A/N: Thank you to my amazing reviewers: Super Gran, canadice, and WishfulThinker66! And to all my new follows and faves: Welcome! :)
Enjoy!
The closet door opened and Tommy stood on the other side, his mask long gone, which, to Reagan, could be equally good or bad. Either they weren't going to make another video, or possibly time was up and they were going to make the trade. But to let her see their faces? That never landed in the realm of good news.
Tommy helped her up and she winced at the jostling movement. She'd lost feeling in her hands, but could've sworn they were wet. She had a hunch the plastic zip-tie had finally cut into her skin. But his face remained impassive as he nudged her forward.
"Tommy, please. It's not too late. Don't do this. I know my little brother is still in there, and he would never hurt his sister," she said quietly.
He gave her a small shove. "Stop. Talking."
Reagan shook her head. "I heard you before. You told them to be careful. Why would you do that if you didn't still care?"
"It's too late, sis," he murmured, his expression hard.
"No, Tommy, it's never too late."
They walked across the warehouse, passing old machinery that made her realize it was more of a factory than a warehouse. She still couldn't figure out where they were, though, and in a moment it probably wouldn't matter.
Two men stood by an exit door, also without masks now. One was tall and skinny; the other had dark, hateful eyes and the scowl to match. She would've pegged him as the leader from before.
"Carlito, where's González?" Tommy asked as they approached.
The man with the mean face said, "He's waiting in the car."
"So what are we standing around for? Let's go make the trade."
The man smirked. "You didn't think it would be that easy, did you, Thomas?"
Reagan thought she felt Tommy's hand tense on her shoulder.
"What are you talking about?" her brother asked.
Carlito, who she could now confirm was the leader, didn't say anything. Instead, he took something out of his pocket and pointed it toward Reagan.
Now, she was the tense one.
"Officer Cassidy, who is in charge of your SWAT team? What is his first name?" He pressed a button on the device in his hand.
Reagan paused as she thought it through. She didn't want Deacon involved in this, but knew he would be anyway. Maybe this would help the exchange…
"David," she said, trying to keep her voice strong and clear. She did not want to show these guys weakness, or at least not any more than she already had.
Carlito pressed a button again. "If you could say one thing to him right now, what would it be?"
Reagan stared at the man as her courage evaporated. "I- I'd say…" He pushed another button and she frowned. Softly, she said, "I'm sorry."
He clicked the device a final time and slipped it into his pocket. "One more thing. What is his phone number?"
Reluctantly, she gave it to him. If Carlito did call, hopefully Deacon would be able to trace it.
"Thank you, Officer Cassidy. We're finished here." He looked at Tommy. "You know what you need to do."
"No, I don't."
"We no longer need her—"
"I'm not gonna kill her, Carlito. She's my sister."
Carlito's lips pressed together and he took a step forward. "You said you wanted in. This is what it takes to be one of La Eme. Dispose of the cop, or you're both gone."
Tommy stared at the man, his eyes wide with panic.
Carlito removed a knife from his pocket and flipped the serrated blade out of the handle. When he started to move toward Reagan, Tommy stepped in front of her. "Okay, I'll do it."
The leader directed his attention back to Tommy. "Are you sure you can handle that, hermano? Because I'm not convinced that you have what it takes."
Tommy nodded. "I can do it."
Reagan's mouth dropped open and her eyes darted back and forth between the two men. "Tommy, think about this. We're family. I love you. I always have."
Tommy glanced over at her, apprehension flashing in his brown eyes. Carlito must have seen her brother's sudden hesitation, because he advanced on Reagan. She only saw the flash of silver before experiencing the worst pain in her life. It was instant, white-hot at her core. It felt as if someone had torn into her stomach with their bare hand. To make matters worse, she didn't have use of her hands, so when he pulled the blade from her abdomen, it allowed the wound to bleed freely. Warmth trickled down one of her bare thighs as she fell to her knees, and she felt the same sensation on her cheeks as tears escaped from her closed eyes.
"Estúpido policía puta," Carlito muttered, and spat on the ground in front of her. He turned to Tommy. "Now you can put her out of her misery."
"You want to do what?" Mumford asked, regarding Deacon with a stunned gaze.
"We need Rodriguez. It's the only way to get Officer Cassidy back alive. If we don't, she's sure as dead."
"Deke, you can't just break someone out of jail," Mumford continued. "We have protocol for this type of thing."
Deacon shook his head. "Hicks will never sign off on it. And I'm not going to let some red tape get my officer killed. Not on my watch."
Mumford looked around at his team. The other men wouldn't meet his eyes. He sighed. "We can't take part in this. I'm sorry about Cassie, I really am, but what you're saying is crazy. It's not SWAT."
Deacon remained silent as anger rolled off of him in waves.
"But we won't stop you," Mumford said. "I won't tell Hicks. We can do that much. Okay?" he asked his team. The officers nodded and headed back to their SWAT truck.
"Thanks," Deacon said, his voice tight. "I guess I'll take what I can get."
When Mumford followed after his men, Street stepped up. "I'll do it."
At that, Chris stood next to him. "Me, too." They exchanged a subtle smile.
"Whatever we've gotta do, Deke. Count me in," Luca said, getting that predictable energetic smile on his face.
They all looked to Hondo. He licked his lips and took a deep breath. "You know we could be kicked off SWAT for this? Probably the force, too…if they don't throw us in jail with Rodriguez."
"We know," Street said, completely serious now.
Hondo shrugged. "Well if you're sharin' a cell block, y'all are gonna need a brotha to help you out." When they all chuckled, he said, "I'm in."
Deacon glanced at each of them, his expression sincere. "I really appreciate you all doing this. I know Cassie will, too."
"No officer left behind, right?" Luca asked.
Deacon nodded.
"So how're we gonna do this, boss?" Chris asked. "We don't even have a full team."
He took a deep breath and pulled out his cell phone once more. Tapping a contact on the screen, he said, "I think we can fix that." He put the phone on speaker and they waited while it rang.
Finally, a man answered with, "Deke! What's up?"
"Hey, Tan. What're you doing right now?"
Luca stopped Black Betty at the entrance to the California State Prison. Rolling down the window, Deacon leaned over and said to the guard, "Hi, there. I'm Sergeant David Kay. We're here for a prisoner transport."
The guard skimmed the papers on his desk. "I don't see anything about a transport today. Who authorized it?"
"Commander Hicks at LAPD." Deacon reached into his vest pocket and removed the letter he'd forged with Hicks' signature. It was the one part of the plan that he insisted on doing himself. That one detail would land him in the hottest water, and he wanted his team to have no fault in it. He handed it to Luca, who handed it to the guard.
The man opened it and quickly scanned the fine print. "If you say so," he murmured, and pressed the button to open the gate. "Your prisoner is in Cell Block A, so park to the left side and we'll meet you for the exchange."
"Thanks," Deacon replied, keeping his tone light and friendly.
Luca maneuvered their truck to the spot the guard had indicated and put it into park.
Deacon looked over his shoulder at the four people in the back: Hondo, Chris, Street and Tan. "You guys ready?"
After a resounding 'hell yeah,' Tan smiled and said, "Beats watching reruns of Dr. Quinn. Don't get me wrong—it's nice to spend time with my mom—but it's also nice to have a night off."
Deacon smirked. "You call this a night off?"
"Springing a prisoner out of jail to make an exchange that will take down a dangerous gang, while also helping a fellow SWAT officer? I would've been insulted if you guys hadn't called me."
"Well we've missed you," Street said.
Hondo let out a bark of laughter. "You're such a liar." When Tan glanced at him in confusion, he added, "Street's sweet on the new girl."
Tan looked to where Street was seated across from him. "Why am I not surprised?"
"She is nicer to look at!"
Tan kicked his boot, but before Street could retaliate, Deacon said, "We have incoming. Hondo and Chris, you're on deck."
A moment later, someone knocked on the back of the truck. Hondo and Chris each opened a door and stepped out, taking an elbow on either side of Miguel Rodriguez. The man had on a standard orange jumpsuit, and shackles that connected to his wrists and ankles. He was a big dude, but didn't put up a fight. He must have known about the arrangement his 'buddies' had made on the outside.
Once the doors were securely closed, Deacon got out and met the guard holding a clipboard.
"Signature here and here to sign him out," the man said, pointing to two spots on the page.
Deacon tried not to sigh audibly. This was the part that would tie him to the whole thing. He would be amazed if he had a job after this. Even mall security might be out of range, and how embarrassing would that be?
As long as Reagan came out of this alive, he didn't care what happened to him.
After Deacon had climbed back in and took his seat, he looked over at Luca, who was waiting for his signal. He nodded. "Let's go. We have a plane to catch."
Luca slapped the wheel and said, "Alright, Cassie, here we come."