An eye for an eye: Revenge

[beautifulcoldstorm]

Lisa Hazelton's arm was caught in some roots as she was under a grey Chevy Malibu; her right leg was caught on the other side of the car. The pressure on her leg felt like it was completely cut off from circulation- which didn't help with the fact that it was freezing outside.

She shivered for a moment, struggling to get her arm free of the roots. She froze when she heard something coming toward her. A moment later, she saw that it was a white wolf. Her breath caught in her throat when it stopped in fron of the car and started to sniff her.

R

Lilly Rush was staring at her television screen blankly as she flipped through the channels. Lieutenant Stillman had told her to take a few days off, and that he was going to personally organize the search for her Foster Daughter.

She looked at the thermometer by the window, which read 19 degress F. Lilly hoped for her sake that Lisa wasn't caught up in that. She sighed and put in a home movie that Lisa had made.

Not long after turning it on, there was a knock on the door. "It's open," she called, instinctively placing a hand on the unregistered gun that her ex, Eddie Saccado had given her, which was under a pillow next to her on the couch.

She heard the door open and someone's heavy shoes walk through before closing the door behind them. "You shouldn't leave your door open like that," her partner, Scotty Valens, scolded slightly teasingly. "Never know who might be on the other side."

Lilly released the gun and turned toward him. "I left it open in case Lisa came home." Although, she knew that Lisa wasn't coming home tonight. They both did.

"I sort of figured that," Scotty replied. He studied her for a moment, noticing the dark circles under her eyes. She obviously hadn't slept much- if she had slept at all. "Are you okay?"

Lilly nodded slowly. "Fine."

You always say that, Scotty thought as he picked up the bag of food and brought it to her. "Brought you something to eat," he said, sitting on the couch next to her, and unwrapping the Philly Cheese Steak he had brought her.

She offered him a small smile. "Thanks, Scotty," she said gratefully taking the cheese steak. He unwrapped his own and took a bite out of it.

"So, what's this you're watching?" he asked.

"Lisa made this last week when we were in the park. It's my family on a picnic." There was a scene with Lilly on the swings as she watched Ellie Rush. The camera turned to Paul Cooper and his family. She sighed.

Scotty placed a comforting arm around her. "We'll find her, Lil," he said reassuringly. "You of all people should know that she's a survivor."

"I know," she said. "I'm just scared. I think I know who took her, and I'm scared at what could be happening."

Scotty brought her close. "It'll be alright, Lil," he said softly. "Boss is grabbing some search dogs in the morning, and they're going to be checking any isolated place they can look. We also put out an APB on Cliff, and there were tire tracks from where we think she was taken. It looks like he took her toward one of the parks."

"Let's just hope that the trail doesn't go cold."

[beautifulcoldstorm]

Lisa stayed perfectly still as the wolf looked at her. It didn't seem like it was feeling threatened, but one wrong move could automatically send it into a frenzy. The wolf looked at the roots where her arm was caught then looked back at her. She trotted to them, and started to pull the roots out. After a couple of minutes, Lisa was able to snake her arm out of the cold and under the car. She looked at the wolf gratefully, then looked at her situation with her leg.

The car frame was sitting just above her knee, where it was caught tight. She took a breath and then tried to lunge forward, to see if her leg would budge. Big mistake: there was a sharp 'pop' and it felt like hot bullets were trailing through her leg as she cried out in pain.

R

Lilly awoke on the couch, with Scotty still beside her. "Morning, Sleeping Beauty," he said teasingly with a smile.

Lilly couldn't help but smile back, but then it faded when she realized what had happened the night before. "Morning. What are you still doing here?"

Scotty shrugged. "Fell asleep not long after you fell asleep on my shoulder."

"Oh," Lilly said awkwardly, gathering the blanket she had on her. Scotty's phone rang and he answered it as Lilly straightened up the couch. "Boss?" she asked when he hung up.

"Yeah," Scotty said. "And you'll never guess who he found with the search dogs."

"Are you playing me Scotty?" Lilly demanded, thinking he meant Lisa. "Because if you are, it's not funny."

"No, Lil," he said, holding his hands up peacefully. "I'm not talkin' about Lisa."

"Then who are you talking about?"

"Remember that dog Lisa had?"

"Yeah, Lisa said she was sold along with Cobalt and Star."

"Guess where she was sold."

It took a minute for her to realize who he was talking about. "He found Sapphire?"

Scotty nodded. Lilly felt her cheeks burn slightly with embarrassment. "At least that should help us out a little; Sapphire knows Lisa's scent. I'll grab something from her room really quick and meet you down here." She hurried up the staircase and walked into Lisa's room. One of the stuffed animals that she slept with was still by the pillow. She grabbed it and quickly walked downstairs. "Can you give me a minute to change quickly?" she asked. "I want to be there."

"Lil," Scotty said hesitantly, not sure if he was going to trigger her temper or not. "Stillman said you should take a few days off."

"I know what he said Scotty," Lilly countered a little more harshly than intended. "But that's my daughter out there. I was going to take the next couple of weeks off since Lisa's out." She stopped and looked at him directly in the eye. "I need to be there for her, and I need to catch this son of a gun."

"Guess there's no talking you out of it," Scotty said.

"Nope. Not a chance."

R

Lisa noticed that part of the area that trapped her leg was bent inward, the snow outside was falling harder and harder, becoming a blizzard. She kicked outward with her left leg, trying to make room for her other leg to move. After a few kicks, the metal stopped moving; the snow outside was thick enough to form a wall- which explained why her ankle was chilled to the bone. There wasn't much she could do.

R

"So, how long has she had that?" Scotty asked, indicating the white puppy with a pink spotted collar as he drove. It was definitely worn, but it still looked like it was in good shape.

"Oddball? Eleven years now, I think," Lilly said. "Lisa's said she's had her since she was five."

"That's a long time."

"Yeah," Lilly said with a smile. "Funny thing though, she whimpers; Lisa's never had to change the battery."

Scotty looked at her incredulously. "You're kiddin' right?"

Lilly shook her head. "Nope." She pressed the area along the puppy's back, and Scotty could hear a faint whimper. "Amazing." Ten minutes later they arrived at the search party's headquarters. The mounted unit was also there, and Lilly could see two horses that looked just like Lisa's, but she didn't think they were. When she got out of the car, she headed toward John and someone else- she guessed he was the leader of the K-9 unit.

"Boss," Scotty called, walking up to him.

John turned to him. "Hey Scotty," he said, and turned, slightly surprised to see Lilly there. "Rush. I thought I told you to take a few days off?"

"You know Lil, Boss," Scotty said before she could defend herself. "She can't stay away even if she tried."

Lilly shot him a half-grateful half-hateful look, but turned back to Stillman. "I brought something to help the dogs track Lisa," she said, holding up Oddball. Sapphire, the only weimerer in the group was brought over by her trainer; she sniffed the stuffed animal, then started barking and heading off in the direction toward the river.

About half an hour later, they found the overturned car. It was over-flowed with snow, and they started digging- however, they never found Lisa; the only thing that was left of her was a small patch of blood.

R

Lisa could hear the scraping of claws against the metal outside, and it only took a second to realize that the wolf was digging her out of her little prison, so that she could finish kicking the metal away. After a few more dozen kicks, and a lunge, she was able to crawl out of the overturned car.

Using a tree to support herself as she put all her weight on her good leg, Lisa looked around. She had no idea where she was, but perhaps she could leave a trail for others to follow if they ever found out where she was. Thankfully she had brought- and her abductor had left- her crocheting supplies with her. She started limping heavily forward, leaving dragging tracks behind.

R

Lilly looked every other direction, looking for some clue that Lisa might've left behind. She noticed the tracks that were hardly visible and turned to her partner. "Scotty."

Scotty turned toward his partner. "What is it?" he asked walking quickly over to her. She pointed down toward the tracks, and started to follow them, Scotty close behind her; there was no way he was letting her out of his sight at this point.

"She's injured," Lilly commented, pointing to the drag marks. "She shouldn't be able to get far."

Scotty was somewhat skeptical of that. It was hard enough to believe that Lisa had survived that blizzard last night since it was below freezing. They walked a few more paces before the tracks disappeared altogether. Lilly cursed under her breath; Scotty walked over to her, placing a comforting arm around her. It was then that he noticed something pink dangling from the tree on the left. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to it.

Lilly followed his finger, and walked to the tree. It was a pair of pink earbuds with an iPod Nano hanging from it. "This is Lisa's iPod," she said quietly. "Lisa doesn't go anywhere without it."

"So why is it here?" Scotty asked.

Lily tried to turn the power on, but it was clear that it was dead. "Battery's dead- she wouldn't have any use for it. Maybe she's leaving us a trail."

[beautifulcoldstorm]

Lisa kept walking through the snow, freezing. All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep for the next month; but she knew she couldn't. Every time she made a turn, she made a small foundation chain to hook onto the tree she was making the turn at. The snow was deep, and it was becoming more and more difficult for her to walk through it.

As she finished another foundation chain, the wind blew hard and she lost her balance, rolling down a steep slope. Then she fell into ice cold water...

R

Lilly and Scotty were looking for more clues to find out where Lisa had gone. "What's that dangling that tree?" Scotty asked, noticing something blowing in the wind. The two detectives hurried over to the tree.

It was hard to tell what it was because it was white. Lilly had a flashback of when Lisa was at home working on one of her projects:

"I thought you were crocheting," Lilly said, flipping the television to the Hallmark channel where Murder, She Wrote was.

Lisa giggled. "I am."

"Doesn't look like it. It looks like you're doing slip-knots."

Lisa laughed. "I guess you could call it that, but it's actually a foundation chain. It's the basis of each project. They never take long to make."

"It's a foundation chain," Lilly said.

"A what?" Scotty asked, confused.

"A foundation chain. It's basically a bunch of slip-knots used in crocheting."

"Did Lisa have her crocheting supplies with her?" Scotty asked.

"Yes."

Scotty looked past the tree, and saw another chain hanging from a tree on the right. They found about a dozen more of those before they reached a bank. The last foundation chain was snagged a little, but Lilly knew what it was. "Let's follow the river for a bit," Lilly suggested.

R

"Where are Rush and Valens?" Kat asked, when she finally arrived.

"They thought they saw something on a tree," Vera said. "I haven't seen them since."

"Nick, those are our friends," Kat said, taking out her phone to call them, but she found out quickly that they didn't have service. She cursed under her breath. "And, besides, what is Rush doing here anyway? I thought she was told to take a few days off."

Jeffries laughed. "Since when does Rush follow orders without causing havoc?" Kat slapped his arm.

"Okay, well I'm going out onto the roads and looking for them," Kat said, heading back to her car. "Anyone want to come with me?"

"Anything to get out of this cold," Vera said, Jeffries followed them. Kat drove around with Jeffries in the passenger and Nick in the back.

R

Scotty noticed that Lilly was starting to shiver a little. "You okay?" Scotty asked.

"Fine," Lilly said. Scotty backed off, and continued looking around. It had been about twenty minutes since they had found the last foundation chain, and they hadn't found any since. There was a long howl that made Lilly jumped. "What was that?"

"Wolves," Scotty replied. "They're known around here."

"Wolves?" Lilly asked, suddenly scared. Scotty moved closer and placed a comforting arm around her.

"Take it easy," he said softly, pulling her closer. "We'll find her, I promise." They remained like this for a moment, before she pulled back. They took another turn, hoping to find something, when it hit Scotty in the face. He looked down and realized it was another foundation chain; it was smaller than the others, but it was gave them some hope.

They followed the path for a few minutes, then came across a white wolf. After a few minutes, the wolf turned tail and trotted off into the forest. There was something behind the wolf, in the fetal position; a closer examination showed that it was Lisa. "Oh my gosh, Lisa," Lilly said, rushing forward, and kneeling down next to her.

"Is she alright?" Scotty called behind him.

Lilly placed her hand on Lisa's cheek and recoiled it; she was burning up. Lisa's hand was bare, and when Lilly touched it, it was ice cold. "She's alive, but barely."She turned to Scotty, and for the first time in over a year, he saw fear in her eyes. "She's freezing; her hands are ice." She noticed something else when she looked back at Lisa- her clothes were wet. "Scotty... she's soaked."

"Could it be from the snow?" Scotty asked.

"It hasn't been snowing that long," Lilly said taking off her coat, and instantly regretting it when she felt the cold air on her thick sweater. She placed it around Lisa's shivering body.

"Oh, no," Scotty said. "She must've fallen into the river. Look at her leg." He pointed to her right leg that was bent slightly.

Lilly sighed, it was going to be awhile before help arrived. "What do we do now?" she asked Scotty.

"I don't know," Scotty said. "We'll figure something out, though."

[beautifulcoldstorm]

"You didn't by any chance bring some of those chemical things that you crush with your hands with you?" Lilly asked a few minutes later.

"Hand warmers? I don't think I did," Scotty said, searching his pockets. "Why? Do you need one?"

Lilly rolled her eyes. "They're for Lisa, not me."

"It seems to me that you could use one though," Scotty remarked.

"I'm fine, Scotty."

"Are you sure?" Scotty asked with a smug look on his face. "Because I found ten in my jacket."

Lilly smiled as he gave her two. She placed them in the pockets on the jacket that Lisa had on; Lilly prated that those would warm her up enough to keep her alive.

Scotty stepped forward and placed part of his jacket around her. She was starting to shiver again, and Scotty was not about to let his partner and friend freeze because she was so stubborn. "What are you doing?" Lilly asked, looking up at him curiously.

"You're cold," Scotty replied simply.

"I told you I was fine."

"Really? Then why were you shivering just now?"

Lilly sighed exasperatedly, finally giving in. She really was cold, but she was not about to show Scotty that. She did have to admit though, that she enjoyed having him around in her most desperate times.

"Lil," he said slowly. "I've been meaning to ask you somethin' for awhile now."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Your 49; what happened?"

Lilly just stood there, frozen in shock. She was not expecting that question to arise. "Why do you ask?" she asked calmly; but, Scotty had felt her tense up. He knew that this was a sore spot for her, but his curiosity had taken over him.

"No reason in particular," Scotty said. "But, I've had this question inside my head since George-" Now Lilly went rigid. Scotty stopped talking, and waited for her to relax.

"Don't mention him," she said quietly, getting plagued by the memory that refused to leave her mind.

"I'm sorry," Scotty said. After a moment, Lilly relaxed.

"When I was ten," Lilly began slowly, trying to keep her composure. "My mother needed a drink, and sent me out to the store. The owner knew me, and he knew about my mother's drinking issue. That night, someone followed me and trapped me in the alley. I gave him what I had, and he just stared at me. Then, he hit me- repeatedly. I don't remember much after that."

Scotty nodded. "Okay," he said. "Thank you."

"Tell anyone I told you that, and that'll be the last thing you'll ever do," Lilly warned. "The only person who knows about it is Stillman."

"How does Stillman know?"

"He caught the guy who did it." Lilly looked at Lisa. "How long does those warmers last?"

"About an hour."

"I think Lisa could use another one."

As Lilly replaced the old warmers, Scotty could hear an engine running. "Is it just me, or is that a car I hear."

"I hear it too," Lilly said after a moment. Scotty grabbed his gun and aimed it upward. "What are you doing?"

"Hoping someone will hear it," Scotty said. "You might want to cover your ears." Lilly did and Scotty pulled the trigger.

R

"Hope we find them soon," Jeffries said. "The temperatures dropping out there."

Nick was looking out the window when he saw a flash followed by a loud bang. "What was that?" Kat asked.

"Back up the car," Nick said.

"Why?" Kat asked, backing up the car anyway.

"I saw a muzzle flash. They can't be far." The snow was blowing a little harder, so visibility was pretty bad, but it didn't matter to them. "Valens! Rush!" Jeffries called.

"Over here!" Someone called back. It sounded like Valens. The three detectives found their partners with Rush's kid.

"How is she?" Kat asked, kneeling next to Lilly.

"She's freezing, and I think her leg's broken. We have to get her to a hospital."

"The search party hq is about three miles down the road," Kat said.

"We've found Hazelton," Jeffries said into the radio. "Repeat, we've found Hazelton. We need a bus over here ASAP. Possible injuries include a broken leg."

Everyone turned toward him. "What?"

"Good thing you brought that," Kat said. "I don't exactly want to carry her if she has a broken leg."

"How long until they arrive?" Lilly asked.

"Ten minutes."

R

After ten minutes, the paramedics arrived and took her to 's hospital. Lilly had ridden with her in the ambulance, but had to stay in the waiting area while Lisa was being looked at. The Cold squad soon joined her. "Lisa Hazelton?" one of the doctor's called.

Everyone stood up. "I'm her guardian," Lilly said.

"Well, she's lucky she's not dead after that kind of exposure to the cold. Had you not warmed her up a bit when you did, it might've been too late to save her," the doctor said. "She'll be in crutches for a bit, though. Her knee was popped, ankle sprained, and her shin was fractured."

"Ouch," Kat said.

"Other than that, she'll be fine."

"Can we go see her?" Scotty asked.

"Sure. But make it brief; she needs her rest."

Lilly went in first. Lisa tried shifted onto her side when she heard someone coming into her room; but her leg was in a sling, so she just turned her head. "Now I know not to believe you're asleep when I come in to check on you," Lilly said.

"Thought you were one of the doctors," Lisa replied.

Lilly smiled. "The others are outside."

"Bring 'em in."

They stepped in a moment later. Wishing her to get well, and Nick brought her a Blizzard from DQ.

Scotty took her home about an hour later. "I'll pick you up tomorrow," Scotty said.

Lilly smiled. "Thanks, Scotty. For everything."

Scotty smiled in return and brushed her hair back from her face. "What are partners for?"

"I'll see you in the morning." Lilly stepped into the apartment, locking the door behind her. She made sure her cats had food, and then started upstairs to her bedroom. Problem was, she never made it to the staircase. Someone jumped her from behind, and placed a cloth over her mouth. It didn't take long for her to collapse.

R

Early the next morning, Scotty arrived. After honking the horn a couple of times and calling her cell, Scotty went inside. After a quick search, it was clear that there was a struggle. There was a note on her refrigerator door.

I have your detective. Bring me my daughter within the next 48 hours or she dies.

The note confirmed Scotty's worst fear: Lilly had been abducted.