Detective

13

Fuck, I really was whipped, wasn't I?

"So you see, Detective, the only reason why they haven't stormed this place yet, is because I have threatened to kill you," He told, smirking. "You practically volunteered as a hostage and for that I must thank you."

Sonofabitch. I clenched my fists in rage and sneered at the floor. Vahlov had not only taken care of the only obstacle in his way, being me, he had also lured me into a trap which now held the police from storming this place and saving an innocent little girl. Leon cared too much about me to let my life go that easily and the damned Purple Heart they pinned on me probably kept some of the higher-ranked people from taking command and gunning this place down themselves. They were in a pickle.

"So let me guess," I snarled. "They pay you a handsome fee for me, maybe grant you passage out of the country somehow, in the agreement of getting me back when all is said and done?" I scoffed. "If that's the case, it won't hold. I'm not worth that much to them."

"True, but then again, aren't you?" Vahlov mused. "I know all about you, Detective Crane. I knew you worked for the military a few years back. You were involved in a few classified state secrets." Vahlov walked all the way up to me and leaned down to my face. "How much do you think that information is worth to them? You think they'll take the risk of you spilling it under a torture session?"

"I'll never rat."

"Probably not, but the government doesn't take risks," Vahlov scoffed and stood up. "All the cards are on the table, Detective. Each moment they spend arguing over what to do is a moment where I hypothetically could be extracting you for information. I don't think it will be long before I have what I want," He chuckled, glaring down at me.

I ground my molars. He really had it all figured out. All except one major flaw in his plan. Well, maybe not so major, considering I only just made up my mind. "You say you know everything about me..."

"I do, Detective. I was quite thorough in my investigation of you."

"Well then you must also know that I am an excellent lock-pick." With that, I yanked off the cuffs I had been silently working on picking ever since Gustav dumped me in here. The bed in the excluded cell had a loose spring and guess what? Springs made excellent lock-picks.

I jumped up before Vahlov had a chance to react and throttled my skull into his. Punching him across his jaw and kicking his gut with my knee, he fell to the ground with a groan and a thump. There was no fight at all. Vahlov was weaker than he let on, weakened by his terminal disease. The infected gunshot wound and syphilis was just adding misery to more misery.

I grabbed the Glock from his belt and checked the clip before arming it. Stalking up to the door, I knew I now only had one mission; Find the little girl, get out and let the Feds do the rest. But I wasn't leaving without that girl.

I made sure to handcuff and gag Vahlov properly with the same cuffs he used on me and with the handkerchief in his breast pocket. After that, I knew I'd have to shoot my way out. With no armor or Kevlar, I was most likely to get shot myself. But as long as I could make it to the little girl, I would take as many bullets as my body could swallow.

~~~

I'd only ever been shot five times in my whole life; Once in my my shoulder, once in my back, once in my arm and once side in my side and my leg.

- All of them were today.

As I strapped in another clip that I had taken from one of the dead guard's belts, I fired it at the struggling guard on the floor across from me. He had been crawling for his gun, but now... well, the only place he'd be crawling to now was Hell if there even was such a place.