Antonio left the room and walked down the hallway, his mind was in turmoil. It bothered him that he had to leave Todd in the hands of the syndicate but he had no choice, He reached the end of the hallway and was joined by two of O'Brien's men. they stopped him and held out the blindfold.
"You know the drill," said one as he held a gun on Antonio while his partner tied a blindfold on him.
"Is this really necessary? I work for you guys, why all the secrecy?" Suddenly a fist hit him in the gut. and Antonio doubled over. A hand gripped him by the neck squeezing.
"It's questions like that, that will get you killed. Do what you're told and don't take any initiative and you'll live longer." They grabbed him by his elbows and led him out.
****
A short while later Antonio walked with some of his gang. He stopped outside Carlotta's diner. Turning to the men he said, "You stay here, I'll go get the money from the old lady. If any police walk by don't get into a hassle with them. O'Brien's men are watching to see if we can get the job done without bringing the law down on our heads." He entered the diner and walked up to his mother. "You, you know why I'm here? Where is it?"
Knowing her son was being watched, Carlotta acted upset and scared as Antonio took her arm and forced her into the kitchen area. Once they were out of sight of his men Antonio followed her into her office.
Bo had been waiting patiently. He stood. "Antonio, it's good to see you. Do you have any new information for me?"
"Two things. One, we've been looking for. There's a shipment coming into town tonight. I'm supposed to get my guys to cause a disruption on the other side of town so they can get the shipment through."
"That's good. Where is the shipment going to come in?"
Antonio looked at Bo. "They're coming in by way of the docks, but this is even more important. I overheard McKinney tell one of his men that O'Brien was going to be there. It seems that O'Brien is bringing in something extra that is for his hands only. Bo, if we do this right you can catch him red-handed on the docks with the shipment and whatever else he's bringing in."
"Okay. you and your gang are to go ahead and cause your distraction. Unbeknownst to O'Brien, I've called in some favors and we're getting help from the FBI on this one. It seems they're very interested in the items being delivered tonight. Do you have any idea what is arriving? I mean, are we looking at drugs, counterfeit money, what?"
"I think it's weapons. I'm not sure what type but they aren't for use here, I think a buy is taking place tonight and the price for the weapons is the item O'Brien wants. I do know nothing is going down until you've sent all of your cops to stop the distraction. Someone in the department works for O'Brien, So be careful making plans with the FBI. If O'Brien gets wind we're on to him the whole plan will be scratched and if I'm reading O'Brien right, heads will roll if that happens. My own included."
"Antonio, you keep your head down but play it straight for McKinney and O'Brien. If this falls through we still need you on the inside. You better go now or your boys will be getting suspicious about how long you're taking to get the protection money." He handed Antonio an envelope and shook his hand. As Antonio turned to leave Bo remembered something. "Hey, you said you had two things to tell me. What was the second one?"
"Right, I saw Manning. He's being kept blindfolded and his shoulder was injured. He recognized my voice but I couldn't get him out. They watch me too closely and besides, I still don't know where he's being held. O'Brien's men blindfold me every time they need to talk to me. He is alive. You can at least tell Blair that."
"Antonio, if this goes down as planned and we get O'Brien, I do hope he gives up where Manning is at. I'd hate to think his men would retaliate and leave him wherever to die."
"That won't happen, Bo, I've been trying to figure out just where O'Brien's main hideout is at and I've narrowed it down to two places. If we get O'Brien, I'm pretty sure I can find my way back to where they are holding Manning. I kind of promised him I would help him one way or another."
After Antonio left, Bo placed several calls.
****
Todd woke up totally disoriented. The last thing he remembered was the doctor giving him something after stitching up his wound again. He tried to sit up but fell back when his head began spinning. "Damn it! That bastard drugged me." He had no idea how long he had been out. He vaguely remembered talking to someone else right before the doctor started working on his shoulder. "Come on Todd. Get your head together" He tried to sit up again and this time he was able to. "Okay, you're up now let's see if your legs are going to cooperate." He lifted his right leg and it moved without too much trouble. then he lifted his left leg. it was slow to react but then he felt it move. "Yes!" he said gleefully. As he sat there he finally remembered who had talked to him. It was Vega, Antonio Vega, that was the guy but he said he couldn't get him out because something was going down that night. Great, just great. For all you know Todd it's way past that night and you're still stuck here. You're going to have to help yourself. Now get off the damn cot and walk.
Once again he attempted to get on his feet. Luckily the doctor had left his chair by the bed and Todd pulled it over to the left of him and with his left arm, used it to stabilize him as he got up."Yes!" He was up and his legs actually seemed stronger than the last time he had tried walking. He walked away from the bed over to the table and although feeling rubbery, the legs held up. Going back to the bed, he found he was getting steadier. After a few more tries, Todd actually felt normal for the first time in months. "Okay, now what do I do? I can keep walking back and forth like an idiot or I can try and get out of here. It's now or never. O'Brien's brother or some other flunky could come back at any time." Todd reached behind his head and ripped the mask free of the lock. and pulled it off his head. It took only a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He made his way to the door and tested the handle. He laughed. They were so sure he wasn't going anywhere they hadn't locked it.
He saw light coming in under the crack at the bottom of the door which meant it probably was some time in the night. Opening the door just a little, Todd shaded his eyes from the light. The hall was empty. He started to move down the hallway to his right when he heard gunfire coming from that direction. The shooting was getting closer, and although he was walking, running was not in the cards.
He was a sitting duck in the hallway but the room he had just left was a dead end. He had to find another way out and he needed to do it quickly. Todd walked down the hallway looking in the rooms until he found one with a window. He locked the door and walked to the window and found himself looking at a fire escape stairway. It looked pretty rickety but he had no choice but to try and get down that way. He raised the window and stepped gingerly onto the platform. "You're a fool, Todd. You just got back up on your feet and now you're risking breaking more than your legs, You could break your neck." He looked down. Just his luck, his room had been on the third floor of what looked like a warehouse. He could see flashing lights and hear more gunfire coming from down the street. "This is it, Todd. Get moving if you want to see Blair again." Having no choice he began climbing down. He was just nearing the bottom when he heard a shout above him, he recognized the voice. It was the man who stabbed him.. They had discovered he had escaped.
"Manning, I don't know how you did it, but you're not getting away." McKinney stepped out onto the platform and leaned over to take a shot at Todd.
Todd ducked as a bullet chipped the brick just to the right of his head. He lowered the ladder and stepped onto it, riding it down as he heard the man swear and saw him lean over the platform to take another shot at him. Suddenly the rail in front of McKinney gave way and Todd watched as O'Brien's second in command plummeted down three stories to land at Todd's feet.
After a moment of shock, Todd bent to see if the man was alive. McKinney groaned and tried to turn the gun he still held on Todd. Todd knocked it loose and picked it up aiming it at the man on the ground. He walked dispassionately around the man lying at his feet. He could see bones sticking out ar right angles from the man's legs. and McKinney was also having trouble breathing. "Umm, I wouldn't move around too much. I think you might have busted a few ribs and you wouldn't want to puncture a lung now, would you? I've got to say, I'm surprised you're still alive, but at the same time, you're going to have a long time to heal in jail, for kidnapping and assault. Of course, you could turn on your boss. Oh wait, that would be tantamount to suicide. Syndicate bosses don't take kindly to underlings who snitch." Todd moved into the shadows of the building and leaned against the wall. He slid down it giving his legs a rest all the while keeping the gun on his kidnapper. The gunfire was easing up and, from above, he heard someone shouting his name. It was Vega.
"Down here."
It only took Antonio a couple of minutes to join Todd and his prisoner. "Damn, that's McKinney! Did you kill him?" he said noting the gun in Todd's hand.
Todd laughed. "Not likely. I'm right-handed and as you can see that arm is still hurt. Besides, I dare you to find even one bullet hole in him and if you were a smarter detective, you would have noticed the broken railing he's laying on." He heard footsteps coming down the alleyway and looked up to see Bo Buchanan and several other officers approaching. "Oh look, the cavalry has arrived." He tossed the gun to Antonio and carefully stood back up. "I'd like to file assault and kidnapping charges against that man and his boss. Now if you'll excuse me. I have somewhere important to be."
Todd turned his back on Bo and walked away. He grabbed a loose bar lying on the pavement and using it for a little extra support, carefully made his way to the street.
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