Risk it All

by Fiona Price

  "Well, what have you done so far?"

  "She asked about the funeral plans for her team, since we told her they were all dead. We told her that we had taken care of it all, and we'd get the details to her. Then she asked for her phone, but we blocked the outgoing calls to any numbers associated with her team."

  The boss wasn't happy.

  "Do whatever it takes to keep her here. Let me talk to Andrei, I don't know what he wants to do next. If anything, we have to take out everyone on that team, because they were getting too close to busting him, and we can't let that happen again."

  The two nodded before leaving the glass penthouse office.

  Andrei had been working with the boss, getting the tie in with law enforcement so he could get away with his operations with arms dealers. Andrei, though he was new to the scene, was not somebody to mess around with. He was determined to put his mafia, his family, at the top. He wanted to be at the head of all operations. He was power hungry, and would kill everyone who stood in his way. And that happened to be Shane, Matt, Alissa, Vicki and Scarlet. He didn't kill them first because the boss told him not to, but now they were running out of options before Alissa was able to figure out the whole story.

  Alissa didn't make it any easier for them, since she wasn't going to stop asking questions. Alissa was trying her luck, but she thought of a plan that would only buy her a little bit of time before they figured it out. She ran into Natalie when she was attempting to walk right out the front door of the Manhattan skyscraper.

  "Lieutenant, can I help you?" She asked.

  "No, I'm just headed outside for a smoke." Alissa lied with a smile, not wanting to say that she was really on her way to Matt's old NYPD precinct. The look on Natalie's face was questioning.

  "I didn't think I was a prisoner here." Alissa chuckled, putting Natalie in a telling position. Was she prisoner? If Natalie told her that she had to say, that she was restricted to the building, that would only make Alissa want to escape even further.

  "Of course not." Natalie grimaced, not really wanting to disobey orders and let her leave, but she didn't want to tell her that she wasn't allowed to leave. So, Natalie let it go, until Alissa hadn't returned for almost an hour. Not even in New York did a cigarette run take almost an hour.

  It did if you were in a cab traveling to Brooklyn, though.

  Alissa disabled the GPS on her phone and paid the cab driver in cash and got out in front of the building, not even knowing who she should go to. At the front desk, she approached the secretary and put her badge down on the counter.

  "Hi, my name is Lieutenant Alissa Montgomery and I'm with the Miami Major Crimes task force. Is the Captain that was here about five years ago still here, and if not where can I find him?" Alissa asked. The secretary looked at her badge.

  "Call the Governor of Florida if you need to run my credentials, my direct supervisor is presumed to be dead, so this is kind of urgent." Alissa clarified. The secretary placed a call to her supervisor on the phone and they ran her badge number.

  Alissa had found out where the storage locker was, and she saw Steve's code as she walked past them one day. They knew she was walking in passing behind them, but she entered the bathroom at the end of the hall and had no other reason to think she would take the code. But, when nobody was looking, she placed the code in the keypad by the door and swiped her badge. If anything, she knew she'd need that. Then, she met Natalie out by the front door.

  It was only minutes before she was taken up to the eighth floor of the precinct and escorted into the Captain's office.

  "Captain Humboldt, this is Lieutenant Alissa Montgomery with Miami Major Crimes." The officer introduced, and Alissa and the Captain shook hands. Soon, it was just them in the office, separated from the phones ringing in the rest of the precinct and the business of the police station.

  "Lieutenant, it's a pleasure to meet you. What can I do for you?"

  "Actually, I'm not sure. I work with a former Detective of yours, Matthew Daniels, and Commander Shane McAndrews, the leader of our Major Crimes task force."

  "Ah, Matt. He was our best detective, and he was even better when he worked with his former partner, Kelly."

  "I know all about Kelly, sir." Alissa smiled.

  "Is everything okay with Matt and the task force?"

  "No, not at all. We were in Hawai'i in the middle of an operation to take down mafia boss Andrei Petrovitch when I was effectively kidnapped by the national level boss of the task forces just like ours across the country. They told me that I was the only survivor, but I don't believe them, not for one second. I need to find them, and I don't have a lot of time before they suspect I'm onto their lies. I don't know how to help Matt, where he is, if he's okay, or if he's even alive. If there's anything here that could help me find him, I need it, Captain." Alissa explained, her voice strained. She knew this was her only chance to get a lead on the case to save herself and her team.

  "As a matter of fact, I think I know how to help. Matt left suddenly after Kelly died, and he didn't take all of his things that were in his desk. I still have the box of things here, actually. Something was telling me I couldn't just throw them out, even after all these years. All his old case files are here and so are the pictures from his desk. I wish I could help more, but I don't know how."

  "Actually, I think I know how you can help. My phone has been blocked access to his phone and some other things, so I need to see the most recent obituaries, news reports, anything that would align the boss's story of his death to reality. I need proof, and maybe access to the NYPD database." Alissa thought of. And of course, she found nothing.

  There was no proof anyone had died. Nothing in any of the databases pointed in the direction of his death, either. That gave Alissa a spark of hope.

  "Lieutenant, are you in danger?"

  "I might be, yes, sir." She confirmed, her breathing rate increasing.

  "What can I do to protect you?"

  "I know that the boss and his team might be coming after me. I've been asking too many questions. I think that he may be working with the mafia boss that tried to kill us. I think that this whole thing is a play to get us separated and kill us, or disband the force so we can't take down Andrei Petrovitch."

  "Let me know what resources my department can devote to you. I trust you, since I trusted Matt with my precinct. He keeps good people around him and I want to find him just as much as you do."

  With that, the Captain sent out orders for a protective detail that was kept below the radar, so Alissa could work without Natalie, Steve or James following her. Since she couldn't find any proof of Matt, Shane, Vicki or Scarlet's death, she was focused on finding the link between Andrei and the boss. She worked fast but tirelessly in order to find answers, and it wasn't long before she found out she was right. Andrei was paying off the boss so he could get away with murder and arms deals without getting arrested for it, holding their task force back from taking him down. It was an unexpected revelation that caught Alissa off guard, but it made it even more imperative for her to find the members of her team. If Andrei knew that Alissa had figured it out, then everyone would surely be killed.

  "Captain, I found the connection. I just need to find my team, because I know they are in danger. Is there any way we can try and find them? Their cell signals, maybe? We were all in Hawai'i a few days ago, we could start there. I just don't know if it's safe to put out an APB for them, because whoever has them will know that we know they're not dead."

  "We will figure out a way, Lieutenant. Matt was on my team, and I won't let him down."

  Alissa scoured the case files, looking for a place that Matt - or Andrei- would go to hide. It surprisingly wasn't long before they came across a solid lead in the Badlands of California. The NYPD was busy taking down the boss, Natalie, Steve and James, since they were caught going after Alissa and were arrested for conspiracy and for violating RICO. Andrei was soon to know that was happening, but they were already on their way to find
Matt.

  When they touched down in California, they were in the middle of the desert. Everything looked the same and the mountain ranges seemed to be expansive, but their lead was solid. Andrei was connected to the purchase of a bunker there, and that was the first place they were going to storm in the search for the rest of Alissa's team. It was a euphoric feeling when they dropped down into the bunker and found a member of Andrei's team and Matt, since it was nearly blind luck that they found him.

  Matt was strapped to a chair and bloodied, his eye swollen shut, his head hanging low and blood dripping out of his mouth, but it was Matt, for sure. He was soaked with sweat, the heat of the desert dehydrating him to his weakest point. Matt was nearly unconscious, and he wasn't so sure what was happening around him, since he had no reason to think that Alissa and Captain Humboldt would be standing next to each other, saving him in a bunker in the California Badlands.

  "Matt, Matt can you hear me? It's me, Alissa. You're just fine, I'm here, it's okay." Alissa spoke, adrenaline surging through every fiber in her body.

  "What, really?" He asked through bloodied teeth. "They told me you were dead."

  "They told me the same thing and separated us all. Andrei was working with the national boss of all the task forces just like ours across the country. It was corrupt, Matt, and we got too close. But they're not getting away this time. We've got them down, and I've got you, babe." Alissa explained, cutting him free from the chair. The NYPD was taking care of the rest, but the Captain stayed behind.

  "Captain?" Matt asked, his vision a bit blurred.

  "Yes, son?" Captain Humboldt asked, approaching Matt.

  "It's good to see you again, Captain. You know, I miss you sometimes." Matt laughed.

  "I never thought I'd hear those words come out of your mouth! You were my best detective, but boy, were you a stubborn ass." The captain laughed.

  "That sounds about right." Matt confirmed.

  "Not much has changed, you know." Alissa smiled.

  "I'm sure it hasn't. Now, let's get you out of here, son, and find the rest of your team."

  All they had to do now was find Shane, Vicki and Scarlet. Once they had Matt's captor in custody, they were able to extract some more information about where they might be, but it was still a shot in the dark for finding them. Though, they got strong intel that Shane was being held in the jungle in Japan, and he was taken right there from Hawai'i. The flight from California to Japan would take them over ten hours, and they weren't sure if Shane had that long. They had to hope so, since it's all they had. They had to make an even tougher decision, since Matt's captor gave away the location of Scarlet and Vicki, who were being held at the same abandoned factory in New Orleans, and that was only a four-hour flight. They only had so many resources and had to go in two separate directions. Would they risk Shane's life so they could save Vicki and Scarlet's since they were closer? What were they supposed to do?

  Matt, Alissa and Captain Humboldt walked out of the bunker into the harsh afternoon lighting, the hot desert winds blowing their hair and their clothes. Matt hadn't seen the light of day since he was kidnapped, and was used to the darkness at that point. He squinted shut the eye that wasn't already swollen, and they hobbled through the desert to the helicopter. The decision was made that they would go to New Orleans first to save Scarlet and Vicki, and then double back and get Shane. It wasn't idea, but they were being pulled in two opposite directions and had to pick one. Matt was just so incredibly grateful that Alissa was alive and with him.

  "They lied to us, Alissa."

  "I know. They were working with Andrei."

  "How on earth did you escape?" He asked.

  "I stole the code to the storage room door to get my badge, I asked a lot of questions, told a few lies that I was just heading out for a smoke, took a cab right to your old precinct and found the captain, and the rest is history. We worked straight through the day until we found out where you could be. Then, I figured once we found you, we'd be able to find the others. The game was over, Andrei must have known that. People are finally being arrested for these crimes, Matt. It's really, finally over."

  "Thank god. I know I'm getting tired of this chase." Matt responded.

  "Yeah, me too." Alissa responded, feeling Matt's tiredness deep in her soul. He was never one to hide his emotions, he broadcast them like a radio, the signal clear as day. Matt was ready for a break. They all were, the twists and turns of their investigation into Andrei Petrovitch's operation took them down places they never thought they'd go. The team had a lot of heart, but they were wearing thin. Their bones shook and their muscles ached, and they've bled themselves nearly dry for justice, and were so close they could taste it. Their fire was burning out, but it wasn't extinguished yet. They had to keep fighting, keep pushing until the end.

  Their next stop was in New Orleans, and when their helicopter touched down, Alissa didn't like the feeling she got when she stepped on solid ground. She was covered in goosebumps; she thought it was all too relevant that the town was known for spirits, voodoo and death. They traveled past a graveyard with high Victorian walls, and it was a bad omen that lingered with Alissa. She couldn't shake off the chills, and hoped it wasn't too late for Vicki and Scarlet.

  They managed to find Vicki and Scarlet's location and they stormed in the abandoned factory, hearing distant thuds and yelps that felt ghostly. Matt was in no condition to fight, but he insisted on helping rescue his teammates. He always had a little bit of fight left in him, even when he thought it was all gone, there was always an extra push in the reserves. He would do everything he could to help, he couldn't just sit around and watch.

  Though, as they approached closer, they realized the yelps they were hearing weren't coming from the girls. They soon found out that Scarlet and Alissa had been tied back to back and were interrogated and fed lies, but they found out the ruse quickly and escaped. When Alissa, Matt and the NYPD arrived, Scarlet and Vicki were busy taking down Andrei's men. They weren't in great condition, but Andrei's henchmen were in much worse shape. Those girls had a lot of will in them and didn't know if anyone was coming for them, so they saved themselves instead.

  "Matt! Alissa! We knew you weren't dead!" Vicki exclaimed.

  "We could use some help over here, though." Scarlet responded, stabbing one of Andrei's men in the leg with his own knife, blood splattered across her face.

  "I mean, I think you guys have it pretty under control." Matt responded jokingly, but they helped finish out the fight. The NYPD read Andrei's henchmen their rights and escorted them out, adding them to the list of Andrei's entourage that they had taken down. Now, they only had Shane to find, and he was with Andrei and Vanessa himself.

  The flight out to find Shane was nerve-wracking. Their team reconnaissance was almost complete, but Shane was the furthest away. They had to double back to get to Japan and a lot could happen in 14 hours that they were well aware of. Plus, they only knew he was being held captive in the jungle, and there was a lot of ground to cover, a lot of area to search. Every minute was precious, but it was hard to hold on to hope when they knew their chances were not good. Alissa tried to reason with herself, if rescuing three of her team members was good enough instead of getting all four. Was it even possible to get them all? Would they have to sacrifice Shane's life?

  Would he ever forgive them if he died and they were too late?

  The thought made Alissa's stomach churn. They were so close to freedom, they were so close to closing the case for good, but the amount of disappointment and guilt she'd have to carry on her shoulders if Shane didn't make it was debilitating. The possibility of that happening was absolutely crushing.

  Alissa's hands never stopped shaking.

  Meanwhile, in the jungles of Japan, Shane was chained down to a chair in a storage container, facing off against Andrei and Vanessa. Andrei's sleeves of his three-piece suit were rolled up to his elbows, the fabric stained with blood. His suit jacket was on the ground at the opposite en
d of the container, since of course that couldn't get stained with blood.

  "Andrei, why are you doing this?" Shane asked, his voice strained. He wasn't in any pain, he had become numb to it a long time ago.

  "Commander, I already told you this. I gave you options. Either you work for me and walk out of this alive, or I kill you, so you never have the chance to take me down." Andrei repeated. Vanessa stood by, twirling the knife in between her fingers with a bloodthirsty look in her eyes. It wasn't enough for her that Shane was already down, but she had to keep beating the dead horse. She wouldn't be satisfied until all of Shane's blood had been spilled.

  "And I told you that it's not going to happen. You're going to be taken down. I'll never join you or your operation. What could you possibly want from me? What value do I have to you? I can't benefit you, I know all your weaknesses, I know the ins and outs of your corruption."

  "Commander, it seems to me like you're just giving me more reasons to kill you." The mafia boss sneered and turned to Vanessa. "If that's what you want, she can make that happen."

  "Are you finally calling it quits, Commander? Has your fight run out? Did you expect to be rescued by your little friends by now? They're all across the country, they're not coming for you. But, if a slaughter is what you want, we can give you a slaughter." Vanessa taunted.

  "What do you want with my team, anyway?"

  "Mm, nothing much. It was just fun stripping them away from you to see who you really are, Commander, when it's just us. You don't have anyone around to protect. I wanted to see what it would take to make you break." Andrei answered.

  "Well, you're going to have to try harder than that." Shane answered.

  He was nearly out of fight. He was hanging on his last threads, but he wasn't going to give up until those were broken, too. If he had to sacrifice himself to save his team, if Andrei was telling the truth about them, then he would. If Andrei only wanted him and the rest of them could go free, he wouldn't think twice about it. Of course, he thought about Vicki and Matt and Alissa and Scarlet, they had never once left his mind. He would be leaving them behind, but if they had a chance to live, if that was the only think keeping them from being free, he'd give them his last breath. And he was just about close to doing so.