10:04 AM – New York City Hall
The deputy mayor dashed through hallway, dodging other co-workers on her way to speak to the Mayor about what she just learned. Only a few minutes ago she ended a call with the captain of the SVU division of Manhattan, who informed her of a train hijacking that just occurred, and that the Mayor had to be notified A.S.A.P. After a few moments she reached her destination, the Mayor's office.
"Sir, we have a problem," The deputy mayor said, practically gasping for breath.
"What is it?" Mr. Michael Bloomberg responded, with his curiosity piqued after deputy's dramatic entry.
"A subway train was just hijacked," She responded, "The operator was shot and killed, fourteen passengers taken hostage, and the leader set up a ransom, demanding five million dollars."
"Five million dollars?" The Mayor responded. "What else? What's the deadline?"
"He threatens to kill a hostage if the money isn't delivered by 10:30."
"Oh sure, let me just write down a check and hand it to him personally," Bloomberg said sarcastically.
"Actually sir, he wants the money in cash—"
"I was being sarcastic Mrs. Harris," The Mayor interrupted, irritated by the situation. "I'm not going to hand some idiot with a gun five million."
"It's a team of six criminals who seized the train, sir. They're armed and dangerous; I suggest complying with the leader's demand." Harris said, finishing her report.
The Mayor stood from his seat and looked out the room's window. He began to look at the possible alternatives, such as sending out a SWAT team, bringing them fake money, but he knew the chances were too risky. He then turned towards his assistant and waved his hand, signaling approval.
"Fine, give him what he wants. Have the money produced and sent out by a delivery squad. Who's negotiating with the crooks?"
"Detective Elliot Stabler of the Special Victims Unit, sir,"
"Shouldn't an actual negotiator be…negotiating?" The mayor questioned, concerned why a Detective was doing a negotiator's job.
"He was chosen for the job by the Captain of the 16th precinct. Donald Cragen believes Elliot is best for the job,"
"All right then, have the delivery team contact him once they've been deployed."
"Yes sir." The deputy mayor responded with an affirmative look on her face.
"Good. Get moving, we're losing time."
10:09 AM – Special Victims Unit – 16th precinct
Cragen entered the communication room where he found Elliot waiting patiently for an update, staring out of the window, observing the busy streets of Manhattan. Upon hearing the door slam he turned towards his Captain, expecting an update.
"I just got off the phone with the First Deputy Mayor," Cragen began, "The Mayor was notified of the situation. A small spec ops team can be deployed; they're under your command if you want them sent out."
"Won't Payton's men see them coming?" Elliot questioned.
"These are professionals. They're bound to be highly camouflaged, I doubt his thugs will see them coming. They're only set for standby as of now, if things get hairy you can have them take a shot."
"It's too risky, and by the time they get there it may be too late," Elliot decided.
"In that case, right now I want you back on the phone with the leader. Try to learn about his past, see if he's had a history with the law. If you can find out his last name I'll have George run a background check on him. Try to make friends with him too, at least make him feel comfortable talking."
"Got it," Elliot answered. The situation began to wear more heavily on Elliot. Not only must he ensure the safety of the hostages, but also to keep things calm between him and Payton. "How am I supposed to 'make friends' with a crook?" Elliot thought to himself. Negotiating with him the first time was stressful enough, now he has to associate with him? Putting his personal thoughts aside he returned to the speaker, dialing back the phone linked to the subway train.
Cragen then returned to the main precinct to call for George and Fin's assistance. The three of them returned to the station facing the Comm. Room, where they could overlook Elliot's progress through a one way mirror. Cragen repeated his conversation with Elliot to George, and also gave him his task of learning more about Payton.
"Make do with the information we get and try to find out more about this guy." Cragen booted up the desktop PC in the room.
"Understood, I'll see what I can find," George said, sitting at his desk, ready for his assignment.
"You think this'll work out?" Fin asked, looking directly at his boss. "I don't see that money getting to those crooks in 20 minutes."
"I don't expect it to arrive in time, but if anyone can pull it off, Elliot can."
10:11 AM
As Stabler stood next to the speaker, waiting for Payton to pick up, he continued to ponder the leader's name. "Payton…Payton…where have I heard that name before?" Elliot thought to himself. He recognized his voice as well, but the origin still remained a mystery.
"Who is this?" A voice emitted from the speaker, no doubt the same, gruff voice Elliot was speaking with previously.
"Hey Payton, it's Elliot again," He said as he reintroduced himself. "I've got good news. We're getting the money sent out and it'll be delivered by a squad as soon as possible."
"Is 'as soon as possible' before 10:30?" Payton questioned.
"I can't say for sure, but they'll arrive as quickly as they can."
"Alright then, good, you listened to me. Just don't bother trying to send out any soldiers with 'em. Any troops or cops… they'll be shot on sight, in case you forgot," Payton continued, making his preferences clear.
"Sure, no problem. The way you talk about soldiers though, you make it seem like you have a history with them."
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't, all I can say is I won't bother giving any cops a second chance."
"Well I'm cop too; does that mean you'd shoot me too?"
"Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't."
Elliot couldn't help but smirk at Payton's remark, but he noticed Cragen wave his hand, as the motion signaled him to continue his objective.
"Hey, in the meantime, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?"
"Like?"
"Well, where are you from?"
"Brooklyn,"
"Okay," Elliot responded, trying to figure out ways to learn more about him, "Where did you study at?"
"Benjamin Banneker Academy, I went to Brooklyn College afterwards; earned my Bachelor's Degree,"
"Oh, that's quite an achievement,"
"Yeah…nobody expected Payton McCoy to make it through college. My whole family hardly expected me to pass high school; you could say I proved them wrong."
"That's for sure. Listen, I'm gonna go check out how progress is with the delivery, I'll call you back in a few minutes, that sound alright?" Elliot gathered his notes, ready to enter the room beside him.
"Wait a second, hold up," Payton interrupted. "You still didn't tell me your story."
"Oh, that's right," Elliot turned back towards the speaker. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything."
Elliot wasn't sure how handle the situation. It made sense Payton would want to know Elliot backstory after he told his, but he didn't feel comfortable telling a criminal personal information. "Well, my name's Elliot Stabler, born and raised in Queens. I'm an NYPD Detective, studied criminal justice at Cooper Union, and graduated with an associate's degree."
"And? You got a family?"
"Why should that matter to you?"
"Ah, so you are a family man. Bummer."
"Why is that?"
"Nothin'. All right, go ahead. Call me back when you've got news. " Payton hung up the phone, ending the call.
Still slightly confused by Payton's statement, he discarded his concern for the time and continued his duty, gathering his notes and continued back to Cragen.
"I didn't expect him to spill the beans so easily." Elliot said, handing his notes to his Captain.
"Neither did I," Cragen said, "At least he saved us time figuring it out."
"You guys find anything under Payton McCoy?"
"Still searching…" George responded.
"Then keep at it, I'm gonna check the archives. Fin, help me out," Elliot said as he exited the room. They exited the building and entered Elliot's car. He started the engine and began to drive towards where the archives and records are stored.
"What makes you think it's not his only crime?" Fin questioned.
"I don't think so, I know so. He sounds too familiar."
10:16 AM – Subway
Olivia continued to study her surroundings as any good cop would, examining the criminals' setup, determining their strong and weak points. Eventually she noticed the leader exit the operator's car, rummaging through the electronic devices that were taken and stored. He finally found what he wanted, a gaming laptop taken from one of the teenagers. Once he returned to the front and shut the door, one of the passengers began to show irritation. He appeared to be in his late teens, wearing a Yankees cap backwards with dark blue jeans and white-blue t-shirt. Annoyed, he began to vent his frustration towards man next to him.
"This is total bull," He said, shaking his head in irritation. "First these guys hijack a train, demanding five million in cash, and then they have the balls to tell the cop to rush it! How the hell do they expect five million to get here in thirty minutes?"
"Quiet!" Olivia whispered to the angered teen, trying to reason with him as she leaned closer. "Do you want them to hear you talk behind their backs?"
"Actually, I'd rather say it to the leader's face," The teenager said, practically raising his voice. "The son of a bitch stole my laptop too, I bet he wouldn't be so tough one on one against me, cause I've had it with these pricks."
"Listen, they'll get what's coming to them soon, but as of now you should—"Olivia instantly leaned back into her seat as she heard the operator's door open. Payton walked through it, who no doubt heard the man's threats. He continued to walk down the car and stopped right in front of the boy with an M9 holstered at his right hip.
"What's your name, buddy?" Payton questioned.
"Mark," The angered teen responded. "And I want my stuff back."
"Oh really? Well I gotta say, you got balls demanding your stuff back from us. Honestly, bravo. I'm impressed." Payton clapped his hands together, almost as if he was really commending the teen. "Why don't you stand up for a second, I'll hand it right to you." Just as the boy complied, Payton grabbed his sidearm and whacked him with the butt of the pistol across his face. The boy yelled in pain and grasped his bleeding nose with his hands, but was stricken again in the chest by a jab. He punched him again; landing an uppercut, causing Mark to fall on his back, covered in injuries. Payton kneeled down and grabbed Mark by the collar of his shirt. "Next time you talk trash about us, I'll do more than kick your ass." He let go of Mark, letting his head drop back on the hard floor of the train. He then retreated back to the front, as Olivia, Casey, and another man on the train helped the battered boy back to his feet.
10:20 AM – Archive building
Elliot and Fin arrived at building and made their way to their destination. Once they arrived they began their search through the various files and folders of previous cases, looking for any clues behind the felon.
"Found somethin'," Fin said, with a folder in his hand reading 'McCoy, Payton' at the top. He handed the folder to his co-worker and let Elliot study the file. Suddenly, Elliot's eyes shot wide open.
"I knew it," Elliot whispered as he scanned the folder. "We gotta get this to Cragen." Elliot said as he closed the cabinets and rushed down the hallway with the folder in hand. He and Fin entered back into the car and drove back towards the precincts. They rushed back to the 16th and entered the Comm. Room conjunction. Elliot threw the folder on a table and began to state his findings.
"Payton is a past sex offender," Elliot began. "A case in '01 depicts a man who kidnapped a 17 year old girl and held her captive for two weeks, Olivia and I worked on it as soon as we received word of the kidnapping. Eventually we found his hideout and caught him red handed; with the help of Casey and the hostage testifying he was sentenced to ten years."
"And now he's out of prison, still up to his old ways but now more prepared," Cragen responded, "This is just great…"
"Got any ideas?"
"We can try to get under his skin, but it seems too forward. We may anger him even more; he probably didn't expect us to know about his background," Cragen answered.
"Maybe he does expect it," George interrupted, "Most perps are more secretive about their past, he would know we would take his name and run a background check. He probably even recognized you Elliot."
"George is right," Cragen continued, "We're probably doing exactly what he expects us to do."
"So what's next?" Elliot questioned, "We've got eight minutes left until-"
Suddenly Elliot stopped in his tracks and turned towards the speaker in the next room, as he noticed the LED light was shining bright green, signaling a call. Elliot entered the room and tapped a button on the console, establishing the connection.
10:22 AM – Civic Center
The money was just loaded onto two different government vehicles, each holding half of the money in cash. The money was stored in enforced cases and was set to be delivered to the scene. The men started their vehicles and began to drive towards the drop sight in unison. The leader of the convoy sent out a call to a man he was told was called Elliot Stabler, their coordinator to the crime scene.
"This is Detective Stabler of the NYPD, who am I speaking with?"
"This is the delivery squad. To my understanding this money has to be delivered to a subway train, am I right?" The man continued down the busy streets of Manhattan.
"Yeah. How close are you to the station?"
"ETA is twenty minutes," The driver responded.
"No…no, that can't do. That money has to be down by 10:30, you hear me?"
"That's impossible," The man responded, "The traffic is too dense, even taking the shoulder is risky."
"You're gonna have to," Elliot said, "This is an emergency. Take the lane and drive safely."
"Affirmative," The driver responded, ending the call to focus on the road.
The convoy switched to the hard shoulder, getting by most traffic but also being weary of intersections and walking citizens. They continued down the road for six minutes gradually getting closer and closer to their destination until they were only one mile away.
10:28 AM – Special Victims Unit, 16th Precinct
Elliot, Fin, George, and Cragen continued to oversee the convoy's progress through the screen on the desktop computer, as it followed their progress and distance from the station.
"They're only about a half a mile away; I think they're going to make it," Cragen said.
"Come on…come on…" Elliot thought to himself, sweating with worry as he frequently checked his watch.
10:29 AM – Subway train
"It's 10:29…I knew they wouldn't make it in time." Payton thought to himself as he carefully watched the clock, almost anticipating what was to come. Some passengers began to close their eyes in fear as the time drew closer, wondering who would have their life taken away.
10:29 AM – New York City Subway
The convoy was now seconds away from the entrance; they could practically see it from where they were. Suddenly a call was being made to one of the drivers on the radio attached.
"This is Detective Stabler calling again, what's your progress?" Elliot asked over the line, worried of the result.
The head of the convoy chose to respond, but just as he put his head down to answer the call a tanker truck began to cross the intersection, unaware of the convoy. Just as the driver looked up, he used the hand break to stop the Hummer, but at the automobile's high speed the car flipped over, crashing into the asphalt and sliding into the truck.
The tanker tipped to the side and burst into a fiery inferno. The sound of tires screeching echoed through the area, as each driver entangled in the intersection tried their best to steer clear of the crash. The second driver stopped far behind the explosion, but the demise of the leader also evaporated one million dollars in cash, with the operation now in jeopardy.
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading the second chapter of Demand. As always, I love to hear what you guys think of the story, so please review if you have the time. For those who are fans of Casey; sorry there was little to no scenes with her involved. I'm sure many of you expect her to have a bigger part, so I'll try to squeeze in more scenes now that the time limit has expired. At this point, anything can happen! Also, if you're a little confused on certain aspects of the chapter, such as Payton and Elliot's one-on-one talk, let me just say a lot is to be revealed in the later chapters. Remember to check by my profile for frequent updates regarding progress of the next chapter, or subscribe if you like to be notified by email. Once again, I want to give a big thanks to my beta reader Bob Rhynoplasty. I'm very thankful for her help and thorough reviews of the pending chapters, and her assistance has helped me greatly as a writer. Thanks for reading!