There was no time to argue. Spencer knew the risks he was taking. "Fine."

Both Gus and Henry followed Juliet, along with half a dozen officers.

On the way to the cemetery, Juliet was silent. All of her thoughts were focused on finding Shawn. Was he hurt? Was he even still alive? Would they even be able to find him? Her grip tightened on the steering wheel, and her foot pressed down on the gas.

In the passenger's seat, Henry was staring out the window as scenes from Shawn's childhood played through his mind's eye. His little boy, his only child, was buried alive in a cemetery. Of all the training he had thought to give Shawn, that scenario hadn't been one of them. Why hadn't he thought of it? Maybe this whole thing could have been prevented.

An image of his smiling little boy formed in his mind, and his stomach flipped. We're coming to get you, son. Just hang on.

In the backseat, Gus shifted restlessly and tugged at his seatbelt. Of all of this friends, Gus was the only one who knew of Shawn's fear of the dark. His dad had ignored it, and as Shawn became older, he learned how to hide it. Henry just assumed that his son had grown out of the fear. Shawn hadn't.

Now he was buried alive, essentially his worst fear come true.

They finally reached the cemetery. All three jumped out of the car and began looking around. There were piles of disturbed ground, and Juliet's heart sank. It could take hours for them to search the disturbed ground...

Other officers had arrived just minutes before, and Juliet, Gus and Henry were quickly provided shovels. They split up and began digging, each saying a silent prayer that they would find Shawn alive.

After an hour of digging, the canine unit arrived. The officer in charge of the dog got out of the van, bringing the blood hound with him. "Come on, Barnaby." Vick had provided them with an article of Shawn's clothing, and Officer Hayes let Barnaby smell it. "Atta girl. Get the scent."

Juliet looked up from her task, wiping the sweat out of her eyes as she watched the dog take off. She looked at Henry.

"Barnaby's got a lead!" Hayes shouted, chasing after the hound.

Immediately Juliet, Henry and Gus followed Hayes.

The hound suddenly stopped at one disturbed spot and immediately began howling.

"Over here!" Juliet shouted, motioning with her free hand. "Everyone, get over here!"

She and Henry and Gus began digging immediately, while other officers joined in.

"Hang on, Shawn!" Juliet shouted over the chaos. "We're coming!"

The hound continued to howl as they dug at the upturned soil.

Finally Henry's shovel struck something, and he dropped to his knees. "I've got something!" He dug with his bare hands.

Immediately Gus and Juliet joined him, while the other officers continued to dig.

They quickly uncovered something hard, and Juliet gasped as they managed to expose a coffin. "Get the paramedics over here, now!"

With a grunt, Henry sought purchase on the lid of the coffin. Gus helped him, and together they managed to remove the lid.

"Shawn!"

TBC...

A/N: BWAHAHAHA! Almost a twelve hour work day ahead of me. Reviews are the best part of my day! :) Along with shamelessly plugging for reviews... *whistles nonchalantly* LOL. Thanks for reading!