Part III
i.
The third time is by far the closest.
There is nothing subtle or hesitant about their questioning of the six men taken during the last attempt. Day twenty two is the first time the team separates for longer than a bathroom break as they each barricade themselves in a dim interrogation room, Billy taking the man Colby had tackled and Tim King readily agreeing to take on the last.
The SWAT agent sticks his head out after ten minutes, fury written in every inch of his body as he asks someone to bring some smelling salts into the room.
Nikki is the next to emerge, twenty three minutes later with pale, drawn features. She retreats to the bathroom. Two stone-faced male agents enter the interrogation room and draw the blinds even tighter.
David is third, thunderclouds in his eyes. The door slams behind him and his phone is at his ear as he leaves the bullpen.
Colby is fourth, jaw set rigidly as he adds two more names to the board and settles into his cubicle where the printer begins whirring almost instantly.
Tim King leaves the interrogation room with vague sense of satisfaction as he reaches Colby's cubicle, scrawling something on a notepad and passing it to the other man before cracking his knuckles and settling into a vacant chair.
When Liz leaves, she doesn't even make eye contact with anyone and goes straight for the bathroom.
Billy is the last, nearly an hour and a half later. His hands are clenched into fists and he makes for the war room with barely a glance towards the others who have congregated, waiting.
They follow anyway.
ii.
Billy's hand shakes just a little as he pins the map to the board and reaches for a marker.
His voice is low and steady when he says that they were right, that it is Barinelli. The breath he takes before he continues is long and deep. At least three dozen locations that they could have fled to, he explains, and they will not be taken by surprise again.
The good news is that Don and Ian were both alive as recently as eight hours ago and from what he understands, Barinelli certainly doesn't want them dead immediately.
He is going to get Charlie to work on narrowing the locations down, he says, and they are going to raid them relentlessly until they get what they're after. His eyes flash as he adds quietly that there are many things the man deserves and he doesn't think prison even comes close anymore.
Amita, Charlie and Larry have the list down to fourteen locations in ten hours and at eight am on day twenty three, the raids commence.
Seven days later, all fourteen locations have been hit and they've recovered millions of dollars worth of arms and narcotics but they are no closer to finding Don and Ian. Hope is flagging and Charlie can't understand where they went wrong. Everything points to it being one of those fourteen locations.
On day twenty five, ADIC Wright is in the bullpen and he pulls Billy and David aside and asks quietly if maybe they've overestimated Barinelli's desire to hide what he's doing.
The two agents share a glance heavy with sudden realisation.
Three hours later, raids on the other locations begin.
On day thirty, they hit it.
iii.
A warehouse in the industrial district. Billy can do nothing but laugh, without the slightest trace of humour, at the man's audacity.
They breach the warehouse from weak spots in the roof and catch sight of Don and Ian for the first time in over four weeks. David claps his hand over Nikki's mouth as her breathing hitches
All hell breaks loose barely thirty seconds later as SWAT agents hit the ground in the middle of the warehouse, break through the doors and come flying down the stairs.
Sudden clouds of tear gas overtake the air. There is shouting and gunfire and Liz is thrown to her feet as a round impacts her vest. She can't see the faces of the agent who drags her from the warehouse but she screams Don's name and struggles mightily against the strong arms hauling her to safety when she hears a guttural cry that she knows is him.
The agent holding her crumples and she breaks free of his arms, scrambling towards the cry and calling out again. A hand swipes across the air just in front of her and as it falls past, she lunges for it even as she gasps for breath, lungs trying desperately to function under the dual assault.
The fingers brush hers and then another arm wraps itself around her chest, dragging her to her feet and towards an exit. Tim King's voice is in her ear and she slumps against him as darkness invades the edges of her vision.
She hears Billy and Colby nearby and all she can do is hope that they get to Don and Ian because she can't.
iv.
Billy is so close that he can see the familiar scar on the left side of his best friend's mouth and he's even closer to Ian who is struggling weakly against the men carrying him, bloodshot eyes desperate.
Colby is gaining as well, barely ahead of him, and with a single purpose, the two leap forward with arms outstretched.
His fingers hook into the waist of Don's jeans as Colby's scrabble for grip on Ian's arm. He sees Colby go down and pulls back with every ounce of strength in his body as urgency floods his mind. He feels the fabric of the belt loop come free against his grip and then his world is dark as his skull erupts with agony.
I AM A HORRIBLE HORRIBLE PERSON. I KNOW.
I do love them, I swear. You'll see Part III again in the next instalment, Four Escapes, from the other side. I think I enjoyed writing this one a little too much, for what that's worth, but another piece of the puzzle is completed. I've discovered a deeper appreciation for Coop especially, and how he works with Colby and Liz. I do love David and Nikki, but David's still trying not to stray too far from what he knows and this situation calls for more unorthodox measures. Poor Nikki struggles a little, but she's doing the best she can.