A/N: The holiday season was nice but I'm glad to get back into my routine. Let's kick off this new year right and best of luck to all of your resolutions (I've got a few myself!)
The walls are beginning to close in. But Burke turned out to be more of a wild card than we anticipated, and he has Jade.
Hold on for more to come.
Jade almost had a full-on panic attack when the lights went out. Like her situation wasn't already intense enough. But shortly afterward, the emergency lighting kicked on. They ran on separate generators that are triggered during a blackout.
But once her surroundings were visible again, Jade's anxieties weren't put to rest.
She saw her captor and the litany of explosives tied to her.
The incessant squeaking of the wheels on the chair was going to be a trigger for the rest of her life. She just knew it. Months or even years from now, that little noise would catapult her back to this moment.
Feeling helpless. Hopeless.
Jade needed to keep her breathing as normal as possible. That damn tape over her mouth restricted her air intake through her nose. It was maddening to be more scared than you had ever been and to also have a mouth and cannot scream. She might as well be in a coma.
"Here we are," declared Burke, finally stopping the chair and the horrible, squeaky wheels.
The dark-haired woman tried to take in as much of her new surroundings as she could. This might be where she will be stuck for some time.
Maybe it will be long enough for them to be discovered.
Hearing Tori's voice was a glimmer of optimism that she allowed herself. She was okay and moving around this hotel. The brief sound of a struggle on the other line made her nervous but the men (once two but now just one) were acting pretty erratic.
Maybe Tori and Jordan came out on top. Maybe they hadn't. But police were here, somewhere, and it would only be a matter of time until someone would come. Jade just had to force herself to think logically.
The man with the goatee bent down to the floor and situated some of his C-4 bricks along the base of a wall. There was nothing remarkable about it from Jade's perspective. No doors, no windows, no signage; it was completely blank.
But Burke knew better. There was something on the other side.
He had to be careful. He needed a boom large enough to get the job done in one try but not too big. Any explosion will garner unwanted attention. So, he had to set up enough firepower to do the deed and unveil the hidden safe.
Feeling satisfied with his arrangement, Burke began setting up the detonators. They were these little boxes with wires coming out of them. On the ends were what looked like small needles. They were meant to go in the bricks of the highly explosive material. These detonators were able to be set off remotely so the demolition man could operate from a safe distance.
Jade couldn't take her eyes off all the wires and bricks littering the floor. Every light in her brain was flashing DANGER! DANGER!. Her fight or flight mechanisms were firing but she wasn't able to do either.
Suddenly she felt being pulled again and dragged away from the demo site.
She actually felt a sigh of relief for once. Jade was surprisingly grateful the madman thought to take her along. For a minute he purposefully took her out of the danger zone.
Once behind a corner in the hallway, Burke took out two small spongey-looking things. They were as small as pencil erasers. He then stuck one in each of Jade's ears with a little force. She grumbled in protest but understood when he did the same thing with himself.
Despite her ears being jammed with these plugs, she could hear the idiot right in front of her just fine.
"It's gonna be loud," he smirked. "Get ready."
"LOOK!"
Heinrich pointed to the ascending metal doors, revealing the outside world.
"Oh shit," huffed Kristoff. "They're coming!"
"Move everyone to the back," Franco ordered. "I got this."
Kristoff nodded and motioned for Heinrich to follow his lead. The pair stormed the crowd, firing into the air. This made the people scream and cry.
"EVERYONE MOVE TO THE BACK! DO IT! DO IT NOW!"
Most followed orders but a couple of stragglers here and there hesitated.
"YOU THINK I'M JOKING!"
Franco's cries and blasting just above the heads of the people in the lobby made them run like bats fleeing a cave at dusk.
The Dutch man opened his bag and pulled out a little gift from the bearded prick.
"You're not going to get very far, policemen..."
He then pushed the button on the grey ball and chucked it.
"LET'S MOVE! MOVE!"
The SWAT team charged like it was D-Day to the luxury hotel. With their battering tools, they smashed their way through the doors and windows to overtake the lobby.
Once the first footsteps penetrated the entrance, the men in blue were overcome with thick, dark smoke. They were blinded by the thing. And it didn't have a chance to dissipate because another smoke bomb went off. Then seconds later, another. Still another.
It was a bombardment. Just buying the crew enough time to slip away.
Now in the confusion, they would be on their way to the subterranean portion of the building where their ride would be waiting for them.
What of the cops? By the time the smoke finally begins to lift, the swath of panic-stricken bystanders would be flooding the lobby once more. Once the fire doors lifted, the killers had to use the crowd to create a new barrier between them and the federales.
And they knew the LAPD would hasten their gait at the sight of the innocent civilians.
Once the dust settled and they figured out what happened, our baddies would be miles away.
(Those pigs won't know what hit them) Renato said. (My men will be halfway back to Mexico before they even finish their donuts.)
Franco, Heinrich and Kristoff ran down the corridor leading away from the lobby.
"Wait! What about Esperanza? And the other two?"
Kristoff stopped and thought for a second.
"Heinrich?"
"Ya?"
"I need you to go upstairs as quick as you can to the security room and collect those guys. I know they're there, probably goofing off."
Heinrich nodded, "Okay."
"And Heinrich?" asked Franco.
"Ya?"
"Be quick about it. If you don't see them, just leave! We only have minutes to get out! It's their fault we're in this mess anyway! So if they're gone, just come down to the rendezvous point!"
Heinrich nodded again and ran up the stairs nearby.
"What do we tell Renato if they're not there?" asked Kristoff.
Franco looked back at him.
"We tell him that we tried but we can't babysit three grown men, especially when they go rogue. WE stuck to the plan; THEY almost got us captured or killed. Far as I'm concerned, I hope Heinrich returns empty-handed."
"He's got two minutes. Then we have to move," said Kristoff.
Franco nodded in agreement.
"Level-headed. That's why I like you."
Heinrich burst into the control room and saw the body of O'Reilly, bleeding all over the floor.
His eyes bulged out of his head when he turned around to run but was abruptly stopped by two guns pointed at him.
"FREEZE!" commanded Tori.
"Don't move, big boy!" said Jordan.
The German held up his hands when...
KA-BOOOOOOMMM!
The entire floor shook like an earthquake had just occurred. But it was over as soon as it was felt. This was no tremor.
Dust hung in the air as Tori's ears rang. The force of the explosion, wherever it came from, rocked her down to the floor. The ceiling collapsed partially on her.
Tori crawled from underneath the fallen fluorescent lights, the shattered bulbs cut her through her jeans. She was bleeding alright, some of the pieces still stuck to her.
Broken glass littered the floor, so she knew it was only gonna get worse before it got better.
But she forced herself to traverse the decimated lights and pieces of ceiling and drywall toward her partner. She was pinned under a big chunk of ceiling. Practically the whole thing came down on her.
"Uuuhhhhhhh," moaned Jordan.
"Jor-" Tori coughed, her lungs desperate for oxygen amidst the dust and debris. "Jordan!"
"Oh, fuuuck...get it off meeeee!"
Tori managed to reach the redhead and will herself to her feet.
"I'm here," she assured her partner. "I'm here!"
The half Latina tried pulling Jordan out but she yelped in pain. She was trapped and what's more the wreckage landed right on her ricochet, opening up the wound. She was bleeding.
Tori then attempted to lift the section of ruins off of her. It was too big, too much weight.
"Jordan, hang on. I'm trying...to..."
The broken ceiling wouldn't budge.
"FUCK!"
"Tori," Jordan winced. "It's no use. One person can't move this."
"What do we do?"
She began to tear up and it only made her sadder when Jordan started to do the same.
"Go."
"What do you mean, go?" asked Tori.
"You need to get out," Jordan said.
She reached out with her only free hand. Jordan had no idea where her gun went. It was probably buried alongside her somewhere.
Tori took her dear friend's hand. She squeezed it hard.
"Get out, Tori. Find help! I don't know if we're winning out there but if you don't go, they'll never find me!"
"I..." she sobbed. "I can't..."
"Tori, please!" Jordan coughed up a heap. "You need to find Tal-madge. Have him send people. It's gonna take a lot to move this shit."
She understood her partner's logic but Tori was not willing to leave her in her time of need all alone. Even if she demanded it.
"But..."
"No buts!" said Jordan. "You said I could trust you."
Tori nodded.
"I'm trusting you to get help and not to get yourself killed."
Tori fought back more tears and kissed Jordan's hand.
"I swear I'll be back. I'm going to be as fast as I can."
Jordan made a brave smile.
"I know."
Once Tori ran out of the destroyed room, the redhead began to weep. She had all of her faith in Tori but she felt deep down that they bit off more than they could chew this time. Jordan cursed herself for not telling Tori a message to deliver to Nathan if she doesn't make it. But she was afraid to because that would be admitting defeat.
Admitting that this was goodbye. Forever.
Jordan could make out the slain body of the man who would later be identified as O'Reilly.
"It's over," she sighed. "Isn't it?"