Decisions (4th Book in the Boss's Niece Series)

Officer Franco's Real Name

*Mel's POV*

I had drifted back to a dreamless sleep not too long after I woke up. I was awaken for the second time by a door opening and closing and the sound of wood in a fire place.

My neck was stiff from sleeping with my head back. I let out a groan as it cracked. My kidnapper looked up at me. The light was too bright. I couldn't see who it was.

"Ah. You're awake. I hope you had a nice sleep." said my kidnapper, his voice icy cold, the same way Justin's was when he was after me.

"Justin?" I blurted. "No. No, Justin's dead. It can't be Justin."

My kidnapper laughed at my confusion. I closed my eyes, trying to get the pain to go away and to get everything to stop spinning.

"Dizzy?" asked my kidnapper. "Yeah, I figured you would. I used the taser on a higher voltage than I meant. I am a cop after all, it's meant to be used on high."

"Not that high." I mumbled. "You realize you just told a profiler you're a police officer, which means I can start to figure out who you are."

"You know who I am. Come on Melanie. You're smart. You'll figure this out."

"My head kills." I moaned. "I can't-I can't think straight."

"Fine. I'll show you then."

I opened my eyes. My head felt like an 100 pound weight as I lifted it to look at my kidnapper. He knelt down in front of me, a wide smirk on his face. I blinked a few times to make out his face through the light.

"Of-officer F-Franco." I mumbled.

Officer Franco chuckled.

"See? I knew you'd figure it out." he said. "Although, that isn't my real name. My real name is John Hankel. Named after one of the men in the Bible and older brother to Tobias Hankel. I'm sure you know Tobias, right Mel? I'm sure your PRECIOUS Spencer has told you all about my brother."

"He kid-kidnapped Spe-Spencer." I said. "He-he tortured him. Killed him. But revived him."

"And what did Spencer do in return, huh? Do you know that, too?"

I tried to remember, but everything seemed jumbled. The pain was excruciating and I just wanted to scream.

"He killed him!" Officer Franco-er-John yelled. "He killed my brother after my brother so graciously saved his life!"

"Tobias was making Reiders dig his own grave." I told him. "He-he was trying to kill Reid."

"You're a dirty liar. My brother would never kill a soul!" John shouted, causing my head to feel like it was being ripped in two. "But my father. He's a whole different story."

John turned back on to me, looking for something. He continued to speak.

"He used to beat us, burn us, mark us with the cross on our foreheads. I still have that damn mark. It's hard to cover, you know. Had to grow my hair long when I was younger so no one could see it." he said. "Now, little Mrs. Profiler. Do you know why I'm kidnapping you?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Just another pain filled moan. Everything hurt. I could barely feel anything. Whatever setting that taser was on, it did the trick.

"T-Tobias." was all I could manage.

"That's right. You see, your little boyfriend-oops-husband killed my brother. My brother was the only thing I had. We were best friends. We stuck together. We took dad's punishment and vowed we'd get our revenge on him one day." he said. "When I got old enough, I moved out, but dad wouldn't let me take Tobias. He threatened to kill me and Tobias if I even thought about taking him.

"When my dad died, I took Tobias and ran, but he was too messed up. Dad got to him. He was afraid of me because I reminded him too much of dad. He was scared of his own brother, Melanie. Do you know what it feels like to have your own flesh and blood frightened to death of you because of something your deadbeat father did?"

I heard the sound of a Revolver being loaded. I lifted my head again to watch John turn back to me. He held the small gun in his hand, looking at me. His eyes were dark with hate.

"Why-why me?" I asked. "Why do you wanna hurt me?"

"I want you to go through what your precious Spencer went through before I kill you the way he killed my brother." John snarled. "I'm assuming Spencer told you about his days with my brother, right?"

"Inform me. I'm sorta disoriented right now." I said, turning back into myself.

"Alright." John said. "Well, my brother held your husband for two days. He tortured him, beat him, the whole lot. He had this gun. One exactly like this. It had one bullet in it. I have no idea where the bullet is, but I do know that if you ever tick me off, or if I feel like it, I will shoot you. If you're lucky, you won't get the bullet. If you're not, well, I'll tell Spencer you said goodbye."

"Interesting." I said. "Anything else I should know?"

"Oh yeah. I'm gonna be injecting you with Dilaudid."

I sprung up so quick, my head began to pound harder and the chair almost tipped over. John smirked at me and put his gun down. He walked over to a table and picked up a bottle of Dilaudid and a needle to inject it into my arm.

I began to struggle against my restraints. I heard the stories about Spencer after what Tobias did to him. He began addicted to Dilaudid, which made him a bit rude.

I didn't want to become addicted. I had my job. I had Haley and Spencer. What if I became addicted? What if it changed my life? What if it wasn't so easy for me to kick the addiction as it had been for Spencer?

John turned with the Dilaudid and needle in his hand.

"Please. You don't have to do this. You don't have to repeat what your brother did 100% the same. You don't have to do this, John. You can beat me. That'll be enough for Spencer, trust me." I said. "Please, John. Don't do this. You're so much better than your brother. Please."

John knelt down beside me and pulled up the sleeve of my shirt. He took the needle and put it into the crook of my arm.

I let out a whimper at the pain of the pain of the needle and the feel of the Dilaudid go through my arm.

John chuckled. Everything began to become blurry again. I put my head back and the last thing I heard was John's voice say, "Sweet dreams Melanie Reid."

**************

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary. The evil it does is permanent." -Gandhi