Missing

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A/N:

Chapter 27 (Comatose)

"I feel terrible being off the job so long." Tori stretched her legs out on the bed and looked up to Rick, who was standing in the doorway. She watched as he removed his necktie and walked to the mirror on top of the nearby dresser. "At least it gives me more time to spend with my niece and my dad, but…damn."

"You deserve the relaxation, though." She moved her right leg over her left and smiled at her lover. She hadn't been staying with him the entire time, she was often at her house, but these visits with him were wonderful. "Everyone is working so hard on this case. Todos queremos encontrar a tu hermana."

He combed his fingers through his hair and unbuttoned his shirt collar. "It means a lot that everyone wants to find her so much. I just hope she's not too far gone to be saved." She folded her hands over her stomach and moved her eyes to the side. "Ruego que todavía está viva…"

Rick turned towards her and his brow furrowed. "I am certain she is still alive." He removed his suit jacket and set it on the nearby coatrack. "Unfortunately, I do have some bad news to give you." Her eyes closed and she clenched her teeth.

"Oh god. What is it? Is Jade still bothering you about us?"

"Nothing of the sort." He paused and blinked twice. "Well yes, but that isn't important right now." She smiled weakly and watched him kneel beside the bed. He crossed his forearms over on the surface of the mattress and looked into her eyes. "While no more criminals on that list have been murdered since the serial killer, we have found two more bodies…and they are more than likely related to the case."

She sat up straight and tilted her head. "Related how? What are the bodies found?" He bowed his head momentarily and closed his eyes.

"Robbie Shapiro and his mother were found in the creek where you rescued Victoria from." Her lungs shriveled and she clutched her heart while staring back in shock. It took all her power not to jump out of the bed and race to the crime lab. "Whoever shot them positioned them so that Rebecca's arms were around her son."

"Nurturing? Could that be a sign? Maybe to say that a mother was responsible-Holly was responsible?"

"Maybe. Rebecca was found with a gunshot wound to the right temple, while Robbie was found with a bullet in his upper back."

"Why was Rebecca even taken? She was supposed to remain at her home!"

"Her husband says she had to go into work, she couldn't sit idly by." Tori groaned angrily and muttered under her breath over the ridiculousness of the crime. "I will be heading out again in about two hours."

"More work?"

"Not exactly. I have something I would like to find, and Jesse is helping." She nodded and set her head back on the headboard. This was far too much for her, so much that she was thankful for the time off.

It was distressing to know that Robbie was dead, after all these years. No amount of anger she had towards his involvement could stop her from feeling the pain of realizing his murder could have potentially been prevented.

"Let's talk about something else. Anything else."

"Si, mi amor." Ricky pushed himself up and sat on the bed beside her. His hand moved over his and his compassionate gaze fell into hers. She smiled back at him and let her head roll to the side. "Your niece is quite fond of Jesse, and of your father."

"That's good. Jesse makes a good surrogate father."

"You still have not spoken to her real father about her?" She scowled and looked away, narrowing her eyes at the wall.

"I'll leave that up to Trina. Sinjin's too busy with that woman he's with, and after what happened to Holly…I don't want Trina to have to deal with the same issue regarding Haley. I know you said it's unlikely that Haley would be the same way, but I just can't trust her. I want to, but-"

"Su ira hacia tu madre te ha cegado de confiar en ella?" That was exactly it. She was so angry with her mother that she let that rage blind her from being able to trust whether or not Haley would be just like the woman. "Your emotions are still high, it is understandable."

"It's ugly on me, I know." She relaxed her muscles and smiled as he caressed her cheek. His hand slid beneath her hair and he leaned forward, kissing her on the tip of her upper lip.

"It does not suit you, but it does not take away from your beauty and your soul. I know that you have a great deal of hatred towards your mother right now, and you may even want to take her life, but just remember-it isn't worth it."

"Yeah…"

"I love you. Always." Her heart skipped a beat and she moved her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her and embracing his lips with hers.

Back on the job, Tori listened to Jade prattle on about how good it was to have her back on the team. The length of time she took off was rough on her, but she actually liked it, so she was more likely to focus more on time off. Still, she preferred that to be after this case was over.

"I wouldn't say it means I'm going to suddenly decide to settle down and have a family." Tori rolled her eyes and smiled at Jade. Her friend stopped talking and let out a disgruntled sigh. "One step at a time."

"Yeah, well, it's still good to have you back on the team. I swear to god, if I hear one more Spanish phrase, I'm going to scream." Tori smirked and Jade quickly snapped her fingers. "That is not an invitation, Miss Latina."

"Aw that's too bad…Es divertido meterse con usted."

"Goddamn it!" Tori laughed at the woman. "If I wasn't in a moving car, I'd leave."

"Yeah, unfortunately we have a job to do." Her first day back and there was already a crime scene that could be connected. Jade's expression twisted to pain and regret, which was a sign she knew what they were walking into. "Do you know the situation already?"

"I do. It's difficult, because the victim is like Mrs. Shapiro, he shouldn't have been out of the house." Jade grew silent and looked out the window. "I told them to stay put, don't leave the house for anything."

"Who's the victim?"

Tori stopped in front of the jewelry store next to the scene of the crime. "Will Valentine." Her heart sank into her stomach and she let Jade guide her into the alley where the body was. William was sitting in his wheelchair, his head had fallen to his chest, and a bullet hole was in the back of his head. "Jesse was near the scene, he's tailing the perpetrator back to their hideout."

She removed her sunglasses and looked to the officers scouring the alleyway for clues. "What was he doing out here?"

"Their house is just a block away. Mrs. Valentine said her son wanted some fresh air, so she decided to take a walk." She saw the mother standing with her husband at the end of the alley, sobbing frantically. "She apparently had to use the restroom, and from witness statements, William was led outside by some woman."

"You said Jesse went after the assailant? Who was this woman?"

Jade took a deep breath and looked up to Tori. "It was Holly." Her jaw dropped and her muscles tightened with a powerful rage. "That's why Jesse pursued her from a distance rather than start a chase, he wanted to follow her to the hideout so that we could be alerted to Trina's whereabouts."

"Okay." She put on her gloves and slanted her eyes at the handlebars of the wheelchair, they hadn't yet been dusted for prints as far as she could see. "Has anyone heard from him yet?"

"No. He was in plainclothes." She walked to the chair, still listening to Jade. "As far as I know, he and Rick were around this area."

"Rick?" Her eyes widened and a sudden spark of unexplained nausea hit her in the gut. She looked to Jade and pursed her lips. "Why was he in this area?" Now that she thought about it, Rick did mention wanting Jesse's help to find something. "Did Jesse mention what they were doing here in the first place?"

"I'm afraid not. They only saw Holly leaving the alleyway. They didn't see William until after they were driving off after the woman." The feeling in her gut grew worse and she was compelled to call Rick.

"Hold on." She looked towards the jewelry store as her bad feeling turned to worry and distress. Jade crossed her arms and leaned to the side as she waited for Rick to pick up his phone.

"What's the problem Tori?"

"I-I don't know. All of a sudden I just feel weird. Jesse and Rick are tailing a dangerous woman, something doesn't feel right to me. I can't explain…"

"I'm sure they're fine."

"They haven't made contact yet, Jade, and how long ago did investigators say the murder happened?"

"A little over an hour." She lowered the phone when Rick didn't pick up. Just before she could put it back into her pocket, it was ringing, but the number belonged to Jesse. Jade leaned over and raised her eyebrows. "Speaking of the devil, there's Jesse now."

"Thank god," she breathed a sigh and put her hand to her chest. If Jesse was calling, that meant he and Rick were okay. Her worry was for nothing. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened…" Jade's eyebrow arched further and her hands moved to her hips. She put the phone up to her ear and spoke with a frantic tone. "Jesse? What's going on? Did you find Holly's hideout?"

"Yeah Tori, about that…" Jesse's voice was full of pain, which alarmed her. "I'm at the hospital right now. Los Angeles United Regionals. There's been an accident. You need to come in…"

In the hospital room, Jesse sat beside the hospital bed. He had a few bruises and cuts, and his injuries included cracked ribs. He was still okay to leave the hospital.

In the bed was Rick, his arms were beside his blanketed body, and he was hooked up to an IV and heart monitor. Beck was present, as the accident happened close to where the bank was that he worked. Sam was there due to being part of the backup responders Rick and Jesse called in, and David had been riding along with her since they were originally investigating something else.

Tori burst through the doors, her heart pounded heavily inside of her as violent, angry tears shot down her face. "Rick!" The others stepped away from the bed, letting her run to him. She threw her arms around his body and dropped her head to his chest, sobbing frantically.

Her knees buckled and she looked towards him. Seeing him hooked up to a heart monitor broke her and filled her with a rage and depression that far exceeded anything she'd felt before.

"Doctors say he should wake up," Jesse whispered, "They just don't know when." A single sob fell from her lips and she gently traced his jawline with her fingers. There was a gash on the side of his head as well as cuts and bruises all along his arms.

"What happened?" Her left hand grasped the blanket as an electric pain shot through her arm and chest. "What happened to him?" Jesse took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"We followed Holly to a mansion. She pulled into the driveway and we started to drive off, then Rick noticed she was backing out…" Tori's lips quivered as she swept Rick's bangs from his face. He looked like an angel beneath the hospital lights, but this was not a sight she wanted to see. This was not the grief she wanted to feel. "She followed us for about ten minutes, so we started to speed up trying to shake her. We had the small police cruiser, she was in her van."

Tori felt a hand on her shoulder and quickly brushed it away. Her eyes shot back at Beck and he withdrew his attempted comforting gesture. "The bank I work at is just off the freeway." He crossed his arms and exhaled. "We heard a crash and ran out, their car had gone through the guardrails and was on its side. Rick was driving."

"Oh god." Her stomach lurched and her fingers tightened on the bed sheet. "No." She pushed herself forward and brought her wet trembling lips to Rick's, as if she could wake him with her kiss. "She won't have you. She won't take you from me. I won't let her. No puede tener usted."

"This is what we were trying to find." Jesse set a small black box in front of her. "I'm sorry, Tori." Her eyes widened when she saw the object resting in the velvet box, it was a beautiful diamond ring. "I'm sorry."

Her heart exploded inside her chest, causing a massive pain to shoot through her. Her limbs went limp and she fell beside Rick as her mournful cry shook the room.

"I-I'll kill her, I'll fucking kill that bitch!" Her anguished screams broke those around her, bringing them all to tears. "First my sister, then my friends." She breathed heavily, her muscles tensed further as her pain turned to hate. "But not him. She is not going to have him!" Her nostrils flared and she breathed in the salty tears that drenched her face. She felt her father's and Jade's arms around her, trying to console her the best they could, but it was to no avail.

Even if he wasn't dead, even if he could survive this, it didn't take away the fact that Holly tried to kill the one man that she truly cared for. "I hate her! I fucking hate her!" Her chest continued to tremble with her voice and her head fell onto Rick's body, drenching him with her tears.

"I know this might be a bad time to bring it up…" Jesse took a deep breath and slowly shook his head. "I also received a phone call. From Andre Harris. That list of criminals? Holly did hire them as protection to kill any police officer that comes to the mansion…we're advised not to go alone."

"War? She wants a war? Then she'll have it. Ella tendrá su maldita guerra."

Well, it's on. Your thoughts on everything? By the way, good song for the story: youtube dot com /watch?v=DTTxtneonq8