AN: Hi everyone! So sorry for the lengthy delay in posting an update to this story. Real Life got a bit out of hand (also adopted a kitten) and record breaking heat waves where I live has made it difficult to concentrate on anything but trying to keep cool.
I'm not able to guarantee regular updates but I will try my best. Thank you for sticking with me and for all your support and encouragement.
Just a recap:
Jeannie is engaged with her high school crush, Whitney Holden, who works with his father in real estate development. Together they try to intimidate the tenants and business owners including Steve's friends, the Lees into selling their homes/businesses. David Lee is viciously attacked and his daughter Christina is later abducted to coerce Mrs. Kim Lee to sell the business and vacate their apartment. Meanwhile, Irene has been the voice of reason for Jeannie, Mike and Steve as things become strained between the three and Steve's feelings for Jeannie are brought to light. Whitney is also suspected of the assault on Steve at his home which had left him with injuries to his head, ribs and kidney. The two Alphas also get into a brawl at Mikes house, damaging a vase that Jeannie had given to her late mother. Whitney continuously charms his way back into Jeannie's graces but when she discovers a gun and brass knuckles in a box in Whitney's bedroom, she begins to have serious doubts and confronts him. Whitney drugs her drink at dinner with an experimental substance he stole from his father's office. He takes her away to his father's cabin in the woods where George Holden later holds Christina. Suspicious of Whitney's behaviour, Steve follows him to the cabin then tries to rescue both Jeannie and Christina when he discovers their lives are in jeopardy but is caught and then framed at a drug bust. While recovering in hospital, he is tested positive for heroin and placed under close police watch. Mike and Irene continue with their unofficial investigations to not only prove Steve's innocence but to search for Jeannie's whereabouts. So far, Mike also suspects some of the hospital staff including one of the doctors treating Steve, is on the Holdens' payroll. Chief Riley has sent out his officers to the Lees apartment to check out Steve's story of the abduction.
And now...
Chapter 50
After relenting to let Irene take the wheel, she and Mike drove back toward the city in silence. Despite the long tiresome day, they were both too wired up with worry to feel the need to rest. If there was one thing they learned since they last saw Steve, it was Jeannie's disappearance was nothing short of suspicious but it was too early to file an official missing persons report, particularly when she had already informed her father she wasn't coming home that night and the only person to have seen her in need of rescuing had just supposedly tested positive to taking illicit drugs. Even if Rudy supported their theory, he was duty-bound to go by the books which to them meant more waiting. With the night crawling into the early hours of the morning, they had expected to find some evidence that Jeannie was safe if Steve had been wrong. The fact that wherever they turned, she was still nowhere to be found and neither were the Holdens, raised concerns that foul play was involved.
Mike racked his brain in search of another avenue and came up with one more. The Lees. He picked up the radio receiver and transmitted a dispatch for the officer in charge of checking out Steve's story about the abduction of Christina Lee.
Visiting hours was long and truly over at General Hospital. The night shift staff had taken over as the last of the day nurses and orderlies clocked out.
Through sheer exhaustion, Steve had inadvertently fallen asleep for the last hour but the pain from his injuries woke him. For a moment or two, he feared he'd lost valuable time but when he checked the clock on his bedside table, it was still in the early hours of the morning and he breathed out a sigh of relief even though he was far from relaxed. He needed to get back out there and find Jeannie, however, an obstacle stood in his way. The officer guarding his door. As the seconds ticked down on the clock, a plan manifested in his mind. Carefully climbing out of bed, he walked over to the door and casually opened it. As he had expected, the hulking figure of Officer Oswald stood in his way.
"Listen...er...Harry, I really gotta use the bathroom. Think you can..." Steve shrugged his shoulders and motioned with his head in the direction of the bathroom.
"Sure, but I gotta go with you, you know?" Harry said with a hint of sympathy. He didn't know Keller personally but he had heard many great things about the Inspector's partner, Lieutenant Stone, and had the pleasure to meet the man himself. He held a lot of respect for Stone and while he had his orders to follow, he felt obligated to treat Keller with a degree of respect as well.
"I understand," Steve replied compliantly, giving Oswald a friendly and tired smile to put the man at ease.
Harry walked alongside the injured detective, placing some level of trust in him based on the fact that he was Mike Stone's partner and whatever he was accused of doing, he was still a cop until stated otherwise. To Harry, this meant Steve was unlikely to do something stupid like running off but years of training and his own instincts called for caution to be taken. According to his captain, Steve Keller wasn't formerly charged as yet but he was to be watched over for his own safety and for the sake of the investigation he was under. It was for the Inspector's best interest to cooperate.
Steve decided to help his responsible guard relax by striking up a conversation over the weekend's ball game results. While they talked, he measured the distance between himself and Harry Oswald and threw furtive glances his way to read his body language. They walked past a fire escape and reached the men's room. He made a mental note of the door leading to the janitor's closet to his left. Time had run out for any more thoughts to be given to Steve's escape plan. If he was going act, now was his chance. Here goes nothing. With a groan, Steve folded over and placed a hand firmly up against the wall.
Harry's reaction was as Steve had predicted. The larger man tried to assist the inspector by grabbing hold of his arms. Steve turned and clawed at Harry's shirt, gasping and doing his best to show he was in a great deal of distress. In truth, it really wasn't all that difficult given that he was in a lot of pain. His knees buckled dramatically and Harry eased him to the floor. "Steve? Steve!" Harry called out but it appeared the younger man had lost consciousness. He looked up and down the empty corridors and knew he would have to leave the injured man where he lay so he could get help. "I'll be right back. You just hang in there!" Straightening up, Harry hurried toward the end of the corridor then turned back to see if Steve was still where he had left him and he was. When he peered around the corner, he caught sight of a nurse and called out to her.
Once Harry had stepped around the corner, Steve took his chance and rolled to his feet with a suppressed groan. He hastily opened the door of the janitor's closet and found what he was searching for in a matter of seconds. The janitor's uniform hanging just inside the door on a hook. Retrieving it, he let the door swing shut then backtracked quickly to the fire escape and wrenched open the door. Taking the stairs, he headed down to the ground floor where he expected to see an exit. He could hear the loud bang of the fire door slamming shut followed by Harry's voice echoing off the walls above him and the man's boots thundering down the staircase. Steve quickened his pace and vaulted over the steel railing as he rounded a bend. With his knees bent, his feet found the next landing, dropping the clothing on the floor as the impact jarred his injuries and took his breath away. With no time to pause to recover his wind, Steve scooped up the janitor's uniform, straightened up as much as his body allowed then hurtled down the next flight of steps until he reached the ground floor. His momentum carried him straight to the door ahead of him and he yanked it open. He found himself in the underground parking lot of the hospital. Looking wildly around for the nearest way out of there, he saw an exit sign glowing weakly to his right and he started to run toward it but when he heard his pursuer's boots reach the bottom of the stairs in the fire escape behind him, he froze and looked back.
