Logan Browning as Sierra Copeland

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Stuck on You: Kapitel Neunzehn

"We are going up against a former mafia syndicate leader, a criminal, a man who knows no bounds, a man who is a risk taker and will kill anything and everything that gets in his way," I passed around the profile of our next suspect, the prime person we were trying to capture. "Riocard Luzardi is a methodical and unpredictable man. He often acts on personal vendettas, harming those close to him to prove a point. He has captured his former wife and he has her hidden somewhere." I fixed the gun in my holster, shifting my uniform as I stood before my unit in the police department.

"How do we know where she is?" One of the men raised their hand to ask and I sighed, shaking my head. Funny. "We don't." I folded my arms and he stared at me with a look of confusion. I pointed to the phone that had rung 2 minutes ago. "I received a call from East Beaumont High. They said they had seen a suspicious man matching the description of our perp hanging around the parking lot. My guess is he's trying to find somewhere hidden and open. A place where no one would think to look," I motioned for them to suit up, telling them that time was not on our side. 

"The school cellar."

Riocard had no connections here. He needed a place where he could get in among a large crowd of people. He also needed easy access to his desired location and what was even worse was that there was a staircase that led to the boiler room at the entrance of the school. There were no cameras on the school premises, which made his work fairly easy.

"Alex, before we leave," I shifted my bulletproof vest, making sure all of my weapons were in hand. "Make sure to call the school and schedule a lockdown at 1:32." I demanded and he furrowed his brow. "That's 11 minutes from now," He looked at his watch and I smirked, putting my game face on. "And that's when we will arrive. We don't know our perp getting ahead of us, do we?" I winked, whistling as the unit saluted me, getting in formation. We had a case to solve and a woman to rescue.

Brad Thorpe: Milo, tell your friends that I got it under control.

Under three minutes later, I received a text from him. He was probably confused and I thought about hiding it from him, but it wouldn't do me any good if I did.

Milo Fernandez: what are you talking about?

Brad Thorpe: There is no need to go into a frenzy about who abducted Emilia. I will take care of it. Do so to tell everyone.

Milo Fernandez: ....stay safe.

All of a sudden my phone began to ring and ring and ring. I looked down at the screen, sighing in reply. I couldn't answer his call, not until everything was taken care of. I silenced it every single time my phone started to vibrate. There was no way that I could compromise my state of mind. It was already made up and I was going to go through with it, not for me, but for Santiago. He desperately needed this closure.

Santiago Luzardi: Anthony, what the hell do you think you're doing!?

Santiago Luzardi: Answer me!

Santiago Luzardi: Baby, please! I need you!

Santiago Luzardi: Anthony, don't you dare get yourself hurt!

I let out a sigh, putting my phone on silent as I slid it into my pocket. I would call him later. "Let's go!" I barked out in a commanding tone as the SWAT team of the NYPD gathered their things, filling up their truck. "Time is money!" Alex and I stormed out, adrenaline rushing through our veins as we promised each other that we would get in and we would get out quickly as possible. I jumped in the back of the van with our unit, relaying our moves to them as we began to drive. I told the driver to speed it up and turn the sirens on full blast. "You guys," I pointed to four men. "Will be in charge of escorting the children out of the premises." I pointed to another group. "You guys will be responsible for tending to the injured, making sure that there are no other weapons or suspects in sight. "Alex, you will scope the outside and see if there are any other ways in. Check to see if there are any bombs and whatnot. I don't want this plan to be in jeopardy." He nodded, clutching his gun.

I had no idea how Riocard had his game set up, but I was going to be the only one that played.

I reached up to my radio, clicking the button on the side as the white noise filtered in. "This is Lieutenant Brad Thorpe calling in a 10-19 at East Beaumont High. 1257 Breckenridge Parkway. Possible 10-71. En route now. 10-39, Hostage held in interior cellar, one Emilia Karas." I spoke into the radio and the static cut off, signaling that all cops in the area heard my message. Alex gave me a funny look as we flew through the streets. I paid him no attention, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

Are you going to risk everything?

There was a bad feeling swirling around in the pit of my stomach. I swallowed it down, shifting to get comfortable as I cracked my necks, ready for it all. "Four minutes away, Lieutenant!" The driver yelled and I closed my eyes, cracking my knuckles. There was a weight on my heart, pushing harder and harder, making it difficult to breathe. There was this sense of impending doom like I was going to take a life. I looked at all of my men's faces and they looked utterly petrified. They had no idea what we were walking into, the unpredictability of this man. They had no idea how malicious, how dangerous, how downright terrifying Riocard Luzardi was. 

If he had caused that much trouble in less than a few hours, imagine what he could do to an entire nation. I could feel my hands clamming up and I boiled it down to nerves. I had my fair share of cases, but none too unknown like this. 

It was me versus a former mafia leader.

I had to save Emilia.

I had to for Santi.

I was sure that there were students already injured. A man like that didn't make his way in without hurting someone in the process. 

I swallowed the lump in my throat as the van lurched to a stop. The back doors were busted open and I barked orders. "Out, file and out!" With my arm straight out, I watched as the man began to run out, the smell of smoke filling our lungs. "Shit!" I cursed under my breath as I looked at the entrance of East Beaumont High, students sprawled out on the ground, blood leaking from their very bodies. With shaky hands and a bit of fear, I clicked on my radio once again. "10-84. Squad 1 is here. 10-54, need several ambulances on scene, NOW!" My blood was beginning to boil and I could feel my legs shaking. I wasn't sure if it was from fear or from anger, but I couldn't stop myself from running over to check on the bloody students. "They have a pulse!" I yelled out as the SWAT team went inside the building on my command.

"10-57, ambulances are on the way."

I grimaced, pulling my head away from the bloody and terrifying scene. There were at least twenty students, boys and girls, crying out in pain, clutching at their wounds as they struggled to hang on to dear life. My heart started to pound and my head began to feel fuzzy. "C-cellar," The person whose pulse I was checking, reached up a trembling arm, pointing to the ground. "He's in the cellar." She choked on her blood, the crimson liquid pooling out of the corners of her mouth. God damn it! I put a hand up to my mouth, forcing myself to keep in the anger.

How fucking dare he do this to civilians, people who had nothing to do with this?!

"Thank you. Ambulances are on the way." The sirens blared in my ears as I stood with pulsating legs, taking out of my gun. Alex had called immediately for a lockdown schoolwide so thankfully, there were no kids in the quiet and eerie hallway as the doors slammed behind me with a crash. I could see people in their classrooms cowering and shivering as they comforted each other. This one man was able to render so much fear. 

I clenched my hands in anger, the SWAT men pointing down the stairwell of the high school that no doubt, led to the underground cellar. They awaited my command. I had my men outside, scanning the sides for any more threats and Alex was nowhere in sight. My breath was shaky and I felt scared. I had no idea what to expect the moment I descended down those stairs. My gut began to churn as time ticked in my ears, letting me know that it was myself or Emilia. 

I stared at the staircase, hands quivering on the gun that I was holding. This wasn't like my regular case, where I would just go down and start shooting. No, this was completely different. This time, I knew nothing about who I was going to face, but he knew every single detail about me. I had no idea what was waiting for me the moment I stepped forth or what I was walking into. My brain was screaming at me to run and leave, but my heart was telling me that I had no choice but to do it for the greater good.

"How can I get the strength to kill the one person, the one demon who haunts my dreams? 

I had no choice because I hated seeing my baby in pain like he was.

I had absolutely no choice because my Santiago needed me to do this for him. 

I had no choice because like it or not, Emilia was counting on me.

"...go." I pointed to the entrance of East Beaumont High, the white walls looking as inconspicuous as ever, like it was a normal high school day. Everyone knew that it was wasn't because hell was awaiting my arrival. "Huh?" The SWAT leader tilted his head up at me. "Are you sure, Lieutenant?" I bit my lip, feeling fear creeping up my spine slowly but surely. 

"Go."

The leader gave me one last look, knowing that he couldn't defy my command. The other men followed suit and soon, the staircase was empty. The darkness seemed like it began to get louder and louder, tempting me to take one step. I took a deep breath, promising that everything was going to be okay as I closed my eyes and crossed down. Santi, I love you.

With each slam of my feet against each tread, I could feel the darkness looming over me as I rounded the corner, the big and black door staring holes into my skin. Emilia was just beyond this door, and so was Riocard Luzardi. I had no idea what was going to happen but one thing was for sure.

He contained a lot of contempt for me.

I had no idea why. I wasn't even sure how this so-called father knew me. I never met him a day in my life and it was radically unnerving that this all felt like some calculated and intended trap for me; the only difference was that I wasn't sure if I was taking the bait or not. On the outside, I seemed like a normal lieutenant, calm, composed and collected, ready to take on any danger. On the inside there, my body was paralyzed with crippling fear and anxiety. There were so many signs telling me that Riocard was already at the finish line and the race hadn't started yet. 

With tense feet, I finally stood in front of the black door, noticing that it was cracked just a bit. I let out a sigh, peering in to see that it was completely black. I slowly pried the door open, just enough to step in. I felt cold shivers wracking my veins as I looked in the only direction that I could walk in: to the right. I could feel the sweat running down the interior of my uniform as I took quiet steps further down. It was quiet, eerily silent. There was no light in sight and I could feel myself being to choke from the hold of terror around my throat. I could hear my blood thumping in my ear as my finger dibbled and dabbled on the trigger. I had to get myself to think straight. 

All for you, Santi.

I felt like I was getting closer and closer. The piece in my ear was going crazy with the voices of my squad and I had to tune it out. They were probably worried about this suicide mission that I had decided to take on. They were probably wondering why the fuck would I decide to take on a dangerous as hell man? I didn't know why either. There was a bitter taste in the back of my mouth as I felt along the walls, feeling it come to an end. My breath was coming out in ragged gasps as I stopped slowly to a halt, sensing eyes all over me. With several blinks of encouragement, I slowly looked to my left, hands clutching my gun for dear life.

There was a small light coming from inside of the large room and I stepped in, eyes scanning the interior. I slowly trudged my way in, feeling like there was something weighing on my whole body. Someone was definitely here. My eyes were ringing and my brain was screaming at me to turn around and run or it was going to be too late. There was nothing but pure silence entering my ears and all of a sudden, I heard a shrill groan. My head darted to the right of me and I saw a woman, badly beaten with blood streaming down her face and body as she was tied up roughly in a metal chair. She looked delirious, tape rendering her silent and bound under control.

I couldn't stop my feet as they sauntered over to her.

"Emilia!" I called out in a gruff tone and she picked her heavy head up slowly, eyes widened, registering my appearance, as she began to scream, the sounds muffled by the duct tape across her lips. She shook her head frantically, banging her chair against the floor as large tears streamed down the side of her face. Her eyes were silently begging me to leave and run. Was this a trap? I slowly inched closer to her and she darted her eyes between me and something behind me, her wails getting louder. My heart was racing now and I felt dread.

Then a crisp, deep and malignant voice spoke from behind me, every single hair on my body standing on sight as an evil chuckle was elicited. All of the breath was sucked out of me as the cracking sound of a trigger slammed into my ears. I watched as Emilia's eyes widened in what felt like slow motion and all of a sudden, something whizzed through the air and I felt a burning pain rip through my body. With a loud cry as warm blood oozed down my arm, the metal fragment crashing to the ground with a thud. The smell of copper filled my nostrils, the deafening screech of cries and the taunting footsteps silencing my gasps.

"I knew you'd come."