A/N: Thank you so much everyone, who read, favorited, alerted, or reviewed my story. I appreciate it greatly. Hope you guys like this chapter.
…
Sam couldn't just sit there any longer. He had to do something, anything, to feel like he was helping. He got up, and immediately started walking towards the conference room where Callaghan and several other detectives and officers were busy shuffling papers and exchanging theories.
Sam stepped into the doorway as Callaghan was in the middle of his speech.
"Look, Bibby was stealing money, right? And the reason he beat the kid up in the first place was for taking some of his drug money… So, we definitely need to have people posted at Bibby's house in case he comes back for-"
"I already have men there." One of the more seasoned beat cops chimed in. "They're trustworthy, and posted at every entrance and exit of his house."
Callaghan looked at this officer, nodded in approval, and continued.
"We have to understand what he wants with her. Why did he choose her as his subject? What can he gain from taking her?"
...
Not so much as what Callaghan said bothered Sam, but it was how he said it that made Sam's nostrils flare.
The professional, detached tone in his voice echoed through the room, almost as if it were just another case. If no one knew any better, they'd assume he'd never met Andy in his entire life.
Granted, that might be the best way to act at this moment, but Sam could never imagine referring to her as his subject.
As Sam was thinking of countless insulting adjectives to describe Callaghan in his head, something happened in the other room. He heard an officer yell in order to get everyone's attention and then the room fell silent. Sam quickly rushed over to see what was happening, and everyone else in the conference room followed.
Boyko had come out of his office too, and the officer that yelled to quiet everyone, looked shocked and nervous before delivering whatever news he had come across.
"We've got a call coming in." He paused. "…From Bibby."
The words tore through Sam as he heard them, and his previous distraught and emotional demeanor changed instantly to angry and determined.
…
"Put it on speaker," Boyko said, while approaching the phone.
Callaghan and the other officers were positioned right behind Sam, listening intently.
"Bibby, this is Boyko."
"So, as you know, I've got your girl." The rough, slimy voice on the other line let out.
"Why are you doing this, Derek? You were a great cop, spotless record-"
"WERE being the operative word." He said, pissed off. "You really think IA is really going to let me go back to work after they find the thousands of dollars of drug money in my house, huh? Do you?" Bibby let out rhetorically. "And you know what," his tone became disgusted, "It's all because of this bitch right here."
There was a little bit of static on the other line, from some type of quick movement on Bibby's part, before hearing a loud noise followed by Andy's muffled scream. He slapped her, hard. Everyone in the station cringed, but not as much as Sam had. Sam's jaw was now clenched, his fist balled, his eyes dark.
"You don't have to do this." Boyko started again, desperately trying to de-escalate the situation, but to no avail.
Bibby laughed. "Have to? No. Want to? Hell yes." Guessing by the whimpering from Andy in the background, her tone rising as he caused her more pain, he was pulling her hair. Sam knew he had her detained and something covering her mouth.
Boyko looked at one of our tech guys, while muting the call for a second.
"I can't get anything boss; he's bouncing the signal off different countries."
"How long?" Boyko snapped.
"It depends-"
...
"Oh, Boyko?" Bibby childishly let out.
Before Boyko could respond, there was a loud noise, sounding almost like a kick, followed by Bibby shrieking in pain.
"YOU STUPID-" The phone fell to the ground, still on the line, and what was heard next was sickening.
The whole room became tense.
Boyko slammed his fist onto the desk as the sounds of beating, accompanied by muffled screams, whimpers, and grunts by Andy, emanated from the phone.
"STOP DEREK! STOP!" Boyko's voice echoed throughout the room. "What do you want? You called for something, didn't you?"
There was silence for a few seconds.
"Yeah, I did call for something. I called to let every officer from the 15 Division know what happens to you when you rat out another cop. This is a brotherhood. I warned her, she crossed the line. Now she has to pay."
The slide of a gun racked back.
A squeal was heard from Andy.
The whole room became silent.
Sam couldn't hold back any longer. He ran over to the phone.
"BIBBY!"
"Who's-"
"Sam. Sam Swarek, remember me?" He was on edge, barely containing himself.
"Oh, yeah. We worked together back in '06, how have you been?"
"This is no time for small talk, Bibby. I want And- McNally back."
An amused laugh came in response.
"Oh really? And why should I just hand her over?"
"I can get you your money." Everyone turned and stared at Sam, shocked. "I'll go to your house, grab everything you have, and we can have a meet where, I, alone, will come and make the exchange."
"Do you think I'm stupid, Swarek?"
"No, no, just hear me out. You take the cash, I get Andy, and I never see you again." Sam no longer cared about addressing her professionally. "I know you can disappear, Derek, you've done it before, it will be easy. Just give me Andy, and you continue living your life." A hint of desperation could be heard in Sam's plea. As much as it sickened him to talk to Bibby like they were friends, he did it anyway, because of Andy.
"Even if you wanted to do this, Swarek, no one would let you."
"That won't be a problem. I can and will do whatever it takes; you've seen me in the field. I can do this."
"Even if it includes losing your job?" He asked, incredulously.
"The last thing I care about is my career, here, Bibby. So, cut the crap. Do we have a deal or not?"
…
As Andy sat on the cold floor of the basement, shivering and in pain, she still listened to every word that was exchanged over the phone. Hearing Sam's voice had calmed her down, yet almost brought tears to her eyes as she remembered how things were between them at the moment. She listened to his plea, appreciation flowing through her veins, but one thing he said hit her hard.
"The last thing I care about is my career, here…"
Andy's gut wrenched, the tears she'd built up finally falling from her eyes. The feeling that ran through her as she heard him say that was nearly indescribable. Having someone put everything on the line for her, everything they've worked for their entire life, was nothing she'd ever experienced before. She wondered if the mindset he had here applied to their personal relationship too… For some reason she knew it did, and it was implied for her. Hurt sunk in, and all she wanted now was to get back to the station, back to Sam, and tell him everything. If she couldn't trust him with her heart now, she would never be able to.
It was all so clear now. She considered how her father always valued alcohol over her, how Luke always valued his job, but Sam… Sam didn't put anything before her.
…
"It is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes... we make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it accords with our emotions - especially selfish ones." -Alexander Solzhenitsyn
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A/N: What did you guys think?
