Chapter 2 – The Games

Danny and Baez were in the middle of reviewing the footage again when another detective yelled at them to turn on the TV. Danny grabbed his remote and turned on the TV closest to them. What he saw made his stomach drop to his feet. Crime Lord Ezekiel Talbot was on camera in a filthy building with Jamie cuffed behind him. He was speaking, but Danny could only focus on Jamie. His eye was slightly swollen and watering. He must have just been punched. His shoulders were slightly hunched and stiff, as though he couldn't expand his ribcage fully. Jamie was clearly trying however, since Danny could see he had his "I can do this all day" face on. They must have given him a full on beat down. His stomach further dropped when he thought of his family seeing this. What if Jamie had been beat up on air? Erin would be beside herself. Despite his fear, he was proud of Jamie for putting on his brave front. Don't let them see weakness kid.. You're a Reagan, and you've got all of us behind you. We're coming.. Just hold on. And goddammit why'd you get kidnapped… I'm gonna have to partner you with me to keep you from getting into any more trouble after this. Good God, save us all.

He forced himself to tune in to what Talbot was saying. "…So, to prove how much of a waste cops are on tax dollars, this young officer, Officer Jamie Reagan, will be competing against me in 6 categories. If I win, he dies. If he wins… well, it won't happen. The competitions will be in shooting, running, climbing, an obstacle course, swimming, and fighting. The first begins in 15 minutes." Danny's first thought was that Talbot was an idiot if he thought he could take Jamie at these competitions. Not only was he a trained police officer, but Jamie was at his peak physically. He was in the best shape of his life, and consistently beat most officers in their PTs.

Danny's next thought was less hopeful. Talbot was probably going to rig the games so he would win. If Talbot won, Jamie died. They had to find him. And fast. He watched as Talbot ended his broadcast.

"Alright Jamie Reagan. You have 15 minutes to prepare yourself for the first test. Maybe send some prayers to your maker. But, you'll be meeting him before long, so I wouldn't worry too much about that." Talbot was chuckling as the camera turned off. It gave Danny the chills, which didn't happen often.

He and Baez looked at each other in silence for a couple seconds as they processed what they'd seen. Danny spoke first. "Let's go get a recording of that. We've gotta see if there are any landmarks or weird identifying markers that we can use. We've gotta find Jamie, Baez! We've gotta find my kid brother!" He started to panic slightly, which is something he was not used to doing.

Baez grabbed his shoulders before he went anywhere. She looked him in the eyes, and said, "Reagan, Jamie needs our best work right now. We're going to find him, but don't panic. We can do this. You can do this. Take a deep breath… that's it. Ok, let's go bring your brother home." They nodded at each other and headed over to IT to get a copy of the broadcast.

What seemed like two minutes later, Jamie heard the door open and a "Reagan! Get up!" Talbot was back and it was clear he was feeling cocky. "It's time for you to get your ass handed to you. You cops think you're so well trained and that you can handle anything. Well, I'm gonna show you how untrained you are. Prepare to be crushed." Talbot smiled gleefully at Jamie as he stood up and dusted himself off; Jamie hoped he looked more infallible than he felt. His ribs hurt like nobody's business, and his eye was starting to swell shut. That would suck for shooting.. Thank God he could shoot with either eye equally well.

Jamie was led to the door and shoved out. One of Talbot's goons grabbed his shirt from behind and roughly pushed him down several halls until they reached a room set up as a shooting range. Jamie couldn't help but notice the grimy, unkept state of the building and started thinking about what it could be. If he could figure it out, if Talbot broadcast in front of him again, maybe he could get a message to Danny.

His thoughts were rudely interrupted as they reached they all stopped at the other end of the room, where the guns were laid on a table. Jamie noticed a camera on a tripod nearby. He internally rolled his eyes. He was not impressed with Talbot's on stage presence, and unfortunately, it seemed as though it would be a common occurrence.

Talbot's next broadcast began, and Jamie was forced to his knees. He thrust his chin up in defiance as the camera began rolling.

"Hello people of New York. As promised, the first competition is about to begin. I have chosen shooting as the first game. We will shoot at 10 yards, 25 yards, 50 yards and 100 yards. Whoever has the highest score overall wins. As you can see, Officer Reagan here," Talbot paused, grabbed a handful of Jamie's hair and pulled his head back, exposing his face and neck. "Is relatively unharmed." Jamie snorted and received a hard punch to the gut again for his insolence. He leaned over, gasping for air as his tender ribs protested.

Talbot leered at him as he continued talking. "Well, at least he was. Insolence will earn him immediate punishment, regardless of timing." He looked at the camera and stepped in front of Jamie. Putting his hands up, he yelled almost maniacally, "LET THE GAMES BEGIN!"

Jamie stepped up to the gun table and saw his Glock. He grabbed it quickly and checked it over. He knew this weapon like the back of his hand; if they'd tampered with it, he'd know. Everything seemed fine, but he had one last check to do. Jamie groaned inwardly. The sight.. it was off center. He doubt they'd let him fix it. Well, he was a good shot. He'd have to improvise on the fly.

Talbot stepped up next to him, and grabbed the other Glock. He loaded it with a full magazine and stepped up to the 10 yard line. With the camera still rolling, Talbot looked at Jamie. "Guests first; 5 shots for each distance. We will trade off each distance. Once we hit 25, we will switch over to the rifles. Got it?" Talbot laughed and continued speaking without a response from Jamie. "Ready to lose? Good, cause I'm ready to win."

Jamie rolled his eyes and brought his gun up. He waited slightly, trying to listen to where his instincts told him to shoot. Center was obviously not a choice. He adjusted left slightly, and shot once. A hole appeared half an inch left of dead center. He allowed himself a small smile as he made his final adjustment and fired four quick shots.

Talbot glared at him as he brought his gun up. This was not going the way he wanted it to. And on camera no less. He knew his sight was spot on, so he took 5 shots without a break. The 5 holes spattered around the center mass.

He screamed angrily and turned on Jamie. "What did you do to my gun? I'm always a perfect shot. What did you do?" Talbot raised his gun again and fired at Jamie. Jamie had already dropped, and Talbot missed.

Jamie put his hands up from the ground. "Talbot, how are you going to beat me in the other games if you shoot me now? You won't have the satisfaction of proving to the world how inept police officers are." His heart raced as he saw Talbot process what he said. As it sunk in, the gun lowered and with narrowed eyes, Talbot said, "Ok Jamie Reagan. Fair point. We go again. Prepare to lose this time."

They again stepped up to the line, and Jamie raised his gun, hyperaware of where people were in the room. He had no doubt they would try to distract him or throw him off. He adjusted his aim, and fired once. As soon as he'd finished he was bumped from behind. He stumble stepped forward, grateful he'd held his fire. He spun and knocked an elbow into the guy's face. It was Brandon, the one who'd gone to get the camera guy. Brandon stumbled backwards several steps, and Jamie took the chance to finish firing. He put his back to the wall and waited for the attack. It didn't come. Talbot was laughing. Hysterically.

"Hahahahaha well Brandon, if you're going to attack a police officer, you can't half-ass it or that's what you're going to get! Hahaha!" As quickly as he'd started laughing, though, he stopped. "But have no fear, you stupid man. You and I will be meeting later… to discuss how to properly do it." Talbot raised his gun and took his first shot. Slightly right of dead center. He fired again. Slightly left. He growled and took the last three slightly faster. All three landed center.

Jamie and Talbot looked at the second targets and Jamie took a step back as he realized he'd won again. Talbot didn't scream this time. "Laurence, cut the feed."

Danny looked at his watch. Jamie had been a prisoner for 12 hours already. He growled. They'd made almost no progress. They had a partial plate and a recording of Talbot's broadcast. They'd watched it several times, and seeing Jamie get beat up pissed Danny off more every time he watched it.

As they neared the end of their 8th review, Danny got a glimpse of something in the background. He paused it. "Hey Baez, do you see that?" There's some sort of window corner right here... Is that a reflection?"

Baez leaned closer and peered at the screen. "I think it is, Reagan. Let me blow it up a bit." As the image got bigger, and grainier, they could see a building reflection. It seemed to be a run-down warehouse, looking like it was either by the harbor, or on the outskirts of town.

Danny started getting more excited. "We're getting closer Baez! We can get that image out to units in those areas and see if they can recognize what building that might be." He rubbed his temples. "Now, if we had a witness, things might move even faster." Baez murmured her agreement as she studied the picture closely.

"Excuse me, I'm hear to speak to the detective in charge of the officer kidnapping?" Danny's head snapped up. A weak looking young woman was standing in the entryway. "That's me," Danny responded, quickly walking over to her. "Who are you?

"My name is Megan. I saw what happened to the officer that got taken and have information that might help you." She looked as though a small puff of wind could blow her over, which kept Danny from being more impatient with her.
"Great, Megan. What information do you have? Is there a reason you haven't come forward sooner?" His impatience was replaced by being antsy.

"I'm sorry Detective. I was in the hospital. I was in the apartment complex that the explosion took place in, and I got knocked out. But I'd seen that officer get ambushed and saw him loaded into a van. I'd managed to write down the plate number before my ceiling collapsed." She looked apologetic, despite having almost died. Danny was impressed. The explosion had occurred right before the fight had started, which meant she'd kept her focus on the abduction, even though a fire was going on above her.

"Megan, why don't you sit down, and tell me exactly what you saw." He grabbed a chair and led her to his desk.

Ten minutes later, Megan was in the Sergeant's office with some water, and Danny had a full plate number, the make of the van, and a fairly detailed description of the two men that had kidnapped Jamie. He whooped as he finished writing it down.

"Baez, run this plate number will you? DR3-5LC. It's a Ford." Baez hurried back to her desk and entered the number into the database. As she checked, Danny called a sketch artist. "Hey Joey, can you come sketch a couple suspects for me? I've got a witness who got a good look at both of them. And hurry will ya? This is my brother's case.

"Danny, the van is registered to a Brandon Talbot." Baez frowned. "Hold on. Talbot? Like, Ezekiel Talbot? Oh my God, it's his son."

Danny ran Brandon's name through his database. "Baez! It's him! Brandon was one of the scumbags that grabbed Jamie!" Danny grinned predatorily. "So, we have crime lord Ezekiel Talbot on kidnapping and assault, and his son Brandon Talbot on kidnapping, assault, resisting, and arson. I look forward to meeting these two SOBs in person.

Jamie was getting tired. He'd been through the games twice. Every event he'd beaten Talbot, and every event he had to do again so Talbot could win. Except he never did. Jamie had been beaten, water-boarded, and burned. He'd done the obstacle course, the shooting, swimming, running, and climbing… twice. He'd done the fight once, and had won against some crazy steroided dude by sheer luck.

Now it was time to fight again, but Jamie wasn't sure he was going to win this one. Talbot was going to have Brandon fight him. Not only was Jamie tired from all the other tasks, but he was physically hampered. He was sure his ribs had finally broken, his knee was having difficulty holding his weight, and he had various burns all over his body. Every time he won, they burned him with cigarettes, a blowtorch, or if they felt like taking the time, they'd chain him to a board and hold him over a fire.

Jamie knew every event had been broadcast, and he felt terrible, knowing his family likely was seeing him in this condition. He tried to put on a brave front, but his adrenaline was starting to wear off. He was reaching his limit. Jamie sighed, thinking that maybe Danny wasn't coming after all. He knew there was one more pre-game broadcast coming, so Jamie would try and get a message to his family. While disgusting, the floor was dusty enough that he thought he might be able to write something in the dust. Jamie knew this was a warehouse based on the layout, and he knew they were near water because it was humid. Mentally he prepared a message.

As Talbot angrily began what was likely the final broadcast, Jamie was again forced to his knees. This time, he allowed himself to seem weak and fell over on his side. The man behind him laughed, thinking Jamie was unable to stay upright. He used the opportunity to write out his message.

Rs. Luv u

D. H20 & WH

He'd finished and slowly pushed himself up, keeping up his weak façade, that didn't feel much like a façade anymore. Now on his knees, his message was on full display. He slowly nodded and blinked at the camera, acknowledging his family.

Talbot finished his hateful spiel and turned toward Jamie to deliver a parting blow. He paused as his hand raised. Jamie grinned as Talbot saw the message. The bulging of his eyes and the popping vein at his temple told him that his message to Danny about water nearby the warehouse was spot on.

Talbot screamed, unable to form words, and dove onto the message, wiping it out. He then turned to Jamie and punched his face and ribs over and over again. Jamie curled up to protect his broken ribs, one arm around them, and one around his head. He hoped this was being broadcast, because it would be Ezekiel Talbot behind bars for the rest of his life, and the next two after that.

Danny hadn't allowed himself to watch any of the other broadcasts. He'd seen that it was a warehouse area, and he would work with that. Danny couldn't bring himself to watch Jamie get hurt over and over. Baez had told him Jamie was winning each event, but it was bittersweet. She also told him she had not seen any identifying marks or buildings.

Overall, they were close to being able to put together a raid. They had the names, faces, vehicles, and two options of buildings to raid. Ezekiel Talbot had two warehouses under his alias. One was at the pier, and one was an hour out of town. But they only had one chance, so they had to make a choice. Just as Danny was about to make a call to 1PP for the ok to choose, the final broadcast came on.

He made himself to watch, only because it could be the last time he saw Jamie alive and breathing. Danny cringed as he watched Jamie- bruised, burned and broken- keel over, and made a mental note to kill the guy laughing at him. Danny wanted to turn away and make the call, but something told him to pay careful attention. As Jamie slowly pushed himself up, a message was revealed.

Rs. Luv u

D. H2O

"HALLELUJAH KID! I knew you could do it! Baez, it's the warehouse at the pier! He's telling us it's near water! Come on! I'll call 1PP on the way! Gear up!"

Danny and Baez were out the door before they could see Jamie take the beating of his life. It was time to save Jamie and bring him home.