Chapter 7: Down by the Docks

Elliot POV

I sit nervously in the passenger seat of Kate's car as we drive towards the east side Seattle warehouse district. The warehouses are located near a shipping dock that handles most of Seattle's business imports. Kate tells me she has a contact there that may be able to help us. I've been skeptical.
We're both dressed down. I'm wearing the oldest pair of jeans I own with a plain blue shirt that has a breast pocket. I decided to wear my old workout shoes too. Kate told me we needed to look as plain as possible. She gave me a rather worn looking leather jacket.

Kate is wearing what appear to be some old jeans as well, with a tight black tank top that doesn't expose any cleavage. She's sporting a thin cotton coat that would hang just above her knees if we weren't sitting down. She looks really good dressed plainly like that. Better than the business casual she had on yesterday. She has her hair tied into a ponytail.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Kate? I mean, if these guys find out you're helping me they will just kill her. I don't think I could handle that…" I trail off as the thought of losing Scarlet flashes through my mind. Kate places a hand on my knee.

"I hear you, Elliot," Kate says without looking at me, "That's why I'm not bringing in an entire SWAT team to scour the area. I want to keep us off the radar until we're entirely sure we know where Scarlet is. My contact knows the area and is very acquainted with, how I should say this, all the questionable business that happens."

We take a turn heading directly towards the warehouse district entrance. Kate finds a spot to park but leaves the engine running.

"We're not going in?" I lean forward to examine the area.

Tall rusted buildings sit rigidly behind broken chain link fences. The sun is beginning to crest the tops of the buildings casting orange light through the darkened dirty windows, some of them broken, "Are you sure this is where we're meeting this guy? These buildings look completely abandoned," I look over at Kate she's smirking at me mockingly.

"These buildings are abandoned, but the ones along the dock aren't," she leans forward and looks out the windshield with me, "Won't be too long before someone come to tear them all down."

I lean forward to stare out the window again, "Are you sure about this Kate? I could just pay them, and this all goes away."

Kate sighs and leans back in her seat again, "Elliot, we've already discussed this, that's not how any of it works. You could be right, maybe you could pay, and they might return Scarlet in one piece, but what if they don't? Trust me, Elliot. My way works, and you won't have to fork over some ridiculous amount of money." I open my mouth to argue, but before I can say anything Kate opens the door and climbs out, "Come on, let's go see my contact and find out what we can."

I sigh and step out onto the broken asphalt. Kate's already started walking towards an opening in the fence. I walk forward quickly to catch up keeping stride next to her, "Why did you bring me and not your partner?"

"What was that?" I nearly jump out of shoes to the sound of Hakes' voice behind me. My hand drops quickly to the pistol stuffed into my pants, but I manage to stop myself. Don't be an idiot! You don't have a license to carry the damn thing. I see Hakes smirking at having startled me before taking place on Kate's right. He's dressed as equally ugly as the two of us with jeans, a black shirt, and the matching leather jacket.

"Glad you made it in time. How are the kids?" Kate asks, without looking at him.

"Fine, as always. Happy I finally got to seem them. Damn ex-wife was being a bitch about it. You know how it goes." I actually catch a moment of humanity when talking about his kids before the stone-faced returns.

"I do," Kate responds as we turn down a narrow alley between warehouses.

"Why you'd bring him? He could get hurt," Hakes asks throwing a thumb in my direction.

I open my mouth to answer, but Kate beats me to the punch, "He wants to rule himself out as the kidnapper. I explained to him that statistically, partners are the usual suspects. He was adamant to keep himself off the suspect list and offered to ride along. I figured why not. If things do get dangerous, I'll make him stay in the car, or go home. No need to worry." She throws Hakes a mischievous grin, and I see the humanity return for a moment. He thinks of Kate as a daughter. There's a soft side to even the hardest of men.

The alley opens up onto a large docking bay. Massive shipping barges take up the entire docking strip blocking the view of the shallow docking bay. I keep pace behind Hakes and Kate as they make their way towards a rusting guard shack. The window of the shack is perfectly intact and looks new. Its security glass laced with wire netting. The man inside sees us approaching. Folding up his paper he steps towards the back moving out through the door.

He smiles while a pulling a pack of cigarettes from his breast pocket and lighting one while eyeing up and down the dock, "Good morning officers. How can Mr. Gwyn help the old boys in blue?" The man's voice is bold and almost fatherly.

He smiles our way with crooked teeth, one of them shines gold. He's a fat man with a dark complexion. His hair is salt-and-pepper cut short and neat with long sideburns. He sports a matching goatee. His messy security guard shirt sits untucked. It's too small, allowing the bottom of his stomach to protrude from below the seam. His jeans are as equally dirty as his shirt. He uses them to wipe his hand as Kate arrives to shake it firmly.

"How have you been Gwyn?" She asks enthusiastically with a firm handshake.

"I've been well Ms. Kate. How are you, Mr. Hakes?" Gwyn asks over Kate's shoulder. Hakes responds with a glare before breaking off to survey the area. Gwyn smirks before turning his attention to me, "Ah, who do we have here?" he probes, sizing me up.

Kate smiles over her shoulder at me, "This is Elliot. He's just a ride along. I need information about a recent kidnapping and ransom. You have anything for me?"

I'm taken aback slightly at how bluntly Kate asks. Her face remains unchanged, still peppy and smiling. Gwyn eyes me up and down again before looking over his shoulder down the dock and motioning for use to move into the guard shack. We wait a moment for Hakes to return before making our way in.

I note that the room is surprisingly spacious as I look around the clean shack. There is a small table pressed against one of the walls just behind the window with three chairs arranged around it where we all find seats. There is a coffee pot plugged in on a shelf built onto the table top where Gwyn takes a seat at the window. A phone hangs on the wall just out of sight of the window too. There is a mini fridge placed behind the door with a microwave attached. It seems Gwyn has everything he needs to spend his days here. I'm amazed he keeps it this clean given his personal appearance. The floor is laid with crisp new vinyl, and there is a small door that appears to lead to a janitor's closet.

"Now, about this…kidnapping, I may have heard something, but it's a lot of personal risks to discuss," Gwyn's voice has changed from that of a loving dad to a hardened criminal. I nearly snap my neck to check and make sure it's still him talking. Kate's face has changed too. She's more serious. Damn, she's pretty intimidating.

"No games Gwyn. You know how the deal goes. You give me information, and I keep police off the docks while you conduct…" she clears her throat, "Business."

What the fuck have I gotten myself into? Business? What the hell does that mean?

Gwyn shrugs his shoulders and smirks at Kate, shaking his head, "That is the deal. Typical pig thinking, you don't care about the drugs or guns as long as you protect the rich," I see Hakes lean back in his chair and cross his arms to stare at Gwyn. His face is just as daunting as Kate's.

"We're not here for you typical bullshit, Gwyn. We've run around in circles with this argument before. Just give us what you know, and we'll be on our way," Hake's voice is crisp and professional. These two know what they're doing.

Gwyn sighs, but his face remains mean and cumbersome, "There needs to be more than our average deal on this one. My neck will be way out there, and I'm not looking to getting my throat slit in my sleep." Jesus Elliot! What the fuck are you getting involved in?

Kate and Hakes look at each other and then me, "How much?" Kate asks. Her voice matches Hakes, calm and proficient.

"Let's say, ten," Gwyn answers unblinkingly.

"Ten?" Kate raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah, ten, this needs to be worth it for me. Either you pay out, or fuck-off," Gwyn snaps.

"No, ten is fine," I watch wide-eyed as Kate reaches into her jacket pocket and draws out a roll of crisp $100 bills. She examines it for a moment before tossing it to Gwyn. He too examines it for only a moment.

"That's only half," he says turning around and drawing out a small deposit box from one of the shelves behind the coffee pot and stuffing the roll inside.

"You expect me to walk around downtown Seattle with ten grand? Now tell us what you know, and I'll make sure you get the rest."

Gwyn places his hands on the counter and lowers his head sighing before turning to face us, "I heard some second-hand news about a wealthy lady was taken from her home up in Lake Forest. Some rich lady was taken from her home and has ties with that Grey family or whatever. I always say there's no way to get rich unless you're also crooked. Guess the competition wants their share."

I grit my teeth but keep my mouth shut. You don't know anything about us. I know this is not the time to mention my family or the situation. I'm sure Kate has her reasons to keep Gwyn in the dark about who I am, and have no intentions to get more involved than I already am.

"Anything else?" Kate's voice brings me back to the conversation.

"Yeah," Gwyn pauses rubbing his hands together, "Word I heard was they took her over to the Industrial West District. Keeping her in a warehouse off Idaho, but I can't be sure she's still there. I mean, word was they were trying to sell her."

I close my eyes with his last remark and lean back in my chair. Sell her? What in the fuck? I see Gwyn look at me.

"What's his problem? What man, you haven't heard of human trafficking? It's a nasty business, I'd never do it, but it's where the big money is. Lots of big players too."

"Yeah? Like who?" Kate asks

Gwyn shakes his head, raising his hands, "That's the deal. We don't do names, and you know that."

I see Kate smirk a bit, "I know, no names. Thanks, Gwyn, that'll do." She rises with the rest of us. I watch as Hakes pulls another roll of money from his own pocket and hands it to Gwyn. He examines the roll for a moment before adding it to the deposit box, "Pleasure, as always, to help those that protect and serve," the father like tone has returned, but now it seems mocking. We make our way back out of the shack towards the cars.

Gwyn doesn't follow.

Once I feel it's safe to talk I grab Kate's arm, "What the fuck was that?" I exclaim, "Business? Drugs, guns, human trafficking? I feel like I'm in an action movie and I'm not some hero, Kate!"

She places a hand on my shoulder, "I know Elliot, I know. If you want to stay home, I can give you updates, but you were the one who insisted coming along. This is a dirty business, finding lost people, and it's not going to get any prettier."

I take a deep breath and remind myself that I wanted to be here. I want to be a part of this. I nod my head, "You're right. I want to be here. I can handle this. Now what?"

"Now we go look around the warehouses off Idaho and hope Gwyn isn't just sending us on some wild goose chase," Hakes answers.

"Right, but I doubt Gwyn wants Seattle PD breathing down his neck. Come on Elliot, let's go find Scarlet," Kate climbs into her car.

I take another deep breath as Hakes climbs into his own vehicle shaking his head and passing annoyed glances at me.

Alright Elliot, keep it together.


Mystery Man

The man watches as Detective Kavanagh, and her Partner drives away with Elliot. Good, let's make sure Mr. Gwyn kept his end of our little deal. He picks up his briefcase and steps out from one of the alleys before making his way towards Gwyn's shack.

Seeing the man approaching, Gwyn nods and makes his way out of the shack towards the man.

"Did you do as I asked, Mr. Gwyn?" the man asks in a deep rough voice.

"Yeah, just how you asked too, now where's my money?" Gwyn holds out his hand demandingly.

The man smirks holding up the briefcase and giving it to Gwyn. Gwyn greedily kneels down setting the case on the deck and shimmying it open. He stares curiously into the case filled with dominos.

SNAP!

Gwyn has no time to react before more shots pierce his chest from the silenced pistol.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

He falls backward onto the concrete, rasping for air. Attempting to reach for the pistol stuffed into his pants at his lower back. He can't manage to get it.

"You stupid piece of shit," the man says, "You think I would pay some low-life criminal like you? I wouldn't waste a penny," he holds the weapon up for the last time. Fear consumes Gwyn's face, tears stream down his temples. He reaches up as if to beg.

SNAP!

His body falls limp.

The man stuffs the firearm back into his jacket and looks around one last time before turning and walking away towards his black Cadillac. Climbing in, he switches on the stereo. Frank Schubert's Ellens dritter Gesang begins to play.


AN: Thank you for reading and reviewing.