by Laurie

Chapter 6: Fear is a four-letter word

Chris Jericho walked stiffly down the ramp towards the ring. Usually he made a big entrance, shooting his mouth off. Not this time. Andrew noticed how tight-lipped he was. Chris’s fists were clenched tightly at his sides. "Let’s get this match over with," he muttered to Andrew as they got into the ring. The Radicalz music played as Eddy Gurerro and Albert walked down the ramp. A creature of habit, Chris scanned the crowd for Jessie, as he always did. His jaw muscle twitched as he remembered Jessica wasn’t there. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, *he had to find her! He couldn’t live without her!* He opened his eyes and turned towards Andrew, "It’s time to kick some butt!"

An hour later:
"You tarred and feathered Albert, Andrew," Joanie said admiringly.
"The guy’s an idiot, Andrew said bluntly. "Besides, Chris gave Eddie quite a run for his money too."
Chris shook his head, "I was probably a bit too hard on him. All I did was take some of my anger and frustration out on him, that’s all."
Joanie covered her hand over his. "Chris, we’re going to find her, and she’s going to be alright. She’s strong. That’s part of what attracted you to her, remember?"
"I know, I know," he said, putting his head in his hands.
Just then the door burst open and Nora rushed in, "Have you seen Jeff or Amy?" she asked.
"No, why?" Joanie asked.
"Matt slammed Jeff face first into the mat!"
"What!" Chris said, jerking his head up. "What possessed him to do that?"
Nora shook her head, "Hopefully, it’s some kind of misunderstanding. As brothers, they seem to have really good chemistry."
"They do," Chris said firmly. Look, maybe they all went back to the hotel, why don’t we check there?"
As soon as Chris, Nora, Andrew, and Joanie walked through the doors, Amy and Jeff rushed up to them, "Look at this!" Amy said her eyes glittering. She handed the piece of paper to Chris.
His lips compressed in a tight frown, "This goes beyond Jessica guys, listen to this: " 'Oops, wrong girl. Which means I’ll be watching. Toodle-loo.' " Chris crumpled the paper into a ball and stalked outside. Nora rushed out after him. "This psycho’s got Jess, and I’m powerless to help her!"
"That’s not true," Nora said softly. "If the kidnapper has the wrong girl do you think he or she will really make it that easy?" Chris looked at her quizzically. Nora continued, "If the kidnapper doesn’t need her, then the person we’ll want to dump her-for money. If he or she is watching us we need to seem unconcerned, otherwise this person knows that we are being controlled by our own fears, and he or she we’ll capitalize on that."
Chris looked at her in amazement. "What did you do, major as a psychiatrist?"
"Close, my college roommate did," she answered with a grin.
In an abandoned theater outside the New Orleans city limits, a young woman painfully struggled to open her eyes. When Jessica did she realized she was bound and gagged. Just as her eyes attempted to adjust to the darkness, a heavy, metal door creaked open.

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