Okay, here's the second and last part. Hope you like this one!! Keeping the truth Pt. 2 Author: Louise Email: lj_brown2@yahoo.com Disclaimer: I do not own stingers or have anything to do with the show Mac and Pete's cabin~ Mac woke clutching her head as she tried to pull herself up from her position on the floor in front of the fireplace. "Oh shit!" She said in shock, looking down at Pete who was beside her. "Pete, wake up," she said, poking him in the side. Pete grumbled at being disturbed, but eventually opened his eyes to see Mac leaning over him. "What is it?" He asked, but received his answer by looking at the clothes on the floor next to where he and Mac were lying. "What happened?" "Gee, I don't know…we slept together!" Mac replied sarcastically as she got up off the floor, wrapping the blanket over her and heading down the passage. "Where are you going?" "To make sure Lauren didn't see us." There was silence while Mac checked the room. It was empty. Mac came rushing out and hurriedly put on the clothes she wore the day before. Pete noticed her mood, "what is it? Where's Lauren?" "I don't know. She's, she's not in there…her bed hasn't been slept it." "How do you know? She might have made it when she woke." Mac shook her head defiantly, "no, her bag hasn't even been touched… Pete, she didn't come back last night. What if something has happened to her?" "Mac, I'm sure she's alright. Maybe she set us up last night and went and stayed with Angie." "She wouldn't have done that, I told her it would be too risky to have contact with Angie while we're on a case." Mac was beginning to get really distressed and Pete tried to comfort her, but she just pushed him away. Shack~ Lauren was shaking as she pulled her jacket tighter around her body to keep in the warmth, but it wasn't doing anything. Her eyes opened widely and she had no idea where she was, only that it was extremely cold and her mum and Pete were nowhere in sight. "Where am I?" She asked herself as she looked around the cold room. "About time you woke!" Lauren turned sharply to see who it was. "What are you doing here?" She asked. "I'm here on business." Lauren clutched her head, which was throbbing in pain. As she pulled her hand away, she noticed it was covered in blood. She looked up again, before glancing at her hand once more. "It was you…oh my god, how can you do this to my mother?" "Easy. You are not going to tell her, are you?" "Why are you doing this?" "I love your mother, she loves me and I can't have you getting in the way and telling her about my involvement with Warner!" Warner's office~ "Cassie, can you book two tickets to Fiji?" "Certainly Mr. Warner…who will I be booking them for?" "You and I." Angie raised her eyebrows, hoping the little tape recorder was still going. "What's the occasion, may I ask?" Warner pulled out some bankbooks and opened them up for Angie to see. "To get our money." "Wow, where did all that come from?" "Here." He answered simply. "Gee, you must be earning a packet." Josh laughed, "I wish. This is money I should have been banking every day for this shit hole, but I've been…borrowing it to invest wisely in my future…and your's, if you come with me!" "Are you kidding? I'd love to come. But, how have you been getting away with it?" "Been doing it quietly for years, with the aid of my lawyer, Craig Watkins." Craig Watkins, Angie thought, isn't that Mac's boyfriend? Angie looked around. "Where is Craig now…is he coming?" "It seems some young girl was snooping around last night when we were having a discussion, Craig's taking care of her. He's not coming, seems he's in love and doesn't want to lose this woman of his, so once I get the money, I'm wiring his cut to him." Angie started to get worried, but didn't let it blow her cover, "he's not going to kill her is he?" She asked cautiously. "God no, he wouldn't want to dirty his hands. He's just giving her a bit of a fright." There was a knock on the office door. "Come in," Josh called. It was one of the reception workers, "sorry to disrupt you sir, but we have a problem." "What kind of problem?" "Mr. and Mrs. Talbot are saying they haven't seen their 15 year old daughter since she went for a walk last night. They're quite distressed." "Right, thankyou Lydia, I'll be out in just a sec." A few moments later, Josh walked out to the front counter where Mac was standing. "Mrs. Talbot, I understand you're daughter has gone missing?" "Yes. My husband and I last saw her about five o'clock yesterday evening and we haven't seen her or heard from her." "What is your daughter's name?" "Lauren." Josh grabbed a few papers, "I won't be a moment. I'll just go and organise a search." "Thankyou." Mac turned around just in time to see Craig entering the doors to the lodge. "Craig, what are you doing here?" "I met up with a client here late yesterday and decided to stay…is everything alright?" He asked looking concerned at Mac's distressed look. Mac began crying as Craig took her in his arms and ushered her outside to somewhere more private. "Ssh, what is it?" "Lauren's gone missing…I haven't seen her since early last night and I don't know where she would have gone." "Why don't we go looking for her now. I'm sure she'll be around somewhere." Mac nodded and they started heading in the direction of the shack where Craig had taken Lauren. "Mr. Warner, I just have to duck across to my cabin and pack my suitcases, is that alright?" "Yeah, that's fine," replied Josh. Com-V~ Angie looked around as she approached the com-v, making sure nobody would see her enter it. Oscar turned sharply at the sound of the sliding door opening, but relaxed when he saw it was only Angie. "Hey, I just heard from Pete. How's Mac?" "Distressed…but I think I know who took her." Oscar looked up, urging Angie to continue. "I got the info on tape," she said as she handed Oscar the small tape. "Turns out, he's not alone." "Who's he working with?" Oscar asked intrigued. "Craig Watkins. He's a lawyer and also…Mac's boyfriend." "You're kidding?" Angie shook her head. "What has this got to do with Lauren?" "Warner said that Watkins had gone out to take care of some girl who was snooping around last night when they were discussing `things'. Watkins has probably met Lauren, and knowing that Mac is away working and took Lauren with her, put two and two together when he saw that it was Lauren snooping." "Oh shit!" "There's more. After Mac had gone to Warner, to report Lauren missing, Watkins turned up, looking all concerned." "Yeah right!" Oscar scoffed. Angie looked at her watch, "I better be heading back." "Okay, I'll let Pete know and call for back up." Snowfields~ Mac was looking around desperately as they trudged through the snow. "If Lauren's out here, she'll be lucky to be - " Craig stopped her from finishing the sentence, "Ellen, don't talk like that. I think there's a little shack out here somewhere…she might have gotten lost and ended up there for the night." "I hope so," Mac said, tears rolling down her cheeks. "It's just up ahead," Craig pointed out towards a small timber building. He opened the door and to his surprise Lauren wasn't there. "Shit!" He yelled. Mac was confused and raised her eyebrows, "what?" "Ah, nothing. I was just sure she would be here." Craig glanced outside, but couldn't see anything. "The weather's beginning to get quite bad now, we better head back to the lodge before we get stuck." "No, we have to keep looking. Lauren's out here somewhere, we have to find her!" Craig took Mac by her shoulders looking deeply into her eyes, "and we will. It's best left to the professionals to look for her, they have the equipment to handle this kind of weather…come on." Mac paused before following Craig back to the lodge. "You go back to your cabin, I just need to take care of a few things." Craig said as they approached the lodge. Com-V~ "Are you sure about this Angie?" "Pete, it's on the tape," Angie replied as she held the taped evidence in her hand. Pete put his head in his hands as he thought. "Backup aren't going to be here for another hour or so, so we have to somehow corner Craig into admitting it to Mac, otherwise she'd never believe me when I tell her." "Not to mention we're fast running out of time looking for Lauren," Oscar put in. "He loves Mac, so he wouldn't have hurt her…he probably has her hidden somewhere warm just to scare her into not saying anything." Pete, Oscar and Angie's attention turned to the screen showing Craig heading for Warner's office. Oscar flicked the switch that turned on the wire. "Where is the girl now?" Warner asked. Craig shook his head, "I don't know…I went to the cabin and she was gone." "You didn't tie her up?" "Of course I did! She must have found a way to get out of it." "Great," said Pete. "There's no way she can survive out there tonight," he said indicating to the heavy snow fall. "Have we heard anything from the search party?" Oscar shook his head, "nothing!" Mac and Pete's cabin~ Mac had eventually fallen asleep on the couch as she continued to wait for news on Lauren's whereabouts, oblivious to the sound of somebody entering while she slept. "Mum…mum. Wake up, quick," Lauren said as she shivered uncontrollably. Mac's eyes opened and a smile spread across her face. "Lauren, is it really you?" She asked, reaching out and putting her hand to Lauren's face. Lauren smiled too, "yes mum it is…there's something I desperately need to tell but not here." "Alright, we can go to the van." Mac suggested as she sat up, ready to go. Com-V~ "Craig's the one who has been wiring the money Warner's embezzled from this place overseas. Yesterday, they embezzled the whole day's takings - $80 000 and are ready to leave." Lauren said as she explained the situation. "Unfortunately, that's all I heard when I fell. I must have been knocked out because I can't remember anything until I woke in a small shack and Craig was there. I'm sorry mum." Mac scoffed, "well, he sure knows how to lie!" "He is a lawyer," Pete reminded her. "So what's the plan from here?" Mac thought a moment before replying, "Lauren will stay here. I'll go back to the cabin and wait for Craig. Hopefully I'll have enough time to set up a couple of wires and try to corner him." Mac hurried out of the com-v so she could be ready for Craig when he came back. Mac and Pete's cabin~ Craig walked into the cabin to see Mac lying on the couch sobbing uncontrollably. He walked over to hold her. "Ellen, what is it? Have you heard something?" Mac shook her head, "no…I, I just miss her Craig. I only just got my daughter back, I can't stand to lose her again." "Hey, we'll find her. It will be alright," he said trying to persuade Mac. "Listen, when this is all over, we'll get out of here…go on a long holiday. Just you, me and Lauren." "We can't. What about work? I've already taken long service leave, not to mention, you've got a few important court cases coming up." "I'm resigning and I want you to do the same." Mac looked up shocked, "what? What about money?" Craig stood millimetres from Mac's face, grabbing a few strands of her hair in his hand and playing with it as he took hold of her cheek with the other. He grinned before he spoke. "This case you're doing, I'm involved…I've been helping Josh wire the money to overseas accounts and we're splitting the total. We leave all of this behind and move away, it's as simple as that." "I can't be a part of this. I'm a cop. If I were to leave with you, I'd be hiding evidence." Craig began to get angry, "and if you turn against me, you'll never see your daughter again. EVER!" "You bastard. You're the one who took her and all this time you've been supporting me, you knew where she was?" "Not exactly. I have no idea where Lauren is at the moment." "That's why you were so pissed off at that shack you took me to, isn't it? That's where you had her, then when you discovered she had gone, you panicked." Craig looked smug as he grabbed all of Mac's hair in his hand and pulled her head slightly back. "I knew she wouldn't be able to make her way back here to the lodge. She was unconscious when I took her to the shack. She's probably lying under 10 feet of snow by now!" "Really?" Mac asked sarcastically as the front door of the cabin opened slowly, Lauren appearing in the frame. "Sorry to tell you this Craig, but you've been outwitted here by Lauren. She made her way back quite easily and told me a few home truths about you." Mac grabbed her handcuffs from behind her as she let Craig know what he was being arrested for. "Craig Watkins, you are under arrest for embezzlement and abduction." "What? You have no evidence of either of those charges!" "Sorry Craig, but being an undercover cop, I have access to wires, and our conversation was taped and therefore will be used as evidence in court. Get him out of here," Mac said to the other offices who had eventually made there way up from Melbourne. "I'm sorry mum," Lauren said as she approached Mac after Craig was taken away. Mac smiled, hugging her tightly, "it's not your fault. Hey, let's get out of here!" "Mac," started Angie as she ran up to her, "Warner has just been arrested. He is one pissed off guy. Thought he was almost in the home stretch!" "Good work Ange." The factory~ "Mum, I'm starving, I haven't eaten for the last two days." "Okay, we'll get some takeaway on the way home. How does that sound?" Lauren smiled as they approached Mac's car, "sounds great…Hey Pete, do you want to come over for dinner?" "Ah," he looked uncertain as he searched Mac's eyes. Mac walked up to him, "come, after all, I think we need to discuss a few things." "Sure, why not?" Pete replied as he jumped in the front passenger seat of Mac's car. "Oi, I asked if you would like to come to dinner, NOT to sit in the front seat!"