Author's Note: I apologize for how long this took to get up. Life has gotten really busy, which has slowed down my writing capacity. I hope to finish soon. Thanks for sticking with me.

Grace Alone - Chapter 10

Tommy found himself at the edge of the room that he had been tortured in. It was the same room in which he had been tied up before. He peered around the corner of the hall, making sure the coast was clear, and then zeroed in on a door across the room. Light peered through its cracks, and Tommy wondered if that door led to the outside world. He took a breath, and looked down at his bare feet, which all ready felt rough from all of his movement without shoes. He hadn't bothered finding his clothes, so all he had on were his slacks, fastened by his belt.

He crept out to the middle of the room, starting to feel relief that he might make his way out, only to hear a loud bang. It was gunfire, and he knew he would have to make a run for it.

"He's escaping!" One of the armed henchmen screamed. Two more appeared behind him, the men were on Tommy's left. Tommy sprang towards the door, running to make his getaway. He reached the door, flung it wide open and found himself welcomed by a blinding sun. He had no time to get his bearings, running half-blind, fairly unaware of where he was going. He had to use his ears, as he heard more armed men coming toward him and firing rounds.

His sight slowly returned to him, and he recognized a warehouse to his left, and beyond it a chain link fence that surrounded the whole compound. He ducked around the other side of the warehouse, hoping he could find a way to surprise his attackers.

Seven men, heavily armed, made their way to the massive building, and turned the corner to where they expected Tommy to be, only to be mystified by his disappearance. One of them grabbed his radio and spoke into it. "We've lost him."

"Lost him!?" A voice on the other end, clearly Sebastian's. "What do you mean you lost him!?"

"He's gotta be somewhere in our facility," the man replied. "Don't worry sir, we'll find him."

"I expect quick results," Sebastian demanded. "Give me a status report in ten minutes."

Tommy listened in from above, where he had snuck up a fire escape and snuck through an open window. He crept away from the outside and made his way to the door, and he cracked it and peered through it to see if anyone was coming. The coast was clear, so he travelled through the upper floor, coming to a door. He opened it slowly and peered through it, only to be shocked at what he saw. It had to be a dozen women, ranging from their late teens to their early thirties. Though they were poorly dressed, they work marks of abuse and neglect, and they were all huddled in this small room, with blankets, pillows, and a measly sink and mirror. They looked at Tommy, fear in their eyes. Their bodies shook. It was the same as when he had first saw Kimberly in the police station. Shame. Guilt. Fear.

"I'm not here to hurt you," Tommy whispered. "I'm going to do everything in my power to help you. But I need your help." The ladies stayed silent at first, but then one of them, stepped forward. She was potentially the youngest of them all, with messy, long blonde hair. She wore an oversized t-shirt, very short shorts, and was sporting a black eye.

"What do you need?" She asked, with a faint trace of courage in her question.

"A distraction."

Five of the armed men roamed the bottom floor of the warehouse, while two stood watch outside of it. Suddenly, they heard a loud commotion from upstairs. The five rushed upstairs, and signaled on the radio for the other two to follow them. They made their way up the stairs and entered the same room with the twelve women, brandishing their weapons. The girls jumped once more, and the commotion continued until one of the men pointed his gun to the ceiling and fired a round.

"What the hell is going on!?" He demanded.

"Korah," the young woman pointed over to one of the older women of the group. "She got a perfume that none of the rest of us can use, and we think that's unfair. She's been able to attract more men that way..."

"Oh shut up!" The armed man shot back. "That's all this is about? The fact that one whore is getting more than you!? We've got better things to do than to deal with your complaints of why you aren't desirable." He looked with disgust at the women in his presence, and then looked back to the other henchmen. "Looks like this was a false alarm." They left, slamming the door.

"Jasmine, do you think he'll get help?" Korah, the accused woman, asked the younger woman who organized the distraction.

"I do."

As the henchmen left, they didn't see that beyond the warehouse, Tommy had climbed up the fence and was on his way into town.

*Palo Alto, CA*

Hotchner, Morgan, and Kimberly walked into the office of Stanford's athletic director, led by the receptionist. The room was empty at the moment, but the young woman assured them that they would meet him soon.

"You think this guy will help us out?" Morgan asked.

"Not if he's on the take," Kimberly blurted out. The statement caused Morgan to look at her with a raised eye-brow. "At Miami, it seemed like everyone was in on it."

"He may not help us willingly," Hotchner interjected. "But if he knows something, he'll help us."

Before anyone else could say anything, a tall, stocky, middle-aged man walked into the office. He was dressed in suit and tie, he had streaks of grey in his hair, clean cut and no facial hair. He had a couple of rings on his hand, undoubtedly championship rings of some sort.

"George Cooper, I'm the athletic director," the man replied, he extended his hand.

"Special Agent Aaron Hotchner," he said, shaking the man's hand. "This is Detective Derek Morgan with the Reefside Police Department, and this is Kimberly Hart."

"Kimberly Hart... that name sounds familiar," he said as he shook her hand. "Pan-Globals?"

"Yeah... how..."

"I have a daughter who got into gymnastics because of you," he replied. "We used to live in Angel Grove, you were a big deal you know. I was surprised that we didn't hear more from you after your big discovery."

"That's actually part of the reason why we're here," Morgan replied, his hand grazing Kim's back to briefly comfort her. "Do you know why you rarely heard from her?"

"I don't," Cooper replied. "What does it have to do with me?"

"Are you aware of what goes on in recruiting some of your star athletes?" Kim asked, accusatory in her tone. "Do you know what happened in Miami?"

"I remember hearing a lot about Miami," he replied. "I had just taken the job here when all of that was coming out. It was about 18 months ago or so. But it was a big deal, it changed a lot of our policies to make sure nothing like that could happen here, or anywhere else for that matter." The Athletic Director stopped for a moment, and then looked into the timid eyes of the petite woman in front of him. "What do you have to do with Miami? Why are you asking about our athletes?"

"I was one of the prostitutes that the Miami athletes used to have a good time," she replied with a biting tone.

"We think the man who orchestrated the prostitution and drug ring in Miami has relocated to the west coast," Hotchner interjected, though very calmly. "Much of Detective Morgan's analysis has led us here. We need to know if any of the athletes here have been in contact with any prostitutes, or if they've purchased any illegal drugs." Hotchner's statement sobered the Athletic Director. He took a moment to peer out his window, then took a deep breath and turned to the trio that stood on the other side of the room.

"We say ignorance is bliss too often," he replied. "There's a level of ignorance involved in my job. You know that things happen, but until it hits you in the face, you're content to not know what's going on." He sighed, then walked over to the side counter to pour himself a small glass of scotch. "Drink?" He asked, while holding the container of amber-colored liquid. They declined, and he put it down and picked up the glass and swirled it around before taking a small sip. "We have a record of athletes who have failed drug tests, I'll bring down our football and basketball coaches, you have full access to them to make sure that if something like Miami is happening here, to stop it dead in its tracks."

"Really?" Kim asked, hope filling her voice.

"Yes," he replied. It almost looked as if a tear was falling from his eye. "You have my full cooperation."

"Great," Hotchner replied. "Make sure that as we bring them down, do not raise any suspicion to the rest of campus. If this drug ring is here, we don't want to give them any idea that we're onto them here."

After their meeting, Cooper set up two meetings with his most high-profile coaches. After the meeting with Tim Ryan, the basketball coach was fairly benign, apart for his shock that he would be accused of anything like that due to his public profession of religious faith, head football coach Jack Harman strolled into the office. He was in his mid-forties, with graying hair. He was thin, you would have never suspected that he used to be former star quarterback in the NFL. He sat down with the athletic director and Detective Morgan, with Hotchner and Kimberly listening in from another location.

"What's this about, George?" Jack asked.

"This is Detective Derek Morgan with the Reefside Police Department," Cooper started, pointing to the esteemed officer on his right. "He is part of a joint investigation with the FBI."

"Aren't you a little far from home, Detective Morgan?" Jack asked.

"You could say that," Morgan replied smoothly. "To be fair, I've been on the run quite a bit lately. I'm protecting a girl who used to be part of a drug and prostitution ring. Her handler, for lack of a better term, didn't want her interfering with any future operations, so he's been doing all he can to take her out."

"That sounds awful, but what does that have to do with me?" The football coach asked.

"One of the things that she told us is that this guy's M.O. is to set up shop at big-time colleges. Get on the payroll by enticing recruits with call girls, drugs, and other stuff. He supplies a good time, it gets big-time athletes to commit to the university."

"Ok..." Harman started, giving a small, uncomfortable-sounding, chuckle. "So... what are you saying?"

"We're wondering if you've heard of anything?" Morgan asked, the coach's demeanor not lost on him. "Maybe an assistant who's been a star recruiter that never used to be? Any big-time stars that wouldn't have typically committed."

"I... I mean maybe Ryan Day, the quarterbacks coach, but other than that..."

"Didn't Jamie Reese commit to us out of the blue?" Cooper realized. "He was a five-star kid out of Georgia, had no ties to us..."

"Our academics really appealed to him..." Harman tried to explain, but Cooper interrupted.

"And Carlos Thompson, the receiver out of Alabama? Theo Wesson out of Texas? I don't follow recruiting all that much, but those guys were some of the most talented guys we pulled in school history. I remember the paper doing a piece on it."

"You were their primary recruiter, weren't you Coach Harman?" Morgan asked. The coach's face fell, and he looked down at the ground for a moment.

"Do you have any idea the pressure we're under?" He asked, garnering zero sympathy. "Two years of one win seasons, missed bowl games, and a new athletic director to report to? That's a recipe for a firing if I ever heard one. So yeah... one of our boosters... he said he could hook up my boys. He knew someone who could help them have a good time. I..."

Before he could finish explaining, Kimberly burst in the room, seething at the coach's admission. "Give them a good time?" She replied. "Give them a good time?! Do you have any idea what you're job security cost countless women? Do you!?" Before she could say anything else, Hotchner arrived and stopped her from saying anything else.

"He'll have plenty of time to answer for what he's done," the FBI agent said calmly.

"What I've done? Look pal, I put Stanford Football back on the map, I won us our first conference title in two decades, and some stupid hookers aren't going to keep me from what I deserve."

"You're right, Jack," Cooper interjected. "No one is going to keep you from what you deserve. You're fired."

"What? You can't..."

"Jack, stop while you're ahead," Cooper replied.

"Listen," Hotchner interjected. "If you cooperate with us, connect us with some of the players that have used these services, we can work out a deal. But if you don't, I'll make sure myself that you are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. That won't just be you barred from coaching football, that will be incarceration, and a lot of it. So think over your next words and actions very carefully."

"George, is there away to get those players here so we can ask them a few questions without anyone knowing?" Morgan asked.

"It might be difficult, but I'll see what I can do," Cooper replied.

"George, don't do this!" Carman pleaded. "You do this, all of the success we've had will be reversed. Those kids futures will be ruined. Don't..."

"Those kids made a choice, and they must deal with consequences," Cooper shot back. "Jack, look at this young woman in front of you," he pleaded, pointing towards Kimberly. "You sought to advance your career, and the careers of those players, at the expense of someone else's future. We owe it to the victims to get to the bottom of this. And if that means our players miss some time on the field, then so be it. But we must face up to our actions. And hopefully, in doing so we will save the lives and dignity of others."

The Athletic Director finished his statement, and then coordinated with Morgan and Hotchner to bring in the players in question, but only after they grilled the head football coach for more information. In turned out that there were a number of other players in contact with this booster, and there was also a contact inside the athletic program that helped swap out dirty drug samples for clean ones. This was deeper than any of them, even Kim, had imagined.

Nearly a dozen players walked into the Athletic Director's office, each one admitting their use of drugs and prostitutes at least once during their tenure, all through the booster that Coach Carman had admitted to using.

Kim listened in, story after story of these men who had no idea the damage they had done to these women. After a while, she couldn't listen any more, sobbing as she thought about all of the pain that she had gone through, and how countless others were subjected to it in the name of "recruiting" and "having a good time."

"How could these men... how could they..." she said to herself, sobbing and gasping in wonder of how they could think that this was ok. She heard a door open behind her and she quickly wiped her eyes. She turned to find Jason standing in the doorway.

"Morgan thought it might be helpful for you to have me here," he said.

"What about Kat and Hayley?"

"They're fine," Jason replied. "Agent Jareau and I had someone drive them to the police station. They arrived twenty minutes ago, and they have a number of officers there around the clock until this thing is over." Kim's shoulders began to loosen, the pressure of her friends being hunted down alongside her had clearly had an affect on her. "You doing ok?" Jason walked closer towards her, keeping enough distance to let her feel the space she needed.

"I just don't understand... how could these players... how could a coach... how..."

"How could anyone use and abuse someone else for their own gain?"

"I don't know, Kimmie," Jason replied, his face filled with sadness both for his dear friend and for the women she felt for. Silence reigned for a moment, before he continued. "But there's a part of me that has sympathy for them."

"What makes you say that?" Kim asked, shocked by his admission.

"I've been in this long enough to know that the things I bust people for, I feel the same evil inside of me," he replied.

"Jason, you're one of the good guys," Kim replied.

"It doesn't take away the things I've thought, or the things I've felt. There are days when I put people away... I feel like I'm looking at a mirror instead of looking through a window. The only thing that's different is that I haven't chosen to act on those things."

"And why is that?" She asked.

"The grace of God?" He replied, garnering a skeptical look from his friend. "Look, all I'm saying is I can sympathize with them, I'm not excusing them. Justice must come, and it will." After a few moments of silence, Kim broke it with a hopeful question.

"Any word on Tommy?" She asked.

"Negative," Jason replied.

"Oh..."

"We'll get him back Kimmie," Jason replied, welcoming her into a big hug.

To Be Continued...

Thanks for reading, don't forget to review!

- Googz333