"I'll be right back." Tara said. "I'm gonna see if the guys are ready."

"Okay." Lucy smiled. Tara opened the hotel door, and departed. Sue was in her room going through the case files in her briefcase, getting them organized for Mark to read. Levi was lying on the floor next to the TV. Lucy was reading a newspaper article about the malicious killings. Tara hadn't been gone for 3 minutes when there was a knock on the door. Levi rose to get Sue but she was in her bedroom. Lucy peeked through the peep hole. There was a guy outside in an orange jacket. Lucy opened the door and politely asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I seem to be a little lost." The man said. "Is this Jack Hudson's room?"

"No. But I can tell you where it is." Lucy smiled.

"Thank you very much, ma'am." The man smiled back. "I have to deliver these pizzas to agent Hudson. Courtesy of Dr. Sloan."

"Oh, well, you could just set them in here." Lucy suggested. "They should be here any minute."

"Good idea!" Lucy led the way into the living room, but heard the sound of boxes collapsing behind her. She turned to ask if the guy was okay when..."You're coming with me." The guy sneered, covering Lucy's mouth and pulling her arms back. Her eyes widened in fear and confusion. She struggled against him as best she could and jabbed his shin with her heeled shoe, but that only caused him to strengthen his hold on her. And just like that, he dragged her away!


Sue finally came out of her room. "Hey, Luce, I've got the notes and documents. We should be ready for…Luce?" Sue spoke confused. Lucy wasn't around anywhere. Then neither was Levi. "She's probably in her room. But where's Levi? Levi! Levi! Where are you, buddy?" Sue called. She was only 4 yards away from him, but because of her deafness, wasn't aware that he was closed up in Lucy's room. He was barking, trying to get her attention, but it was no use. Then Sue's eyes fell on the hotel room door opening to their apartment: it was slightly open. Her brows furrowed and she checked outside but no sign of Lucy or Tara. "Humph. They probably just went to the vending machine." She told herself and went back in.

But then she noticed empty pizza boxes scattered on the floor. Sue began to feel uneasy. "Levi!" She called again. She was facing the television, completely deaf to the fact that there were footsteps behind her. Levi continued to bark loudly. Without warning, Sue was grabbed around the waist roughly, and when she turned to see what ruffian had made his way into their hotel room, she felt a powerful, stunning blow to her head and everything immediately went black!


Tara slid her card through the slot on the apartment door's knob and opened it. The guys weren't far behind her. She noticed the pizza boxes, and heard Levi begging to be let out. "Levi?" She sputtered as she opened Lucy's door and the frantic golden scurried out. "What are you...Lucy?" She called. Levi was now barking more boisterously than before. "What is it, boy?" Then Tara gasped, clutching her chest. Levi was bending over his dear mistress. She was sprawled out on the floor, unconscious, and her face was bruised, with a gash on her forehead! She also had a shiner on her right eye. "Ohhh," Tara panted. "Lucy?! Lucy! Jack! JACK!" Tara shouted desperately. There was a mingle of several male voices all yelling at the same time.

Jack just froze at the sight of Sue. He couldn't believe what he was seeing and his heart pounded endlessly. "Bobby, call 911...NOW!" He hollered anxiously. He crouched down beside the woman he loved, and all the voices in the room sounded far away. The only clear thing he heard was the rapid banging of his own heart. This was a moment he had always feared and tried to prevent from happening, and now...it had happened! He reached out and gingerly touched her abused face and with his other hand tightly, lovingly gripped her listless one hoping by some miraculous intervention that she would know he was here with her, to comfort her, and protect her even after what just happened.


Jessie Travis was immediately at Sue's side as she was rolled into the ER on a stretcher. He quickly gave orders and rushed her with the other EMTs into the trauma room. Tara and the rest of the team had followed and stood by in the lobby, watching anxiously. Tara knelt down and ruffled Levi's fur, trying to calm the poor, forlorn dog. 30 minutes later, Steve Sloan arrived and found the nervous party in the waiting room. "Hey," he spoke up. "I came as soon as I heard. How is she?"

"We don't know yet." Dimitrius said quietly, shaking his head.

"So, what happened?"

"I left to see if the guys were ready to meet with us, then went back to our room." Tara explained. "Lucy wasn't around, and I heard Levi barking. He was shut up in Lucy's room. I let him out and that's when I found Sue."

"Did you see signs of anyone around? Or signs of a break-in?"

"We haven't gone over that yet." Myles replied. "We didn't have time."

"Excuse me. I have a phone call to make." Tara said, and walked away.

"We did notice something odd." Bobby remarked. "We found a stack of pizza boxes all over the floor, near the door."

"Pizza boxes?" Steve's brows furrowed.

"Yeah. Empty pizza boxes."

"We're planning to go back and look them over, see what company they came from." Myles added. Just then, Jessie and Mark came into view.

"Dad, how is she?" Steve asked.

"Dr. Sloan, is she going to be all right?" Bobby added.

"She's still unconscious." Mark explained. "That was a bad blow she took to the head."

"We found slight bruising on the brain from the MRI and the Cat Scan." Jessie said. "She's got a severe concussion too. We won't know much until she wakes up." Jack winced, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head. He angrily pursed his lips.

"There was some abdominal bruising too." Jessie stated, glaring. Jack felt a surge of electricity race down his spine. His eyes flamed with rage.

"She's going to be in the ICU for a while." Mark stated. "We also found some badly bruised ribs. She was lucky they weren't broken." Jack, Bobby, D, Steve, and Myles all looked up wide-eyed. Bobby cringed.

"You saying that some scumbag thug first sneaks up on her, bashes her in the head, and then...then has the gall to give her another beating?!" Bobby hollered, his chest pumping up and down vigorously. "What kind of blood-sick yobbo does that?"

"A murderous one." Steve answered. Jack was so mad he couldn't speak. He just stood there rigidly, huffing heavily through his nose. But his eyes said everything: he was livid. They were wide with fury. "This guy is going down! So, you think White did this?"

"At this point, I have no idea." Dimitrius shook his head. "White doesn't beat his victims then take them away. It's always been vice versa. But, who else could it have been?"

"Remember that White did say next time he was going big." Mark chimed in. "It had to be him. The beating method was the same, just off the regular timing."

"So, you're saying he knew we were onto him, so he gets edgy and commits a random attack?" Myles suggested.

"Jack? Guys?" Tara spoke up as she returned. She looked worried. "I think Lucy might be in trouble!"

"What?" Myles replied.

"What makes you say that?" Dimitrius asked.

"Well, I've been trying to get a hold of her at least 20 times in the passed 45 minutes to let her know what happened to Sue but her cell's not picking up." Tara said nervously.

"Maybe her cell's dead." Jessie suggested, hoping she was wrong. Tara shook her head.

"I don't think so." She answered. "Get this. I even called our hotel room, 8 times. No answer. And she knew we were supposed to be conferring soon."

"And, she was nowhere around at all when we came in and Tara found Sue. If her purse is back at the hotel, then..." Bobby started.

"I'm afraid that Sue is the only one who can tell us what happened." Steve stated. "But who knows how long that will be?"

"No! Tara's right. Lucy's in trouble!" Jack finally voiced himself, grabbing everyone's attention. "Levi was shut up in Lucy's room when we arrived, and she would never do that to Sue, even as a prank."

"Yeah, and what about those pizza boxes on the floor?" Bobby added.

"I think it's time someone went back and checked things." Steve said. "Lucy could've been gagged and hidden in the closet."

"Let's hope she is, because if not..." Mark began.

"D, Myles, you and Tara go with Steve back to the hotel room and see what you can find. Call us about anything, anything!" Jack said adamantly.

"You got it." Dimitrius said.

"Let's go, guys." Steve remarked. "Dad, you call me if there's any change."

Jack slightly panted and shook his head. His heart was racing. First Sue lands in the hospital, and now Lucy could be in danger! Mark touched his arm, snapping him out of his trance."You okay, son?" He asked softly. Jack pursed his lips gazed at the ceiling.

"C-can we see her?" Bobby asked sadly.

"Sure." Jessie smiled. "Follow me." The men walked together with Levi at their heels. They reached the ICU and passed the nurses' station.

"Uh, uh, you can't have a dog up here." One of them spoke up.

"It's okay." Mark said. "He's a service dog, for the patient in room 422."

"And we're with the FBI." Bobby said, showing his badge. "The patient's a friend of ours."

"Go ahead." The nurse nodded. Jessie led them to Sue's room and quietly opened the door. They all solemnly stepped in. Amanda was in there, checking her charts. There was Sue, lying limply in the bed, comatosed and with a very ugly bruise marring her beautiful face and a big white bandage wrapped around her head. She was surrounded by tubes and a heart monitor beeped, keeping the room not totally silent. She looked so...so lifeless. Jack bit his lip. He remembered all too well when he'd come back to her apartment and had found Simon hovering over her, about to strangle her. At least then, Jack had shot the guy before Sue had gotten hurt! This time? He hadn't been there to protect her! His face grimaced in pain and he rubbed his nose. The painful lump in his throat was strongly threatening to burst out.

"How is she doing, Amanda?" Mark asked quietly. Amanda bit her lip and sighed.

"Well, vitals are steady, she's pretty stable, but...those blows were not given lightly." Amanda said. "Whoever did this was no amateur, and was probably acting out in anger."

"Someone like Jeff White.." Bobby whispered under his breath, and braced his body to shake off the feeling of dread that was wallowing inside his body.

Levi whimpered and slowly walked over to Sue's hospital bed. He placed his paws up and nudged his head under her hand, trying to get a response. He was waiting...hoping for her affectionate caress, but got nothing. He lovingly licked her hand, hoping to hear her soft voice. Nothing. He pitifully looked back at the four men, two of them being his friends, begging for help. They all stared at him sympathetically. Levi whimpered as he looked to Jack as his last source of hope, his dark brown eyes glistening with defeat and it broke Jack's heart-more than it was already-to see him like this. "I'm right here, buddy." Jack said softly. Levi cried softly and plopped his head on the bed, between his paws, under Sue's immobile hand.

"Poor Levi." Jessie said, cocking his head. Bobby knelt down beside him and rubbed the dog's shoulders.

"Don't worry, mate." He said reassuringly. "We're here with ya. Sue will get better. You'll see."

"No one's gonna do anything like this to her again, Levi." Jack spoke up. Levi glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. "I promise."