Chapter 6
Kate
Kate held Bane's gaze and shook her head. Of course Jim escaped and of course Bane knew that his only chance of capturing him was using her. Bane knew more than he led on. He always knew what the next moves be, even this one.
"No. I will not." Kate said looking up again at Bane making eye contact. She already knew he wouldn't take no for answer, but she had to hear what his offer was. He could threaten her but there was no else in her life. No one he could against her but Jim but at this moment he was out of the game. She waited in silence for Bane's next move.
Barsad held back the big smile as Bane turned his eyes on him then back to Kate. Not a single word was spoken, Bane just left his hand and motioned Barsad to him. Kate glanced to her left to see Barsad handing Bane a thick dark brown cheap leather looking folder. Bane took the folder and placed it gently on the table before Kate. "Do you know what this is?" he asked as his cold grey eyes stared into her. Kate glanced again at the folder, there was no title or name indicating what it was. She shook her head in response.
"Your father was quite the honorable man. He was one of the few men in Gotham that could not be bought or bribed by the mob." Bane watched her expression, waiting. Barsad knew this was coming. He read the file and learned about Kate Messner's father. Officer Gerry Messner and Jim Gordon graduated from the academy together then later became partners. Both men were indeed honorable, but that had made them both targets. Officer Messner was the first to go. From the photo that was in the folder, Kate was almost a mirror reflection of her father.
Kate remained silent. But the pure angry was boiling deep inside, this wasn't the move she expecting. "You can go hell." Was she could think of. Bane wasn't moved at all he just leaned forward and opened the file, flipped a few pages then turned it over to Kate to see. "The case didn't go very far, but it appears that Jim Gordon looked into the investigation himself and came up with three names."
Barsad watched as Kate reached for the folder and read its contents to herself. "They told my mother there were no suspects." He could hear the emotion that she tried to hold back but her voice gave for only a second. Bane tilted his head a bit, "The city was living in the hands of a scum. He did his best to be sure not a name was uttered, But Jim Gordon found these men and let the case go. We found this in the basement under Unsolved." Barsad smiled to himself. They talked about this, it was so simple. Twist and turn the truth just a tiny bit and she'll fall right into place.
Kate read the black and white print of the names of three men, For years since her father's death she always wondered what the man looked like. In her dreams there was always one man but now here right before her eyes, there were three. Her father was a good man, well that was what a few of the other officers kept telling her that day at her father's funeral. They hugged her mother, shook her hand telling her they were sorry for her loss. Then they turned to Kate kneeling and telling her that her "daddy was a good man. And she should be proud of him." Then came Jim. He held her mother's hand and whispered in her ear, then turned to Kate and took her by the hand. "You must be Katie Bear." Kate remembered his smile the most; He walked with her a little ways near the trees and passed a few other grave stones. "Your father was more than a good man, He was my friend. He talked a great deal about you and your puppy Max." she remembered how she felt a little better that he knew who Max was, "I promise you Katie Bear, I'll find who did this." That remained with her as the years passed. He promised he would find whoever did this. Now here she was looking at the work he did do but at the same time looking at what he didn't do. Was this right? A small part of her could see that he kept to his promise but the other part, a strong part of her was pissed that nothing else was done. Reading the files of these three, One was already dead, the other was currently incarcerated and the other didn't have much to go on except that he was released ten years ago for a convenient store robbery.
"My men are at your disposal, you can seek your justice in exchange for Jim Gordon." Bane broke the silence. Kate bite down on her lip then looked up at Bane.
"No." said Kate closing the file and slightly pushing it back across to Bane. He glanced up at Barsad who was still behind her.
"I figured as much. Barsad." That was all Kate heard then everything went black.
Jim
Jim stepped out into the empty hallway of Kate's apartment building on her floor. Detective Blake followed behind him to cover his back, Blake didn't know who Jim was so worried about considering everyone knew that Jim's family had left him a few years back, Blake didn't have the heart to question him so he did as he asked and drove clear across town to this apartment. Jim was ahead and stopped for a second and turned back to Blake.
"Doors wide open, I'll clear the front door then you go in and clear the corners. The layout is simple small hall leading into the kitchen then the living room." Informed Jim as Blake checked the clip and leaned up against the wall as Jim went to the door and peeked in. Blake followed nodded to Jim as he went in, the lights were out. He went down the hall turned the corner that lead into the kitchen, clear then looked across to the window where the living room was at, so far no sign. He motioned for Jim to enter the apartment. Jim stopped by the kitchen as Blake went down another hall to a bedroom at the back. It was empty, didn't look like a struggle. Nothing seemed out of place, everything was clean. By the looks of it, it was a chicks place.
"Clear." He shouted back to Jim. Blake walked back into the living room and saw Jim looking through papers on the table. "Doesn't look like too much like a break in. She must've knew they were coming." He whispered as if talking himself.
"She?" Blake asked. Jim looked back at Blake. "Agent Kate Messner. Daughter of one of the greatest cops I ever served with." He explained then began looking under the coffee table then to the cushions of the sofa. Blake knew too well what Jim was looking for; it was a cop's habit to hiding guns. "She always prepared herself for the worse. They're gone." Blake looked around the small apartment. Everything seemed fine, but that's what bugged him a bit. "Jim, purse on the counter, it's been dumped out." He motioned at the kitchen counter. Jim grabbed the purse, "Her wallet's here and keys are on the table. Cell phone is still there too. It was tossed here, like she or someone was looking for something." Jim nodded in response. He was too late. Jim walked back into the small living room, "It had to be Bane's men." he sighed.
Blake watched Jim closely then took another look around. "Why would they have an interest in her? What aren't you telling me?" he asked staring back Jim who wouldn't make eye contact with him. "She's FBI, on a leave of absence at the moment. She couldn't tell me much about her cases. But I do know this much Bane was one her suspects in other matters that do not involve us. She's had her run ins with him every now and then" Jim pushed his glasses up and ran his hands over his head then finally looked up at Blake, "Did she know he was in city before all this went down?" Blake asked and watched Jim turned away for a moment, Blake continued to stare at the back of the man he had put his trust in, looking for something and nothing at all. From Jim's silence, he already knew that answer.
Kate
Kate lay awake in the cold concrete floor a while, nothing about the small room seemed familiar. As far as she could tell it look like it was supple room before the shelves were removed, she saw a few hooks on the wall and a drain at the corner. A janitor's closet she concluded as she saw where the chemicals for a buffer stained the floor. She pulled herself up and sat there for a minute or two, her arms ached and her head was pounding. They left the light on for her 'How thoughtful' she snorted to herself. Then she heard the faint footsteps outside the door coming closer and closer until she saw the shadow coming from beneath the door, click and another click of a lock being unlocked.
"Aye, you're awake. Brought you some breakfast?" Barsad said with a smile, he always seemed cheery, Kate glared back up at him then to the tray in his hands, and she had every intention of telling him that he could go fuck himself, but before she could answer her growling belly betrayed her. She remained quiet as he handed her the tray of a sandwich an apple and then the water. He didn't leave as she hoped he would but instead he kneeled down before her and watched silently as she ate in silence.
"I figured you'd be thirsty so I bought an extra bottle." He pulled another bottle from his back pocket and held it out to her; Kate continued to eye him down as she took the bottle. "You're welcome." He muttered as Kate drained the bottle, she bite her lip as she sealed the lid back onto the empty bottle. "Thanks, I see I got your nose pretty good." She replied as Barsad gently touched the bruise, "This is nothing compared to the bullet you put in me. But I did return the favor. I couldn't leave it broken so I did you the courtesy of putting back in place." Kate didn't what to say to that. But as she looked down at herself she saw that there were blood drops on her shirt.
"What happened yesterday?" she asked staring at the concrete. Barsad stood up, "I slammed your head straight down into the table to knock you out. Bane told me that I was stay with you at all times from here on out. You were out cold and you weren't heavy so I moved you in here." Kate sighed then pushed the empty tray aside and pulled herself up. "Where are my boots?" she asked as she realized that she was barefoot. Barsad smiled again, "Had to take em' off, Didn't want you to kick me from a surprise attack, and if by any chance you managed to escape.. you wouldn't get very far." Kate glared back at him, "You didn't answer my question." She mumbled, Barsad nodded, "I have them out here."
Barsad lead her out in the hall way from the janitor's closet, she noticed that they were still in City Hall and on the same floor of Jim's office. She followed Barsad into what appeared to be a conference room. It had a great view and a huge table that was shoved against the wall. There were maps and other papers that were spread out on the table. She tried to get a good look at what they were but Barsad walked fast ahead of her.
They entered another room that was smaller with stacks of folders, binders and boxes. "What's all this?" she asked as Barsad pulled out a chair and motioned her Kate to sit down. He walked around the other side sat down as well across from her. "This is my work. Every file here is a personal file on every cop in the city." He replied and opened up a file, "Why?" she asked again as she looked around, Barsad smile, "Most of these here are men that were under Jim Gordon's special task forces." He said pointing at the pile that was on his right. Kate didn't like the sound of that nor did she like that smile Barsad always had on his face.
"I have more questions that need answering." She said as she leaned back in her chair and made herself comfortable. Barsad didn't seem to be listening, "Did you fucking hear me?" she snapped and kicked the desk. Barsad glanced up at her, "I heard you. I was just waiting for the question. We'll be here a long time so get to it." He replied and smiled again.
Kate nodded. "What was the purpose of following me around in Zimbabwe?" she kept her eyes on his reaction; He kept on with the file then took a pen and notepad writing down a few things. "Bane had his reasons; I just stationed myself where he said. Through the scope of a rifle I caught glimpses into your life." The thought of it sent goose bumps down her spine. "How long?" she asked, "Long enough." He said and kept on writing. "How long?" she repeated in a stern voice. Barsad grinned, "From the moment your cheap van dropped you and the other three agents off at the front door of that shitty apartment. I always wondered what was in that grey shoe box?" he asked her for a moment he stopped what he was doing.
Kate glared back at him "You said yesterday in the ride here, that we all sacrificed the ones we loved? So tell me, Barsad who did you sacrifice?" she asked Barsad who's grinning face turned sour, He leaned back in his chair and tossed the pen on the table. "Tell me, Agent Messner. What emotions went through you when I put a bullet in your boyfriend's skull? There's no need to lie anymore. Who do you think sent you those photos about his other fucks when you weren't around?" He said with another smile. Kate stared back at him she no answer for him. But now the mystery sender was solved.
Barsad
Barsad mentally kicked himself for sharing that small detail about Kate's deceased boyfriend but that wasn't really why Bane had Barsad send those photos about her partner. There was more to it than that. But those would be revealed in the time to come. The rest was true though, They ready knew when her and her team were arriving and where they would stay. When they landed at the airport, he followed them to the apartment. Then set himself up at the apartment across the street and watched. For weeks he was there. Watching Kate carry out her daily routine. Every now and then he would follow her through the city as she went about her work. When she out on meeting with local informants and her grocery shopping.
He never understood why she didn't confront her cheating boyfriend. Then again he didn't really care and was more than happy to put one in his head. He had a wife once, he was faithful to her no matter what happened. Over the years of looking into Messner's life he had to admit that he understood why Bane had some amount of respect for her. Entering her apartment was more than easy, taking that first step through the front door and the tour of her home was not what he really expected. She had a simple living style. It was small and simple, a big kitchen which he explored by opening all the cupboards and refrigerator and her collection of cook books. Then he ventured off into the living room, The view from her floor was quite a sight although he was never one for big cities but this was different. He read all the titles of her collection of books, CD's, DVD's but no photos. He found that odd even his wife had photos of just about everyone in her family. Messner didn't have that. As he made his way into the master bedroom, still no photos but he was caught off guard by the amounts of color. The bed was a King size a beautiful deep purple with oriental designs, the pillows were pink and dark blue. He couldn't help himself, he had to try it out so he laid himself down its comfort was amazing but felt too weird and sat up and took in the curtains. They were a light blue and plain, then to the white clean carpet and the Persian rug. He then went to closet and saw lots of black and grey, white blouses, a few plaid shirts and to his surprise a few band t-shirts that had strange symbols somewhat demonic he had to laugh to himself. Then the cargo pants, slacks, and the skirts. He knew she wore combat boots but the heels were a surprise. He then turned his attention to the dresser; the temptation to look through every draw was eating at him. He decided against it but then he remembered who he was dealing with and recalled that she could have a loaded gun in one of them and the thought of his other men going these draws rubbed him the wrong way. Apart of him felt that he was protecting her privacy.
Altogether he collected three loaded home invasion hand guns that didn't come with a safety. Then of course the one bureau issued that could be the same one or the same make as the one she shot into his leg a few years back.
Barsad and Kate still sat there in the small room in complete silence for over an hour. Every now and then he would glance up at her but her eyes were focused at the window over-looking the street. He was still bothered by her question about his sacrifice, He normally didn't think about "Her" but as of right now he did and didn't want to. He did his best to think of other things but her image flashed through his mind. She was beautiful and he did miss her but he always remembered that it was she who left him. Right now he was going to focus these names and addresses and his bit of anger toward Kate. Then again it seemed fair considering what he asked her. This wasn't the place to be nor did he really have the right to say what he did it was too personal and he didn't get personal with anyone but it was too late now.