Decided to write a little more today...this one's longer. I felt bad because the last two chapters were a little short, so I'll make up for it this time around. Enjoy!
Chapter 11: Close Call
Alex sat down behind his desk and glared up at Sullins.
"Ask any of the twenty cops there," he said, "John Abruzzi was armed. Abruzzi drew his weapon…"
"No!" interrupted Sullins, angrily, "It should have never been allowed to get that far."
"Richard lets be clear. If you knew how things needed to be handled in a manhunt, you'd be out there running one."
"Instead of harassing the ones who do," added Jack, pointedly.
Sullins gave her a sharp glance, and then turned back to Alex.
"The FBI's primary objective in investigating fugitive matters is to affect the swift location and capture of the fugitives. You both have two dead bodies."
Jack glanced over at Alex. On the plane ride back, he had told her to allow him to take the blame for Apolskis' death. She had protested, but he reminded her that he had promised to get her out of this and that included protecting her from men like Sullins. She finally agreed, but only because she was too tired to argue.
"They were felons, Richard," snapped Alex, "Now maybe that doesn't play too well from a public relations standpoint, but from a public safety standpoint, Abruzzi and Apolskis were by the book."
"The shooting of an unarmed kid at point blank range is by the book?" asked Sullins with a disdainful sneer, "Come on."
Sullins looked down at a file.
"Incident Report: David 'Tweener' Apolskis. You know, I'm curious. Was he cuffed during transport?"
Jack swallowed nervously. Alex told her to remain quiet if anyone asked about Apolskis. Sullins gave her a curious look, but turned back to Alex.
"Yeah, he was."
"In the report it says that he grabbed your primary weapon. You carry that in a shoulder holster?"
"Hip," replied Alex, glancing away uneasily.
"Left or right?"
"Left."
Jack felt her skin crawl with dread. From where Apolskis was seated in the car, it was near to impossible for him to grab a weapon from the driver's left hip. It would have made more sense for him to grab her weapon.
Sullins smiled knowingly as he glanced back and forth between Alex and Jack.
"Left," he repeated to himself, "I'm sorry. I must get confused sometimes. So, just so I've got this right," he said as he walked up behind Alex's chair, "You two were driving alone with a cuffed prisoner, when suddenly…"
Alex reacted with lightning speed as Sullins hand reached across his chest towards his left hip.
"He reaches forward and grabs your weapon," finished Sullins as he stood back with a smirk, "Huh…too bad you didn't react that quickly with Apolskis. Maybe he'd still be alive."
Alex and Jack exchanged quick, fearful glances. Sullins was about to figure everything out. It was only a matter of time.
"I also find it interesting that you're new partner here, who is supposed to be the most intelligent, young, female agents out there, couldn't restrain him."
"I reacted before she did," snapped Alex, "Leave her out of this."
"Oh, protective of her are we?" asked Sullins with a grotesque smile, "Well, while you two were on your way back from Utah, I decided to do a little digging. I found some interesting things about your past, Alex, or lack there of. It starts off simple enough. Poor family, mom leaves and sites spousal abuse. Somehow your father maintains custody and by the looks of these pediatric bills, beats you like a harp seal for the next four years. Big shot, poor, abused kid. Not a lot of options, so he joins the military…"
"Is this necessary?" snapped Jack, furious that this man actually had the guts to say these things, "I mean, are there going to be actual questions, or is this just some sick, twisted show and tell?"
Alex could not help but smile. Speaking of being protective, she sure was defending him…adamantly no less.
"Okay, I got one," retorted Sullins, clearly upset by having a woman speak to him with such a tone, "How does a guy go from infantry with less-than-stellar marks, to the Gulf One Special Ops, to the Federal Bureau of Investigation leading the largest manhunt that this country has ever seen? You see Alex," he said, pulling out some papers with several lines crossed out by a black marker, "I have all these dots, there's just no way to connect them."
"Looks like you need to work on your clearance level."
"Or maybe I'll just work on you," he snarled as he leaned towards Alex.
"You want to do this?" retorted Alex as he stood up from behind his desk.
Jack tensed, ready to jump in and fight if it came right down to it. She figured Alex would not need any help, but just in case…
"I will chain you to this desk, Mahone, until I get some answers that I can't fertilize my lawn with!"
"You sure you want to do this?" asked Alex, threateningly.
Jack stood up from her chair. It did not look like this could possibly end without a fight. And after what Alex had just done for her, she would not dream of leaving him alone with this man.
"I know what they tell you to do overseas, Alex!" yelled Sullins, "And allow me to make it perfectly clear! We do not do it on American soil!"
Just then, someone knocked on the door. Neither man dared glance away for a single second to see who it was.
"Um, Mr. Sullins, sir?" asked a nervous looking agent, "There's a phone call for you."
"I'll take it later."
"Sir? You may want to take this now."
Sullins and Alex continued to stare each other down for a moment longer. Finally, Sullins whirled away and grabbed a phone. He stayed near the doorway so he could hear whatever Jack and Alex may say to each other.
Alex took a deep breath and sat back down in his chair. Jack did the same and gave Alex a concerned look.
Sullins returned as quickly as he had left. He practically ran back into the room, grabbed his things, and turned to leave. Jack gave Alex a baffled look.
"Where you going, Sullins?" taunted Alex, "And I thought we were really starting to get somewhere."………………………………………….
Later that afternoon, Alex received a phone call. After he got off the phone, he walked out of his office and approached Jack. She was talking with Agent Lang.
"Hello, sir," greeted Lang as he walked over to them, "Good to here Sullins was wrong about his assumption."
Alex nodded in her direction, and then looked at Jack.
"When you get a moment…" he said as he dropped a piece of paper on her desk.
Lang gave Jack a questioning look as Alex walked away. Jack shrugged in reply and unfolded the note. After she read it, she shredded it, and threw it away……………………………………………
Alex walked outside and made a bee-line for a silver car in the parking lot. He climbed into the passenger side and glanced at the driver.
"Alex," said Kellerman, "Where's your partner?"
"She's coming," he answered shortly; "You got something for me?"
Alex glanced up and saw Jack hurrying over to them. She climbed into the back seat and leaned forward to listen in. Meanwhile, Kellerman handed Alex an origami crane.
"Open it," he told Alex.
Alex opened up the piece of paper and saw that there was some sort of combination of letters written inside of it.
"The numbers correlate with the numbers on a phone," said Kellerman, "Only this one…none of the combinations make any sense. We think that it is a location. A rendezvous point for Scofield and Tancredi. You find it, you find him."
"You know," said Alex, irritably, "You could have gotten us out of there sooner."
Jack blinked in surprise. This guy must be with The Company.
"Even we have to go through certain channels to make sure that things appear to be on the up and up. You know all about that, don't you Alex? About keeping up appearances?" he paused for a moment, "I'm just making sure that we are all clear on the directive of this matter."
"I understand the reasoning behind Burrows and Scofield," said Alex, "But these other men, criminals they may be…there's nothing in their profiles to…"
"You've been hired to do a job," interrupted Kellerman, "The reasoning…does not concern you. You don't ask questions about us, maybe we will keep people from asking questions about you. That goes for you as well," he said, glancing back at Jack, "Are we all clear?"
Jack nodded in agreement, "Yeah…we're clear."
Alex, however, paused for a moment and studied Kellerman.
"So…they all die?" he asked.
"Yes…they all die."
HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!
NEXT CHAPTER WON'T HAVE A LOT OF JACK IN IT, BUT IT'S IMPORTANT TO THE STORYLINE. IT'LL CENTER A LOT MORE ON MAHONE, BUT I'LL TRY TO MAKE UP FOR IT IN THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER. WE'RE GETTING VERY CLOSE TO "RENDEZVOUS" MY PERSONAL FAVORITE EPISODE OF THE SERIES!!!
PLEASE REVIEW!!