This is the next installment in my "Flack & Angell; First Dates" series So far the series looks like this: As for a disclaimer, I've never quite figured them out, but here goes..... any CSI:NY characters you recognize belong to CBS. Officer Potter and Officer Meeks are mine. Mine, I tell you, they're mine! Okay, now that I've got that out of my system, you can enjoy the story.
"Trapped" includes their 3rd date.
This story stands alone, but has minor references to previous stories in my series.
Dutch & 3
Rest Your Wings
A Real Date
The Gym
Trapped
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I've never quite figured out why some writers put disclaimers, but here goes.... all charicters you recognize belong to CBS, Officer Potter & Detective Preston Meeks are mine..... Mine, you hear me! They're mine! Okay, now that I've got that out of my system, enjoy the story.
"Clear!" Came the first shout from Mac in the living room.
"Clear!" Came the second shout from Danny in the kitchen.
"Clear!" Came another from one of the upstairs bedrooms.
"Clear!" Came another from the dining room, then another from Stella in the back of the house, then one more from Flack in the study.
"Dang it!" Danny's frustration was showing as he holstered his weapon. "We had him. We followed him practically right to the door. We've had uni's down the street. How can he not be here?"
"We don't know that yet, Danny." Flack said, while checking a closet he was sure someone had already looked in.
"You know something we don't?" Mac asked, taking note that Flack still had his weapon drawn and ready.
"Only that we're still two call-outs short. There are eight of us." Flack noted.
"Who we missin'?" Asked Danny.
"Angell and Meeks. We haven't gotten a 'clear' call-out from either of them yet." Flack replied before radioing one of his men outside, just to make sure they hadn't chased someone out a door or window. They hadn't.
"How many rooms are left unchecked?" Mac asked Danny who was drawing his gun again.
"Angell went upstairs. Meeks went to the basement." Danny replied, watching Flack head for the stairs.
Mac followed Flack upstairs, while Danny and Stella went to the basement.
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Meanwhile, in the basement....
Officer Preston Meeks was rubbing his head, wondering where his flashlight had rolled to, and how he had ended up where he was. Where was he, by the way? He had no clue. And finding his flashlight was not going to help answer that question, since it was pitch black and the flashlight had broke in the fall.
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Meanwhile, upstairs....
"How nice of you to join us, Detective." Steven Abrams said.
"Party's over, Mr. Abrams. Put the gun down." Angell replied, taking careful aim. It wouldn't do any good to take him down if Amber was hurt in the process.
"Now why would I do that when you've just got here?"
"Let her go, Abrams."
"Are you saying you don't want to join us?" Abrams said with a rather playful tone to his voice and pulling on the girl's arm.
"The only way you're leaving here is in cuffs, so don't make things worse for yourself. Let her go."
"Oh, I don't think so, Detective. I'll leave here when I'm good and ready, and she's going with me."
"She's not going any where with you."
"She will if I say so, Detective... the only question is, will you be leaving here. The others will grow tired of looking for you before long, you know."
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"This is where Meeks and I split up." Stella told Danny.
"So he stopped to check out this pantry, while you went further ahead into the basement?"
"Yep. Simple as that." Danny nodded. "Didn't see him on my way back up, either."
"Okay, okay." Danny began, running a hand thru his hair as if to help himself think, "So he couldn't be far. Right? I mean, you came back this way without seeing him, but if he'd gone back into the house, I would have seen him in the kitchen."
"Right." Stella said, not quite knowing what to make of the situation.
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Flack and Mac met officer Potter as she was coming back down the stairs. "Have you seen Detective Angell?" They asked her.
"Not since we came up, sir." She replied.
"Which room did you check?" Mac asked.
"I checked that one first." She indicated the first one on the right, "then that one." She added, indicating the second one on the right.
"What about Detective Angell?" Flack asked.
"She checked.... " Potter stopped, then looked puzzled.
"What is it, Potter?"
"She checked this one here on the left first," she answered, pointing to the open bathroom door they were standing in front of, " then was to go to the second door on the left,.... sir."
"There is no second door on the left." Mac said, stating the obvious. Potter just shrugged with a wide-eyed look and not knowing what to say.
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Meeks was finished rubbing his head. It wasn't doing any good and he didn't like feeling the goose egg that was forming from hitting his head when he fell. He remembered the big walk-in pantry, and finding the door, then falling. 'How do you fall in a basement?' he asked himself as he felt the walls. It was pitch black, and so far all he could tell was nothing. A big fat nothing. The walls seemed to just go on and on. He had come across no doors or windows yet. What he'd really like to find is a light switch.
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Angell had a few things figured out. She knew the bedroom door had closed quickly behind her, she knew she was no longer hearing anything from her radio so she probably wasn't getting any reception, and she knew that probably also meant that no one could hear her in there. She also knew her team would never leave her unaccounted for. What she didn't know, was how to get her and the kidnap victim Amber out of there. So she held her ground, she kept her gun on Abrams, and Abrams kept his gun on Amber. Neither of them moved.
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"It just looks like a pantry." Stella said.
"Yeah, a pantry with a door in it." Danny said, as he walked further in, then gave Stella a nod indicating that they were both ready for him to open the door, which he did. "Nothing."
"Nothing?" Stella asked, as she got closer. "Danny, stop!" She called out as he reached for the light switch.
Danny froze. "What?"
"Danny, move back." Stella instructed as she pointed her torch to the floor. "The floor made a clicking sound when you stepped thru the door."
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Officer Potter stood in front of the bookcase in the hall with her hands on her hips, "I'm tellin' ya, Detectives, I'd swear on my own mother's grave that there was a door here."
"Maybe you just assumed, coming up from the stairs that it was a door. I'm sure Detective Angell came down here and realized it was just a book case." Mac offered.
Potter just shook her head, "With all due respect, Detective Taylor, I know what I saw. There was a door here. Angell and I came up here with a plan, after looked at the blueprints together."
"She's right, Mac." Flack said, as he reached the top of the stairs again with the rolled up papers in his hand, "It's right here in the blueprints, three bedrooms upstairs. Two on the left, one on the right."
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No windows, no doors, and no light-switch. 'Great, now what do I do?' Meeks asked himself. The floor was brick, the ceiling was high enough he couldn't reach it, and so far the walls just went on and on, almost as if in a circle, since he had yet to come across any corners for the walls to turn. It was dark, he had no idea where he was, but Meeks knew one thing for sure, his team would never leave without him.
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Amber's arm hurt from Abrams squeezing it, and she was scared. She had been locked in that room for three days and all she wanted was to go home to her family. But right now, she didn't know if that was going to happen. Abrams had a gun to her head and the lady police officer had a gun pointed at her and Abrams.
"Face it, Abrams. You've lost." Angell said, her arms growing tired of holding her stance. But she wasn't about to flinch, and she wasn't about to disappoint the scared girl in front of her.
"You're a detective, Detective. So I'm sure you've figured out from the silence of your radio that you're in a soundproof room. You surely know that means that if I decide to shoot you, they'll never know. They may never even find you."
"But you're forgetting, something. I found you. We have the original blueprints to this house. We know there's a room here, even if it can't be seen." She could tell by the look on his face that he hadn't counted on that. "It may take them a few minutes to figure out how to get in here, but they will. And until they do, I'm not going anywhere"
Abrams knew what she meant. She wasn't going to stand down. She hadn't even flinched. Even if her arm was getting tired like his was. He had to do something, or else she was right, they were just waiting for the cops outside to figure out how to get in. He decided he had to get out of there.
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Danny stepped back to see that Stella was right, he had stepped on something. There was an outline on the floor just one step inside that door. "Looks like a trap door." He told Stella.
"I'll bet that's what happened to Meeks." She replied.
"So what trips it?"
"Try the light switch. It's the first thing anyone would do while standing so close to the door."
Danny stepped across to secure flooring, then flipped the switch. It opened.
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Flack, Mac, and Potter all dove in to empty the shelves of the books, revealing a key hole. "Great, now where's the key?" Mac asked.
Flack was flipping thru book after book as fast as he could, figuring the key had to be nearby and there was nothing else in the hall.
"Check that one." Mac suggested.
Flack did and the book turned out to be hollow with a key inside. "How did you know?" He asked.
"It's red and the rest of the books are dark. Just seemed out of place." Mac replied.
Flack inserted the key.
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Meeks' eyes didn't take too well to the sudden source of light, considering how long he'd been in the darkness, but he didn't care. He was just glad someone had found him.
"Officer Meeks, you down there?" Danny yelled into the blackness as he reached for his torch.
"I'm here!" Meeks yelled back. "Get me out of here!"
"Alright! Hang on, we gotta find something to get you out with."
Meeks had made his way to where he was just under the trap door that let in the light, his eyes slowly adjusting. "Can you hand me down a torch?" Danny tied one to the end of a rope and lowered it.
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Angell could tell that Abrams was getting nervous, probably realizing that she was right and that he was trapped there. He began to look around a bit, so she asked, "Planning on going somewhere?" He looked at her but didn't speak, he looked around again. Angell noticed that when he did, he was also moving the gun a little away from Amber's head. She just had to wait for the right opportunity. Her next move, her only move, would either capture Abrams or get Amber killed.
Abrams didn't take long to make his move, he decided Amber was too much baggage, so he let go of her and made a run for what appeared to be a closet door. Amber fell to the floor and Angell shot out the only light in the room that hung from the center of the ceiling. The room was now dark since there was no window. This meant Abrams could no longer see the door he was headed for and the only light source was from the torch Angell held. She could see him, but he could no longer see her.
FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA
Danny and Stella had found Meeks in a basement that had a hidden basement. "How we gonna get him out of there?" Stella asked Danny.
"Good question, Stell. I don't know about your kit, but I don't usually carry a ladder in mine." Danny replied with a smirk.
She rolled her eyes, but Meeks called up, "Funny Messer! How about I just climb out of here?"
"How?" Stella asked.
"I can see a ladder up high on the wall and there's a cord that looks like it releases it to drop it down." Meeks replied.
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"Was that a shot I just heard?" Flack asked Mac.
Mac nodded, "I think so. You ready?" He asked Flack and Potter. Both nodded that they were. They had turned the key and were all ready to push on the bookcase to see what happened. The bookcase was heavier than expected and very hard to move.
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Angell had heard the key turn because it made what sounded like gears shift inside the wall behind her. She didn't take her eyes off Abrams, though. He was not getting away, not on her watch. "Put the gun down, Abrams!" She ordered him again, she could see that he was panicked. He didn't want to turn his back on her to find the door, but her light was in his eyes so he couldn't really see her that well to take a shot.
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Danny returned to the pantry with a poker from the fireplace he'd retrieved from the living room. He tied it on the rope he'd previously used and lowered it down to Meeks who used it to reach the pull cord up high on the wall. It worked. The ladder lowered, allowing Meeks a way to get out of the basement. Stella and Danny both lowered their hands to help raise Meeks back into the safety of the pantry area.
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Flack came through the bookcase-turned-door first. The additional light coming from the hall revealed Abrams on his knees with his hands on his head. Angell remained across the room with her gun still pointed at him. Mac reached Abrams first and cuffed him. Potter went straight to Amber, who was cowering in the corner with tears running down her face. Flack walked over to Angell who was now holstering her weapon. "'Bout time you got here." She told him. He smiled and put a hand on her shoulder while shaking his head slowly. She smirked back before turning to leave.
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Flack & Angell had left the movie theater and were now parked in his car outside a restaurant.
"Another one?" Flack asked.
"That's good." Agnell said.
"Where?" Flack asked.
"I'm sure they were relieved." Angell said.
"Okay. Okay, yeah, I get it. That's just really weird, but I get it." Flack hung up his cell phone, ending his call with Stella.
"Thanks for letting me know." Angell hung up her cell phone, ending her call with Potter, and looked at Flack, "You go first."
"That creepy house from this morning, had one more secret room in it." He watched Angell's brows raise in surprise. "When Danny put the fireplace poker back in it's holder on the hearth, another room right off the living room was revealed. Stella says the original owner was connected to the mob and did a little remodeling to it. Your turn."
"That was Officer Potter, letting me know that Amber's parents were grateful for our help and that Amber is going to be fine." Angell said, reaching for the door.
"Hey." Flack said, giving her a smile. Angell pulled her hand back from the handle and smiled back as Flack got out of the car. Angell was a independent kind of woman, but would be the first to admit that she liked allowing her boyfriend to 'treat her like a lady' as he put it. "Good calzone, huh?" He asked opening her door and offering his hand.
"Very." She said, hooking her arm into his. "My brother and I come here sometimes when he comes into the city."
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"I told you they were really big and we should split one." Angell said while laughing as they stepping back out onto the sidewalk.
"I like doggie bags, but I had no idea." Flack said, gesturing to the large sack before putting it in the back seat.
"Hey, Don, I probably should take a taxi home." She said before he could open her door.
"And I thought you trusted my driving by now." He smirked.
"It's just that you live only three blocks that way," She pointed, "and I live waaaaay over there." she pointed again.
"That's okay. I don't mind driving you home." He stroked her arm as she stepped in closer.
"I know you don't, and I appreciate that, but you have the early shift tomorrow. It just makes more sense." She leaned in as his hand now brushed her cheek.
Flack had one arm wrapped around her waist, one hand buried in her hair, and was kissing the woman he was falling in love with. No wonder he didn't care if restaurant patrons were staring at them thru the window.
Angell had one hand on his neck, the other on his bicep, and was kissing the man she was falling in love with. No wonder she didn't hear the whistles they were getting from across the street.
A minute later Angell waved thru the back window. Flack waved back as the taxi pulled away.
