A/N: I'd like to thank everyone for all the continued support- not only on this piece, but my other writing projects as well. I've been going through a lot of things in the past month, and it helps to know that even in my darkest moments, there are people out there who eagerly wait for my updates in my writing projects. Again- from the depths of my heart- thank you.
I tensed up every muscle in my body. No good. Damn.
"You ok Jules?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm ok."
Wherever we are- its dark, so I can't fully make Jules out, but I can tell she's in front of me, in the same situation I am.
"I love you Jules."
"You're coming with us." the tall woman, who stood in our debriefing room.
"Where exactly are we going?" Spike asked. At the same time I corrected her. "Actually, it'd be 'coming with me.'"
"Let me explain," he continued, as she flashed her badge at us.
"That doesn't explain anything, I have one too." Spike commented.
"Spike." Ed said, with his signature 'just shut up' look, while looking at Spike.
"Guns and Gangs. We've recently connected two arson scenes to be the works of the DiCamlio gang. There was a third last night. We want SRU's best and brightest there while we investigate the scene- show anybody watching that we mean business."
"So wait-," I said, as I held back a laugh, "You're saying that your guys with big guns isn't cutting it, so you're asking guys with even bigger guns to tag along?"
Me, Spike, Jules and Sam started to laugh. Over on the other side of the table, both Greg and Ed never even moved.
"Alright, lets go."
Down at the arson scene, Ed, Spike, and Sam covered the perimeter while Greg followed one investigator around, and me and Jules followed another.
"Well, this is boring." Jules muttered to me.
"Would you rather be hiding from a sharpshooter behind cover, then get shot?"
Jules gave me a look.
I looked up to the investigator. He was a good two yards away, and wasn't giving us any attention.
"Ed told me about that call, and I saw your scar the other night. I just connected to dots."
"I saw your scar." Jules whispered to me, "But I didn't need to sleep with you to know how it happened."
"Sorry." I replied.
"Hey cops!" someone yelled from the crowd what was starting to form around the police line, "Go back to your cars, and stuff your faces with your jelly-filled donuts you..."
"Ignore it." I muttered to Jules.
"How can you ignore that?" Jules asked.
"I was a security guard. I got used to being called names."
"He's getting too far from us," Jules said, while motioning her heads towards the investigator.
Jules started to walk ahead, but the floor leading into the basement gave away from under her.
I thought fast, as I quickly threw out my hand. She grabbed it, and before the dry, flame tickled floor could reach the concrete below, I had Jules planted back on solid floor.
The investigator looked back at me.
"Sorry." I replied.
"Jules- you ok?" Greg asked over the radio.
"Yeah, I'm fine." she replied.
"I got a gunman!" Ed yelled into the radio.
I looked over to Ed, Sam and Spike, as they converged onto the crowd. Greg got to his investigator quickly.
Me and Jules turned to the investigator that we're covering to find another gunman between the Guns and Gangs investigator and us.
"Drop the weapon!" I yelled, "Drop it- now!"
I looked over to Jules, who had her firearm trained on him as well.
"I got him Jules, do your thing." I said.
Jules understood, as she holstered her handgun. "I'm officer Julianna-"
From behind me, I heard gunshots. I spun around to see where they were coming from, but before I knew it- I blacked out.
Ed had to shoot the gunman that he faced. The man had his finger on the trigger, with the gun pointed directly at Spike.
"Threat neutralized." Ed advised over the radio, "Team one respond."
"All clear." Spike replied.
"All ok." Sam spoke over the radio.
"Ed-" Greg yelled over to him, as he ran over.
"Perra, Jules- status." Ed calmly said over the radio.
"Eddie..." Greg said again.
"What's your status?" Ed said intensely.
"Ed- they've been taken."
"What?" Ed said, as Sam and Spike joined in from either side.
"Officer down?" Spike asked.
"No-" Greg stated, "10-80-O."
"Officer Taken Hostage." Spike translated from the police code into speak.
I was coming to. I could tell we were in a moving vehicle. I moved my wrists, only to find what was most likely my own handcuffs wrapped around them.
I looked across from me, and I saw Jules lying still, with a bleeding wound to the back of her head.
I looked down at my vest, which I was still wearing. My MP5 was missing, but my handgun was still in its holster, along with two full magazines. The radio looked broken, as one side of it was pried apart. Beside the radio, the GPS unit looked untouched and unscathed.
Good. When they figure out we're missing, Spike can track our GPS signal. They do know we're missing right?
I looked over to Jules' equipment, and it seemed to be in the same condition as mine, right down to the damage to the radio.
They must've tampered with it.
"I'm tracking their GPS units," Spike said, as he got out of a SRU truck, with a tablet in hand, "They're heading out of the city."
"Winnie," Greg said, as he engaged the radio, "Check into the traffic cameras, and cross reference to the GPS signals. Put out an APB, with an all units respond. Lets bring Perra and Jules back safe."
"Roger that Sarge."
The vehicle came to a sudden stop. When it did that, Jules' head smacked hard against the wall of the vehicle, and she started to come to.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"Shh," I shushed, "Let me do the talking."
The rear door opened. The way it opened, I could tell we were in the back of a service van.
"Whaddya know?" one masked man asked me, as he pointed a handgun at Jules.
"She doesn't know anything man." I said, "I do. I'm the guy you want to talk to."
"Oh yeah?" he asked, "What's stopping me from putting a bullet in her head, then? If I don't need her?"
"I never said you don't need her." I explained, "The cops, they'll find you. They'll try to bargain for one of us, and you'll give up her, so you can keep me longer, that way I can tell you everything you need to know."
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea."
I nodded, as I quickly glanced down to Jules' handgun.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" he asked, as he grabbed down and took both Jules' and my handguns. "I'll take those- for your safety."
He looked at our vests, and saw the GPS unit.
"What's this?" he asked, as he grabbed both of our GPS units, ripped them off and threw them in the ditch, "Trackers? They tracking you? What do you know?"
Now the gun was pointing at me.
"Look man, " I said, "Put the gun down, and I'll be more than happy to help you."
"We're going." he said, as he slammed the doors shut, and got back into the cabin and started up the vehicle, and begun driving again.
Ed, Greg, Sam and Spike all drove in one SUV. It seemed cramped,as they were used to not having any more than three officers in the SUV.
"We still tracking the signal Spike?" Greg asked Spike from the front.
"Yeah. But they've stopped."
"Floor it, Ed." Greg said, "Anything else Spike? Sam?"
"Nothing yet on the traffic cams." Sam replied, as he was using a laptop to scan traffic cameras.
"Boss- ," Spike said, "I got something on channel 6."
"Switch us over, and pipe us in Spike."
Spike switched the frequency on the radio, and directed it through the speakers on the SUV.
"Where are we?" came Jules' voice.
Greg's eyes went wide, as he moved his intercom to channel 6 and spoke into it. "Jules, do you copy?"
"Shh, let me do the talking." came Perra's voice.
"Well, they're alive." Greg thought aloud, "Spike?"
"They're radios must be stuck on transmit only."
They listened into the conversation- although, only one side of it.
"She doesn't know anything man. I do. I'm the guy you want to talk to- I never said that you don't need her. The cops, they'll find you. They'll try to bargain for one of us, and you'll give up her, so you can keep me longer, that way I can tell you everything you need to know."
Then a moment of silence.
"Look man- Put the gun down, and I'll be more than happy to help you."
Then the radio went silent.
"Ok- its confirmed." Greg summarized, "Officers Julianna Callihan and Kristopher Perrasmith are hostages to an unknown subject. The subject is armed. Hostage Officer Perrasmith engaging the subject on the release of Jules. Why?"
Then the voices came back to the radio.
"You ok Jules? You're bleeding."
"I'm ok, Perra."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. They'll find us, and we'll be sipping back some beers at the Goose tonight to celebrate."
"That would be why." Spike replied.
We kept on driving for what seemed like an hour. Then we stopped.
The doors opened, and two masked men were there. One grabbed Jules and the other me. I looked around.
We're in the rural part of the city. No traffic cameras out here. What can I do to make it easier to find us?
I looked over to Jules quickly before I put the plan in motion.
"Let her go. You need me, not her."
"Shut up!" the masked man said, as he pointed a gun in my face, "Walk!"
At gunpoint, me and Jules walked from the parked van into a deserted barn.
Once inside- I let fly.
I quickly spun on my heels, and used the element of surprise to overwhelm. In the same motion, I used a quick head jab to into the shoulder of one assailant.
The gunman's arm jerked up and with the same motion, the firearm went off- firing a bullet into the rafters- sending out a flock of birds into the sky.
The other gunman was quick to adjust and quickly had his gun pointed at me, while the other one composed himself, and pointed his at me as well.
"Lets kill him. Now."
"No- we need him."
"Why?" the assailant that I attacked said, "He's not worth anything."
"This isn't what I signed up for man. I thought we were just going to get some info from these idiots then leave them somewhere."
"Lets start there."
Ed and Greg got out of the truck at the location of the GPS signal. Sam and Spike stayed inside the vehicle to gather more information.
Ed jumped into the ditch to find the discarded GPS units. "We lost them."
"Traffic cameras?" Greg wondered aloud.
"None out this far." Ed said, as he opened the door on the SUV, and threw the GPS units in, in anger. "Spike- get the acoustic locator out, maybe we can pick something up."
Spike got out, and opened up the rear and started to setup the locator.
Greg gave Ed a distant look. "Its our only lead."
"Do it." Ed muttered to him.
Greg started the radio, "Winnie- pull the SRU personnel files on Jules and Perra. See if there's any ties to the DiCamilio gang."
"Roger that."
"Boss!" Spike said from behind the truck, "I just heard something- coming from the north east."
"What is it Spike?" Greg asked, as he approached him.
"I don't know- could be a gunshot, or just a tractor backfiring."
Spike handed Greg the headphones. Greg donned them, as Spike replayed the noise.
"That sounds like a gunshot." Greg nodded, as he bounded back into the truck, followed by Ed, and Spike, after he threw in the acoustic locator.
"North east, Spike?" Ed asked, as he started to drive.
"Yeah."
"Spike- lets assume that the gun used was an SRU sidearm- based on the noise level, could you figure out how far away they are?"
"Theoretically." Spike replied, "As long as there isn't any long echoes, and the noise refraction remains consistent. Even then, it'd only be accurate to about five clicks."
"Do it." Greg said.
"Ok- It'll take some time though."
The one man must have been here before. He quickly found a door in the floor, which lead into a shallow cold cellar.
"Get in." we were instructed.
Jules willingly went in first. When she was down there, she looked up to me, as I started to go in.
From behind though, I felt a deliberate push on my back.
I started to fall in, face first, but just before the landing, I twisted my body, so I landed on my back.
"That's for the headbutt- idiot." he said, before he closed the musty wooden door.
We could hear some rustling around, like they were putting large objects on top of the door.
Finally- it stopped.
"They left. Jules said, as she sat down, with her handcuffed hands facing the wall.
"You ok Jules?"
"Yeah, I'm ok." she replied.
"You sure?"
"Don't worry. I've felt worse."
I tried to make her out, but I was having difficulty, as the entire area was black dark.
"I love you Jules."
"I love you too."
"There's one the vehicles we found in the traffic cam search." Sam pointed out, as he spotted a service van, with the rear doors wide open.
"Lets check it out." Ed said.
Just as he opened the SUV door, Perra's voice rang out through the speakers.
"You ok Jules?"
"Yeah, I'm ok." came Jules' response.
"You sure?"
"Don't worry. I've felt worse."
"I love you Jules."
"I love you too."
Ed looked back to Greg, who looked back to Spike and Sam. "They're involved."
Ed got out, along with Greg. They both approached the vehicle, firearms drawn.
After quickly searching the abandoned vehicle. Ed decided to keep his mind occupied, by looking around for clues.
"Ed, we have to talk about this." Greg started.
"Did you know they were involved?" Ed demanded.
"No- no more secrets."
"Footprints." Ed stated, as he looked to the ground, "Leading into the barn."
"You think they're in there?"
"Worth a shot." Ed said, as he engaged the radio, "Sam, Spike, form up on me. We'll check out the barn."
"Shit man- there's cops out there." the one masked man told the other after ducking underneath the window.
"Get real Steve- we need to get outta here."
"How we gonna do that Danny?"
"We torch the place."
"What- and kill those cops? Shit man- I'm no murderer! I'm not going to jail."
"We're not going to jail if you listen to me."
Ed, Spike and Sam silently checked out the building.
"What do you see?" Ed whispered over the radio.
"Dusty floors-" Spike explained, "Makes it good to find footprints. Three distinct sets."
"Any of those three SRU issue boots?" Ed asked.
"The treads don't say 'SRU'..."
"I got a visual." Sam relayed, "Two men, spreading gasoline on the wood. Ed- they're gonna set this place on fire."
"We gotta get in there- this place will go up fast with all that dry wood."
"No guns Ed." Sam reminded him, as they regrouped near the door. Spike was getting the door ram ready.
"No rams." Ed said, as he holstered his gun, and drew out his can of pepper spray, "Its all we got."
Ed kicked in the door.
"Police- SRU!" he yelled at the one guy. He immediately dropped the gas can, and put his hands up. Meanwhile both Sam and Spike had their spray scans pointed at the other man who held a gun pointed in the air.
"I fire, this whole place goes up." he explained, "You never find your coppers, and you die in the process of trying to escape."
"Dude- I ain't a murderer!" Steve yelled.
"Shut up!"
"I am not going to jail!" Steve yelled again, as he jumped onto Danny and pinned him to the ground.
Spike put cuffs on Steve, while Sam cuffed Danny.
When they pulled the pair onto their feet, Ed was right in their faces.
"The two cops you idiots took downtown- where are they!"
"Right over here man, right over here." Steve said, as he lead Ed to the trap door in the floor.
I heard a door slam open.
"I think they're here." I muttered to Jules.
"The A-team?" Jules laughed.
"Yeah."
Sure enough, we heard Ed's signature 'yell-at-a-badguy' voice, although I couldn't make it out.
Then footsteps. Getting closer.
"They're here." I repeated, as I heard the weight on the door being lifted off.
A huge surge of air floated into the space, as the door was opened. It was musty air, but it was still welcomed.
Then I saw Ed give me a look that I've seen him give countless suspects.
Ed is mad at me.
A/N: Thanks for reading. This chapter, I find, was easy to write. Maybe its because I pre-plan my chapters, but also maybe because I had a lot of emotion stored up that I needed to vent. Keep your eyes peeled- two more chapters left, then a fun 'summary' chapter, then I roll right into the next act of the Perrasmith series.