Early post today...I hope everyone enjoys a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with a little love and a whole lot of chocolate!
Chapter 22
Eddie sat numb and dazed on the rear bumper of a bus outside of the vacant restaurant where Noble Sanfino had just managed to torture them in a way she couldn't have ever imagined. But it wasn't over yet, not with Jamie missing, drugged to the gills and stuck in some vivid, horrible nightmare where he'd sat by watching her bleed out from some imaginary gunshot wound.
Eddie pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle a sob, ignoring the concerned glances from the medics. She'd refused any treatment, repeatedly demanding only that Detective Reagan and Commissioner Reagan be contacted immediately. She had no doubt they were already looking for them and knew they were her only hope to bring Jamie home.
Unable to convince Eddie to let them examine her, one of the medics had placed a blanket over her shoulders to keep her warm, but it did nothing to quell the shakes that rocked her body as Jamie's painful sobs replayed in her mind. Eddie lowered her throbbing head, closing her eyes to shield them from the bright lights of the surrounding police cars as they teared up again, questioning if she'd ever see her husband again.
Bound and gagged, she could do little more than strain against the duct tape holding her down to the chair after Noble fled with Jamie, her screams for help coming out as nothing more than muffled cries which then turned into gut wrenching sobs as she wondered if either of them would ever be found. Eddie cried herself out eventually, feeling hopeless until she thought of her husband. If the tables were turned and she was missing, he wouldn't sit around cry about it. He'd find a way to get to her, despite being confined to a heavy wooden chair. Determined to figure a way out, Eddie strained her arms and legs against the bindings as she looked around the empty space. She had the front doors and windows hidden behind heavy rolling shutters on one side and on the other, a long hallway that led to the kitchen and rear exit Sanfino had used to bring them into this place. Eddie looked down at her arms, there was no give against the tape so she did the only thing she could do and dragged herself and her stupid chair towards the back of the restaurant, inch by painfully-slow inch.
Eddie hit a rhythm, breaking into a sweat with her continuous efforts, but hadn't gotten very far when a raucous at the back of the building startled her. She remained very still, breathing heavily through her nose while trying to figure out the source of the noise when suddenly the kitchen door swung open to reveal an equally startled man, a string of obscene curses bursting from his mouth while a pathetic whimper came from hers.
Fearful at first, Eddie's eyes widened as she took in the site of the seemingly-homeless man. Bundled up under a filthy, heavy wool coat and a fuzzy, pilled scarf and hat, the stranger made no attempt to move, except for his head which tilted in confusion as he studied the woman at the other end of the hall. Eddie's eyes watered and she begged for his help from behind the thick tape; he was her only hope now.
Leonard Alpert's brow creased in sympathy. Realizing that she certainly could not have tied herself to the chair, he approached slowly as he surveyed the room, looking for any other occupants or signs of threats. All he had been looking for was a warm place to spend the night and thought he hit the jackpot when he saw the door cracked open to what appeared to be a vacant building, the "for lease" sign up front assuring him he'd have at least one restful, mostly-warm night under shelter. Instead, he came face to face with a distressed young woman clearly being held against her will. Part of him told him to run, afraid of getting involved and maybe even getting blamed for whatever was going on, but the weepy blue eyes staring up at him together with the muffled whimpers that escaped through the gray tape meant to keep her quiet vanquished any desire to leave her here...he may be homeless, but that didn't make him heartless.
The large, burly man slowly reached out with one gloved hand. "Relax, young lady. I'm just gonna get this tape off you first," he advised her when she began to shirk away from him.
As desperate as Eddie was for anyone's help, the traumatized part of her mind feared he might be part of Noble's endless plans to torture them.
Leonard quickly removed his glove and picked at one edge of the tape. He grimaced in sympathy as he peeled it back but only enough to free it from her mouth, doing his best to be gentle.
Eddie took a few deep gulps of air before she broke into near-hysterics. "Oh my god! Thank you! Please, get help! Call the police!"
"The homeless man panicked just at the mentioned of the word 'police', immediately regretting his attempt to help the woman. "Hey, I didn't do nothing!" Leonard shouted in his defense as he began to back away down the corridor away from any trouble. He knew he should have left as soon as he saw her in here!
"No! Wait, please! Not because of you, I need to get help!" Eddie pleaded as she motioned down to her arms and legs. "Just cut me loose, uh...I don't know your name," she trailed off needing to put him at ease so that he would help her in return. She decided not to mention she was a cop in case that spooked him further. "Help me out of this chair and you can go, I swear!"
The large man stared at her for several moments, debating what he should do, but something in her tone struck a chord with him. "Leonard," he replied cautiously, afraid of revealing his surname.
"Leonard, my name's Eddie. My husband, he's been taken and I need to call my family. Please, I need your help," she begged.
Leonard scratched his dark, scraggly beard as he considered her request. He looked around the room and spotted a similar chair with what looked like remnants of the same gray duct tape on the arms and legs. With that and her tear-stained face, he had a feeling he could probably trust her and, really, he just hated to see a lady in distress. "Uh, sure," Leonard said and pulled an out an old Swiss Army knife from his pocket - one of his very few possessions - and worked quickly and carefully to cut her loose before he took a step back.
Eddie sprung up from the chair, only to have her knees give out on her. Luckily, Leonard caught her before she could hit the ground and eased her back into the chair she had struggled to get out of.
"Hey take it easy," he ordered.
"I need to get to a phone," Eddie pleaded as she clung to his meaty arms, surprised at how shaky she was feeling. Her vision had grayed around the edges as soon as she made a run for it, she guessed it might be shock but she needed to get passed it and call for help.
"Doesn't look like you're gonna get very far," he commented and paused to purse his lips. He wasn't sure why he was feeling so generous, but Leonard was offering her a solution before he even realized what he was doing. "I'll let you use the phone I, uh," Leonard paused when the woman gave him what he took to be a suspicious look, "found...but you gotta promise to give it back."
Eddie raised a brow at the man. "You just found me tied up in here, last thing I'm worried about is where you got that phone."
Leonard thought it over before deciding she was probably right. "I don't have service, but it makes emergency calls and connects to people's internet," he informed her as he handed it over. "What?" Leonard questioned the strange look he was receiving from the blonde. "I got interests. You're lucky I managed to charge it yesterday...just make sure you give it back," he said as he watched her dial 911.
It wasn't long after that call was made and she identified herself by name and badge number, which had Leonard fidgeting nervously, that she heard the blessed sound of police sirens quickly approaching.
Eddie took several deep breaths. Leonard was off to one side giving his statement to the first responding officer. He caught her looking and they traded small, tight smiles. If it wasn't because Jamie was missing, she'd do more more to thank Leonard for helping her than just saying the words. But right now she needed to focus and keep it together. The whole night was running through her mind for the millionth time when a large, gentle hand enveloped her shoulder and she turned to meet the concerned blue eyes of her father-in-law.
Frank sat on the bumper next to his daughter-in-law and pulled her in for a hug, kissing the side of her head as he held her tightly. "Are you alright, sweetheart?" he asked softly.
Eddie would have preferred to maintain her composure in front of Frank Reagan, she was fine after all, and it was Jamie that was missing. She needed to be strong for him, but lost all resolve to put up a strong front upon hearing those four gentle words from the city's toughest cop. Tears spilled from the corners of her eyes which she closed again as she swallowed the lump firmly lodged in her throat, finding comfort in his strong embrace. "I'm fine," she lied, needing to focus on getting Jamie back. She wiped away the tears as she noticed her brother-in-law and his partner hovering nearby.
Danny crouched down before her, searching for any obvious injuries and was relieved to see none other than the light bruise on her cheek, although he could see she'd been through something terrible. But they still needed to find his little brother, so he got down to business. "Eddie, where's Jamie?" he asked in an equally gentle tone.
Eddie turned to face Danny, her chin trembling as she answered his question. "He took him. Noble took him."
"Where, Eddie?" Maria Baez prodded.
Eddie shook her head sadly. "I don't know." She inhaled sharply before going over everything beginning with the accusations Noble had thrown in Jamie's face, trying to recall anything that would help them find her husband. "And he kept saying he was going to take him on 'a trip down memory lane.' He kept repeating that, but I have no idea what it all meant."
Danny was certain they were on the right track and stood to face his partner. "Get on the phone to Melendez and get those addresses I asked for, please," he requested.
"Will do," Maria responded, turning to make the call.
Eddie looked from Danny to Frank, confused by why that meant anything to them. "What does that mean? Where are they?"
"I'm not sure yet, but we're narrowing it down," Danny tried assuring her. "What else can you tell us?"
Eddie pushed a few messy locks of hair from her face as she turned to her father-in-law. "We have to find them, Frank. Noble...he forced Jamie to take drugs," she said hurriedly.
"He what?" Frank gasped in disbelief.
"He wanted him to take these drugs, he kept talking about something that happened here once between them. He used me against him, threatened to shoot me up with something if Jamie didn't take them...and he did it to save me," she said, her voice heavy with guilt.
Frank squeezed her her gently, straining to stay calm. "What," he croaked, stopping to clear his voice, "what did Sanfino give him?"
Danny's eyes widened as something came to mind. "Jesus...meth, heroine and LSD," he said. "All of them?"
"Yeah...yes," Eddie said with a look of confusion on her face. "How did you -"
"That's what he forced down the dealer's throat years ago. It's also what he bought off of him just days ago!" Danny said, his face flushed with anger. "Sanfino's making this a game, recreating the experiences he and Jamie went through on that assignment. He's gotta be taking him somewhere they've both been before."
Eddie worried about what other terrible things Noble had planned. What he had done tonight was agonizing enough, but she realized she hadn't told them all of it. "That's not the last of it."
The two men exchanged deep frowns, dreading what else they were about to hear.
"Jamie...he thinks I'm dead."
"What do you mean he thinks you're dead?" Danny asked.
Eddie's face became pinched as she began to lose the last of her composure. "Just that. After the drugs started to take, Noble started to put things in his head and he began to hallucinate every damn lie he told him." She couldn't stand to see the agony on his face as he begged her to stay with him.
"What did he say?" Frank asked.
"Not just what he said, but also what he did...he fired his gun. He fired it over my shoulder, but to Jamie, he thinks he saw him shoot me. He kept telling him I was bleeding out and dying and he was seeing that. I tried to tell him I was okay but I couldn't get through to him. He kept trying to get free and begged Noble to help me. He dragged him out of here thinking he'd left me for dead. And he had more drugs. If he forces anymore on him he might kill him!" Eddie cried.
"Son of a bi-" Frank hissed, before his mouth snapped shut. "That's not happening."
"I'm gonna kill the bastard," Danny vowed. "We need to find them now!"
As if on cue, Baez returned as she disconnected her call Detective Melendez and came to a stop next to Danny. She met her partner's blazing eyes, but didn't question him, proceeding instead to report on what Melendez had found. "Jorge made a quick list of the spots he and Jamie hit together - this place, Sanfino's restaurant and his uncle's club and the office building where Noble got Jamie the job with a Johnny Tesla, all in Brooklyn. There's a couple of other well known restaurants and clubs on the list as well, but it's safe to say with their continued popularity that they wouldn't be heading there, not if he's looking to stay on the DL. Both the Sanfino restaurant and club are operative businesses today. That leaves the building in an industrial area of East Williamsburg; it's unoccupied according to city records."
"That's the place where Johnny Tesla operated his boiler room," Danny pointed out.
"It's where Jamie got the biggest get of the operation," Frank added.
"And where he got the snot beaten out of him," Danny said worriedly.
"He what?" Eddie looked back in horror.
"We'll send a couple of cars to the restaurant and club, just in case, and Baez and I will head over to the old boiler room location to check it out. We'll get a couple cars from the 8-3 to meet us. I'm betting they're there," Danny said, earning a nod from Frank whose gut said the same thing. "We'll bring him back," he told Eddie, squeezing her hand just before dashing off to his car.
"Wait!" Eddie stood, the blanket slipping from her shoulders as she went to follow. "If that's where Jamie is, I need to go too!" she said.
Frank caught the blanket before it hit the ground and took hold of his daughter-in-law's hand. "No, Eddie, sweetheart, we need to get you checked out," he suggested and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders once again.
"I'm fine, Frank," she insisted with wide, tearful eyes.
"That's what I'm hoping for too, but let's confirm that first," he requested as he nodded to an awaiting medic.
"Frank, we need to find Jamie! He needs to see that I'm okay!" Eddie argued stubbornly.
"We will," Frank promised, not willing to think otherwise. "But Jamie will have my head if I didn't make sure you were alright first," he added with a gentle smile he'd practiced many a time for moments like this where his first priority was keeping those around him calm and safe despite the turmoil around him. Although he wasn't lying; Jamie really would have his head if he didn't look after his wife, especially after what he'd had to endure to spare her from Noble Sanfino's twisted game of revenge. He also couldn't let Eddie or himself go anywhere near that office building right now, afraid of what they might find.
Nothing romantic about this chapter to stay in theme with Valentine's Day, but Eddie is safe and in the protective arms of her father-in-law. We'll check-in with Noble and Jamie next to see if he can make good on his plans.
XOXO