A/N: Sorry for the long wait everyone. Life has just been crazy! I'm going to tone down the cursing just a little for the sake of the young readers. I'm going to try and conclude this story as quick as possible, so prepare for long chapters. I'm giving this story about three more chapters at most. I have to say I like the way I've written this, though I'm greatly disappointed in the feedback. Coping had more reviews than this, and this is written way better. So…yeah.

Anywhoo, Merry Christmas everyone. Thanks to those who've reviewed and favorite/followed, please make sure to drop a review at the end of this chapter.

Chapter 6: An exchange gone wrong.

Kaylee groaned as she was slowly beginning to come to. The first thing she noticed was the throbbing pain in her head along with being bound, gagged and blindfolded. She whimpered against the gag as she was well restrained once again. Panic began to fill Kaylee as she wondered where they were taking her. A familiar feeling began to fill her up and she knew what was coming. "You're going to give yourself another asthma attack if you don't calm down." Kevin whispered. "Will it help if I remove the gag?"

Kaylee nodded and stilled as Kevin reached around her head and undid the knot to the gag. The fabric slid down to her neck and she closed her mouth, feeling how chapped her lips were. "They're going to kill me aren't they?" She whispered back. Kevin remained silent. She wasn't stupid. His silence was enough to answer her question.

And then she screamed.

For less than a split-second her voice echoed throughout the van. She didn't even manage to form a proper word before Kevin's hand clamped over her mouth and was pushed back against the van's wall. In her blind fear, Kaylee thrashed back and forth, suddenly frustrated and angry with the situation she was in. All she wanted was just to go home.

The hand removed itself from her mouth but before she could scream once more she was backhanded hard. Her head snapped to the side and there was nothing she could to as the gag was put into place once again. Her blindfold felt wet from her tears. She'd accomplished absolutely nothing. She scolded herself for being foolish to assume that anybody could've heard her.

Kaylee let out a shaky breath as the van came to a stop. Panic began to fill the young teenager as she heard footsteps coming around towards the back of the van. This was it. She was finally going to meet her maker. On the bright side, she would finally get be with her mother and father. But what of Scott, she'd yet to apologize to him. How was he reacting to all of this? Not well she assumed, since he was making arrangements to bury his best friend, her father. Then was probably worrying over her like a mother hen who lost her baby chick.

Kaylee swallowed the lump in her throat when the van doors opened. She was then dragged from the van and led down a long gravel path until the four of them came to a halt. Suddenly the blindfold was ripped off and winced from the harsh light that was emitting from the car's headlights in front of her.

As her eyes slowly adjusted to her surroundings, her eyes widen at one of two men standing in front of her, her uncle. Kaylee's stomach dropped. He was the last person she wanted to see, she detested him for his horrible crimes. Kaylee knew exactly why he was here. He'd finally found her. Once he got his measly hands on her she would disappear off the face of the planet. Her eyes then snapped to the man standing to the right of him. She blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. He came for her after all.

"Kaylee sweetie, don't be frightened my dear. Everything is going to be alright." Her uncle reassured, taking a step forward towards them. Kaylee snorted at his 'reassurance' and glared heated daggers at the man responsible for all of this.

"Where's our money Brad?" Talon growled angrily. Kaylee looked over to Talon who'd reached into the waistband of his jeans and removed the safety from his pistol, leveling it at her uncle.

"First things first," Bradley said, taking another step towards them. "Hand over my niece."

Kaylee jumped as Talon lowered his pistol and fired a shot at his feet causing Bradley to stop in his tracks. "Cut the crap Brad." Jake growled. "You'll get your niece once you give us what's rightfully ours. Now where's the money?"

"The money is in the trunk of the car." Shawn spoke up. "Now release the kid."

Talon and Jake's lips twisted into a smirk and they ran towards the car to retrieve their money. Kevin released his hold on Kaylee and pushed her towards Shawn and her uncle. Bradley reached out for Kaylee which she quickly dodged around him and ran into Shawn's arms. Shawn kneeled down to the young teenager and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a Swiss Army Knife. "Let's get you home." Shawn smiled, cutting the bounds from her wrist and then removed the gag from around her mouth.

"Shawn, we have to leave right now." She pleaded as she pulled on his arm. "We're in danger. They're going to-"

"What the hell is this?" Talon shouted.

Shawn and Kaylee's head snapped over to where Talon and Jake were standing. Talon was starting to breath heavily and his face was the color of a ripe tomato as he pulled the dirty whites from a duffle bag and threw them down onto the ground angrily. Kaylee clutched onto Shawn's arm as he slowly began to stand back up and pulled her slightly behind him. Kaylee's fingers gripped the back of his shirt and pressed her face into his back, praying they would get out of this alive somehow.

"Are you trying to play me for a fool Bradley? Where the hell is my money?" Talon growled angrily as he and Jake stomped over towards Bradley. Bradley held his hands up in a calming gesture signaling he didn't want to fight about it. "I've given you plenty of time to gather the money. I even gave you the chance to forge your brother's will so you could inherit his funds, and this is how you repay me? By bringing my men and I out here in the middle of the night with nothing but a mere duffle bag filled with your dirty laundry!"

A surprised gasp escaped Shawn's lips as he began to piece the bits of information together. Shawn looked down and Kaylee and she nodded with tear filled eyes. This man, her uncle, was who she was running from. He murdered Chance Worthington. "I swear I'll come up with your money, I always do." Bradley pleaded. "Just give me one more chance Talon. I have a meeting tomorrow afternoon with my attorney discussing the inheritance. Please, I beg of you. Just wait until then. I'll have your money."

Talon growled and punched Bradley across the face causing him to land in the gravel. "You better not screw up this time Brad. You have until 2 P.M. tomorrow to gather all the money or me and my boys will hunt you down and make you wish you paid up sooner." Talon snarled and turned back to the van. "The amount just rose because of your foolishness. I'll be taking your niece and that psychic of yours as well. I expect eight million by tomorrow afternoon, or else."

"Wait," Bradley said wiping the blood off his lip. Talon stopped for a moment and turned to Bradley with a questioned look. "My niece, she has something that belongs to me. She carries a flash drive with her at all times. If that file reaches the authorities then it will certainty pose a problem for me, give it to me. I could care less what you do with her and that psychic as long as I get what's mine."

"I'll hand over that drive once I get the money." Talon said. "It would be such a shame if that file did reach unwanted hands, now wouldn't it Bradley? Give me what's mine and I'll gladly hand over that drive, as well as dispose of those two free of charge."

Bradley nodded in understanding. A bead of sweat ran down Shawn's forehead. This wasn't good. While the others were occupied with Bradley, Shawn grabbed Kaylee's hand and made a run for Bradley's car. But before they'd closed half the distance, Jake and Kevin tackled them to the ground.

"You bastard," Kaylee spat at her uncle as she continued to writhe in Kevin's arms as he carried her back to van. "I hate you! Your selfishness just got us killed."

Bradley smirked and stood back up, dusting himself off. "Tell your father I said hello you little twerp."

Kaylee screamed and Kevin threw her into the van along with Shawn and slammed the doors shut. From inside, they could hear Kaylee, and then Shawn and Kaylee, pounding to be let out.

~PSYCH~

"What do you mean Shawn was taken?" Gus nearly shrieked with frustration.

Bradley shook his head and placed the icepack Detective O'Hara had given him earlier on his cheek. "I thought maybe if I tried to confront them, they would just let Kaylee go." Bradley whispered. "I tried my hardest to get them back, I really did. Please forgive me."

Lassiter crossed his arms over his chest. "Which is why you leave the job to the professionals," He growled. "This is just fantastic, now were looking for two missing persons, with no decent vehicle description or partial plate number. The only thing we managed to go by is the description of the men from the tape we retrieved earlier at the café."

"Don't forget the anonymous email we received earlier Carlton." O'Hara pointed out. "They're currently trying to decode the attachment as we speak."

Bradley stood up quickly. "What email?" He asked nervously.

Carlton, O'Hara and Gus looked over at Bradley. "We received an email earlier this afternoon from an anonymous sender which we traced back to the public library. We believe the email contains contents of Chance Worthington's murder." O'Hara said.

Bradley loosened his tie from around his neck. "Fantastic." He said.

Gus eyed Bradley suspiciously. He'd been acting strange ever since he returned to the precinct. Gus could tell Lassiter and O'Hara could sense he was nervous about something. What was in that email attachment that had Bradley so on edge? Gus didn't waste any more time on giving the SBPD a chance to figure out how to decode the file. His best friend and not to mention his client's life were in danger.

Gus turned to Juliet and Lassiter. "Have they tried using cryptography to decode the attachment?" Gus asked. Lassiter and O'Hara looked at each other and then back at Gus shaking their heads. "I would suggest using that instead of what other techniques they're using. We might have a better chance seeing what's in that email if they use that."

O'Hara nodded quickly and made her way down the hall towards the techs. Bradley clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms to the point where he'd draw blood. Gus had him and he knew it. The only thing Gus could do now was just sit and wait. But did Shawn and Kaylee have that much time?

~PSYCH~

The van came to a stop and Shawn and Kaylee's heads snapped up. They were grabbed and forcibly shoved to their feet. Nobody spoke to them, just pushed and shoved them along. It was very hard to walk with the blindfolds and both Shawn and Kaylee tripped over rocks and holes in the ground only to be roughly grabbed and steadied by their captors.

They heard a door open and they were shoved down the creaky steps. Kaylee knew exactly where they were. She was back in that horrid dungeon. At last they were given some relief as their arms were unbound and they were allowed to take the blindfolds from their eyes and the gags from their mouths. The door above the steps slammed shut followed by the deadbolt being locked once again.

Kaylee sighed and slid down the cold cement wall and hugged her knees up to her chest, sobbing quietly. Shawn rubbed his sore wrists and took a step towards the teenager. "Are you alright?" Shawn asked gently.

Kaylee's head snapped up and she glared at Shawn. "Am I alright?" She cried and quickly sprang up from her sitting position. "No, I am not alright! I've been held at gunpoint, smacked around, punched in the face, nearly died of an asthma attack, knocked unconscious and nearly raped by some drunken money. And you're asking me if I'm alright? To answer your question Mr. Spencer, no I'm not alright. We wouldn't be in the mess if you'd taken this case when you were supposed to, you doofus! This is as much as your fault as it is my uncle's."

Kaylee kicked her bag that was on the floor, scattering its contents on the dirt floor. "Well you wouldn't be in this position if you'd just taken my advice in the first place and went straight to the authorities when you left psych." Shawn defended. "I told you specifically I wasn't taking your case, and you couldn't just take no for an answer. My father was just recently shot kid. I had a lot of problems on my plate at the time and I didn't need yours piled onto it either."

Kaylee scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Please, your father got shot and survived. My father was shot and killed." Kaylee hissed. "So don't be telling me you have a lot of problems on your plate, mine are enough to fill the whole damn table."

"It's not like Chance Worthington was your father anyway." Shawn muttered.

Kaylee's eyes widen and Shawn immediately regretted saying those words. "What did you just say?" Kaylee asked making sure her ears didn't just deceive her.

Shawn shook his head and took a seat on the bottom step. "Nothing," Shawn said. "Forget I said anything."

Kaylee took a step forward towards Shawn and shook her head fiercely. "No, I have a right to know." Kaylee said shakily. "You'd just said he wasn't my father, what did you mean by that? Surely you didn't just receive a phony 'vision', psychic. Who've you been talking to?"

Shawn's eyes met Kaylee's, her eyes desperate for an answer. Shawn opened his mouth to speak but the door flew open and the three came trotting down the steps. Shawn quickly stood and pulled Kaylee behind him protectively. "You've been holding out on us this whole time." Jake said as he stepped directly in front of them. "Where's the flash drive your uncle was talking about?"

"Look man, just leave her alone." Shawn said. "She's been through enough, don't you think?"

Jake smiled wryly at Shawn and quickly brought up his fist and punched Shawn in the face. Shawn staggered back a few steps and fell to the floor. "Shawn!" Kaylee cried and placed a hand over her mouth in shock.

"You should keep your mouth shut in conversations that have nothing to do with you psychic." Jake spat. His powerful fingers found themselves around Kaylee's slender neck as he pinned her to the wall. Kevin took a few steps forward to break up the fight, but held fast when Jake's menacing eyes found his. "Stay out of this." His older brother instructed.

Kaylee writhed in his grasp and she struggled to breath. Suddenly his powerful hand removed itself from around her neck as Shawn tackled Jake to the ground. "She's my client, so the conversation has everything to do with me!" Shawn yelled.

Kaylee dropped to the ground as she gasped for breath as she watched Shawn and Jake exchange blows. The pain in her chest was excruciating and she could feel her eyes rolling back into her skull. She kept telling herself it would soon pass. She just needed to take small and steady breaths. Kaylee fell to her side and clenched her chest as she crawled pathetically towards her last Epi-Pen.

Kevin kneeled down in front of her and handed her the pen which she gratefully accepted and popped the cap off, stabbing it into her right thigh. It wasn't enough to fend off the full blown asthma attack, so it would just have to do for now. She turned her head in the direction of the brawl and noticed Jake was getting the upper hand on Shawn. Kaylee wearily got to her feet and tightened her grip on the Epi-Pen.

She screamed and jumped onto Jake's back stabbing him repeatedly in the shoulder with the pen, causing him to cry out in pain. She kept her arm wrapped tightly around his throat as he effortlessly tried to fend her off. She lost count how many times she jabbed him with the needle, but she refused to go down without a fight.

Jake grabbed her arm with the pen and swung her over his shoulder, causing Kaylee to land hard on her back, the harsh blow knocking what air she had in her lungs, out. "You little sh*t!" Jake shouted. "I've had just about enough of you!"

He grabbed Kaylee by the hair and lifted his fist into the air. Kaylee shut her eyes and prepared herself for the beating of lifetime, but stopped when Talon caught his fist. "What did I just tell you?" Talon snarled. "You can do whatever you please with her once we get our money, until then she stays alive as well as the psychic."

Jake was breathing heavily, obviously trying to rein his anger in, his large chest rising and falling quickly as he stared down at the young teen. Before he loosened his grip on Kaylee and slammed her head back against the hard dirt floor and stood up. "Could've jumped in there at any second Kev," Jake growled angrily storming up the stairs.

"Why?" Kevin said. "You did tell me to stay out of it."

Jake stopped at the last step and inhaled deeply before opening the door and slamming it behind him. Talon followed after Jake while Kevin stared at struggling teenager who was gasping for air. "What's wrong with her?" Shawn panicked, wincing in pain as he crawled over to Kaylee.

"She's having an asthma attack." Kevin whispered. "She'd already used up the last of her medication."

Shawn stared down at Kaylee and pressed his hands against his forehead. She was asthmatic, what was it that Gus and Scott said that could end up helping her breathe again?

Flashback:

"She's asthmatic." Shawn said as he lowered his fingers from his forehead.

"That's exactly right." Scott said. "She left her inhaler here, but she took three of her Epi-Pens with her. If she doesn't have her medicine, she could suffocate. Caffeine such as coffee could help open her airways if she needs it,"

"Really, caffeine?" Shawn mused.

"Caffeine mimics the effect of Theophylline, an asthma medication that helps open airways. Coffee acts like an anti-inflammatory drug to counteract the inflammatory process." Gus said.

End Flashback:

Shawn lowered his hands and stared at Kevin. "Caffeine," Shawn said. "She need's caffeine, do you have any coffee or something to help open her airways?"

Kevin nodded. "I-I made some coffee earlier this morning." He said and darted up the steps. He knocked loudly on the door signaling one of the others to open the door. Shawn could hear the young man arguing with the others and he rummaged through cupboards.

Shawn swallowed, silently urging himself to stay calm as he readjusted himself so he could pull Kaylee into his lap. Kaylee blinked against welling tears of anxiety and fear as she stared up at Shawn. Not a moment sooner Kevin jumped down the steps and handed Shawn a cup of cold coffee. "Here drink this." Shawn said pressing the cup to her lips. Kaylee turned her head away from the cup. She hated coffee. "Kaylee, stop being stubborn and drink the coffee. It'll help." Shawn urged and fed her the coffee.

She spurted the coffee out in disgust and began to cough violently. The wheezing had significantly decreased, but she wasn't out of the woods yet. Her hands clutched Shawn's jacket as she tried to control her breathing. "Kaylee, I know it hurts. It'll pass, I promise. But we have to slow this down together now, okay?" Shawn said. "Feel my chest. Feel me breathing in and out? I want you to breathe just like me. Together."

Shawn repeated the process over and over. He'd never helped anyone through an asthma attack, but he refused to give up on her. He'd at least owed her that for blowing her off the other day. Kaylee's grip loosened on his jacket and fell to her side. "Kaylee?" Shawn panicked.

Kevin kneeled down to her and assessed her vitals. "She's still breathing." Kevin said relieved. "She just passed out. She should be fine once she rests."

Shawn let out a relieved sigh and continued to hold Kaylee in his lap, pushing the sweaty bangs away from her face. "Thank you." Shawn said to Kevin.

Kevin shrugged and turned to walk back upstairs, but stopped briefly when something caught his eye. "It was in front of us the entire time." Kevin whispered and kneeled down to the unconscious teen. Shawn pulled Kaylee close to him as Kevin's fingers wrapped around the fine silver chain and yanked the necklace from her around neck. Kevin smiled and held it up to the light and pulled the heart apart revealing a small flash drive. "Brilliant." He once again walked back up the steps to report his findings to the others and locked the door behind him, leaving Shawn and Kaylee alone.

Shawn sighed once again and removed his jacket. He folded it neatly and readjusted Kaylee so her head way lying on his man made pillow. He groaned as he leaned against a support beam and lifted his shirt to see a small stab wound to his side. If Kaylee hadn't jumped in when she did, things could have turned for the worse.

His head snapped to Kaylee as he heard her cough and turned to her side, curling up next to him for warmth. Shawn smiled and placed a hand on her back, rubbing it gently. "I'm sorry Kaylee." Shawn whispered as he closed his eyes. "We'll get out of this, somehow."