Chapter 8

Maura was left alone again by her assailants. One or both of them have gone out to get her grocery list. There was a particular reason that she asked for the items she did. While they weren't her first choice for a meal, they did provide two things she needed – a long shelf life and energy. She could eat what she needed to survive now and perhaps hide other items in the event they decided to withhold food or drink again in the future.

She also thought about the items that they brought to her - a baseball card they wanted her to sign with a number sequence. She realized that the watch was not the message they expected. It wasn't a date or time. As she considered her next task from them, she wondered if it maybe the numbers were a police code or perhaps a map location or even a biblical passage. But she couldn't figure out what a baseball player would have to do with it all. So while she did know some police codes and a few, but not all, biblical passages (and their numerical sequence), this latest request had her baffled. And that was something she didn't like... not at all.

She did take stock in the fact that she had a name now - Dr. Joseph Harris. It was more information than she had since her capture began, but with no means to investigate it further, it felt useless. He did seem practiced in hypnosis so perhaps he worked in psychiatry. It bothered her that she seemed to lose a few minutes of their conversation. While she knew that hypnosis research wasn't concrete it seemed to only work on people who wanted to be hypnotized. In her tired and hungry state, it seems Harris found a way into her mind and she felt violated. Instead of dwelling on it though, she tried to think of ways she could use it to her advantage.

She also strained to remember if she had any dealings with him in the department, but she was drawing a blank. Between hunger and sleep deprivation her mind was starting to fail her and it frustrated her. Yes, it was something outside of her control, but still she felt she should be able to recognize the name or at least attach it to Hoyte in some fashion.

She decided to take a chance and lay down on the air mattress. Perhaps she may get a few minutes of sleep, or at least enough rest to help her mind function a bit more clearly. Of course, getting a message to Jane seemed impossible. Still, she remembered her last short dream of the two of them in her office. It felt vivid, almost real, as if the two of them were communicating face-to-face as she described the kitchen area above her prison. As she started to drift off, she noticed some of the supplies from utility cabinet had fallen to the ground. However, at the moment, she was too tired to take an inventory.

This time it didn't take her long to enter the dreamscape. She found herself in the Dirty Robber, but it was vacant. Not a single soul was inside – employee or patron – so she called out as she walked deeper into the bar.

"Vince?" she asked as she looked around. Not getting an answer, she proceeded further.

"Angela?" she called out as she continued towards the kitchen.

She peaked through the swinging door, but there were still no one there. If she could find someone – anyone - they might be able to get a message to Jane. But for some reason no one was around. Maura then turned towards the windows and noticed that it was extremely bright outside. It made no sense. Why was the bar closed in the middle of day?

She realized because it WAS the middle of the day. No one was asleep. No one was unconscious with whom she had an emotional connection. She didn't have anyone to talk to in her dreamscape. But maybe she could write something or find a recording device to leave them a message.

"Now you're officially insane," Maura said out loud as she considered her options.

"I wouldn't say that," she heard a voice behind her say.

She turned to see a smiling Frankie approaching. He opened his arms and she rushed into them, holding him soundly - a gesture which he returned. Before she could pull way, he kissed her affectionately on the forehead.

"Everyone's looking for you, Lady," he told her. "And we're gonna find you. I promise."

"Dr. Joseph Harris," she told him quickly, as if he might disappear. "He's one of two men who are holding me. I don't know who he is. However, he has some connection to Hoyte. I'm not sure if he's worked with him, or studied his cases or simply followed him through the news. Whatever the reason, he's holding Jane responsible for Hoyte's death and he's going to kill her once she and I are together. So you can't let that happen."

"You know how Jane is," Frankie told her. "I won't be able to hold her back. No one will."

Maura watched as Frankie began to disappear in front of her. "Joseph Harris!" she shouted out to the retreat image. "Joseph Harris!"

Maura woke with a start and found herself still in the basement alone. She sat up and took a deep breath. How or why Frankie suddenly appeared, she couldn't say. It defied all logic and reasoning – it flew in the face of everything that she had known and build her life around - but she hoped that he received her message... somehow.

After a few seconds she noticed that the utility shelf items that were once out of reach were now littered across the floor. Some items in particular though - drain cleaners – caught her attention. She quickly made her way over and began looking at the ingredient descriptions as best as she could in the small amount of light radiating from the bathroom night light.

"Oh, please be sodium hydroxide," she said as she looked at the label. "Okay, sulfuric acid," she said. "Maybe you'll be sodium hydroxide," she said hopefully as she turned the other bottle around. "Yes!" she whispered triumphantly. She began to look around the room and that's when she saw it...the utility tub. Now she just had to pick a time that was right.

She began the grin as she hid the cleaners out of sight behind the stairs. Yes, they may try to kill her. And yes, they may succeed. But she wasn't about to go down without a fight. She still had science on her side.

Back at the headquarters, Frankie rolled over and opened his eyes. The first thought in his head was Dr. Joseph Harris.

"Harris?" he muttered out loud. He yawned and then reached into his back pocket. He pulled out his notepad and began looking through it. At first, he wasn't sure why the name came to mind, but slowly he began to remember seeing Maura in a dream where she mentioned the doctor perhaps knowing Hoyte. After flipping through a few pages, he stopped and his jaw dropped.

He had to reach Jane.