Chapter 12
…
Elizabeth parked the car and made her way in to the FBI building, smiling when she got off the elevator. She threw her stuff down on her desk before opening her laptop. Looking up when she heard someone approaching her to see Samar at her desk.
"Hey Samar."
"How did it go?"
"Yeah good, we've retrieved over $5000 worth of guns so I would say it's been a productive day. Have they begun questioning the suspect yet?"
"Yeah, Ressler's handling it."
"Great, well in that case, if I'm not needed then I might head off."
"Sure, I'll let them know…oh, did Mr Kaplan get a hold of you?" She asked stopping Elizabeth in her tracks.
"Mr Kaplan? No why?"
"She came by earlier."
"With Agnes?"
"No, she said she'd left her with her friend."
"Andrea?"
"That's her."
"Why was she here, did she say?"
"No but she seemed…I don't know, anxious. Aram went outside with her, actually come to think of it, he never came back."
"Oh god, okay I need to find out what's going on. I really have to go."
"Okay well, if you need help with anything, let me know and let me know that Aram is alright would you."
Elizabeth turned, offering a warm smile at her friend and colleague who she knew only too well liked Aram.
"I will."
Elizabeth made her way out of the building, quickly taking out her phone and dialling Aram's number, looking at the screen to see a missed call at the top from him.
"Aram…"
"Liz thank god, where the hell have you been? Don't you answer your cell?"
"I'm sorry; I got caught up on the case, what the hell's going on?"
"It's Mr Kalplan."
"Is she okay, is it the baby…is Agnes okay."
"Agnes is with that woman Andrea, don't worry."
"The baby then?"
"The baby's fine Liz but Mr Kaplan isn't, she's in a blind panic over Reddington and that other guy."
"Dembe."
"Yeah him, she couldn't get a hold of them and she knows I've been helping Reddington to trace that Salgado guy and she forced the location from me."
"Forced?"
"You don't say no to Mr Kaplan, you know that."
"Aram, is she there now?"
"We needed gas, she's filling the car. I'm worried about her Liz, she's determined to go in there and save them and I'm not being funny but she only has me for back-up. I've always been more of the technical side of our team, I'm not up to this and I certainly don't feel able to protect her on my own. We don't even know what these guys are like, how many men Salgado has. She shouldn't even be going in there in her condition, what if something happens to her."
"Okay text me the details and I'll make my way there."
"Just you, Liz I'm serious…I really don't think we can do this alone."
"Okay, I'll get Samar and Ressler, let them know what's happening?"
"I'm gonna get in trouble for helping him with this."
"Don't worry; I'll say it was me."
"I can't let you do that, I made the decision to help and I'll take the consequences."
"We won't be long."
"Thanks Liz, oh and if you check your cell…I already sent the details."
"Thanks Aram."
…
Aram put his phone away when he saw Kate walking back to the car and getting inside.
"Everthing okay?"
"Just fine dearie."
"Look, there's something I need to tell you and please, don't get mad."
"You called Elizabeth?"
"I did, we can't do this alone. You're in no condition to take on Salgado and what happens when you do come face to face with him. All those memories of what he did to you, do you really want to have too deal with that."
"If it means getting Raymond and Dembe back alive then…yes, I'll do what I have too."
"And what about the baby, what if something happens to you and you get injured. I know this was all a shock to you in the beginning but I've been around you since and…deny it if you want but…you've bonded with that baby and you do want it."
Kate sat in the driver's seat, looking out at the road ahead of her before closing her eyes tightly, her hand going to the baby before looking to her side to see Aram with sympathy in his eyes.
"I suppose I didn't take every detail in to consideration, did I." She said quietly.
"You're running on adrenalin right now, all that's going through your mind is getting Mr Reddington and Dembe back alive."
"I can't get a hold of my Team; Raymond must have them working on something else and informed them to ignore my calls. You and me, that's all there is."
"Liz has the location of where we're heading, she's bringing Ressler and Samar with her for back-up."
"FBI, Raymond will kill me."
"No, he'd be grateful that you're safe. We don't have much choice here, we can't do this alone. There's no telling how many men this guy has, what dangers we're walking in too."
"I know you're right dearie, I just wish this wasn't happening at all. Perhaps I should have died that day in the field, save us all this now."
Aram reached over, taking a tight hold of Kate's hand as she took a steady breath.
"Well I for one am glad that you didn't die, you're a special kind of lady Mr Kaplan and a lot of people depend on you, especially that baby."
Kate looked over at Aram, who had a genuine smile on his face as she gripped his hand tighter.
"Thank you Aram, you're a lovely young man and you'll make some woman very happy one day."
"Thanks, so…you ready."
"I'm ready dearie."
…
Elizabeth got off the elevator, walking back over to Samar who was typing away on her laptop.
"Samar, is Ressler still interrogating that guy?"
"No, he came out about five minutes ago. There he is now."
Elizabeth looked over to see Ressler walking their way, a smile on his face.
"How did it go?" Samar asked.
"Confessed to everything, easiest interrogation I've ever done. What's going on here?" He asked, looking at the worried look on Elizabeth's face.
"I'm not actually sure, Liz?"
"Guys, I need your help."
"Is this about why Mr Kaplan was here earlier?" Samar asked.
"Yeah, but not here. Come on."
Samar and Ressler followed Elizabeth in to the break room, Elizabeth thankful there was nobody around. She turned to see two very confused agents looking back at her.
"Liz, what the hell's going on?" Ressler asked.
"Okay, there's something happening that is getting out of hand and I can't stop it on my own."
"Go on."
"Reddington has gone after a man called Brendan Slagado, he was once a friend of Reddington's but being Reddington, he made a deal with some people and Salgado was arrested on drugs charges, he spent a long time in prison and he told Reddington that he'd make him pay one day."
"And what, he's doing it now."
"Well actually he did it a few weeks ago, to Mr Kaplan."
"Mr Kaplan, he hurt her?" Samar asked.
"Oh the son of a bitch did much more than that, she's gonna kill me for telling you this but I don't have a choice, I need you to know why this is all happening now."
"What did he do to her?" Ressler asked.
"He…raped her."
Samar and Ressler went very quiet, Samar looking like she was ready to kill.
"He raped someone of Mr Kaplan's age, just to get to Reddington." Ressler added.
"He knew the only way to really hurt Reddington was to hurt someone he cared for."
"Well Mr Kaplan certainly fits the criteria."
"That's not all, something Salgado probably didn't count on, god knows Mr Kaplan didn't."
"What is it Liz." Samar asked.
"She's…pregnant."
"Who's pregnant?" Ressler asked, confused.
"Really Ressler, it's that hard to figure out." Samar added.
"Mr Kaplan, no way….the woman must be what…in her sixties. It's impossible."
"It may be impossible but it happened, this is all due to Salgado and Reddington is ready to kill the man for it. This is something Kate…Mr Kaplan can't escape from and Reddington won't just stand back and do nothing. This is why I need your help, earlier today, Reddington and Dembe found out where Salgado has been hiding out, they didn't want Mr Kaplan knowing about it, well she now knows and she can't get in contact with them. They've been unreachable for over five hours now and she's worried something's happened to them. She's on her way to their location now with Aram and she…"
"Aram, how the hell did Aram get involved in this?" Ressler asked, anger in his voice.
"Not the time Ressler, right now we need to focus on Mr Kaplan and getting Reddington and Dembe back because she's ready to go in there guns blazing and god only knows what could happen to her in there. She's on no condition to be doing this and how she'll react when she comes face to face with Salgado, well god only knows. She's putting her life and the baby's at risk."
"Hang on a minute…she's having the baby, she's not getting rid of it."
"Jesus Ressler, have some compassion." Samar stated.
"Sorry, this is a lot to take in."
"Right now, our main priority is to get Reddington and Dembe back safe, and stop Mr Kaplan doing something dangerous and putting herself and the baby at risk. Aram's with her now but he can't do this on his own."
"God no, he's not the best with a gun." Samar replied.
"So, will you help me? Copper can't find out about this right now, well?"
Samar and Ressler gave one another a look before turning back to Elizabeth.
"Of course we'll help, we better get ready." Samar smiled.
…
To Be Continued…
