CHAPTER 28: TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

T INA MOVED ALONG the walkway and spared one last glance to the darkened hallway where Mariel remained, still warily unsure about leaving her there and the plan they had made. The Tool and Dye building held endless possibilities of danger and splitting up seemed to increase the odds that the scientist might confront that danger alone. And as much as she didn't like that idea, the detective also realized that trying to hold Mariel's hand every time the going got tough was not only impossible, but also very patronizing. They were both equal partners in this and both willing to take the same chances, regardless of the danger. The young doctor was not a delicate flower she could hide away while she went off and did all the dirty work. She respected her more than that and Mariel didn't deserve to be coddled. Her FBI training had prepared her for this and she had willingly chosen to continue. Tina had to face it, at this particular juncture, they were going to have to trust and rely on each other not only to get their respective missions accomplished, but also to keep themselves safe. After all, that was what this whole case was about: They were partnered together and now it was time to put their trust in the other on the line.

Tina narrowed her eyes and continued forward, looking for any movement down below. Approaching the blue light coming from the glassed in control room, she crouched down to the side of it. The walkway continued in front of the large window with the door to the room at the other end near a set of steps leading down into the cargo bay below. From where she stopped, she could see two men standing down on the floor near the huge cargo doors, a black Porsche parked just inside. They were leaning against the door with baseball bats in their hands.

Slowly, she leaned up, peering cautiously in the very corner of the control room window. Inside, Adam and Bud sat on two metal folding chairs, their eyes glued to the small television screen. Looking back behind her and seeing nothing in the darkness, she glanced down at the guards by the door. If she could sneak below the large window and surprise the two inside the room, she'd have enough time to take care of them before the two men below heard the commotion and came upstairs. That should be enough to bring Cirra out of her hiding place and enough for Mariel to go unnoticed at the other end of the building. With easy stealth, the detective started her move. Ducking under the window, Tina lightly ran, keeping to the side of the wall just out of sight of the men below and in the room. Once to the other side, she grinned to herself before her booted foot smashed into the door, swinging it open before she rushed the room.

* * *

Cirra watched from her perch high above the factory floor, a smile coming to her lips when she first saw Tina moving towards the control room on the walkway. Oh, this was just too easy! She had planned it all so well and it was going splendidly. Settled on a metal platform suspended a level above the catwalks high up into the rafters of the building, Cirra felt like she was playing a real life game of chess, moving her pieces here and there, slowly bringing Tina Amphipoli closer to her. She told her men to engage Tina but not to kill her. The blond wanted to see for herself whether her old friend had lost any of her supposed skills. Ha! That was a joke. The Tina she remembered was nothing but a heartless street punk and the stories she heard about her now were laughable. Cirra ran her hand through her hair, pulling at the white blond strands roughly as she looked on, licking her lips, she was barely able to contain herself before they would finally meet. Face to face.

* * *

Caitlyn got up, warily looking over at Tara who was sulking as she sat as far away from them as possible, her back to the wall just next to the metal door. All she did was glare back at Caitlyn. How rude. Making her way over to the girl in the corner, Caitlyn nudged her a little bit to make sure she was ok. Valerie looked up at her with scared eyes, her body rebelling against its addiction. All she could do was blink at the young girl.

"It'll be alright. Hang in there, someone will get us out."

Valerie took a shuddering breath and let her head rest back down on her forearms, shaking steadily as she tried to simply survive this nightmare. Caitlyn shook her head, having seen the signs of withdraw before, friends at school even at her age. Walking over to the cot, she sat down gently on the edge, her hands still bound behind her back. The girl was facing the wall on her side, murmuring a little in her stupor. As best she could, Caitlyn let her hand touch gently against the girl's back. At the slight touch, Lisa came to just a bit, lifting her head and turning it up to look at the young blond behind her. Slurring, she tried to focus on the face but only saw the pale blond hair. Blond blond blond...

"Wha...who is that? M.m.."

Caitlyn smiled, trying to comfort this dark haired girl who, it seemed, was drugged and left to await the same fate as she. With a soft voice, she soothed down to Lisa.

"I'm a friend. Help is on the way. We'll be out of here soon, I promise."

Lisa shut her eyes and smiled, nodding. She liked the sound of this girl's voice and she was so blond. So like her sister...and then she drifted off in that thought, her feet carrying her trudgingly through row after row after row of corn before she looked down and saw footprints. And in her dreaming, she followed them, knowing they would lead to Mariel.

* * *

Mariel took a deep breath and as the men got to the top of the stairs, she went on the offensive, jumping forward and swinging the nightstick at one of the man's knees before jumping back into the darkened hallway. Howling in pain, he went down briefly before the other leather clad man realized what was happening and readied himself. Surging forward, he grasped into the darkness, his hands falling on leather as he pulled forward. The scientist easily spun to the side, freeing one arm from the jacket before ducking under and releasing her other arm. Low to the ground, she kicked out, connecting with the man's left leg as he clutched empty leather. Stumbling back, the man threw down the jacket and caught up with his buddy, both of them deciding to attack what they could barely see in the dim light: a short blond woman in black leather pants and a black bra, holding on to a nightstick with an expert grip as she smirked at them, her dark golden eyebrow raising in a challenge.

"Come on...you're not afraid of a girl now are you, boys?"

* * *

Adam and Bud were startled, throwing their chairs back as they quickly tried to stand. Reaching for a shotgun on the control table, Adam lunged. With a laugh, Tina ran and jumped on the table with ease, kicking forcefully against the side of his face and reaching down for the gun. With a growl, Adam rushed forward and tried to grab the detective's legs. Tina sidestepped him while keeping her eye on Bud who was reaching for a long metal pipe. Using the gun like a staff, she spun around before dipping down and cracking the wood butt against the side of Adam's head, his limp body slumping to the ground.

"Aww...what's the matter? Headache tonight, honey?"

Tina smirked as her voice taunted the unconscious man before Bud yelled out, seeing his lover's head bleeding profusely.

"You fucking bitch!"

And he ran at her, jumping up on the table himself until they both stood facing each other on the five foot wide surface, sidestepping various knobs and buttons as they prepared to do battle. He was as tall as Tina, his eyes narrowed in rage at her as his hands gripped the metal pipe tightly. With a smile, the detective leveled the shotgun at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you really want a hole in you?"

Bud eased a step forward before raising his hands up in surrender. If his right eye hadn't been twitching, Tina might have believed him. As it were, he feigned right with the pipe before he brought the left end around, smashing it against the barrel of the gun, crushing the metal in and rendering it useless to fire. He chuckled darkly as she looked down at the gun.

"Now what are you gonna do, you cunt?"

Looking up, she raised an eyebrow at him, tossing the shotgun to the control room floor with a clatter. Letting a dark menacing look fill her eyes, she smiled at him.

"Do you know what happened to the last guy who called me that?"

A bit perplexed by her amused tone of voice and its total contrast with the look in her eye, Bud shifted, still holding the long pipe firmly in his two hands. Tina slowly raised her hand to head, fashioning her fingers into a pretend gun as she held it to her temple, pulling the pretend trigger. His eyes followed her hand which was a mistake that would take him to his grave.

With lightning sped, Tina's motorcycle boot shot up and out, connecting solidly with the bulge in his leather pants, knocking the air from him in a high-pitched gasp as he involuntarily bent over. Wrenching the pipe roughly from his hands, Tina swung solidly, landing a vicious blow to the right side of his head, the force and momentum of it throwing his body through the window. Shattering the glass, Bud plunged through and fell the twenty feet to the factory floor, landing with a thudding crunch on the hood of Cirra's Porsche. Dead.

* * *

Mariel came forward, stepping gracefully into the dim light. Behind the two men were the steps they had just climbed. Grinning at them, she casually swung the nightstick at her side. Well, she'd give them a chance and at least try out her detective's field rules. Modified a bit of course. She had no intention of hightailing it out of here without a fight. Conversationally, she spoke.

"So, how bout them Cubbies? I hear they suck..."

The two men looked at her and then at each other, not quite knowing what to do. Their decision was made for them as Mariel spun on her heel, executing a roundhouse kick that landed in the gut of the skinnier of the two men, a slight crack indicating a broken rib. Still having the advantage of offense, the scientist thrust out the nightstick, connecting with the other man's thick neck. With a growl he reached out and grabbed the nightstick, trying to tug it and Mariel towards him with a rough pull.

"Now I've got you!"

He smirked as her smaller body was pulled closer to him as his partner, still in pain over his broken rib but now angry was, closing in behind her. Suddenly, they all heard the loud sound of glass shattering echo through the factory down near the cargo area. With a grin, Mariel took it for what it was: an opportunity. She murmured to herself while grabbing the nightstick with her other hand.

"Tina, I'm gonna take that as your signal, babe."

With a twisting move, she spun around quickly, the stick going over her head as the man who was holding it was turned with her movement until their backs were to each other and they held on to the stick above their heads. With a smile, she winked at the other man with the broken rib in front of her as she felt the predictable response by the man behind her. Pulling, he yanked the stick over his head and Mariel pushed herself up against his back, jumping. While being flipped over the man's back, the scientist kicked out, her boots delivering a vicious hit to the skinny man's face, knocking him back as she sailed effortlessly over and landed with agility on her feet. Surprised, the guy who held the nightstick was wide eyed before she yanked the stick from his grasp and dropped to one knee, bringing the solid wood against his kneecap with shattering force. Howling, he was disabled and collapsed to the ground in pain, the shock of his broken knee twisting on his weight caused him to black out instantly.

"Sorry about that."

Mariel rose to her feet and spoke down at the guy with a sympathetic shake of her head before she saw a bulky form fly through the air at her, the other man's weight landing squarely against her and driving her to the ground. The cold cement was a bit of a shock to her bare back but she didn't have time to think as the thug swatted at her face, barely grazing her chin with the back of his hand as he pressed further into her. Once there, he tried to pin the scientist as they rolled near the steep stairs, his hands struggling to contain her arms. His face was inches from hers as he narrowed his eyes down at her in rage, his breath hot against her face.

"Bitch, you're gonna pay for the broken rib."

Still holding the nightstick pressed between their chests, Mariel gritted her teeth, her green eyes narrowing as the rest of her body relaxed into the struggle, her training in hand to hand combat kicking in. She knew that she was at a disadvantage size-wise and in strength so she wasn't going to be able to push him off her with her hands. Feeling the man move to his knees over her as he reached out to grab her hair, Mariel found the opening she was looking for. With his withdraw from her lower body, she was able to bend her knees and quickly spring her legs out, leveraging the man away from her with a powerful thrust of her compactly muscled legs. At the same time, she brought the nightstick to his elbow, smashing it against the bone as he was thrown backwards. His arm was at a grotesque angle as he reeled back on his haunches, crying out in pain before he lost his balance, tumbling backwards down the metal stairs until he landed at the bottom of the steps in a heap. Unconscious.

* * *

Tina looked down at Bud's crumpled body before she saw the two guards from the cargo bay racing up the stairs with their baseball bats. Jumping through the window and out of the control room, the detective landed on the walkway before she sauntered forward to greet the men. She had a feral smile on her face as she threw down the pipe she was still holding and used her hands to signal them forward, urging them to bring it on. Tina had to admit this part of the job was fun for her and the rush of the fight was fully coursing through her high performance body like a drug buzz.

"You want a piece of me, hmm?"

And with that, she ducked as a whirling knife flew past her head, the man who threw it smiling back at her as they both moved forward, bats held casually at their sides. He laughed as he spoke.

"No, we don't want just a piece, we want the whole package, gorgeous."

Tina raised an eyebrow and smirked at them, her body readying itself for battle. With a spring in her step, she started to back up before she ran and jumped unexpectedly between them, her hands reaching up and grasping on each side of their shoulders and using that to leverage her way up and between them, pushing them both off to the side as she landed behind them.

"You can't handle this package, boys."

Kicking out, she crunched her boot into the knife-thrower's back, knocking him so that he was leaning precariously over the side railing of the walkway. The other man swung his bat at her head as she was turned. At the last minute, Tina spun around and reached up, catching the thick wood in her firm grip, holding it effortlessly. He looked at her startled, feeling her pull the bat. With both hands, he tried to pull back towards him. The detective leveled a dazzling smile at him as she purred.

"You want it?"

She paused as she felt him straining to pull back on the bat. Still smiling, she cocked her head to the side a little and continued.

"You got it!"

And with that, she let go of the wood, watching as it came back at the man with the force of his pull and smashed into his face, breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious. She didn't have time before she felt the other man rush up behind her and jump on her back, wrapping his thick arms around her neck, squeezing. That was a mistake. Big Mistake. Tina was pissed now.

With a deadly growl, she spun around and backed up with force, shoving him into the wall by the control room door. The man groaned but hung on, his muscled leather arm pulling tighter against the detective. Another body slam to the wall did nothing to dislodge him and she was beginning to feel the pressure of his arm.

Her eyes looked around the semi-dark factory, seeing a catwalk just off the stairs they were near, crossing over the cargo bay below. Hanging down about halfway across the metal walk were a series of heavy linked chains, obviously used to lower and raise equipment from the floor and move it around the building. They were attached to a winch on a moveable tract that was welded to part of the steel girders above them.

Staggering just slightly with his weight on her back, she moved out on the catwalk as she felt a punch delivered to the side of her head. That only pissed her off more and made her more determined. Once in the middle of the walk, she reached up grabbed one of the thick chains, her hand clasping it with renewed strength. The man on her was making grunting noises next to her head as he pulled against her neck with all his might, trying to strangle the life out of her or break her neck, whichever came first. Fuck Cirra's orders.

Then he felt himself lifted along with Tina as she pulled herself up on the chain, both hands holding tight. Once they were slightly off the ground, she swung out and away from the walk, the man's eyes suddenly wide not only from the almost superhuman effort required for her to do this, but also from the distance they were above the cold cement factory floor below, Bud's bloody body laying sprawled across the hood of Cirra's Porsche making him realize that this was serious. Very serious.

He tried to wrap his legs around hers as they hung swinging in space but she was kicking out, pulling them up a little higher on the chain. With a determined last momentum push, Tina swung over and grabbed another hanging chain, the thick links looped where she held and both ends attached up above to the winch. Holding on to the chain that supported their weight with one arm, the detective gritted her teeth and growled, maneuvering quickly with her other hand to wrap the looped chain once and then twice around the neck of the man dangling from her body. Once he realized what was happening it was too late as he tried to reach up and grab the chains. Her elbow slammed back into his gut, knocking the wind out of him and dislodging him as he coughed out. His body weight and gravity did the rest as his neck snapped and he hung limply in the air, swinging loosely.

Tina shook her head to clear the hair from her eyes, the exertion of the fight dampening her brow. With one last look at the hapless henchman, the detective grabbed the chain she was holding on with both hands and swung, bringing her body back over the metal catwalk as she let go, landing neatly on the walk. Taking a deep breath, she let her head fall back as she collected herself for a moment and then turned, trying to look down towards the other end of the factory, hoping that Mariel was holding her own and hadn't encountered too many problems. Seeing no movements or any other attackers below her or on the second level, Tina sent a silent wish for the young doctor's safety. Now, it was only a matter of finding....Her. Calling out and hearing her voice echo, she narrowed her eyes and looked around for any sign of the blond.

"Cirra..."

* * *

Mariel made her way down the stairs, jogging along through the factory and hearing the commotion of Tina fighting up above her. The scientist couldn't see anything from where she was, the large machinery on the floor making it hard to discern anything higher. She prayed to God that the detective would be alright. Every ounce of her wanted to run up there and just see for herself or help or anything, but she knew she had to find Caitlyn while the attention was on Tina. Who knew how many others there might be stationed throughout. She did have to say though, that she was quite pleased with her efforts against those two guys. Finally, she was field-tested and ready to go.

Moving along through the maze of equipment, she kept her eye out for any doors that might be the supply room. In the relative dark, it was hard to see any color, but about twenty yards before she got to the cargo bay area, she spotted a dark hallway off to the left. Quickly, she jogged down it, cautious of anyone hiding there but encountering no one. At the very end, she saw a thick door with a dirty window on it, a very dim light coming from it. Slowing down, she walked carefully to it, looking back behind her, green eyes darting and wary. Turning back to the door, she leaned up on her tiptoes, peering through it.

Inside, she could see Caitlyn, safe it seemed. A wave of relief shot through her. Glancing around, she saw a form huddled in the corner, shaking. Caitlyn was sitting perched on a cot, trying to comfort the person laying on it, curled up. It appeared to be a girl. Mariel couldn't see anyone else in the room. Looking down, she saw the door handle and just under it, a set of keys were still in the lock, dangling. That was odd. Looking to the sides, the scientist checked again to see if anyone was around to ambush her but still no one. Peering up in the window, she decided it was now or never. Grasping the keys, Mariel Potidean unlocked the door, feeling ready to face whatever lay inside that room.

* * *

The Tool and Dye factory was eerily silent, no sound at all as Tina stood on the catwalk after she had called out to Cirra. Her eyes searched below in the tangle of haunting machinery, the tool presses and dye vats all having seen their last work years ago. Walking cautiously forward, the detective made her way, crossing over the cargo bay below before coming to the other side, platforms and other crosswalks branching off in this darkened area. On the floor below, row upon row of metal equipment jutted out in odd angles, various parts and levers and rods all making it a virtual deathtrap below her. She paused, her boot steps the only sound she heard coming to a stop.

Until she heard the faint sound of....what was that? Clapping?

As it got louder, Tina realized that indeed, it was the sound of someone clapping their hands high above her. The harsh slap of flesh against flesh echoed in the building, reverberating off the metal below and the dirty windows high above. A flash of light appeared, almost like a spotlight. And there, above her ten yards away and standing in the middle of a ten foot by ten foot metal platform suspended above the catwalks, was Cirra. And she was clapping. Loudly. Was she smiling too?

And then she stopped. The factory was quiet again until the blond cocked her head to the side and her smile grew even wider. Tina could see her brilliant white teeth from where she stood, the light shining directly on the platform. That's when the detective heard what sounded like a note of mocking pride and admiration in Cirra's voice, her words floating down to where Tina stood.

"You're good, Tina. Almost as good as me. This should be fun, hmm?"

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 465