Unexpected 5: The Perfect Daughter

Chapter 8: Woof, Woof

"Commander, both suspects have been detained. What's out next move?" Luca called over the radio

"Luca, 20 squad is down three already. Tan, Street and you" Hicks paused, "I need you to help with the hostage situation in the center. Rocker's team is going after Romeo and Juliet as we speak but two guests have informed that three gang members have stolen their dogs. LAPD has them cornered, but they're still firing rounds. Each one of those champs is worth over 6 grand... we gotta retrieve them safely. GO!"

All three officers jumped in the patrol car and exited through the back alley, avoiding the horrible traffic up front. In a matter of minutes they made it to the scene.

On the way. the patrol officer filled them in on the current status. "We have information that the mayor's sister, Mary Ann Filler, is one of the hostages inside of Ballroom 8, to the left of the elevator, second floor. They were in the process of evaluating Champions of high caliber breeds for registration purposes. Among those were Stallion and King Cesar, two  Cavalier King Charles Spaniels -very expensive dogs- each valued north of $7K each. The building is in total lockdown and evacuated."

"Guys, remember, non lethals. We need the pups alive!" Luca said as they unloaded 

Upon arriving, all three lined up. Luca lead the way, followed by Tan and then Street who guarded their backside. Their plan was to come from the back, unnoticed, while LAPD stood ground in the front. They were to use the emergency stairs at the back of the building, and reach the room from the small storage room attached to it. From there they could get a better visual to the location of the suspects and the situation inside the ballroom. They needed to be extra careful because it wasn't just about the dogs, police estimated about 50 guests and 6 judges trapped in the room.

After some minutes and careful infiltration, all three made it to the second floor. They swiveled around empty storage spaces until landing behind the back wall of the ballroom.

"We're in position." Luca whispered in

"GO!" Hicks called

"Street?" Luca called, as the young officer retrieved a small cable with a mini camera. He approached the front of the line and carefully inserted the front of the cable through a thin opening between the curtains and the side wall.

"Three suspects, one right behind the front door. The other two some 10 feet apart in the front. Automatic weapons, 10 rounds per second. I count 58 guests huddled in the middle, sitting on the carpet, surrounded by chairs." he reported as the images popped up in the screen attached to his wristband

"Alright, what about the pups?"

"From what I see, all cages are to the far end of the room with pups closed in, except two that are wide opened. The two perps in the front have tied the two remaining ones to a table behind them."

"Ok." he paused, "Commander, tell LAPD to make a push on the door, with everything they've got. On my signal."

"Copy that Luca."

"What's the plan?" Tan asked guarding their backside

"Huddle up" called Luca. He explained step by step how they were going to breach the room, by separating the situations. LAPD would focus on the front gunner, while they dealt with the hostages, the dogs and the assailants in the front.

His plan almost worked! When LAPD made a push at the door, protecting themselves with shields, the SWAT officers came from the back. Tan and Luca tackled the two gun men in the front, while Street evacuated the room.

The only problem was that one of the hostages was actually part of the gang of assailants. When noticing that his squad was going down, the young man took off with the dogs. In the mist of chaos, the red haired man got up from the floor, ran towards the tied champs, and ran away with them out the back.