Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl or its characters.
CHAPTER 37: Desperate Times
Voight and Erin barley let the car come to a halt before they were out and making their way, guns drawn, towards the small hand glider. Erin could see the private jet, but nothing else. All was quiet. She didn't like it.
"What do you think?" Voight asked her.
"How far out are Dawson and Halstead?"
"Another 5 minutes, maybe 10?"
They looked at each other.
"I'm ok if you are." Erin answered.
"Cover me." Voight nodded.
They cautiously made their way across the runway, taking in their surroundings. When they got to the jet, they noticed fresh tire marks, and Erin knelt down to exam a freshly put out cigarette.
"Whoever was here is gone." She spoke up confirming what they already both knew.
"Come on." Voight nodded towards the jet. Erin drew her gun again and followed Voight up the stairs.
A rough landing was a polite way of describing the scene in front of them. The jet was a mess.
"I'll take the front you take the back?" Erin asked. Voight nodded.
The cockpit was probably the only place that looked normal, except for the blood on the floor, which if she had to guess was the blood of the two pilots found dead in New York. The poor men probably didn't even see it coming.
"LINDSEY! CALL AN AMBULANCE!"
Erin ran out of the cockpit and to the rear of the jet. She found Voight kneeling next to a man who had a knife in his chest. She could see he was bleeding out. She got on her talkie immediately and gave the order.
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The trunk of this car smelled like gun powder and BO. It was causing her nausea to return, and she fought against it, but with the bumpy car ride churning her stomach even more and the thoughts of Cyrus lying dead on the floor of the plane…what was she going to say to her mother?! She curled into a ball and vomited.
She could feel the fresh flow of blood seeping down the side of her face into her ear and eye. The wrenching of vomiting must have reopened the wound. She repositioned herself feeling around for anything to stop the bleeding. She found something and pressed it to her head and gasped in pain. The throbbing of her head was enough to make her sick again. She knew she had a concussion—that was evident, but she wasn't sure where she was being taken, or where Dan was…Dan. They had been separated after they beat him, taken to two different cars and thrown into the trunks like cheap baggage. He had tried to fight them off. She wouldn't be able to take it if she lost him too. The thoughts of him made her start to cry which just made her head throb more.
Get yourself together Humphrey She thought.
She took a deep breath steadying herself and tried to clear her thoughts to think rationally.
Ok I'm trapped in a trunk, probably heading off to my death…What would Dorota do?
It was a question she had gotten into the habit of asking herself privately when she was faced with a difficult situation. Before this mob business it was all simple things like—what outfit to wear, what color should she paint their living room, which private school to send Milo to, but lately she was faced with harder questions…can I trust the police, how to avoid the media… do I pull the trigger.
She shifted her weight and began to run her hands around the surfaces around her. Some cars had an emergency latch that would open the trunk—but of course she couldn't feel anything like that. She rested a moment letting her throbbing head a moment of rest. She took a deep breath praying that Dan was ok. Horrible thoughts of internal bleeding raced through her mind. He could be dead right now in that other car. She could be moments away from finding out she would have to face life without him. She swallowed choking back a threatening sob and shifted her weight. She was getting out of here. She wasn't losing Dan today.
She felt above her head and felt an indent in the side paneling. She shifted a little more so she could get a better grip and ripped it away. It was the right rear light of the car! Suddenly she had an idea. With all the strength she could muster she slammed her fist into the panel. It hurt. She couldn't help but let out a grunt of pain, but froze to listen, hoping her shofar hadn't heard. When nothing happened she removed the cloth from her head and wrapped it around her right hand and turned over onto her stomach. Taking a deep breath she punched the panel a second time, this time sending the glass flying and sunlight shined into the trunk. Relief filled her with hope as she shoved her hand through the opening waving her hand. Someone had to see her!
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Erin watched as they loaded Voight's friend Cyrus into the chopper. She had seen wounds like that before. It would be a miracle if he pulled through. She glanced over her shoulder at Voight pacing back and forth with his cell phone to his ear. She had always hated the job of telling the family. She dreaded it. It was probably the worst part of this job.
"You ok?"
Erin turned around to find Jay Halstead in front of her.
"Yeah I'm fine." She nodded. "Did you find anything?"
Jay shook his head.
"Nah, just the fresh tire marks you and Voight commented on earlier. Dawson took a picture and is sending them off to the lab to analyze as we speak. We also contacted local authorities to let them know what's going on."
"Good." Erin sighed. "Something tells me that Dan and Blair are in a lot of trouble if we can't find them soon."
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The car took a sudden jerky turn and began to slow down. Blair removed her hand fearing they had found her out. The ground they were now driving on sounded different. Not smooth but rough and bumpy like gravel. So they were coming to their destination. What was that they were always saying in self-defense class at the gym? Never let your capture take you to the second location…well she had messed that up big time. She closed her eyes and tried to take deep breaths to calm her racing heart, but it wasn't working. She couldn't shake this feeling of impending doom—like life was going to change forever, and there was nothing she would do that would change it. The car stopped.
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"How did it go?" Erin asked Voight as he dropped the phone from his ear.
"She is furious. Demanding that I find her daughter. New Yorkers." Voight snided in disgust. "Of course I'm gonna find her it's my job."
"She on her way?" Erin sighed.
"Yeah. Will be here within the day. Did Dawson and Halstead find anything else?"
Just as Erin was about to say no Dawson and Halstead ran over.
"Just got a call from the local authorities." Halstead reported in. "Said a guy called in to report a hand waving out of the back rear light of a black Mercedes."
"And I just heard back from the lab—Mercedes was on the list for possible matches to the tires."
"Get Atwater on the line!" Voight demanded starting off for his car. "I want a list of possible locations within a 20 mile radius of that sighting."
"On it!" Halstead agreed pulling out his phone.
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Dan slowly began to come back to reality and suddenly wished he hadn't. His entire body ached and he hadn't even moved yet. It was dark where he was. He attempted to shift his weight and grunted at the tremendous amount of pain that little moment caused.
Blair
The thought of her made tears well up. His last memories of her—screaming as Dimitri's men grabbed her. He tried to stop them but he was no match. The little fight he did put up made it worse and the beating he took caused him to pass out.
He froze at the sound of voices. He could tell they were speaking Russian, and then he heard her—Blair screaming.
"Blair!" Dan attempted to call but was choked off by the pain.
"Get off of me! Let me go!" Blair shrieked.
"Did you not think we would notice the light?" A man with a thick Russian accent said. Dan could hear the humor in his tone. It made him sick.
"What did you expect me to do?" Blair retorted. "Lay in the trunk like a good little abductee?"
He groaned inward at her tone. He knew she was hostel and it wouldn't do her any favors. Then he heard the quick slap and Blairs cry of pain.
"BLAIR!"
Fury burst through his veins giving him new strength and he began to punch the roof above him.
"DAN!" Blair called back.
"Ah." The Russian laughed. "Sounds like your husband is awake."
The sudden burst of light made Dan shield his eyes, as rough hands grabbed him ripping him from the trunk. He searched the room until he had eyes on her. She was exactly 10 feet away strapped to a chair. The cut on her forehead was bleeding again, her mascara smeared her cheeks from tears that had since dried—but she was ok. He sighed in relief seeing her whole.
"Oh Dan…" Blair sobbed.
He grinned at her.
"Do I look that bad?"
His attempt at humor made her give him a short sad laugh. But all humor aside—he looked bad. It was everything she could do to hold in her tears and give him a brave smile.
The man who had a hold of him didn't appreciate Dan's humor. He gave him a rough shove into a seat across from Blair then wrenched Dan's arms back to tie them. Dan winced in pain.
"Hey! Asshole!" Blair screamed at the man.
"Blair…" Dan calmly spoke between clenched teeth.
"He needs medical attention and you're strapping him to a chair!?" She continued.
"Blair…"
"Shut up Humphrey!" She snapped. "I'm trying to save your life!"
He could tell she was right on the brink. He normal scheming and rational mind was starting to turn into angry and bitchy—which for her could be dangerous in this situation—with these men who didn't care if they lived or if they died.
The man tying Dan's hands wrenched them even tighter and Dan couldn't help but cry out.
"You son of a bitch!" Blairs voice peaked.
"Blair! I'm ok! It's ok!" Dan tried to calm her.
"How is this ok Humphrey?!" She came back turning her glare from the rude Russian man to him. "Please tell me—what in any way IS THIS OK!"
"Watch out Vince." Another man who was holding them captive laughed. "She might pull a gun on you."
Blair glared fiercely at the laughing Russian men.
"I MIGHT have MISSED but where is the loser now?" Blair remarked snidely. Dan's head dropped in dread. She was pushing it.
The guy who addressed Vince walked over to her, placed both hands on the arms of her chair and leaned in, his face only inches from hers.
"Dimitri might have told us to keep you alive, but he said nothing about your condition…"
Dan watched Blair gulp nervously.
"Hey!" Dan yelled, making the man look over at him.
"Leave my wife alone."
The Russian men laughed.
"You know, for as smart as Dimitri says you are, you're pretty stupid. Brave." He held up a finger making his point. "But very stupid."
He turned quickly and slapped Blair across the face again making her cry out in pain.
"Hey!" Dan screamed rocking in his chair to get free.
"Do you want me to hit her again?!" Then man screamed back meeting Dan's eyes. Dan stopped struggling. "Or maybe I could…" he grinned taking out his pocket knife and flipping it open. "…cut up that pretty little face that you love so much…"
"Please…" Dan begged, "Just leave her alone. Just don't…"
"If you two cooperate until I hand you off to Dimitri you have nothing to fear." The Russian man smiled closing his knife.
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"They had checked off 2 locations so far and no sign of the Humphrey's. Erin was starting to question their lead.
"Hey."
"Voight looked over at her.
"Yeah?"
"What if they knew we were onto them?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean what if they took drastic measures to make sure that the Humphrey's..."
"You think they will be flying them out?"
"It would make sense wouldn't it?" Erin reasoned. "It's the only way to ensure that their package gets delivered. They won't be on the roads because they know they are being monitored."
"Make the call." Voight nodded in agreement. "We want to know of any and all activity in the air and locations."
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Dan could hear the chopper. He was getting tired and he couldn't feel his arm anymore. The way Blair was looking at him was starting to make him scared for his life too. He must look awful.
"Blair..." Dan whispered.
"He said no talking Humphrey." Blair smiled weakly at her husband."
"You're not getting on that chopper."
"Blair looked at him confused.
"Dan..."
"Listen to me." Dan protested. "If you get the chance I want you to run."
"I'm not leaving you." Blair glared at him. "Your...you are in bad shape Dan!"
"Dmitri wants us alive-you heard him. They have to get me medical attention at some point."
Blair was shaking her head at this.
"I'm not leaving you Humphrey so you can just forget it." She said in her final tone.
"What if Dmitri plans to kill us?" Dan asked meeting her eyes. He could see her face whiten at that. "What if when we get on that chopper we are heading off to our own deaths. What good will we be to Milo then?"
"Tears started to stream down Blair's face.
"Dan..."
"You have to run Blair. When I say run you run, because if you don't, and we die, Milo's fate will be sealed, and that little boy we love so much will grow up to be just like these men in front of us-like "Dmitri and Georgina-he will be condemned to a life of anger, lies, and death."
"Dan...I...I can't leave you...I..." Blair said between sobs.
"If you love me, then you will run. You will run for your life and for Milo's."
"I... can't live without you..." Blair cried, more tears streaming her face.
Dan understood. He knew he couldn't live without her either. Being without her scared him more than dying-but he had to be strong. He had to be strong for Blair and for Milo.
"Listen..." Dan tried to smile. "If you get out of here you can help them find me-you have seen these men's faces. You can help Cyrus's friends track us down..."
Blair was shaking her head in defiance.
"Dan..."
"When I create a diversion you are going to run to the back of the building. I saw an exit sign back the hallway when they pulled me out of the trunk. You just run and don't come back no matter what." Dan said meeting her eyes. "Blair do you hear me? I am begging you..."
"HEY!"
"Dan and Blair looked up startled.
"I said no talking!" The Russian they called Vince was walking over to them.
Dan watched as the other 3 men were packing their bags and readying to go. That's all he counted since they had gotten there. 4 men in total.
"Come on love." Vince grinned at Blair. "You get to go first."
"Not without my husband!" Blair protested trying to kick Vince away.
"You are a feisty thing." He laughed. "I like it."
"Don't even think about it!" Dan glared.
"And what are you going to do about it Mr. Humphrey?" Vince chuckled. "Besides both of you—your time is numbered."
Blair met Dan's eyes knowing in that moment that Dan was right. They were being taken to their death. They had become too much of a threat to Dmitri and they would lose their lives because of it. Another tear rolled down her cheek in the realization of what she now had to do. She had to leave Dan.
Vince bent down behind her chair, and she felt the pressure on her wrists slightened. At that moment Dan began to convulse.
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I know! Another cliff hanger! Stay tuned!
I have loved hearing all of your comments! Thank you! They inspire me to keep going knowing that all of you are still with me!