Chapter 12
Margaret Barry's head hurt; she had received thirty stitches after her head had been smashed into the cell floor. Thankfully, the specialist floor had prevented her skull from fracturing. She had a headache from hell, not helped by the aftereffects of the high dose of sedative she had been injected with. She glared at the woman secured to the hospital bed by leather straps.
The sadist in Margaret Barry wanted to hurt Eddie badly. She had been allowed to transfer her to one of the cabal's coastal barges. They used them to move their product quickly and efficiently under the nose of the authorities. Lieutenant Best betrail of the cabal had been their first breach; he had grown cold feet and supplied that investigative reporter with details. She had enjoyed playing with him, but the bugger died on her before her inner monster could be sated; Lieutenant Best got what he deserved. It was time for her to deal with this red-headed bitch, and no one smashed her head into the floor.
"Get on with it then!" demanded Eddie; her defiance was superficial. She was petrified
An evil smirk appeared ever so slowly on her face. " Oh, Edit, I am not going to kill you. I can only do that once. I have plans for you….." Margaret paused to pick up a straight razor from the tray. "First, I will prepare you for your new life. Then your training will start," she laughed.
"What?"
Without a word, she approached the bed and clamped a thick stainless steel collar around her neck. She repeated the process with smaller stainless steel rings, fitting them to her ankles and wrists.
"Feel free to scream; this will get warm," she laughed. "Once Derek has finished welding your new jewellery closed, you will soon realise there is no chance of escape from here. You are my new plaything." She smirked and nodded to Derek
"Arghh!" Screamed Eddie as her collar heated up as Derek used the hand-held welding machine to weld her new rings closed, making it impossible for her to remove them without cutting equipment.
The pain was horrendous. What Made it worse was the smell of her own singed flesh assaulting her nostrils. Three heavy chain links were secured between her two ankle cuffs and welded. She had been effectively hobbled.
"I hope you are a strong swimmer?" She laughed as the gentle movement of the room made it apparent they were afloat.
The straps securing `Eddie to the bed were removed, and an adult diaper was thrown on the bed with a small vest top just large enough to cover her breasts. "Get dressed; get used to moving around," Mags told her as she closed and locked the room door.
BB
Maria followed Danny along the corridor, holding tightly to her daughter, who was now clinging firmly to bear. "Were are we?" She asked as she walked
"It's called 'Bravo Bunker.' It was something that we built after 9-11, somewhere we could still control our response after a severe attack on the city. It is a fully functioning command and control centre with a hard-wired connection to 1PP and federal agencies. Its existence is not widely known within the NYPD. Less than sixty senior members of the NYPD know about this bunker and have access. Perfect for our needs," announced Frank as he met them in the corridor.
As he approached Maria, Franks's eyes were drawn to the bandages on both her wrists.
"I am so sorry for…" He started apologising, his guilt amplified.
"This is not on you, sir," announced Maria, not attempting to hide the anger in her voice.
"Sir, we need to go get Eddie; she…..sacrificed herself so I could get away with Elena. I need to do this, sir, please," Maria emotionally pleaded.
Frank nodded, the desperation in her voice very evident, " It is frank, Maria, I am suspended at the moment. I promise we will return her, but I need your help first. It is time for us to call in the cavalry. I must tell the rest of the family and those we know we can trust. Please come with me, Maria." Frank asked.
She raised her hand to ask for a moment and walked up to Danny, shifting Elena to her hip. She pulled and kissed Danny deeply.
"To be continued, Daniel Reagan…" She smiled, kissing him once more.
A mischievous smile appeared on his face. His lips tingled after the brief encounter. "Most definitely, Ms Baez, definitely to be continued." He smirked
"Problem, Frank?" Maria asked, taking full advantage of her boss, who was currently suspended.
"No, Maria," he smiled. "About time, might I say?"
BB
First Deputy Commissioner Gillian Buttler appeared on the screen as Maria sat beside Frank.
"Frank, thank you for arranging for David Sax to brief me. Detective Baez, can you confirm that Officer Edit Reagan was not responsible for your kidnapping?" Asked the first deputy commissioner.
"Captain Elizabeth Oaks and Lieutenant Simon Best of internal affairs arrived at my home. They told me they had been sent to take my daughter and me to 1PP for protection. Oakes pulled her gun and pointed it at Elena, forcing me to kneel. I was injected with something; I don't remember much until Officer Reagan rescued me." Her anger grew as she relived everything again
She started scratching the dressing over her right wrist. "Detective Baez, you bleeding," the First Deputy Commissioner pointed out.
Pulling back the dressing to check the damage, she heard a gasp over the speaker.
"They did that to you?" She gasped as Maria exposed her large laceration
"Yes, Ma'am, and were going to sell my daughter," Answered a furious woman
"Officer Reagan?" She enquired
"Ma'am, Officer Reagan, she…..sacrificed herself so I could get away with Elena," Maria emotionally explained.
"Thank you for your honesty, Detective Baez; what do you need from me, Frank?" She enquired
"I need the remaining members of my family brought here. I need you to talk quietly with Captain McNichols, Officer Badillo, and Cato at 2-9. It's time we started to play offence. I am sick of them trying to hurt my family and the city. With your permission, of course, Gillian." Frank asked.
First Deputy Commissioner Gillian Buttler laughed, "Frank, I just mind the store while you're gone. David Sax has resources for you to use. Are Mayor Chase and Governor Mendez members of this Cabal?" She enquired
"No, Eddie thinks they are just using the situation to replace me. I assumed they might try something, but I had no choice but to let it play out. I will deal with them once we stop this cabal and get Eddie back. Now that we have decrypted the hard drive, we have some players in the mayor's and governor's teams. Karma will be served on them both using their own words." He explained
She smiled and ended the video call.
BB
"Can we talk?" Danny asked Maria, taking advantage of the time before all hell was likely to descend on the bunker after they revealed what was happening
She nodded and followed her partner; Elena snuggled into her neck.
Danny, with all his years of experience as a marine and NYPD detective, was petrified; he was about to bear his soul to Maria. His lips still tingled from their brief kiss, like it was his first kiss. He needed to tell her how he felt; she was his everything.
"Maria, let me finish talking before you say anything, please; this is hard for me," Danny asked when Maria turned to face him.
Maria nodded; she could see fear in his eyes; this wasn't Daniel Reagan. The man she loved was not afraid of much. Her heart sank when she thought Danny might not….
Seeing the concern on her face, Danny knew it was now or never, " I don't want to be your partner any more…" Danny paused to lift Maria's head back up. "When you went missing, I realised how much you both meant to me. I love you, Maria Baez and this little princess. I want to spend my life with you and this little lady who stole my heart the day I saw her in your arms. I like you, Maria and Elena in my life full-time, and if you permit me, I would want to be a father to your daughter. Eddie told me to get my head out of my ass and tell you." He bared his soul and waited
Maria smiled on hearing his declaration of love; she responded in the only way she could. She crashed her lips into his and kissed him deeply. She broke away and looked into his hazel eyes, noticing the tears filling them. She had known him for eleven years and had only seen him cry once, that horrendous day Linda had died in the helicopter crash.
'Eddie, god bless you,' she thought, remembering what the redhead had shouted to her before bringing down the wall. 'Now get out of here with Mini Baez and kiss your partner like you wanted.'
Smiling, she took his hand and went down on one knee, "Daniel Reagan, I have known you for Eleven years. I have feelings for you, too, for a long time. Keeping them secret was so hard when all I wanted to do was hold you when you mourned for Linda. Afraid you did not feel the same, I happily spent whatever I could with you. Would you marry us?" Maria asked emotionally, her eyes fixed on Danny.
Pulling Maria to her feet, Danny kissed Elena on her head and then passionately kissed her. "Yes, I will marry you both," he answered with a huge grin.
Maria wrapped some surgical tape around the finger she had in her pocket.
"Once this ends, I will get you a proper engagement ring." She kissed him
The alpha male caveman look appeared on his face; Maria had seen this look many times.
"I proposed, meaning you get to wear the ring. I don't want any of your macho caveman bullshit. I am not taking your man card away. Get over it. It will be very man-appropriate," she smirked.
Shaking his head, Danny hated that she could read him like a book.
"Welcome to the family, Maria," laughed Frank; no one could put his eldest in their place as quickly as his new fiance; Maria would make an excellent addition to the Reagan clan.
"They are here. Are you ready, Son|?" Frank asked, not looking forward to the next family meeting. "Maria, you don't…"
"Frank, I am coming. I have a message for Jamie from Eddie. I promised her I would pass on. Let us get going," demanded Maria, unwilling to take no for an answer.
Frank nodded, smiling. 'The new Regan family Matriarch,' he thought to himself; Pops would love her as much as he did Eddie.
BB
"Look what you have made me do, silly girl." Mag's scolded Eddie, "All done. Would you like to look at the finished product?"
She held the mirror so Eddie could examine her bald head.
"I think you look smashing, the blood….. I told you to stay still. Your fault," She laughed.
"Hold her arms tight; she won't like this next bit at first," Mag's told the two men in the room.
Margaret Barry intended to make this woman pay tenfold for what she did to her. She had read her NYPD personnel file. She knew all about the righteous Reagan family. She should have known someone like her wouldn't turn to drugs. She was so annoyed she had been duped that they blamed her for losing the detective and her daughter. Not one sighting of her since she crawled through the hole in the wall.
"Are you ready, Edit?" She asked
"Yeah, I am so ready to leave, I won't be giving you a perfect review. Your salon needs some work on its stylists." She snarked. Her coping mechanism is to help control the fear.
Mags just smirked at her as she tied the rubber tubing around her right arm. Tapping the skin, she found the vein she wanted. She pulled the guard off the needle with her teeth and showed Eddie the brown liquid in the syringe.
"Only the finest Heroin from Afghanistan for my Girl," she smirked. "Whoops, we have run out of Narcan patches. You will get used to it," she laughed.
"No! Please do not do it, I beg you," Eddie pleaded.
"I don't care what you want, you bitch. You will be begging me for it soon enough." She told her as she plunged the needle into her vein and pumped the heroin into her bloodstream.
Eddie felt a warm fuzzy feeling spreading around her body, and her mouth felt dry. The euphoric feeling was terrific; she wanted, she didn't care. She was riding the express train to Nirvana.
Mag's laughed as she watched Eddie relax. As the heroin got to work on her brain, she said, "Looks like my new dolly is enjoying her first taste of Smack."
"Secure her to the bed; I am not taking any chances this time." Mag's ordered,