Katie, Krissie and James were all friends. The three of them hung out together around and away from the track. Krissie and Katie were her first friends, not only at the track, but since she moved to North Carolina. They were shopping buddies, track buddies, workout buddies. They were her girls.
She couldn�t believe that her other friend had been taken. She had just talked to her earlier, making plans for that upcoming weekend.
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Flashback:
Krissie�s phone rang as she put her grocery bags down on the counter. She ran over to her purse and grabbed her phone out. She looked at the caller ID and smiled. �Hey Jamie,� she answered.
�What�s up, girly?� James responded. She was calling Krissie before she had to go on rounds. �I saw that you called.�
�Yeah,� Krissie said breathlessly.
�You sound out of breath. Did I interrupt something?� James asking slyly.
�No,� she said, shaking her head, �Get your mind out of the gutter, Red. I was calling cause I wanted to see how ya were holding up.�
James sighed, �I wish everyone would stop checking up on me.�
�We love you and we�re worried about you. We can�t help but check up on you. A little birdie told me that you haven�t been sleeping, you�re running yourself ragged and stretching yourself too thin.�
James groaned, knowing full well who told her. �God damn, Red, running and his big mouth.�
�Like I said, we�re all worried about you, Doctor. You should know better than to do that to yourself,� Krissie said, scolding her.
�I know,� she sighed, �I should know better, but I can�t help it. I can�t just go on like nothing happened, you know?�
�No one is asking you to, honey. We�re just asking you to take care of yourself. Even Matt�s worried about you.
�Matt? Matt�s worried about me?�
�Yes. He appreciates that you come around and help, but he knows it�s not good for you. What with your residency and you over there for all your time off it�s taking its toll,� she said, �So, please, for everyone�s sake, take some time for yourself.�
She stayed silent for a while before giving in. �You�re right,� she said. �I should just take a day off and go away.�
�A day off sounds good, but I think a week would be better. In fact, I think you should come out to Dega with us. Get out of town, ya know?�
�I don�t know--�
�Don�t argue, Red, cause you�re not getting out of it. I talked to your doc and he�s cleared ya, giving you a much-deserved break from work at the hospital and your Charlie was more than willing to give you time off from the mountains of paper work that you do so unnecessarily.
�You�re gonna be flying out and staying with Bud boy. I already have a little spa and salon day planned for us when we get there. So you see, everything is planned and there�s no saying �no�,� she said, making sure James had no reason not to go.
�Is that what B had to tell me at lunch later today? Is it also why Charlie is �too busy� to take my calls for business deals?� she asked.
�Yeah. It�s all one big conspiracy. If I didn�t get to talk to you, Dale was goin� to tell you. We want you to relax or at least try to.�
James groaned, �That means I still need to--�
�Pack?� she said, as if reading her mind. �No need, I did that before I left with Ry. Your bag is already with Dale.�
�How can I possibly not notice that things are missing from my own place?�
�Cause you work too much and are never home except to sleep, take care of paperwork for Charlie and take care of Macgyver. And before you say anything about Mac, Kelly already offered to take care of him. You know that Karsyn adores him so it�s really all taken care of,� she said, relieving James of some worry.
�So that�s it? Everything�s all done for me?�
�Yup, so no arguments, right?�
�I�m too tired to be arguin� with ya girl,� James said with a chuckle.
�Good,� Krissie said, �You�d know better than to anyway when I mean business.�
Ryan came into the kitchen. He put his arms around Krissie�s waist and kissed her cheek. �Who�s that?� he asked. �Jame?�
Krissie nodded as Ryan left to change for his next appearance. �Tell her I said �hi� and you Kris, need to get ready.�
Krissie shooed her husband out of the room, �Yeah, yeah, yeah,� she said after him. Back to James, she said, �Well ya heard him. He says �hi.��
�Yeah. He�s so loud, how I could I not?� she giggled. �You off to an outing with him?�
�Yup, so I must bid you adieu. I better see ya at Dega, girl, or I am gonna hop on a plane and hog tie ya and drag you out here. So you see, you�re coming one way or another,� she laughed.
�Alright, I already told you I was coming. No need with the threats,� James said with a smile, �Call me later afterwards?�
�Definitely. Bye.�
�Hey, Kris, one more thing,� James said, �Be careful.�
�Okay. But you, don�t work too hard,� she said, hanging up.
James hung up her phone, feeling a bit uneasy. She felt something was wrong, but didn�t know what. She felt like she did when she walked into Katie�s house, the day she disappeared.
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Later, at the appearance:
Ryan held Krissie�s hand walking into the mall. �Are you going to be okay shopping?�
�Did you really just ask me that?� she said with a laugh, �We�re at a mall. This is woman territory. Of course I�ll be fine although your wallet might not.�
Ryan smiled and just shook his head. �Alright then, try not to buy too much,� he pulled her in and kissed her, �I love you.�
�I know,� she said as she kissed him.
�Call me if ya need me,� he whispered into her ear.
�Okay,� she answered. She held onto Ryan�s hand as he walked away until he let go. She sighed and turned the other direction, �Now where to go first?�
She walked around the mall for a good while with already handfuls of bags. �Ryan�s gonna have a fit when he sees all these bags,� she thought as a smile came across her face. Her stomach started growling and she knew full well that Ryan�s appearance was going to take a while, she decided to get a short snack by the food court.
She sat down with her food, feeling a little bit uneasy. She felt as if someone was watching her. She looked around, seeing if someone was. She looked at all the people in the food court, the shoppers walking by checking them out. All of them seemed to be watching her.
�God,� she scolded herself, �There�s no one.� She shook the notion quickly out of her mind. �It�s just because of what�s happening with Katie,� she thought, dismissing that bad vibe, �No other reason. You�re paranoid, girl. That�s all.�
Krissie finished eating, still feeling a bit uneasy. She decided to go meet back up with Ryan. The ominous feeling of something bad looming was not sitting well with her. She called up Ryan as she walked over to the store at which he was at. �Hey, honey,� he answered, �What�s up?�
�Hey, baby, are you almost through?�
�Yea, just about. Ya tired of shopping already?�
�Just a bit,� she said as she continued walking, looking over her shoulder for whatever. She wanted to avoid being alone so she decided that walking in a crowd was best.
�What�s wrong?� Ryan asked, knowing something was most definitely wrong, �And don�t tell me nothing.� Krissie never got tired of shopping, so for her to say that was a bit odd.
�I just wanna go home right now,� she said as the crowd around her was starting to diminish and she ended up being alone. �I just have a really--� she started to say.
�Kris,� Ryan said, thinking that she just lost service. He kept calling out her name, but he heard nothing until he heard her scream.
�Kris, Baby, where are you? Krissie?!� he started panicking, running around the mall, looking for his wife all while on the phone. He was hoping for some sort of clue as to where she was.
�Ryan!� he heard her scream and being to cry, �Help me!�
�Krissie, I�m coming! Hold on!� he yelled back into the phone. �Tell me where you are, honey. Come on. Tell me!�
She didn�t hear what he was saying. Her attacker knocked the phone out of her hand. She couldn�t tell Ryan where she was and all Ryan heard was Krissie whimper �No! Please, no,� before screaming, �Let me go!�
He heard her struggling, fighting with her attacker for her life. After a few moments, there was nothing. No sounds of a struggle. His heart about stopped right there, but then he heard, �Tell your husband good-bye. You�re with your true love now.�
�Krissie!� he yelled, but all he heard was a groan and a faint calling of his name. �Krissie!� he screamed again before the phone call ended.
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