The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most [7/8- PG13]
Title: The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most [7/8]
Rating: PG13
Fandom: CSI:NY/CSI:Miami/CSI:NO
Characters/Pairings: Drew Hagen (OC), Samantha Hagen (OC), Miranda Andrews (OC), Jason Andrews (OC), Anya Jakes-Hagen (OC), Don Flack, Jr., Mac Taylor, Danny Messer, Stella Bonaserra, Adam Ross. Drew/Anya (breif), Drew/Miranda (mentioned), Flack/Sam, Jason/Sam (mentioned), Jason/Miranda.
Seasons/Spoilers: AU after S3 of CSI:Miami, AU after S4 of CSI:NY
Summary: After missing his chance to catch a serial killer in New Orleans, Drew is given a second chance in New York, when the killer makes a reappearance. Only this time the stakes are higher when the killer when Drew's daughter and her mother are put in danger.
Author's Notes: This hasn't been read by a beta. It originally was for au-bigbang, but some drama came up with my beta and I didn't get a chance to get it posted by the due date. Despite that, I'm very happy with the way this came out and extremely proud, as it's the longest worded (finished) fic I've ever written.
Later in the afternoon, once things had considerably calmed down and Jason has been informed of everything that they knew and even what they didn't, Mac and Stella were in his office talking about the case that she and Hawkes had been working on. The mayor had called twice wanting to know where the report for it was and the Police Commissioner had called at least three times.
Mac was about to ask Stella if there was anything that he could give them, just to shut them up when Adam came bursting into the room.
"What is it, Adam?" Mac asked, annoyed that the tech had come in the way he ha.
"Sample- soil- found-" Adam huffed. He had ran all the way form his lab to Mac's office.
"ADAM!" Stella grabbed his shoulders and gave him a light shake. "Calm down."
Adam took a deep breath to calm himself, before he spoke again. "I know what a soil sample you collected from Miranda's car is."
Mac sat up straight in his chair. "What is it?"
"It's dirt."
"That doesn't help us, Adam." Mac said. "We already knew that it was dirt."
"But t's a special kind of dirt," Adam added.
"What special kind of dirt?" Stella asked.
"It's mixed with very fine volcano ash, that's supposed to help exotic plants grow better. There's only one place in the county you can find this particular mix of dirt."
"Where?" Mac asked.
"New Jersey." Adam said. "There's a green house there that used to use this particular type of soil to help exotic plants that would normally grow in tropical conditions. It was a research facility that botanists would use when they couldn't go to the places the plants actually grow, but was shut down when the foundation lost its funding earlier in the year."
"Good work Adam!" Stella said as she hugged him.
Adam blushed.
Mac immediately got on the phone with the DA to get a warrant to search the facility. Once the DA assured him that a warrant would be deiever to the property by the time Mac and his team arrived, he sent Adam to go find Flack, Samantha, Hawkes, Danny and Lindsay and bring them to his office.
When everyone arrived, Mac set about filling them in and forming a plan. He would take a team that included Danny, Lindsay, Adam and Hawkes to New Jersey, while Stella stayed behind to run the labs and Sam and Flack stayed behind to make sure that Jason and Drew were alright and it keep them informed if anything new developed.
It was a plan and lead and right now that's all they had.
x x x
Before he left the labs, Drew stopped by Samantha's office to "borrow" her car keys. He wanted to get away and think for a while, and that would be hard if he had to rely on Sam or Flack for a ride. Plus he just didn't feel like bothering Samantha with anything right then.
He had been driving around town for a little over an hour, when his phone started to ring. As he checked the caller ID, he realized it was a New York area code, but it wasn't a number he recognized. Hope quickly began to build up and as he flipped open his phone and put it to his ear.
"Miranda? Talia?" Silence. "Hello? Talia, baby is that you? Miranda?" More silence. "Fucking answer me, someone! HELLO?"
"Language, Detective Hagen."
The voice made Drew's heart feel like it had just been ripped out of his chest again and he quickly pulled over. "Bennett."
"You still remember my voice after all these years, I'm touched," Maxwell Bennett said, smug as ever. Drew could practically see the smirk on his face.
"Where is my family?"
"Safe. For now."
"I want proof. Let me speak to one of them, now!"
"You're not in the place to be making demands, Detective Hagen. But don't worry, you have my word that they're fine."
"A murderer's word doesn't mean shit to me!"
"Language, Detective. Must I keep reminding you?"
"Let me speak to my daughter you fucking murdering bastard."
"Keep that up and you won't ever seen your Goddamn daughter or her mother again, do you hear me?" The smugness was gone from Bennett's voice and it was replaced with anger.
"I'm sorry," Drew said, defeated.
"That's better." Bennett was back to being smug. "I'm going to text you the address to where we are. Be there in thirty minutes, no more, no less. I don't feel the need to get into that old cliche of come alone, because I know you're too smart for that. You'll probably call Detective Taylor after this and tell him where you're headed, which is fine by me."
Drew sensed that something was going on. "What are you planning, Bennett?"
"Me? Planning something?" he laughed. "Well if you must know, I've already planned it. In fact, it should already be in motion as we speak. You see, I left a little something behind in your ex's car; a small trace sample of soil that will lead Mac Taylor and his team far, far away from here. So even if you do call Detective Taylor and let him know what's going on, by the time he even made it to the warehouse it would be too late."
"Just leave everyone out of this, Bennett and take me! Let my daughter and her mother go and don't hurt my friends and you can do whatever the hell you want with me!" Drew pleaded.
Bennett just laughed again. "It's too late for that, Detective Hagen. Now here is the address. Remember, thirty minutes."
There was a beep, indicating that Drew had a text message and then a second later, the line went dead. Quickly as he could, despite his shaking hands, Drew opened up the messages folder to get the address. He then forwarded it to Mac, before he called him. There was always a chance that Bennett had been lying about the trace sample and that Mac was still at the labs. If he was, maybe they had a chance of formulating a plan and getting Miranda and Talia out safely.
After about four or so rings, the line clicked over. "Drew?" Mac answered.
"Did you get the text?"
Mac nodded on his end. "Don't suppose I need to ask what it's for." he said.
"Bennett just called. He has Miranda and Talia at that address. He wants me to be there in half an hour. Can you meet me?"
"We're in New Jersey."
"Goddamnit! Bennett was telling the truth after all, shit!"
"Truth about what?" Mac asked.
"You're chasing a soil sample, right?"
"How did you-" Mac started to ask how he knew, but Drew cut him off mid-sentence.
"Bennett said he planted it to get everyone out of the area so he could out of the area, so he could get me alone."
"Not everyone is here." Mac said.
"What?"
"I left Stella in charge of the labs. Your cousin and Flack are still there too, along with Agent Andrews. Adam is there as well."
"Call them and let them know what's going on. I'm going to the warehouse." Drew said, as he put the car back itno drive and pulled out into traffic.
"It's too dangerous Drew, it could be a trap."
"I have to take that chance, Mac. We're talking about my family."
"At least wait until you have backup."
"I can't. Bennett said I had to be there in half an hour, exactly. It'll take me at least twenty-five minutes to get to the warehouse and that's with sirens. I can't wait any longer, Mac."
Mac knew that it was no use in trying to change Drew's mind. If it were him in the situation, he would've gone in alone as well. "I'll let everyone know. Be careful."
Drew nodded. "You too Mac."
- - -
"I'm going to kill him!" Samantha shouted.
She, Flack and Jason had been sitting in her and Lindsay's office talking, when Stella came in and explained the situation, having just gotten off the phone with Mac.
"He's doing what he thinks is best," Flack said.
"He's being an emotional dumb-ass is what he's doing!"
"Sam..." Flack began, but he was quickly cut off.
"Don't 'Sam', me Don!" Samantha turned on her boyfriend. "Do you realize that I can count on two hands the number of family members I have left in this world? If Drew goes in there alone and something happens to him, Miranda and Talia, more than half my living family will be gone! So don't you dare 'Sam' me! I have a right to freak out about this, so you just shut up and let me freak out, okay? Because if I don't freak out and yell, I'm going to freak out and start crying and I really don't want to cry at work!"
Out of no where, arms wrapped around Sam's waist and a body pressed against her from behind. She turned he head to see Jason, hugging her from behind.
"You're right," he said. "You get to freak out because this is a big fucking deal. Drew is like your substitute brother, which in itself is a big fucking deal. And Miranda is like your sister and the fact that you let Talia call you "Sammy" is proof enough of how much you really love her. So yes, you get to freak out, I'm not going to deny you that right. But can you please, for our family's sake, wait until after we get them back to lose your shit?"
Samantha was quite for a few moments, before she nodded once. Jason let her go and took a step back. "Thank you," he said.
"Are you alright?" Flack asked his girlfriend.
"No," she replied with a shake of her head. "But Jason is right. I can't freak out now while they're still out there. Once we have them back, safe and sound, then I'll completely lose it."
A look passed across Flack's face as he realized that meant that he'd have to deal with the brunt of her freaking out. Which, as a loving boyfriend he was entirely ready to do, but that still didn't mean he was looking forward to it.
Sam ignored the look and turned to face Stella, who had been quietly standing by the door, watching the commotion. "What's the plan?"
"Organize S.W.A.T and get as many officers and medical personeel there as we can." She said.
"That's going to take time," Flack said. "I've rolled with S.W.A.T. before and they don't like going into a place without any information on it first, even if a cop's family is in danger. They're going to want to plan and get as much knowledge of the area as they possibly can before they do anything."
"Adam and I will take care of that," Jason said. "I've done my fair share of planning assaults, so I know what to do and Adam can pull up 'specs on the computer."
"I'll get as many detectives and uniforms as I can steal," Flack said.
"Call Jess," Stella said. "She should be done with our suspect by now and free to help with this."
Flack nodded.
"What are you going to do?" Sam asked.
"I'll coordinate things with Mac and let him know what's going on," Stella replied. "You?"
Samantha pulled out her gun and popped the clip out, to make sure it was full. "Just point me in the right direction," she said with a very scary look on her face.
x x x
"Ah, here he comes," Bennett grinned.
From outside of the warehouse, Miranda could hear the sounds of tires on gravel. She tried to scream, but Bennett used one hand to cover her mouth, and with the other pointed a gun at her head.
Meanwhile, outside Drew was sitting in the car trying to formulate a plan. He knew that there was no way he could get in and out quietly, Bennett surely had something rigged that would let him know the second he arrived.
He was so lost in thought, that when his phone rang, he literally jumped out of the seat. He was momentarily relieved as he read the caller ID, to see that it was a familar number and not Bennett again telling him he was late or the game had changed.
"What's up, Sam?" he asked, trying to sound as calm as he could.
"We're ten minutes out. Will you wait for us?"
"I can't."
"Why not? We both know it's crazy running in there on your own."
"If it were John in there, would you wait around for backup?" He knew bringing up her brother was a low blow, especially after what had hapened earlier that day, but he also knew it was the only way to make her fully understand his situation.
"No," she said after a few tense moments. "I'd be going in there guns blazing, just like you."
"So don't ask me not to do something that you would too."
Sam sighed. "Just don't get yourself killed okay? You're the only brother I have left."
"Promise."
"Don't make promises you can't keep." And with that, she hung up.
"Is he waiting?" Flack asked once he saw she was off the phone.
Sam shook her head, not looking at him. "No. He's going in alone."
"Why the hell is he doing that when we're so close?"
"He's just doing what we all would do," she said, this time meeting his gaze.
He just nodded once. "Then let's hurry and get there."
- - -
After Drew made sure that his gun was fully loaded, cocked and the safety off, her carefully made his way inside of the warehouse. It didn't take him long to find Bennett, though.He found him and Miranda, in the emptier, more open part of the warehouse. Drew could see that she was relatively unharmed, but her hands were cuffed and she looked absolutely frightened.
"Hello Detective." Bennett grinned. "Put the gun in that oil drum next to you," he ordered.
Without taking his eyes off of Bennett, Drew extended his right arm over the barrel and dropped the gun inside. There was a loud plop as it it the oil and eventually a small thud as it sank to the bottom of the drum.
"cellphone as well. Turn it off first."
Drew reached into his pocket and slowly pulled out his cellphone. He held it up so Bennett could see him hit the on/off button and once it was off, he dropped it into the drum.
"Good. Now get over here." Bennett said, waving the gun from Drew to where they were standing.
Slowly, Drew closed this distance between him, the whole time his eyes locked with Miranda's. He could literally see the fear in her eyes, but there was a glimmer of something else in them. It didn't take him long to realize that that something else was hope. Without a doubt, he knew that she was hopeful that he would get them all out of there safe and sound.
"That's good enough," Bennett said and Drew stopped walking. He was now standing a little less than ten feet away from them.
"Where is my daughter?" Drew asked, trying to remain as clam as possible.
"Oh she's safe, don't worry." Bennett smiled, though it was really more of a smirk than a smile. "I designed a play room in the back just for her. She's probably watching cartoons now."
"TALIA!" Drew shouted.
"She can't hear you, Detective Hagen. The room is soundproofed. She's in her own blissful little world right now."
"Do whatever the fuck you want to do with me, but please-" Tears began to well up in Drew's eyes and he had to swallow hard to fight them back. "Please let my daughter and her mother go."
"I'm not going to hurt your daughter, Detective Hagen."
Drew sighed in relief. "Thank you."
"She's much too old for me and not really my type. But Miranda on the other hand..." Bennett used the hand that had been covering Miranda's mouth to grab by the hair, making her cry out in pain.
"NO!" Without thinking, Drew tried to rush them and grab the gun but Bennett was faster. He quickly threw Miranda to the floor, where she bumped her head on the ground, before he took aim and fired one shot a Drew.
"DREW!" Miranda cried out, as he dropped to the ground, grabbing his leg to try to stop the bleeding.
"Ah, ah, ah, Detective." Bennett said, waving his gun around the room again.
"You son of a bitch!" Miranda yelled. She tried to get up, but her head was hurting and everything felt fuzzy and she couldn't quite get her body to do what her brain was trying to tell it to.
"Move and I put another bullet in him," Bennett hissed.
"Why are you doing this?" Drew asked, through clench teeth.
"Because I can." Bennett said simply. "I'm sorry to say it Detective, but I don't have a motive. You could say I'm out for revenge for you almost catching me, but that's not it. Not really."
"Then why?" Drew asked again.
"I just wanted to let you know that I was still here."
"You should have sent me a post card," Drew said sarcastically.
"To be honest, I thought about it but this seemed like so much more fun. I was bored, you know. My uncle banished me to the family's island and there was nothing to do. Well, there were a few women on the mainland who I saw and took care of, but it was still boring."
Drew didn't need to ask what "took care of" meant. "You killed while you were away, didn't you?"
Bennett smiled that smile again that was really a smirk. "Of course. I tried to stop, really I did. But I just couldn't. Of course no one tried to catch me. They weren't as smart as you were. Which is why I'm here now. Oh when I heard that you had children, I just knew it was a fate."
"How did you know I had children?"
Bennett laughed. "Please detective, you honestly think I wasn't keeping track of you too?"
"Bastard," Drew hissed.
"I would've gone after your sons, but I found out about them after I went through all the trouble to plan this. And besides, their mother isn't really my type. We both know I prefer the blondes." Bennett looked down at Miranda who, at some point during their conversation, had passed out.
Drew looked over at her too and started to panic more. He could see from the distance that her breathing was even, so he knew she was still alive, but she had taken a bad spill and might have a concussion. If that was the case, sleeping wasn't a good idea. He needed to come up with a new plan to get them out of there and quick.
Just then, he had an idea. It was very dangerous, but it could just possibly work. If he played it right.
x x x
At the same time as everything was going on inside, Samantha and her team, along with SWAT were getting set up outside. SWAT had confirmed through heat signatures that there were three people in the building that that they were all too large to be a child. That meant Drew was in there with Miranda and Bennett and Samantha just had to trust him.
As she was talking with the lead SWAT officer about their plan of attack, she noticed that Marty was coming towards them.
"What are you doing here, Marty?" Sam asked.
"I'm here to help," the coroner replied.
"I appreciate it, but this is a job fo us and SWAT." She began to turn away to finish her conversation with SWAT officer, when Marty grabbed her and spun her around.
"Look," he said, a little more angry than he meant to and let go. "Sorry. Just, listen okay?" She nodded. "This son of a bitch has had them for a while now and there's no telling what he's done to them. God forbid they need medical attention and I don't see any SWAT officers with medical bags running around, do you?"
"Okay Marty."
"What?" Marty asked, a little more than shocked.
"You can go in with us," Sam said. "But I've got coniditions."
Marty nodded. "Anything."
"You come in last and stay behind the officers. If anything happens, you hide and get down. A doctor who needs a doctor of their own isn't going to help anyone in this situation okay?"
"Deal," he said with another nod.
"Grab a vest and helmet from the van," she nodded to the van that SWAT had arrived in.
"Okay," Marty said and ran off.
"Are you sure it's okay to let him come in?" The SWAT officer asked.
Sam nodded, watching Marty get suited up. "He's right. If any of them need a doctor, I don't want to have to wait to get them seen by someone."
The officer shrugged. "You're in charge." He said, before he left to go talk to some of his SWAT team members.
"Hey," Jason said coming up to Sam.
"Hey," she replied.
"What's Marty doing putting on a bullet proof vest?" he asked.
"He's coming in with us." Jason opened his mouth to say something, but Samatha held up a hand before he could. "I know what you're going to say and the answer is yes, I think it's a good idea."
"Actually I was just going to agree with you," he said.
"Really?" she asked, a little shocked.
He nodded once. "We don't know what's going on in there," he said, turning to look at the warehouse as he spoke. "For all we know the time it takes the paramedics to get inside, it could be too late." He turned to his ex-girlfriend. "So, I think it's a good idea."
Sam nodded. "Glad we're on the same page."
Flack, Stella, Angell and Marty then came over to them.
"Are we ready?" Stella asked.
Sam nodded again. "We are."
"So what are we waiting for?" Angell asked.
"We're waiting on Drew," she replied.
"Drew?" Flack repeated.
"We are going to give him a few more minutes. If we don't hear anything from him in fifteen minutes, we're going in after him."
"Sam, are you sure this is a good idea?" Flack asked.
"Yes," she said, looking him straight in the eye.
"Alright." It was good enough for him, if it was good enough for her.
- - -
Inside the warehouse, Drew was trying to wait for a good time to put his new plan into action, but he was losing blood fast and if he didn't do something soon, it would be too late.
"Do you know why your mother died?" he asked.
Bennett's head quickly turned away from Miranda and to Drew. "Don't you dare bring my mother into this."
"She died because she didn't love you!" Drew said calmly and simply, like it was a random fact that any average Joe on the street knew.
"DON'T FUCKING TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER LIKE THAT!" Bennett shouted.
"She died because she wanted free of you!"
That was all he needed.
Bennett came on him so fast, that he only had a few seconds to get himself ready. When Bennett was close enough, with all the strength that he had in his good leg, Drew put all his weight onto it and pushed up as hard as he could, slamming into Bennett and knocking them both to the floor, causing the gun to go sliding a few feet away. Drew tried to push himself up again, enough so he could hobble across the room to grab the gun, but Bennett grabbed his bad leg with one hand and punched it with another. Drew screamed out in pain and tried to kick Bennett away with his good leg, but just couldn't get the leverage he needed and Bennett managed to pull him back and pinned him down by sitting on his good leg.
"I'll show you what happens to people who talk about my mother," Bennett spat. He wrapped his hands around Drew's neck and began to squeeze...
BANG
Bennett's hands around Drew's neck went limp and then he slumped over on the floor. Drew looked up quickly to see that Miranda was awake and now on her feet, holding the gun that he'd managed to knock away moments earlier.
Drew somehow managed to pull himself too his feet and hobbled over to where Miranda was standing. "Miranda," he whispered. Her eyes were glossy and she couldn't stop shaking. She was in shock. "Miranda." He said again, this time a little more firmly.
She finally tore her gaze away from where Bennett's body laid and turned her eyes to Drew. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it after nothing came out.
"Give me the gun, Miranda." Drew said gently, as he placed his hands over the gun. He wasn't at all surprised when it slipped easily out of Miranda's hands and into his own.
After a few moments, Miranda shook her head.
"Stay here," Drew said gently.
Miranda nodded.
With the gun pointed at Bennett, he slowly made his way over to his body. He tried to kneel, but his leg wouldn't hold and he fell again. Miranda let out a soft sob. "I'm fine," he said, before he placed two fingers on Bennett's neck to check for a pulse. When he was confident there was was none, he turned back to Miranda. "It's going to be okay," Drew said.
- - -
Meanwhile outside, everyone's attention turned to the warehouse, when they heard the gunshot.
"Was that-" Marty began to ask but Sam cut him off.
"We're going in." She yelled to everyone.
Flack and Jess lead the way in, with Samantha and Jason at their back. Stella came next, with S.W.A.T. behind her and then Marty, who was doing as he promised and staying close to the officers. The uniformed officers were last to come in.
When they came upon the open area, they all fanned out, except for Jason who rushed to Miranda's side. When she saw him, she completely lost it and began to sob uncontrollably.
"Where's Talia?" Samantha asked, coming to Drew's side. She was trying her best to be a cop at the moment and not his cousin, but is was hard.
"Bennett said she's in a room in the back," he said. Now that it was over and the adrenaline was fading, he was finally starting to feel the pain in his leg and the blood loss.
Sam nodded, and ordered two of the S.W.A.T officers and Jess to follow her to the back.
"What happened?" Stella asked.
"Miranda shot him." Drew said. Flack and a S.W.A.T. officer came to help him to his feet and Marty knelt in front of him to take a look at his wound. Right away he could tell just from Drew's pale and sweaty apperance that he'd lost a lot of blood and was surprised that he was even concious, let alone standing and talking.
Jason wrapped his arms tighter around his wife and whispered sweet words of soothing into her ear. When she showed no sign of stopping, he turned to Stella. "Can I get her out of here?" The CSI in charge nodded and Jason gently lead Miranda out to one of the awaiting ambulances.
"How's it look, Doc?" Drew asked. He was trying to make light of the situation, but it came out weak.
"You've lost way too much blood but other than that, it looks fine. Threw and threw and I don't think it did any permanent damage." Marty answered. "We need to get you to the hospital soon, and get a transfusion going."
The S.W.A.T. officer and Flack tried to lead Drew outside, but with what little strength he had left, he fought them. "Not before I see my daughter. I have to make sure she's okay."
Stella looked him in the eye and nodded.
"Here she is," Samantha said from behind them. Drew turned to see that Talia was sound asleep in her arms.
The second that it registered that she was unharmed, physically at least, Drew let out a huge sigh of relief and then promptly passed out.
"Get him to an ambulance, now." Stella ordered.
Flack wrapped his arms around Drew's shoulders and the S.W.A.T. officer moved to take his waist. Together they carefully carried him out of the warehouse with Samantha, Talia and Marty following closely behind. Marty insisted that he be the first to check Talia out once they got her into an ambulence. Jess stayed behind to make sure that Stella didn't need anything, before she followed everyone outside.
When the rest of the officers and S.W.A.T. had cleared out, Stella pulled out her cellphone and dialed Mac's number.
"What happened? he asked, instead of saying hello.
"They're safe and sound. Miranda is in shock, Drew has been shot and Talia doesn't appear to have a scratch on her," she replied.
Mac let out a sigh of relief. "I want this scene processed, ASAP."
Stella nodded. "How far out are you?"
"Just got back into the city."
"We're going to the hospital now. I'll have uniforms stay at the warehouse until someone can come process it." Stella said.
"What hospital?" Mac asked.
"Saint Vincent's."
"We'll meet you there."
Rating: PG13
Fandom: CSI:NY/CSI:Miami/CSI:NO
Characters/Pairings: Drew Hagen (OC), Samantha Hagen (OC), Miranda Andrews (OC), Jason Andrews (OC), Anya Jakes-Hagen (OC), Don Flack, Jr., Mac Taylor, Danny Messer, Stella Bonaserra, Adam Ross. Drew/Anya (breif), Drew/Miranda (mentioned), Flack/Sam, Jason/Sam (mentioned), Jason/Miranda.
Seasons/Spoilers: AU after S3 of CSI:Miami, AU after S4 of CSI:NY
Summary: After missing his chance to catch a serial killer in New Orleans, Drew is given a second chance in New York, when the killer makes a reappearance. Only this time the stakes are higher when the killer when Drew's daughter and her mother are put in danger.
Author's Notes: This hasn't been read by a beta. It originally was for au-bigbang, but some drama came up with my beta and I didn't get a chance to get it posted by the due date. Despite that, I'm very happy with the way this came out and extremely proud, as it's the longest worded (finished) fic I've ever written.
Later in the afternoon, once things had considerably calmed down and Jason has been informed of everything that they knew and even what they didn't, Mac and Stella were in his office talking about the case that she and Hawkes had been working on. The mayor had called twice wanting to know where the report for it was and the Police Commissioner had called at least three times.
Mac was about to ask Stella if there was anything that he could give them, just to shut them up when Adam came bursting into the room.
"What is it, Adam?" Mac asked, annoyed that the tech had come in the way he ha.
"Sample- soil- found-" Adam huffed. He had ran all the way form his lab to Mac's office.
"ADAM!" Stella grabbed his shoulders and gave him a light shake. "Calm down."
Adam took a deep breath to calm himself, before he spoke again. "I know what a soil sample you collected from Miranda's car is."
Mac sat up straight in his chair. "What is it?"
"It's dirt."
"That doesn't help us, Adam." Mac said. "We already knew that it was dirt."
"But t's a special kind of dirt," Adam added.
"What special kind of dirt?" Stella asked.
"It's mixed with very fine volcano ash, that's supposed to help exotic plants grow better. There's only one place in the county you can find this particular mix of dirt."
"Where?" Mac asked.
"New Jersey." Adam said. "There's a green house there that used to use this particular type of soil to help exotic plants that would normally grow in tropical conditions. It was a research facility that botanists would use when they couldn't go to the places the plants actually grow, but was shut down when the foundation lost its funding earlier in the year."
"Good work Adam!" Stella said as she hugged him.
Adam blushed.
Mac immediately got on the phone with the DA to get a warrant to search the facility. Once the DA assured him that a warrant would be deiever to the property by the time Mac and his team arrived, he sent Adam to go find Flack, Samantha, Hawkes, Danny and Lindsay and bring them to his office.
When everyone arrived, Mac set about filling them in and forming a plan. He would take a team that included Danny, Lindsay, Adam and Hawkes to New Jersey, while Stella stayed behind to run the labs and Sam and Flack stayed behind to make sure that Jason and Drew were alright and it keep them informed if anything new developed.
It was a plan and lead and right now that's all they had.
x x x
Before he left the labs, Drew stopped by Samantha's office to "borrow" her car keys. He wanted to get away and think for a while, and that would be hard if he had to rely on Sam or Flack for a ride. Plus he just didn't feel like bothering Samantha with anything right then.
He had been driving around town for a little over an hour, when his phone started to ring. As he checked the caller ID, he realized it was a New York area code, but it wasn't a number he recognized. Hope quickly began to build up and as he flipped open his phone and put it to his ear.
"Miranda? Talia?" Silence. "Hello? Talia, baby is that you? Miranda?" More silence. "Fucking answer me, someone! HELLO?"
"Language, Detective Hagen."
The voice made Drew's heart feel like it had just been ripped out of his chest again and he quickly pulled over. "Bennett."
"You still remember my voice after all these years, I'm touched," Maxwell Bennett said, smug as ever. Drew could practically see the smirk on his face.
"Where is my family?"
"Safe. For now."
"I want proof. Let me speak to one of them, now!"
"You're not in the place to be making demands, Detective Hagen. But don't worry, you have my word that they're fine."
"A murderer's word doesn't mean shit to me!"
"Language, Detective. Must I keep reminding you?"
"Let me speak to my daughter you fucking murdering bastard."
"Keep that up and you won't ever seen your Goddamn daughter or her mother again, do you hear me?" The smugness was gone from Bennett's voice and it was replaced with anger.
"I'm sorry," Drew said, defeated.
"That's better." Bennett was back to being smug. "I'm going to text you the address to where we are. Be there in thirty minutes, no more, no less. I don't feel the need to get into that old cliche of come alone, because I know you're too smart for that. You'll probably call Detective Taylor after this and tell him where you're headed, which is fine by me."
Drew sensed that something was going on. "What are you planning, Bennett?"
"Me? Planning something?" he laughed. "Well if you must know, I've already planned it. In fact, it should already be in motion as we speak. You see, I left a little something behind in your ex's car; a small trace sample of soil that will lead Mac Taylor and his team far, far away from here. So even if you do call Detective Taylor and let him know what's going on, by the time he even made it to the warehouse it would be too late."
"Just leave everyone out of this, Bennett and take me! Let my daughter and her mother go and don't hurt my friends and you can do whatever the hell you want with me!" Drew pleaded.
Bennett just laughed again. "It's too late for that, Detective Hagen. Now here is the address. Remember, thirty minutes."
There was a beep, indicating that Drew had a text message and then a second later, the line went dead. Quickly as he could, despite his shaking hands, Drew opened up the messages folder to get the address. He then forwarded it to Mac, before he called him. There was always a chance that Bennett had been lying about the trace sample and that Mac was still at the labs. If he was, maybe they had a chance of formulating a plan and getting Miranda and Talia out safely.
After about four or so rings, the line clicked over. "Drew?" Mac answered.
"Did you get the text?"
Mac nodded on his end. "Don't suppose I need to ask what it's for." he said.
"Bennett just called. He has Miranda and Talia at that address. He wants me to be there in half an hour. Can you meet me?"
"We're in New Jersey."
"Goddamnit! Bennett was telling the truth after all, shit!"
"Truth about what?" Mac asked.
"You're chasing a soil sample, right?"
"How did you-" Mac started to ask how he knew, but Drew cut him off mid-sentence.
"Bennett said he planted it to get everyone out of the area so he could out of the area, so he could get me alone."
"Not everyone is here." Mac said.
"What?"
"I left Stella in charge of the labs. Your cousin and Flack are still there too, along with Agent Andrews. Adam is there as well."
"Call them and let them know what's going on. I'm going to the warehouse." Drew said, as he put the car back itno drive and pulled out into traffic.
"It's too dangerous Drew, it could be a trap."
"I have to take that chance, Mac. We're talking about my family."
"At least wait until you have backup."
"I can't. Bennett said I had to be there in half an hour, exactly. It'll take me at least twenty-five minutes to get to the warehouse and that's with sirens. I can't wait any longer, Mac."
Mac knew that it was no use in trying to change Drew's mind. If it were him in the situation, he would've gone in alone as well. "I'll let everyone know. Be careful."
Drew nodded. "You too Mac."
- - -
"I'm going to kill him!" Samantha shouted.
She, Flack and Jason had been sitting in her and Lindsay's office talking, when Stella came in and explained the situation, having just gotten off the phone with Mac.
"He's doing what he thinks is best," Flack said.
"He's being an emotional dumb-ass is what he's doing!"
"Sam..." Flack began, but he was quickly cut off.
"Don't 'Sam', me Don!" Samantha turned on her boyfriend. "Do you realize that I can count on two hands the number of family members I have left in this world? If Drew goes in there alone and something happens to him, Miranda and Talia, more than half my living family will be gone! So don't you dare 'Sam' me! I have a right to freak out about this, so you just shut up and let me freak out, okay? Because if I don't freak out and yell, I'm going to freak out and start crying and I really don't want to cry at work!"
Out of no where, arms wrapped around Sam's waist and a body pressed against her from behind. She turned he head to see Jason, hugging her from behind.
"You're right," he said. "You get to freak out because this is a big fucking deal. Drew is like your substitute brother, which in itself is a big fucking deal. And Miranda is like your sister and the fact that you let Talia call you "Sammy" is proof enough of how much you really love her. So yes, you get to freak out, I'm not going to deny you that right. But can you please, for our family's sake, wait until after we get them back to lose your shit?"
Samantha was quite for a few moments, before she nodded once. Jason let her go and took a step back. "Thank you," he said.
"Are you alright?" Flack asked his girlfriend.
"No," she replied with a shake of her head. "But Jason is right. I can't freak out now while they're still out there. Once we have them back, safe and sound, then I'll completely lose it."
A look passed across Flack's face as he realized that meant that he'd have to deal with the brunt of her freaking out. Which, as a loving boyfriend he was entirely ready to do, but that still didn't mean he was looking forward to it.
Sam ignored the look and turned to face Stella, who had been quietly standing by the door, watching the commotion. "What's the plan?"
"Organize S.W.A.T and get as many officers and medical personeel there as we can." She said.
"That's going to take time," Flack said. "I've rolled with S.W.A.T. before and they don't like going into a place without any information on it first, even if a cop's family is in danger. They're going to want to plan and get as much knowledge of the area as they possibly can before they do anything."
"Adam and I will take care of that," Jason said. "I've done my fair share of planning assaults, so I know what to do and Adam can pull up 'specs on the computer."
"I'll get as many detectives and uniforms as I can steal," Flack said.
"Call Jess," Stella said. "She should be done with our suspect by now and free to help with this."
Flack nodded.
"What are you going to do?" Sam asked.
"I'll coordinate things with Mac and let him know what's going on," Stella replied. "You?"
Samantha pulled out her gun and popped the clip out, to make sure it was full. "Just point me in the right direction," she said with a very scary look on her face.
x x x
"Ah, here he comes," Bennett grinned.
From outside of the warehouse, Miranda could hear the sounds of tires on gravel. She tried to scream, but Bennett used one hand to cover her mouth, and with the other pointed a gun at her head.
Meanwhile, outside Drew was sitting in the car trying to formulate a plan. He knew that there was no way he could get in and out quietly, Bennett surely had something rigged that would let him know the second he arrived.
He was so lost in thought, that when his phone rang, he literally jumped out of the seat. He was momentarily relieved as he read the caller ID, to see that it was a familar number and not Bennett again telling him he was late or the game had changed.
"What's up, Sam?" he asked, trying to sound as calm as he could.
"We're ten minutes out. Will you wait for us?"
"I can't."
"Why not? We both know it's crazy running in there on your own."
"If it were John in there, would you wait around for backup?" He knew bringing up her brother was a low blow, especially after what had hapened earlier that day, but he also knew it was the only way to make her fully understand his situation.
"No," she said after a few tense moments. "I'd be going in there guns blazing, just like you."
"So don't ask me not to do something that you would too."
Sam sighed. "Just don't get yourself killed okay? You're the only brother I have left."
"Promise."
"Don't make promises you can't keep." And with that, she hung up.
"Is he waiting?" Flack asked once he saw she was off the phone.
Sam shook her head, not looking at him. "No. He's going in alone."
"Why the hell is he doing that when we're so close?"
"He's just doing what we all would do," she said, this time meeting his gaze.
He just nodded once. "Then let's hurry and get there."
- - -
After Drew made sure that his gun was fully loaded, cocked and the safety off, her carefully made his way inside of the warehouse. It didn't take him long to find Bennett, though.He found him and Miranda, in the emptier, more open part of the warehouse. Drew could see that she was relatively unharmed, but her hands were cuffed and she looked absolutely frightened.
"Hello Detective." Bennett grinned. "Put the gun in that oil drum next to you," he ordered.
Without taking his eyes off of Bennett, Drew extended his right arm over the barrel and dropped the gun inside. There was a loud plop as it it the oil and eventually a small thud as it sank to the bottom of the drum.
"cellphone as well. Turn it off first."
Drew reached into his pocket and slowly pulled out his cellphone. He held it up so Bennett could see him hit the on/off button and once it was off, he dropped it into the drum.
"Good. Now get over here." Bennett said, waving the gun from Drew to where they were standing.
Slowly, Drew closed this distance between him, the whole time his eyes locked with Miranda's. He could literally see the fear in her eyes, but there was a glimmer of something else in them. It didn't take him long to realize that that something else was hope. Without a doubt, he knew that she was hopeful that he would get them all out of there safe and sound.
"That's good enough," Bennett said and Drew stopped walking. He was now standing a little less than ten feet away from them.
"Where is my daughter?" Drew asked, trying to remain as clam as possible.
"Oh she's safe, don't worry." Bennett smiled, though it was really more of a smirk than a smile. "I designed a play room in the back just for her. She's probably watching cartoons now."
"TALIA!" Drew shouted.
"She can't hear you, Detective Hagen. The room is soundproofed. She's in her own blissful little world right now."
"Do whatever the fuck you want to do with me, but please-" Tears began to well up in Drew's eyes and he had to swallow hard to fight them back. "Please let my daughter and her mother go."
"I'm not going to hurt your daughter, Detective Hagen."
Drew sighed in relief. "Thank you."
"She's much too old for me and not really my type. But Miranda on the other hand..." Bennett used the hand that had been covering Miranda's mouth to grab by the hair, making her cry out in pain.
"NO!" Without thinking, Drew tried to rush them and grab the gun but Bennett was faster. He quickly threw Miranda to the floor, where she bumped her head on the ground, before he took aim and fired one shot a Drew.
"DREW!" Miranda cried out, as he dropped to the ground, grabbing his leg to try to stop the bleeding.
"Ah, ah, ah, Detective." Bennett said, waving his gun around the room again.
"You son of a bitch!" Miranda yelled. She tried to get up, but her head was hurting and everything felt fuzzy and she couldn't quite get her body to do what her brain was trying to tell it to.
"Move and I put another bullet in him," Bennett hissed.
"Why are you doing this?" Drew asked, through clench teeth.
"Because I can." Bennett said simply. "I'm sorry to say it Detective, but I don't have a motive. You could say I'm out for revenge for you almost catching me, but that's not it. Not really."
"Then why?" Drew asked again.
"I just wanted to let you know that I was still here."
"You should have sent me a post card," Drew said sarcastically.
"To be honest, I thought about it but this seemed like so much more fun. I was bored, you know. My uncle banished me to the family's island and there was nothing to do. Well, there were a few women on the mainland who I saw and took care of, but it was still boring."
Drew didn't need to ask what "took care of" meant. "You killed while you were away, didn't you?"
Bennett smiled that smile again that was really a smirk. "Of course. I tried to stop, really I did. But I just couldn't. Of course no one tried to catch me. They weren't as smart as you were. Which is why I'm here now. Oh when I heard that you had children, I just knew it was a fate."
"How did you know I had children?"
Bennett laughed. "Please detective, you honestly think I wasn't keeping track of you too?"
"Bastard," Drew hissed.
"I would've gone after your sons, but I found out about them after I went through all the trouble to plan this. And besides, their mother isn't really my type. We both know I prefer the blondes." Bennett looked down at Miranda who, at some point during their conversation, had passed out.
Drew looked over at her too and started to panic more. He could see from the distance that her breathing was even, so he knew she was still alive, but she had taken a bad spill and might have a concussion. If that was the case, sleeping wasn't a good idea. He needed to come up with a new plan to get them out of there and quick.
Just then, he had an idea. It was very dangerous, but it could just possibly work. If he played it right.
x x x
At the same time as everything was going on inside, Samantha and her team, along with SWAT were getting set up outside. SWAT had confirmed through heat signatures that there were three people in the building that that they were all too large to be a child. That meant Drew was in there with Miranda and Bennett and Samantha just had to trust him.
As she was talking with the lead SWAT officer about their plan of attack, she noticed that Marty was coming towards them.
"What are you doing here, Marty?" Sam asked.
"I'm here to help," the coroner replied.
"I appreciate it, but this is a job fo us and SWAT." She began to turn away to finish her conversation with SWAT officer, when Marty grabbed her and spun her around.
"Look," he said, a little more angry than he meant to and let go. "Sorry. Just, listen okay?" She nodded. "This son of a bitch has had them for a while now and there's no telling what he's done to them. God forbid they need medical attention and I don't see any SWAT officers with medical bags running around, do you?"
"Okay Marty."
"What?" Marty asked, a little more than shocked.
"You can go in with us," Sam said. "But I've got coniditions."
Marty nodded. "Anything."
"You come in last and stay behind the officers. If anything happens, you hide and get down. A doctor who needs a doctor of their own isn't going to help anyone in this situation okay?"
"Deal," he said with another nod.
"Grab a vest and helmet from the van," she nodded to the van that SWAT had arrived in.
"Okay," Marty said and ran off.
"Are you sure it's okay to let him come in?" The SWAT officer asked.
Sam nodded, watching Marty get suited up. "He's right. If any of them need a doctor, I don't want to have to wait to get them seen by someone."
The officer shrugged. "You're in charge." He said, before he left to go talk to some of his SWAT team members.
"Hey," Jason said coming up to Sam.
"Hey," she replied.
"What's Marty doing putting on a bullet proof vest?" he asked.
"He's coming in with us." Jason opened his mouth to say something, but Samatha held up a hand before he could. "I know what you're going to say and the answer is yes, I think it's a good idea."
"Actually I was just going to agree with you," he said.
"Really?" she asked, a little shocked.
He nodded once. "We don't know what's going on in there," he said, turning to look at the warehouse as he spoke. "For all we know the time it takes the paramedics to get inside, it could be too late." He turned to his ex-girlfriend. "So, I think it's a good idea."
Sam nodded. "Glad we're on the same page."
Flack, Stella, Angell and Marty then came over to them.
"Are we ready?" Stella asked.
Sam nodded again. "We are."
"So what are we waiting for?" Angell asked.
"We're waiting on Drew," she replied.
"Drew?" Flack repeated.
"We are going to give him a few more minutes. If we don't hear anything from him in fifteen minutes, we're going in after him."
"Sam, are you sure this is a good idea?" Flack asked.
"Yes," she said, looking him straight in the eye.
"Alright." It was good enough for him, if it was good enough for her.
- - -
Inside the warehouse, Drew was trying to wait for a good time to put his new plan into action, but he was losing blood fast and if he didn't do something soon, it would be too late.
"Do you know why your mother died?" he asked.
Bennett's head quickly turned away from Miranda and to Drew. "Don't you dare bring my mother into this."
"She died because she didn't love you!" Drew said calmly and simply, like it was a random fact that any average Joe on the street knew.
"DON'T FUCKING TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER LIKE THAT!" Bennett shouted.
"She died because she wanted free of you!"
That was all he needed.
Bennett came on him so fast, that he only had a few seconds to get himself ready. When Bennett was close enough, with all the strength that he had in his good leg, Drew put all his weight onto it and pushed up as hard as he could, slamming into Bennett and knocking them both to the floor, causing the gun to go sliding a few feet away. Drew tried to push himself up again, enough so he could hobble across the room to grab the gun, but Bennett grabbed his bad leg with one hand and punched it with another. Drew screamed out in pain and tried to kick Bennett away with his good leg, but just couldn't get the leverage he needed and Bennett managed to pull him back and pinned him down by sitting on his good leg.
"I'll show you what happens to people who talk about my mother," Bennett spat. He wrapped his hands around Drew's neck and began to squeeze...
BANG
Bennett's hands around Drew's neck went limp and then he slumped over on the floor. Drew looked up quickly to see that Miranda was awake and now on her feet, holding the gun that he'd managed to knock away moments earlier.
Drew somehow managed to pull himself too his feet and hobbled over to where Miranda was standing. "Miranda," he whispered. Her eyes were glossy and she couldn't stop shaking. She was in shock. "Miranda." He said again, this time a little more firmly.
She finally tore her gaze away from where Bennett's body laid and turned her eyes to Drew. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it after nothing came out.
"Give me the gun, Miranda." Drew said gently, as he placed his hands over the gun. He wasn't at all surprised when it slipped easily out of Miranda's hands and into his own.
After a few moments, Miranda shook her head.
"Stay here," Drew said gently.
Miranda nodded.
With the gun pointed at Bennett, he slowly made his way over to his body. He tried to kneel, but his leg wouldn't hold and he fell again. Miranda let out a soft sob. "I'm fine," he said, before he placed two fingers on Bennett's neck to check for a pulse. When he was confident there was was none, he turned back to Miranda. "It's going to be okay," Drew said.
- - -
Meanwhile outside, everyone's attention turned to the warehouse, when they heard the gunshot.
"Was that-" Marty began to ask but Sam cut him off.
"We're going in." She yelled to everyone.
Flack and Jess lead the way in, with Samantha and Jason at their back. Stella came next, with S.W.A.T. behind her and then Marty, who was doing as he promised and staying close to the officers. The uniformed officers were last to come in.
When they came upon the open area, they all fanned out, except for Jason who rushed to Miranda's side. When she saw him, she completely lost it and began to sob uncontrollably.
"Where's Talia?" Samantha asked, coming to Drew's side. She was trying her best to be a cop at the moment and not his cousin, but is was hard.
"Bennett said she's in a room in the back," he said. Now that it was over and the adrenaline was fading, he was finally starting to feel the pain in his leg and the blood loss.
Sam nodded, and ordered two of the S.W.A.T officers and Jess to follow her to the back.
"What happened?" Stella asked.
"Miranda shot him." Drew said. Flack and a S.W.A.T. officer came to help him to his feet and Marty knelt in front of him to take a look at his wound. Right away he could tell just from Drew's pale and sweaty apperance that he'd lost a lot of blood and was surprised that he was even concious, let alone standing and talking.
Jason wrapped his arms tighter around his wife and whispered sweet words of soothing into her ear. When she showed no sign of stopping, he turned to Stella. "Can I get her out of here?" The CSI in charge nodded and Jason gently lead Miranda out to one of the awaiting ambulances.
"How's it look, Doc?" Drew asked. He was trying to make light of the situation, but it came out weak.
"You've lost way too much blood but other than that, it looks fine. Threw and threw and I don't think it did any permanent damage." Marty answered. "We need to get you to the hospital soon, and get a transfusion going."
The S.W.A.T. officer and Flack tried to lead Drew outside, but with what little strength he had left, he fought them. "Not before I see my daughter. I have to make sure she's okay."
Stella looked him in the eye and nodded.
"Here she is," Samantha said from behind them. Drew turned to see that Talia was sound asleep in her arms.
The second that it registered that she was unharmed, physically at least, Drew let out a huge sigh of relief and then promptly passed out.
"Get him to an ambulance, now." Stella ordered.
Flack wrapped his arms around Drew's shoulders and the S.W.A.T. officer moved to take his waist. Together they carefully carried him out of the warehouse with Samantha, Talia and Marty following closely behind. Marty insisted that he be the first to check Talia out once they got her into an ambulence. Jess stayed behind to make sure that Stella didn't need anything, before she followed everyone outside.
When the rest of the officers and S.W.A.T. had cleared out, Stella pulled out her cellphone and dialed Mac's number.
"What happened? he asked, instead of saying hello.
"They're safe and sound. Miranda is in shock, Drew has been shot and Talia doesn't appear to have a scratch on her," she replied.
Mac let out a sigh of relief. "I want this scene processed, ASAP."
Stella nodded. "How far out are you?"
"Just got back into the city."
"We're going to the hospital now. I'll have uniforms stay at the warehouse until someone can come process it." Stella said.
"What hospital?" Mac asked.
"Saint Vincent's."
"We'll meet you there."