Part 19

The words sent shivers through Tom as he struggled to open his eyes in the piercing light. He tensed as he felt the doctor sit on the cot beside him, unsure of the man's intentions. "Hungry? I have some more nutritional supplements here." Dr. Leonard motioned to his bag on the floor. Tom nodded and the doctor soon had one ready, extending the straw for him to drink. Tom pulled at his restraints in frustration. "I really am very sorry, but it has to be this way. You do know that, don't you?" Tom's only answer was to lean forward to accept the offered straw, knowing he had no choice but to drink if he wanted to regain enough strength to get out of his prison.

Dr. Leonard followed the "meal" with a drink of water for Tom, which he again didn't quite finish. While the doctor was dumping the leftover water, Tom's mind wandered back to the words that were spoken only minutes earlier. The phrase "this fine morning" echoed loudly in his mind. On the way back to his patient, the doctor noticed Tom's expression. Sitting on the cot once more, he questioned the detective. "Something's on your mind. Why don't you tell me about it?"

Tom shook his head, still not speaking to the captor. Dr. Leonard wasn't ready to give up, however. "I promise I'll try to answer any questions you might have. There are a couple of things I can't tell you, but please, go ahead. Ask me."

Tom stared at the man for several minutes before finding his voice, debating how badly he needed the answers to his questions. "Is...is it...really..." He closed his eyes and shook his head in an almost imperceptible motion.

The doctor refused to let the attempt go. "It's all right. Please continue. I will answer you, I promise."

Tom opened his eyes and decided he had to have the answers the doctor offered. "Is it...is it really morning? What morning is it?" Despite his efforts to the contrary, Tom's words sounded more like a desperate plea than a simple question.

Dr. Leonard didn't answer immediately. He kept his voice low when he finally spoke. "George doesn't want you to know this, but if you promise this will stay between us, I will tell you. Do I have your word?" Tom nodded. "Remember, if he finds out I told you, we will BOTH pay dearly." The doctor paused and Tom again nodded. "All right, then. To answer your first question, yes, it is morning. It's Thursday morning to be exact."

Tom swallowed hard. "Four days? I've been here for four days?" This time it was the doctor's turn to nod. Tom stared straight ahead for several moments, allowing the information to sink in. When he lifted his eyes, the doctor nodded for him to voice the unspoken question there. "What. . .What did George mean when he said you needed to talk about the plan for tomorrow night? Did he mean tonight?"

Again his questions were met with momentary silence. Dr. Leonard seemed very nervous about this subject, but quickly recovered. "I can't give you the specific details of his plan, but I will tell you that he did indeed mean tonight."

Tom fought the urge to panic and pushed the man for answers. "I'm supposed to...he's going to...I'm going to die tonight, aren't I?" He couldn't slow his rapid breathing, despite the pain from his injuries.

The doctor did not hesitate in answering this time. "NO! I will not let him hurt you! I promised you that, Tommy, and I meant it. You-will-not-die." Tom was taken aback by the cold fury in his voice. He wasn't sure whether to be comforted by it or frightened of it. Fear slammed into him like a fist in the stomach at the doctor's next words. "Let's shelve the Q&A for now. You are long overdue for a bath. You will want to get cleaned up for the big night ahead, and more importantly, we need to take care of that shoulder. It looks like it's getting infected. I have some antibiotic cream to apply, but we need to clean it first. If you behave yourself, I just might answer some more of your questions later."

His head pounded louder and faster in rhythm with his heart, as the implications of his captor's statement hit home. Tom's head was spinning as his mind tried to process what was about to happen. He didn't even notice when the doctor left the room to get a basin and some soap.

***************

Cassy sat with elbows resting on her desk, two of her fingers massaging the pounding in each of her temples. She'd been at her desk since seven o'clock that morning. It was now slightly after ten.

She'd given up trying to sleep after waking at 2am from the same nightmare for the third night in a row. She shuddered at the thought of the vision that had plagued her every night since Tom had disappeared. It always started with total darkness. Tom's voice, weak and desperate, would call to her through the blackness. "Cassy, I need you. Please, help me." She crawled through the night on hands and knees until her extended hand came to a wall. The wall was cold like concrete, but covered with a slimy substance. Rising to her feet, she would feel her way along the wall until she encountered a light switch. Flipping it on, she was blinded by a bright light.

Tom's voice always disappeared the moment the light came on. When her sight adjusted to the light, she found herself staring down at her hands. They were covered with blood. She looked up to find the blood had come from the cement wall she had felt her way along moments earlier. Terrified, she turned away from the wall to see her partner lying on his back in the middle of the room. When she attempted to go to him, an invisible wall stopped her from reaching him. She called to him as loudly as she could and fiercely pounded at the wall with her fists. Now colored with a faint red hue, the wall slowly started to move toward Tom. She always woke before reaching him, but his image stayed with her throughout each day. His empty eyes stared upward at nothing. He lay completely still and unmoving, his chest motionless. A sea of red surrounded him. It ran in a wide stream over to the wall and stretched nearly up to the ceiling.

The sound of her phone ringing startled Cassy out of the nightmare. She shook her head in an attempt to clear the vision of Tom from her mind. She picked up the phone and answered. "Sergeant St. John."

The familiar voice on the other end of the line greeted her. "Cassy, it's Lyam. Margaret and I are coming to Palm Beach. We just can't stand waiting here any longer. We're booked on a flight late tonight. We'll be getting in around midnight. I...we...really appreciate everything you are trying to do for us, and for Tommy, but we have to be there. Even if all we can do is sit and wait. We need to feel closer to him. We were going to stay at his place, if that's okay. I mean, if the police are finished there?"

Cassy sighed as she answered. "Yeah, we're done there. I sent a cleaning crew in as soon as we were through. I thought you'd probably want to stay there." She wasn't really surprised at the news that they were coming. In fact, she was more surprised that they'd stayed away as long as they had. Tom was close to both of his parents, but especially to his dad. It was a relationship she had often envied.

Now they were arriving tonight and all Cassy could do was to try to keep them safe for Tom. She would have to avoid seeing them any place other than the station while they were in town. Cassy could only hope they would understand. She had to admit now that she might still be in danger and she wasn't about to allow that anywhere near the Ryans. "Do you need a ride from the airport? I could arrange to have someone pick you up and take you over to Tom's place, if you'd like."

"No, Cassy, that won't be necessary. You just concentrate on finding Tommy for us. We'll take a cab from the airport. We'll call you first thing tomorrow morning." Lyam paused a moment before adding, "And Cassy? You be careful, too."

Hearing the genuine affection and concern in his voice was almost too much for Cassy. Her voice broke as she answered him. "Yeah, I'll do that. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye." As she hung up the phone, she took several deep breaths in an attempt to keep the sobs from escaping. After a few minutes, she was able to regain control and returned to her file with a renewed sense of purpose. 'Dammit, Thomas. Don't you dare give up on me. I am going to find you, I swear I will.'

End Part 19

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