When his desk phone rang Peter was reading the file on Dennison for the twelfth time. It was a thick folder with suspected charges spanning three continents… Dennison had been charged four times for insider trading and twice for corporate espionage but there was never quite enough evidence to convict. He was a known associate of several arms dealers and had been spotted talking to suspected terrorists yet he still walked the streets of New York a free man. The agent frowned as he lay the file aside, and lifted the receiver
The voice on the other end of the line was calm and professional. "Agent Burke?"
"That's me." He said wearily
'This is Sargent Franklin at the 75th street precinct. You put a bolo out on David Hamelin and his 07dark green Lexus… license number 745 Charlie, beta, Zulu?"
"I did."
"An officer spotted the vehicle headed west on 79th at Riverside Blvd… the driver matched the description of Hamelin."
"That's excellent. Can your officer keep eyes on the vehicle?"
"He is doing that agent Burke"
"Tell him to stay back and wait for back up, these men are armed and extremely dangerous."
"Understood"
"If your people approach before I arrive, we believe they have one of ours as a prisoner. His safety is of the utmost importance to us."
"Understood, we will be aware of potential prisoners."
"Thank you." The agent was on his way out the door before the phone was settled in the cradle. "Everyone move!" he called as he rushed through the bullpen "PD has a lead"
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He was aware of Will crying beside him, of the little boy's tiny frame pressed tight against his chest causing horrific pain, but he could not find the breath to cry out. He felt movement around him and part of his disconnected mind registered the darkness, the stuffy air he struggled to draw into failing lungs and the sounds of traffic. Neal tried to move… to sit up and comfort the terrified child but his body didn't respond. Rocking limply in the confined space, his head rolling loosely with each bump in the road, he fought to peel his eyes open. Several efforts were finally rewarded and he could see Will's blurred outline in the dim light.
"Shhh… 's kay… shhh… be o… kay…" he continued to mumble unintelligible words as soothingly as his heavy tongue would allow. Distantly he wondered how long the toddler had been trying to wake him. The little boy had to be traumatized, but he seemed to calm a bit at the sound of his friend's voice… with tremendous effort the young man shifted his hand to pat the child on the leg, causing pain to shoot through his arm as the burned skin pulled loose from the carpet beneath him. He gasped, fighting to keep his eyes on Will.
The grinding of tires and the sudden decrease in movement tossed the two of them against the front of the trunk. His weak body slammed into the divider and Will struck his chest like a twenty pound hammer and Neal's awareness exploded… shards of bright light and swirling colors amid blinding darkness. Sounds drifted randomly through the screaming tornado in his ears. He knew there was movement and rough hands on his body, but he did not feel them. Sheer agony, pain beyond anything he had ever imagined tore through him… but it was so far away… he glimpsed his arms hanging above him swaying freely with each slight movement of the body under him. His glazed eyes were fascinated by strands of glistening scarlet thread running across his hands and dripping away. His head flopped heavily against the broad back. Breath was gone… there was no air here just like that vault so long ago, his spinning mind concluded, though he felt each heartbeat… a pounding surf in every inch of his frame.
Abruptly the solid form under his body was gone and he fell lifelessly, landing with a dull hollow sound, limbs sprawled carelessly around his body. His head rolled involuntarily against the slick wood, drooping listlessly to the side, his blood damp cheek sticking to the frozen surface. Unfocused eyes indistinctly saw the sky, the river and the dock… and a familiar man holding a small squirming form over the icy water below …
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The drive to the dock was absolutely silent. The agents crowded into the sedan barely dared to breathe under their boss' grim stare. Peter's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly pushing the vehicle to its limits. The destination had unsettled him… the docks, just three blocks upstream from the site Amelia Woodbridge had been pulled from the river. Which meant this was probably… he swallowed roughly, refusing to let himself accept that conclusion. This was not a body dump because until it was proven otherwise Peter would believe his friend was alive. He was not a man who accepted defeat easily, especially when the stakes were two lives.
Officer Manny DeMarco met them beside Hamelin's car. His face was tight and his eyes to grim.
"He pulled a body out of the trunk" the man shook his head "Doesn't bode well for your agent."
"Are you sure he was dead?" Peter was nearly running for the water
"No, I didn't get that close." The young officer fell in step beside him keeping pace. "Dispatch told me to stay back until back up arrived, but Hamelin or whoever he was slung the guy over his shoulder like a wet dishtowel. The guy didn't even twitch. If he's alive, he is in bad shape…" The officer frowned gravely "took him down toward the dock like he owned the place. Maybe he does…" The man hesitated before hurrying on "something you should know… Hamelin… he had a kid with him."
"Little boy, about two, brown hair?"
"That's the one." The man nodded "anyway you should know… the kid… he was definitely alive… fighting and screaming… trying to hold on to the dead guy, you know… big fellow just tucked the little guy under his arm." he looked at Peter sadly "took everything I had not to run in and grab the boy… poor little guy. He was terrified"
"How long ago was this!" the agent snapped
"Two… maybe three minutes ago"
Peter swore softly… if they were too late… He shook the thought away and pushed himself into a full run. Rounding the warehouse at the land end of the pier he saw them. David Hamelin stood at the edge of the wharf extending the tiny struggling form ten feet above the powerful icy current. At his feet lay a motionless body… even from this distance the agent was pretty sure he recognized the still, limp form. He swallowed the lump in his throat and kept running… he could still save the boy, he told himself sharply and maybe...just maybe…
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"I think I'll handle the brat first." The words filtered through the thick haze. "Not like this one is going anywhere…" the man nodded in Neal's direction, nudging his shoulder firmly with a sharp toe. "Dead as a mackerel." He chuckled leaning down a bit, studying the boneless body at his feet thoughtfully "Well if he isn't, he will be in a minute. He's not going to be any trouble anyway…" His foot nudged the young man again, harder this time, causing his drooping body to lurch languidly "You still in there pretty boy?" he grinned coldly as he realized the body he was dumping still had a bit of life left. "You thought you were saving him, didn't you?" the man taunted as he shook the wailing child in his hands "Should have let Franks shoot him… would have been kinder than the swim he's about to take, and there is nothing you can do about it. You don't have the strength left to lift a hand, so you won't be any trouble, will you? " he laughed again turning away and extending the tiny boy over the edge. The words slowly registered in Neal's foggy brain
"NOOOO!" he wanted to scream but nothing came. Desperately Neal forced the panic into his dying limbs and found the strength to surge frantically to his knees, wrapping his leaden arms around the boy as they both pitched forward into the frigid river. Somewhere miles away he heard a familiar voice cry out in despair…
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With a suddenness that took his breath away the body came to life, as Peter watched. Neal threw himself desperately up at the man holding William. Even as Peter silently cheered that his friend was alive, horror wrapped itself around his heart. The slim arms enclosed the tiny child as the young man swayed precariously at the edge of the pier and then slowly tipped forward into the freezing waves.
"NEAL!" He shouted helplessly, pushing himself to run faster. Hamelin swung around to face them, a weapon hesitating to rise and then apparently thinking better of it, he leapt sideways into a speed boat bobbing there and by the time the agents reached the site he was revving the engine and steering the craft away. Peter ignored him, rushing to the brink of the quay and peering into the shadowed water in the vain hope of seeing his friend swimming against the current. Nothing… his heart sank.
"Help…" he barely caught the sound "Pe…ter… help" Brown eyes darted to the metal ladder leading to the filthy river. A slender hand clutching the first visible step, a familiar head leaning against the rungs, a thin arm wrapped around a shivering, coughing child. He couldn't contain the grin
"Hang on Neal I'm coming." the agent called scrambling down the slippery rungs "Don't let go!"
"Wasn't… plan…ning… on it…"The weakness in that voice worried him but right now all that mattered was getting both of them out of the frigid dirty water.
"Good… its ok… you're going to be ok…" his voice trailed off as Neal's head rolled loosely back on his shoulders, revealing his battered face.
"Take …Will…" the swollen blue lips muttered, barely audible, but the desperation rang though loud and clear. Peter nodded, studying the younger man… Neal wasn't shivering. He should be shivering… the agent was shaking violently with only his feet in the black slushy water, He could hear the boy's teeth chattering from here, but Neal was not shivering. The boy was sliding through Neal's meager clasp, clinging to his slumped, slippery shoulders. Two sets of blue eyes looked up at Peter with frantic hope and fear.
Quickly the older man grabbed the child from his friend's lax grasp. "Hang on Neal… don't let go of this." he instructed pointing to the grey fingers gripping the rung feebly as he turned, climbing up three steps to pass the trembling, sobbing toddler up to Jones' waiting arms.
"Peter!" the younger agent whispered frantically his eyes locked on something behind his boss as he took the child. "Neal!" Peter thought, spinning back to grasp his friend's hand…
Neal was gone. A few bubbles marked the spot where the slender body vanished beneath the murky waves.