Bye Bye Baby
A/N: To all those who left such kind words on my last chapter, you have my heartfelt thanks. I'm afraid Real Life has become hectic again so I may only get one update on daily this week but I do promise to get at least one up every day for all my faithful readers. x
Chapter 12
Steve allowed himself a minute to lean his by now throbbing head back against the wall. Brigitte had settled again and had quietened and he used the few minutes respite to rest his eyes and recover his nerve. His whole left side was now hurting from his face down to his thigh and he could feel the left side of his lip starting to swell where it had been split. His wrists were sore and bloodied from where he had struggled against the ropes and he was still shaking uncontrollably. The whole ordeal was starting to take a terrible toll on the young detective. As he rested, glad of the few minutes of recovery and trying to ignore the horrific stench that still lingered worse at floor level, he thought he heard a scuffling sound off to his right, nearer than he would like it to be. Without opening his weary eyes, he listened, his breath almost catching in his throat as he did. No more sounds came and he exhaled again slowly until he suddenly felt something touching off his right leg. This time opening his eyes in alarm, to his horror, he saw two large rats, lit by the moonlight streaming in the broken window, half on the floor and the other half of them now up sniffing around on his ankle. He gasped loudly and kicked out, sending the two rats shuffling back into the shadows as he used his right hand and leg to then push himself painfully back upright off the floor, using the wall as leverage to get him and the baby away from the curious and disgusting rodents that they were forced to share a room with. He shuddered violently at the thoughts of the vermin that had just touched his leg and a cold chill ran up his spine. Now standing, leaning his weight as much as he could on his right side, he found himself gripping Brigitte more protectively as the tortuous minutes ticked by.
He wasn't sure how much more time had passed, but it didn't seem long before he heard the key in the lock again and feared a repeat performance, especially seeing as he had not recovered from the last one yet. He could feel how vulnerable the left side of his rib cage was and knew further pounding could possibly be the death of him. He found himself holding his breath and praying for the sound of sirens. The silence however continued to mock him as he saw a slender shadow appear in the doorway that then slowly moved further into the room towards him, as a second larger shadow appeared to linger in the doorway behind the first. He waited for a blinding flashlight beam but none came. As the form moved, he recognized the movement and relaxed again, relief flooding his body as Elena came into the moonlit area and hurried across the debris covered floor to his side. Steve exhaled sharply and found himself smiling gratefully as she produced Brigitte's baby blanket that he recognized from earlier, a soother and a baby bottle all made up and ready to feed her. Loudly so that the henchman in the doorway could hear she spoke in a loud clear voice.
"I brought you those things you asked for ... for the baby."
Then moving closer she whispered softly and yet nervously.
"You must listen to me carefully. I don't have long before he gets suspicious. There is just one guard at your door, Sergei. He is weaker than the rest. You will have to figure out how to get out of this room yourself but once you do, do NOT try to head down to the ground floor. Damacov has at least thirty men, heavily armed down there. You would not make it very far. Instead head to your left down to the end of the corridor. There is a locked door that leads to the roof. Here is the key."
She pushed the key gently into his hand.
"Lock it behind you and head up there and hide yourself and the infant. There are no men up there. I will try to speak to your Lieutenant and tell him where you are. You must try to keep both of you safe until they get here. "
Steve looked at the metal key in his hand and felt a lump appear in his throat, the possibility and chance to escape with their lives intact being handed to them by a previously unlikely source. He knew what she was risking for them and admired her courage. Whispering back shakily, he squeezed the young woman's arm.
"Thank you ... Mike will look after you. Just do what he says, ok? Good luck ... and be careful."
There were other things he wanted to say to her but he felt his words had summed up most of it. They both stayed staring at each other knowing that all three of their lives were now hanging by a tenuous thread and that there were so many things that could go wrong with their plan. They were all still in a very dangerous situation and this could possibly be the last time they ever saw each other. She reached out and very lightly touched his right cheek tenderly.
"You please be careful too. They are very dangerous men, especially Dmitriy. I have seen him do some horrific things with a knife. Here take this too."
Steve looked down and saw her push a S4m derringer pistol into his hand. He had heard about these small Russian guns but never held one before. He looked up at her as she continued whispering.
"Damacov gave it to me for my protection in case any of his men tried to ... Well anyway ... it only has two bullets. If they find you before help comes ... Use them on yourselves ... It would be more humane than what he would do to you ..."
Her voice broke as she said it and the tears glistened in her eyes. Steve swallowed hard as he looked down at the bundle in his arms. He hoped that it wouldn't come to that. He knew it was a task he would be unable to carry out. A loud menacing voice came from the doorway.
"Hurry Elena. ENOUGH nursemaiding. Damacov is waiting!"
Elena spoke angrily back to him in Russian and although he did not understand the words he knew her response had been less than complementary.
A tear fell down her face and she whispered again.
"Good luck Steve Keller."
He squeezed the hand that still cupped his face and spoke emotionally.
"You too ... Elena ... And thank you for helping us ... Can you do just one more small favor for me?"
"What?"
"Can you tie Brigitte tightly to me using the blanket. If I'm going to get us out of here I'm going to need both hands."
Elena nodded and as Steve leaned forward somewhat painfully away from the wall, Elena used the blanket like a baby sling and tied Brigitte securely to Steve's body, wincing in sympathy as she heard his barely suppressed groans of pain as the blanket was pulled securely and tied around his badly bruised and damaged ribs. Elena made sure to tie several knots to prevent it from opening and her falling. Feeling her secure enough now that he could safely let go of her, he nodded his thanks again to Elena and watched as she turned and left the room quickly and while he did not consider himself to be very religious he found himself praying that all three of them would manage to stay alive through the next dangerous few hours as he then shook his head and started to devise a plan to get them both out of this dismal, rat infested prison.
Back at Bryant Street:
Mike raced up the corridor like a man possessed and pushing the outer door to Homicide open he paused briefly at the amount of Police Officers and detectives that were now filling the bullpen at this ungodly time of night. The noise level was high and as he came through the inner door he spotted Captain Olsen inside his glass office. Olsen saw him too and met him half way across the floor.
"Dear God Mike. Is all this really happening? Has Steve been taken?"
Mike nodded, the pain in his gut caused by Rudy's question preventing further comment for a few seconds. He cleared his throat and spoke this time with a level of angst to his tone that wrenched at Olsen's heartstrings.
"Yes ... Somebody's got him and we're not sure who just yet but ... we have a few leads to go on. "
With that Bill Tanner arrived towards him with a look of apprehension on his features.
"Mike ... bad news I'm afraid. Jefferson and Pearce lost the silver sedan. They got the license plate but it was found burning on Pine Street fifteen minutes ago. Turns out it was stolen three days ago from an address on Nob Hill."
Mike banged his fist off the pillar beside him, not even wincing at the pain it must have caused.
"Well that's just great, isn't it? That means that whoever has Steve and the baby probably knows by now that we have Laura and I don't think he's going to be too pleased about that, do you?"
Mike stood with his fist up at his mouth as he thought about the possible repercussions that news might have on his captured partner and he suddenly felt his blood run cold. Pulling himself back together quickly knowing that Steve and Brigitte's lives both depended on his clear head right now, he shouted loudly, addressing all the assembled men in the room in a voice that stopped all sound in the bullpen immediately.
"LISTEN UP ... We've got one of our own and a defenseless baby out there somewhere in the hands of some very dangerous men. Now Steve's counting on us and we're not going to let him down ...ARE WE? ... "
"A collective" NO, SIR " resounded around the bullpen and Mike smiled at the support for a fellow Officer who was in trouble, that was so evident around him.
"Ok now I want all of you working together to get me some answers, you hear me? We don't know how much time they have left so speed is of the essence. Bill I need you to get over to De Haro Street and take charge of the crime scene over there. Officer Bennett is holding down the fort until you get there. He's expecting you. Lee, is Dan and Norm around?"
"They're both down with Charlie in the Lab. Dan has him working on pulling prints off Steve's gun and ID wallet as we speak and Norm brought down the dead men's weapons for fingerprinting too. And Bob O'Neill checked in a while ago. He should be here any minute." Lessing answered.
"Ok Lee, thanks. Where's the girl?"
"She's over in interview room one Mike ... but she's still pretty upset. "
Mike glanced between the hustle of men in the squad room and saw the small petite and trembling form of Laura Reynolds, seated in the small interview room, clutching a polystyrene cup in her cupped hands and saw Police Officer Cynthia Bertram with a sympathetic arm around her shoulders. Art Sekulovich was in there too. He frowned. He knew exactly the gut wrenching worry she was feeling as he was feeling exactly the same, only he had more years of experience behind him to cope with it than she had. She wasn't much more than eighteen and his heart went out to her.
"Ok Lee, I need you to get down to Autopsy and see if they can tell us anything about the men from beside the boat shed at Stow Lake that might help us identify them, please."
Lee nodded and then Mike watched as Bill grabbed his coat and headed for the door, holding it open for Lee Lessing who followed closely behind him. Olsen's voice then drew his attention .
"Mike, I alerted Lieutenant Pat Collins from the Armed Response Unit to the situation and he's assembling his team as we speak. They should be ready to mobilize as soon as we get a location ... Ah Mike ... We'll FIND them."
Mike squeezed his friend's shoulder and spoke gratefully.
"Thanks Rudy. ... GOD I hope so ..."
The two friends stood for a few moments, sharing their concerns in unspoken glances until the door opened barely a minute later and Sergeant Bob O'Neill burst through it out of breath from an obvious speedy dash from his car.
"What's going on Mike? Is it true you think a gang has Keller?"
"Yes ... I'm almost certain. I'm hoping you can tell us which one. All I have is a rough location. "
Heading over to the large City map that adorned the wall of the squad room he pointed animatedly to the area Mrs. Donnelly had mentioned, slapping the two places mentioned enthusiastically.
"Steve mentioned Lombard and the Embarcadero. What gang controls that area?"
Sergeant Bob O'Neill's face darkened as he came over beside Mike and spoke, his breathing still a little ragged.
"Are you sure that's the area he said?"
Mike had a very uneasy feeling as he saw the change in Bob's demeanor.
"Yes, why? Who are we dealing with Bob?"
Bob leaned back to sit against the desk behind him and took a deep breath knowing the news he had to impart would not be received well.
"Mike, Steve's in big trouble. I think you had better sit down."
Getting annoyed at the delay he felt they could ill afford, he barked harshly.
"I don't need to sit down Bob. I NEED answers!"
"It's the Russian Gang's territory Mike. The main man is one Grigori Damacov. A very nasty but clever piece of work. He moved in and took over that area oh ... about thirteen months ago and he's proving to be quite the challenge. In that time, he's amassed quite a few gang members. At last count he has around thirty men, maybe more, all highly armed and not afraid to do his bidding. "
Mike stared at O'Neill for several tortuous seconds before he sank backwards onto Steve's desk that was just behind him. He took a deep breath and seemed to be totally thrown by the new information he had received.
"Damacov ... "
"Yes Mike. Have you heard of him?"
"Oh yes ... I've heard of him alright. We've got a rake of homicide files that we're convinced he pulled off but we haven't been able to find a single shred of evidence or a willing witness to connect him to them. He's clever alright. What else can you tell me about him Bob?"
"Well his second in command is one Dmitriy Bachorev and his third is one Mikhail Balashov. Dmitriy was a professional Russian fighter and Mikhail is ex Russian military. Both equally as twisted and maniacal as their Boss. "
Mike leaned towards O'Neill slightly and his voice held a certain amount of trepidation.
"Did you say Dmitriy Bachorev?"
"Yeah ...why?"
Olsen took a few steps closer to his colleague as he saw Mike's face darken at Bob's confirmation.
"Mike? What is it?"
"Me and Steve interviewed him a few months ago over a homicide case we were on ..."
Rudy's face now darkened as well as his words came out in an agonized manner.
"So Damacov will know that Steve is your partner ... "
Mike nodded and swallowed hard. If he was angry about him taking the girl and killing two of his men in the process, Steve might pay the price with torture or worse ... with his life! Rudy could see how affected Mike was by that revelation and tried to rally his friend back around encouragingly.
"Look at it this way Mike. If he now knows you have the girl he's looking for, he might try for a trade off. That might be our perfect chance to get Steve back in one piece and nail this creep once and for all at the same time."
Mike shook his head.
"No ... No this guy is too clever for that Rudy. He knows we'd never make a trade like that. No ... something tells me he'll have something more sinister involved. We need more information about where he's keeping Steve and the baby. That's the only way we have a chance of getting them back. Bob? You know this creep better than most of us. Where would he keep hostages if he wanted them undiscovered?"
"Mike I ... I wish it were that simple. I really do but his territory takes in the Embarcadero. Do you know how many abandoned warehouses are down there? I mean he could have them held in any one of them. Not to mention the many premises he owns around Lombard Street and in the nearby streets. "
Mike scowled and then stood up more determined than ever.
"Bob I'm going to need you to get me a list of those properties and any warehouse he uses as well. Can you do that for me? I mean I need it yesterday, got it? If we have to pull everyone of those places apart personally then we're going to do it. And get in touch with any informants you have in that area ... let's see if we can't find out where he's holding them that way instead. I've got a really bad feeling that we're running out of time here."
"You got it. Right away Mike. The list shouldn't take too long to compile but Mike ... The few informants we have in his district are very skittish. They're all too scared of him to dare to double cross him. "
Mike sent a Stone glare in his direction and immediately Bob O'Neill knew that skittish or not he would have to canvass his informants for all he was worth, otherwise a certain Lieutenant would do it for him personally.
"Sure Mike. Leave it with me. I'll get right on it." then turning to hurry out of the bullpen he stopped briefly and turned back to address Mike one last time." We'll get Steve back Mike ..."
Mike slowly turned to face him, his face unreadable and in a stammered and worried sounding voice, he answered " I know that Bob ... What worries me is in what condition?"
Back At The Warehouse:
With an energy draining effort, Steve had managed to stagger precariously across his darkened prison towards the far wall, almost stumbling several times on the uneven and debris covered floor but thankfully managing to remain upright. The mere thoughts of falling right now onto his severely injured left side proving quite unbearable. It had taken him quite a bit of time but he had even managed to retrieve the metal bar he had been forced to throw away earlier in the process but it had taken a little tortuous bending and several minutes to locate it. Now armed and situated up against the wall, just to the left of the door to his prison, he took a few minutes to allow his breathing to settle after his harrowing ordeal.
Brigitte whimpered softly and Steve reached inside the makeshift blanket sling and stroked her head gently, before locating the soother from his trouser pocket. Remembering immediately what Mike had said earlier about how inappropriate it was to clean it by sucking it, he sighed as he really had no other choice right now with no clean water anywhere to clean it with instead. So he sucked it, that task itself proving painful thanks to his rapidly swelling burst lip and then placed it gently in the baby's mouth and smiled as he then heard the contented suckling noises that followed. Satisfied that for now she was settle, he pulled the blanket back around to cradle and support her and readied himself for what he had to do next. He had to get them out of there and up onto the roof unseen as Elena had suggested and remain there with her undetected until the cavalry arrived. When he thought about the immense responsibility and danger attached to that undertaking he shuddered slightly but there was no other option available to him except to wait for a fate that would prove worse for them both. This was their only chance and although if he was honest with himself he wasn't entirely sure that he was even up to the undertaking, he was sure about one thing. He was quite willing to give his life trying to save this little tiny child, if that's what it came to.
Finally feeling ready, Steve placed a hand on the tiny baby bundled in his arms and steeling his resolve to save her above all else, he then took the metal bar in both hands and let out an unmerciful and panic filled shout.
"Oh my God! HELP! HELP! She's not breathing. HELP ME! "
He readied himself by trying to make his stance more steady but his injured leg as a result had to take more weight that it could bear and the pain increased as he tried to ignore the increasing agony by concentrating on his escape plan which was dodgy at best. To his relief he heard nervous footsteps outside and a key scrambling in the lock. He held his breath and hoped that Brigitte wouldn't cry and give his plan away but luckily the soother was keeping her quite happy at present. As Sergei entered and flashed the torch beam across to the other side of the room looking for his captive and what he was screaming about, Steve stepped forward and struck the unsuspecting Russian with the metal bar from behind and watched him drop silently to the floor.
Temporary relief flooded through Steve as he saw the first part of his plan work and he bent again tortuously to search his captor for weapons that might come in necessary later on but to his dismay, he found none.
"You've got to be kidding me ..." He muttered under his breath as all he found was a small military knife and he cursed his luck but pocketed the said knife all the same.
He knew that time was of the essence and that he had to get himself and Brigitte up to the roof as quickly as his injured body would allow, so righting himself painfully, he headed through the door cautiously, listening for any sounds of approaching footsteps or nearby voices. Hearing nothing but silence, Steve limped out into the dimly lit corridor and pulled the door closed again, locking the door and removing the bundle of keys that still sat in the lock and throwing them into the next darkened room up, as he staggered up the corridor, still limping heavily. Pain was now coursing through his body mercilessly and he could feel white spots dangling at the edge of his vision. He shook his head to clear them knowing that if he collapsed now, not only would he injure Brigitte in the fall but also that their lives would be lost, so he staggered on determinedly until he finally reached the door at the end that Elena had told him about.
Fumbling for the key that he had placed in his trouser pocket, he started to pray that it would work as he suddenly stopped and heard distant voices further down the corridor. He panicked and shoved the key into the lock and almost let out a sob of relief as the door clicked open and he hurried inside, but just as he did, the baby bottle fell from the blanket where he had placed it. Making a determined grab to catch it, his shaking fingers missed it as it landed on the floor with a thud and then gently rolled across the floor to the furthest point away from him. He went to leave the safety of his doorway to go and get it when he heard the approaching voices becoming louder and he hesitated. He needed to have that bottle for sustenance for the baby but retrieving it could prove fatal. He stood torn, cursing his clumsiness as the louder Russian voices finally made his decision for him. Closing the door as noiselessly as he could, leaving the bottle where it lay, he locked the door behind him and pocketing the key again, he felt hot tears sting his cheek as he started up the mountain of stairs before him, each step agonizing to the knife wounded leg and his battered side as he mumbled subconsciously to the small baby strapped so carefully to his side.
"I'm sorry Brigitte ... I'm so ... so sorry ..."
