Yikes, that was heavy duty. Glad they got some answers and hopefully will get some more soon. DC team on to the Professor and hopefully some leads to get these creeps in LA. Sounds like Don might be needing Charlie's help on this one.

Awful (the situation, not your writing) but at least they're making headway.

kav

I'm glad Thomas decided to talk to Don and Megan!! What a story!! What was the reason for killing the girls?? Was it really to keep them quiet???

Very interesting story, C.H.!!!

Joy

Cindy said it all!

More please!

Don came out of the room ready to give orders. "OK, I want a search party ready to comb the beaches as soon as the sun comes up. If Charlene was also killed, then maybe her body is out there somewhere and we missed it. Also, get someone over to talk with Thomas about a description of this 'Professor' guy. As soon as it's done, send it to Washington. Also, I want to see if we can find this Joseph Williams as well."

George heard all the commotion and he came over. "What's going on?"

"All right look sir, we just escorted you out of your sons presence not too long ago. I don't feel that I can divulge details to you right now. I can't take the risk that you may go and carry out the threat you made against your son. But I can tell you this....your son doesn't appear to have had anything to do with the death of your wife, but he says that he found out who did."

"What? He found out who did? What do you mean by that?"

"Like I said, I'm not willing to divulge details at this time. Look, we have to keep busy here if we're going to find the bad guys, OK. In the meantime, I would appreciate it if you would just stay away from your son until we get this all sorted out. Can you do that for me please? I promise that if we discover that he's lying to us, we will prosecute him. If not, we will prosecute those that deserve it. Can you do that for me; just stay away from your son for now?"

George looked a bit stunned. He just looked at Don and nodded.

"All right good."

____________________________________________

Jack's cell phone rang. He thought it a little strange that someone was calling his cell phone so early in the morning. He would've expected his land line. He reached over and grabbed the phone, still in a groggy confusion. "Hello?"

"Hello, Jack Hudson?"

"Yeah."

"Hey this is Agent Eppes in L.A. Hope I'm not waking you too early, but we've got a lead that we need you to follow up on."

Jack looked over at his clock. "Well, I think the sun has probably only been up for about ten minutes, but no, it's not to early."

Don felt a bit of deja vu at that comment. "Yeah, I understand the feeling. That's how my day started today...I mean yesterday as well."

"Have you been up all night on this?"

"Yeah. We have a potential kidnapping going on with this case. One of the suspects disappeared with someone else's vehicle, and we think that they may be with him."

Jack sat up quick. This guy really had his attention now.

"Well, anyway, we actually caught another suspect and this man that disappeared has been implicated as one of the real bad guys here. But he's not the only one he's implicated. He's also implicated someone from the university that was only referred to as the 'professor.' "

"You mean, one of the university professors may have been involved in this?"

"Well maybe. Our suspect here said that he had seen him around campus. We're having a sketch done on him, and we are sending it to you. I'm willing to bet that someone at the university will be able to ID him."

"Yeah, I hope so."

"One more thing. The nephew of the University President, one Joseph Williams has also been implicated."

"The President's nephew?"

"Yes. He has been accused of having sex with one of the girls we found on the beach. The 'professor' however has been accused of being the ring leader. He was described as having absolute control over everyone who was in that motel room the other night. This guy may be some kind of psycho, so be very careful with him if you find him. He was overheard saying that he was returning to Washington yesterday."

"What about Joseph Williams? Do you have any idea where he is?"

"No I don't. But he's not the only one. We're combing the beaches over here for another possible victim as soon as we have light. And we're still looking for the possible kidnapper too."

"Wow. This has become something much bigger than we started with."

"Oh yeah."

_______________________________________________

Jack met Tara at the office. "Sorry to make you come in so early."

"That's all right." Tara responded. "I always wanted to be the first one in the office for once."

"You got the sketch they sent?"

"Well of course." Tara responded, sounding surprised that Jack even doubted her. She handed him the sketch. The guy that Jack was looking at was bald, looked to be middle-aged, and he had a mustache.

Right then, Bobby strolled in. "Hey mate. You better have a good reason for calling me in this early."

Jack turned and looked at him. "Ah, your here. Come on, I'll fill you in as we go."

Bobby looked at him as he started off. "Go? Go where? I just got here?"

Bobby looked over at Tara, obviously annoyed at his friend. Tara just looked back and shrugged.

_______________________________________________

Gregory Williams opened the door of his home to find two men on the other side of the door. One he recognized as the FBI agent he had talked to the day before. "President Williams," he said, "We need to talk. Do you mind if we come in?"

"Uh sure. I was just finishing my breakfast. Can I get anything for you and uh..."

Bobby reached out and shook his hand as he introduced himself. "Bobby Manning."

Jack answered the question. "That's all right we're fine. But I really think that we need to sit down for this conversation."

"Ok." responded President Williams.

After sitting down in the living room, Jack pulled out the sketch. "Do you recognize this man?"

President Williams looked at the sketch and had instant recognition. "Yes. This is one of our professors over at the university. This is Millard Hotchins." he handed the sketch back.

"Have you seen Mr. Hotchins recently?"

"Well no. He said that he had to go check on his summer home. Apparently, he has a home that he lives in out in California when he's not here at the University."

The President realized what he had just said. He looked at the agents who were also wide eyed. "You mean, he was involved in the death of our students?"

"He's been accused of coercing a group of young people to be involved in sexual activities before one escaped, and then at least three of them were killed."

"At least three? You mean, there may be more."

Bobby answered. 'Yeah. Right now, the FBI in L.A. are combing the beaches out there to see if they can find one more female body; a Charlene Green."

"Really?"

They both nodded. Jack spoke up again. "There's one other thing that we need to talk to you about though."

"What's that?"

Jack and Bobby looked at each other briefly before they went on. "Your nephew, Joseph, has also been accused of being a part of this."

"What!? That can't be!"

"Why not?" asked Bobby.

"Why not? Do you understand what is going to happen if word gets out that one of my own family killed some of my students? He would understand that. He wouldn't do that to me. He wouldn't do that to anyone. I don't believe he would be capable."

"What if he were coerced or brainwashed?"

"I....I don't know. He told me that he was going to go to ....to....Virginia Beach." President Williams' eyes got very big. He leaned back in his seat, his hand going to his forehead. "Oh my gosh. I don't believe this. This can't be happening."

"Sir, have you heard form him recently, or do you know when he's coming back into town?"

President Williams shook his head.

__________________________________________

Don was looking over the beach where the search was beginning. Agents were going out in every direction. As he stood there, his cell phone rang. "Agent Eppes."

"Agent Hudson here. We've identified the professor. His name is Millard Hotchins. It appears that he has a summer home out your way. Maybe you can find it, and get some leads. In the meantime, we are going to put together a raiding party here and go into his home. Hopefully he'll be there."

"All right thanks."

He hung up and called Megan back at the office. "Hey Megan. Our professor is Millard Hotchins. It appears he has a summer home out here somewhere. Can you find out where it is and then call me? Thanks."

As he hung up, he saw David waving to him from a short distance away. He went running over to see what they found. David turned and went along side him toward a spot nearby. A body had washed in from the ocean. David had the man's wallet in his hand. "We just found this guy. He has a bullet wound in his chest." Don looked down at the body. "His name is John Carlisle. He's one of the people we were trying to contact to see if he got home from the motel."

"Well, obviously we didn't hear back from him."

"Nope. But he has a wife. Here's a picture of them right here. Look Don, she has blond hair."

_____________________________________________

Jack and Bobby came back into the bull pen, and everyone was there, sipping on their coffee and getting ready for the day. Once again, he knew that Sue was supposed to look at another tape from the chemical factory, but this was a hot lead.

"OK, everybody, by now, Tara has probably told you that we have a hot lead in the case we got yesterday from L.A. This case takes top priority right now. We have an address for the prime suspect in this case. We are going to the home of a Millard Hotchins. He has been described as a very controlling and dangerous man. According to one of the suspects taken into custody in L.A. he coerced a bunch of teens into a sexual relationship before killing at least three of them. Right now, the L.A. office is searching for more bodies on the beaches of L.A. It is believed that Mr. Hotchins has already returned from California. We're going to his house, and we're going to bring him in if he's there, or we're just going to tear his place apart.

"Also, the University President has a nephew who has been acused of being involved also. After this, we also need to see if we can find him. Nobody knows where he is right now.

"OK, team, let's go!"

_____________________________________________

Don was just finishing with the body on the beach when his phone rang. It was Megan. "I found the address for the summer home. It's only a few miles from George and Thomas' home."

"Only a few miles. That can't be a coincidence, can it?"

"Well, that's what I thought. I mentioned it to George, and he said that he and his brother James had grown up in the area, and that it wasn't uncommon for James to go over to this other guys house when he came by to visit in the summer. He said that he couldn't remember the guys name, but it always made him think of a duck."

"Yeah, that's funny. Millard; Mallard." He wrote down the address and then he hung up and took David with him to check it out.

When they got there, they got out of the car slowly and approached the house with great caution. They noted a vehicle parked nearby. David leaned over and spoke quietly to Don. "That's the car that belongs to the Carlisle's. It matches the license plates, and the description."

Don nodded and they both approached the door with great caution. When they got there, they noted that the door was ajar. They both got their guns ready, and at Don's count to three, David pushed the door in with his gun raised. He motioned Don to follow. In the living room, not far from the door, they found a body. Don bent down and touched the body. It was cold. He turned it over, and he recognized the face. It was James Spencer. There was a bullet wound in his forehead.

He got up and they went on to search the rest of the house. Everything was clear, but when they got to the upstairs bed room, they found another body, this one naked and apparently strangled. David recognized this one. "It's Mr. Carlisle's wife. We're too late."

_____________________________________________

Charlie came into the FBI office expecting to find Don, but he didn't see him anywhere. He walked over to Megan. "Excuse me Megan, is Don going to be here soon?"

"Well, I'm not sure Charlie. He's checking out the summer home of some university professor from Washington."

"Um, a university professor? Why would he be doing that?"

"Well, that guy that we looked at from your findings last night was involved, but he didn't tell the story like we expected. He was a victim Charlie. And he told us that this professoer had been like the ring leader of the whole thing."

"Ring leader? How many people were involved?"

"Well, there were two more people from your list, and this guy that we've been trying to find that kidnapped the people, as well as this professor and the girls we found on the beach yesterday, a total of 8 people."

"Wow. Who is this professor?"

"Uh, Millard Hotchins."

"Huh. Never heard of him."

_____________________________________________

Jack and the team had Mr. Hotchins' place surrounded. At Jack's signal, they entered the building. They searched the whole house, but found nobody. Jack spoke into his microphone. "This is Sam 36. There's nobody here. Let's tear this place apart and see what we can find."

The whole team came into the house with some extra help to search the place over. Sue went into the study with Jack as Levi followed. As Jack and Sue searched through things, Levi acted different. Jack noticed, and Sue also noticed, but neither one said anything right away. They watched Levi out of the corner of their eyes as they continued to look.

____________________________________________

When Charlie got back to his place, Larry Fleinhart was there waiting for him. "Hey Larry. What's going on?"

"Well, I was just about to ask you the same thing. I finally finished with all my papers and grading and stuff, and I wondered what kind of exciting things you might be doing."

"Well, apparently, I'm doing much today. Yesterday, I helped Don with a case, but he seems to be chasing down a lead today without my help. I think he's going to finish this one without me."

"Oh, that's too bad. That just means that we; you and me; we're going to have to find something different to do today."

'Yeah, but there's something that Megan said that's bothering me."

"What's that?"

"She said that Don was looking for more leads at the summer home of some university professor from Washington. Do you really think that a University professor could have coerced his students into sexual exploits before killing them?"

Larry just looked at him for a bit and scratched the back of his neck. "Well, I don't know Charlie. There are some pretty sick people out there. Even some of the scientists of today will perform some of the most disturbing experiments all in the name os science. I suppose anything could be possible. Did she mention who this professor was?"

"Yeah. It was someone like, a Millard or a Mallard or something."

Larry looked a little alarmed. "Millard Hotchins?"

"Yeah. Yeah that's it. Millard Hotchins. You know him?"

Larry put his hand on his head. "Oh my gosh. I knew Millard years ago. I warned him against getting involved with his students, much like I've done with you and Amita, but apparently, he didn't listen."

"Do we have to talk about me and Amita again?"

"No, no, of course not. Have they found Millard?"

"I believe they were still looking for him when I left."

"All right. Let's go back there. Maybe I can be of some help to them."

_____________________________________________________

Jack was finally able to put his finger on Levi's behavior. He noted that Levi would walk around the room in one direction, and then the other, almost like he was pacing. He would go to the book shelf, and then over to the desk again, over and over again. Jack got Sue's attention. "Hey, what do you suppose his problem is. He keeps going back and forth between the bookshelf and the desk."

"Well, I don't know. It's very unusual behavior for him."

Levi suddenly stopped at the desk and started barking. As Jack and Sue began to look over at the desk, and tried to quiet down Levi, things began to happen fast. Jack heard a sound behind him, and when he turned, he saw Millard Hotchins emerging from a secret doorway behind the bookshelf. He had a pistol in his hand. Jack began to jump up, but Hotchins shot at him, hitting him right in the chest, and knocking him back. Sue saw the activity from the corner of her eye, and turned to see what was going on. She didn't get far when Hotchins grabbed her and pulled her into the secret door. Sue screamed. Levi turned and jumped at Hotchins. Hotchins yelped as Levi bit into him. He hit Levi in the side of the head with his pistol. Levi now yelped as Hotchins grabbed Sue again, and pulled her into the secret doorway. Jack caught his breath from having been hit in the chest where his bullet proof vest had saved him. He looked toward the secret door, and all he saw was Levi barking at the book shelf.

Excellent Post.

Fast paced action with all the activity going back and forth between CA and DC. I was expecting everything to be wrapped up at the end of the post in a nice neat little package;

and then, WHAMMY!!!!!

You caught me off guard with the shooting of Jack and kidnapping of Sue. And then left us

Now, Sue will be rescued before any harm comes to her, right? There is only one day left in the challenge; so, we shouldn't have to wait too long for her to be saved! Right? Right?

Again, great post!

Lynn

Lynn you stole my words right out of my mouth

Great job CH

C.H., this is really action-packed!! I feel like I'm watching this on the screen, and I'm on the edge of my seat!!!

Hopefully Jack can figure out the secret door and rescue Sue!! This professor is very, very dangerous!!!

Joy

Sue!!! Wow, CH that was incredible writing. I'll be waiting here to see what happens next.

Wait a minute...wait a minute...He hit Levi with his pistol? Now that's just not playing fair. Where was the cruelty to animals warning? And Levi bit him! Bah -- I hope his rabies shots are updated.

kav

Myles and Bobby came running into the room with guns drawn, a few other men followed as well. They only saw Levi scratching at the side of the bookshelf, and Jack slowly getting up from the floor next to the desk. Myles asked him, "Are you OK?" Jack nodded as Bobby helped him up. "Where's Thomas?"

Jack stood up and answered between breaths. "It was Hotchins. He was here...in this room. He came out from ....behind the bookshelf. He took Sue."

Myles went over to the bookshelf and began looking around. Bobby pulle Levi back a bit and tried to calm him. "It's all right boy. We're going to find her."

"Aha!" shouted Myles as he pulled out on a book and the door opened. Jack stepped forward. "Bobby, you got a hold of Levi?" Bobby nodded. "Hang on to him. I don't want him to get any more hurt than he is." Jack pointed to a trickle of blood on the side of Levi's head. "In fact, I want you to take him out and see if he needs medical attention."

Bobby gently pulled Levi away, who was fighting it but Bobby was able to calm him and get him out. "Myles, you're with me." Jack and Myles both held their guns in ready position as they went into the door. There was a narrow walkway to the right. They followed it about 20 feet. At the end there, they found a metal door with a combination lock on it. Jack tried to pull it open. Locked. "Damn it!" shouted Jack. "Myles, go get Bobby. I need him here instead. Hopefully, he can get this door unlocked."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Don was just getting things taken care of at the house when his cell phone rang. It was Colby. "We found Joseph Williams. He was way down the beach, but he wasn't strangled like the others, and neither did he have a gun shot wound like Mr. Carlisle. He appears to have drowned and then he was washed back on shore. Hard to say how he got out there, but we found him anyway."

"Wow. I wasn't expecting that. How does that fit into the rest of the puzzle?"

_________________________________________________

Millard Hotchins got Sue down the stairs and into a room with metal walls. There were two beds, and one of them had someone in it. It was a blond woman, who looked up when they came in. Millard threw Sue down on the other bed and tied her hands and feet together. "You'll never get away with this you know. I'm an FBI agent. They won't rest until they get me out of here."

Millard turned her around after he got her all bound and looked her right in the face. "I already know my time is limited. I knew that I was going to be found out soon when that loser nephew of James, that idiot Thomas, just went running out the door, and everyone else just ran out the door shouting their mouths off. Stuff like that doesn't go without being noticed. Since then, I'm not interested in covering up my activities anymore. I'm only interested in making the most of the time I have left."

'That's why you left the women's purses just laying on the beach? Because you knew you were going to be caught anyway?"

"Everything since then I've done because I knew I would be caught. Everything from strangling the girls on the beach, to killing Joseph Williams in the ocean, to killing James and the woman he brought me, and the fun I had with her..." Sue winced at the evil joy he expressed on his face just then. "...To leaving their bodies laying around to be found, and bringing Charlene with me..." He pointed to the woman in the next bed. She had an evil look of glee on her face as well. Sue gave her the most disgusted look.

Charlene sat up in bed and leaned towrd Sue. "He's going to let me go when he's done with you, and then I'm going to pick up where he left off."

Sue was really disgusted now. She looked back at Millard, still disgusted. He continued. "Even going out and brining you down here was a decision based on the fact that I want to make the most of my time, and have all the fun I can before my time is up." He leaned toward Sue with a very evil grin. Sue noted that he was wearing a suit, and she was reminded of her mother's dream. Sue's jaw dropped for a moment, then she brought it back up and yelled out at him. "No! You can't do this! You won't get away with this!"

Millard raised his gun up and pointed it right into her face. "If I were you, I wouldn't shout so loud. I don't like the way the sound resonates off these metal walls. It hurts my ears, and I don't think you want to find out how that will make me behave."

"Oh it hurts your ears does it! Maybe I should keep it up then, seeing that I can tolerate it, being deaf and all! Maybe I should just scream!"

Millard smacked her face with his gun. Then he pulled her back over to him. He talked right into her face. "It appears that I need to teach you how to behave for me. I would hate to have to hurt you too much, but I will if I have to." He stood up, happy with the firm look on Sue's face. "I see. You don't care how much I hurt you. You have much resolve young woman, but I will break that in you. Look over here."

He walked over to the wall and pushed a button. One of the metal platings folded down from the wall and showed TVs with pictures from his own house. Sue could see agents all over the house. Millard pointed to one TV. She saw Jack and Bobby trying to get through the door. Millard turned around and was already talking. "...possibly hours before they get through. The combination is only one of many different locking mechanisms on that door. I have plenty of time to do with you as I please."

Sue still had a defiant look in her eyes, but Millard wasn't satisfied. "I see it will take more for you to cave in. You know, my sexual partners over the years have had many different experiences with me. Some have been willing, others have been unwilling. With unwilling partners, I can be very brutal. Perhaps, I need to show you what I mean by that. Then you will do whatever I tell you to."

He walked over to the other wall, and pushed another button. A drawer popped out of the wall with many metal utensils on it. He reached down and grabbed one, then he turned to Charlene. "I'm sorry my dear. But I must use you as an example."

"What?! No!"

Charlene screamed as he pulled the sheet away from her. Sue gasped in horror at what she was seeing. She tried not to look. She looked around the room, trying to find a way out. She tried to turn around and close her eyes, but Millard grabbed her and turned her back around. "Watch!" he shouted.

_______________________________________________

Everybody was very quiet as Bobby had his ear to the door. "There we go." Bobby pulled back from the door, and grabbed the handle. He turned it, but when he pulled it out, it wouldn't budge. "That's odd." He let the handle go back and he tried again. Once again the handle turned, but it wouldn't budge.

"Why won't it open?" asked Jack.

"I'm not sure. Maybe there is another locking mechanism on the other side that's not accessible from here. I'm not sure, but the combination lock is definitely unlocked. There is something else blocking the way."

"Well, what do we do? What are our options?"

"I don't know mate. Maybe we could use some low level explosives?"

"But what if they're just on the other side of the door?"

Bobby stopped and began to think harder. "Let's go look around and see what we can determine about this big metal safe. Maybe we can determine how big this thing is and find it's weaknesses."

Jack obviously looked disappointed and concerned. "Hey look," said Bobby to his good friend, "I know how much she means to you. We're going to get her out of there, and safely. Trust me, this is the best way to do this."

Jack looked at Bobby. He wasn't sure how he knew his thoughts about Sue, but it didn't matter. He did trust his friend. He just nodded and turned around. "All right. Let's go."

__________________________________________________

Charlie and Larry both came into the FBI office together. They went straight to Megan's desk. Charlie spoke up immediately. "Megan, look. Larry knows this professor..."

"Millard Hotchins." finished Larry.

Megan looked up at him. "You do?"

"Yeah. I knew him years ago when we were both still young. I warned him even back then about getting involved with his students. Apparently he didn't listen to me. Is there any way I can help?"

"Well, I don't know. The Washington D. C. office is currently heading up the search for him. We believe that he has already returned there. I can call them and ask."

"Yeah. Would you do that for me?"

"Sure Larry. Hang on."

_____________________________________________________

Tara's phone rang. She answered while still working on her computer. "Hello, FBI, this is Tara speaking."

"Hi Tara. This is Megan from the L.A. office. I have a college professor here who knows Professor Hotchins. He's offering to help in any way he can. What would you like me to tell him?"

"Well, I'm not sure. You see, we found him, but he's holed up in some secret compartment in his house, and he's taken one of our agents captive."

"What?!"

Tara pondered for a moment whether she really needed to repeat herself. She decided better safe than sorry. "I said that we found him but he has.."

"Yeah, yeah. I heard you. I just didn't expect something like that. Hang on a minute."

_________________________________________________________

Megan looked at Larry. "They found him, but he's holed up in some secret compartment in his house. He has one of their agents captive. Do you think that you might be able to talk him into giving up?"

Larry looked obviously shaken. "Um, I don't know. I might be able to try, but I mean, you iknow, I'm not hardly a hostage negotiator. I don't want to mess this up and make it worse."

"Hang on Larry."

___________________________________________________________

Jack's cell phone rang. "Hudson." It was Tara.

"Jack, the L.A. office just called. They have a professor there that knows Millard Hotchins. He feels that he may be able to convince Hotchins to surrender. Is there some way that we may be able to get a phone call into him?"

"I'm not sure Tara, but I doubt it. He's holed up in a solid metal room. I doubt he has a land line down there, and I also doubt he has cell phone reception in there. Let me find out for sure and I'll get back to you."

He hung up and went to Bobby. "Bobby. What have you found?"

"Well, this thing looks deep and solid. However, there are some week spots built into this thing. It appears that there is a significant amount of electrical energy going into this thing, because there are several wires that go in around the top of it. But, if we exploded something in these areas, large pieces of metal may fall down on top of anyone in the room. It appears that the best option for blowing our way in is that door."

"OK. You say there are several wires running into the top of the room. Are any of them by any chance phone lines?"

"Actually, yes. Why? Are you planning on trying to contact him?"

"Well, yeah. There is a college professor out in L.A. who knows this guy. He feels that he may be able to convince Hotchin's to give up."

"Do you think it will work?"

"I don't know. But at the least, it may buy us some time."

_______________________________________________

Hotchins was wiping blood from his hands with a towel. Charlene was dead, having been tortured for what seemed like hours. Sue wasn't sure how long it had really been. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She saw Millard set down the towel and walk toward her. She wimpered as he stepped closer. Suddenly, Millard stopped and turned toward a console on the wall. He picked up a phone receiver. She began to scream for help. Millard grabbed his gun and pointed it at her. She stopped and waited.

Millard finally put the phone to his ear. There was a man on the other end asking, "Sue! Sue is that you? Are you OK?"

"You must be the FBI agent in charge."

"Yeah, I'm Jack Hudson. That woman you have in there is one of my agents. If you so much as lay a hand on her..."

"Save your useless threats for someone else Mr. Hudson. While I'm in here, and you're out there, I'll do as I please. Let's get to the point though. You're calling me because you want to convince me to give up and let her go. Well, that's not going to happen."

"What if I'm not the one asking you to do it? I have someone on the line who knows you from years ago. He wants to talk to you."

"I can't imagine that you could have found anybody that I would listen to."

"Hello Millard. This is Larry Fleinhart."

"Larry Fleinhart. I should have guessed that they would have discovered that we worked together for awhile."

"You know Millard, I warned you against this kind of thing years ago, but it's not too late to turn things around. If you give yourself up and let this woman go, there are people who can help you start a new life."

"Listen to yourself Larry. You know as well as I do what that new life will be like. I'll be in prison for the rest of my life, and I may likely even get the death penalty for the things I have done. There's no future waiting for me out there. If you think there is, then your even stupider than I thought you were."

"Well it may be that you'll be in prison for the rest of your life, but what time you have could be used to change the lives of those around you with your story."

"Oh stop it Larry. You're just trying to buy time for these pitiful FBI agents. You have no idea what you're talking about. You're wasting my time Larry. I have more fun pleasures to be getting to. Good bye Larry."

________________________________________________

Larry took the receiver from his ear and looked at it a second before setting it down. "He didn't listen to a word I said. What possible gain did we get from this?"

Megan looked him right in the eye and answered the question. "Time."

___________________________________________________

"Bobby!" shouted Jack. "It didn't work. Are you almost ready?"

"Just another minute or two!"

_____________________________________________________

Millard turned back to Sue. He started walking toward her again. "Now listen to me." he said. "I'm going to cut the ropes that I tied you up with. You saw for yourself that I didn't need Charlene to be tied up for me to torture her. You know then, that strugglng against me is useless. I will expect you to just do as I tell you. Is that understood?"

Sue looked at him with a glare. She nodded her head anyway.

"Good."

He grabbed a knife from the drawer in the wall, and he went over and cut the ropes. He threw the ropes aside as Sue rubbed her wrists in front of her. She glared at Millard. "Now, young blond woman, get up off that bed, and start taking your clothes off."

Sue glared at him as she got up, but instead of undressing, she stood firm and said, "No."

Millard couldn't believe his ears. "Excuse me?"

"I said no. I will not cooperate with you."

He shook his head in disbelief. "You are a strong willed one, aren't you. All of the women that I've had so far would have caved in half way through her torture." He leaned over toward her. "You will regret this mistake."

Sue didn't wait for him to make the first move. She quickly kicked him in between the legs and started to pummel him with her fists. "You will not get away with this!" she shouted at him over and over again.

When Millard finally got his strength back, he grabbed her and threw her at the bed again. She landed on the floor by the bed. He lunged at her and began to claw at her clothes.

Suddenly, there was an explosion. Smoke filled the room. Sue was relieved when Millard got up and left her. A moment later, she saw a small light flash a little bit away, and then Millard's body fell down by her. There was blood flowing out from his head, and his gun fell to the floor next to him.

______________________________________________

Jack, Bobby, Myles and others jammed down the stairs by the door with the very bright lights on their guns and masks so they could breath through the smoke. When they got to the room at the bottom of the stairs, they discovered the mess before them. There was a dead woman on one bed with blood and wounds all over her, and Hotchins was laying in between the beds obviously having just shot himself, and Sue was huddling between the beds with torn clothes, coughing and crying. Jack pulled out an extra mask and helped Sue up. He held the mask to her face and led her back up the stairs and out of the room. At the top of the stairs, Sue and Jack both set the masks aside. When Sue saw that it was Jack, she hugged him, and wouldn't let go.

Jack pulled hid microphone over to his mouth. "This is Sam36. I've got her."

Jack just held her for a while. He couldn't believe the scene that he had come to downstairs. He agonized at the awful things Sue must have witnessed. After a minute, he pulled Sue off his shoulder, and made sure she was looking at him. "Sue, did he hurt you? Are you OK?"

Sue was still crying. "He didn't hurt me, but I'm not OK. Jack, he tortured that woman, and he tried to rape me."

"OK. OK. It's OK." Jack just pulled her back to him and held her longer. People began to go back and forth by them as they entered and exited the metal room. After many minutes, Jack pulled her back in front of him and he said, "Come on. Let's go find Levi." She nodded, and they walked outside to an ambulance.

Levi met her inside the ambulance. "Woof! Woof!"

"Levi!'

Sue hugged Levi as Levi licked her face. Jack turned to the paramedics. "Look her over just to make sure she's OK. I'll be back."

"Jack!" Sue shouted. "Don't go. I need you."

Jack was a little taken aback. He wasn't expecting this kind of expression from Sue. "Jack, I need you." she repeated.

Jack hopped up into the ambulance next to her. He gently touched the side of her face. "Look, Sue. I have some things that I have to do. You just stay here and take it easy. I promise that I will be back just as soon as I can. OK?"

Sue didn't like it, but she trusted Jack. "OK. I'll be waiting."

________________________________________________

At the hospital, the doctors looked Sue over. Everyone was there, waiting to see how she would be. They knew that she had been through a very tough time. Finally, a doctor came out to talk to them. Everyone stood up, and Jack stepped forward. "How's she doing?"

"She has had a very trying ordeal. Physically, she OK, but she's going to need some psychological help and support."

Jack turned around and looked at the others. They all had the same look of concern that he did. When he turned back to the doctor, he said, "Mr. Hudson, she's asking for you. I think that you should come with me." Jack turned and looked at the others again. Lucy nodded. Jack turned back around and followed the doctor.

When they got out of ear shot of the others, the doctor said, "Mr. Hudson, I don't know what your relationship with Miss Thomas has been like in the past, but after talking with her, I firmly believe that you will need to be deeply involved in her recovery. She has a strong attachment to you. You need to honor that."

Jack looked at the doctor a little shocked. He nodded his head. "OK."

When they got to Sue's room, Sue got right up off the table and embraced Jack in a huge hug. Jack felt awkward with the docter standing there and all. He hugged Sue and looked over at the doctor. "Take all the time you need." said the doctor. Then he left.

Sue eventually let go long enough to talk a bit. "How are you doing?" he asked.

"I could be better."

"I called your parents. They're on the way here."

Sue nodded. "Thanks."

There was an awkward moment of silence. Sue spoke up. "Jack,I uh....well...I need things to be different between us. For years, we've pretended that there was nothing between us. I can't do that anymore. I need you now Jack. Please tell me that you will be here for me."

Jack found himself in a hard spot. He knew about the rules in the FBI, but he also knew how much he loved this woman. "But, Sue, you know that as long as we are on the same team, you know...there's rules about this."

"I don't care about the rules anymore Jack. What I know is that I need you. Please, be here for me."

Jack saw no other option. He loved Sue to much. He nodded his head. "Yeah. I'm here Sue."

She leaned over to him and set her head on his shoulder as he held her tight.

________________________________________________

Jack knocked on Demetrius' office door. Demetrius looked up and saw Jack. "Come on in, Jack."

Jack did just that and he sat down across from D. D could tell there was a lot on his mind.

"So, how's Sue doing?"

"She'll be alright. The doctor says that she will have to stay off the job a bit and get some psychological counseling because of her traumatic experience."

After some quiet, D said, "But that's not all you want to say to me, is it Jack?"

Jack shook his head. "I have a problem D. Sue needs me right now. For years, we've pretended that there's nothing between us, but that's just not true."

"We all know that Jack. We've always known that there would eventually be a time that the two of you would have to admit it, but we didn't ever think it would be like this."

Jack looked and then nodded. "Yeah. Well, you know the rule as well as I do D. No relationships between people on the same team."

"It's a good rule."

"Yeah, but how do I be there for Sue like she needs me to be, and stay on the same team with her?'

"You can't. One of you will have to transfer."

Jack sat and thought over that. He knew it was true, but he had to hear it from his friends mouth.

'The only question..." D continued, "is which one of you will transfer. Neither one of you will be easy to replace."

___________________________________________

Jack thought on it for a couple days. At the beginning of the next week, bright and early monday morning, Jack paid a visit to personnel. "Hi. I'm considering a transfer, and I'm wondering what may be available."

TO BE CONTINUED

Another post that had me at the edge of my seat!

I'm so glad that they rescued Sue in time and that she and Jack are finally being honest about their feelings for each other.

I'm looking forward to the continuation of this story! Way to go!

Wow! C.H.

That was quite a ride you took us on.

I loved the fast pace, just like on the TV show! And just enough angst with Sue;

but, not enough for her to be hurt physically. Now, how long will it take her to recover psychologically?

And, you have left us with this big mystery at the end!

Where is Jack going to go? How will the team be the same without him? You definitely have my interest peaked and I can't wait for the sequel! Now, how long will we have to wait for the answers to my questions?

Lynn

PS. How is little Gideon and his momma doing?

CH that was a riveting story! You did an amazing job!

I love forward to the continuing story!

C.H., I don't think I breathed once during your last post!! Bobby was very lucky to have gotten through that door!! Another minute and it might have been too late for Sue!!!

What a monster this professor was!! I wonder if he was always planning on killing himself, rather than be captured???

I love the way you ended this!! I'm all excited because there will be more!! And, there is still a lot to sort out!! Will Sue be all right?? Where will Jack transfer to?? Will the two teams get together to finish reports and close this case?? So many avenues you can take!!!

Thanks for sharing!!!

Joy

That was a roller-coaster. I cannot say I'm sorry he's dead.

Now Jack needs to take care of Sue.

C.H. that was absolutely riveting! I'm just starting to breath again! What a horrible man and I agree, not sorry he's dead!

Loved that Sue told Jack she needs him and he went to D.

I'm so excited to see that you are continuing this!

Great job!

C H

What an exciting story. I have seen Numbers but not enough to place all the characters, so it was interesting to read a crossover.

Sounds like you also have some extra excitement in your life. Congratulations on the birth of your fourth child. Boys are fun.

Good luck