Taken 18

Derek felt no need to pursue the case of Bruno Schneider further. He handed over all the little evidence he’d gotten from the case as well as Martinez’s confession to the guys at the SIU.

They were surprised, and then quite annoyed that an ‘ordinary’ detective got to the case before them, even if it was his case technically. But he didn’t have any time to discuss supremacy and jurisdictions with them – the girl was a far bigger prize.

6-year-olds were big catches in the trafficking network – a nice little girl who could serve as a child or an underage maid. He never understood why there was even a market for this commodity, but it wasn’t his job to end it.

It was his job to find the girl by all means.

Of course, now the puzzle was completed, and most of the brain work was done. It was time to move into action, and with the help of the SIU, he could wrap the case up.

And come face to face with Zoe/Mariana. A fated meeting that would feature a lot of drama, he knew.

****************************

Bruno Schneider knew there was something wrong – Tony’s deadline was approaching and he still was not picking his calls.

You’ll be naïve to think you can escape from me Martinez, he thought.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. Three times. Then twice. Then once.

That was their means of identification. It was tony.

He opened the door, smiling “Well, would you look what the…”

A group of special operatives burst into the room, all wearing bulletproof vests and armed to the teeth. They were about sixteen in number, and ten of them marched upstairs and downstairs while six surrounded him, their guns all pointed at his head. It was like a scene from a war movie.

Tony stepped in, a resigned, tired smile on his face. His right hand was covered in bandages.

“Surprise!” Tony said, sticking out his tongue. The operatives quickly pushed him aside, and one of them approached Schneider with a pair of handcuffs.

“Bruno Schneider, you are under arrest for kidnapping as well as running a criminal syndicate for the trafficking of people in this state. You have the right to remain silent as…”

All those words flew right past his ears, as all he could hear was the sound of his exposure, his betrayal, his failure,

The sound of Tony’s mocking.

Knowing the consequences, he lunged towards Tony in a fit of suicidal anger.

There were several loud bangs, and then a halo of brilliant lights obscured his vision, followed by darkness.

And then intense heat.

“See, exactly how I said it would go,” Tony said, spitting on the corpse before being whisked away.

**************************

At exactly 10 PM, the Bloody Arachnids’ concert began, and as expected, the place was filled to capacity with punks of all ages, sizes, and shapes.

Including a score of SIU agents dressed like punks and one detective, who wasn’t supposed to be there, but decided to be there to have one last face-to-face.

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