The Red Stars {Book One} The Mentalist

17: Tell Me I Am Wrong

"Where is she?" I asked standing up and looking at the screen. I was going to get her back. I was going to be able to hold her in my arms and help heal the wounds on her back and the two on her stomach. Missy was going to be safe again. 

"In a warehouse just outside of town," VanPelt answered pointing at the spot. "We can go now and get to her in time before anything else happens." 

"Then why are we standing around for?" Lisbon asked everyone while she took out her gun. "Let's go save Missy!" 

"Lisbon," I called out and took her by the elbow. 

"Jane, you can't come," she told me. 

"Why not?" 

"The Red Stars are to dangerous. I don't want any of these people to go, but I can't stop them. I can stop you. If we do save Missy, I want her to have you. She is going to need you to help her get over this. The last time was okay cause she couldn't remember. This time she does, and she is going to need someone. Please Jane, just stay here. We will tell you how it goes, okay?" 

"You're right Lisbon. Go get me Missy back, and shout the damn person who hit her. I don't care if you kill him or not, just shout him." 

"I was going to anyway. See you when I get back." 

"See you." 

-------An hour later----------- 

I was sitting on my couch waiting for them to come back. I had the picture of Missy and her family in one hand, and a cup of tea in the other. I was getting worried. What if the Red Stars took Lisbon too? What if they killed Rigsby? What if they hurt Cho? What did they do to the team, Lisbon, Rigsby, Cho, VanPelt? Where was Missy? 

The doors opening made me calm down a bit, and everyone walking in made me glad. Lisbon placed her gun on the table and come over to me looking upset. Rigsby followed holding something white in his hand. VanPelt stayed by her desk not looking at me. Cho came up to me with an envelope in his hands. 

"Did you find her?" I asked fearing the answer. 

"No," VanPelt cried. She looked upset, and I understood why. We all cared about Missy, and we just wanted her back with us. She was going to be killed if we didn't find her. Two days of this week were gone. We only had five days to find her before they killed her. 

"But you said-" 

"This will help Jane," Rigsby told me giving me the letter that was in his hand. 

Dear CBI, 

You think you are clever tracking down my hiding place? I have news for you. I was never here, save the time I took to place this letter and pictures for you. You will have to step up your game if you want to find Missy Thomas alive! 

Truly yours, 

The Red Stars. 

P.S.- Missy says hello. 

I glared at the paper. They tricked us! They made us think that Missy was going to be there, that we were going to find her! I handed the paper back to Rigsby and looked up. 

"What pictures?" I asked. Cho handed me the envelope and I took the pictures out. I saw a bloody back with black hair on it. The skin had been cut hours before, and I had seen it. The next one was her out cold face with a drip of blood placed on her skin right next to her right eye. That was all it was, pictures of Missy. Some were older but just has bad as the whip. Then there was a picture of all of us at the crime seance of Ben Summer. She was laughing at something, and I knew what it meant. They were stalking Missy this whole time. I saw more pictures of her, and then I saw one of us in her house. 

"No," I said. "They were stalking her!" 

"They what?" Lisbon asked taking the pictures from me. She looked at every single one of them and shock her head. "They were." 

"They were stalking Missy?" Rigsby asked looking at the pictures with Cho and VanPelt. "Why?" 

"To make sure she didn't mess up," I spoke remembering the note at Missy's mother and sister's crime. I hope you learn from your mistakes. They knew what she had been doing. The phone call. I hope you don't get too comfortable with Mister Jane. It was a warning to me that if I got too close with Missy, then she was going to be hurt. All of this, just from them watching her waiting for her to mess up. 

"Mess up?" Cho asked. 

"They knew what Missy was doing," I explained. "They knew what they wanted Missy to do, and if she didn't do that, then her mother and sister would pay the price. They did. They also wanted her to stay single. When I started to talk with her and get close to her, they saw that. They told her not to get commutable with Mister Jane. She did, and now she is going to be killed for it!" 

"You're wrong," VanPelt told me. "You have to be." 

"Tell me I am wrong," I replied. "Tell me I am wrong and prove it. Everything here points that they stalked her and were waiting. I want to be wrong, but I know I am not. We all know it." 

We sat there in silence thinking about Missy. 

*Missy's pov* 

I woke up in the bed once more, the same way. My back stung like it did the first night I was here. This time, though, my heart was breaking. The man called the CBI. I saw Lisbon and Cho, Rigsby and VanPelt, and I even saw Patrick. They had to watch me be hit by that stupid whip. I swear if I do get out of this alive I am going to get that whip and burn it. I knew what the next torture would be, and I was going to hate it more. 

The man come in with a smile on his face. He motioned for some of his men to come and get me. The tied my hands to my body and my feet together. The tape stayed on my mouth. They carried me like a shack all the way to another room. In that room was a box that looked like a coffin. There were holes so that the person in it could breath, but I still did not want to be in there. They opened the lid and placed me inside, then closed the box and locked it. I straggled to get out, panic raising in me. I heard them laugh and close the door. 

No, I thought still straggling. No, I can't be trapped in here! I wasn't that bad of a claustrophobic, like a crowded elevator or something like that. Mom always said has long has I had people around me, I didn't care how tight the space was. It also had to be a very tight space. If I was alone in a small space like this, I panicked. I've been afraid since I was trapped, by myself, in a small room in some museum. 

I was just a few feet away from Mom and Dad, but they still didn't see me go in. I was only five at the time, but I still had to duck to get in the room. I looked around, but there was nothing there. I started to leave, but hit the door closed by mistake. The room was no bigger than I was. I went to open the door, but the doorknob was not there. I hit the door and yelled for my parents. 

"Mommy! Daddy!" I yelled tears in my eyes. The room was getting smaller, and I didn't like it. I heard people trying to open the door, but it just wouldn't. 

"You have to get my baby out of there!" I heard Mom cry. I was scared, and alone in the room. They finally got the door open, and we left. I have only been trapped like this a few times, and I still didn't like it. There was not way to get out, and I was alone. 

Tears feel down my face. I was just like my five year-old self again. Alone in a tight space with no one to get me out. But this time Mom and Dad weren't going to open the door and let me leave this place. Men who I had done nothing to were going to open the box and then after more things with my fear, they were going to kill me. I closed my eyes and tried to think of something happy. I saw my dad. 

Happy moments with Dad, Mom, and Tara flooded my mind. I feel asleep in the box with my family in mind, fear still around me. 

So what do you think? Here is a little treat for you, just cause I feel nice. Enjoy! No question or really funny story for this one. I hope all of my Stars let me live instead of killing me! I like living! Haha!  Peace out Stars!