Upon reaching The Hague, Tommy and Alanna walked into the main room to see everyone huddled around the main desk.
"Right on time, we may have ourselves a case" Hickman said.
"What about?" Alanna asked, excited to work her first "cross border" case.
"Yesterday in Amsterdam, a real estate developer was found dead due to a mysterious illness. Doctor's think it's a virus but the victim's daughter insists there was foul play. I remembered a case from Germany that had the same symptoms" Eva explained.
"And the profile of the victim?" Alanna questioned.
"Same. Wealthy business owner. The only difference was the family found a vial that could hold poison" Eva said.
"The vial was tested but the results were inconclusive and there was a similar case in Venice a few months ago. I went to the Italian Police, same symptoms" Sebastian said.
"How did you get into the Italian Police reports?" Eva questioned, with a little bit of fire.
"It wasn't hard to hack into their computer systems" Sebastian said with a smirk making Alanna smile.
"Well remember me to tell them to do a cyber security check then." Eva joked.
"How did the German family know the vial wasn't something already there?" Hickman asked, bringing everyone back to the case.
"It was the same cleaning lady for over 30 years. They paid her a fortune so she wouldn't leave" Sebastian answered.
"Have you located her?" Louis asked.
"That's another odd twist. She's in the hospital herself." Sebastian said.
"So would this case be ours?" Alanna asked.
"It's definitely cross border, but I'd have to clear it with Dorn" Louis said.
"In the meantime, Sebastian I want you to go to the latest scene in Amsterdam" Louis said.
"What do you want me to do?" Tommy asked.
"I need you and Alanna to go Germany. Carl and Eva go with Sebastian to the Amsterdam scene. Keep in touch" Louis said as everyone got up.
Tommy and Alanna caught the next train out to Germany. It was going to be a 3 hour drive, which meant 3 long hours with Tommy in a small car. The first hour was driven in silence. Awkward silence.
"Worked a case like this before?" Tommy finally asked.
"Possible poison? Yes, 3 cases. It was all revenge cases. Ex wife killing husbands and other men, enraged mistress killing her clients, things like that. You know, this kind of murder is pretty typical for that of a woman. It isn't brutal and physical. It's simple but has enough strength to give the killer the power she wants" Alanna said
"A woman? Killing over 3 men in various countries?" Tommy questioned.
"It's totally possible. I mean look at the victim's profiles. They are all wealthy, divorced men. She may have a team considering she's been crossing borders" Alanna said as her phone went off.
"Agent Flynn" She answered.
"It's Sebastian. We figured out what killed the men" He said. She heard sirens in the background.
"What is it? What's going on there?" Alanna asked, sitting up straight. Tommy looked at her with a worried expression.
"It's fine here. We figured out that the killer had poisoned the victim with radiation" He said.
"Radiation?! As in?" Alanna questioned.
"Polonium. We found some in the wine glass in the victim's home" Sebastian said.
"Polonium can kill anyone in an instant if given in high dosage. That explains why this victim died so quick. Even the slightest ingestion can cause someone to be sick. That makes sense for the cleaning lady we're about to see in Germany" Alanna said
"See what you can get out of her. We're heading back" Sebastian said.
"Okay, see you soon" Alanna said before hanging up.
"Polonium?" Tommy asked.
"It's a radioactive substance that can be dangerous if ingested in the human body. The higher the dosage the quicker the death" Alanna explained.
"Maybe your right about our killer. A revenge seeking psychopath woman?" Tommy asked making Alanna quietly chuckle.
"Maybe, but let's just hope she or he won't attack anytime soon" Alanna said.
Upon reaching the hospital Alanna suddenly felt cold. It was cold outside, but hospitals always gave Alanna the chills. She hated them.
"You cold?" Tommy asked, noting her uncomfortablness.
"I just dislike hospitals very much" Alanna said
"Me too, no one is ever here for a good time" He said as a nurse lead them to the appropriate room. Alanna slowly walked in with Tommy behind her. There, lying on a stiff bed and hooked up to machines, was a pale woman who had lost her hair. Her eyes were sunken in, her body looked fragile, and almost dead.
Alanna looked to Tommy with uncertainty before introducing herself.
"Hello, I'm Alanna Flynn and that's Tommy McConnel. We're from the ICC and we believe your suspicions about your boss being poisoned are correct" Alanna said.
She coughed a bit and stuttered.
"The-they said I was crazy!" She exclaimed.
Alanna's heart was breaking for this woman.
"Do you mind if I sit?" Alanna asked softly.
The woman nodded and pointed to the seat next to her bed with a shaky finger. From the corner of her eye, Alanna noticed that Tommy couldn't look at the woman. His eyes kept averting everywhere else. He was extremely uncomfortable.
"Do you remember if anyone came to visit your employer recently?" Alanna asked
"No, no one" The woman said weakly.
"Do you know if anything is missing from the house?" Alanna pressed. She knew this woman didn't have much time left.
"Nothing was moved or changed. Except for that vial" She said, as her body shook.
"The vial? Did you come into direct contact with the vial? Touch it or drink it?" Alanna asked, feeling a bit worried.
"I smelled it" She said.
"Up close? You touched it with your nose?" Alanna asked and the woman nodded. Alanna's heart broke. This woman was going to die.
Alanna looked to Tommy who was leaning against the wall. He closed his eyes and looked away.
"Am I going to die?" The woman asked, noticing Alanna's and Tommy's worried expressions.
Alanna gave a warm smile to the lady but Tommy answered.
"No ma'am" He said making Alanna's smile fall. She is going to die, Alanna's mind screamed.
"He's like my first husband, a good heart but a bad liar" The woman said making Tommy look away once again.
Alanna bit her bottom lip, a nervous habit, and gently took the woman's hand into hers.
"Everything is going to be okay" Alanna said softly to the woman as her body tremor. She began to cough and heave and finally she flat lined. Alanna felt the woman's hand go limp in hers. She gently let go of her hand and stared at the woman.
A victim just died in her hands, she had to find this killer and bring this woman justice, Alanna thought as nurses came in.
They both left the hospital and headed to Tommy's car. As Alanna reached for the passenger side door, Tommy put his hand over the handle.
Alanna turned to face him, realizing he was very close to her. Her heartbeat started to race and it suddenly felt hot.
"Are you okay?" He asked softly.
"I'm fine, are you?" Alanna asked, flustered.
He nodded and let his hand go and walked to the driver's side. Alanna exhaled the breath she held and got into the car just as Tommy's phone rang.
"McConnel" He answered. She watched as in the one minute conversation with Louis his facial expression changed over 3 times.
"What happened?" Alanna asked.
"It's Anne-Marie, she passed out at The Hague" He said as he put the car in drive and drove rather quickly.
Quickly meaning, they made it back in 2 hours and they both rushed into the building.
"Where is she? Is she okay?" Alanna asked.
"She has a broken rib and it punctured her lung. She was supposed to stay in the hospital" Louis said.
"She was?" Tommy asked
"She left against medical advice" Louis said.
"Christ, Anne-Marie!" Tommy muttered.
"She'll be fine" Carl assured.
"She just needs time" Louis said.
"How about you three? The radiation?" Alanna asked, Sebastian, Eva, and Carl.
"We tested clear" Eva said.
"And we think we may know what's going on" Sebastian said, leading the team to the main desk. On the screen was a surveillance video and Carl hit play.
"The Amsterdam had a Van Gogh painting. The first set of "paramedics" snubbed it and replaced with a forgery" Carl said as the video of the robbery played.
"We traced our killer to an Irish woman from Ireland, where she met the Amsterdam victim" Eva explained as a picture of her came up.
Tommy looked to Alanna with a smirk making Alanna slightly smile.
She was right about the profile.
"We don't have a lead on her, same with the man to her left. He could be one of the bogus paramedics who showed up to the apartment to steal the Van Gogh" Sebastian explained.
"No facial recognition?" Alanna asked.
"No" Sebastian said.
"No Criminal record?" Tommy asked.
"Not that I could find." Sebastian answered.
"But he does keep bad company. They have a third accomplice" Carl said, switching to the next image. "His name is Marcus Stamm. Dutch national. Foot soldier, career criminal with links to a Russian mob with the leader named Dimetrov" Carl said.
"Dimetrov? Are you sure?" Louis asked.
"Yeah, the name mean anything to you?" Carl asked him.
"I know who he is" Louis said.
"Well our best lead so far comes from our dead German's computer files. He had all his valuables tagged" Sebastian said.
"We talked to the local police in Germany and it turns out a Vermeer was stolen from the house and replaced with a fake" Tommy said.
"Since they couldn't find the tracer we tracked the Vermeer to a warehouse 50 miles outside of Amsterdam" Sebastian said.
"Is it still there?" Alanna asked.
"It was there for five days before being transported to Saudi Arabia. But the location out of Amsterdam is still in use according to the gas and electrical information" Sebastian.
"Let's go introduce ourselves then" Louis said.
Within an hour Alanna had on a bullet proof vest, her glock loaded and an earpiece. They reached the warehouse. She and Tommy stood near the entrance on either side. Carl had eyes near the gateway. Eva and Louis had the back and Sebastian had the top covered.
Alanna and Tommy peaked in to see Stamm playing basketball.
"He's got a gun on him" Alanna said so everyone with an earpiece could hear.
"You guys got an inbound car coming your way" Carl's voice came over.
"We need to move in now" Tommy said
"Ready" Sebastian said. Tommy looked at Alanna and she nodded. They both jumped in with their guns drawn at the man.
"Put your hands in the air! Get em up now!" Tommy shouted. The man just stared at both of them, still dribbling the basketball.
"Show me your hands now!" Alanna yelled.
"I don't think so" The guy said, throwing his basketball towards them, but Alanna got a shot off in the guy's thigh just before the car pulled in.
Sebastian shot a few rounds at the car as it backed away, but the rest of the team caught the guy before he could get away. Alanna put her gun away and looked at the guy she shot in the leg. He was trying to get up. Alanna walked over and kicked the guy down.
"You suck at basketball" She said to him as he groaned in pain.
"Put him on a chair, Alanna" Tommy said as Sebastian approached with a metal chair and some rope.
Alanna smiled wickedly at the now terrified man. She grabbed him by his collar and with the help of Sebastian helped him on the chair and tied him there. His leg was letting out blood, but Alanna knew it wasn't life threatening.
Tommy pulled up a chair across from him and they three began to interrogate the man, while the rest of the team interrogated the other one in a different room in the warehouse.
With enough pressure the guy broke.
"Okay! All I know is there is an Art Gallery opening in Prague tomorrow! She said something about it. That's all I know!" He admitted.
Alanna smiled and patted the guy on the face.
"See that wasn't too bad. An ambulance along with police should be here in an hour" Alanna said.
"An hour?!" The guy yelled.
"I could make it two" Alanna said with a wink before leaving with Sebastian and Tommy.
The team discussed a plan to go to Prague in the morning and then to infiltrate the Art Gallery in order to catch the killer.
"You know how to interrogate well" Tommy said to Alanna as they reached The Hague.
"FBI trains well" Alanna said as she cleaned up her desk for the night.
"Yeah? They teach you how to flirt and be all seductive?" He teased making her laugh.
"I was hardly flirty with the guy, just having fun" She said back.
"Torturing is definition of fun?" He asked her making her chuckle again.
"Maybe so, but it seemed like you didn't mind" Alanna teased him.
"I don't mind scuffing a few knuckles to get answers" He said with a smirk as they both began to leave.
"They're getting along well" Eva said quietly to Sebastian as they both watched Tommy and Alanna leave with smiles and laughter.
"Really well. I haven't seen him smile since Sienna's passing" Sebastian said.
"She's good for him" Eva said.
"In what way?" Sebastian asked with a raised eyebrow.
Eva smiled and then winked at Sebastian before leaving.
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