I appreciate the kindness and support. It's been a long few days on the farm and the new job which makes for very late nights. It feels nice thought to "come home" to a page like this.
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Esposito's plan had been brazen to say the least, but like so many things in the life of the over-confident detective, fortune favored the bold, and things indeed seemed to be working out perfectly.
"I think…I need your help. Something's not right with my partner.", Beckett lied, hoping their acting skills would be enough to get the other man into position for their plan.
Little did she know that Esposito was frighteningly good at playing possum, his body growing limp in her arms, eyes rolled to the back of his head, holding his breath.
With a disbelieving grunt, the kidnapper took a couple steps toward them, stopping short by Esposito's legs, eyeing both detectives suspiciously for a few moments.
"What do you think is going on?", he asked, one hand still over the grip of his Glock.
The gun.
It would prove to be the dividing factor on whether her escape was successful or not.
Beckett knew that she'd be in no position to wrestle for it once the leader was on the ground, the chance of injury or worse too big; her sole choice being a dead run out of the door and disappear as fast as possible, no matter what would be going on behind her.
It was especially that part of the plan that didn't sit well with her; Esposito insisting she spare no time to help him out of the ropes but instead leave him tied up and focus on the escape.
God she hated this plan as much as their lack of alternatives.
"I…I don't know. He just passed out on me…", Beckett continued, resting two fingers against the other detective's neck, checking for a pulse, "I think…he might be dying…Do you have an AED? We might have to get him out of those ropes to perform CPR."
"I already told you he's not getting out of these ropes."
Well, so much for that thought.
Upon her tense silence, the other man came another step closer, his brows furrowed.
"For crying out loud, here, let me check.", he growled in obvious annoyance and moved forward, putting himself exactly where Esposito had wanted him.
With the speed of a predator striking its prey, the detective summoned all his strength and used his legs to swipe the other man off his feet, causing him to land hard on his upper back, his breath getting stuck in a painful gasp.
"GO!", Esposito yelled at her, his eyes focused on the leader rolling on the ground, gasping and moaning, giving them the few precious moments of having the upper hand they so desperately needed.
Scrambling back to her feet, Beckett glanced over at the ropes, then at the thrashing leader, gauging if there was enough time to untie Esposito and leave together- but chances were slim at best.
Noticing her temporary hesitation, the detective turned toward her, his expression stern.
"What are you waiting on? Go!"
Despite all the voices inside her head ordering her to stay, Beckett nodded fleetingly, her eyes meeting Esposito's for a final goodbye before she beelined it for the door to their prison cell, her ears cued to anybody approaching her position.
Yet, all she could hear was a guttural growl coming from the leader, along with some not-so-pleasant swear words out of Esposito's mouth. She wanted to turn around, help her fallen partner but knew that their only chance would be if she were to find help.
As such, Beckett followed the corridor that was leading from their cell, careful not to run into any of the other guys that were holding them captive, surprised when a second door ahead brought her to the outside of an old manufacturing plant.
Panting, she watched her breaths rise into the cloudy night sky, the gravel below her feet crunching as she jogged away from the building, keeping her eyes on her surroundings, mortified of the chance that the others were somewhere out there.
Help, she told herself, trying to remain focused, she had to call in help as soon as possible.
As graceful as possible to avoid any undue noise, Beckett sprinted across the scarcely illuminated yard in front of the building, noticing a black sedan parked inside what was left of an old loading bay as she jumped over a set of discarded railroad ties.
Several hundred feet out was a chain link fence, tall but not impossible to climb. Thankfully, it lacked the usual strand of barbed wire near the top, the panels themselves having grown rusty over the years.
Summoning all her energy, she leaped up at the fence, cringing at the loud clinking that disrupted the nightly silence as she dug her fingers into the wires, using the toes of her leather dress shoes to help pull herself up, until she could swing her body over the top, landing on the opposite side with a faint thud.
Beckett knew it would only be a matter of time until the leader would alert the rest of the group of her disappearance, so she staggered back to her feet, ignoring the pain from her battered ankles having taken the brunt of the hard impact, as she ran across the stree, then disappeared in the darkness on her desperate search for a phone.