A/N (6/21/11): Still going through everything and revising it late into the night... *yawns* I'm so tired but it has to be done.
To recap: Shawn no longer has duct tape over his mouth... Yeah.
PS: Thanks to my 70th reviewer for pointing out the inconsistencies in this story! I never would've done this otherwise.
PPS: If there is some weird formatting error, then I'm sorry, but I really don't feel like addressing it right now.
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Juliet sat at her desk and stared at the computer before her, never blinking. Kidnappings always hit her harder than they did her more-experienced partner. People thought it was because she was so young, that, with time, she'd toughen up a little. Juliet knew that wasn't the case. It was just in her empathetic nature, but that didn't mean she was any less of a cop.
"We got something!" McNab announced, startling Juliet out of her thoughts, and the whole room started buzzing. Juliet got up and started towards the young officer.
"We don't have all day, McNab! What is it?" Lassiter demanded, following Juliet to where McNab stood by his computer.
"Sorry, sir." Buzz apologized. "The fingerprint we found on the note Detective O'Hara picked up matched this guy's prints."
Lassiter looked at the screen where the picture of a middle-aged brown-haired man was posted just above his name and information. "Alexander Carmichael," He said to himself before addressing the entire room, "All right, everybody! I wanna know who this guy really is and what he was doing in that parking lot!"
"Do you think he did it?" Juliet asked her partner.
"Just look at him." Lassiter was. He was eyeing the photo critically, sizing him up. "He's got criminal written all over his smug face."
Juliet didn't intend to jump to conclusions, but Alexander Carmichael did look smug. She was about to agree with Lassiter on that point when McNab spoke.
"Ah, sir?" The officer looked a little uncomfortable, like he was dreading something. "He's an ex-cop."
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Gus was driving home when his cell phone, which was sitting in the passenger seat now that Shawn was gone, started ringing. Without taking his eyes off the road Gus reached over and answered it, "Hello?"
"Gus?" It was Juliet. "We found something."
Gus felt both excitement and a little anxiety surge through him. No matter how excited he got, Gus was still a little scared of what he and Shawn did. "What is it?" He asked.
"A fingerprint." She explained, "It matched one Alexander Carmichael."
Gus could tell she was holding something back. "What else?"
"He was a cop." Juliet said.
"Oh." Was all he said. He didn't quite understand why a cop would be involved in this. Maybe Jules and Lassie did though.
"We'll be right over, but I have to go get Shawn first." Gus said as he waited for the appropriate time to turn around. "He's probably still at Psych anyway. There's no way he found his helmet and his keys yet."
"Did he lose them?" Juliet asked, appreciating the change to a lighter topic.
"No." Gus answered, "His dad hid them, but that's a good guess."
"Why would-" Juliet began, but was cut off by someone yelling; it was probably Lassiter. "I gotta go." Was all she said before hanging up.
Gus glanced down at his phone quickly and hit the speed dial specifically for Shawn. He turned the phone on speakerphone and waited as it rang. After six rings it went to voicemail. Gus hung up before the beep, not wanting to leave a message. Shawn had probably lost his phone in the mess that was the Psych office. It wouldn't be the first time.
Gus continued on his way in silence. Shawn didn't have another phone and Gus seriously doubted he'd be with Henry, which was the only other way to reach him if he didn't have his phone. Mostly because, if he didn't find his keys, he couldn't get there.
Little did Gus know the real reason Shawn wasn't picking up.
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Henry sat on the purple recliner in his living room and waited. Shawn had promised, only after Gus's insistence that it was a good idea, to come over and have dinner. Things had been going well between them. They could actually go three hours now without arguing. For them, that was a big accomplishment.
Henry had been waiting for an hour now. He should've expected Shawn to bail on him, but it still hurt. The more he thought about it the more likely it seemed, but he still decided to call his son. Henry picked up the phone and dialed Shawn's cell phone, and then he waited, eventually it went to voicemail. Henry hung up and tried again, thinking that maybe, just maybe, Shawn had only forgotten their plans and missed his call by accident.
It just went to voicemail again. Now Henry was getting worried. He tried to assure himself that, even when Shawn still lived in his house, he wouldn't return Henry's calls. It didn't help. Henry couldn't shake the lingering feeling that something was wrong.
This time when he picked up the phone, he dialed the police department.
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"Henry," Chief Vick said into the phone, "I hired Mr. Guster and your son on a case. They're on their way here now." She paused for a moment as Henry spoke. "No, Henry I-," Just then Gus walked in looking slightly confused.
"Here they are now." She told Henry before hanging up.
Vick walked out of her office to greet the consultants but ended up asking, "Where's Spencer?" She couldn't help it. Henry and his conspiracy had gotten to her.
"I thought he might be here." Gus answered.
"Who might be here?" Juliet walked over to join them, Lassiter just behind her.
"Shawn." Gus said as Vick said, "Mr. Spencer."
"What about him?" Lassiter asked, catching the tail of the conversation.
"We already covered that part." Vick said as Gus said, "He's missing." Vick looked him and glared. If they were going to have any sort of conversation he would have to stop talking over her.
"Missing?" Juliet asked, "He wasn't at the office? I thought you said you dropped him off there."
"I did." Gus said, "But when I got back no one was there."
Vick mulled over the pros and cons of telling them about her conversation with the elder Spencer. Pro: They could come to some sort of conclusion regarding this matter. Con: They take things too far because nothing has actually happened. Vick made her decision by saying, "I was just talking with Henry. He had similar concerns."
"Dinner!" Gus said. "He was supposed to have dinner with his father tonight. He must have dropped his phone and is probably on his way there." The others, except Lassiter, looked at him doubtfully. "It wouldn't be the first time he lost his phone."
"Guster's probably right." Lassiter broke the worried silence. "We've got more important things to do than talk on and on about nothing."
"I don't know, Carlton." They could all hear the concern that was evident in Juliet's voice. "It just doesn't feel right."
"No, detective." Vick said to Juliet. "Lassiter is right. We have a kidnapping to investigate."
"Yeah. It's not like this is the first time Shawn's disappeared without telling anyone." Gus agreed, but it sounded like he was still trying to convince himself.
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It was dark in the trunk of the car Shawn was trapped in. Too dark. Shawn was starting to feel claustrophobic, it was almost like the dark was trying to suffocate him. Shawn struggled uselessly against the cuffs to no avail.
He was in trouble and there was no getting out of it now.
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Ten minutes after her conversation with the others Vick's office phone started ringing and before she picked up she knew who it was. "Vick." She answered.
"He's still not here, Karen." Henry sounded even more worried now than he had been before. "He should have been here by now."
This time, Vick had to agree with him. "You're right." She sighed, "I'll let the others know." Then she hung up. She knew she'd be seeing Henry soon enough, and if he had anything else to say he would do it then. Vick knew she could expect enough yelling to fill a football stadium. She hoped she still had some ibuprofen left in her desk drawer.
She walked out of her office and saw her detectives looking over the evidence and Gus standing beside them. He didn't look like he was paying much attention. He looked troubled. Vick knew her announcement would only make it worse.
"Mr. Guster, detectives," she greeted them, "I'm afraid I have some...troubling information."
Juliet and Lassiter looked up, alert, but Gus looked as if he hadn't heard her. A few seconds later he realized that everyone was waiting for him to pay attention.
"Sorry." He muttered.
"Mr. Spencer never showed up at his father's house." Vick definitely had their attention now. "I want to know where he is."
"But we already have a case." Lassiter said, "A kidnapping! Doesn't that-," Vick cut him short.
"Multitask, Detective," She said and looked at them all, "this could be the same thing."
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The car came to a sudden stop, which made Shawn crash into the back of the trunk with a hard thud. His left shoulder caught most of the impact and pain surged through it.
Great, he thought, a dislocated shoulder is really gonna help me now. The trunk was popped open and he saw the face of his attacker. All he could tell was that it was a brown haired man because he wore a really creepy mask over his face, and since he already knew it was a man that didn't matter.
He was yanked roughly out of the trunk and ended up lying on some stretch of road. "Get up!" The guy said harshly. Shawn staggered to his feet and noticed that the gun was still present in the guy's hand, and that it was still being pointed at him.
"Come on." The man grabbed Shawn's left arm, causing pain to shoot through him again.
They walked for what seemed like an eternity for Shawn before they stopped in front of a barn that just seemed to pop out of nowhere. The guy spun Shawn around to face him. "Take two steps back." He instructed.
"Hey, man," Shawn said, "why don't we just-," Shawn was cut short when the man said. "Now."
Shawn glanced behind him and noticed for the first time the endless opaque hole in the ground. It was too dark to see how far down it went, but that wasn't a good sign. That meant it was really, really deep.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Shawn said, which annoyed Bad Guy (This was Shawn's new name for him. He thought it was much better than 'the man') even further.
"Fine. If you won't do this willingly," Bad Guy aimed his gun and Shawn heard that clicking sound that he'd heard too many times before, "I'll just have to force you."
Bad Guy fired his gun and Shawn cried out when he felt a white-hot pain in his right leg. He stumbled backward a little, which turned out to be a huge mistake. He was falling down the hole into oblivion before his mind even registered what had happened.
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