Shielding Abigail-Delta

(Untitled)

He was expecting her to chicken out and he would have to lead. Not a chance. Abigail swung her legs over the opening and pushed herself into the hole. She dropped down into a crouch with her gun aimed down the tunnel to the left before turning to the right to make sure the coast was clear. She stepped out of the way to allow Dan to drop down then the other team members.

“Which way do we go, Abbie?” Dan asked her.

Abigail looked both ways not sure. They looked identical, and all was quiet. “We split up. You go right, and I’ll go left.”

“Abbie we shouldn’t be separated down here. Who knows how long these tunnels go on for not to mention if there are side tunnels. We could be down here for days and have no way of finding each other.” Tell her something she didn’t know. She didn’t want them to be separated. She would have no back up down here, but it was the only way to get to the girl in time. A life depended on her.

“We’ll cover more ground this way. We’re running out of time. He only keeps his victims alive for three to four days max before he kills them. This girl has already been missing for three. You take two agents, and I’ll take two agents.”

“Fine,” Dan grounded out not happy with having to be separated. “Just don’t get yourself killed. I’m really not in the mood to do paperwork tonight.”

Abigail chuckled. “Same goes for you. You’re buying the first round of beers tonight by the way.”

“Not if I catch him first.” Dan turned and headed down the tunnel to the right with two other agents behind him.

Abigail turned to the left and took a deep breath. She could do this. Abigail walked quickly but quietly down the tunnel listening for any sign of the girl. Kenny and Davis followed close behind her. A few minutes later they came to an opening in the tunnel. Abigail slowed down and eased along the wall. She could hear grunting noises and a bed squeaking. Abigail didn’t have to look to know what that meant. The suspect was the room with the victim. Abigail turned back to Kenny and Davis signaling them to the opposite wall. Using her fingers, she counted down from three, and as one they charged into the room and spread out.

“FBI freeze.” They watched as a man on the bed stopped in mid-motion before looking over his shoulder at Abigail. He matched the profile, looking to be in his early thirties. He had shaggy brown hair and a thick beard. He looked like anyone you’d meet on the street. Except for his eyes. They were coal black. There was coldness in his eyes that cut straight to the bone.

Smiling coldly, he eased off the bed. Abigail could just make out the form of another person strapped to the bed. They appeared to have long hair and were sobbing. Abigail had no doubt this was their missing girl. She was still alive. They hadn’t been too late. At least to prevent her death.

“The infamous FBI and Abigail Sharpe,” the man said pulling his pants up that had been around his ankles.

“Stop moving, asshole,” Abigail barked leveling her gun straight at his black heart. She wanted to bring him in alive, but she would take dead too.

“You wouldn’t shoot an unarmed man would you, Abbie?”

Abigail wanted to know how the suspect knew her but that wasn’t important at the moment. She needed him apprehended, and the girl needed medical attention. She would have plenty of time for questions later. “Just put your hands up nice and slow,” she said calmly.

“Or what?” he taunted. He was physically fit and definitely knew his way around a gym. It would take all of them to subdue him if he fought them. He would too. Abigail could see it in his eyes. He wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Scurried feet were heard to Abigail’s right, and she turned her weapon to a new possible threat when she saw Dan come into the room. Where were the other two agents? “Sorry I’m late, Abbie,” Dan said with his weapon trained on the suspect painting heavily. He looked disheveled like he had fought someone, and Abigail thought she saw blood on his collar.

“Where are the others?” she asked turning her attention back to the suspect.

“There were side tunnels. We all split up.” Abigail didn’t like the sound of that.

“We’ll take him topside and come back to find the others.”

“How cute,” the suspect said with a sneer, “but you’re all forgetting one very important thing.”

“Yeah, and what’s that asshole?” Dan asked.

“I ain’t going to jail.” The suspect grabbed a gun that had been sitting on the bed she missed seeing and shot Dan in the chest. Abigail screamed in denial and fired at the suspect. The bullet bounced off the tunnel wall and the suspect, ducked before firing back at her. She heard a grunt of pain behind her.

Abigail went around the bed to where the suspect ducked down. She looked at the victim to see she was unharmed but shaking. Fear radiated off her, but she was keeping her mouth shut. Pleading with her eyes to get her out. Soon. Abigail continued to scan the small room. She didn’t see the suspect anywhere.

Abigail turned to Kenny and Davis but saw Kenny was down and Davis was trying to keep pressure on the chest wound. Abigail spun around to see where the suspect might have gone when someone grabbed her from behind.

“Ah, sweet Abigail. I’ve been waiting a long time to get my hands on you.” The suspect sniffed her hair and groaned. Abigail snapped her head back and hit the side of his face and jabbed her elbow into his ribs. His hold on her loosened enough for Abigail to turn and face him.

“Funny the same could be said about you.” Abigail swung a fist and hit him in the jaw.

“All you had to do was call.” The suspect reached out for her, but Abigail stepped out of his reach. She came back at him, but he grabbed a fist full of hair and swung her around into the tunnel wall head first. Abigail felt her legs cave in and she dropped to the ground. Her head rolled to the side, and she could see Dan staring at her with open eyes. She thought she heard cursing, but then everything went black. She failed.

~

Abigail came to with a migraine from hell. She gingerly touched her head and felt a bandage. She heard machines beeping and knew she was in a hospital. s**t. Abigail tried to sit up, but an arm held her down.

“Easy, Abigail. Your head took a nasty hit. You’re lucky your skull didn’t crack.” Davis stood over her.

“Where is everyone?” Abigail felt so tired and thought her words slurred. Damn the drugs pumping through her system. She knew it was for the pain in her head, but she didn’t like taking medicine. Made her feel loopy.

“Dan is dead. Kenny Foster is in ICU. They don’t know if he’s going to make it. He took a shot high in the chest. Dan…” he couldn’t finish his sentence. His hands clenched in his lap.

Abigail already knew Dan was dead. It was her fault. She should have been looking for a weapon. She had assumed with him half naked he had been unarmed. Look what assumptions get you. “And the others? The ones in the tunnel with Agent Fischer?”

“Also, dead. One had his throat cut from behind, and the other looked like they put up a real fight before taking a knife to the chest.”

Abigail felt her throat clog up. She had gotten three men killed, and another may be dying. How had everything gone wrong so fast? “Please tell me we at least have the suspect.” She needed some good news.

Davis looked away uncomfortably. “He escaped down the tunnel Dan came in through. But we did get the girl. She’s here in the hospital under 24-hour watch until she can return to her family.”

That was something she guessed.

“The director wants to see you when you get on your feet.” That didn’t sound good at all.

“Thanks, Davis.”

“Keep your head up, Abbie. We at least got the girl.”

Abigail nodded not feeling victorious. The suspect got away which meant he’d be on the lookout for another victim. She hadn’t prevented anything. She may have only made it worse.

Abigail was discharged from the hospital the next day. She went to her apartment for a shower and quick change of clothes before heading into the office. If the director wanted to see her, she didn’t want to keep him waiting. Abigail had a feeling she was about to be suspended. You didn’t get three team members killed and not get in trouble for it.

Abigail took a deep breath as she knocked on the director’s door and waited to be allowed entrance. She walked in and stood in front of the director’s desk. He was in his late fifties and had been in the FBI since he finished college. He watched her walk in with a stoic expression.

“Sit down, Sharpe,” he said mildly looking at a file in front of him.

Abigail took a seat and braced herself for the worst.

“What happened?”

Abigail had already filed a report, but she was willing to explain it in person as well. “Sir, I tracked the Doll Maker to the cabin in the Utah woods. After a thorough search, there was no sign of the Doll Maker. Agent Fischer was ready to call it quits when we heard a scream, and I found the trap door. Four team members went into the tunnels with us as back up. I requested the other agents remain upstairs and stay alert to the surrounding woods in case he tried to escape. We found a tunnel underground leading in two directions.

Agent Fischer and I split up each taking two members. I found the Doll Maker first and then Dan entered the room a few minutes later. He said the others went off into side tunnels. The Doll Maker picked up a gun no one saw on the bed and shot and killed Agent Fischer. I fired at him, and he shot Agent Foster. I followed the Doll Maker where he hid behind the bed, and he came at me from behind. I fought with him, and he slammed me into the tunnel wall. I don’t know what happened after that except for what Agent Davis has told me.”

The director was quiet for a moment. “Your recklessness got three men killed. You are hereby put on medical leave until further notice, and I am removing you from the Doll Maker case.” He closed the file case in front of him.

“But, Sir,” Abigail started to protest, but the director gave her a glare that shut her up.

“You’ve been working on this case for almost two months with no results. It needs a fresh pair of eyes. I want you to use this leave as a time to reflect on where you want your career in the FBI to go.”

“Sir?” Abigail asked in question not understanding where he was going with this.

“You specialized in computers in school. Top of your class. As a field operative, you have gotten men killed and injured. Maybe you should evaluate where your strengths lie.”

His meaning was clear. She belonged behind a desk using her computer skills to find criminals, not in the field. That was bullshit. She’d been in the field before, and nothing like this had ever happened. She had just gotten ahead of herself because she’d been after the Doll Maker for so long. She could fix her mistakes. The director just needed to see reason.

“That will be all.” He waved her away, done with the conversation. She knew there would be no arguing with him now. His mind was made up. She had to find a way to change it but not this moment.

What was she going to do now? She was on mandatory leave and kicked off her own case. No, she refused to give up. No one knew the Doll Maker better than her. She would solve this crime once and for all, and she would do it alone if she had to. She found the Doll Maker before. She could do it again.