1On the Job Again

Chapter 21 (yay, it's legal for drinking! Excuse me, I'm just hyper today). It shows the lengths Arielle goes to in order to get Danny back. It's sweet to see Arielle doing something, but sad at the same time, I guess. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, and as you know, I live off of a diet rich in review, so R&R liberally!

"They've got him. They've got Danny. I know they do."

Arielle was in an unmarked, driving to the address in the city that the Tanglewood leader had given her. Aiden was in the passenger seat, looking confused and wary. "Are you sure? I mean, how could he be-?"

"Aiden, I don't know, I just... I'm scared. They most likely have him, and they could kill him."

"They'd go to jail for sure."

"That wouldn't stop him."

Arielle drove with a determined look in her eye. Aiden fell silent and looked ahead, not saying a word. How did you try to argue with a young woman like her colleague when she had a look like that on her face? It led her to believe that perhaps Arielle had a connection to Danny that no one else had, possibly not even Aiden herself. Maybe she liked him. Maybe she related to him. Maybe... she was in love with him. And love couldn't be stopped once it hit the ground running.

They stopped at a large house that Aiden hadn't seen before. Arielle, meanwhile, knew it too well. They got out and approached the house, and Arielle rang the doorbell.

"Who is it?" a gruff voice said through the speaker.

"It's Williamson." Arielle motioned Aiden to keep quiet.

"Who are you with?"

"A friend."

"One of those cops?"

"No."

"I said no cops, Williamson. You violated the agreement."

"She isn't a cop. And there was no agreement. We just decided we'd meet somewhere at a certain time, remember?"

There was a pause. Then he said, "Come in."

The door opened and they walked inside. There stood three Tanglewood Boys, standing on either side of the two as they walked up the stairs. Aiden felt caged in as they got closer, and looked at her colleague, who determinedly brushed them off, tall as they were, and walked ahead, to where another member stood, looking at her amusedly. He had blonde hair and a stringy stature."Where's Danny?" she asked.

"Whoa, whoa, calm yourself down, missy," he said. "We said you violated the rule. This chick's a cop. We said we wanted you, that was it."

"What does it matter, she's not saying anything," Arielle replied, glaring in Aiden's direction when she threw her a surprised glance.

"Doesn't matter."

"Listen, can we just get to what we came here for?" Aiden piped up, annoyed. The last thing she came here for was to argue pointlessly with some gang member.

The stringy Tanglewood Boy smirked. "We don't have him here."

"What do you mean, you don't?" Arielle said.

"He's not here. That's what I mean."

"Where the hell is he?" Aiden snapped, trying to hide her fear. What if they had already killed him...? No, don't think like that, she told herself, and stood taller. "We can't play your little cat-and-mouse game all day."

"You won't have to." He reached into his pocket. "You see..."

Aiden and Arielle reached for their hidden holsters, but withdrew when they saw him pull out a card. "We've got your work all cut out already."

"You better not be screwing with us."

"We're not." He smiled. Arielle reached for the card- and he pulled out a gun.

"Arielle, move!" Aiden screamed, pushing her out of the way as he shot. The vase behind them shattered, and they ducked the flying pieces. The other men pulled out guns and shot at them, and Arielle shot back with her gun. "Aiden!" she shouted above the din of shots and shatters at the figure on the floor "Aiden, are you okay? Answer me!"

She saw Aiden turn over on the floor. "Yeah..." she said faintly. Arielle chanced the bullets and bounded to her, helping her up. "I... I got the address."

"Okay, let's go!" They ran, Arielle supporting Aiden.

Aiden pulled out her phone, dialed and said to the other end, "Bring in the backup."

Arielle almost dropped her. "You called for backup?" she asked frantically.

"I had to-"

"Aiden, he said no cops!"

"We had to!"

The cops poured into the house, grabbing the gang members, shooting, handcuffing. "He's gone!" the stringy one yelled, as he was pulled down. "You'll never find him! You bitch, you'll never find him!"

Arielle looked back, then at Aiden in fear. "Don't-" Aiden said, putting her hand on her shoulder. "We'll find him."

They looked at the card, noting an address on Staten Island. "We've got to find him- let's go!" Arielle shouted, pulling Aiden towards the car.