Perfect Storm

Chapter 36 - All I Ask

Kate was on her knees, concrete biting into the skin and bone as the cold metal barrel pressed into her forehead. She could feel blood trickling from her nose and mouth, the metallic taste making her stomach roll as she fought to keep her eyes open.

"You'll die just and you lived, puta. On your knees. Like the filthy slut you are."

The black, harrowing eyes of Eduardo Guterra burned with malice as he towered over her, a sick smirk on his face. Before he could pull the trigger, Kate heard a voice calling her name in the distance; a voice she recognised instantly.

Hank.

"Or maybe...maybe I'll make you watch me kill him first, eh?"

"No. No, you've got me...just do it...kill me."

She leaned forward as far as she could without loosing her balance, pushing her clammy forehead harder against the barrel, the metal leaving a circular indentation on her skin. Kate could hear the voice getting louder, she only had a few seconds before he walked right into Guterra's trap.

"Hank, no!"

Guterra laughed as Kate called out her warning, lifting the gun so that it was now pointed over Kate's head. She turned as far as her body would allow from her position on the floor and watched as Hank entered the room completely unarmed and her stomach sank.

"Kate?"

They locked eyes and Kate silently pleaded with him to leave. But he ignored her look and remained where he stood, his warm gaze becoming icy as he stared Guterra down.

"Let her go."

Guterra laughed again, the sound making Kate feel physically sick and tears began to stream down her face. His eyes were alight with sadistic mirth, finger moving to rest on the trigger.

"Looks like he's made the choice for you, bitch."

"No! HANK!"

Kate thrashed against the sheets, her eyes snapping open to scan the room, frantically searching the darkness for a trace of either Hank or Guterra. Her heart was hammering in her chest, the oversized t-shirt she had worn to bed sticking to her damp skin, sweat trickling down her spine uncomfortably as she sat bolt upright in bed.

She blindly reached for the lamp on the bedside table, flicking it on to the lowest setting, bathing the room in a dim glow as the familiar surroundings came into focus.

'It was just a dream.'

Kate repeated the five word sentence over and over in her mind, breathing deeply to try and calm her racing heart but the vivid image of Guterra firing two rounds into his chest refused to be erased from her mind.

Her eyes were drawn to her phone, wanting so badly to call him to reassure herself that he was okay but she immediately rejected the idea. She had just asked him to give her some space, it wouldn't be fair to call him in the middle of the night just to make herself feel better.

Reclining against the headboard, she closed her eyes for a few moments and focused on her breathing.

'In...2...3...4...out...2...3...4..."

When she finally felt some semblance of calm, she shuffled back down the bed and closed her eyes. It took a while for sleep to reclaim her but Kate's last thought before succumbing to the darkness was that she would not rest until Guterra was either in a cell or a body bag.

By eight am the team had reconvened in the bullpen, coffee percolating in the air as they reviewed everything they knew about Guterra and his associates.