📎A/N .. we are now at the business end of the story and only have a few more chapters till it's all over. Getting a little sad ;-(

If you're interested, have posted an interview with the lovely RK Close - the author of Red Night - A modern tale with bite on my website. Check it out at http://mnjgreenhill.com/mnj/2015/11/24/rk-close-red-night/

I hope you enjoy the chapter.

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"No one's in," Murphy repeated. "It doesn't matter how many times you knock on that door, or how loud. There still won't be anyone in there to answer."

Kaitlyn shot Murphy a disgusted glance and rested her head on the cold, impersonal door with a dull thud. The metal numbers 2A, cut into her forehead in the process. She had been ringing, buzzing and banging on the wooden door for the past ten minutes.

"So where the hell is he?" she demanded.

"Probably doing building manager stuff," Murphy said, pulling her away from the door. "Try calling him again."

Kaitlyn yanked her phone out of her pocket and redialled. Hoping against hope that this time, it wouldn't go through to voice mail. They needed to confirm who had taken her mother and, the quickest way to do this, was to get their hands on the building's CCTV footage.

Harvey, the building manager and brother-in-law to the owner, while not the sharpest tool in the shed, was efficient at what he did and took it seriously. He was hardly ever at home during the daytime and was always found fixing one thing or another in one of the apartments.

Joshua and the others were currently working their way from floor to floor, seeing if they could track him down that way. She was guttered when she heard his familiar message. The sense of urgency was now more pronounced than ever.

Kaitlyn nearly dropped her phone when the sudden vibration jolted her. Glancing down at the display she answered as soon as she saw it was Joshua. "Did you find him?"

"He was out the back in the dumpsters of all things," Joshua said, "We'll meet you in the foyer."

Kaitlyn was out the door and flying down the stairwell before the call was terminated.

It took a little convincing, numerous flashes of their FBI identification and a lot of cajoling before Harvey would let them take a copy of the days recordings from the foyer and Kaitlyn's floor.

"I'm not sure that I'm supposed to be letting you have a copy," he kept on repeating.

Harvey stopped short when Murphy towered over him, held up an F.B.I badge and let out a menacing growl. "How would you like me to take you into custody for obstructing an investigation?"

"B... But," stuttered Harvey, clearly terrified. "Don't you need a warrant?"

Harvey froze at the disdain that was dripping from Murphy's response. "A woman's life is in danger and you want to waste time with a warrant?"

"I guess not," Harvey mumbled as he switched on the monitor and reached for the blank thumb drive that Kaitlyn handed over.

They were fortunate in that the security system backed up at midnight. That meant that they had footage from midnight last night till the current time.

"Can't you go any faster?" Kaitlyn pled when the process to transfer the two required files seemed to take a lifetime.

No sooner had Harvey unplugged the device, than it was torn out of his hand, and Kaitlyn rushed out the door followed by Murphy and Joshua. Molly and Liam, who had been waiting in the foyer, trailed behind as she took off to the stairwell to return to her apartment.

As Kaitlyn plugged in the thumb drive and started up the program to read the files, she wasn't sure whether she wanted to see the footage or not. Accessing the foyer file, she played it at a high speed. They watched as residents and delivery people rushed in and out of the building. The faces became a blur as the speed was increased.

The five of them were huddled around the breakfast bar staring at the laptop screen as Kaitlyn rewound the video.

Molly took a step closer to Kaitlyn the moment she tensed and her breath caught in her throat. Kaitlyn felt Molly's warm hand reach out for hers as they watched Madeline stroll in through the front doors, her blue suitcase with lime green scarf billowing behind.

She was so focused on her mother that she failed to notice two men wander through the front doors as Madeline stepped into the lift.

"Can you get a zoom in on those faces," Murphy asked, pointing to the men.

Kaitlyn fumbled with the mouse, dread filling her every molecule. A moment later her nightmare was confirmed.

"The one on the left is Frank," Murphy said, "and that one looks like one of the others from the New York photo."

Joshua nodded in agreement.

"If you don't think you can watch the next part, let me take over," Murphy said gently as he rested a hand on her shoulder.

She glanced sideways at him and gave him a faint grateful smile. "No," she said, "I need to do this."

They watched as she opened the second file. The one that covered the entire length of the corridor on her floor. Knowing the exact timecode from the previous file, she keyed in the numbers and waited.

It was with a heavy heart that she saw her mother exit the lift and make her way down the hallway towards her door. Madeline pulled a set of keys from her satchel and put it in the lock.

Kaitlyn reached out and touched the screen. "I gave her a set of keys and the disarm code a few years ago. In case anything happened to me," she explained.

Madeline disappeared through the door. The corridor was empty for all of thirty seconds. When Frank and his offside emerged through the door to the stairwell, Kaitlyn watched in horror as they kicked in her door. The recording was not accompanied by sound. Nonetheless, the distinct sound of wood breaking played through Kaitlyn's mind like a phantom noise.

Molly applied further pressure on her hand as her other shot up to cover her mouth, her eyes were wide, fearing whatever they were about to observe next. She knew what they were going to see. She had seen it countless times in her job. But this time was different. This time, it was her mother that was being abducted. Not some stranger.

Less than twenty seconds after the door had been destroyed, her mother was being unceremoniously hauled out into the corridor. Kaitlyn winced as Madeline fought back and received an elbow in the face for her troubles.

"It looks worse than it actually is," Murphy reassured Kaitlyn gently. "If they wanted her dead, they wouldn't go through the effort of taking her."

"That's' the problem," Kaitlyn groaned, "where the hell have they taken her?'

Kaitlyn pulled her hand from Molly's grip, held her palm up to her forehead and began to consider her options. She needed to focus. Something her erratic mind was not allowing her to do at the moment.

She could hear Murphy speak quietly into his phone. Liam was standing nearby listening to the conversation and she guessed that Murphy had contacted Tim to provide additional help.

"Tony," Kaitlyn exclaimed, as an idea hit her. "We can grab him and use him as leverage."

Joshua's downcast expression warned her that she wasn't going to like what he was about to tell her.

"The only problem with that," he said, as he glanced across at Murphy, who had just ended his conversation, "is that Tim lost him mid-morning. He signed out and no one's seen or heard from him since."

"It also looks like our Detective has gone to ground," Murphy added, "Tim and the others have had no luck in catching up with him. His phone is off. His car is at his apartment, but he's not. They're heading across to Briana Giordano's apartment now. If she's there, we'll see what information we get from her."

Kaitlyn was ready to burst by the time Tim phoned to give an update. The minutes had dragged by so that it felt like they had waited days. She wanted to get out there and get her mother back. But the question was - which direction, and where had they taken her?

From the disappointed looks they couldn't hide, Kaitlyn knew the answer before Murphy had finished his conversation with Tim. As with Tony, Briana wasn't home. Her car was still there and her phone was off.

"So much for trying to track them via their cell phones," she muttered.

To be fair, she hadn't really expected to be able to track them in this way. Tony knew too much about the inner workings of the police and FBI. He would have made sure they were well informed of how to stay under the radar. They had continued to try her mother's phone. Each time, it too went straight to voice mail.

Molly, who was visibly upset, looked at her mate and son. "There has to be another way!" she implored.

"We have to assume they know we're after them," Murphy sighed, "we'll need to wait until they contact us." He checked his watch. "In situations like this they usually wait a few hours to let the family's grief fester. That way, they are more inclined to listen to the demands."

"There must be something we can do," Kaitlyn said as she marched back over to her laptop and replayed the scene.

Murphy was behind her in a heartbeat. "Don't," he said as he attempted to stop her from watching it again. "It's only going to serve to make you that much more upset."

She pushed him away. "I need to do this. You know we need to do this. There might be something we missed."

She could feel Murphy's eyes bore into the back of her head. Kaitlyn appreciated his concern. However, if they could gain just one clue it was worth the extra agony of watching it again. Anything to indicate where they might have taken her.

A part of her wished that she could just pick up the phone and call on the entire might of the FBI and Boston PD. They could have a manhunt organized within an hour. With the same breath, however, she knew that was impossible and would seal her mother's fate. She was caught between a rock and a hard place. Both of which was no choice at all.

Kaitlyn's resolve nearly faltered as she again watched her mother's abduction. She was thankful for Murphy's nearness. He was less than pleased when she insisted on replaying the video a half dozen times more. With each viewing, her fear dissipated. Instead, it was replaced with frustration and anger. How dare they involve her mother? What level of coward would sink to that depth, knowing they involved a woman who had no connection to them and could not possibly fight back?

As her wrath increased, so too did her clarity. Kaitlyn's heart skipped a beat as she honed in on her mother's reaction when she had been elbowed. Madeline's hand had automatically come up to cradle her injured face. From her expression, the pain was pronounced.

Every nerve ending vibrated as Kaitlyn fixated on the tiniest portion of the screen. Flashes of conversation struck like lightening. She paused the video and stared at it until she was sure of what she was seeing. "Oh my God," she whispered.

Four heads whipped around to face her, each one wearing the same questioning expression.

Kaitlyn glanced between each of them and let out a breath. She was trying not to get her hopes up before it was confirmed. "Mom took up cycling a while back," she said as she began to tap away on the keyboard. "Because of her high blood pressure, her doctor suggested she use a fitness band to monitor her heart rate and oxygen levels."

"I've heard of those things," Molly said, "they look like a real watch, but it tells you your heart rate and sends information to your phone or computer."

"That's right," Kaitlyn confirmed as she brought up a browser and began a Google search. "Mom found one that has a cycling app that also collects information on speed, time and distance of her training, along with monitoring her health."

From the corner of her eye, she could see Murphy had pulled out his phone and was pressing a few buttons. From his expression, she could tell he understood what this meant.

"But why would a watch be so important?" Liam asked as he glanced at his mate and then the screen.

"Because it's GPS-enabled. We can't track them but we can track her," she then added more to herself than the others, "provided I can get into her online account."

The others immediately hovered closer and were silent allowing Kaitlyn to work.

"Don't you need a username and password to get in?" Liam asked as she brought up the login page.

"My mom only has one email address and she has used the same password for as long as I can remember," Kaitlyn replied.

As Kaitlyn typed in the details and pressed the login button. The air became thick with anticipation. No one was breathing as the 'please wait' message was displayed. Kaitlyn was emotional the moment her mother's home page loaded she was ready to weep. The pensive faces around her reflected the same.

"God, please let her have the GPS turned on," she prayed as she clicked into the GPS map.

As the page slowly painted onto the screen, Kaitlyn sunk backward, faltering as the screen blinked back at her.

"Concord," she heard Murphy say into the phone. "I'll give you a call when we're closer."

Kaitlyn closed her eyes and let a little bit of hope in. Her mother's Garmin was on and transmitting its current location.

"Get your service piece," Murphy said, referring to her FBI-issued handgun. "We're going to get her back."

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Drew was confused. The FBI had already been to see him this morning. Why would people from the government want to talk to me again?

His mind had been a little groggy from the medication they had given him. Maybe this morning was all in his mind?

There was a commotion outside his door and Drew looked up expectantly. Two official-looking men in dark suits strode into his room. They quickly dismissed the orderly who had shown them the way and closed the door.

Drew gulped. They looked a lot scarier than the female FBI agent that may or may not have interviewed him this morning. However, not as scary as the one with the black eyes. He shivered at the memory.

"Mr. Robbins," the first one said gravely as he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out an identification badge and flashed it at Drew. "I'm Agent White, from Homeland Security. My colleague is Agent Green. I understand you have managed to acquire some information that may be of importance to this nation's security."

Drew gulped as he looked from one man to the other. He was trying to work out which was the good cop. Neither one looked like they could be messed with. "Um," he stuttered, "what sort of information are you talking about?"

"Let's cut to the chase, shall we?" said the second agent, Agent Green, who placed a photo on the bed beside Drew.

Drew glanced down at it and recognised the image that started his travels down the rabbit warren. The one of the wolf attacking the college football player. He looked back up at the two agents.

"The government has recently become aware of some information of a disturbing nature which we think you can help us with."

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📎A/N ... Yipee!!!!! They know where Madeline is!!!! I hope they get there in time.

... and who is this Agent White and Agent Green from Homeland Security? ... and what do they want with our friend Drew?

Don't forget to vote if you enjoyed this chapter.

Till next time, take care and thanks for reading.

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