Head notes: I'm so sorry it's taking so long with each chapter. School is starting, deadlines are coming up. Please continue to enjoy.
Chapter Five
Natalie stared at the spot where her daughter had been forced into a car. She stood in shock, refusing to accept what had just happened. She looked at the Man in the Suit.
"You said you could save her," she said.
The man hesitated before turning to her. There was a touch of pain in his eyes as they met hers.
"I'm sorry," he said simply. The sincerity in his voice haunted the air.
Fear and worry vanished underneath an avalanche of anger and fury.
"You're sorry?" she repeated, ignoring the neighbors emerging from their homes and peeking through their windows.
"I need a wipe,"Mr. Monk
said, showing her his hands, a look of disgusted horror on his face. There some dirt staining his hand and a few small pieces of gravel stuck to his other hand.
"Mr. Monk, you're not going to die, okay? Just wait for five minutes." She said.
"Wipe," he pleaded. "wipe, wipe."
Natalie ignored him and turned her attention back onto the Man in the Suit.
"Who took her?" she demanded.
"I don't know. Whoever it was, he's a pro. I'd say ex-military. Now a contract killer." the Man in the Suit analyzed . He turned to Monk. "Do you know of anyone with the means and motives to hire a hitman to kill you?"
Monk was about to shake his head when his eyes suddenly brightened.
"Harold Krenshaw!" he said.
"Who?" John asked as Natalie looked at Monk in annoyance.
"Really, Mr. Monk? Harold Krenshaw?" She said.
You're right. Too much to hope." He mumbled.
"He and Mr. Monk are friends they just don't know it yet." she explained to John.
"Well, The only way we can call off the dogs is to find out who hired them. Until we can do that, you two are staying with me." He stopped as he suddenly heard sirens in the distance.
"I'm not going anywhere with-" she cut off as the Man in the Suit grabbed her arm and firmly pulled her with him.
"Hey!" she said.
He grabbed Monk's arm but Monk easily jerked his arm away. He grabbed for the sleeve at the shoulder instead and that had more success.
He stopped in front of a slick black car and opened it. Natalie forcefully stopped.
"How do we know you aren't going to kill us the second we leave?" She asked.
"You can't," he replied. "You're just going to have to trust me."
Natalie opened her mouth, but the Man in the Suit shoved her in the backseat. He was about to do the same thing to Mr. Monk when Monk spun away from him.
"I can't sit in the back, I have to sit in the front." he rambled..
"Fine," the Man in the Suit huffed. "Just don't touch anything." he opened the passenger side door and let Monk slide inside.
The car took off just as police cars appeared in the rear-view mirror.
XxXxXxXxX
Leland rubbed his eyes tiredly. Monk hadn't been able to get much more out of the guy than his name, which was more than what he gave Leland. Apparently Harold had a lot to hide. And he could not be tricked into revealing anything because he only spoke carefully worded statements designed only to give the information he wanted to share. He hated guys like that. Manipulative control freaks like him were always the hardest ones to catch. The door to his office opened and Randy appeared in the door.
"Captain, 911 dispatchers just got a call," He announced. "Shots fired. It's in Natalie's neighborhood."
Captain Stottlemeyer hissed as he grabbed his jacket and bowled past Randy. They were fifteen minutes away. He could cut that time in half if he drove over the speed limit. Randy hesitated only a moment before turning to follow the Captain.
XxXxXxXxXxX
The scene that met his was one he'd hoped he'd never see. Natalie's door was wide open and the there was yellow crime-scene tape everywhere. Natalie's car was full of groceries and some bags were spilled on the ground just under the trunk. A quick glance at Randy convinced him that the scene was quite real. The young lieutenant stared at the scene with absolute shock.
Stottlemeyer swore as he remembered the warning Harold gave about Monk being in danger. He'd be willing to bet his retirement money that the little guy was somehow in on it. He didn't know how, but he would figure it out somehow.
"What do we got?" he asked one of the CSIs.
"It looks like a kidnapping. we found evidence of a struggle in the house and the shell casings we found support the witnesses' claim of a gunfight." the CSI answered.
"If there was a gunfight, that means there were two interested parties. Two capable interested parties. So who won the gunfight?"
The CSI looked embarrassed.
"We don't know, sir." he said. "Witnesses say that after the shooting stopped they saw a man and a woman being forced into a car."
"Do they have a description?" Stottlemeyer asked.
"They said he was tall, white, dark hair. and he was wearing a suit," the CSI said.
Stottlemeyer exchanged glances with Randy. They both knew without saying it that this was the same man who had robbed the store. And Leland realized with a jolt of horror that Julie was gone too.
"Did the witnesses see a teenage girl with them?" He asked.
"They haven't said," the CSI answered. "The ones I have talked to only say they saw the man and the woman being taken from the scene."
Then, where is Julie? Leland thought to himself.
XxXxXxXxXxX
John drove silently as Monk and Natalie rode in equal silence. He was almost to the safe house.
Beside him Monk fidgeted.
"Are you okay?" John asked.
"Ohh," Monk said, giving a fake laugh. "I'm just having the time of my life. what with dirt on my shirt, and my suit being off-center. Thank you for that, by the way. Oh, and I still have dirt on my hands, which Natalie." he threw an accusatory glance behind him. "refused to let me clean off."
"Oh, sorry, Mr. Monk," Natalie apologized, pulling out a package of sanitary wipes and handing one to him.
"A little dirt won't kill you," John said as Monk vigorously scrubbed his hands. "You can clean up when we get there. And my boss will probably pay to have your shirt cleaned." he still spoke in soft whisper.
"Where are you taking us?" Natalie asked.
"Some place safe," he answered.
After five more minutes. John pulled over in front of an apartment complex. They all got out and cautiously followed John up to the fifth floor. He put the key in the lock and pushed the door open. Monk and Natalie's eyes widened as they looked around the spacious apartment. It wasn't exactly a mansion but it was at least big enough to house two or three small families. It was nice and clean. The fridge was stocked with food and water.
John watched as they looked around. When he and Harold had first got here, he had wondered where they were going to stay. But he really shouldn't have been surprised to learn that Harold owned several apartment buildings throughout the country. Even some in Europe.
"Natalie, I need your phone," He said.
"Why?" she asked.
"The man who has your daughter probably cloned your phone. I think that's how he knew Monk would be staying at your place."
She took her phone out of her pocket but didn't give it to him yet.
"How do you know?"
"It's how I knew," He answered.
Natalie gave him a paranoid look. If this man did the same thing the other guy did, how could she trust he was any different? But she reluctantly held out her phone.
John took it and turned it over. He was just about to take the battery out when it went off.
All eyes turned on him as he looked at the number on the caller I.D. It was Julie's number. But he had a feeling it wasn't going to be her that was talking.
"Yes?" he said, answering the phone. He put it on speaker.
"I assume this is the Man in the Suit," a harsh voice said. The same voice that had nonchalantly threatened Julie.
"Put the girl on the phone," John whispered dangerously.
"I suppose that's reasonable enough," he said. In the background, he heard the man offer the phone to Julie.
"H-Hello?" she said.
"Julie, are you okay?" Natalie asked.
"I'm fine," Julie answered.
He heard her take a deep breath.
"I'm in a house - The walls are chipped and rotted - The paint is a faded bluish-green-" She blurted out the information as quickly as she could before the phone was taken away and Natalie flinched as they all heard a smack. Monk looked shocked.
Before anyone could say anything else the man brought the phone to his own ear.
"Who hired you?" John asked.
"We both know I'm not going to answer that," The man said. "I give up my boss, you will go after him and try to kill him. That kind of thing looks terrible on a résumé."
"It's only a matter of time," John whispered back. "What do you want?"
"You know what I want. Give me Monk, and I will let the girl go. Refuse and I will kill them all."
"Let me be clear," John started. "I don't take kindly to people who mess with kids. You let the girl go, now, I'll let you live. but if you don't let her go; if you insist on playing this game, I will hunt you down to the end of the world. And when I find you, I will kill you, right after I get your bosses name."
The man on the other end waited a few minutes before continuing.
"Tell you what," he said. "I'll give you 40 hours to consider my offer. At that time, I will have the girl outside Bay City Pier. If you want to save her you will have Monk there when I arrive. If you don't show up, she'll die."
Natalie looked as though she could shoot lasers out of her eyes. Monk had stepped away from the phone and was pushing against the bridge of his nose with his fingers.
"Listen to me," John growled. "I'm not taking back anything I said. You've made your choice. You have 40 hours to live. Spend them wisely."
John ended the call and took the battery out of Natalie's phone.
"We need to find a way to track them," John announced.
"Julie said she was in a house that looked like a cabin on the inside. With chipped wood and faded paint."
"There are probably dozens of houses like that within travelling distance," Monk said. "They could be anywhere. In any city."
"I've got an idea," John said. "But I'm going to need help from a certain friend in police custody."
XxXxXxX
Julie sat quietly in the small room the man had dumped her in. The man had replaced the rope around her wrists with long plastic zip ties. At least they looked like zip ties. All she knew was that they were stronger and less forgiving than the rope. The zip ties were tied above her head to the metal bars behind her.
When the man had first put her in that position, her hands tied above her head while she was completely immobile she had panicked, fearing that he would either beat her unconscious or worse. But she was cautiously surprised when he instead just tied her up and left her. And other than the swift correction to her cheek, he hadn't hurt her.
She blinked, the sudden movement stinging her right cheek. The man had hit her with his left hand. Thinking back, she realized that he had done almost everything with his left hand. He even brandished the knife with his left hand. One more bit of information that could have helped Monk find her.
The door to the room swung open and she stiffened as the man strolled inside.
"Calm down," he said to her, carrying a small bowl of stew. "As long as you do what I say, I'm not going to hurt you. Not yet, anyway."
He knelt down to cut the zip ties so she could eat.
"They are going find you now," she said, hoping he would believe her. "Mr. Monk and the police, they will find you."
She had no doubt that Mr. Monk could find her. She had seen him in action dozens of times. He could even find homework papers and her cell phone when she misplaced it. He could find anything. The question was if he would find her before this man was done with her.
To her surprise, the man laughed.
"Oh, young lady," he said indulgently. "I have no doubt they will find you. But not in time to save Monk."
"What?" she whispered, wrinkling her brow and tilting her head. Why kidnap her if it was Mr. Monk he was after? And what did he have against Monk?
"Now eat," he continued as if he hadn't heard her. "Or I won't feed you at all."
Julie picked up the spoon and ate a few spoonfuls of the stew. It was a thick texture and the taste was terrible. She gagged down the broth in her mouth but couldn't bring herself to eat any more despite how hungry she was.
The man picked up the bowl.
"If that's all you're going to eat," he said, putting it aside and pulling out two more zip ties.
Once again, he tied her wrists to the bars above her head, the littlest bit of anxiety slipping in as he did so. Once he was done, he picked up the bowl and walked out of the room, locking the door behind him.
XxXxXxX
End notes: thanks to all who are still reading this. please tell me what you think.