A/N: Thanks to Liberty Hoffman, Wait. I. Know. You (Fanfiction) Marlomariel, Sophie_Elizabeth (Wattpad) and marniewings (Psychfic) for reviewing as well as those who've favorite/followed Change of Heart.

Please keep the reviews coming, it makes me feel better that I know you're all enjoying it. There is one more chapter after this plus the Epilogue. So we're almost done. :(

Hopefully this chapter won't disappoint. It's getting harder to write now that it's coming to an end.

Chapter 8: Breaking Free

Shawn awed in amazement as Kaylee's homemade stun gun came to life. "Alright!" Kaylee whispered excitedly. "Operation stun gun is now a go."

"Awesome!" Shawn said, grabbing the small device from her hands. "I can't wait to test this baby out."

Kaylee frowned and yanked it out of Shawn's hands. "Who said you were going to test out?" She scoffed. "I made it. I should be the one to use it."

"But I want to do it." Shawn pouted. "Come on, don't be like that. Let me have it."

Kaylee smirked. "Look at us, bickering like small children about which one of us is going to cause pain to our captor. We're sick people." She said as she handed him back the taser. "Here crybaby, you can have it. You're in charge of getting Kevin's attention while I play dead from an asthma attack. Surely he'll come to my aid once again and check to see if I'm still breathing. Once he turn's my lifeless body over, take that opportunity to take him down."

"You came up with that way too fast." Shawn said. "Your little plan better work missy or we can kiss our lives goodbye."

Kaylee frowned. "Have you come up with anything better? By all means, I'm open to any suggestions you may have. I've ran this plan countless times in my head. Trust me, it'll work." She smiled as she got into position. "Geez, why does it feel like I'm the only one doing all the work around here, I was the one who hired you in the first place."

Shawn placed the taser in his back pocket to keep it hidden from Kevin. "Quiet, you're supposed to be dead." He said darting up the steps. Shawn's fists pounded on the door as he cried for help. He quickly stepped away from the door as he heard the deadbolt being unlocked from the other side. The door flew opened and Kevin stepped through the door.

"What do you want?" He growled.

"Its Kaylee man," He panicked. "She isn't breathing. I don't know what else to do!"

Kevin pointed to the floor below, signaling Shawn to head back downstairs. Kevin kneeled down to the young teen and flipped her over. Her eyes snapped open and she grinned. "Now, Shawn!" She commanded. Shawn did what he was told and pressed the stun gun against Kevin's neck. The young boy screamed in pain as 330 volts of electricity passed through his body and fell down onto the floor.

Shawn quickly pulled Kaylee up from the floor and darted up the stairs towards freedom. "Wait," Kaylee cried yanking her arm from his grasp. "I forgot my satchel."

"Forget it, we have to leave." Shawn ordered.

Kaylee shook her head fiercely and jumped down the steps and quickly grabbed her satchel. "It's my lucky bag." She said. Once Kaylee grabbed her satchel she turned to leave but let out a yelp as Kevin grabbed her leg to refrain her from leaving the basement. Shawn cursed and jumped down the stairs and pressed the fire button, sending another round of electricity through the man.

Shawn ushered Kaylee upstairs and shut the heavy door, making sure to lock it behind him. "Are you out of your damn mind?" Shawn shouted. "You nearly ruined the whole plan for a stupid bag you idiot!"

"It was my mother's!" Kaylee defended. "I couldn't just leave it behind. Now help me move this china cabinet so we can barricade the door."

"What's the point, it's not like he's going to break-"

Shawn and Kaylee dived for cover as gunshots shot through the wooden door. "That's why." She pointed out.

They pushed the heavy wooden cabinet in front of the door, ignoring Kevin's angry screams demanding to be set free. "Sorry Kevin," Kaylee apologized. "Thank you for your kindness."

"Don't apologize to him." Shawn shrieked in frustration. "He just shot at us."

Kaylee shrugged. "He was really nice though." She said.

Shawn growled and grabbed Kaylee's arm as they headed to the front door. Shawn stopped when something caught his eye on the coffee table. "What's wrong, why'd you stop?"

"Aw, man. Look what they did to my phone." Shawn whined. "At least they had the decency to spare my Swiss Army Knife, but still."

Kaylee placed her hands on her hips. "Your phone is the least of our concerns don't you think?" She said. "We should leave before they come back."

"Too late," Shawn said as he noticed the black van pull up to the front of the house. Jake and Talon stepped out of the van discussing something as they walked up to the front of the house. Kaylee clutched onto Shawn's arm as she heard the key being inserted into the door knob. Shawn quickly grabbed Kaylee's hand and ushered her out of the room before they could enter. "Come on, let's try the back."

Shawn and Kaylee quietly crept to the back of the house where the kitchen was located and opened the back door, Shawn shutting it quietly behind them. They immediately froze and crouched down when they heard Jake's angry shouting and the crashing of the china cabinet. "Shawn, I want to go now." Kaylee said. "Please."

"Just a sec," Shawn said. Kaylee swallowed the lump in her throat as they overheard Jake shouting at Kevin.

"You couldn't just handle one simple task could you!?" Jake shouted. "Do you realize how much you screwed this up!?"

"I'm sorry," Kevin apologized. "They caught me off guard. The kid built a damn stun gun. I'll find them, I swear."

"I've had enough of your screw up's you little shit." Jake said. "I told you what would happen if you'd messed this up. You brought this upon yourself, you failed me little brother. I knew you didn't have the balls for this kind of stuff, you were always so weak."

"Jake, please." Kevin pleaded. "Don't do this. I'm sorry. I can fix-"

Kaylee flinched as a single gunshot blasted through the house, followed by a heavy thump. She let out a shaky breath and quickly wiped away the tears that fell. "He killed him, he killed Kevin." She croaked out. "Can we go now, please?"

"They couldn't have gotten very far," Talon said. "You know these woods better than anyone Jake. Let's find them and get this damn thing over with."

"Okay, time to go." Shawn whispered.

Kaylee didn't have to be told twice, she ran. The branches tore at her arms, the jagged rocks dug into her feet, her lungs screamed in pain as she gasped for breath. She had no idea where they were, all she knew was that she wasn't going back to that horrid cabin, ever.

This was just like before, Shawn thought. Once again he was running from an assailant through the woods. Flashes of his father's training coursed through his mind. "Zigzag Kaylee," Shawn said breathlessly. "Change your course."

Kaylee glanced over her shoulder. "What on earth for?" She panted. "This is no time for games you moron, we're running for our lives!"

"You don't ever run in a straight line." Shawn said, changing his course. "Straight lines are the shortest distance between you and the assailant. It'll throw them off course, trust me."

Kaylee nodded and did exactly as she was told and zigzagged through the woods. It was only after she heard their footsteps behind them that she realized it wasn't going to be easy to lose them. No matter how fast they moved, how cunningly they changed direction, they were always there.

"Shawn!" Kaylee cried.

"Keep running Kaylee," Shawn ordered. "Don't look behind you, just keep moving."

Kaylee could see the plunge just ahead of them, the cliff falling several feet to a roaring river far below. "Shawn!" She cried again. "Up ahead!"

Shawn didn't have to be told. He saw the plunge a while back but was trying to figure a way out of their predicament. They willed their feet to a stop at the edge of the cliff and looked down. "What do we do?" Kaylee panicked.

Shawn stared at Kaylee's worried face. If they went over this cliff, there was a slim chance they would survive. If they didn't go over the cliff, Jake and Talon would kill them easily. But Shawn would not let that happen without a fight.

"Shawn!"

Shawn grabbed Kaylee's hand. "Do you trust me?" He asked.

Kaylee gave him a puzzled look. "Depends," She said. "What do you have in mind?"

"We jump," He said.

Kaylee stared at Shawn, then down the cliff and back to Shawn again. The footsteps were quickly approaching and they didn't have much time before Jake and Talon decided to show their ugly faces. Kaylee tightened her grip on Shawn's hand then nodded. "I trust you," She said. "On the bright side, it'll be the fall that'll kill us."

"Ready?" Shawn asked as a gunshot hit the dirt at their feet.

Kaylee bit her lip, nodding once again and they jumped off the cliff. As they were falling, part of Kaylee's mind tried to calculate exactly how long it would take for them to hit the rocks so many feet below. To her surprise, the fall didn't kill them. Though to her dismay, a sharp edge of a rock cut the side of her thigh deeply.

Kaylee broke the surface and fought to keep her head up as the waves washed over her. And where was Shawn? They held hands as they jumped off the cliff at the same time. "Shawn!" She cried, coughing up water.

As the current washed her downstream she saw a dangling tree branch on the right side, leading back to solid land. Swimming was never in her forte, but she swam harder that day than she ever had in her entire life. She grabbed onto the branch for dear life and pulled herself up.

Ignoring the searing pain in her thigh, Kaylee scrambled to her feet and limped down the shore line. "Shawn!" She called again, but still received no answer. Tears formed in her eyes, Shawn was gone. The fall must've killed him. She fell to her knees and wept. "You can't leave me here all alone you idiot. You said I could trust you, dammit!"

"And you can." The familiar voice said behind her.

Kaylee wheeled around, speechless. Shawn was there, standing right in front of her. The tears fell harder as she stood up and ran towards him, embracing him in a hug. "I thought you died." She wept into his chest.

Shawn smiled and wrapped his arms around her, comforting her. "It's going to take a little more than some stupid jump to kill me." He reassured. "We need to keep moving before they catch up to us again."

Kaylee nodded, pulling away from Shawn and wiped her tears away. As she took a step forward, she winced from the sharp pain that shot through her thigh. She placed a hand over the wound and applied pressure to slow the bleeding. "Are you alright?" Shawn said gently. "That looks pretty bad."

"I'm fine," Kaylee said. "It's just a scratch."

"Yeah, whatever," Shawn said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out his Swiss Army Knife. "Give me your jacket."

Kaylee did as she was told and removed her jacket, handing it over to Shawn as she sat down on a large rock. He pulled the longest blade out of its slot and tore down the fabric of her jacket into seams. Kaylee pursed her lips as he discarded the rest or what was left of her favorite jacket onto the ground.

He handed her his Swiss Knife as he worked on her leg. A small pained cry escaped Kaylee's lips as he tied the fabric around her thigh tightly. "Ow, it's too tight." She complained.

"It's supposed to be tight, so that you won't lose any more blood," Shawn replied. The final knot was knotted hard and Shawn stood up. "Can you walk?"

Kaylee nodded and stood up with the help of Shawn. Their heads snapped up as they heard shouting coming from behind them. "We have to take them out somehow." She whispered.

"You've got the knife," Shawn said. "Go for it."

"Those two men have pistols on them." Kaylee said in disbelief.

"And you've got eight blades, plus a screwdriver, corkscrew, tweezers, nail file, and a magnifying glass," Shawn said. "I feel sorry for them.

Kaylee glared at Shawn. "Then what do you suggest?"

"First thing, we've got to get out of here." Shawn said. "Just far enough so it's not worth their trouble to look for us too long."

Kaylee was far too exhausted to argue with Shawn. But no matter how many scenarios she ran in her head, she didn't see one that was even half as logical as Shawn's idea." "Let's go."

~PSYCH~

Lassiter skid the car to a halt in front of the small hunting cabin, followed countless other squad cars. It had been a rough ride up the small dirt road leading to the building, especially since Lassiter didn't slow down at all. Lassiter and Juliet jumped out of the car, weapons ready and ran up to the house, with Gus following.

Scott opened his door and watched as the SBPD and SWAT swarmed over the area. "Mr. Baxter stay put." Chief Vick ordered. Scott nodded and waited anxiously for word on his daughter. SWAT stepped forward and used the battering ram to break the door open.

When they entered the cabin, they immediately feared the worse for Shawn and Kaylee. Kevin Peterson lay sprawled lifelessly across the wooden floor, a small hole in his head where someone had shot him. Even knowing it was useless, Lassiter took his wrist and felt for a pulse.

"He's dead," He said.

"Detective Lassiter, Sir." One of the SWAT officers said. "The rest of the house had been cleared out. Even the basement where you had speculations Mr. Spencer and the young child were being held, there's no one there. It looks like they managed to escape using this." He was holding a small plastic box in it with two tines across the top.

Lassiter grabbed the box from the officer's hand and examined the small weapon. "Clever kid, she made a taser out of a disposable camera." He said, tossing it to O'Hara.

"Alright everyone you know the drill." Chief Vick said, as everyone exited the cabin. "They couldn't have gotten far. Everyone will split into teams of three. We are looking for Shawn Spencer and Kaylee Worthington as well as the two suspects who are armed and dangerous. Do not be afraid to use any force deemed necessary to take them down. Radio's on, safety is a must that is an order. SWAT team, do you have an ETA on the chopper?"

"ETA is about five minutes, ma'am." The officer confirmed. "If we can't locate them on solid ground, we'll be able to pick them up in the air."

"Alright, let's move out!" She ordered. "We're burning day-"

The sound of the gun shot echoed through the air, startling all of them. "Kaylee," Scott said worriedly. Everyone exchanged worried glances and moved out without hesitation. It was time for this case to come to an end. They were going to bring back Shawn and Kaylee, alive, no matter what.

A/N: Please review. I hoped you enjoyed.