FIC: Two Dead Guys, a Girl, and a Psychic (14/18)
Title: Two Dead Guys, a Girl, and a Psychic
Author: moondragon25 (or moondragon23 on other sites)
Pairing: Shawn/Juliet
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Life is great for Shawn Spencer. He has a cool job, a smart, beautiful girlfriend, and gets to hang with his best friend all day. What more could a guy want? When he gets his next two cases, a dead chemistry professor and a girl looking for her father, it looks like business as usual. Too bad things never go that simply when Shawn is involved. REWRITE OF TWO DEAD GUYS AND A GIRL!
Disclaimer: I do not own Psych or any of its characters. All other publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: I'm sorry this chapter is so late. I've been getting really bad migraines the last few weeks that have made it impossible to concentrate on anything. I'm trying to get as much done on headache free days as possible so hopefully the next chapter won't be so delayed.
I hope you all enjoy the story.
Flashback
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13: The Mad Scientist's Lair
The sun was setting when they arrived at the abandoned building. It was already hidden behind the surrounding structures, the entire area cast into shadow. From what they could see, most of the first floor appeared finished, minus doors and windows. The second and third stories were just framework in the open air. With the light growing dimmer by the minute, the setting was eerily similar to half the slasher films Shawn had seen.
Shawn and Gus sat in the car, staring at the building. “Creepy,” Gus said with a shiver.
“Yeah,” Shawn agreed. A missing girl in a building with a murderer. Two guys going in, unprepared, to find her. Yup, this had horror movie written all over it. He hoped it didn't end up like one. He shook his head to dispel that train of thought and turned to Gus. “Well, it's not going to get any less slasher movie-e. Shall we?”
Gus stopped him before he could get out of the car. “Shouldn't we call the police first?” he asked worriedly.
Shawn shook his head. “Not until we find Nikki. The police can't know she was here.” He climbed out of the car before Gus could protest further.
They headed across the lot and cautiously entered the building through one of the open doorways. Inside it was already dark, the fading sunlight unable to penetrate this far. They stopped just inside the doorway, peering into the blackness.
He nudged Gus. “Dude, go get your flashlight out of the car.”
“I can't,” Gus said, turning to him. “You took it out of the glove compartment to make room for your candy.”
“Sometimes I need a sugar boost while working on a case,” he said defensively.
Gus rolled his eyes. “Didn't you download one of those flashlight apps to your phone?”
“I did,” he said excitedly, patting Gus on the back. He pulled out his phone and quickly found the app. He tapped it and a bright light immediately shone from the phone. After a couple seconds his phone beeped and the light blinked off. “Guess I needed to charge it more,” he said, staring at the blank screen. “What about your phone?”
Gus sighed but pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned on the app.
Shawn immediately grabbed the phone and waved it around, illuminating patches of the room. “Cool,” he said, grinning.
Gus grabbed his arm, pointing the light towards the ground. “Are you trying to signal to Newton we're here?” he hissed.
Shawn winced. “Good point.” He dimmed the light and angled the phone so it shone on the ground in front of them. They had just enough light to see where they were going. “Ready?”
“I'll be ready once you give me my phone back,” Gus said.
“If you have the phone, you'll have to go first into the creepy building where a murderer is hiding.”
Gus scowled at him. “Fine. Just be careful with it. It's a company phone.”
Shawn rolled his eyes and led the way deeper into the building.
The rooms near the front were the most complete. The further back they went, the more debris and building supplies they saw. Eventually they reached an open space near the center of the building. Shawn turned up the brightness on his phone and shone it around. The area was piled high with a maze of old dry wall, lumber, and extra support beams.
Gus suddenly grabbed his arm. “Did you hear that?”
Shawn listened carefully for a moment. “Hear what?”
“Sshhhh!” Gus hissed. “Don't talk so loud.”
“I don't hear anything,” Shawn hissed back.
“I thought I heard something over there,” Gus said, pointing to their right. Shawn started to head in that direction but Gus stopped him. “What if it's Newton?” he asked fearfully.
“What if it's Nikki?” Shawn countered. He shook off Gus's hand and carefully started making his way towards the right side of the room. He was halfway there when he heard a loud clang behind him. Whipping around, he saw Gus standing on one leg, holding his foot. “Dude, keep it down,” he said, trying not to sound like his heart was threatening to leap out of his chest.
“I tripped,” Gus hissed. They froze as they heard a scuffling noise ahead of them. “That's what I heard before,” Gus said, voice barely audible.
Shawn motioned Gus to be quiet and moved closer to investigate. He slipped between two piles of lumber, slowly approaching where the noise was coming from. Suddenly a dark shape darted in front of him. He fell back with a yelp, bringing the light up. He was just able to make out a small furry form, with a masked face and ringed tail, before it scampered off into the darkness.
He sighed in relief, glad for once it had been one of the masked demons. “Just a raccoon,” he whispered to Gus, peering after it. He got no reply. “Gus?” He turned around.
No Gus.
He retraced his steps back to where Gus had tripped. “Gus?” he called again, a little louder. Still no reply. “Where are you?” he muttered to himself, starting to get worried. Maybe they should have called for backup. Hoping Gus had just gotten turned around in the dark, he turned the brightness on the phone up to maximum and raised it above his head.
Just as he was wondering if it was a smart idea to signal his position with a killer on the loose, he sensed someone behind him. Before he could turn around, something hit him hard on the back of his head. He collapsed to the floor, sharp spikes of agony ripping through his skull. The cell phone spun away, light still shining. He was vaguely aware of someone walking towards him. Definitely should have called for backup he had time to think before he lost consciousness.
First, there was pain. He couldn’t tell what part of his body hurt, or if he even had a body. All he was aware of was the pain. He wished desperately it would go away or he could go back to wherever he had been before where it didn’t hurt so much.
Slowly, after what felt like years, the pain receded enough that other sensations could make it through to his brain. He was sitting slouched over on a hard, dry surface with his back against something cool and metallic. His legs were splayed out in front of him. His arms were bent back behind the metal object and his hands were secured with something rough.
His head was still throbbing and his shoulders were sore from the position he was sitting in. Nothing seemed life threatening but he didn’t plan on moving any time soon.
He heard noises to his left. Harsh breathing, and a scraping sound as something moved. Someone else was there. Friend or foe? His head was still fuzzy so he was having trouble remembering exactly what had happened. He pushed at the fog blocking his memories, ignoring the way it made his head throb more.
He had been looking for someone. Gus? Yes, and but not just him. There had been someone else. Someone just as important.
The fog suddenly lifted and his memory came in a rush.
Nikki.
An abandoned building.
Gus going missing.
Someone behind him, horrible pain, then blackness.
Shawn opened his eyes and groaned as a blinding light sent sharp spikes of pain through his head. He squeezed them shut again, contemplating living in darkness for the rest of his life. It would be hard, but manageable. Blind people do it all the time; he would just be living that way voluntarily.
The sounds to his left stopped. “Shawn?” He recognized Gus' voice. That answered one question at least. “Shawn? Can you hear me?”
He winced as Gus's loud voice caused his head to throb harder. “Dude, not so loud,” he said, voice raspy. Deciding that the blind life was not for him, (how would he watch movies?) he tried opening his eyes again. This time the light was not so intense. After a few moments, his eyes adjusted and he got his first glimpse of the space they were in. The light was coming from a small electric lantern sitting on a barrel about ten feet away. It lit up piles of lumber and old girders, leading him to believe they were still somewhere in that large central room. He looked up, wincing as the movement sent sharp pains through his head, and saw his arms were tied around one of the support beams for the floor above.
“Shawn?”
Turning his head carefully to the left, he saw Gus similarly tied up at the next beam over. Gus sighed in relief. “I was getting worried. You were unconscious for a long time.” He looked over Shawn with concern. “Are you okay?”
He laughed, then winced as the combination of sound and movement increased the throbbing in his head. “Let's see, someone snuck up on me, knocked me out, then tied me to a pillar.” He grinned wryly at Gus. “Yeah, I'm peachy.” He looked more closely at Gus's face. He had a nasty bruise forming over his right eye and a split lip. “You look like you've been in a fight. Did you put up a valiant yet fruitless struggle against our captor?”
“Not exactly.” Gus looked embarrassed. “I heard something and tripped running away. Newton grabbed me while I was laying stunned on the ground.”
Newton. Shawn had forgotten about him. He looked around the space, but didn't see any sign of another person. “Where is he?”
“I don't know. He said something about checking the perimeter. That was a few minutes before you woke up.”
“Then we'd better hurry up and escape.” Shawn started tugging on the rope binding his hands. If it was loose enough, maybe he could wriggle his hands free. Unfortunately, whoever had tied the ropes seemed to be an expert. There wasn't an inch of slack and the knots were nice and tight. “Hey Gus. Do you still have your phone?”
“Even if I did, how exactly would you propose I use it?” Gus asked. He moved his arms, reminding Shawn of his own bound hands.
“Good point.” Shawn racked his brain, but for the moment was drawing a blank. The two sat there quietly, waiting for something to happen. “Hey Gus?” he asked after a couple minutes.
Gus sighed. “Yes Shawn?”
“I have to pee.”
Gus glared at him. “If Newton doesn't kill you, I will.”
“He already tried once, what makes you think you'd do any better?” he asked challengingly.
“I've known you longer,” Gus said smugly. “I know your weaknesses. All I would need was a poisoned smoothie.”
He gasped. “Sacrilege!”
Gus grinned. “And that's why I would succeed.” His smile faded as his look turned more serious. “Besides, Newton wouldn't have gone through the trouble of tying us up if he wanted us dead. It wouldn't make sense to waste the time or the energy.”
“You are correct Mr. Guster.”
Shawn turned his head. While he and Gus had been arguing, Newton had appeared from the surrounding maze and was walking towards them. He stopped next to the barrel, the light illuminating only half his face and giving him a sinister look. “If I wanted you dead, you would be.” He studied them carefully, like they were lab specimens he was planning to dissect. “I see Mr. Spencer has finally woken up.”
“Are you the manager?” Shawn asked. “Because I must lodge a complaint. These accommodations are simply awful and the service leaves much to be desired.” He could never resist messing with the bad guys. If it threw them off their game, all the better.
Newton just looked at him blankly. “I may have inadvertently used too much force hitting you on the head. It appears I caused brain damage.”
“He always talks like that,” Gus said quickly. “Don't antagonize our captor Shawn,” he muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
“I know what I'm doing,” Shawn muttered back. “I've done this before.”
“And every time the police showed up and rescued us,” Gus pointed out. “What's the plan now?”
“I'm improvising,” Shawn said. “If we just had our phones. . . “
“I can hear everything you are saying,” Newton said, glancing back and forth between the two of them. “I'm only 3.17 meters away.”
Shawn looked at him blankly. “That's 10.4 feet,” Newton explained with a sigh. “As to the cell phones. . .” He picked them up from the barrel and showed them to Shawn and Gus. “I already disabled them.” The screen on Shawn's phone had been smashed in but Gus' appeared intact, minus the battery. Shawn wondered if his insurance covered damage caused by insane killers.
Newton put the phones down and pulled something from his pocket. Shawn had enough time to realize it was the battery from Gus' phone before Newton tossed it off into the room. “Now there is no way for you to use the phone without recovering both pieces, which I see as highly unlikely.”
Shawn followed its path with his eyes, making a note of where they landed. “That seemed a little unnecessary,” he said when Newton's attention was back on them. “You smashed my phone, why not smash Gus' as well?”
“He didn't mean that,” Gus said quickly. He glared at him. “It's a company phone, Shawn. That means I have to pay for any damages to it. It's bad enough I have to replace the battery now.”
Shawn rolled his eyes and immediately regretted it when the room spun sickeningly. He swallowed hard against the urge to vomit. “Dude, I think we have more important things to worry about right now.”
“Mr. Spencer is correct,” Newton said. “However, it is an intelligent question so I will answer it. I obviously can't use my own phone anymore. Mr. Guster's phone is a common model. It will not be hard to get a replacement sim card or battery.”
“Why not use a burner phone?” Shawn asked.
Newton shook his head. “The police will be watching any sales for those phones in and around the city. This they will not expect.” He went back over to the barrel and picked something up.
Shawn was momentarily distracted by movement near where the battery had landed. It was probably just an animal but Nikki was still out there somewhere. Maybe she was close enough to see what was happening.
“I had hoped to avoid this,” Newton said. “But you are proving to be more intelligent than I original expected.” Gus gasped and Shawn refocused on Newton.
The thing he had picked up from the barrel was a gun. “Really? A gun?” Shawn asked. “You're a scientist. Shouldn't it be some kind of death ray or other weird gadget?” He looked at Newton with disappointment. “You're ruining the image of evil scientists everywhere.”
“Shut up, Shawn,” Gus hissed.
“I'm not evil,” Newton insisted. “I was justified in what I did.”
Shawn saw movement around the nearest pile of lumber. There was a flash of brown hair as someone peeked around the pile. “That's right,” he said, earning him a surprised look from Gus. “Sanders stole your work.” He needed to get Newton talking, keep his attention away from that pile.
“I spent years working on that research,” Newton said, moving closer to Shawn. “Years of work in the lab, spending my nights and weekends experimenting. Years of making sure my work was absolutely perfect. And for what? So some two-bit hack, jealous of my brilliance, can steal my masterpieces and claim them for his own.” Newton's face was flush with anger and he was breathing hard. The distraction was working better than Shawn had hoped. He definitely had Newton's full attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nikki cautiously peeking around the lumber again. He met her gaze and tried to direct her attention towards the barrel.
“What are you looking at?” Newton asked suddenly. He turned to look behind him as Nikki ducked back behind the pile.
“Nothing,” Shawn said quickly, causing Newton to turn back towards him. “There is absolutely nothing there. Right Gus?”
“Right,” Gus agreed, giving him a quick, worried look. He had seen Nikki too. “I certainly didn't see anything.”
“I should check just to make sure,” Newton said. He turned and started walking towards Nikki's hiding place.
Shawn and Gus exchanged a panicked glance. “Stealing your work must have made you mad.” Gus said desperately.
Newton paused. Shawn jumped at the hesitation. “Not just mad, vengeful. Sanders was wrong and nobody stopped him.” There was an anxious moment where Shawn wasn't sure if Newton would take the bait. He breathed a sigh of relief when Newton turned back towards them. Luckily, he appeared to be the type of villain who liked to explain his plan to his victims. Shawn was glad Santa Barbara seemed to have an unusually large number of these chatty bad guys.
“I tried going through the proper channels,” Newton said. “But it was his word against mine and Sanders had friends on the review board. I didn't have a chance.” He walked back towards Shawn. “You see why I had to kill him. I had no choice.” He stopped in front of Shawn, looking at him intently. “You understand, right?” The hand holding the gun was trembling slightly.
“No choice at all,” Shawn agreed. Newton was starting to get too emotional now. He better tread carefully. “The way you did it was brilliant. I mean, sabotaging the experiment to make it look like an accident? Pure genius.”
“That was easy,” Newton said dismissively. “It was pinning it on Pratt that was the tricky part.”
“How did you accomplish that?” Gus asked, drawing Newton's attention towards him.
“First I had to steal glassware from Pratt's lab, so it had his fingerprints on it,” Newton said, moving closer to Gus. He started going into detail how he staged Sanders' death and Pratt's downfall.
Shawn meanwhile watched Nikki's hiding place. She peeked around the pile, studying the situation carefully. He met her gaze and nodded. She slowly stepped out into the open and made her way towards the barrel. Gus kept Newton talking, keeping his attention away from Nikki. She was almost there when her foot scuffed against the dirt on the floor. She immediately dropped down behind the barrel, using it as cover.
“What was that?” Newton asked, glancing over.
“Rats?” Gus said hesitantly.
Newton didn't look convinced. He moved towards the barrel, gun held out in front of him. Shawn held his breath, praying he didn't see Nikki. As he moved past the barrel, Nikki twisted to make sure it stayed between the two of them, keeping her hidden. Apparently satisfied no one was there, he walked back towards them.
Shawn let out his breath slowly. That was too close.
Newton frowned at the two of them. “You both seem tense.”
Shawn made a conscious effort to appear more relaxed. “Just anxious to hear more of your brilliance.” Newton did not look convinced. “Tell us about Cooper,” he asked quickly, trying to distract him.
Newton sighed. “Cooper was an unfortunate complication. He had seen me taking glassware from Pratt's lab the day before the accident. He confronted me while I was planting evidence for the police to find.”
That explained why Cooper was killed in Pratt's lab. “Go on,” Shawn encouraged. He saw Nikki reach carefully over the top of the barrel and grab Gus' phone. Mission accomplished, she started making her way silently back to the safety of the lumber pile.
“I thought dumping the body far from the school would buy me enough time to get out of town.” Newton looked accusingly at Shawn. “I did not expect such a quick identification. I barely had enough time to put my plan into action.”
“My bad,” Shawn said, tracking Nikki's progress out of the corner of his eye. He just needed to keep Newton talking a little bit longer; Nikki was just a few steps away from safety. At that moment, she tripped. She caught herself before she fell, but the noise attracted Newton's attention. She dived for the lumber pile but was just a bit too slow.
“There is someone here!” Newton shouted. He walked quickly over to the barrel, cursing when he noticed the missing cell phone. He turned to glare at Shawn and Gus. “Who is she?” he asked, pointing his gun at Shawn.
“No one,” Shawn said quickly. “Probably just some homeless kid looking for food.” Gus nodded frantically, eyes darting worriedly between the gun and Shawn.
Newton didn't appear to believe them. He took a deep breath, calming himself. “She took the phone. She might have the battery. I need to go after for her.” He spoke to himself, as if Shawn and Gus weren't even there. He chocked the gun, earning a frightened yelp from Gus. He glanced briefly at them. “I'll be back as soon as I take care of this complication.”
“Wait! Don't you think you may be overreacting?” Shawn asked, tugging on his bonds futily. “Newton!”
Newton ignored him and kept walking out into the maze after Nikki.
Lassiter fought to keep his eyes open as he drove down the dark streets. After a night with no sleep and the disastrous interview with Pratt, he thought they had finally caught a break with the bus ticket. He and O’Hara had driven the hour out to Lompoc to talk to the bus driver of the route Newton bought the ticket for. However, the driver had never seen Newton and the security cameras on the bus collaborated his story. Newton had never boarded the bus. He had wasted the whole damn day on a dead end.
He glanced over at his partner. O'Hara was leaning against the window, staring sleepily at the scenery at it went by. The street lights flickered across her face, the shadows hiding the dark circles under her eyes. It had been a hard few days for both of them. And what did they have to show for it?
Nothing.
He took the exit off the 101 for State St. Maybe he would swing by the bus station again and see if they had missed anything.
O'Hara glanced at the clock. “It's later than I thought. I should probably call Shawn before he starts to worry.” She pulled out her phone and started dialing. “Hi honey, sorry I'm running late. I'm on my way back into town and should be at the station in twenty minutes. Love you.” She hung up and frowned down at the phone.
“Something wrong?” he asked, glancing over at her.
“It went straight to voicemail. Shawn never shuts his phone off during a case.” He could hear the worry starting to creep into her voice.
“Maybe he forgot to charge it again,” he said logically. He had learned to trust her instincts in most matters, but her feelings for Spencer tended to cloud her judgment. “I'm sure he's fine.”
She sighed. “You're probably right.” She turned back to stare out the window, still frowning.
Lassiter looked back to the road. O'Hara had been worried about Spencer lately, saying he was pushing himself too hard. Lassiter had hoped this would mean she would convince Spencer to drop the case. It would have been nice to work without the interference. But Spencer was like a terrier; once he got his teeth in something, he wouldn't let go. It was what put him at odds with Spencer so often. Spencer would solve even the toughest cases in record time, leaving the police to play catch up. He had hoped to beat Spencer this time, but with the bus ticket being a bust and no other leads, it wasn't looking likely. Spencer had probably found Newton already.
His phone started ringing. “Speak of the devil,” he muttered darkly. When he glanced at the phone, he was surprised to see it was Guster calling. “That's strange,” he said slowly. He could count on one hand the number of times Guster had called him during a case.
He could feel O’Hara’s worry starting to infect him and he did his best to squash it. Maybe Spencer couldn't use his own phone so he had borrowed Guster's. That made sense. No need to get worked up over nothing. He pulled over into the next empty parking lot to take the call.
“What's strange?” O'Hara asked. She leaned over to look at his phone. “Why is Gus calling you?” She looked up at him worriedly.
“Let's find out.” He picked up the phone and answered it. “Lassiter.”
There was a brief pause before someone spoke. “You have to get to the abandoned building on State Street right away.” The voice was that of a young female, definitely not Guster. It sounded oddly familiar, but he couldn't place where he had heard it before.
“Who is this?” he asked sharply. “How did you get this phone?” He could see panic starting to form in O'Hara's eyes. He turned away, trying to ignore his own growing concern and focus on the call.
“That's not important,” the voice said impatiently. “Newton's here and - ” The voice cut off as a loud bang echoed through the phone.
Lassiter tensed. He knew the sound of a gunshot when he heard one. He went into cop mode, pushing his personal feelings aside. He needed to gather as much information about what was happening as he could. “Where in the building?”
“A large open room filled with supplies,” the voice whispered. She sounded scared. Most people were when they were getting shot at. “It's not just him. He has Shawn and Gus tied up on the right side of the room.”
He cursed. Of course Spencer was there. Find a mad man with a gun, firing at people, and the psychic was bound to be close by. “What's Newton doing now?”
“Looking for me.” He heard the sound of something scraping on a rough surface. “I think he's close.” She was starting to panic. He needed to calm her down and keep her focused on him.
“Don't move,” he said, keeping his voice steady. He popped the car into gear and pulled back onto the road, flicking on his lights and sirens. “We're about five minutes out. I want you to stay put. Don't draw attention to yourself.”
“OK - ” He heard another bang followed by a cry of pain before the line went dead.
“Shit!” Driving one handed, he tried calling Guster's phone. It went straight to voicemail. He dropped the phone and grabbed the radio. “Car 42 to dispatch.”
“This is dispatch. Go ahead Car 42.”
“We're heading to the abandoned building on State Street. Newton has been sighted in the area. Reports of gunfire.” Lassiter glanced at O'Hara before continuing. “He may have hostages.” He saw her freeze at his words. “Requesting backup. Over.”
“Dispatch to Car 42. Two cars are being sent to meet you at the site. ETA 10 minutes. Over.”
“Affirmative. Over.” He put the radio back and looked at O'Hara.
Her face had gone blank, all emotion gone except for the fear he could see in her eyes. “The hostages,” she said quietly. “Shawn and Gus?” He nodded. “Drive faster.”
He sped up, the girl's cry playing in his head. It sounded like Newton had already shot one person. He hoped the two consultants wouldn’t be next.
Chapter 14
Author: moondragon25 (or moondragon23 on other sites)
Pairing: Shawn/Juliet
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Life is great for Shawn Spencer. He has a cool job, a smart, beautiful girlfriend, and gets to hang with his best friend all day. What more could a guy want? When he gets his next two cases, a dead chemistry professor and a girl looking for her father, it looks like business as usual. Too bad things never go that simply when Shawn is involved. REWRITE OF TWO DEAD GUYS AND A GIRL!
Disclaimer: I do not own Psych or any of its characters. All other publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: I'm sorry this chapter is so late. I've been getting really bad migraines the last few weeks that have made it impossible to concentrate on anything. I'm trying to get as much done on headache free days as possible so hopefully the next chapter won't be so delayed.
I hope you all enjoy the story.
Flashback
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13: The Mad Scientist's Lair
The sun was setting when they arrived at the abandoned building. It was already hidden behind the surrounding structures, the entire area cast into shadow. From what they could see, most of the first floor appeared finished, minus doors and windows. The second and third stories were just framework in the open air. With the light growing dimmer by the minute, the setting was eerily similar to half the slasher films Shawn had seen.
Shawn and Gus sat in the car, staring at the building. “Creepy,” Gus said with a shiver.
“Yeah,” Shawn agreed. A missing girl in a building with a murderer. Two guys going in, unprepared, to find her. Yup, this had horror movie written all over it. He hoped it didn't end up like one. He shook his head to dispel that train of thought and turned to Gus. “Well, it's not going to get any less slasher movie-e. Shall we?”
Gus stopped him before he could get out of the car. “Shouldn't we call the police first?” he asked worriedly.
Shawn shook his head. “Not until we find Nikki. The police can't know she was here.” He climbed out of the car before Gus could protest further.
They headed across the lot and cautiously entered the building through one of the open doorways. Inside it was already dark, the fading sunlight unable to penetrate this far. They stopped just inside the doorway, peering into the blackness.
He nudged Gus. “Dude, go get your flashlight out of the car.”
“I can't,” Gus said, turning to him. “You took it out of the glove compartment to make room for your candy.”
“Sometimes I need a sugar boost while working on a case,” he said defensively.
Gus rolled his eyes. “Didn't you download one of those flashlight apps to your phone?”
“I did,” he said excitedly, patting Gus on the back. He pulled out his phone and quickly found the app. He tapped it and a bright light immediately shone from the phone. After a couple seconds his phone beeped and the light blinked off. “Guess I needed to charge it more,” he said, staring at the blank screen. “What about your phone?”
Gus sighed but pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned on the app.
Shawn immediately grabbed the phone and waved it around, illuminating patches of the room. “Cool,” he said, grinning.
Gus grabbed his arm, pointing the light towards the ground. “Are you trying to signal to Newton we're here?” he hissed.
Shawn winced. “Good point.” He dimmed the light and angled the phone so it shone on the ground in front of them. They had just enough light to see where they were going. “Ready?”
“I'll be ready once you give me my phone back,” Gus said.
“If you have the phone, you'll have to go first into the creepy building where a murderer is hiding.”
Gus scowled at him. “Fine. Just be careful with it. It's a company phone.”
Shawn rolled his eyes and led the way deeper into the building.
The rooms near the front were the most complete. The further back they went, the more debris and building supplies they saw. Eventually they reached an open space near the center of the building. Shawn turned up the brightness on his phone and shone it around. The area was piled high with a maze of old dry wall, lumber, and extra support beams.
Gus suddenly grabbed his arm. “Did you hear that?”
Shawn listened carefully for a moment. “Hear what?”
“Sshhhh!” Gus hissed. “Don't talk so loud.”
“I don't hear anything,” Shawn hissed back.
“I thought I heard something over there,” Gus said, pointing to their right. Shawn started to head in that direction but Gus stopped him. “What if it's Newton?” he asked fearfully.
“What if it's Nikki?” Shawn countered. He shook off Gus's hand and carefully started making his way towards the right side of the room. He was halfway there when he heard a loud clang behind him. Whipping around, he saw Gus standing on one leg, holding his foot. “Dude, keep it down,” he said, trying not to sound like his heart was threatening to leap out of his chest.
“I tripped,” Gus hissed. They froze as they heard a scuffling noise ahead of them. “That's what I heard before,” Gus said, voice barely audible.
Shawn motioned Gus to be quiet and moved closer to investigate. He slipped between two piles of lumber, slowly approaching where the noise was coming from. Suddenly a dark shape darted in front of him. He fell back with a yelp, bringing the light up. He was just able to make out a small furry form, with a masked face and ringed tail, before it scampered off into the darkness.
He sighed in relief, glad for once it had been one of the masked demons. “Just a raccoon,” he whispered to Gus, peering after it. He got no reply. “Gus?” He turned around.
No Gus.
He retraced his steps back to where Gus had tripped. “Gus?” he called again, a little louder. Still no reply. “Where are you?” he muttered to himself, starting to get worried. Maybe they should have called for backup. Hoping Gus had just gotten turned around in the dark, he turned the brightness on the phone up to maximum and raised it above his head.
Just as he was wondering if it was a smart idea to signal his position with a killer on the loose, he sensed someone behind him. Before he could turn around, something hit him hard on the back of his head. He collapsed to the floor, sharp spikes of agony ripping through his skull. The cell phone spun away, light still shining. He was vaguely aware of someone walking towards him. Definitely should have called for backup he had time to think before he lost consciousness.
First, there was pain. He couldn’t tell what part of his body hurt, or if he even had a body. All he was aware of was the pain. He wished desperately it would go away or he could go back to wherever he had been before where it didn’t hurt so much.
Slowly, after what felt like years, the pain receded enough that other sensations could make it through to his brain. He was sitting slouched over on a hard, dry surface with his back against something cool and metallic. His legs were splayed out in front of him. His arms were bent back behind the metal object and his hands were secured with something rough.
His head was still throbbing and his shoulders were sore from the position he was sitting in. Nothing seemed life threatening but he didn’t plan on moving any time soon.
He heard noises to his left. Harsh breathing, and a scraping sound as something moved. Someone else was there. Friend or foe? His head was still fuzzy so he was having trouble remembering exactly what had happened. He pushed at the fog blocking his memories, ignoring the way it made his head throb more.
He had been looking for someone. Gus? Yes, and but not just him. There had been someone else. Someone just as important.
The fog suddenly lifted and his memory came in a rush.
Nikki.
An abandoned building.
Gus going missing.
Someone behind him, horrible pain, then blackness.
Shawn opened his eyes and groaned as a blinding light sent sharp spikes of pain through his head. He squeezed them shut again, contemplating living in darkness for the rest of his life. It would be hard, but manageable. Blind people do it all the time; he would just be living that way voluntarily.
The sounds to his left stopped. “Shawn?” He recognized Gus' voice. That answered one question at least. “Shawn? Can you hear me?”
He winced as Gus's loud voice caused his head to throb harder. “Dude, not so loud,” he said, voice raspy. Deciding that the blind life was not for him, (how would he watch movies?) he tried opening his eyes again. This time the light was not so intense. After a few moments, his eyes adjusted and he got his first glimpse of the space they were in. The light was coming from a small electric lantern sitting on a barrel about ten feet away. It lit up piles of lumber and old girders, leading him to believe they were still somewhere in that large central room. He looked up, wincing as the movement sent sharp pains through his head, and saw his arms were tied around one of the support beams for the floor above.
“Shawn?”
Turning his head carefully to the left, he saw Gus similarly tied up at the next beam over. Gus sighed in relief. “I was getting worried. You were unconscious for a long time.” He looked over Shawn with concern. “Are you okay?”
He laughed, then winced as the combination of sound and movement increased the throbbing in his head. “Let's see, someone snuck up on me, knocked me out, then tied me to a pillar.” He grinned wryly at Gus. “Yeah, I'm peachy.” He looked more closely at Gus's face. He had a nasty bruise forming over his right eye and a split lip. “You look like you've been in a fight. Did you put up a valiant yet fruitless struggle against our captor?”
“Not exactly.” Gus looked embarrassed. “I heard something and tripped running away. Newton grabbed me while I was laying stunned on the ground.”
Newton. Shawn had forgotten about him. He looked around the space, but didn't see any sign of another person. “Where is he?”
“I don't know. He said something about checking the perimeter. That was a few minutes before you woke up.”
“Then we'd better hurry up and escape.” Shawn started tugging on the rope binding his hands. If it was loose enough, maybe he could wriggle his hands free. Unfortunately, whoever had tied the ropes seemed to be an expert. There wasn't an inch of slack and the knots were nice and tight. “Hey Gus. Do you still have your phone?”
“Even if I did, how exactly would you propose I use it?” Gus asked. He moved his arms, reminding Shawn of his own bound hands.
“Good point.” Shawn racked his brain, but for the moment was drawing a blank. The two sat there quietly, waiting for something to happen. “Hey Gus?” he asked after a couple minutes.
Gus sighed. “Yes Shawn?”
“I have to pee.”
Gus glared at him. “If Newton doesn't kill you, I will.”
“He already tried once, what makes you think you'd do any better?” he asked challengingly.
“I've known you longer,” Gus said smugly. “I know your weaknesses. All I would need was a poisoned smoothie.”
He gasped. “Sacrilege!”
Gus grinned. “And that's why I would succeed.” His smile faded as his look turned more serious. “Besides, Newton wouldn't have gone through the trouble of tying us up if he wanted us dead. It wouldn't make sense to waste the time or the energy.”
“You are correct Mr. Guster.”
Shawn turned his head. While he and Gus had been arguing, Newton had appeared from the surrounding maze and was walking towards them. He stopped next to the barrel, the light illuminating only half his face and giving him a sinister look. “If I wanted you dead, you would be.” He studied them carefully, like they were lab specimens he was planning to dissect. “I see Mr. Spencer has finally woken up.”
“Are you the manager?” Shawn asked. “Because I must lodge a complaint. These accommodations are simply awful and the service leaves much to be desired.” He could never resist messing with the bad guys. If it threw them off their game, all the better.
Newton just looked at him blankly. “I may have inadvertently used too much force hitting you on the head. It appears I caused brain damage.”
“He always talks like that,” Gus said quickly. “Don't antagonize our captor Shawn,” he muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
“I know what I'm doing,” Shawn muttered back. “I've done this before.”
“And every time the police showed up and rescued us,” Gus pointed out. “What's the plan now?”
“I'm improvising,” Shawn said. “If we just had our phones. . . “
“I can hear everything you are saying,” Newton said, glancing back and forth between the two of them. “I'm only 3.17 meters away.”
Shawn looked at him blankly. “That's 10.4 feet,” Newton explained with a sigh. “As to the cell phones. . .” He picked them up from the barrel and showed them to Shawn and Gus. “I already disabled them.” The screen on Shawn's phone had been smashed in but Gus' appeared intact, minus the battery. Shawn wondered if his insurance covered damage caused by insane killers.
Newton put the phones down and pulled something from his pocket. Shawn had enough time to realize it was the battery from Gus' phone before Newton tossed it off into the room. “Now there is no way for you to use the phone without recovering both pieces, which I see as highly unlikely.”
Shawn followed its path with his eyes, making a note of where they landed. “That seemed a little unnecessary,” he said when Newton's attention was back on them. “You smashed my phone, why not smash Gus' as well?”
“He didn't mean that,” Gus said quickly. He glared at him. “It's a company phone, Shawn. That means I have to pay for any damages to it. It's bad enough I have to replace the battery now.”
Shawn rolled his eyes and immediately regretted it when the room spun sickeningly. He swallowed hard against the urge to vomit. “Dude, I think we have more important things to worry about right now.”
“Mr. Spencer is correct,” Newton said. “However, it is an intelligent question so I will answer it. I obviously can't use my own phone anymore. Mr. Guster's phone is a common model. It will not be hard to get a replacement sim card or battery.”
“Why not use a burner phone?” Shawn asked.
Newton shook his head. “The police will be watching any sales for those phones in and around the city. This they will not expect.” He went back over to the barrel and picked something up.
Shawn was momentarily distracted by movement near where the battery had landed. It was probably just an animal but Nikki was still out there somewhere. Maybe she was close enough to see what was happening.
“I had hoped to avoid this,” Newton said. “But you are proving to be more intelligent than I original expected.” Gus gasped and Shawn refocused on Newton.
The thing he had picked up from the barrel was a gun. “Really? A gun?” Shawn asked. “You're a scientist. Shouldn't it be some kind of death ray or other weird gadget?” He looked at Newton with disappointment. “You're ruining the image of evil scientists everywhere.”
“Shut up, Shawn,” Gus hissed.
“I'm not evil,” Newton insisted. “I was justified in what I did.”
Shawn saw movement around the nearest pile of lumber. There was a flash of brown hair as someone peeked around the pile. “That's right,” he said, earning him a surprised look from Gus. “Sanders stole your work.” He needed to get Newton talking, keep his attention away from that pile.
“I spent years working on that research,” Newton said, moving closer to Shawn. “Years of work in the lab, spending my nights and weekends experimenting. Years of making sure my work was absolutely perfect. And for what? So some two-bit hack, jealous of my brilliance, can steal my masterpieces and claim them for his own.” Newton's face was flush with anger and he was breathing hard. The distraction was working better than Shawn had hoped. He definitely had Newton's full attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nikki cautiously peeking around the lumber again. He met her gaze and tried to direct her attention towards the barrel.
“What are you looking at?” Newton asked suddenly. He turned to look behind him as Nikki ducked back behind the pile.
“Nothing,” Shawn said quickly, causing Newton to turn back towards him. “There is absolutely nothing there. Right Gus?”
“Right,” Gus agreed, giving him a quick, worried look. He had seen Nikki too. “I certainly didn't see anything.”
“I should check just to make sure,” Newton said. He turned and started walking towards Nikki's hiding place.
Shawn and Gus exchanged a panicked glance. “Stealing your work must have made you mad.” Gus said desperately.
Newton paused. Shawn jumped at the hesitation. “Not just mad, vengeful. Sanders was wrong and nobody stopped him.” There was an anxious moment where Shawn wasn't sure if Newton would take the bait. He breathed a sigh of relief when Newton turned back towards them. Luckily, he appeared to be the type of villain who liked to explain his plan to his victims. Shawn was glad Santa Barbara seemed to have an unusually large number of these chatty bad guys.
“I tried going through the proper channels,” Newton said. “But it was his word against mine and Sanders had friends on the review board. I didn't have a chance.” He walked back towards Shawn. “You see why I had to kill him. I had no choice.” He stopped in front of Shawn, looking at him intently. “You understand, right?” The hand holding the gun was trembling slightly.
“No choice at all,” Shawn agreed. Newton was starting to get too emotional now. He better tread carefully. “The way you did it was brilliant. I mean, sabotaging the experiment to make it look like an accident? Pure genius.”
“That was easy,” Newton said dismissively. “It was pinning it on Pratt that was the tricky part.”
“How did you accomplish that?” Gus asked, drawing Newton's attention towards him.
“First I had to steal glassware from Pratt's lab, so it had his fingerprints on it,” Newton said, moving closer to Gus. He started going into detail how he staged Sanders' death and Pratt's downfall.
Shawn meanwhile watched Nikki's hiding place. She peeked around the pile, studying the situation carefully. He met her gaze and nodded. She slowly stepped out into the open and made her way towards the barrel. Gus kept Newton talking, keeping his attention away from Nikki. She was almost there when her foot scuffed against the dirt on the floor. She immediately dropped down behind the barrel, using it as cover.
“What was that?” Newton asked, glancing over.
“Rats?” Gus said hesitantly.
Newton didn't look convinced. He moved towards the barrel, gun held out in front of him. Shawn held his breath, praying he didn't see Nikki. As he moved past the barrel, Nikki twisted to make sure it stayed between the two of them, keeping her hidden. Apparently satisfied no one was there, he walked back towards them.
Shawn let out his breath slowly. That was too close.
Newton frowned at the two of them. “You both seem tense.”
Shawn made a conscious effort to appear more relaxed. “Just anxious to hear more of your brilliance.” Newton did not look convinced. “Tell us about Cooper,” he asked quickly, trying to distract him.
Newton sighed. “Cooper was an unfortunate complication. He had seen me taking glassware from Pratt's lab the day before the accident. He confronted me while I was planting evidence for the police to find.”
That explained why Cooper was killed in Pratt's lab. “Go on,” Shawn encouraged. He saw Nikki reach carefully over the top of the barrel and grab Gus' phone. Mission accomplished, she started making her way silently back to the safety of the lumber pile.
“I thought dumping the body far from the school would buy me enough time to get out of town.” Newton looked accusingly at Shawn. “I did not expect such a quick identification. I barely had enough time to put my plan into action.”
“My bad,” Shawn said, tracking Nikki's progress out of the corner of his eye. He just needed to keep Newton talking a little bit longer; Nikki was just a few steps away from safety. At that moment, she tripped. She caught herself before she fell, but the noise attracted Newton's attention. She dived for the lumber pile but was just a bit too slow.
“There is someone here!” Newton shouted. He walked quickly over to the barrel, cursing when he noticed the missing cell phone. He turned to glare at Shawn and Gus. “Who is she?” he asked, pointing his gun at Shawn.
“No one,” Shawn said quickly. “Probably just some homeless kid looking for food.” Gus nodded frantically, eyes darting worriedly between the gun and Shawn.
Newton didn't appear to believe them. He took a deep breath, calming himself. “She took the phone. She might have the battery. I need to go after for her.” He spoke to himself, as if Shawn and Gus weren't even there. He chocked the gun, earning a frightened yelp from Gus. He glanced briefly at them. “I'll be back as soon as I take care of this complication.”
“Wait! Don't you think you may be overreacting?” Shawn asked, tugging on his bonds futily. “Newton!”
Newton ignored him and kept walking out into the maze after Nikki.
Lassiter fought to keep his eyes open as he drove down the dark streets. After a night with no sleep and the disastrous interview with Pratt, he thought they had finally caught a break with the bus ticket. He and O’Hara had driven the hour out to Lompoc to talk to the bus driver of the route Newton bought the ticket for. However, the driver had never seen Newton and the security cameras on the bus collaborated his story. Newton had never boarded the bus. He had wasted the whole damn day on a dead end.
He glanced over at his partner. O'Hara was leaning against the window, staring sleepily at the scenery at it went by. The street lights flickered across her face, the shadows hiding the dark circles under her eyes. It had been a hard few days for both of them. And what did they have to show for it?
Nothing.
He took the exit off the 101 for State St. Maybe he would swing by the bus station again and see if they had missed anything.
O'Hara glanced at the clock. “It's later than I thought. I should probably call Shawn before he starts to worry.” She pulled out her phone and started dialing. “Hi honey, sorry I'm running late. I'm on my way back into town and should be at the station in twenty minutes. Love you.” She hung up and frowned down at the phone.
“Something wrong?” he asked, glancing over at her.
“It went straight to voicemail. Shawn never shuts his phone off during a case.” He could hear the worry starting to creep into her voice.
“Maybe he forgot to charge it again,” he said logically. He had learned to trust her instincts in most matters, but her feelings for Spencer tended to cloud her judgment. “I'm sure he's fine.”
She sighed. “You're probably right.” She turned back to stare out the window, still frowning.
Lassiter looked back to the road. O'Hara had been worried about Spencer lately, saying he was pushing himself too hard. Lassiter had hoped this would mean she would convince Spencer to drop the case. It would have been nice to work without the interference. But Spencer was like a terrier; once he got his teeth in something, he wouldn't let go. It was what put him at odds with Spencer so often. Spencer would solve even the toughest cases in record time, leaving the police to play catch up. He had hoped to beat Spencer this time, but with the bus ticket being a bust and no other leads, it wasn't looking likely. Spencer had probably found Newton already.
His phone started ringing. “Speak of the devil,” he muttered darkly. When he glanced at the phone, he was surprised to see it was Guster calling. “That's strange,” he said slowly. He could count on one hand the number of times Guster had called him during a case.
He could feel O’Hara’s worry starting to infect him and he did his best to squash it. Maybe Spencer couldn't use his own phone so he had borrowed Guster's. That made sense. No need to get worked up over nothing. He pulled over into the next empty parking lot to take the call.
“What's strange?” O'Hara asked. She leaned over to look at his phone. “Why is Gus calling you?” She looked up at him worriedly.
“Let's find out.” He picked up the phone and answered it. “Lassiter.”
There was a brief pause before someone spoke. “You have to get to the abandoned building on State Street right away.” The voice was that of a young female, definitely not Guster. It sounded oddly familiar, but he couldn't place where he had heard it before.
“Who is this?” he asked sharply. “How did you get this phone?” He could see panic starting to form in O'Hara's eyes. He turned away, trying to ignore his own growing concern and focus on the call.
“That's not important,” the voice said impatiently. “Newton's here and - ” The voice cut off as a loud bang echoed through the phone.
Lassiter tensed. He knew the sound of a gunshot when he heard one. He went into cop mode, pushing his personal feelings aside. He needed to gather as much information about what was happening as he could. “Where in the building?”
“A large open room filled with supplies,” the voice whispered. She sounded scared. Most people were when they were getting shot at. “It's not just him. He has Shawn and Gus tied up on the right side of the room.”
He cursed. Of course Spencer was there. Find a mad man with a gun, firing at people, and the psychic was bound to be close by. “What's Newton doing now?”
“Looking for me.” He heard the sound of something scraping on a rough surface. “I think he's close.” She was starting to panic. He needed to calm her down and keep her focused on him.
“Don't move,” he said, keeping his voice steady. He popped the car into gear and pulled back onto the road, flicking on his lights and sirens. “We're about five minutes out. I want you to stay put. Don't draw attention to yourself.”
“OK - ” He heard another bang followed by a cry of pain before the line went dead.
“Shit!” Driving one handed, he tried calling Guster's phone. It went straight to voicemail. He dropped the phone and grabbed the radio. “Car 42 to dispatch.”
“This is dispatch. Go ahead Car 42.”
“We're heading to the abandoned building on State Street. Newton has been sighted in the area. Reports of gunfire.” Lassiter glanced at O'Hara before continuing. “He may have hostages.” He saw her freeze at his words. “Requesting backup. Over.”
“Dispatch to Car 42. Two cars are being sent to meet you at the site. ETA 10 minutes. Over.”
“Affirmative. Over.” He put the radio back and looked at O'Hara.
Her face had gone blank, all emotion gone except for the fear he could see in her eyes. “The hostages,” she said quietly. “Shawn and Gus?” He nodded. “Drive faster.”
He sped up, the girl's cry playing in his head. It sounded like Newton had already shot one person. He hoped the two consultants wouldn’t be next.
Chapter 14