Brenda walked into the Disken's house, nodding at Mrs. Disken, and smiling at Avery. The Detectives were already inside, and Avery led them all upstairs to his computer.
"Like I told these guys, I don't have his phone number, but we're friends on Facebook. Maybe that'll help." He said, sitting down and clicking on the browser on his laptop. He surfed to the correct page, and leaned back in the seat.
"Did you guys find Adrianna?" He asked hopefully.
Brenda kept her face neutral, glancing up at Mrs. Disken, who shook her head slightly.
"We're trying to locate her family in Mexico, Avery. Do you know how old Reuben is?" Brenda asked, leaning down.
"My age, I guess. Maybe a little younger. Adrianna wouldn't go back to Mexico. She-" He stopped talking as the door to his room abruptly opened, and his father stormed in.
"What's going on?" Asked Mr. Disken, furiously.
"Mr. Disken. Hello." Brenda said, turning towards the angry man.
"You have no right to be here, and question my son!" He blustered.
Brenda marched towards him, backing him towards the door. Detective Sanchez followed behind.
"This has gone way too far! You cannot bring the children into this. We haven't told them about Adrianna." He said, turning to look at the Chief.
"Neither have I, sir. I assure yo-"
"You are not hearing me. Get your people out of my son's room NOW!" He snapped.
"Sir, I am very close to solving this case," Brenda said carefully, "and if you interfere with me any more, I will arrest you. I already have an FBI agent at the home of another suspect, I'd be happy to do the same for you."
"What makes me a suspect?" Disken asked incredulously.
"Well, you've got quite a temper, for starters. That certainly fits the bill. Now stand out here, and be very very quiet." Brenda held her finger over her lips, then pointed at the man, driving her point home. She turned, and walked back into the boy's room.
"It's all right, go on." Brenda said, taking her place behind Avery's chair.
"Reuben hasn't updated his status in a long time. But here he is." Avery gestured to the screen.
"Now, his profile just says Reuben, do you know his last name?" Detective Gabriel asked.
"Uh uh. But here's his photo page." Avery clicked a link, and a screen full of photos appeared.
Brenda bent low to get a better look, adjusting her glasses a bit. She focused in on a photo of the boy with a man who looked familiar.
"Who's that?" She asked, pointing to the picture.
"I guess that's his dad." Avery replied, shrugging.
Brenda felt her stomach drop. She turned to look at Detective Sanchez.
"Detective, were you able to reach Agent Meyers earlier?" She asked, her voice strained.
"He wasn't in his office. I left a message." Replied the detective.
Brenda streaked out of the room, tossing her thanks for Avery's help over her shoulder. Her team raced behind her, and once they were outside, she quickly explained that Meyers was the agent they'd spoken to at the INS, and he was apparently also Reuben's father. Brenda felt certain that he was behind the crimes, and she was terrified that the boy was in danger.
She yanked the passenger door to Sharon's car open, and hopped in, and the Captain started the car. She tossed her phone to Brenda, explaining how to access the GPS. Brenda punched in the address, and then sat back, holding her head in her hands.
"Chief. Brenda. You've figured it out. We'll get to the boy in time. It'll be okay." Sharon wanted to reach over and offer her hand to Brenda, but decided to keep both hands on the wheel, given the speed at which they were traveling.
Sharon screeched to a halt in front of the address, and Brenda tumbled out of the car, pulling her weapon free. She caught the vest Sanchez tossed her way, and shrugged it on as she raced up the steps. The Detective kicked the door in, and the team swarmed in.
"Agent Meyers? It's Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. Is now a good time?" Brenda asked, moving quickly through the rooms as they were cleared.
"Chief, in here!" She heard Detective Sanchez call.
Brenda rounded the corner into a bedroom, and saw Sanchez on his knees, pulling a young boy out from under the bed. The boy was bleeding, and crying, and asking them to leave. Sanchez gestured to wires on the floor.
"Stun gun darts." He said, looking the boy over for more injuries.
"Reuben, it's okay. We're the police, we're here to help you." Brenda said soothingly.
"No, no, you can't be here. I'm already in so much trouble!" The boy cried.
"Who? Who are you in trouble with, Reuben?" Brenda crouched to make eye contact.
"I'll call the paramedics Chief" Detective Gabriel stood in the hall.
"My dad." Reuben said, flinching as Detective Sanchez shone the flashlight down his shirt.
" Reuben, do you know where your dad is?" Brenda asked.
"No. He took the van from work. He's gone." Reuben hunched into himself.
"Detective Sanchez, stay here until the paramedics arrive."
"Yeah Chief." The detective replied, moving to sit next to the frightened boy.
Brenda swept out of the room, almost bumping into Flynn on the way by.
"Chief. Meyers isn't here." He said, following her into the entry hall.
"Of course not!" Brenda cried. "OOH. I told him everything about the case! Okay. Think. Think. Think." She paced, holding her head.
"Where did he go. Where did he go. Meyers was targeting illegal aliens." Brenda muttered.
"But Adrianna was an American citizen." Sharon said, laying a hand on Brenda's shoulder.
"That's why he killed her." Brenda finished the thought, grateful for the Captain's grounding presence. "He couldn't silence her with deportation." She paused, and a horrified look settled on her features.
"What's wrong?" Sharon asked.
"Oh my god. He's going after Marisol." Brenda said.
"Why would he bother. We have his DNA." Sharon stated gently.
"It's the one thing I didn't tell him. He's going to be REALLY angry." Brenda grabbed her bag, and shot out the door, with the Captain and the team on her heels. She flew into Sharon's car, and grabbed her cell phone.
"Fritz! You have to go to Marisol Guttierez's house. He's there, I know he's there. You just have to trust me on this. You're about 5 blocks away." She gave him the address, and hung up the phone, throwing it aside.
"Dammit. Dammit. We have to get there, Sharon. We have to get there." Brenda looked at Sharon pleadingly.
"We will Chief. We will." Sharon replied, gunning the engine, and flaring her sirens. She cut the sirens as they approached, and picked up her radio.
"There's his van. Box him in, fellas. Box him in." She put the radio back, and watched as Brenda ran full tilt towards the house.
"There he is!" Detective Gabriel shouted. "Chief, get back!"
Brenda kept advancing on Meyers, who held the young Hispanic woman around the neck, with a gun pointed at her head.
"Back away!" He yelled, gesturing with the gun. "Drop your weapon and back away."
"Let her go! Drop your gun!" Detective Gabriel yelled from behind Brenda.
Sharon watched in astonishment, as Brenda continued to approach the man. Because of her position, nobody on the team had a clear shot, and they were all yelling at her to back up, or to get down on the ground. But she just kept going. Sharon wanted to close her eyes, to offer up some sort of prayer for Brenda's safety, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the woman long enough to do so.
"Now, let's not anybody do anything stupid." Brenda said, holding her hands out in front of her, but not cocking her weapon.
"Move your cars. I am serious. Move your cars NOW!" Meyers roared.
"Let the girl go, and then we can talk, okay?" Brenda said, calculatingly.
"I am not standing around waiting for S.W.A.T. Move your cars, or I will put a bullet in her head, do you understand me?" He tightened his grip around the woman's neck, and held the pistol close to her temple.
"Now let's just keep our cool, all right?" Brenda said. She glanced over, seeing Fritz's SUV pull up a few houses away.
"No! Move your cars, or I will blow her brains, all over this sidewalk!"
"Agent Meyers. Please calm down. We can all walk away from this." Brenda said.
"No! I am not kidding. MOVE YOUR CARS!"
"There's only one way for all of us to walk away from this, and that is for you to drop your weapon, and come with me!" Brenda spat, glaring at the man.
"I'll let her go when I'm out of here." Yelled Meyers.
"This is NOT a NEGOTIATION!" Brenda yelled back, bringing her weapon up to aim at the man's head. "If you shoot her, we will kill you. If you run, we will kill you. If you do not drop your weapon, we will kill you. Now drop your weapon, and GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!" Brenda's face was red with fury.
"If I die, I'll take her with me. And maybe I'll put a bullet in you too, bitch!" Meyers retorted. "Now MOVE your cars!"
"This is your last chance, Agent Meyers." Brenda said, as the police helicopters circled overhead.
Meyers looked up as the search lights spilled down on him. He glared at Brenda, and turned the muzzle of his pistol from Marisol's temple to aim at Brenda.
"Bitch" He spat, pulling the hammer back.
And then he was falling, and Marisol was running towards the police. Brenda stared at the dead man for a moment, then turned to find the only person she'd been thinking of, as she'd stared down the barrel of that gun. Sharon was standing with her gun still drawn, her hands steady, even as her legs shook. Brenda took a step towards her, when she felt someone grab her roughly by the arm.
"Brenda! Jesus! You could've been killed!" Fritz yelled, hugging her close. "Never, ever do that again. Ever." He held her tight, dropping kisses on her head. She could feel his hands trembling. She nodded against his chest, then pushed him away.
"I know, Fritz. I'm sorry. Thank you, for saving me. I'll be all right now. I have to get back to work." Brenda was moving automatically towards her team, not really hearing herself. As she turned away from Fritz, she scanned the crowd, and saw Sharon standing near the van, eyes fixed on Brenda. She walked over, and her team surrounded her, and as she allowed them hugs, she held out her hand to the Captain, who took it, and she held on tightly, closing her eyes against the tears that threatened to fall. Flynn had managed to jimmie the lock on the back of the van, and wrenched the doors open. They found another 6 young Hispanic women, all cuffed and sobbing. Brenda shone her flashlight on them, murmuring in a soothing tone, and crawling in the van to unlock their cuffs. Fritz came to stand at the bumper.
"Brenda. Surely your team can handle this? Shouldn't you come home now, after everything?" He implored gently.
"No, Fritz. I have to finish this. I have to." She replied, not looking at him. She knew that he'd fired the killing shot. She knew he'd saved her life. She knew that he loved her more than anything, but Brenda couldn't change the fact that had slammed her in the gut when Meyers pointed the gun at her. It wasn't Fritz she thought of, in that heavy, terrible moment. It was Sharon Raydor, and it was bone crushing regret that filled her, for all the things she'd left unsaid.
"Okay, Brenda Leigh. I'll see you later tonight." He replied, looking down as he walked away.
Sharon was guiding the women out of the van, and over to the medics, draping her coat around each woman as she led them to the ambulances, where they'd be wrapped in heated blankets. On her last trip, she gently placed the jacket around Brenda's shoulders, as she helped her climb out of the van. She kept her arm around Brenda, and Brenda leaned into her gratefully.
"Be sure and thank your husband for me, Brenda." Sharon said, a small smile playing around her lips.
"Why's that?" Brenda looked up at Sharon's face quizzically.
"Since he fired the killing shot, FID won't have any paperwork to do!" Sharon bumped her hip into Brenda's, and Brenda dissolved into peals of laughter.
"Can I give you a ride back to the station, Chief?" Sharon asked in a more serious tone.
"Unless you'd rather I hitched, that'd be lovely, Cap'n." Brenda replied, stepping off the sidewalk towards Sharon's car. Sharon held her elbow, keeping her steady, as they walked, and then she opened the door for Brenda, waiting until the Chief was settled, and shutting the door behind her. She walked around the back of the car, needing a moment to reign in the raw emotion that threatened to overwhelm her. She cleared her throat, and squared her shoulders, tossing her hair back, and then got into the car. As she keyed the ignition, she glanced over at the blond woman, and blinked twice, not really comprehending what she was seeing. Brenda was leaned against the window, with tears streaming down her face, and it looked, for all the world, like she'd buried her nose in Sharon's jacket.