************************************************************************
Ben turned the key in the door to his apartment. Greeting both Ray and Ben at the door was faithful Diefenbaker, wagging his tail.
"Hey, Dief! Good boy," Ray said. Dief whined in agreement. Fraser placed his hat on the table and cocked his head at a note with his name written across it. He unfolded it.
"What's that?" Ray asked.
"It's a note from E.J." Fraser replied.
"Yeah, she probably has a crush on you." Ray smiled. Fraser remained silent as he finished reading the note.
"Who are the Black Dragons?" he wondered out loud. Ray groaned.
"Oh, no...she's not involved with them, is she?"
"Yes, she says that she owes them." Ray buried his face in his hands.
"They're a gang. A very LETHAL gang. You definitely don't want to get mixed up with them," Ray replied.
"Why?"
"They're a group of loan sharks. How could she have come in contact with them?"
"I don't know, Ray." Ben paused. "We have to help her." Ray gave Ben a Look.
"No Benny, see WE don't have to do anything. YOU can report this to the police. WE can stay out of it."
"I think we can help."
"No, I don't think we can."
"I think that a civilian is in danger, and it's our duty to provide aid."
"I think WE should just stay out of all of it."
"Ray, this is an urgent matter!"
"Benny, I think for you, this is a personal matter."
"It most certainly is not!" Fraser protested. "I apologize, but if someone is in danger, it is my duty to assist and protect."
"Yeah, yeah, Mountie's honor." Ray muttered. "I just don't want you getting hurt, that's all." Fraser raised his eyebrows. "Not that we haven't been through that before." "So you won't help me?"
"Benny....why don't you let someone else handle this? The Black Dragon's aren't any old gang. These guys are cruel. They're vicious."
"I'm not going to do anything for myself. I'm doing it for E.J. And Caroline."
*************************************************************************
Part Nine
E.J. woke up groggily the next day. Instead of waking up to the hidden alley she was sure she had fallen asleep in, she found herself in a warehouse. It was familiar....
She sat straight up. She was now wide awake, eyes wide open. She was tied by her wrists to a lead water pipe standing vertically next to her. She recognized this place she was in. It was the Black Dragon's desolate hideout.
Her vision was blurry, and her head ached. As she looked up and her eyesight quickly focused, an all-too-familiar face peered into hers.
"Hey, Cookie! Long time no see!" Shawn grinned malevolently at her. E.J. glared at him.
"Why are you doing this to me," she croaked at him. Shawn resumed pacing back and forth again.
"Tony's mad, you know."
"What are you, the barbaric henchman?"
"You know you owe us money."
"No, my father owed you money. I don't owe you jerks anything."
"Hey Jordan, c'mere!" Shawn called. Jordan promptly arrived by Shawn's side. "Go find Tony, all right?" Like an obedient dog, Jordan left again.
"You remember when you were a little kid, Elizabeth? When you almost put the Dragons out of business?" E.J. grinded her teeth together. Being tied up was one thing, but when someone called her Elizabeth, or heaven forbid Elizabeth-Jane, they were just asking for trouble. She thought back to when she was eight, when her father was found missing, just disappeared. She remembered the police that came. She remembered telling them everything she knew, including her father's connection with the Black Dragon's. Her father had always told her almost everything, which is why the Dragon's had carried a grudge for so long. And now this.
She knew the Chicago PD had been trying to bust the Black Dragon's for years, but had never been able to fully prove anything. Thus the disappearance of Robert Ramis was a total disaster.
"So? Aren't you still operating today?"
"We're in debt, Cookie."
"I swear to God, if you don't stop calling me that I'm gonna kick your -"
"Listen, Elizabeth-Jane, I know you can help us." At the sound of this, E.J. let out a low grumble. She cleared her throat and raised her head, not giving the slightest ounce of respect towards the scumbag.
"Yeah? What do you want me for?" Tony walked to Shawn and E.J. He cleared his throat.
"I believe you have a key to a certain safety deposit box, belonging to your father. That box has our money, and you have the key."
"I know you know that, dipstick. You trashed my own home looking for it, remember?"
"Where is the key?"
"I don't have it." E.J. said this staring him straight in the eye, not blinking. Tony raised his hand to her, and with a swing smacked her cheek with a strong hand. E.J. didn't flinch, just sat with her eyes fixed on him, glaring.
"I can't help you, Tony, just let me go." Tony hated the mind games E.J. was so good at. He despised them. Not wanting to control himself, he pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and clicked it out. He held it to her neck, but E.J. didn't budge. She sat still and calm, not moving.
"Dammit, kid....." He clicked the blade back in and shoved it back into his pocket. Inside, she breathed a sigh of relief. She guessed she had been the only person in the world to ever make Tony Benetti back down. But she still had no idea how to get out of there- alive.
**************************************************************************
Part Ten
" All right, here we go," Elaine said. She was a friend of both Ray and Fraser, and was a Civilian Aid.
" Benetti, Anthony," she read off the computer screen. " Hmm....he was arrested 15 years ago for attempted murder, and also charged with breaking, entering, and theft. Nice fella." Fraser looked down over her shoulder.
"I'm just trying to find the position of the Black Dragon's central locale," he informed her.
"Do you remember the Robert Ramis case eight years ago?"
"No, what was that?"
"A famous lawyer wound up missing; his body was never found, but he was presumed dead. Benetti was thought to be involved because the police found evidence that Ramis owed him thousands of dollars." Elaine told him.
Ramis.....that must have been E.J.'s father that disappeared, Fraser thought to himself. That explained a lot.
"Can you please see if you could find anyone who might know him?"
"Sure," Elaine replied, clicking away at her keyboard. "Here's something you might be able to use," she said. "The case file. It should have the names of everyone involved with the Robert Ramis disappearance, and a couple people who know Benetti. The man definitely has friends."
"Great! Thank you kindly, Elaine."
**************************************************************************
Part Eleven
Fraser looked along the outside area of the old warehouse, looking for an inconspicuous way in. Going around the back he found two empty dumpsters, next to a window without any glass. He carefully peered through the window, but all he could see was boxes, obstructing his view. He noticed these small boxes were standing on metal shelves, leaning against the window. He cautiously pushed two stacks of boxes to the side to see more easily.
Now that he could observe the inside, he took note of two men, talking with each other at the far end of the building. He looked around, but he could not see E.J. The two men stopped talking briefly, then walked away.
Taking advantage of the situation, Fraser slid through the small window, and instantly got down on the ground to make sure that no one would see him. After confirming this, he commenced his search.
There were stray boxes everywhere, providing good cover for Fraser to duck behind. He eventually made his way to the front of the building, where he saw E.J. She was asleep, leaning against the pole that her hands were tied to. He was about to go over to her, but an older man, slightly older than Fraser walked by. Fraser crouched behind a large crate until the man was out of sight. Fraser quickly walked to E.J. and kneeled next to her. Before he had the chance to wake her, she whispered at him without even opening her eyes, "Get out of here Fraser, they're gonna see you."
"Trust me, the coast is clear." he whispered back. She opened her eyes. They expressed slight fear and anxiety, but she smiled at him. She was glad he came, anyway.
"I'm going to get you out of here," he murmured quietly.
"I have a knife in my back pocket," she told him. Fraser retrieved it and opened it up. "How did you find me?" she asked him as he began to saw through the knot. Before he could open his mouth, Shawn walked across the grated flooring on the rafters above. Fraser ducked under a pile of nearby boxes until he passed.
"It's quite a long story," he whispered as he resumed slicing away at the thinning rope. The rope broke, releasing the girl. She rubbed her sore wrists, and Fraser closed up the knife and handed it back to her. They stood up.
"Come on, let's just get the hell out of here," she said in a low voice. Fraser nodded and took a step to lead the way out. "Hey, do you hear that?" Fraser stopped in his tracks and listened intently.
"I think the police have arrived," Fraser commented.
"How'd they know something was wrong...?" E.J. thought to herself. "Well, forget it. Let's go find them!" she whispered. She moved toward the front way out.
"We can't go out that way. We'll be seen." Fraser remarked. "We have to try and get out the back way." E.J. nodded in agreement.
"Lead on," she told him softly. Fraser began hopping from box to crate, carefully concealing himself and E.J. The familiar metal shelves were about thirty yards away, and Fraser slowed his pace as he checked the area to make sure it was clear. He turned around to face the girl.
"Do you still-" Fraser was interrupted by a man holding a gun to his neck. He took Fraser by surprise and threw his arm over Fraser's shoulder's.
"E.J., run!" Fraser cried out. E.J. took off in a run.
The man who was holding Fraser in his grasp called out, "SHAWN!" Immediately, Shawn grabbed his gun and fired at the girl. E.J. stopped running, choked out a startled cry, and collapsed.
"No!" Fraser shouted. His cheeks burned. He elbowed the man behind him in the stomach with a startling blow, kneed him in the chest, and punched him out. Shawn hopped down off the stair he was standing on and pointed his gun at Fraser.
"Nice try," he muttered. He cocked his gun. Shawn felt how great it was going to be, now that all the Dragon's problems would be solved. He smiled on this as he wrapped his finger around the trigger.
"Not so fast." Ray Vecchio held his gun to the man's neck. "Gimme the gun." Shawn groaned in disbelief, but without turning around he handed Ray the gun.
"You all right?" he asked Benny. Fraser nodded.
"But, E.J...." he spoke softly. Walking past his friend, he slowly passed a couple other police officers to get to E.J. She rolled over and stood up. Fraser, startled, jumped a bit.
"If you play possum, they stop shooting every time." She grinned at Fraser.
**************************************************************************
Epilogue
Outside of the warehouse stood about five or six police cars, all with officers assisting in the arrest of Tony Benetti, John Cameron, and all of the other Black Dragons. E.J. watched from the side, leaning against the wall of the warehouse.
"Nice job, kid," Ray said to E.J., walking to where she and Fraser were standing.
"Wasn't me," she smiled, looking at Fraser. "I only got them to stop shooting." Fraser smiled.
"Ray," he began, "how did you know to come?"
Ray grinned. "I can't leave you alone for a second,"he laughed. "Elaine told me where you were headed."
Fraser blushed. He looked at Ray, but something in the background caught his attention. Fraser looked past Ray, where he saw a familiar looking face leaving the building. It was a woman being escorted by an officer. Fraser squinted, then walked past Ray and E.J. to her. They both turned around to see where he was going.
"Who's that?" Ray asked to no one in particular. E.J. laughed.
"Huh! That's my aunt!" she said. Ray grinned.
"I knew it."
*****************************************************************************
The End
Back