Hi everyone. I have to tell you that today's chapter is the shortest one of all the chapters so far but I hope it won't make you feel disappointed. Enjoy the reading.

Chapter 19

The next day very early in the morning, Juliet woke up with a start. She opened her eyes at once and looked around, recognizing the room. Yes, nothing changed – they were still in the same place, held against their will. At least they were together. She slowly rolled over and was met with the sight of Magnum sleeping beside her and breathing peacefully with his face fully relaxed.

What a shame he can feel this relaxed only in his dreams, Juliet thought, sadly shaking her head. Oh, she would do everything to leave this awful place and finally go home with him. Then she wondered what it was that made her wake up so suddenly. Was it some screech behind the metal door or a sound coming from the window up there? She started listening carefully for a few minutes but there were no sounds, everything was still, nothing was out of the ordinary. Everything seemed normal.

Juliet chuckled inwardly. Normal. Nothing was normal. This place wasn't normal. Them being held here wasn't normal. Even lying here with Magnum so close by her side wasn't quite normal but actually that was the only thing she wasn't complaining about. So since it was quiet, she snuggled closer to her partner, enjoying the warmth and comfort he unconsciously offered. Although she had a strange feeling that something wasn't right and something bad was going to happen soon, she pushed it aside and closed her eyes, trying to catch some sleep while she could.

A few hours later, when the sun was quite high in the sky, Thomas and Juliet were woken by the sound of the key being turned in the lock. They glanced at each other and stood up at once, both being on alert, still having in mind yesterday's conversation with Nick. Their bodies instantly tensed, getting ready for the potential fight that was going to take place should the boss with his thugs arrived.

The old metal door slowly opened with a creaking sound and the PIs got really surprised at the person standing there. It was definitely neither the long-awaited boss with his thugs nor Nick. The youngest of the kidnappers, Tony, visited them this time. Beside his gun being pointed at the pair, he brought some breakfast, if you called two candy bars breakfast, together with a bottle of water.

"Wow, I must say that if you keep feeding us with these candy bars, we'll get on weight soon, that's for sure." Magnum spoke sarcastically.

Tony looked at him and just snorted without making any comment. Then tossed the food and water on the mattress and started to back up towards the exit.

Noticing that, Thomas shouted. "Hey, wait a moment! What about your boss? Is he finally here? What does he want from my partner?"

However, none of his questions were answered. The young man just left, leaving Magnum standing there, facing the closed door.

"Thomas, did you really think he would give you those answers?" Juliet asked with concern.

Her partner turned and looked at her. "Of course not but it was worth trying, don't you think?"

"We didn't get anything new, though." She replied.

"On the contrary. Maybe he didn't tell us anything but I observed his body language and it told me one very important thing."

"Really? Which is what?"

"He was in a hurry and seemed quite nervous, and this means something big is going on." Thomas said.

"Magnum, we've already known that. The boss' arrival is probably the reason why the man is so nervous." Juliet stated her opinion.

Her partner shook his head. "Maybe but I'm not so sure about that. Anyway, I have a feeling we'll finally get to know what's going on and why you were needed to be here." He told her and easily noticed her worried face and how she swallowed hard at the mention of this.

He knew she was worried about him, she didn't have to say anything, her face told him everything. He didn't want her to feel fear for his life even more than before so he promised himself that from now on he would be careful and try not to risk his life unnecessarily. He'd already promised this to Higgins and he intended to keep that promise.

He wanted to distract her so he mentioned the food they'd been given.

"Hey, let's have a bite while we still have something to eat. Although that's not the choice I would make in the morning." He said, picking up the candy bars and handing one of them to her.

"Yeah, me neither. Thanks." She replied and took the sweet from him.

After they ate slowly, they sat there in silence for a while, both lost in their thoughts, wondering what was ahead of them. Will they finally meet the boss? And will they learn the reason for the kidnapping? Another important question was whether there will be a chance for them to fight their way out of this place.

To Magnum, it seemed that with each passing minute, their chances were decreasing. With the boss' arrival, security would surely be stronger and it wouldn't be easy to pass through it. He sighed deeply. Yes, their nearest future wasn't looking very bright.

Time was passing very quickly. The pair talked about many different things. In order to protect them from those negative thoughts, Thomas came up with a subject of the first thing they would do after coming back home.

Juliet seemed surprised when she heard the question. "What? Magnum, you're kidding me, right?"

"No, I'm totally serious. I wonder what you're going to do when we're out of here." He replied.

Higgins was silent for a long moment, obviously thinking hard, trying to come up with an answer to her partner's preposterous question.

"Okay, I'll go first." Thomas said. "So, as soon as we leave this highly comfortable place, I'll jump into my bed and stay there for a week."

"Huh, a whole week?" She asked and squinted her eyes at him.

"Yeah, well, maybe with some breaks for eating, for instance Kumu's loco moco. Her food is like little drops of heaven."

"How do you know she will make you any?" Juliet asked.

"Because she misses me and I'm sure preparing some food for me won't be a problem at all. The same goes for Rick and TC, they'll be ready for anything, they even won't complain when I'll ask them a favor."

"Oh, so that's your plan, huh?" She said.

Of course she knew what he wanted to achieve by talking about those things at that moment – he was trying to distract her from sitting and worrying about their situation and his fate in this place. So she played along willingly.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Maybe TC and Rick are happy that now when you aren't there, they can finally forget about your constant favors."

Thomas pretended to ponder for a few seconds and then he shook his head. "Nah, that's impossible, they love me." He stated in a-matter-of-fact way.

Just like I do, Juliet thought at once but didn't say it out loud. Although she finally admitted that she cared about her partner, she still felt she wasn't ready to tell him those three words straight in the eye.

Magnum noticed her tense for a moment and wondered what it was that made her act this way. He figured that he could do nothing but continue the subject.

"So what about you, Higgy? Did you make up your mind?" He asked.

"Maybe." She replied with a mischievous smile.

Thomas' brows rose, she intrigued him so much. "Care to share it with me, partner?" He asked.

"If you ask so nicely… Well, the first thing I'll do when I come back home is…exactly the same thing I do every day in the morning." Higgy told him.

The PI didn't think she would surprise him that much.

"What?!" He exclaimed. "Higgy, don't tell me you'll practice yoga. There are so many much more interesting things than that – you can go canoeing, swimming, grab a bottle of wine or two from Robin's wine cellar but yoga? Now you must be joking."

"No, I'm not. Just because you think so about yoga, it doesn't have to mean it's true. It's been proved that yoga has plenty of positive aspects – it relaxes the mind, improves your strength, sharpens concentration…"

"Okay, I get it." He interrupted her.

"You should really try it sometimes, Magnum." Juliet said with a smirk.

"I'll think about it." He replied, finally ending the subject.

The rest of the day passed calmly. They didn't have any more visitors and there weren't any noises coming from outside the door or the window. It was quiet.

Definitely, too quiet. Like calm before the storm, Thomas thought and let out a deep breath.

It seemed to be a bad sign. This lack of the kidnappers' activity confused him a lot. After yesterday's events, Magnum expected that by this time the boss would have made a grand entrance and he and Juliet would have known who that person was and what he wanted.

When the evening came and the pair assumed that nothing new would happen that day, they heard the door being opened and saw Tony enter the room with the food.

"Hey, I hope you have something better than last time." Magnum spoke.

The young man didn't have the opportunity to reply to the PI's ironic words because suddenly someone else burst inside.

"Get out of my way!" Burt growled, shoving Tony away and getting past him. "Go and make sure Nick doesn't come here. Someone wants to meet our guests." He said over his shoulder and when he noticed the shocked face of the man, he added authoritatively. "What are you waiting for? Go! He mustn't know about it."

After acting like a paralyzed for a few seconds, Tony finally came round and with a last glance at the prisoners, he left the room in a hurry.

While observing the whole situation, Thomas and Juliet stood up abruptly. They definitely didn't expect something like that. Thomas took her hand and squeezed it, giving her strength and reassurance she needed most.

Burt turned towards the pair, pointing his gun at them and sending them an evil grin. "Well, well… aren't these those heroes who were brave enough to fight me." He spoke, his voice full of hatred.

Juliet swallowed hard at the memory. All the colors drained from her face, making her look as white as a sheet. It was finally happening – her nightmare was coming true. They were just about to meet the powerful boss. She didn't care about herself or her fate, all she cared about was her partner's life. He didn't deserve being kidnapped and trapped in this place.

Burt looked at her and squinted his eyes, pointing his gun directly at her head. She squirmed under his scrutinizing gaze. She felt like he was reading her mind.

"Oh, now you're not so courageous, am I right?" He said with a wide triumphant smile on his face.

Just as Magnum was about to intervene, a person slipped into the room and spoke up, startling all those present there.

Thank you for reading. Sorry for this cliffhanger, I had to do this. If you want, you can share your predictions about this mysterious person with me.