Fic: Trapped Inside The Chase

[tunes84]

Title: Trapped Inside The Chase, Part I
Fandom: Psych
Author: tunes84
Rating: M
Word count: 7,775 (whole fic)
Characters/Pairings: Shawn, Juliet
Genre: Horror, Suspense
Warnings: Graphic Violence
Complete: Yes
Summary: Another case closes too neatly and Shawn takes it upon himself to figure out the messy truth. What he doesn't realize is just how messy--or how bloody--the truth will be. (Not Shules)

AN: I have no great excuse about why I didn't finish posting this other than the fact that I was in a car accident and actually completely forgot I was posting this story to LJ after that whole mess. So I went through and deleted the two chapters I posted and dumped it here into one fic for you to enjoy. So...yes, I hope you enjoy :).

 

Pain erupted in his side when he slipped, feet giving out beneath his body as he crashed hard into a broken, fallen down tree. The rough bark rubbed against his already torn and bloody skin and he squeezed his eyes shut, biting his bottom lip to stifle a harsh curse. Darkness loomed overhead with small beams of moonlight drifting through the tree branches, littering the damp ground and making the soft earth look so inviting, he thought.  If only he could lie down for a few minutes, God, just a few minutes. 

"Shawn!" 

He looked up when he heard his name and was met with a pair of concerned blue eyes that matched the frantic sound of Juliet’s voice. She looked just as tired, dirty and broken as he did, but he pushed those memories away for now, storing them, praying for once he could forget. 

Right now he had to get back up. 

-ooo- 

"I don't have time for this, Shawn!” 

Shawn paced back and forth along the hallway of the Santa Barbara Police Department, arguing with Gus, his best friend and business partner. 

“They caught the guy, the evidence was right on his hand!" Gus said in a low but fierce tone. 

"The guy's innocent, Gus!” Shawn cried. “Sure, he may look like a lunatic serial killer with the dirty, smelly clothes, scraggly long beard and rotten teeth that look like they haven't seen a toothbrush since Jodie Foster won best actress for her role in The Accused.”  He looked up, thoughtful. “Though I stand by my conspiracy theory and still think Melanie Griffith was robbed that year--" 

"Shawn!" 

"The point is," he continued, finally turning to look his friend in the eye, "this guy isn't smart enough to pull off these murders. Did you see the look on his face? Genuine surprise, Gus. He was telling the truth." 

Gus rolled his eyes. "You're not a real psychic!" he hissed, to which Shawn placed a hand over his heart, feigning outrage. 

"I'm offended, Gus! My own best friend." Gus rolled his eyes again and Shawn added hotly, "Dude, is something wrong with your eyes? They look like they're about to fall off your face." 

"What is going on with you two?" 

Shawn turned around and plastered his most sincere smile when Juliet came up behind them. 

"Jules! We were just talking about you!" he lied, rocking back and forth on his feet. Juliet raised an eyebrow. 

"You were?" 

Before Shawn could continue, Gus interrupted. "Shawn thinks Grizzly Adams is innocent."

"Gus!" 

A soft chuckle escaped Juliet's lips as she folded her arms across her chest. 

"Oh yeah? The man was wearing evidence, Shawn. A case doesn't get more open and shut than that." 

Shawn sighed. "There's more to it, Jules." He placed his fingers to his temples. "I can't...quite make it out yet, but there's something you've overlooked." 

"We searched every inch of that crime scene and all the evidence leads to Dorland. The hikers were found on the path next to his property with a trail of blood leading to his house and he was wearing evidence." 

Everything Juliet explained was information Shawn already knew. He had been put on the missing hikers' cases when the first body had been found. He had been the one to lead the police to Dorland's house after finding a blood trail that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. He was also the one to spot Dorland wearing the latest victim's class ring, complete with a few drops of the victim's blood dried onto the stone, which was another piece of evidence that would have gone unnoticed if Shawn hadn't remembered the victim's tan line on his right ring finger. But he hadn't expected an over-sized, rough-looking Dorland to practically go into shock when the police arrested him. 

And he hadn't been able to take a look at the rest of the crime scene, where the bodies had been found. The thought nagged at him. 

"Yes, there’s evidence, but something isn’t adding up. I’m going back."

Gus had apparently heard enough. "I’m done with this, Shawn." He straightened out his tie and nodded to Juliet, then turned his attention back to his best friend. "I'm already late for a meeting. I'll see you back at the office." 

"But Gus--" Shawn began, shortly cut off by Gus' forefinger in his face. 

"No. I'm late. And don't follow me." He started towards the open front doors of the station and paused, turning. "And I'm shutting off my phone." Another pause. "And don't try calling the office either, I had all your numbers blocked." 

And he walked out. 

Shawn stood there until Gus was out of sight, then looked at Juliet. "Jules, I need to borrow your phone." 

Juliet laughed and rolled her eyes. "Shawn," she warned. 

"Juliet, I'm serious!" Shawn whined, bouncing back in front of her. "I'm going back to the crime scene. I can feel the spirits practically pulling me there!" He made a jerking movement with his shoulder, inching closer towards the entrance to the station. 

Juliet sighed. "Fine. If that's what it'll take to convince you then I'm coming with you." 

-ooo-

 Juliet tried to glance over Shawn's shoulder at the map he was holding. "How much further?" she asked, tired. They passed Dorland's property minutes before when Juliet realized she couldn't remember the exact location the bodies had been found in, since the trail forked right past Dorland's house. Luckily, she had a map of the area in her bag, and Shawn took it upon himself to navigate their way through the woods. 

"Oh, I think we have another couple months of dancing around the issue, a few months of casual dating, a few more months of serious dating--" 

"Shawn!" 

Shawn grinned. "Come on Jules, lighten up! You're starting to sound like Lassie-face." 

Juliet grimaced as she stumbled for the tenth time that afternoon. "You try hiking through the woods in two inch heels and let me tell you to lighten up. Now how much further?" 

"Fine, fine. The bodies were found about a quarter mile from Dorland's property. We're almost--" 

Shawn stopped walking and looked to his right. He noticed a few drops of blood splattered on a large rock and placed his fingers to his temple. 

"Shawn? Are you getting something?" Juliet asked in quiet wonder. 

Shawn didn't answer, his eyes following a trail of disturbed earth just beyond the blood drops. 

"Shawn?"

Walking past the bloody rock, he knelt down and waved his hand lightly over the dirt. "These look like drag marks to you?" he asked in a low voice, glancing to the side when Juliet knelt beside him with a frown. 

"Yeah, they do," she said slowly. 

Shawn rose, hand held out to help Juliet to her feet. "After you, Detective," he said with a playful grin, stepping aside to let her pass. Juliet shook her head, but smiled as she headed down the dirt trail. 

They walked a couple of minutes deeper into the woods before stopping near a large oak tree where the marks ended. 

"Why do they stop here?" Juliet wondered aloud, taking in her surroundings. Shawn did the same, the bright sunlight making him squint. He walked around the base of the tree, stopping suddenly to stare at something. 

"Jules, over here." 

Juliet rounded the tree and stopped to look around. "Did you find something?" 

"I think so, yeah," Shawn said, crouched next to the tree. "The dirt here." His hand hovered over the ground. "There was a struggle." 

Juliet frowned. "I think you're right. Look at these, two sets of tracks. Someone was digging their heels in the mud." 

Shawn's eye caught the smallest glimmer of something a few feet away, and his hand began to shake. 

"The spirits, Jules!" he cried, extending his arm all the way out and lurching his body in the direction of whatever lay hidden in the dirt. "There's something here!" He let out a couple of tired breaths and turned to Juliet with raised eyebrows. 

Juliet rushed over, eyes fixed on the patch of dirt Shawn was leaning over. She brushed aside some leaves and covered her mouth. "Oh God," she gasped, a metal blade stained with blood staring back at her. 

"Look." Shawn pointed behind them. "Looks like when the trail forks, one of them leads this way." Juliet turned to see the trail, barely visible under all the dirt, sticks and leaves, and nodded. 

"I wonder if that's the only weapon," she said, focus returning to the bloody pocket knife. "I never thought I'd say this, but thank goodness for this drought or this evidence would have been long gone by now." She took out her cell phone and held it in the air for a signal. 

Shawn kept looking around their new crime scene, going back around the tree to check out the drag marks again. His mind raced back through the corner’s report and his memory showed him the body, and he was certain there weren’t any other weapons. "The spirits don't think there are any other weapons, Jules."  

“Well I’m going to try and find a signal so we can get Carlton and CSU up here. No offense to the spirits, but I’m not taking any chances,” Juliet said, wandering off in search of service. 

Mind racing, Shawn began to draw the facts out inside his head; a trail that split in different directions, drag marks, a knife and a dead body. He crouched down and brushed aside some leaves to get a better look at the drag marks. The man they found had on tennis shoes, but the marks look as if they were made by a shoe with a thicker heel. 

“Hey Jules, there might be more than one body somewhere,” Shawn said loudly when he heard Juliet’s footsteps coming back towards him, but she didn’t say anything. “Did you hear me?” he tried again, this time receiving only a soft moan in reply. 

"Jules?" he called in confusion, making his way back to the other side of the tree. Juliet was sprawled out in the dirt, a small amount of blood trailing down the side of her head. 

"Juliet!" He crashed to his knees beside Juliet's unconscious body and, with shaking hands, lightly wiped the blood away from her eye with his thumb. "What the hell--" 

The rest of his sentence was lost in the loud echo of cold metal smashing into the side of his head.

-ooo-

Night enveloped them, the small patches of moonlight barely helpful in lighting the dark wood in their path. Leaves rustled gently in the damp air, oblivious to the danger lurking in the shadows as Shawn strained his eyes in the darkness, willing them to find any source of help, civilization, protection. 

He glanced to his right when he heard Juliet sniffle softly. She had been crying for the past few minutes but he hadn't said anything since she was obviously trying to hide it from him. "Jules, we're gonna get out of here," he said quietly, pulling her arm, urging her limping form to keep going. 

Juliet wiped her face on her sleeve and shook her head. "It's not that." She stumbled against Shawn's side and he could hear her shaky breathing. "I could have saved him." 

Shawn's heart sank, flashes of blood, the sound of his screams, his pleading... 

He pushed it away because he had to. "There's nothing you could've done differently, Jules. Let's just focus on getting out of here." 

Juliet closed her eyes briefly, nodding as she wiped a few stray hairs from her dirt-streaked face. Shawn tightened his grip on her arm and kept moving. 

-ooo- 

A quiet rumbling was the first thing that registered in his head, making his eyes water as it agitated the pounding behind them. Then the sound of soft conversation reached his ears, but he couldn't make out who was talking or what they were talking about. It sounded rushed, panicked. Maybe he was in a hospital, though he couldn't remember any hospital being so dark or smelling so damp and musty. 

Trying to shift his body upwards was painful, especially when he moved his neck, the throbbing behind his eyes beating so loudly that all noise seemed to cease for a few moments. Unpleasant sensations tingled up his spine and in the back of his throat from the movement, so he decided he was better off just lying still. 

Until he heard her voice. 

"Shawn? Are you all right?" 

Juliet was there, but her voice brought to him an array of mixed emotions. Shawn wasn't sure why he felt comforted knowing she was with him, or  why he felt so utterly terrified for that same reason. She sounded so concerned, so worried-and there, in a flash, came a flood of memories. Crime scene, blood, her unconscious form lying on the forest floor. 

"Jules!" His voice was strained as he coughed. He moved to an upright position, no matter how much his upper body protested, and finally opened his eyes. 

"Hey, slow down, I'm right here," Juliet soothed, rubbing a warm hand across his forehead. Shawn blinked several times to help adjust his eyes to the dim light and focused on Juliet's face, so close to his own. He took a deep breath, inhaling the faint fruity scent of her shampoo and relaxed his shoulders. 

"You with me?" she asked calmly. Shawn reached up to hold onto the hand that gently touched his cheek. His eyes scanned hers, then rested on the dried blood in her hair and down the side of her face. 

"How did you get that?" he asked quietly, his fingers hovering over the small slice on her temple. 

Juliet let out a deep sigh. "Shovel." 

Shawn looked past Juliet and finally took in their surroundings. The room they were in was dark and bare, besides a few tools on a workbench on the far side of the room. There was a small metal door to the left, but there weren't any windows on the dirt walls. The floor was made of rotten wood and stale dirt, lit up by a dim, flickering light that hung in the middle of the room with a long cord swinging from it. However, the most disturbing aspect of the small room were the two over-sized cages, one of which he and Juliet currently occupied. 

"A shovel?" he asked apprehensively. 

Juliet nodded. "Well, that's what Adam told me. He saw whoever did this dragging it in with us." 

Shawn squinted in the dim lighting and noticed that the cage on the other side of the room also contained an occupant; a dark haired man who looked to be in his early 30s. He wrapped a hand around one of the bars and nodded solemnly. Shawn turned back to Juliet, watching as she licked her lips. 

"He was hiking along the path when he stopped to rest for a few minutes." Her voice was low and Shawn noticed a hint of guilt in it. 

He turned his attention to Adam, who nodded again. "Next thing I knew," he said, his voice rough and shaky, "I was here." 

"Adam, what day did you leave to go hiking?" Juliet asked, slightly hesitant. Shawn squinted up at her, still a little unfocused, but noticed she was biting her bottom lip. 

Adam thought for a moment, his nose scrunched. "I'm not sure, exactly. What's today? I think it was Tuesday-no, it was definitely Tuesday, because I had been at my sister's place the night before. We always have dinner together on Mondays." 

Defeated. That was the only way Shawn could describe Juliet's now hunched frame, though he wasn't quite sure why just yet. 

Backing up she turned to him. "You were right about Dorland, Shawn," she said with a weary sigh, sitting down next to him and resting against the back of the cage. 

And at that moment, Shawn was positive that being right wasn't exactly a good thing.

-ooo-

Dawn was finally beginning to break, lighting the sky with pink and yellow rays that sent new hope, along with renewed fear, through Shawn's veins. The light meant better sight, his strength. If he could see where he was, if he could find something familiar maybe he could get them home safe. But the light meant better sight, their weakness. If that half-crazed mountaineer was following them, he could easily spot them. And if he had gotten the upper hand once before there was no telling whether or not he could get it again. 

Shawn noticed Juliet walking a little faster now despite the fact that her shoes were broken and uneven after she had snapped off the heels back at their mountain-side prison. He also noticed how she was still cradling her right hand close to her chest. And though she was doing her best to keep it out of sight, Shawn saw the swelling and the light bruising around her thumb. 

"When did you dislocate your thumb?" he asked quietly, picking up his pace to match hers. 

Juliet's head snapped in his direction with surprise. "What?" she asked. 

Shawn nodded towards her hand. "Your thumb. When did you dislocate it?" 

She faltered a little, kept her eyes on the forest floor. "When we were getting out. I-I hit it on the door." 

"You did it before that, Jules. I tried to grab your right hand when we started running. You made a face like you were in pain and grabbed me with your left." 

A few moments of silence passed, each other's heavy breathing, as well as crunching leaves and twigs under their feet the only sounds they could hear. Shawn knew what had really happened, but he still waited for Juliet to give him an answer. 

She took a deep breath. "I dislocated it in the cage. My hand wouldn't fit through the bars to get the lock." 

"Juliet-" 

"Don't, Shawn! I got us out, I did what I had to do." 

Another few minutes passed before Shawn slid his hand into Juliet's, squeezing lightly. 

"I know Jules." 

-ooo- 

Shawn paced. 

The cage was high enough for him to stand upright without a problem, so he walked the small perimeter in quiet concentration. Three paces up, four paces over, stepping across Juliet's outstretched legs where she sat with her back against the bars. His head throbbed, his vision blurred slightly, but he couldn't keep his mind off the puzzle it had to piece together. 

"Shawn?" Juliet reached out and brushed his leg as he stepped over her, but he ignored the touch and continued to walk around the cage. "Shawn, why don't you sit down and let me look at your head? That cut's still bleeding," she said. Shawn absently reached up and touched the wetness slowly oozing down the side of his cheek but didn't slow his movement. 

"I'm all right."

"I don't want it to--" 

Shawn stopped pacing and cut her off with a glare. "What, get infected? Unless you plan on licking it clean, Juliet, there's nothing you can do." The words rolled off his tongue before he could stop them and, annoyed as he was, he immediately regretted snapping at her when she dropped her gaze from his and nodded. 

"I'm sorry Jules, I just can't sit down right now," he added softly. 

"It's fine," Juliet answered shortly as she wiped a dirt-streaked hand across her cheek. 

Shawn sighed and resumed his pacing a little more calmly than before. He glanced at Adam's sleeping form in the opposite cage and swallowed hard, silently cursing his "gift" as he took in the man's haggard appearance. He laid curled on his side, backed into the corner of his prison, wheezing softly. Face pale and bloody, his skin barely visible through the dark grime encrusted over it, Shawn could make out dark circles that had bloomed under his light eyes, pinched together even in sleep. 

"If it helps," Shawn said quietly, breaking his eyes away from Adam, "the spirits and I've worked out what really happened to those hikers. For the most part, anyway." 

Juliet perked up a little when he said this. "What have you got?" she asked, clearly interested. 

"Well," Shawn began, "the trail veers in two different directions." He pointed to his sides. "The spirits and I are assuming the two dead hikers and our other occupant took the path to the right when they hit the fork. The first hiker, Rogers, and Adam, were both knocked out cold and brought back to this place immediately." 

Juliet frowned. "But what about the drag marks from the main trail and the bloody knife?" she asked, making sure to keep her voice down as she stole a glance at Adam. 

"Okay," Shawn continued, and his pacing quickened. "Remember Ramirez, the second hiker you found?" Juliet nodded so Shawn went on. "He probably dodged the first attack and tried to defend himself with his pocket knife. Which would explain that wound on his shoulder and the blood on the knife." 

Juliet stood up, suddenly excited, and started pacing alongside Shawn. "He tried to run away and get help." 

Shawn gave her a quick nod. "He would remember seeing Dorland's house on the way up the trail," he said. He watched Juliet's face, her eyes intent on something unseen. 

"But he was losing blood from the wound." Juliet put her hand on her shoulder, her forehead creasing in concentration. 

Her voice shook Shawn from his observation. "Crazy caught up with him, knocked him out and dragged him off," he hissed, stopping to face her. 

"Which would explain the marks in the dirt leading back towards the trail!" Juliet hissed back, her eyes widening in realization. "Oh God," she added, leaning against the rusty bars of their prison. 

"Juliet?" Shawn watched her slide to the floor. He dove next to her and grabbed her, eyes on the bright red trail of blood dripping down her head. It stood out even more against her pale skin. 

"He's next," she whispered, her gaze resting on their sleeping roommate. "And there's not much time left." She raked trembling fingers through her dirty hair. "He left Tuesday. Which means he was probably brought here sometime that afternoon." 

Shawn raised his eyebrows when she stopped talking and began frantically digging around the cage. She was mumbling something he couldn't understand as she rolled around to her knees and pulled on the thick bars, pounding her fists against them when they didn't move. 

"Jules, what the hell?" Shawn cried. Falling next to her, he grabbed her cold, trembling hands. "Hey, calm down! What's wrong?" 

She let out a breath. "It's Thursday, Shawn! Or at least I think it's still Thursday. I mean, it has to still be Thursday, there's no other way to explain it."  Rambling on, Juliet continued to passionately dig until Shawn dragged her up by her upper arms. 

"Make sense, Jules. Please," he whispered harshly, his eyes boring into hers as they searched for sanity. 

With a audible gulp, Juliet tried to calm herself and averted her gaze from his. "The other hikers died within two days. No food, no water, for two days before someone slit their throats. It's Thursday, Shawn." 

Realization hit Shawn like a speeding bus; Adam was due to die today. Juliet began to grow frantic again. Her eyes darted around the cage and she still refused to make eye contact as Shawn tried to shush her, to tell her it was all right. 

"We'll find a way out of here, Jules. I promise." But Juliet continued to shake her head. 

"We need to get Adam out of here, right now, out of here!" she whispered harshly, then broke free from Shawn's hold and went back to her frenzied digging. 

Shawn bit back a frustrated cry as he watched Juliet helplessly claw through the dirt. "Okay, okay," he said, turning his focus to the bars in front of him. He ran his fingers over the rusty metal and tugged hard, but the bars were sturdy. A closer inspection revealed no cracks or dents, no weakness in the metal, so with one more hopeless pull, he changed tactics. With narrowed eyes, he knelt on the ground and brushed some dirt aside at the base of the cage, searching for something because there had to be something. Mindlessly picking at the wooden frame the metal bars were fused to, his thoughts began to wander when the something he was looking for caught his eye. 

A crack in the rotten wood. 

Closer now, his nose barely above the filthy ground, he could see something glinting underneath. He wiped more dirt aside, working to the middle of the cage before he came to a conclusion. 

"Hey Jules, I think there's something under the wood. Something metal, come look at this," Shawn said softly, still brushing the dirt with his hand. It looked a little rusted, but he was positive it wasn't just dirt under the wood. Looking up to see if Juliet had heard him, he saw she had her hand through the bars and she was working furiously at the lock with what looked like a pin. Shawn stood and walked next to her. 

"Jules," he said slowly, "what did you do?" 

Juliet's mouth was firm as she picked at the lock on the door, and she didn't make eye contact with Shawn. "I grew up with brothers," she said simply. 

Taking a step closer, Shawn repeated, "Juliet, what did you do?"

"And when you grow up with brothers," she continued, a small smile parting her lips when the lock gave a triumphant click, "you learn a thing or two."
 

-ooo- 

(Part II)