AN: Hey! Noticed I changed the genre from general/suspense to drama/suspense? Looking back, I realized that this story fits more under its new category.
Kingpin glared down at the Bohemians, who were now all chained back-to-back to each other in twos. Roger with Mimi, Collins with Emily, and Mark with Maureen. The Bohemians were being confined to a small room within the warehouse, with random members of the Rat Fangs surrounding them.
"Forget the little whelp. We have the Goodhall brat, so there's no need for a bargaining chip," Kingpin sneered, glancing down at Emily and taking her chin roughly between his thumb and index finger, forcing her to face him. "Yes, this is definitely one of Zeke's brood. Looks just like that Natalie bit-h."
"Don't you dare insult my mother!" Emily snarled, struggling to lunge at Kingpin, who laughed cruelly at her pitiful attempt.
"She's got Zeke's personality, too."
"Hey, how about releasing us and facing us fairly, instead of kicking us while we're down?" Roger snapped.
"Ah," Kingpin turned his attention to Roger. "The rocker look, complete with the hair and leather jacket, and a short temper to boot. I know who you are. He told us all about you."
"He? Who he?" At that moment, a switchblade appeared at Roger's throat.
"Told you before, Lover Boy." The horribly familiar voice caused Roger's green eyes to widen in sudden fear. "Steal my client, you die."
"You," Roger glared up at the Man.
"Thank you once again, my slippery friend," Kingpin smirked at the drug dealer. "We can't thank you enough for informing us that our guests would be stopping by."
"Oh, I get it!" Maureen glowered. "He wasn't trying to be helpful when he told us where Penny was! He was sending us all into a trap!"
"I can promise you, Davis," the Man spoke menacingly, lightly running the switchblade over Roger's neck, just hard enough to scratch the skin. "I will enjoy this."
"Wait, my friend," Kingpin stopped him. "I have a much better idea in mind." It took Roger a moment to register the fact that Kingpin was now eyeing Mimi in an evaluating manner while whispering in The Man's ear, a fact that made the musician's heart flutter with foreboding. The apprehension doubled as The Man's face broke into a cruel grin. "Men?" Kingpin turned to the other gang members. "¿Quién está para arriba para un compañero de la cama?" It wasn't the sound of the boisterous laughter of the gang members that made Roger truly worry; it was the fact that he could feel Mimi stiffen at Kingpin's words.
"Mimi, Baby!" Roger whispered to her urgently. "What did he say?"
"Rog, I…" Even Mimi's voice was shaking, which did nothing to assure Roger.
"What did he say, Meems? Tell me!" Roger begged, feeling the tears starting to form. Mimi's reply came in a barely audible whisper.
"He... asked if… anyone was interested… in a bed mate."
"NO!" Roger screamed as he felt one of the gang members pull her away from him. "NO! Don't touch her! Don't you dare…!"
"No worries, Davis," the Man sneered, pulling the musician to his feet roughly. "You get to watch. Every single moment of it." Without another word, the Man and two other gang members dragged the struggling pair out of the room.
"Leave them alone!" Emily cried. "Your quarrel's with me! They did nothing!"
"Precisely," Kingpin replied. "Perhaps seeing your precious friends suffer will convince you to give us the formula."
"She doesn't know where the formula is! Why can't you understand that?" Mark tried to defend. At Kingpin's signal, one of the gang members struck Mark's temple. "Stop!" Emily pleaded. "Don't… he's telling the truth!"
"Let's go," Kingpin told his men, ignoring Emily. "Leave Little Miss Goodhall to think things over." With that, Kingpin and the rest of the Rat Fangs left the room, closing the door behind them.
"Mark, are you okay?" Emily asked, once the door was closed.
"Yeah. Just a little sore."
"What are we going to do?" Maureen whined.
"Hey, Collins?" Emily asked suddenly. "Do you think you can reach into my back pocket, the one on the left?"
"I think so. Why?"
"Just put a little faith in me, okay?" Collins strained to reposition himself as best as possible in order to reach into Emily's pocket.
"Oh, sorry 'bout that," he apologized after he finally managed to stick three of his fingers into the requested pocket.
"Think nothing of it. Although, if you were straight, I'd have to kick your tailbone in later." The two shared a laugh.
"Hey, what's that?" Collins frowned as he felt something hard and thin inside Emily's pocket.
"Precisely what I need. Take it out and try to hand it to me, okay?"
"Of course, but what is…. Hold up! Is that your bobby pin-turned-lock pick?"
"Sure is!" Emily grinned. "This is precisely the type of situation Zack had in mind when he taught me to pick handcuff locks." Collins pulled out the length of wire and maneuvered it to Emily's waiting hand, which immediately placed it into the keyhole. "Come on, come on…" Emily whispered, half to herself and half to the homemade lock pick. Three minutes later, the click of the lock being opened was heard. As soon as she was free, Emily quickly moved to help Collins, Mark, and Maureen. Once everyone was free, Collins moved to the door, which, by a stroke of luck, had been left unlocked. The group found even more luck in the fact that there was no gang member in sight.
"Listen, guys," Emily began. "You three get out through the bomb shelter and join up with Joanne and Penny. Tell them to call Officer Kurtz to get his men down here."
"What about you?" Mark turned to the photographer.
"I'm going to find Mimi and Roger, of course. I'm not leaving anyone behind. They're only in this mess because of me. They stuck with me, so I'm going to stick with them."
"You sure?"
"I helped you out when you crashed your bike outside The Center, you helped raise money to try and keep it open. I made you dinner, you stayed with me after finding out about the Rat Fangs. You agreed to help out in getting Penny back. You see, I have yet to pay you back for that. This is how I choose to do so- making sure everyone of you gets out of this safely." When Mark continued to hesitate, Emily went on. "Go! I'll be all right. I promise."
"Well, if you insist on staying, you're not going to let that cut continue to bleed," he announced, removing his scarf. "Here." Mark quickly stepped up to Emily's side and used his scarf to make a makeshift bandage, covering the gashes Emily had received when the chain had struck her arm.
"Thanks, Mark," Emily smiled. "I promise I'll personally wash it later." Once her friends had left through the bomb shelter, Emily set off to find Roger and Mimi.
Elsewhere, Roger was chained and padlocked to a bar on a metal shelf that stood perpendicular against a wall, his head currently hung in despair with his face hidden by his long unruly locks. Mimi. His girl. His love. His soul-mate. These basta-ds, they were going to…. He couldn't even bear to think about it. Roger felt the hot tears flowing down the rough stubble on his cheeks. He didn't know what was killing him more. The fact that he'd be forced to watch every single moment, or the fact that he couldn't do anything to protect or save her.
At that moment, he heard footsteps and the sounds of struggle coming closer. Seconds later, a gang member appeared, pulling a struggling Mimi with him.
"Roger!" Mimi managed to break away the moment she saw her musician, taking his face in her hands, running her thumbs across his lower lip lovingly. A second later, the gang member dragged her away and pinned her against the warehouse wall. "Don't touch me!" she shouted.
"Hey, don't act so disgusted, beautiful," the gang member laughed as he started to fondle Mimi's breast roughly. "You should be used to this, after living as a whore at a strip club. You definitely will be once we're through. It's been such a long time since the boys and I have had the pleasure of a woman's flesh." Roger seethed with fury at the sight of Gang Member tearing Mimi's shirt right down the middle, exposing everything from the navel up, coupled with the sound of Mimi's pleading whimpers. "Oh, yes. You definitely got the goods, little missy," Gang Member snarled, thrusting his hand into Mimi's lacy bra, pressing and squeezing brutally.
"Get your hands off her!" Roger barked, straining against the chains that were tightly wrapped around his wrists.
"No need to get possessive, pretty boy," Gang Member snapped without turning around, seconds before licking Mimi's neck. "Didn't your mama ever teach you to share your toys? I suggest you get accustomed to it. There are at least fifteen of my associates yearning for a go after me." It was upon hearing that Roger finally accepted the obvious hopelessness of the situation. He had to watch as the love of his life was treated like a piece of meat, and there was nothing he could do about it. However, at that moment he felt a hand clamp down upon his mouth. Glancing over, he saw Emily holding a finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet. A shocked smile instantly broke out on Roger's face.
'How'd you get out?' he mouthed. Emily responded in a mouthed 'tell you later', before taking out her homemade lock-pick and using it to try and open the padlock that kept the chains fastened to Roger's wrists, taking a conscious effort to refrain from making noise. Fortunately for them, luck was once again on their side, for Gang Member was too involved with Mimi that he didn't notice what was happening behind him. Once Roger was free, he sent up a grateful nod to Emily. But the sound of Mimi's disgusted cry snapped him back to attention. Gang Member's hand, to Roger's immense rage, had abandoned Mimi's breast, and had migrated to stroke beneath her skirt. In a flash, Roger had grabbed Gang Member's arm and yanked him away from his girlfriend, delivering a brutal punch to his face. The force of the blow sent Gang Member to the ground, where he hit his head against the concrete floor, loosing consciousness instantly. Mimi instantly fell against Roger, fighting back sobs. The musician held her protectively, as if she would automatically disappear if he didn't hold her as tight as he could, all the while whispering comforting words into her hair.
"Hey, guys," Emily whispered, moving over to the lovers. "You should understand that I am a major romantic and all, and I wish I didn't have to interrupt your moment, but we really need to get out of here, before our friend wakes up, or someone else comes along." Both Roger and Mimi had to admit that their photographer friend had a point. But before they left Gang Member to 'sleep it off', Emily took off her Yankees jersey, revealing a plain blue t-shirt underneath, and handed it to Mimi. "Here. Cover yourself up," Emily offered, obviously taking note of the fact Mimi's shirt could no longer do the job.
"Wow," Mimi smiled, as she pulled on the jersey. "Emily, I think this is the first time we've ever seen you without that jersey."
"What's your point?" Emily asked unsurely.
"I just think you should try keeping it off more often, that's all. It makes you look less like a tomboy," Emily just shrugged off Mimi's statement, but with a grin. As the trio snuck through the warehouse, trying to avoid being spotted by any gang members, Roger suddenly remembered he'd never thanked Emily for helping save Mimi.
"Yeah, forget about it," Emily replied to the thanks, with a slight morose tone to her voice.
"What's wrong?" Emily slowly held up a tiny piece of a bobby pin.
"My lock-pick," she explained with the beginnings of an amused smirk forming on the corners of her mouth. "It broke when I was working on the padlock." Both Roger and Mimi had to stifle laughs.
"Guess it died in the line of duty then," Roger joked.
"Just as well. I mean, if everything continues to go well, after tonight, the Rat Fangs will be in jail. So there will no longer be a need for it."
"Too bad your luck stops here, Goodhall brat," An icy voice hissed. The three friends froze as Kingpin suddenly emerged from behind a pillar of boxes, a switchblade drawn. "Do not run," Kingpin ordered as they begin to back away. "We can make a bargain. You know what I want."
"For the final time!" Emily moaned in exasperation. "My dad never told me about the formula! I have no idea where it is! Can't you get that though your head?"
"Stubborn, just like your idiot father," Kingpin smirked. "But my patience is wearing thin. Just tell me what I need to know, and your friends go free."
"And even if I did know where the formula was, and agreed to cooperate, you'd just kill me in the end, am I right?" Emily snapped. "Just like how my parents were killed under your orders."
"What's wrong, Goodhall? Don't want to see your family again?" Kingpin taunted. "Your friends are free to go, but you are not."
"Sorry," Mimi glared, stepping up to Emily's side. "But if you think we'll stand aside and abandon Emily, you're even more delusional then we thought."
"Guys…" Emily began.
"Don't even try to 'reason' with us, Emily," Roger insisted. "You'll find we can be even more stubborn then you."
"Just like Zack," Emily whispered, just loud enough for the two to hear. "Once you get your minds set on something, almost nothing can distract you guys."
"Last chance Goodhall!" Kingpin demanded. "The formula or death!"
"I do NOT have any formula!"
"Fine. Your choice." With that, Kingpin went for Emily and Mimi. Moving at inhuman speed, Roger grabbed a hold of the weapon before it came close to the girls, the blade cutting through his hand. Emily stiffened immediately upon seeing the blood flowing down Roger's arm. For a brief moment, Mimi feared that Emily would be seized by another fainting spell, just like she had done after seeing Madison's body. The photographer certainly did look pale, like she had done back then. But then, to the Latina dancer's great surprise, Emily's reaction shifted a different way, and her face contorted in hate and rage.
"Not again," she snarled. "Not again. No one's gonna die for my sake again!" At that moment, Emily lunged forward at Kingpin. The gang leader hesitated before reacting, either because he was genuinely caught off guard, or he hadn't expected Emily to take such a drastic action. His shock quickly disappeared, but not quick enough to prevent Emily from latching onto his neck from behind, the pit of her elbow pressing against his Adam's apple.
"Wench! Get off!" Kingpin growled, violently backing into the wall, in an effort to knock Emily off. Roger was just about to move to help his friend, but Mimi held him back.
"Rog, you're bleeding!" she reminded. "If you get your blood on Emily…."
"I know," Roger replied, the worry in his voice evident. It was clear that Emily wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. But at that moment, a gunshot rang out, and Kingpin dropped to the ground, clutching his leg, now wounded from a bullet from the gun wielded by Officer Kurtz, who was currently standing a few feet away from the group.
"Over here!" he called to his fellow cops, who were all rounding up the Rat Fangs, making sure none escaped this time. "We have the ringleader! And get Dr. Jordan here, as well!" Officer Kurtz added, evaluating Roger's bleeding hand, and a partially dazed Emily slouched against the wall.
"Hey, Officer Kurtz," Roger chuckled, trying not to appear too shaken. "Great timing."
"You people are some lucky fools," Officer Kurtz replied seriously. "If Miss Jefferson had called a second later, we might not have made it in time." Roger forced a laugh before joining Mimi in checking up on Emily, who was currently regaining her senses.
"Hey," Emily smiled weakly. "It's over then, huh?"
"Yeah" Mimi returned the smile. "Never a dull moment for you, is there?"
"Nope," Emily agreed. "So, how do you guys like me so far?" The three friends couldn't help but laugh.
AN: Okay, once again, I'm sorry if the ending seemed rushed. But I thought that it would start becoming far-fetched if the end sequence was drawn out.
I also hope the scene with Mimi and the Gang Member didn't make reading this chapter too uncomfortable. I was trying to keep it tame enough to keep this story at a T rating, but at the same time, it had to be graphic enough to get the point across. Difficult place to get to, you know? So, what did you think?
Only two more installments left, and then the story will be complete. I think I'll post them tonight, even. So, until next time...