Securing Sidney

by Susan Stoker

  “If we find anything here that will be useful, we’ll call,” Rex called out from the bottom of the stairs.

  Gumby nodded once more. He knew the other cops still on scene would get in touch with Francisco as well. There was no way information wouldn’t be flowing back and forth, but ultimately none of that made Gumby feel any better at the moment. While they were running around trying to track her down, Sidney could already be hurt. Or dying. And that was what haunted him the most.

  “Come on,” Francisco said. “It’s almost three-thirty, and my informant is probably coming down from a high and will be looking to score. I know where his usual haunts are, and I want to see if I can find him before he’s too high to be any good to us.”

  As they headed through the house toward the detective’s undercover car, Ace asked, “Why do you keep him as an informant if he’s constantly jacked up?”

  “Because he delivers,” was Francisco’s immediate reply. “Look, these guys aren’t all bad. This guy is addicted to drugs and has done some pretty fucked-up things to score a hit. But I’ve gotten to know him over the last year, and he’s had a hell of a life. He’s got a wife and a little girl who live up in Los Angeles, but he left. It’s fucked up, but he was selling anything he could get his hands on, which he knew was hurting his family. So he left them. Came down here to keep them out of his reach.”

  “That is fucked up,” Ace said. “Why doesn’t he just get clean?”

  “He’s tried. Several times. And failed each and every time. The addiction is just too strong. He knows he’s gonna die on the streets and doesn’t want his little girl to remember him as the asshole who sold her brand-new iPad to get some drugs. Believe it or not, he left to protect them.”

  “And you think he’ll help us find Sidney?” Gumby asked as he climbed into the passenger seat.

  “If he knows anything, he’ll help,” Francisco confirmed.

  As they drove away from Victor’s house, Gumby had never prayed so hard in his life that they’d be able to find this informant quickly. Given his current desperation, he’d even buy the man a hundred bucks of his drug of choice if he told them anything useful.

  Sidney didn’t bring any attention to the fact that she was conscious. The last thing she wanted was to give the assholes who’d kidnapped her a chance to do anything else. But as time went on, and Decker and his teammates didn’t burst through the doors to rescue her, she got more and more worried.

  The activity around the warehouse steadily increased. Most horrifying was when several crates holding snarling, pissed-off dogs were placed around her. She kept her eyes closed as the men who’d brought them in talked about the upcoming fight.

  “My money’s on Thor tonight.”

  “No way, Kujo’s gonna kick some ass.”

  “Dallas says there’s six-to-one odds on the girl.”

  “There’s no way she’s beating Thor and Kujo.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. But that fight is last on the docket. They’ll be tired by the time they get around to the last fight.”

  “Hmmm, true.”

  “And he’s gonna make a killing selling that shit he got from his Mexican contact tonight anyway. The fight’s just a bonus.”

  “Come on. Those assholes are having a hard time with the fence. They wouldn’t be able to put together a cardboard box.”

  When the voices faded away, Sidney shivered in terror.

  Had she heard them right? They were planning on pitting her against two dogs named Thor and Kujo?

  She was so fucked. This wasn’t how the night was supposed to go. She was supposed to be hanging out with Decker and eventually making love. Not lying in a locked cage scared out of her mind.

  The more time that went by, and the more people that showed up, the more depressed Sidney got. Decker wasn’t going to find her in time. But she didn’t blame him. Her actions had put her in this position. He’d been right the whole time. She should’ve left the amateur sleuthing to the experts. As a result of her carelessness and obsession with rescuing the puppies, she’d most likely gotten them, and herself, killed instead.

  Sending up a prayer that Decker would eventually forgive her and move on with his life, she wrapped her arms around her knees as much as she could while on her side, and finally cried.

  Gumby stood behind Detective Garnham as he questioned the informant, Martin Bierman. At one time, the man had probably been fairly good-looking, but now he was a walking skeleton. His body was so frail and skinny, he looked like he could be blown over by a swift wind.

  He also smelled horrible. Like body odor, piss, and rotting trash. He was wearing a pair of torn jeans, sneakers with holes in the tips, and several layers of shirts. His brown hair was greasy and hanging in his eyes, and his teeth were yellow and rotted.

  This was a man at the end of his rope, and any sane person would steer well clear of him if they passed him on the streets.

  But Detective Garnham didn’t give any indication that he had a problem with the man. For a couple minutes they shot the shit as if they were old buddies who hadn’t seen each other in several months.

  It had taken hours to track down the guy. Gumby was about to crawl out of his mind with impatience when Francisco finally got down to the reason why they were there.

  “Heard about any dogfights going down soon?”

  Martin shrugged. “There’s always dogfights going down,” was his response.

  Gumby clenched his teeth and felt Ace put a hand on his arm. It was obvious his friend could read his mind and knew he was two seconds away from putting some of the interrogation techniques they’d learned to good use.

  “This one would be new, just sprung up tonight. There’s probably a lot of buzz about it. Excitement.”

  “Yeah.” Martin nodded. “I’ve heard some rumblings.” His eyes seemed to light up. “Heard there’ll be a lot of good shit there.”

  “What time?”

  “Eight.”

  “Where?” Francisco asked.

  Gumby was impressed. Instead of seeming too eager for the information, the detective remained nonchalant. As if he didn’t care whether Martin told him or not. Gumby knew he wouldn’t have been able to remain that calm if he’d been the one asking the questions. Not when Sidney’s safety depended on the answers.

  “I can’t remember.”

  Martin’s reply was bullshit, and they all knew it. But it seemed as if it was all part of a game Detective Garnham had played with the man more than once.

  “I stopped at that fast food place you like so much, couldn’t finish my dinner,” Francisco told him. “I could let you have my leftovers if you want.”

  That was also bullshit. The officer had stopped to get a bribe meal not too long after they’d left Victor’s house. It was probably cold by now, but they all knew Martin wouldn’t care.

  “I could eat,” the homeless man said.

  “I’ll grab it,” Ace volunteered, and headed for the car they’d left parked down the road while they’d searched for Martin.

  “What else have you heard about the fight?” Francisco asked.

  Martin shrugged. “Heard there was gonna be some excitement, some new bitch who’d be fighting. Apparently it’s this big thing between Dallas and some other guy who wants to move up the ranks.”

  “Victor?”

  “Don’t know. Don’t care. You know what I care about.”

  Francisco nodded. “I do. But you know what I care about, Martin?” Without waiting for the other man to respond, the detective went on. “I care that there’s an innocent woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. You know what she wanted to do? Rescue two innocent puppies from being sucked into the world of dogfighting.”

  “And I care about that because?” Martin asked.

  Gumby almost lost it then, but Francisco held out an arm as if he knew Gumby was about to flat-out tackle Martin. He went on, cool as a cucumber, as he rocked Martin’s world. “Because if I’m right, the ‘new bitch’
they’ll be fighting tonight is this innocent woman. Because Sidney Hale could be your daughter. You told me how much she likes puppies and kittens. What if it was her, and she wanted to rescue those dogs? What if she was the one Dallas and his friend had their hands on? Would you care then?”

  Gumby saw Martin flinch before he looked down at the ground.

  “I know how much you love your family. I know, Martin. Take a look at the man behind me. He loves his woman just as much, and she’s missing. We’re pretty sure the fight tonight is gonna involve her somehow. If it was your wife or daughter, wouldn’t you want someone to help you find them?”

  Gumby held his breath. He had no idea if Francisco had just pissed Martin off so badly he would refuse to tell them anything else, or if he’d just tipped the scales in their favor.

  After several seconds, Martin mumbled, “Washington Avenue. That big warehouse at the end of the street.”

  Gumby exhaled loudly. He had no idea where Washington Avenue was, but the detective obviously did. “Thank you,” he said softly.

  Martin didn’t acknowledge Gumby’s presence in the least, just stared up at Francisco and asked belligerently, “What do I get for that?”

  The detective started to take his wallet out but Gumby stopped him. He pulled five twenties out of his own wallet and handed them to Martin without a word. The man snatched them out of his grip and hid them on his person so quickly, he wouldn’t have believed it possible if he hadn’t seen it firsthand.

  Ace returned with the bag of fast-food hamburgers and handed it to Martin. Francisco nodded at the homeless man and turned around.

  Gumby and Ace followed him, and Ace whispered, “What did I miss?”

  “We know when and where the fight’s going down tonight.”

  “Thank God,” Ace said.

  Thank God indeed. Looking at his watch, Gumby saw that it was already seven. They didn’t have a lot of time to get the team together and for Francisco to notify SWAT. Every minute that went by was a minute that Sidney could be hurt or killed.

  He pulled out his phone and shot off a text to Rocco and Phantom at the same time Detective Garnham started speaking into his own phone. The troops were being rallied, but Gumby had no idea if they’d be in time or not.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sidney struggled against the hands that held her as fiercely as she could, to no avail. All she got was a bunch of men leering at her as her breasts jiggled in her bra. She couldn’t believe she was standing in front of at least a hundred men in nothing but her underwear. But, honestly, that was the least of her worries at the moment.

  More concerning was the dogfighting ring in front of her.

  She’d listened as the thing had been constructed and as the room slowly filled with eager spectators for the night’s fight. She’d heard what sounded like several vicious rounds of fighting, and the gunshots that had killed the losing dogs of each fight. The snarling and barking scared the shit out of her.

  It was meaner than anything she’d ever heard in her life. These weren’t dogs who were protective of their property. They weren’t like Hannah, who had barked and growled at Max when he’d arrived at Decker’s house. No, these were the sounds of dogs fighting to the death. Willing to do whatever it took to take down their opponents.

  And standing there, looking at the fencing that had been erected around the fighting ring, her worst fears were confirmed. Victor and his buddies were going to put her in the ring with two of the biggest, meanest dogs she’d ever seen. Thor and Kujo. They’d been victorious in the two fights they’d each participated in tonight, and for the finale of the evening, they’d fight each other…and Sidney.

  “Please don’t,” she begged as the two men holding her walked forward, hauling her toward the ring.

  “Shut up, bitch, or we’ll put a muzzle on you.”

  The other men around them laughed as if that was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.

  Victor opened the gate to the ring, and she was roughly shoved through the open door.

  Sidney fell to her hands and knees and the crowd around her went wild—cheering, yelling, and laughing at her expense.

  Feeling dizzy, Sidney leapt to her feet and lunged for the door she’d just been shoved through. But she was too late. Three men were holding it shut, and they snickered in her face as she grabbed hold of the fence and tugged.

  Horrified by her predicament, Sidney looked around her. The temporary fence was around ten feet high, and included a chain-link cover over the top, as well. She couldn’t simply climb over the fence to the other side of the ring and escape. Not to mention there were wall-to-wall men gathered around the square fenced-in area, watching the action.

  There were drug deals going on in plain view, money changing hands for little baggies. The smoke in the room was thick and made Sidney feel nauseous.

  She didn’t see one friendly face.

  Blinking suddenly, Sidney looked again—and couldn’t believe what she was seeing. There were kids there too. They couldn’t be more than nine or ten years old. They were laughing and holding stacks of money right along with the adults around them.

  Shocked, Sidney could only back away from the door in revulsion. The floor beneath her bare feet was covered in blood, and she slipped once as she tried to figure out what in the hell she could do to get out of this situation. On one side of the circle was the dead carcass of a loser from an earlier match. The poor dog was bleeding everywhere on its body, but it was easy to see the cause of its death was from its throat being torn out.

  Sidney couldn’t breathe. This was a nightmare, and she couldn’t believe she was in the middle of it.

  Victor stood up on a box and tried to address the crowd. It took a while for everyone to quiet down enough for him to be heard, but eventually she was able to hear what he was saying.

  “And for tonight’s last match, Thor and Kujo will finally meet! There are three possible outcomes to this fight. Kujo kills Thor…”

  Half the men in the room let up a huge cheer that made Sidney wince at the volume.

  “…Thor kills Kujo…”

  Again, the room exploded in cheers and taunting from the men.

  “…or both dogs turn on the bitch and kill her.”

  The walls seemed to vibrate from the level of cheering after Victor’s statement.

  Sidney was crying now. There didn’t seem to be any reason to keep her tears locked inside. Was this how victims felt back in Roman times when they were in the Coliseum? Helpless and terrified out of their minds?

  She backed away from the area where Victor was standing, but when she got too close to the fence, the men on the other side pulled out knives, along with sticks they’d probably collected from outside, and thrust them through the links, forcing her to step away from the edge of the ring.

  Through her tears and the ringing in her ears, she heard Victor continuing his inflammatory speech to the spectators.

  “As you all know, Thor is undefeated and has proven time and time again that he’s the superior fighter here.”

  With that, amongst boos from the crowd, another man pushed Victor off the box he was standing on and stood up. “You’re wrong, asshole! Kujo is gonna tear your fighter up and take down the bitch as well!”

  Sidney heard people calling out things like, “You tell ’im, Dallas!” and “Fuck yeah,” but all she could think about was how in a few minutes, she was going to be in the middle of this ring with two pissed-off, out-for-blood dogs.

  Victor looked irritated that the Dallas guy had stolen his spotlight. He pushed him off the box and reclaimed his throne, so to speak. He stood up and began shouting once more. “This bout has been a long time coming, but I know many of you are wondering why this bitch is here.”

  After some murmurs of agreement from the crowd, Victor went on. “She fancies herself a do-gooder. Saving the animals from lives as championship dogfighters.” More boos and cat-calls sounded around the room. “She doesn’t understand tha
t these dogs were born to fight. That they love it! But after tonight, she’ll finally get it, won’t she?”

  When the room exploded in cheers once again, Victor stepped off the box and crooked a finger at her. Sidney didn’t want to get anywhere near the heartless animal abuser, but if there was a chance he was going to let her out of the ring, she had to take it. She shuffled forward, not getting close enough to him that he could hurt her, but near enough that if he opened the door, she could make a break for it.

  “Can you hear me?” Victor asked when she got close.

  Sidney nodded.

  He grinned. It was an evil smirk that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. “You’re gonna die in this ring tonight,” he said with no emotion in his voice. “You shouldn’t’ve stolen my dogs, bitch.” And with that, he turned his back on her and motioned to someone nearby.

  Sidney heard the growls before she saw the dogs. The crowd behind Victor and Dallas parted as four men carried two cages toward the ring. The noise level in the warehouse went from deafening to so quiet, the only sound heard was the dogs’ toenails scrabbling on the bottoms of their cages.

  Looking around, Sidney confirmed the only entrance to the fighting ring was the door she’d been shoved through. From what she’d researched of dogfighting matches, the owners normally stood on opposite sides of the ring, holding their dogs until it was time for them to fight. There were complicated rules for when the dogs could be collected and taken back to the side of the ring, until the match resumed.

  But it was clear these street fights didn’t operate in the same way as those she’d researched. No, the dogs in these fights were set loose from their cages and the fight began. No rules. No timeouts. Only a fight to the death.

  And she was going to be right in the middle of it.

  Swallowing hard, she watched as Victor and Dallas set up the cages, one on top of the other, in front of the door. It was obvious they were going to open the cages, let their dogs out, then slam the fence door, locking them inside.