by A. C. Henley
Vivian typed yet another warrant request. The first two hadn't passed the Captains approval to go onto a judge, so she sat pecking at the computer keyboard wondering when someone would invent a logical alternative so she could find the damn ‘C' without blowing a blood vessel. Tom usually wrote up the warrant requests. He had way more experience and knew exactly what to put down to get a judge to sign on the little black line.
"Need help?"
Vivian looked over at her new partner, "Can you write a warrant?"
"Sure, no problem. What's it for? The storage place?" Maggie rolled her chair over to Vivian's desk nudging the older woman over and taking command of the keyboard.
"Yeah. I really need it signed by five." The blonde felt relief wash over her as Maggie's fingers flew across the keyboard filling out the endless fields of required information.
"Why by five?"
Quin tilted her head at the cipher lock on the entry door to the storage building. Five silver buttons confronted her. She knew about the cipher lock before arriving and had done a bit of research on Franklin, who she knew had a code for the lock to gain entrance. She checked her watch as she tried the first plausible combination of numbers. It was twenty before five, not as much time as she wanted. The delay on the freeway was costly. The first combination failed, so she tried the second grouping. She was losing patience as she keyed in another set of numbers. What followed after that attempt failed could only be described as a tantrum, as the PI kicked and pummeled the steel door with her fist while weaving a torrent of obscenities.
"Christ already Quin! People are staring."
Quang's voice pierced her tirade through her earpiece. "Fuck!" She hit the door one more time and smiled menacingly at a little old lady walking her little blue dog. She reached into her front pocket and retrieved the crumpled piece of paper that had more number combinations scrawled upon it. She scanned the list, her eyes resting on the very last group of digits. She pushed the little silver buttons deliberately and slowly, when the soft snick of the lock being released sounded she smiled, "Asshole uses his badge number." She muttered as she opened the door, "Okay I'm in. Let me know if anyone comes in behind me. If Franklin shows up, get the fuck out of here. Understand Quang?" She spoke just loud enough that the sensitive mike would pick up her words.
"Got it boss, and you be careful."
"I'm always careful." A snort of laughter filled her ear in response, "Asshole." I've just had a string of bad luck is all, she thought to herself as she made her way down the first hallway. Bright orange doors broke up the white cinderblock walls, there were six doors on each side of the hall, there didn't seem to be anything odd about the first floor, the air was a bit stale, but other than that everything seemed normal enough. She picked a few of the locks and took a look inside the storage units. She found normal stuff, boxes, furniture and what not, nothing extraordinary, so she decided to go up to the second floor. A quick glance at her watch told her she had just five minutes until Vivian would be showing up. She took the metal grated steps two at a time, her boots sounding like a rubber mallet against a metal garbage can echoing off the cinderblock walls. There was another door at the top of the steps. It also had a cipher lock. She entered Franklin's badge number again hoping he was the creature of habit that he appeared to be. She gave an almost silent sigh of relief as the lock opened and the door swung in. The air on the second floor was very different from the air on the first floor. There was the strong smell of bleach trying to cover up an even more overpowering smell of urine and feces, just under that was the smell of electricity and about fifty of those pop up room deodorizers. It was mostly dark on the second floor, but the soft glow of a bank of monitors lit the second floor landing. Quin eased in and drew her gun from behind her. She sensed she wasn't alone even though there was no one in sight. Her eyes were slow to adjust to the low lighting, the dark corners of the room remaining inaccessible. She edged closer to the monitors and saw views of the front and back of the building as well as the interior. She had been under surveillance since she walked up to the front door. Her eyes shut and the gun came up across her chest, "Quang, get the hell out of here. They know I'm inside." Just as she finished the short sentence she noticed a car pull up directly in front of the building, Franklin's bulky body emerged from the passenger side. He and the driver walked out of the cameras view.
McKee frantically searched the little screens finding the two men again as they approached her Chevelle. "Quang?" it came out a strained whisper, there was just a soft static in her ear that faded to nothing as she saw both men raise stiff arms at the window of her car. The angle of the camera prevented her from seeing if her friend had escaped. She could only watch in silence as the men's arms jerked up from the recoil of their guns being fired and tiny sparkles of shattered glass flew this way and that as they glimmered against the street lights and the setting sun. The PI spun to make for the door when something heavy came down on her back. She stumbled forward into the door, rolling to the left just before the person wielding a fire extinguisher could get a second hit on her. She raised her gun into the face of her assailant. The woman raised the extinguisher over her head. "Put it down." Quin growled low in her chest cocking the hammer on her gun for emphasis. The woman lowered the canister to the floor and took two steps backward. Quin kicked the fire extinguisher away.
"Master Franklin knows you are here." The woman spoke calmly.
Quin didn't reply to the statement. She held her gun steady on the young woman as she let her peripheral vision look about the room. She side-stepped so she could glance down a hall that seemed to have a four way intersection about half way and a window at the far end opposite her. She threw her head toward the hall, "What's down there?"
"Master Franklin…"
Quin moved forward quickly and pressed the gun against the woman's temple, "What is down the hall?" she questioned heatedly.
"Cells."
"For… whom?" Quin already knew the answer, but it seemed she needed some kind of verification to actually understand the possibility of it.
"New slaves." The answer was followed by a small ‘pop'.
McKee knew what the stinging sensation was before she hit the ground. The bullet ripped through her right shoulder effectively causing her to lose her grip on her gun. She heard it clatter to the floor and instinctively tried to scramble for it, only to have it kicked away from her by Franklin's pigeon-toed foot. She fell onto her back.
"I thought it would be more difficult." Franklin wheezed in his unnatural high toned voice. "I was looking forward to some kind of a challenge with you McKee." He pressed his shoe into her wounded shoulder eliciting a strangled moan. "Bring me her gun."
Quin tried to sit up. She tried to get her feet under her so she could have some chance but was stopped by Franklin's hand making purchase on her hair. He gave it a strong yank. The pain nothing compared to the throbbing in her shoulder.
"Now now… Can't have you running about, but do sit," he dragged her against the wall releasing her head with a thrust so it bounced off the cinderblocks with a thud.
Quin prayed silently to any god that would listen that Vivian would arrive soon and save her ass so they could enjoy the rest of their lives in peace. In return for this one favor she promised to stop acting recklessly and pursue a career in pottery or maybe teaching.
"Kneel."
She opened her eyes to see the woman who had attacked her going down on her knees beside Franklin. The woman looked down at the gun in her hands.
"Give me." Franklin ordered and received the gun from the woman. "Now McKee, you need to be punished for entering my home, and disturbing my property." His meaty hand dropped and petted the brown hair of the woman kneeling beside him. "Of course your punishment is death, but I'll need a good reason to finish you off."
Quin watched in horror as her gun was placed against the woman's head, a fraction of a moment later she lay dead, blood pooling under her head, bits of gray matter, blood an
d bone splattered the wall, flecks of warm blood began to cool against her own face. The gunshot echoed in the hall "FUCKING BASTARD!"
"Tsk Tsk… such language." He dropped the gun beside the dead woman. "Now let's finish it shall we?"
Quin was lifted to her feet, Franklin's brawny fist entangled in her short hair, while his other hand landed several solid punches to her midsection. She gasped desperately for air only to receive a backhand across her cheek, quickly flowed by the ripping sensation of her eyebrow ring being forcibly removed from its place. The man's grip in her hair never relented as she was dragged down the hall. Her head was spinning and her vision coming in waves. Her right arm was useless, and she was trying frantically to release Franklin's iron grip from her hair with her left. So intent on that task was Quin that she didn't even realize she was airborne through the window and landing on her back in a pile of trash bags and rubbish fifteen feet below in the alley, until the sudden stop. She lay stunned — afraid to move; shards of glass from the window covered her, Quin looked up to the now empty window. She wondered if maybe she had passed out on impact. Time was jumbled. Her eyes slid shut, but only for a moment as the front of her bloody t-shirt was taken into Franklin's hand and she was once again hauled to her feet.
"Wow, that was quite a fall you took trying to escape the murder scene McKee." Franklin hissed.
Quin staggered in the big man's grip, hardly able to stand at all. There was so much pain she couldn't pinpoint anything specifically anymore. She felt pressure on her right shoulder. It was just enough to buckle her knees.
"That's it. On your knees. That's a good girl McKee. You know Grace was in this very same position a few years ago, only she was so mouthy. She begged and begged for me to spare her and your child's life. All that whimpering from a tough dyke cop was more than I could take. My first bullet went into her gut."
Quin couldn't stop the tears that came, but it was the only satisfaction that Franklin would get from her.
"She got too close you see. I had to end it. She was still pleading as I put three more rounds into her. Took her forever to die didn't it? Imagine all that pain she went through waiting on you to show up." Franklin circled her in the nearly dark alley, "No pleading and begging from you though."
Quin closed her eyes and steadied her breathing the best she could. Her fear had receded into disappointment. She heard faint sirens coming in the distance, but knew that they would be too late. Franklin stopped behind her.
"Well, it seems your little gook friend managed to escape my associate. I hate when my plans get ruined." Franklin paced back and forth talking to himself, "Well no sense in crying over spilt milk, so we need to wrap this up so I can get to a safe distance. Sorry we don't have time to drag this out a bit longer. I do love that look of defeat you wear. Any last words?"
Quin managed to clear her throat and spit a wad of blood in front of her. She took a shallow breath, "Go to hell."
"You first."
Three gunshots rang out. Quin felt the wetness of her bladder letting go as she jerked uncontrollably upon hearing the first shot. Her eyes were shut tight. She figured she just didn't feel the impact of the bullet due to all the other damage her body had taken. He head spun and she fell over onto her side. She moved to her back then let her head rock to the left where her eyes opened to stare into Franklin's lifeless gaze. Blood oozed from his gaping mouth as he took his final breath. Her head was gently brought back to look skyward. Vivian's concerned and tear filled eyes gazed down on her.
"God damn it Quinlan McKee, I can't leave you alone for a moment." Vivian sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve.
"Quang?" The brunette breathed the word in exhaustion.
"Safe and sound. He recorded it all Quin, every word." Vivian brushed the PI's tears away.
"Thank you for saving me again." McKee tried to smile. "I pissed myself. First time that's happened…"
"My pleasure ma'am on the rescue, and don't worry about the other. I won't tell anyone." Vivian tried to give a light hearted wink to the prone woman, but could feel tears welling in her eyes, "Lie still, the paramedics are here. Do what they say and don't give em' any grief." The blonde detective lowered her head and gave Quin a brief kiss. She stood and backed up so that the medics could work on her lover. There was so much she wanted to say, so many words that needed to be said to Quinlan McKee, but a dark smelly alley was not the place she wanted to do it. A paramedic draped a sheet over Franklin's cooling body. Vivian was glad not to have to look upon it anymore. She glanced up at the broken second story window where Maggie held up a single finger shaking her head negatively. Vivian knew she needed to go up there, but was reluctant to leave Quin. Quang appeared beside her.
"Is she…?" The young man started.
"I dunno," Vivian said with a shake of her head, "Did you give that tape to Maggie?" She received a silent head nod. "Will you stay with her? Call me if anything happens?"
"Go. Do what you need to; I'll stay with her." Quang offered with a small smile.
The smell at the top of the steps reminded Vivian of a filthy animal shelter, the pungent odor threatened to turn her stomach as she made her way past green-faced officers. A flash bulb illuminated the hall ahead for a brief second, and then two more quick flashes almost blinded her as she rounded the corner into the hall proper. Slumped awkwardly on the floor was a woman about thirty years old, most of her head was gone, the blood splatter was everywhere. Vivian soon deduced there was no way for her to walk without stepping in it. She skirted the body and the coroner, disturbing as little evidence as possible as she made her way to Maggie who was doubled over in a corner vomiting. The blonde detective gave her partner a moment to finish and collect herself. The redhead stood and wiped her mouth with a folded handkerchief that Vivian knew Maggie customarily carried with her. Then green eyes that were glossed with unshed tears looked up at her.
"We have a problem." Maggie said as she tugged on Vivian's jacket sleeve leading her down the hall. "We need to cut them out somehow. they can't be taken out of here like this. I called the captain he's sending some vans and was going to try and get a bus or something. I think he said he would call county… but the chains…" Maggie opened a storage room door and pulled Vivian just inside as she turned on her maglite and shined its beam into the room.
The small bodies of about fifteen children, approximately age five or six, were emaciated. Empty stares reflected in the beam of light. The chains that Maggie had mentioned also reflected dully in the light, securing each child to the wall as the chain passed through metal collars that were around each small neck. The smell was intense and pungent, making the blonde detective's eyes water. The children didn't make a noise as Vivian and Maggie looked them over. The smell of bodily waste was prevalent in the room and the blonde's stomach was very close to rebelling. She moved to the nearest child to take a closer look at the metal collar. On the back was a small brass padlock. She quickly retrieved her radio and called to any officer in the alley to search Franklin's body for any and all keys.
"There are more in the next room, all girls, all about thirteen or so." Maggie hovered at the door as she continued to give details of her nightmarish find. "Then one more room that has just boys, about the same age I think, maybe younger, hard to tell." Her sentence drifted off as Vivian's radio crackled, the officer on the end reporting no keys of any kind on Franklin.
Vivian growled deep in her chest before she keyed her mike, "Ask one of the firemen if they have some bolt cutters. I'll check the DOA up here for keys." She quietly reassured the children she would be back to set them free. She pushed past Maggie who looked ready to toss her stomach once again and rounded the corner into the hall where the coroner and his assistants were getting ready to bag the body of the woman. "Hold up." She requested as she moved closer, her brown leather loafers slipping in semi coagulated blood and gray matter. "I need to see if she has keys on her."
The coroner stood back to let the detective at
the body. The blonde pulled on a pair of thin vinyl gloves and began searching by simply patting the exterior of the woman's clothing, stopping when she heard a slight muted jingle from the right front pants pocket. She reached in at an awkward angle, grimacing a bit when her watch got hung up on the pockets exterior, but her fingers made purchase on a clump of keys. She pulled them free and instructed the police photographer to take a picture of them as she held them against the body. She nodded in thanks to the coroner and rushed back to the first room as she shuffled through the ten or so keys on the simple chrome key ring. The padlocks were small, so she separated out the smallest key and made for the first child. It was hard to tell if it was a boy or a girl. All their hair was cut short, and they all wore large gray t-shirts that fell over their small bodies almost to the floor. The child she started with shrunk away from her as she tried to place the key in the lock. She tried to reassure all of them she was there to help, not hurt them. She tried again and was successful reaching the lock but the key wouldn't fit. Vivian sighed and bit her lower lip, the nausea was intense and she wanted nothing more than to bolt from the small room. She located another small key and placed it in the lock. It released the metal bolt immediately upon turning. She looked over her shoulder at Maggie and a uniformed officer holding a pair of bolt cutters. "Mags, tell that photographer to get in here, we need pictures, then get blankets, and check on the vans." She moved to the next child, "Oscar, start on the other end and cut the padlocks. I want these collars off them before they leave." The officer went for the opposite end of the room and began to cut the locks off. The children had become more helpful seeing what was happening. Vivian and the uniformed officer met somewhere near the middle. The photographer's flash was almost steady as they worked. Vivian noticed that as she released the collars the children shifted from her to huddle with each other. As she released the last lock she stood nearly in the middle of a clump of children all huddled together. The one camera flash was joined by another. Vivian looked angrily up and pointed at the reporter, "Who the FUCK let the PRESS in here?! Get them OUT!"
