WARNING: Mentions of guns, knife and violence. Not very graphic, but in case...
CHAPTER 66
SPEAKING OF BEING NAUGHTY…
"What's the first thing you'd do when we can finally get to go out and explore the city?" Angie asked, hanging upside down from the pull-up bars.
"What the-…" Bryan groaned unhappily.
He had screwed up during PFT that morning and he was now in punishment, having to do extra pull ups. Angie's form of support had been to stick around and to sway on the bars, next to him, upside down, like a monkey, while she watched him sweat.
"Small talk, remember? It helps you, I don't know, de-stress? Get your mind off things?" She said, referring to what he had told her just 24 hours ago.
"Ah, yeah." He remembered. "Well, the very first thing would be to go get completely smashed."
"Disgusting." Angie cringed. She didn't like getting too drunk or people who were drunk.
"What about you?" He asked, in turn.
"I'd love to go to a supermarket and buy snacks and some juice, maybe some fruit and veggies, to keep in the dorm." She chuckled, seeing everyone upside down was quite cool.
"God, that is such a grown up thing to say. I wish I had thought of it." He teased her.
Angie thought for a second. She was all work, no play, in the Academy. However, it was not healthy. She knew that she needed a good distraction every now and then. She couldn't just work out and study all the time or she'd flip out, it would be the recipe for a disaster.
"Don't get me wrong – I'd go drinking and dancing, too. I also really want to go see the shops. I'm obviously not going to buy anything, but I like trying on clothes and shoes and pretending in my head that I live in a magical world where I could actually afford to buy them."
"I wouldn't mind seeing you all dolled up, actually." Bryan looked at her, all sweaty, with her hair sticking to her forehead as she swayed like a monkey. She was beautiful. She did not need fancy clothes, or make-up, to make her look any better.
However, Bryan wanted to treat her to a little shopping spree. He just had to tread lightly when he proposed that.
"Look, you dragged me to that Finish line, twice. Now I'm dragging you to the shops! Well, not right now. I mean, whenever we can get out of here and go explore. And don't you even try to argue with me, Missy! I had no say when I crossed the finish line, so now you have no say when I swipe my card to get you some new stuff."
Bribing! He was a genius. This was the only way one could ever make Angie do something she otherwise would not do.
"Ugh, fine!" She rolled her eyes, just to appear annoyed on the outside. But on the inside she was screaming like a little girl, making a mental check list of all the things she wanted to buy.
A sparkly dress.
New fairy lights.
Hair bows.
Elastics. God, she had gone through a pack of twenty, all of which had broken on her during training and now her hair was just everywhere.
Nail polish remover. And maybe a new color nail polish, too.
A jumbo pack of whatever type of sweets.
Chewing gum.
She was not one of those high-maintenance girls. At all.
"How the Hell did you make that work?" Bryan groaned, watching Angie's computer do a check that his computer refused to start, no matter what he typed in that command box.
"I dunno. I just clicked, like…everything." She shrugged.
If she had to be honest, she had gotten lucky after her third attempt to recreate what a guy sitting near her was doing. He clicked stuff, she tried to click the same. And it had worked. Did that count as cheating?
Their teacher was walking across the room, checking on everyone's progress and giving them little bits of advice.
"It's okay. Not everyone is cut out to be a tech analyst." He said when he stopped behind Bryan, seeing the initial screen and no progress at all.
"Sir, no disrespect, but I don't really even want to be a tech analyst anyway." Bryan laughed.
He could not see himself, stuck in a dark room, surrounded by electronics, using nothing but his fingers, to do all the work. Bryan was an action guy – he had to use every bone in his body, when at work. He had to run, he had to fight, he had to duck and avoid bullets. He had to scream at the top of his lungs. He had to kick down doors. He had to lead his team into dangerous situations, but also – away from danger. It was all he had ever known and all he ever wanted to be.
"Why are you narrowing your search?" The teacher raised an eyebrow, now standing behind Angie.
"Because, Sir, the practice case you gave us makes no sense. If we're looking for the fictional UnSub who did this, we must narrow it down. Can't just look for a 30-year old white male in Texas, or we might have the computer explode. Now, looking at victimology, I was able to profile the killer and narrow it down to-…" Angie started explaining, and while it was all legitimately good work, it was not what the assignment was asking of her.
The teacher made a sign and she stopped talking immediately.
"30 year old white male in Texas is what you need to search for." He pointed out and started walking towards the next person.
Angie shot out a very specific number, just seconds after the man had left her side.
He turned around, once again looking at her computer. It was the right number – that was how many people fit that incomplete profile, in Texas. He just had to groan, because he hated how confident she was now, looking back at him with that tiny smirk on her face.
"Have you ever worked in data analysis, Trainee Hunter?" He asked.
"Nope. I just have very basic knowledge of things. And then I sometimes get lucky and I amaze people, like you, with my findings. Although, sometimes I completely suck and it's quite embarrassing, if I say so myself." She chuckled.
"Are you interested in following a path as tech analyst here in the FBI?" He asked, because according to him – she might have some potential.
"Oh, not at all!" She rolled her eyes.
This was the most boring thing she could ever think of. Even being stuck in a lab, doing DNA analysis all day long, sounded way more exciting than doing that – typing stuff on a computer and sitting on your butt for hours.
The man sighed and chose to ignore her for the rest of the class. She was weird and he could not figure her out.
"Lookin' good, Hunter!" One of the male Trainees called out for her, when everyone gathered up at the Auditorium after lunch break.
She was wearing a pair of simple black leggings, a hot pink sports bra and a sheer light pink sports shirt, with one sleeve falling down her shoulder casually.
"Dude, we all look good in anything other than khaki!" Angie laughed out loud.
Literally no one in the Academy was fond of the color of their pants. The shirts, though, were quite well liked by most Trainees.
"Hello, everyone." Dan announced his arrival in the Auditorium. "Wow, it feels so weird to see all of you in plain clothes." He laughed, checking out the room, full of colors and so many different personalities.
"As you already know, we have asked you to come here and submit your uniforms. On each chair, you will find a bag. Please, fold everything and place it in the bag and don't forget to put your name on the tag. We will take care of printing your names on the uniforms and they will be given back to you tomorrow after PFT, so you can wear them to class. Also, you are getting two more pairs of uniform, each." He spoke, watching everyone do as he said.
"There is one more thing…" He added. "We have added a coffee corner in the common room, in the dorm rooms building. It will be free and available 24/7, to all Trainees."
Everyone cheered, because other than food, they have spent the majority of their money on buying coffee, in order to stay awake and alive during training recently.
"I'm starting to warm up to this new version of the Academy. Although, I miss people kicking my ass." Angie shrugged, walking next to Bryan, now on their way to one of the labs for their next class.
"What are you, a masochist?" He raised an eyebrow. Nobody in their right mind would ever come out with a statement like hers.
"Did you not see me with the whip?" Angie smirked, referring to that night when they had busted the ex-Section Chief's adult entertainment charade.
"Oh, I saw you with the whip, alright…" He sighed. It had taken him days to get the image of that, out of his mind. He did not appreciate her bringing it back up now.
"Speaking of being naughty…" Angie started off, looking all innocent.
"Nobody is speaking of being naughty!" Bryan groaned.
That girl was not afraid to run her mouth. She would literally say whatever the Hell was on her mind and would not give a crap how it would come out.
"Well, I am!" She stated. "So, when are we risking getting into trouble again?"
"Seriously?" Bryan shrugged.
If he had to be honest, he hated being a goody-two-shoes in the Academy. He would much prefer doing something risky and fun.
Angie nodded. She was not kidding.
"Guess now that Amanda's mystery is all done and the whole whip-incident is behind us…we can focus our devilish energy on a new project." He replied.
"Hmm, speaking of devilish now, I kind of want to go back to Devil Child, you know, that bar. I quite like it." Angie said dreamily.
"You only like it because they agreed to play your filthy playlist to a whole bunch of FBI Agents and everyone was drunk enough to enjoy it." Bryan teased. "Plus, that bartender was cute, eh?" He winked at her.
"Didn't know you flock that way, Bry!" She teased him back.
"Oh, girl, you know exactly what I mean." He nudged her.
"Yeah, alright. He was kind of cute, yo." She chuckled.
"Oh, God…you're blushing. And while I know how to handle a pissed off Angela Hunter, I am utterly clueless as to how I can handle…that…" He pointed at her cheeks.
"Zip it or you'll be handling a pissed off Hunter in a matter of seconds!" She said threateningly.
"So, should we ditch the study session tonight and go dancing?" Bryan suggested.
"Nah, it's Tuesday night. None of the Agents will be there to see our awesomeness on the dancefloor. How about Saturday night? We can sit and watch grown ass people act a fool while we sippin' free cocktails. But the deal is off if we haven't managed to catch up with all our reading and extra training, am I clear?"
"Ah, right. Because your bartender boy-toy only works the weekends. How could I forget!" He smirked. "Fine, Saturday."
"It's a date!" She squealed, only to make him feel even more uncomfortable.
"I hate you, Angela Hunter!" Bryan stated, only half-joking.
"Check?" Victor called out, expecting two positive replies or he'd be a very pissed off man.
"In position, Sir."
"All good here, Sir."
He smirked, now standing in front of a house, just a few blocks down the road from the grocery store. After a very quick tour around the neighborhood, he was sure this was the place and the small statue of a blue bird statue that was sitting on the front porch was proof enough for him.
"Okay, people. Let's go have some fun. Ready…" Victor said, holding his watch close to his mouth, to give out the command to everyone who was scattered around the entrances of the house.
"Un…" He started his countdown.
"Deux…" Oh, he was enjoying this very much.
"Trouble!" He said, instead of 'trois' - the French word for the letter three.
On his command, doors got kicked down and windows were breaking from each side of the house.
The sudden commotion disrupted something that the three kidnappers were currently enjoying. They were in the basement, inflicting pain on Richard, in various ways. Weirdly, the fact that they had drugged him, worked in his favor and he barely even registered pain anymore. It had been bad, the first ten minutes, and then it had become a dragged out boring routine that he had been forced to be part of.
He'd surely feel the pain once he was off the high, though.
"Consuelo, debes correr rápido hacia la puerta principal! Pensar en Pedro!" Richard yelled out in Spanish for Consuelo, urging her to run quickly towards the front door, she had to do this for Pedro, her grandson.
The woman hesitated and Richard saw one of the men turning around, to go grab her.
"Estoy bien, por favor corre!" Richard reassured her that he was okay and asked her to run once again.
Consuelo had just brought a kettle of soup downstairs and it didn't sit well with her, leaving this man to suffer. The commotion on the upstairs floor meant trouble, but she had no idea that this was all arranged, in order to save both of them.
"You bad people!" Consuelo yelled at the three kidnappers.
In a moment of rage, emboldened by a sudden superpower when she saw Richard's body all bruised, with blood dropping from his mouth, she picked the kettle up and splashed the boiling soup in the men's faces. It was the best she could do, considering her age.
And then she ran for dear life.
It took the men by surprise, slowing them down and making it hard for them to see straight, with all the burning water and all the hot chilly the woman had used in the soup.
"Damn, that's the cops! Man, that's the cops. We gotta get out of here!" One of the kidnappers screamed, hearing multiple people's footsteps, now searching the ground floor, right above their heads.
"Haha, you wish it was the cops, you dumbass idiots!" Richard laughed. He really was enjoying this, even through the pain and the blood and despite being high as a kite.
"ON THE GROUND!" Victor yelled out when he descended the stairs and found everyone gathered in the basement.
Right after him, eight other people rushed in and surrounded everyone, pointing guns at them.
Victor was not a patient man. If he gave out an order, it had to be followed and none of the men was on the ground yet.
With a glimpse over to Richard, who pointed at the weakest link within the gang crew, Victor now had an aim.
"Told you I want you on the ground. One way or another." Victor yelled angrily after shooting the guy Richard had pointed at.
The other two men looked at each other and put their hands behind their backs, in surrender.
"Who do you think we are? The cops?" Victor laughed and made a gesture over to one of the females that was nearby.
The woman smiled, she was beautiful, and one second later she was punching the crap out of one of the kidnappers until he started spitting blood and ended up on the floor as well. At least he was alive…still.
The third kidnapper was still standing, scared out of his mind. He was outnumbered, outgunned and outsmarted. There was only one way this ended.
"Get the Boss!" Victor commanded and two men of his crew went over to unlock Richard from the web of chains and handcuffs he was now connected to.
If Richard had been graced with a few minutes on his own, he would have picked the locks. And yet, all the time he had spent in the basement, there was always someone with him. All he could have done was wait. That and playing mind games with those bastards, which had given him enormous amounts of pleasure. He had wanted to screw those guys up for months now.
"I'm good." Richard slurred his words, once he was free.
His body felt heavy and it fell against one of his colleagues. He was weak and the drugs in his system were making everything worse.
"I got you, Boss." The man said, holding Richard close.
Who knew? Maybe the only kidnapper standing might go into a crazy shooting spree? He was already a dead man and he knew that, so he had nothing to lose and if he had to open gunfire, he'd surely go after the big boss, the one his gang really hated. And that was Richard.
"Who the Hell are you, people? Are you the rivals?" The kidnapper asked, hands still up in the air.
Nobody was approaching him yet. He just had about nine guns pointed at him, at all times.
Victor was a bit of a wild card. He liked to play with the guys before he'd take what he wanted from them…or kill them. He liked to torture them by being there, by being in control, by being the powerful one. He had learned all of that from his master – Richard.
And they had a method to their madness. They'd look people in the eyes, stare them down, make them forget their own name. Richard had the most chilling look in his eyes, when he played that game. He had even been able to give Victor the chills, on occasion. Mind games were their favorite and they exceled in those. Yes, guns were powerful and blah blah blah. But there was nothing that those two got off on more than a good old-fashioned mind game.
"Can someone please say something?" The kidnapper now got down on his knees, only because he felt them shake uncontrollably. He wasn't able to support his own body weight anymore. Some gang leader he was.
"Three little kitties…" Victor started off, in sing-songy voice, sounding like a complete psycho.
"…playing in the park…" He knelt down next to the first guy, the one he had shot.
"Oops, two little kitties…playing in the park…" He corrected himself, still singing the same song, but now walking towards the second one, who had gotten his ass kicked by the woman and who was now lying on the floor unconscious, but seemingly dead to everyone.
Victor checked for a pulse and decided to bluff.
"Ay ay ay…" He shook his head, looking at the third one, the alpha one, now on his knees like a good submissive player.
"One little kitty…" Victor moved towards him ever so slowly.
His eyes pierced through this man's skin, concentrating on the left side of his chest area. This would have given the man an idea, or two, as to what Victor had in store for him.
Victor put his hand up in the air and, as if on cue, someone from his team put a knife in it.
"…playing with my knife…" He continued his chilling song, whispering so that it would be audible only by the kidnapper.
Richard was pissed off. Why did he have to be drugged? It would have been so much fun to witness that scene, sober. He loved seeing Victor in action and he was on top of his game when Richard's well-being had been compromised, which was the current case.
"Meow meow, kitty…" Victor whispered to the other guy once again, letting the knife trail from the middle of his forehead, down to the side of his left cheek, down his neck, pressing just enough to make him feel pain, but not cut his skin.
"You mess with Louis Andrè Renard…" Victor continued, pointing at Richard.
He hadn't even bothered stripping this man of his gun. It was still visible, poking out of the belt of his jeans. Victor was not worried, not even the tiniest little bit. He knew exactly how to make him purr on all fours, even if he was armed still.
"You mess with all the Family…" He continued his sentence, looking around at all the back-up he had.
"But worst of all…" The journey of his knife came to a stop once it was pressed against the man's chest.
He heard him suck in a breath. There was something so satisfying about those last moments, when someone knew what was going to happen to them.
"…You mess with me!" Finally, he ended his sentence.
His team was giving him all the time he needed. They were ready to roll, but they wanted Victor to enjoy this a little longer.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay?" The kidnapper decided that it would be a good idea to make a plea for his life.
"Look, I'm not even the boss here. I'm just the middle man. They told us to grab this guy, we didn't know it was…him. We're not crazy! We would have never jumped Louis Andrè Renard! We had no idea what he looks like, man, come on, you know nobody in our world has ever seen this man's real face. Come on, man. I'm sorry!" He spoke frantically.
Victor sighed with relief when he heard the part of his statement that nobody had seen Louis' real face. That was good to know. The rest was useless crap.
"What did you want him for?" Victor asked, suddenly the knife pushing this man's chin upwards until their eyes leveled.
"I don't know. We saw him snooping around our territory right when we were getting ready for our big bust and our boss said he could be a cop or a narc or someone from the other mafia. They told us to grab him and to shake him up real good until he spilled the truth. Man, when we found out who he was…" He shook his head, looking like the mere definition of regret.
"Well, guess what?" Victor urged this man to stand up, still holding the knife against his neck.
"You are now property of 'the other mafia', as you so kindly call us. So, it's our turn to shake you up real good." He grinned.
"Fuck…so it's really you?" The man gulped, feeling the tip of the knife poke harder, as he did so.
"Who the Hell did you think we are? The Good Fairies!?" Victor looked at the floor. Two of this guy's men were down. He was the only one standing and he was fearing for his life, rightfully so. The obvious next move was to get him to cooperate.
"Wait, no. Where are you taking me?" The man asked, after Victor gave him a hard push towards the stairs.
"Like I said, you belong to us now. If you have a problem with that, please let us know right away. We have no problem with another body dropping to that floor." Victor replied chillingly cold, looking over to the other two kidnappers' bodies.
"N-no. Please. I'll do whatever you want!" The guy caved in almost too easily. It hadn't been the most satisfying scene Victor had participated in, but he'd enjoyed it nonetheless.
Victor tossed him over to one of his colleagues, to get dragged upstairs and outside, where a few cars were waiting for them, while he remained downstairs with a bunch of his other friends.
"Well played, Vic!" The woman who had jumped the second kidnapper, gave Victor a high five.
"Alright. I need Richard and Consuelo to be dropped at the hospital. I need this pathetic other one riding in a car, to our bunker. Throw him in there and leave him with no food, no water, for 24 hours. Let reality sink in before we have our fun with him. And we also need a body bag for this one…" He pointed at the first guy, the one he had shot himself, while walking down the stairs, as soon as he had entered the basement.
"And this one here…" He checked for pulse again, on the second guy. He was beaten up and unconscious, but still very much alive. "Take him to our medical room. Get him to gather some conscious and tell him his two gang pals are dead. We need to separate the two alive ones, make them believe each one of them is the only one that made it out alive. Let's see who cracks first."
"Oh and call our cleaner. We don't want this to get…messy." Victor added and two of the guys nodded. They knew exactly how to take care of this situation.
The guys hurried with what they needed to do, while Victor was finally able to pay Richard some attention.
"Hey, bro. Lookin' dapper!" He teased, checking Richard out.
"Shut up or we'll need one more body bag." Richard said through pain and gritted teeth. The drugs were starting to wear off.
"Good, he's alright when his humor is intact. Welcome back to the living…again!" Victor gave Richard's shoulder a tiny slap, which he instantly regretted, as he saw Richard wince. He hadn't meant to hurt him.
"Guys, be precise!" Richard commanded, now being helped up by both Victor and one other man.
"We don't do sloppy jobs and we don't want the police anywhere near this. Understood?" Richard continued speaking. Even all broken, he still oozed pride and respect. Victor was a little jealous of that.
"Yes, Boss. Don't worry!" The guy whom Richard had been leaning against until now, spoke.
"Also, Boss…" He spoke again. "It's so nice to have you back!"
Richard smiled back at the guy. He was much younger than him and he had been working for him for a while now. Richard loved the feedback he was getting from his people. He knew they worshipped him and he knew they would do just about anything for him. He wasn't the typical Boss, the one who'd be secretly hated by everyone. No. His employees loved and respected him and they sure treated him as a friend, unless they were in a work environment where they'd have to look all stern. Yes, they would always call him Sir, but they adored that man for everything he was, underneath that perfectly tailored, custom made suite of his.
Minutes later, everything had been taken care of. Everyone was in the cars, going in different directions.
"Mr. Richard!" Consuelo threw her arms around him as soon as he sat next to her, in one of the cars that was going towards the hospital.
"You told her your real name!?" Someone from his crew gasped.
"She's not an enemy. She had the right to know!" Richard hugged her back, almost feeling a few of his bones crack as he did so. But it was okay, both of them were okay.
"Consuelo, you are one brave Latina woman and I want you to know how proud I am of you and your courage!" He said to her, with one hand trailing up and down her back, calming her down as she was now crying uncontrollably.
Victor was in the passenger's seat and he caught a glimpse of it all, through the back view mirror. It warmed his heart. He knew Richard was an incredibly good guy, but each time he connected with an innocent victim, it just confirmed that over and over again.
They drove back to the city, so they could go to the usual hospital they attended after every...well, work-related outing.
"Oh, Richard…hello." A young, attractive, blonde and very eager doctor welcomed him with a huge smile.
"Hello, my favorite doctor." Richard winked at her.
"What have you gotten yourself into this time?" She asked, with something naughty in her eyes.
Victor rolled his eyes for a brief second. If only that woman could do so, she'd be naked, on top of Richard, as soon as she had laid eyes on him. She was that obvious, and she always had been.
"Oh, a few wonderful bruises in a few…hidden places." Richard laughed, before introducing his guest. "This is Consuelo. I need you to check on her first. I believe she is unharmed, other than the psychological shock she's been through. So, get her to see a doctor and then I am all yours." He said gently.
The doctor walked away, eager to toss Consuelo to the first other doctor she saw, so she could have her hands all over Richard and his hidden bruises, as fast as she could.
"Dude, she's so into you." Victor smirked.
"Dude, she's desperate!" Richard could not help but cringe. He never liked desperate women.
"She's also blonde, a doctor and smoking hot." Victor pointed out.
"For the millionth time, Victor – I do not like blonde women! And she's the furthest thing from hot, with those scrubs and that…what is that, a hat?" Richard eyed her, walking away.
"Well, she'd be hot without those scrubs, eh?" Victor tried to place a different image of her, in Richards head, but he failed. "And those hats, gloves and masks are for sanitary reasons, not for vanity."
"I don't care, I don't like her and I'm not sleeping with her. Now zip it." Richard grunted, watching as the woman was now walking back towards them.
"Then why are you all smiling and nice to her?"
"Because the last time I rejected her pathetic advances, I walked out of here with three more stitches than what I needed. She was ruthless. And the bitch didn't even give me the good meds, so I felt every poke of the damned needle, ugh!" Richard was now whispering, as she was getting closer to them.
"Well, have fun pretending to not be aroused by those…" Victor pointed at the doctor's chest before he walked away.
"Lauren's were way nicer…" Richard muttered to himself grumpily.
