Just Before Dawn Chapter 5 (standard:mystery, 3171 words)
Author: Sarah Spenser	Added: Mar 13 2005	Views/Reads: 3350/2301	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
This chapter takes place right after Allison is held hostage by the masked man. Will Connor come to in time to rescue her?

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

him to get it open. “Thanks, Scarlet.” Allison said picking him up. He 
bounced and said: “I love you, Allie.” She started to laugh and Connor 
thought it was hilarious. “Oh that's so funny!” Allison said kissing 
Scarlet's head. “I love you too, sweetie. Thanks for saving me!” she 
tended to him for a while and then headed into the bedroom. “Allie? 
Where are you going?” “To get ready for work.” “Don't you think ....” 
“No, I can't stay here and think about last night it's too awful. I 
have to keep moving.” Connor sat there and watched her disappear down 
the hall. A few minutes later, he heard the shower turn on. He could 
only imagine what she was going through and decided to give her some 
space. The guilt weighed heavily on him, he had stayed to protect her 
and he had failed. She had almost gotten raped and killed by a madman. 
He was pretty sure that he knew the identity of the man too. 

Allison  spent most of the day interviewing Greg Brindel's mother and
sister. His father was missing, no one seemed to know quite where he 
was. Connor was interviewing Mark's parents and younger sister. As 
Allison talked to Susan Brindle and her daughter Maya, she had a 
feeling that Greg didn't commit suicide as originally thought. “Can you 
describe Greg for me, Mrs. Brindle.” Susan dried her eyes and spoke in 
a low soft voice. “Greg was amazing. Always willing to lend someone a 
helping hand. He was kind, outgoing, smart and funny. Everything you 
could've wanted in a son. There's no way that he committed suicide. I 
think Mark killed him.” “Me too,” Maya said. “I know that Greg wouldn't 
do that to himself, he loved us so much ...” Maya was choked by a sob 
and couldn't continue. Allison kept her questions short and brief. When 
the interview was over, she thanked the Brindle's and left. She was 
headed for Connor's office. 

Connor was headed back to his office. He had interviewed Mark's parents
and sister with no luck. They all had said that Mark was violent, but 
they couldn't picture him murdering Greg who was his best friend. But 
Connor's theory was simple, if Greg told  the truth about Mark's 
whereabouts the night of Marlena's murder, Mark would have nno trouble 
killing him. But his mind wasn't on the Renson case, it was on Allison. 
She had been acting strangely ever since the masked intruder had broken 
in. He knew that he needed to give her some space to process what had 
transpired, but he didn't want her to think he was ignoring her. 

When he saw her car in the parking lot, he smiled. He went quickly to
his office and found her making detailed notes of the interview. “Hi.” 
He said softly not wanting to frighten her. “Hi. How'd your interview 
go?” “Oh, fine. Mark's parents and sister say he's violent but they 
don't think he would kill Greg. “If Greg spilled the beans about Mark's 
whereabouts the night Marlena was murdered Mark would've to shut him 
up.” “Yeah that's what I'm thinking too. Listen, Allie ...” they were 
interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Nina Simmons with the lab 
results on Greg. “Hi, Connor, hi, Allison. How are you?” “Fine, thanks. 
What do you have, Nina.” “Well, Greg Brindle died of strangulation. All 
the signs are there. I also found an unidentified drug in his system. 
I'm working on tracing it..” “Thanks. Any prints?” “No, not yet. But 
I'll keep a look out.” Once Nina had left, Connor resumed their 
conversation. “Now, as I was saying before we were interrupted, I want 
to know what's going on with you. Why are you shutting me out?” “I'm 
not, Connor. I don't mean to. You just have to understand that a masked 
intruder doesn't break into your home every day and try to kill you!” 
“I know that.” “I keep thinking if Scarlet hadn't come when he did, he 
could've very well gotten away with it.” “I would've killed him. I'm 
sorry, Allison. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you.” “It's not your 
fault, my love. I'm not blaming you. I love you. Although I've been 
turning this over in my mind all day. I came up with one thing.” 
“What's that?” he asked kissing her lightly on the mouth. She returned 
his affection and looked into his brown eyes which looked unbearably 
sad. “Whoever did this had us under surveillance.” “Yeah I was thinking 
the same thing. Do you want me to stay with you tonight? Or am I in the 
way?” “No, you're not in the way, sweetheart. You're never in the way. 
Just give me some time.” “Take all the time you need, Allie. I just 
want you to know that I love you and that I'm hear for you.” “Thank 
you, Connor.” She embraced him and placed a passionate kiss on his 
lips. 

That night Connor prepared a romantic candle lit dinner while Allison
worked on notes for her report the next day. He wanted to show her that 
he loved her, and that he would always be there for her. He set the 
candles and wine out on the table and then brought the chicken ala King 
out. He had spent a significant amount of time preparing it and hoped 
Allison would be pleasantly surprised. “Allie, dinner's ready.” “I'm 
coming.” She called from the living room as she put the finishing 
touches on her notes. She put down her pen and walked into the kitchen. 
“Can I help with anything?” “No, just sit down.” He said pointing to 
her chair. She sat beside him and looked at the delicious meal Connor 
had prepared. “You know, sweetheart you didn't have to do this.” She 
said smiling at him. He loved her smile, it was the first true smile he 
had seen all day. “I love you, Allison. I just want you to know how 
much I love you. I want to help you through this.” “I know you do. You 
already are. By being the wonderful and kind man that you are.” She 
kissed him tenderly and their lips lingered. 

Across town, Jack was getting his supper ready. His cat Lulu was
following him around begging for food. He always fed her before he had 
his own supper and she had grown accustomed to his routine. He put the 
burgers on the stove and watched as they began to cook, Lulu rubbed 
against his leg meowing loudly. “Okay, Lu, you'll get your food.” He 
said reaching for the can of cat food. Just as he was about to put it 
into the can opener, the doorbell rang. Jack put down the can and the 
opener and went to the door. A tall man peered out at him from behind 
sunglasses. “Hi, may I use your phone?” “What for? Don't you have a 
cell phone in this day and age?” “No, it died. My car's stuck about a 
mile from here. Please, sir I walked all this way.” “All right.” Jack 
relented and opened the door just wide enough for the man to get 
through. He remembered what happened to Marie and was always weary of 
strangers entering his home. But he thought this man was harmless. He 
went over and dialed, then he spoke softly and hung up. He turned to go 
but stopped, he pulled something from his pocket. “You see this?” he 
asked waving a picture of Allison in Jack's face. “That's my daughter! 
What have you done with her? Where is she?” “I'm not telling you. But 
take a good hard look. It's the last time you'll ever see her!” “You 
son of a ...” Jack punched the man he fell backwards hitting his head 
against the wood floor. Lulu meowed loudly as Jack and the man 
continued to struggle. He pushed Jack pinning him to the ground, on the 
way down he hit his head rendering him unconscious. The man left 
leaving an injured Jack in his wake. 

Allison couldn't resist Connor's lips and they began to kiss more
intensely. They were almost on the couch when the phone rang. Allison 
moaned and didn't make any move to answer it. But it continued to ring, 
Connor stopped kissing her long enough to ask if she should get it. 
“No, whoever it is can call back later.” “Are you sure?” Allison 
hesitated and then got up, crossed the room and picked up the portable. 
“Hello?” “Is this Allison Shure?” “Yes. Who's this?” “This is Fallwood 
General, I'm sorry to have to inform you but your father was just 
brought into the ER.” “Oh my God! Is he conscious? How bad is he? Is he 
all right?” “I'm sorry you'll have to come down and see for yourself.” 
“I'm on my way.” Connor knew by the look on her face that it was 
serious. “Allie? What is it?” “Dad's in the ER, come on!” 

Before he could say another word, Allison had her coat on and her car
keys in hand. He followed her trying to keep up with her frantic pace. 
He tried to pull the keys from her hand, saying she was in no condition 
to drive, but she wouldn't hear of it. “Allie, give me the keys!” he 
said concerned that she was going to cause an accident if her driving 
was as erratic as her walking. “No!” “Allison! You're going to get us 
killed!” “Come on all ready! Nothing else matters but getting there!. I 
caused this! I ... I should've listened to Doug when he tried to take 
me off the Renson case!. Now I'm into something deeper than I ever 
imagined. He's hurting my father now!” “Allison, sweetness this isn't 
your fault. We don't even know it's Mark. He could've just taken a bad 
fall. I'm here for you, honey. I love you.” Connor jerked as the car 
lurched forward. Peeling rubber and screeching brakes accompanied 
Allison's erratic exit out of the parking lot. She drove erratically 
all the way to the hospital, running red lights and blazing through 
stop signs. Some drivers swore at her and gave her the finger but she 
didn't care. All that mattered was getting to Jack. No one had even 
told her if he was dead or alive. She blamed herself all through the 
drive, staying silent and cursing through clenched teeth every time she 
came to a red light. Connor said nothing trying to provide the best 
moral support he could. They finally pulled into the parking lot and 
Connor was relieved that the ride from hell was over. Allison bolted 
from the car and ran through the ER doors. “Allison! Wait  for me!” he 
caught up with her and held her hand as they made their way to the 
receptionist's desk. “I'm Allison Shure my father Jack was just brought 
in. Can you tell me how he is.” “How long ago?” the woman with curly 
blond hair and brown eyes asked. “About twenty minutes ago.” “Go wait 
in the waiting room, the doctor should be out shortly.” “But ...” 
Connor led her away before she got a chance to protest. As they sank in 
to waiting room chairs, she began to sob. “Oh, Connor I can't lose him! 
He's all I've got! Besides you!. He's the only parent I have left.” 
“Shh, Allison, everything's going to be all right. He's a fighter. 
He'll be fine.” “I don't even know what happened, but I blame myself. 
It's too coincidental that this morning we had that masked man and 
tonight my father winds up in the ER.” “Allie, sweetness, don't you 
think you're jumping to conclusions? He may have just taken a bad 
fall.” “Maybe I'm a little jumpy, but it seems that everything that 
happens is because of that slimebag Renson!” “Well, don't think about 
that now. Just think about Jack. He loves you, and he would tell you 
that he's going to be just fine.” “Oh, Connor!” he comforted her as she 
sobbed again. Two hours later, no one had appeared to talk to them. 
Allison glanced at her watch and started up from her chair. “Where are 
you going?” Connor inquired but he had a pretty good idea. “To talk to 
a nurse. This is ridiculous!” He followed her as she made her way to 
the nurses' station. “He has to be all right.” She whispered softly. 
“He will be fine, sweetness.” She wanted to believe Connor's words, but 
couldn't just yet. She had to know that Jack was all right. But she had 
to believe Connor, he was the only thread of hope she had. “Yeah he wil 
be fine.” She whispered back. A plump looking nurse smiled at Allison 
from over rimmed glasses. “We've been waiting for information on a 
patient Jack Shure. I'm his daughter Allison. He was brought in about 
two hours ago.” “What did the receptionist tell you 45 minutes ago?” 
“The doctor would be out to talk to us.” “Well? Then why are you here?” 
“Listen to me and listen good!. My father might just be a case to you, 
but I'm his dautgher and I love him!. Please tell me how he is. I've 
been worried sick!. Please, Nurse Hatchet how's my father?” 


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