Chapter 10
Alex, now lying on the floor with her arms bound behind her and her legs bound together, was engulfed in pain. She ached so badly that just the displacement of air from his blows caused pain. He didn't even have to touch her. She had given in to the pain and was trying to sob, but no sound came. Her breathing was labored and she could barely move.
But the infliction of pain wasn't purely physical. It was psychological as well. Sean knew things that Alex didn't and taunted her with that knowledge. If she made it through this, and that chance was looking more remote with every minute, there were would be one that would have hell to pay.
Sean stopped for a moment and walked out of the room. When he came back in, he got down on his hands and knees, so that his face was right in front of hers. She heard a metal clank when his hands hit the ground and looked. It was a gun.
"This can end now," Sean sneered. "All you have to do is say the word." He waved the gun a little in front of her eyes.
She was ready for it to end. She had suffered more pain than she thought was humanly possible, but she would not give him the satisfaction of breaking her. Alex gathered whatever strength she had and spit in his face.
He wiped away what little bit of liquid she had managed. "Have it your way," he replied and kissed her forehead. Then stood up, stuck the gun in the back of his waistband, and continued.
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Nick and Sara stayed behind at the motel and finished processing the room. Grissom and Catherine along with Brass and the FBI agents went to join the patrol units in the search for the address on the pad of paper.
Before they left, Brass spoke with the motel clerk who stated that Martin had been driving a black Isuzu Trooper with grill guard. This confirmed what Nick and Sara had discovered. They also now had a vehicle to look for along with the address.
It took them longer than expected to get to the old business district. The expressways were clogged with traffic in the city that never sleeps. Even their sirens didn't help.
They started searching on foot, trying every door on every building that contained the partial address. It was obvious that some of the buildings hadn't seen life in many years. These weren't given much more than a passing glance. Some had their door chains or windows broken. These were searched more thoroughly.
Just as they were entering one building, Brass's cell phone rang. Catherine and Grissom stopped what they were doing and stared. They were hopeful it was news of Alex's whereabouts.
"Brass," he answered. He nodded as the person on other end said something. "We're on our way." He hung up.
Catherine and Grissom just stared at Brass, wanting to know what was said.
"They found the vehicle. It's about two blocks up." Brass answered their questioning look.
The trio ran down the road, finding LVPD and FBI agents already there. The building was an old warehouse, mostly cement and steel. Some of the agents were just about to bust down the door.
Somewhere floors above, a light flashed. Sean noticed it out of the corner of his eye. They're in, the light confirmed.
"Looks like the party's almost over," he pouted, and then gave one more swift kick to her ribs.
He removed the gun from his waistband and pointed it at her.
Floors below, just inside the door, they heard a shot echo through the building.
"He's here," Thompson said.
"And he knows we're here," Grissom added.
Some of them raced up the stairs, others scattered out, looking to block any escape avenues. But little did they know, escape was not an item on tonight's menu. As the lead person rounded the top of the first flight of stairs, he tripped over an unseen wire and fell. A small explosion followed, burning the lead person and knocking over a few more.
"The building's booby-trapped!" a patrol officer yelled into his radio, so his comrades in the other part of the building would be warned.
They slowly started back up the stairway. A few people broke off at every floor to search. The found a few more of the traps, but were lucky enough to not set them off.
As they rounded the top of the third flight of stairs, shots whizzed past them. They weren't sure where they had come from at first, as they couldn't see anyone. They backed down behind the stairwell wall.
Cautiously, Brass took the lead. More shots were fired. This time he saw where they were coming from. Martin was firing from behind a door halfway down the hall. He pointed in the direction of the shots. Then Brass had a plan. He figured if he could stay along the wall, the door would hide him.
Two of the officers with them had on bulletproof vests. Brass motioned for them to come up to the front.
"You two need to lay down some cover fire. We're going to try and get closer," Brass ordered. They nodded in understanding.
Brass started around the corner again. This time when shots were fired at him, he and the officers returned fire. He crept along the wall, inching closer to Martin.
Sean saw Brass slinking along the wall and fired in his direction but purposely missed. Brass paused his forward movement and fired back. Sean hadn't planned on making it out alive. He was just trying to delay them long enough that Alex wouldn't either. He had already killed five officers and now he had a federal agent dying behind him. He knew they wouldn't let him live. He was just wallowing in their anguish, knowing they were so close but still so far away. His life was worth knowing that they'd find her, just moments after death, knowing had they been quicker she might have lived.
The exchange of gunfire went on, with Brass inching his way forward. Sean did his best to slow Brass down without actually hurting him. He didn't want to kill anyone else, just Alex. And due to her position, he wasn't quite sure where he'd hit her. He was just trying to make sure she'd bled out.
Finally, Brass was close enough to get a clean shot and Sean knew it. He only had two bullets left anyway. He made one last dash past the door and fired his last two bullets. Brass hit him dead in the heart and his body fell to the ground.
"Man down!" Brass called. "Get EMS up here right away!"
As Brass called out Grissom and Catherine rushed past the rest of the officers. They knew Alex was behind the door Martin was guarding.
Grissom was through the first door and didn't see anyone. He noticed the light flashing. He must have had the door rigged to know when we got here, Grissom deduced. He also noticed the second door.
He grabbed the door handle, but it was locked. He gave a swift kick to the lock area and the door busted open.
Alex was lying lifeless and still bound in the middle of the floor, surrounded by blood. Her body was broken and bruised. Grissom dropped to his knees and for the first time he could remember, tears started to form.