NINE
~*~ TBL ~*~
Sorry for the long wait everyone. My wifi has been out, so i'm taking advantage of it while I have access to it. And so, another big twist coming your way. Stay tuned...
~*~ TBL ~*~
Raymond Reddington walked into the Post Office with purpose. He strides to where Ressler is talking with Cooper. Samar nudges Ressler and the man freezes. "Tell me you know where she is," Ray whispers.
"I'm sorry," Cooper says. "As of right now, we don't even know who has her." Ray turns to look at Ressler.
"Listen, all we know is that she sent Ressler a message saying she heard something. A few minutes later I heard two shots. One hit something because there was a small pool of blood on the floor. She had her protective vest on," Samar replies. "We should have stayed together. She said she had a bad feeling."
"In the years since I started working with Lizzie and in the time since we have gotten together, I have learned to trust her instincts. And you should have too," he turns to look at Ressler. "She's your partner, your best friend. You should have learned to trust her instincts." He turns on his heel and walks out of the Post Office. Dembe follows close behind. "I want every man on this. Call Kate, see if she can find something from that room, that hallway or the whole damn building. I want to know who has her and where they are."
"Yes, Raymond," Dembe says pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and starts making phone calls. They head back to the house where Nora was with a babysitter.
After paying the babysitter and starting to get things together for their trip, he turns to see Dembe standing in the doorway of his bedroom. Nora perched in his arms a smile on her face.
"Papa," she calls out to him, holding her hands out. Ray crosses the room and takes her from Dembe.
"Kate pulled out all the stops on this one. She got to the building right away and has some news for us."
"Well, that was quick. What did she find?"
"Several prints all over the room. Mainly belonging to one Nick Gerard."
"Dr. Nick Gerard?" Ray clarifies. Dembe nods his head. "I knew he was no good. There was always something off about him. Find out anything you can about him. Where you think he would go." Dembe nods his head before walking out of the room.
~*~ TBL ~*~
Lizzie jolts awake, blinking her eyes slowly. She looks around but everything was blurry. She blinks once again before realizing it was no use. Nick must have given her some sort of eye drops. Her leg was burning and her hands were bound behind her. She was in something moving fast, very fast. She looks to the source of light, and could faintly make out a green blur. Trees, must be trees.
"Oh good, your awake," comes a voice from behind her. She turns to where Nick's voice could be heard coming from, barely make out his features.
"What did you give me?"
"Just a little something I had laying around. It will keep your eyes blurry for the time being. I don't need you knowing where we are going." He lapses into silence, focusing on the road in front of him. He turns off the road and down a dirt road. He hits a rather large bump in the road, making Lizzie hit her head. She winces as she gets jostled around in the back of the truck.
"So tell me about your daughter," he breaks the silence.
"Excuse me?" she asks blinking once again, trying to get her eyes to adjust with no such luck. "Why would I tell you anything about my daughter?"
"Because we are going to be a family. And I want to know everything I can about her."
A sense of dread filled her as she realized what he was saying. "I'd rather die than tell you anything about her."
"Hmm," he replies. "You know, I've been following your career since we broke up. I knew you got married to that douchebag that you cheated on me with. But then I learned you got a divorce. Not long after you had a baby. So, did you have a baby with the douchebag, or with someone else? Word is the Concierge of whatever they call him had a thing for you."
"A thing for me?" she asks. She wiggles around and manages to loop her arms around her legs, leaving her arms in front of her. She brings her hands up around her neck. "What did you do with my necklace?" she asks.
"Oh, I have it safe," he tells her, taking a sharp turn causing her to hit her head. She brings her hands up trying to feel for a bump. He stops abruptly causing her to hit her head once again. "So, who's the lucky guy?" she remains quiet. "Suit yourself," he remarks. "I'll get it out of you one way or another." He gets out of the driver's seat and walks around, opening the back of the truck. She kicks at him and he falls to the ground. She slides out the back of the truck and makes it a few steps before she felt the prick of a syringe before everything goes fuzzy.
"No," she whispers as darkness overtakes her.
~*~ TBL ~*~
It had been days since Lizzie was taken and days since Ray had started to look for her. Dr. Nick's trail had ended in New Orleans. So far, they hadn't found anything that would tie him to the area.
"As you can see Mr. White, there are miles upon miles of bayou. Looking for someone in this would be like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Ray looks to the guide that was trying to talk him out of going into the bayou to look for his fiancé. "I don't care. I don't think you understand the situation. My fiancé has been kidnapped and we tracked her here."
"Not to mention all the 'roads' that don't have any names to them."
"What do you mean, 'roads'? What kind of 'roads' are we talking about?"?
"They were access roads. Most of them were to rangers stations. Some of them just ran through the bayou to get to different places. Most got washed out because of Katrina. No one really goes to those places anymore. And unless you have the right vehicle, once you go in you might not come back."
"Can you see some of these access roads from the river?" Dembe asks, taking a step towards the two men.
"Some of them," he remarks. "Not all of them."
Ray nods his head. "Let's go." The three pile onto the airboat and begin their journey down the river, keeping a close eye on the coast. "Stop," Ray says turning to their guide, who stops the boat. He turns it towards a spot where they could easily get off.
"Be careful. There might be gators around. Just because we don't see them, doesn't mean they aren't around," their guide warns them.
Ray and Dembe carefully maneuver themselves from the boat to land. Both draw their guns as they walk towards a small building that was still standing despite being exposed to the elements. They take a careful look through the building finding nothing. Ray stands outside of the place looking towards the woods, wanting desperately to find his Lizzie. He whirls around as Dembe lets out a shriek that he decided was rather girly and then a thud. He sees Dembe on the ground his gaze horrified and was slowly crawling away from the water as a gator comes out and starts toward them. Ray's eyes go wide as he sees how huge this gator was.
"Run in a straight line, then circle back. He will get tired quickly and stop chasing you," their guide tells them. The two take off as the gator keeps following them. They double back and head towards the boat. The guide pulls away from the coast, heading down the river a little more. Ray and Dembe keep their eyes trained on the forest, hoping to see something. Hoping to see anything, really. Just not another animal.
Ray sighs as the day comes to a close. They were no closer to finding Lizzie than when they started this morning. He just hoped that she could hold on for just a little while longer. He had no idea what she was going through, but he sent up a small prayer. He wasn't a religious man, but he was going to need all the help he could get.
~*~ TBL ~*~
Days since she had been taken from the warehouse. Days of withstanding the torture. He was trying to find out anything he could on Nora, but for now, she wasn't giving anything up. And when he wouldn't get anything out of her about Nora, he started trying to use Ray against her. She was very surprised when she learned that he knew A LOT about their relationship. He wanted to know about Ray, what his weaknesses were, what he would be willing to give it all up for.
She saved her breath, never giving Nick a thing. He finally started getting tired of her silence and started raining blows onto her. Half the time she was drugged up and didn't know which way was up or down. she must have been getting immune to the drugs he was giving her, as she was starting to come out of it easier and earlier.
She knew he would be making his weekly run to a small store that must have been close by. She had to work fast to make this work in her favor. She keeps laying on the floor while keeping her breathing even. He lays his hand onto her head before giving a smirk and walking out of the room. He didn't even lock the door thinking she would still be incapacitated until he got back. As soon as the truck pulls away, she jumps to her feet. Her eyes were still blurry, but she could make out some shapes. She runs into what could only be the kitchen. She starts pulling open drawers until her hand closes over a knife.
She gasps at the stinging sensation on her hand before grabbing the handle. She looks toward the door when she hears his truck starting to come back. She looks towards the door in a panic. She grips the knife and stands behind the door. Nick walks in and starts rummaging around in the kitchen. He finds whatever he was looking for with an "Aha!" then heads toward the front door. He stops then turns and heads back to the room where he kept Lizzie. "Lizzie?" he calls. "You can't run from me Lizzie," he yells before heading back towards the front door. She hides herself into the corner as tight as she can and he walks past. She lets out a soft sigh before the door swings open and away from her hiding spot. She swings her hand with the knife out. She hits something because he takes a few steps back. She takes that opportunity to dart out the door.
Nick grabs her foot and she falls to the ground with a grunt and twists herself onto her back. He crawls up her body while trying to reach for her neck. She tries to push him off, but with the drugs still running through her system she had no strength. She tries to push him off once again while trying to bring her still joined hands down to the side where the knife had fallen. She finally wraps her hand around the handle bringing it into his side. He falters for a moment but continues on. She chokes out before bringing it into his side once again. He stops this time and she takes this opportunity to push him off her. She runs out of the door and into the woods.
"Lizzie!" she hears him call. She doesn't stop. She has no idea where she was going, but she just knew she had to get out of there. She stops to take a breath and listen to her surroundings. She thought she heard a car over to her right, so she heads off that way. The green was starting to turn a little lighter and the trees were starting to thin out a bit. She hears a car or what sounded like a car. She couldn't be sure. She starts running towards the sounds. She throws herself out of the woods upon a clearing.
"Help! Please!" she gasps out. She turns as an ATV comes to a stop behind her. "Oh God, please help me." The girl stares at Lizzie before yelling could be heard from the woods.
"Get on," the girl says to her. Lizzie jumps onto the back of the ATV and they go speeding off down the trail. She doesn't look back as they catch up to the rest of the ATV's. They all stop at a building that had a banner advertising ATV rentals and tours.
"Thank you," Lizzie says blinking her eyes as everything started to become a little clearer. "Jennifer?" she questions. The girl blinks at her a look of surprise coming across her face.
She points to herself. "Grace," she remarks. "I think we should bring you to the hospital." Grace guides Lizzie towards her car.
"No, no," she tells her. "I need a phone please."
"Sorry, Miss," a guy comes out of the rental place, wiping a spot off his hand with a rag. "No cell phone reception here. You won't be able to get any reception till you get closer to the city."
"Alright, we'll be able to kill two birds with one stone. Let's head to the hospital and then you can call whoever you need to call. Sir, do you happen to have a pair of bolt cutters?" he nods his head before ducking back into the store.
"Grace, can we meet you back at the hotel later?" one of the guys asks.
"Sure, I'll bring her into the hospital and help her get settled, then I will meet you guys there."
The guy comes out of the shop with a pair of bolt cutters. Lizzie holds her hands out but closes her eyes, not wanting to see how close they came to her skin. She feels the pressure of the handcuffs release and she sighs out. "Thank you," she tells him softly.
"Don't mention it," he remarks. Grace starts to guide Lizzie towards a car in the parking lot. Lizzie sits in the front seat, but keeps the door open.
"Would you like some water? I have a few bottles in a cooler in the trunk. Some granola bars as well."
"Oh, food. Yes, please," Lizzie tells her. Grace rummages around the trunk for a few minutes before shutting it and sliding into the driver's seat. She starts the car, and looks over the woman sitting next to her as she closes the door. How the hell was she going to start this conversation?