Chapter 10
Rick slams his fist on his desk after hearing from Agent Burton on Horatio's treason, motives, and escape. He gives that angry stare at him.
"And you didn't think that telling me would make things easier!!"
"We didn't have any time. It was our evidence and our move. We moved in fast and he gave us the chase, his empty clip in his gun also tells us that he shot first at us before we even warned him and then using his experience we lost him in a mall. I already sent the memo out to agents in the field to be on the lookout for him. You may as well have the whole department look for him, too."
"Great! Chasing one guy was enough but chasing two is going to take it out of all of us. Burton, I hope the proof you have against Caine is real and the truth because his team thinks otherwise and you know what happens when I see someone trying to frame another and is on the other side of the law."
"I swear to you that the evidence against Caine proves everything."
"Fine!! Now excuse me I need to get the word out. I can only imagine his teammates not taking this well when their friend has betrayed all of them."
Rick walks out of his office and heads to the lab, then out of nowhere Eric Delko walks up to him. Rick always hated the sight of trouble. Whenever he has something to say about Caine, Delko would always think that Rick is looking for a promotion.
"I got no time to hear it, Delko. What do you want?"
"Is it true?! That Horatio betrayed us?!"
Rick: The evidence against him is overwhelming.
"Or do you just want to get a promotion and be more of the top than him?"
"I won't waste my time with this Delko, you want someone to yell at then yell at the FBI. They came up with the evidence. That doesn't mean I'm not your superior and I'm in charge now. You question my authority and I'll have you off this case and you're going to be cleaning weapons at the gun cage. Understood?"
"Whatever, sir."
Meanwhile…
Horatio looks for leads to find Snake see if he could get any help from him but no luck so forth. He hid out in a dump of an apartment. He remembered Snake's false credentials when he came into the U.S. He called every hotel and apartment, nothing yet until after he made one phone call he finally found him. He walked into the apartment and looked for his room. He found the number of the room and lock picked the door. Horatio got his gun out and aimed when he looked through his room, nothing there except the bed and a television set.
Snake looked at the computer Otacon was working on after getting the names; Otacon was looking up any information about them and what they do. Then they heard a door open across Otacon's room. Snake said to Otacon, he would check it out. Snake got his Mark 23 out and opened the door and saw Horatio was checking out his room. Snake moved in quickly and then held his gun to the back of his head.
"Don't move! Drop the gun, now!"
Horatio complied and dropped his gun.
"Easy, now. Turn around."
Horatio turned faced himself with Snake.
"You?!"
"Surprised? I came here to talk."
"Talk about what? My arrest?"
"No."
"How do I know this isn't some sting operation you're doing?"
"If it was a sting operation, then I wouldn't be here in these clothes and with wanted posters of me all over the city."
"You're wanted?"
"It seems your story checks out. Someone knew I was in too close on your innocence and tried to have me killed. They now fooled the police department that I am a traitor and an accomplice. I had no one else to turn to. The only thing I can do is work with you and clear our names."
"Hm…I'm convinced, but not entirely, I still have my suspicions. Don't think this changes things between us."
"What you guys are doing, now?"
"We're looking at the people that have knowledge of the kidnapping, the group that wanted you dead is called the Patriots."
"The Patriots?"
"A shadow part of our government. They are pretty much the group responsible for the tanker and Big Shell Incident. Who knows how deep they are within the government?"
"These are the people?", Horatio questioned.
"Yeah, we believe that the Patriots have a system of undercover cells that do their work and are committed to their cause. They spy, report, and even kill."
"Do you know what their cause is?"
"We have no idea but I think they're seeking to control everything. They already controlled most of America's society. The Internet, media, and hell, even presidential elections. We thought we had a lead but then it went cold, just a bunch of members that died a long time ago. We went into hiding until we could figure out what to do next. Then I think you know the rest.", Snake explained.
"Do you know what to do next?"
"So far, we haven't got a location on where Mei Ling is. We believe that if we should extract information off these people."
"Well, Burton's going to be hard because at the department ever since you escaped it's now tight as a fortress."
He sees Matt Burns's image on the screen and points at it,"What about this guy?"
"That's one of their field guys, a guy who probably delivers or execute.", Otacon explained.
"Do we know where he could be?", Horatio questioned.
"We're looking at a few sources now. He used to be a US Marine, now with the CIA and he was on an assignment. He checked in at this hotel. That's where he is now I believe."
"Then that's our next stop.", Snake looks at Horatio,"Let's get moving. Remember we're only working together to clear our names and save Mei Ling, not to be friends. If I even see try to pull anything or call your friends, then you can forget about helping me. Understood?"
"Crystal clear.", Horatio replied.
"Let's get moving."
They traveled to the hotel and parked in the back area where they are going entered through the maintenance section. Snake calls Otacon on his Codec.
"We're at the hotel, the front area was crowded with guards, so we had park in the back and move in through the maintenance area."
"Burns is located at the fifth floor at RM 507. Be warned though I checked through the phone records and there's a heavy guard detail on that floor. Not to mention they're aware of your presence."
"Well, that's great. That makes things ten times harder. Anything else that we need to know?"
"I looked more into Burns's Marine career. He served in the Special Forces which probably mean he's going to be a tough nut to crack."
"Do you think people will hear him scream when we're interrogating him?"
"No, I looked at the hotel's history and there was pretty much an issue where the walls weren't strong enough to prevent noises from going into other rooms. They changed the walls to make it strong enough so even the guests won't hear a person scream. So, there's some good news there."
"That's good news"
"Okay, but be careful, Horatio and you are now wanted men. One 911 phone call can make things pretty difficult, too. So I advised you two not to bring much attention to yourselves but hey, you guys been in worse situations and still got out of it but I'm just reminding you."
"Right."
Snake got off the Codec. He and Horatio move up the stairs and when they reached the fifth floor, Horatio opened the door slowly and saw a few guards patrolling the hallway. He tells to Snake in sign language about the guards. Then he gives the signal for them to move in. They then shot at the guards with their silenced pistols, they made sure no one heard them. They then saw RM 507. They see it's locked off with a security card slider.
"Otacon, can you bypass the security lock on this door?"
"Let's see here. Yeah, I can do it. This will only take a few seconds."
"Your friend is quite the hacker."
"Yeah, that's Otacon, being a fan of anime all the time and also knows how to hack computers is really his specialty."
A click was heard off the door lock, and head on in. In seconds, Burns reacted to them and turned a fired his pistol at them. The bullet only hit the door; thankfully they got out of the way. Snake then ran towards him and swiped the pistol out of his hand. Burns quickly got into a defensive stance and hit Snake with his fist. Horatio aimed his gun at him and was ready to pull the trigger, if Burns hadn't kicked it out of his hand. Horatio and Snake both moved against him, the guy proved to be a big match. Snake grabbed his shoulder and try to push him against the ground but he retaliated by meeting his knee to Snake's stomach but then a click was heard on Burns's wrist. He sees his wrist cuffed to the chair. His face is then met with Snake's fist.
"I know what this is all about and you can't make me talk."
"I met a lot of people who said that, some really meant it." He grabs Burns's shirt and looks at him straight in the face,"And you're going to answer my questions."
"Forget it! I'm not talking."
"Mr. Burns, we have evidence that incriminates you, murdering innocents, burying or dumping bodies, and planting false evidence. You'll be pretty much be seeing the death penalty or life in prison if you don't cooperate and I can promise you that. If you cooperate with us we will make sure that you're pardoned for your crimes and protected", Horatio explained.
"Hmph! Forget it. It doesn't matter what I choose, they'll find a way to keep me quiet one way or another. No matter how tight the security. So you can do whatever you want with me. I'm not talking."
"Oh, poor choice of words. Here I thought Caine here, could save me the trouble of having to torture you but since you insist."
Snake punched the man in the face.
"Tell me, who's Patterson! Where's Mei Ling?"
"Is that all you got? Jeez, I met militiamen that can torture me better than you do."
"Oh, I got more where that came from and believe me; I'm going to enjoy this."
"I suggest that you give him what he wants or else I can't stop him and it's going to get nasty.", Horatio warned.
"Do your worst."
Snake cracked his knuckles.
"Oh, I think you should've listened to his offer."
After one hour and fifteen minutes
Burns was already breathing rapidly after Snake's little torture, his face already shows signs of getting punched.
"Now, then let me rephrase the question. Who's Patterson! Where's Mei Ling!"
"Just go to…hell. She's going to be dead one way or another."
Then they heard a door open and a man started shooting at them with a suppressed MP5, he manage to Burns in the head and chest. Horatio shot at him in the chest. Snake checked Burns's pulse, he was gone.
"Well, that narrows the list down. No doubt they already know I'm coming for them."
"It seems like they're always one step ahead of us.", Horatio said.
"That's because they're always prepared."
A cell phone began ringing on the table; Snake walked up to the table and answered it.
"Burns, we manage to get you a flight back to New York; it's the first one out by 10:00 AM. This is your chance to get out of here before Snake catches up."
"Sorry it seems Burns is unable to take your call right now, can you leave a message?"
"Snake. So Burns is dead, then."
"Well, let's say one of your own shot him to keep him from speaking the truth. Let me guess, you're Patterson, right?"
"How'd you know?"
"A laptop belonging to your men can sure come in handy. You're pretty much the guy who runs the operations here in all of Florida."
"That you got right."
"And I know you have Mei Ling."
"That name rings a bell. Lets see here, oh yes, Chinese-American, black hair, likes to speak proverbs and has a thing for electronics."
"That same one. Is she still alive?"
"She is for the moment. Let me check up and see how she's doing. Hopefully, she didn't die yet."
Patterson goes to the torture room and sees the men was about to cut one of her fingers off.
"Stop!!" He faces Mei Ling. "Someone wants to talk to you."
Mei Ling tried to talk through the tape on her mouth but the words were mumbled speech.
"Ooops, sorry let me take this off."
Patterson removes the tape off her mouth.
"Snake! Whatever you do! Don't worry about...mmmmmm"
Patterson put the tape back on her mouth before she could finish.
"There you have it. Proof of life. Now, what do you want?"
"Well, let's agree to a tradeoff."
"A trade? I'm interested. What are we talking about?"
"Well, I know that your superiors would be pissed when they found out the secret information about your undercover cells are posted on the Internet and to the intelligence agencies. So, the laptop for Mei Ling and her laptop."
"Really? That's all?"
"Well, then if that isn't enough then I'll also trade myself."
"A life for a life. How tragic."
"Yeah, Mei Ling is free to do what she wants and you guys get to kill me. Do we have a deal?"
"Deal. On a few conditions, though, I better not see you pull anything on me and no cops, too. You can bring your friends but my people better not see any cops or else you, her, and your friends are meeting an early grave. Clear?"
"Clear. Now what's the location?"
"I'll give you a call tomorrow at 1:00 PM. By then you still better have this phone or else she's dead. And don't bother having it traced; all of our cell phones have been outfitted with a scrambler. So don't try it."
"Give me a call at 1:00 PM. Got it."
"Good."
Patterson hangs up and looks at the now injured Mei Ling.
"Get her treated and find her some new clothes. I don't want her looking a mess when we do the trade."
At the hotel
"We can't do something like this alone. We need help."
"That's a very good point. We won't be sure if he's true to his word. Anybody you trust in the department?"
"My CSIs but they don't have a high enough position. One guy, I know does but he and I have a big grudge against each other but nevertheless he never go to the other side of the law. We have the evidence and we can convince him to help us if he's willing to."
"Got someone to help us get in?"
"I can think of a few people."
"Good, because tomorrow we're going to pay a little visit to this man you speak of."
End of Chapter 10