In Love's Defense - Part 4
Title: In Love’s Defense
Spoilers: Takes place after ep 101 (8x09) soon after Pepa and Silvia have announced their engagement.
Rating: R for characters we all love that may or may not be in peril - I ain’t telling yet! ;D
Pairing: Pepa/Silvia (¡El morena y pelirroja!)
Summary: As Pepa and Silvia look forward to their upcoming marriage, the precinct becomes aware of a lead on the Italian mafia, but at what cost?
A/N: To any who are still interested in reading this story, lo siento for taking so long to update! I’ve been going in between Battlestar Galactica and The Sarah Connor Chronicles fandoms, and I’ve found it’s kinda hard to multitask with geekdom - there’s just so many pretties to watch on TV! ;D Then my muse kinda left me for a while, so I had to majorly wrestle with it until it came back. Also, this chapter was meant to be longer, but I found a good stopping point. More to come - hopefully without another two and a half weeks in between parts!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
The police truck vibrated fiercely beneath Silvia, jarring her to her bones. When are these vehicles going to be outfitted with new shock absorbers? The forensic scientist glanced to her right, finding her partner all business, her face a stony mask of concentration. Silvia extended her hand, her fingers seeking out Pepa’s left hand to take it in a firm grasp, her thumb idly caressing the cool metal of the engagement ring.
Pepa’s eyes softened as she looked at the redhead, her expression communicating love and reassurance. She squeezed the smaller hand she held, this need for tactile touch just before a raid having long become an unspoken ritual between the two women. It was as if their strength flowed from one to the other, intermingling and becoming a powerful force that in turn gave both of them courage, trust and an affirming mindset that they would return home safe from harm. Separately, they were two competent, intelligent agents - together, they were an unparalleled team that watched each other’s backs in every way possible - physically, intuitively and emotionally.
Still tracing the bejeweled ring with her thumb, Silvia lifted it to her lips and kissed it, a poignant gesture that never failed to put a smile on Pepa’s face. “So, what do you think for the banquet menu, cariño? Shrimp or prawns?”
A furrow appeared on the agent’s brow. “What’s the difference?”
“You know silly, a shrimp is…” Silvia blew out a breath that ruffled a few stray strands of red hair. She lightly taped Pepa’s nose. “Never mind, you can pick whichever one you like.”
“Mmm...” The brunette pursed her lips, staring at the roof the truck, pretending to deeply contemplate. “Shrimp, I think. Prawns are too chewy and take forever to eat. I’m going to be hungry after that ceremony, although I don’t know if I’ll be able to eat a damn thing being squeezed into that dress!”
“Oh, seeing you as I walk down the aisle in the dress, I’ll want to eat too, just not the food!” Silvia grinned, trying to stifle a laugh.
A raised eyebrow challenged her. “Pelirroja, you don’t even know what the dress looks like! How do you know if I’ll look decent?”
“Because I’m marring the most beautiful woman in the world, that’s why. Because I love you, just as you are.” Silvia watched as her fiancé was shocked into silence at her words.
Pepa was blindsided. Even after growing up together and her decades long crush on Silvia and after all they had been through, this magnificent woman still had a way of saying things that made her fall in love with her all over again. She finally managed a brilliant grin. “The feeling is mutual.” She lifted their joined hands and gave Silvia a kiss to her hand in kind, her eyes shining with excitement. “Just think, today’s almost over. In eight more days, I get to become your wife.”
The intimate moment was broken up by the crackle of the radio as the two were jolted back to the seriousness of the task at hand. Salgado’s voice came over the line. “Attention, attention. All agents, be aware that we’ve received another update. Central that has verified that what we’ve seen so far of Jota’s intel is indeed accurate. He was meeting with a handler on a regular basis to pass on intel. However, Jota was unable to get the intel that Inspector Castro discovered to his handler before he was killed. We’ve also been able to ascertain that El Gordo himself does oversee shipments at various locations. So be alert. A reminder - all units to use extreme caution.”
Pepa lifted her portable radio to her mouth. “Affirmative, base. The update is noted.” Her focus effortlessly slipped back into place as she glanced back at Silvia. “Showtime.”
___
Paco had pushed the door open before the truck had even come a complete halt. His eyes scanned the parking lot they had picked as a rendezvous point, taking in all his agents and the special forces team. They poured out of the convoy of three trucks and did a brief check of their weapons and equipment. Curtis, Kike and Nelson carried shotguns, while the rest of the hombres had their standard issue 9mms and the special forces team were more heavily armed with semiautomatic assault weapons. Paco’s nerves were tense, on edge, as they always were before a mission. He felt his muscles coil in readiness and his heartbeat accelerate as he depressed the button on his radio, doing a last audio check.
“Tango 1 to Base, we are getting into position.”
“Affirmative, Tango 1.” Salgado’s voice crackled out of the small device, giving Paco a small modicum of comfort. “Tango 1, Tango 2, Tango 3, Tango 4 - take up your point positions and call in. Wait for my command.”
Don Lorenzo came up beside Paco and nodded, assenting to Pablo Herrara, the head of the special forces unit, that he was a go. The burly man swaddled head to toe in black combat gear sent a series of hand signals to his team as they double timed it the block to the warehouse, their boots making muffled clumping sounds against the pavement. The plan called for the special forces team to enter in the rear and west entrance while the San Antonio agents would take the front and east entrances.
“All right everyone.” Paco said tersely to his hombres. “Let’s get into position.”
Pepa felt Silvia give a last tug to her shoulder harness, ensuring that her weapons were securely stowed. The agent carried her usual Walther P22 as well as two 9mms. As had also become routine, the two women loaded and double checked each other’s weapons which was more for practical instead of sentimental reasons. Pepa felt the redhead’s hands move from her side to cup her cheeks.
“Be safe.” Silvia looked into her partner’s chocolate brown eyes, watching her lips curve into a small, affectionate smile.
“You too.” A rakish wink. “I’m not letting you off the hook for tonight, you know.” She motioned with her head towards her brother and Don Lorenzo. “Let’s go.”
___
Paco now felt his blood pulsing harshly in his ears as he paused with his team just outside the front door to the warehouse. He pressed his back against the outside wall, his gun drawn and ready, feeling a sticky line of sweat run between his shoulder blades. He spoke quietly into the radio gripped tightly in his left hand.
“Base, this is Tango 1. We are ready to move on your command.”
“Affirmative.” Salgado’s voice sounded as tense as Paco felt. “All remaining units, report in.”
“Tango 2 in position.” Herrara’s voice came through.
“Tango 3 ready.” Povedilla’s tinny voice registered.
“Tango 4, we are confirmed in back up positions and ready.” Came the voice of Alejandro Ramos, the second special forces commander.
“Tango 1, Tango 2, you have a green light. Repeat, you have a green light.”
At Salgado’s verbal command, Paco felt his legs begin to move as she shouldered open the front door. He was the first to enter, taking on the point position, feeling more by instinct than by sight, as Don Lorenzo and the rest of his team covered him and began to fan out on the floor.
Paco’s gun was thrust out in front of him, constantly in his eye line as he took in the details of the warehouse floor in front of him, examining them quickly and carefully for any threats. The team had been able to get scant knowledge of the warehouse before the raid, which unfortunately, did not include blueprints. All they knew was the approximate number of exits and the rough size of the building from satellite photos. From best estimates, the ground floor alone was over 8,000 square meters. The agent saw what seemed to be endless stacks of wooden crates and larger industrial size metal shipping containers, stairwells that led up to an upper floor with a few offices, walkways and railings that ran the length of the upper floor, beams and catwalks along the ceiling. A lot of places to hide. Paco grimly thought. And that will take at least twenty minutes to clear.
“All right everyone, let me know when I get an ‘all clear’!” Paco’s voice echoed throughout the cavernous space.
“No problem, boss!” Curtis called from Paco’s left side.
“Paco, we’ll flank you.” Pepa responded from the right.
Paco zeroed in on the only visible figure, a man in a blue jumpsuit with the emblem of a well known shipping company emblazoned on his left front pocket. The man was engrossed in writing on a clipboard, his face hidden under a baseball cap that bore the same company logo.
“Freeze!” Paco barked. “Hands up! Policía!”
The man jerked and looked up, blanching as his face turned white. He dropped the clipboard with a loud clatter, his arms immediately shooting skyward. “Qué? What did I do, officer? I’m just making a delivery, I swear!”
Paco holstered his gun, aware that Don Lorenzo still had his trained on the target. “You always make deliveries to empty places? Where’s everyone else?”
“No, no, I just started for the company last week. I just shipped these few crates here.” The man nervously gestured with his head to a stack of wooden crates and his nearby hand truck. “I’m just doing what I’m told.”
The inspector’s eyes narrowed to suspicious slits. “Mariano!” He called as his best friend came jogging over with Nelson close behind. “Anything yet?”
Mariano shook his head, befuddled. “No, not yet. So far, it’s all clear. Except we’ve got a lot left to search and then there’s the second floor.”
“Here.” Paco grabbed a crowbar off a crate and thrust it in Mariano’s thick hands. “See what’s in here. We’ll see if delivery boy is telling the truth.”
Mariano grit his teeth as he struggled to pry open the crate, the nails reluctantly giving way with a loud screech. Having pried off the side of the box, he pulled out the straw stuffing, poking his hand in tentatively until they touched soft cloth. His fingers closed around an unknown fluffy object as he pulled it out and shook the straw free, finding himself staring at a stuffed dog.
He grunted derisively. “They’re just stuffed animals, Paco! Nothing illegal about that!” He put the toy in front of his face, waggling it playfully, while speaking in a falsetto voice. “Hola! My name is Mariano - el perro!”
“Give me that!” Paco snatched the toy away and turned it over, examining it. He took a switchblade from his pocket and flicked it open, cutting without hesitation into the soft stuffing, the cotton spilling out onto the weathered concrete floor.
“Hey!” Mariano squawked in protest. “What if those are going to toy stores? Or if they’re gifts for charity or children in need! No kid wants a wrecked toy!”
Paco’s fingers dug inside the ruined stuffed animal, withdrawing a small, tightly bound plastic package. “No kid wants this toy Mariano, trust me.” He displayed the baggie filled with telltale white powder to the amazed eyes of his fellow agents. “I’m willing to bet this is cocaine. We’ll have Silvia run some tests.” He pocketed the evidence, reaching back inside the crate to withdraw a stuffed cat, which was also disassembled in quick order to reveal a Bulgari watch, similar to the one that Jota had owned.
The inspector sighed heavily. “So this is one way the mafia is getting stolen goods and drugs out. Clever.” With a sudden fury, he strode back over to the delivery man, grabbing his upraised hands and wrenching them behind his back.
“You’re under arrest on suspicion of trafficking of drugs and stolen property, as well as collaboration with a mafia operation.” He growled into the man’s ear. Paco retrieved his handcuffs and snapped them tightly on the suspect, shoving him around to face him and grabbed him by the lapels. “Now, you’re going to tell me everything, and I mean everything I know! Where’s El Gordo?”
Paco finally got a good look at the man’s face. He certainly didn’t match any of the suspects in his files or on Salgado’s mafioso chart. He was more of a boy, only in his late teens or early twenties, with telltale acne scars dotting his cheeks. His eyes were large and round with terror, his face was even whiter than before, which was now covered with tears and snot. “I - I swear, I don’t know any El Gordo! Like I said, I’ve only been a week on the job, and this was just a delivery on my route today. This is the first time I’ve ever been here!”
“Paco.” Don Lorenzo holstered his gun and laid a restraining hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Calm down. You can tell he doesn’t know anything. We can just take him back to the precinct for questioning.” He looked at Mariano and Nelson who were standing by. “And once we clear this place, we’ll inform them that we’ve got a lot of investigating and cataloging to do. It’s going to take ages to go through all this if every one of these containers contains stolen goods.”
“Paco?” Paco’s head swiveled back to the delivery boy at the mention of his name. “You’re Paco?”
“Sí.” Paco couldn’t ignore the feeling in his gut that told him something dreadful was coming. He shook the hapless man again. “How do you know my name?”
“I - I delivered the boxes here like I was supposed to and a man signed for them. But then he told me to wait for some guy named Paco to come. Paid me a €1,000 and said all I had to do was to wait for you and give you a note!”
Paco felt the thrumming in his ears increase, almost deafening him with the sound of rapid, strained pounding. He could barely hold onto the suspect, since the younger man was shaking like a leaf. “What note?” he asked, barely able to speak beyond the lump in his throat.
“It - it’s in my pants pocket on the right side.” The boy choked through his tears.
The inspector reached into the designated pocket and pulled out the paper, gingerly unfolding it as if it might burn him. His eyes took in the scrawled writing, and he felt his heart literally stop.
It was the hit list. With every name crossed out.
“Lo - lo siento.” The delivery man whimpered, Paco’s stunned mind barely registering the words. “They held a gun to my head, said they’d shoot me.”
Dios mío, I’ve killed them all! The agonizing thought bolted through Paco’s brain even as he yelled at the top of his lungs, “EVERYONE, DOWN! TAKE COVER!”
Paco spun behind a stack of wooden crates as gunfire exploded all around him.