Chapter Fifty-Four

Eli



Dani's in the shower so I'm using this time to look through the file Greggson sent me. I don't want Dani to see it, in case it upsets her. She didn't want to deal with this case because of what it might have thrown at her, so I have to respect that and keep it away. It's mostly information that we already know; things that Dani told us or snippets of info that we found ourselves. It does say that the bank is a suspected cleaning house for the Russian Mob. The Bratva. That's what they're called. According to the research I've been doing, the Bratva are divided into regions, much like the Italian bosses, except the Bratva aren't really tied by family like the Italians. They have rankings similar to the Army.

As I close the file and slip it back into the envelope, I make a mental note to look into the Bravta further. I need to know what I'm up against here and that means finding out as much as I can about the enemy. I send a quick text to Ash, telling him we need to do some recon before the end of the day tomorrow. We need to use the work database to access the information, so we'll have to do it in the precinct.

Dani has a restless night. Even though she doesn't tell me about the nightmares, I know it has something to do with the breathing on the tape. She seems to be struggling a lot, like she's trying to get away from someone. So when she's distant first thing in the morning, I don't question it and I'm not surprised by it. I have to learn to read the small things if I want to keep her safe and make her more comfortable. I have to learn when her thoughts are consuming her and when they are affecting her everyday life.

Before we step onto our floor at work, I say, “Dani? If you need to talk, I'm here. Ok? Just don't let everything get bottled up because you'll struggle to release it if you do.”

“Yes sir. Sorry, just had a bad night.”

“I know, sweetheart. I just want you to share the burden. I want you to know you don't have to deal with it alone. My mom wants to show you some of her recipes tonight. You ok with that?”

“On my own?”

She's panicked by that thought.

“No, I'll be there. My dad wants to do some training with me. What do you say?”

She thinks for a few seconds and then nods. I shoot her a smile and we head in to start the work day.





Dani



Today has been crazy. I haven't even had a chance to breathe, let alone have a break. In a way it's a good thing, because it doesn't give me time to dwell on dark thoughts or my nightmares. It's almost 3pm when Cain and Ben are at the front of my desk. I jump at the unexpected visitors but manage to calm myself down by pushing my chair back and away from the desk. It's getting easier to calm myself down when the team are around.

Both guys greet me and I return the hello and manage a small smile, which I'm certain looks more like a grimace. I'm looking at one computer screen and holding a sheet of paper in each hand and glancing between all three. I manage to ask, “Is everything ok?”

Ben quickly replies, “Oh yeah, sorry. LT sent us for the training stats.”

Before I can stop myself I question, “LT?”

Cain smiles, “Yeah, that's Eli. The Lieutenant, LT for short.”

“Oh.”

“We kind of don't like calling him Eli on the job and Ramirez gets a bit long sometimes, so we just call him LT for short.”

“Ok.” I don't know what else to say to that. I've never heard him called that before, but I'm not comfortable enough with these 2 to voice anything else. If it was Eli and Ash, then that would be a different story. Huh, I never thought I'd think something like that. Just goes to show you that people do grow on you. I never thought I'd be in a position to be able to talk to people, let alone be friends with 2 guys.

Ben breaks my thoughts, “Dani?”

“Sorry, the stats. Yes. They're here, one second. I haven't had a chance to read them yet...”

I'm flustered and they're going to know it.

Cain takes a step back, like he realizes I'm not comfortable. He pulls Ben back and mumbles, “Give her some space while she reads the file, man.”

I can't help but smile just a tiny bit at his complete u-turn of behavior. Maybe Eli is right; maybe he really has changed. I quickly scan the pages, knowing they're watching me but the need to get them out of there is greater than my need to cover up my speed reading. As I place the papers on the front of my desk, Ben's tone is shocked as he asks, “Done?”

“Yes sir.”

Cain just smiles and asks, “Anything we need to tell LT?”

“No sir. Everything is ok.”

“Cool. Thanks Dani. He said not to leave without him by the way.”

I swear these drugs turn off the filter between brain and mouth, because I can't stop myself from saying, “Of course I won't.”

Both guys chuckle and Cain quips, “I'll be sure to tell him your response. See you later Dani.”

I mumble a bye and they're gone.

I carry on working, but my mind drifts to what is supposed to happen tonight. I can't help but hope that everything will be alright at Eli's parents' house later on. It's sitting in the back of my mind, the fear and panic. They could be watching the house. They could be waiting for me to turn up again. They could follow us back to my house. They could just burst into Don's house and kill us all. Before I even know it, my breathing is erratic and I'm on the verge of a full blown panic attack. Now I can see what the drugs were doing. They were holding this kind of thing at bay. Now they're out of my system and the Modecate hasn't had enough time to reach full effectiveness in my body, so the panic continues to rise. I can feel my fingers tingling, so I try counting. That's not working, so I stand up and pace, reciting the periodic table in every language I can remember. As I'm saying it in Hebrew, I see a pair of boots out of the corner of my eye. Those are followed closely by a second pair of boots and the little control I have managed to gain over my breathing is all thrown out of the window.

I clutch at my chest, knowing my heart can't take much more of this, when through the fog I hear Eli's voice. “Dani? It's me. Stay with me... It's ok. Just listen to my voice... Listen to me, baby. Forget about everything else that's going on. Just focus on my voice and your breathing. You want to give me your hand?”

I hesitate for a few seconds, but I come to the realization that I'm not able to control this on my own. I've learned that Eli is the one who can calm me down. I don't know why or how, but I know it works. So I slowly reach my hand out towards him. He tenderly takes my hand and places it over his heart. He whispers, “That's it. Just count my heart beats, sweetheart. It's ok, just count each beat...”

Once my attack is over, the full force of what has just happened hits me like a ton of bricks. Eli must see what's going to happen, because he puts his face in my line of vision, so he's the only thing I can see. “Don't, Dani. Don't do that to yourself. It happened and it's over. No one saw and it's all ok. Please don't beat yourself up over it. Don't worry about it. It's just us here and you don't need to worry about anything. Do you want me to walk you to the ladies' room?”

I manage to shake my head no. I need some space. I'm too embarrassed about what just went on and I need to clear my head a little bit.

“Are you ok, sweetheart? You don't need to get checked out or anything, do you?”

I croak out, “No sir. Just need a minute.”

“Take as long as you need. Ash and I have some stuff to do on the computer. I'll just be at my station, ok? Come and get me if you need me.”

“Yes sir.... Thank you, Eli.”

He sends me a smile, “Not a problem. That's what I'm here for; to help whenever and wherever I can.”

I rush off to the bathroom to sort myself out and leave the 2 guys standing there, trying to figure out what just happened.





Eli



After Dani has gone, I let out a long, slow breath. Ash asks, “You ok, man?”

“Yeah.”

“How do you stay so calm? How can you not get angry every time you see that?”

“I stay calm because I have to, for Dani's sake. It tears me up to watch it every single time. It makes me want to rip these people to shreds.”

“Was that a bad one?”

I shrug, “Kind of.”

“They've been worse?”

“Yeah.”

“I don't know how you do it, seriously. It's scary to see.”

“I don't find it scary so much as heartbreaking. It hurts to see her go through that pain and fear so often. I just wish I could make it all better. Unfortunately, I can't.”

“You do. Only, you can't see it. Speaking as someone looking from the outside? You make it a heck of a lot better. She would never have calmed down like that before. And she willingly gave you her hand. That's a great deal of progress right there. You should be proud of that... You got the file?”

And just like that, we're back to business. Ash has an amazing ability of knowing when to change the subject. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't always use that ability, especially when he's deliberately trying to make someone uncomfortable. But he knows when to quit when it's important.

We sit at my station, checking the Bratva connections and any arrests that have been made. I literally stop in my tracks when I see the mug shots. There aren't too many arrests, but the pictures we have all show similar tattoos. Some similarities that are consistent with Dani's tattoo.

Ash notices my hesitation because he asks, “Everything ok? What have you seen?”

“Just something I need to ask Dani about. It's not really relevant. At least, not right now.”

“Ok. You been reading the stuff on the Solntsevskaya Bratva? That's some pretty nasty stuff...”

“I know; I saw. That's not really helping to lessen my worries, Ash.”

“Sorry, but we need to be well informed. You think they are the guys that had Dani?”

I shrug. I know what my gut is telling me, but I'm not sure I want to say it out loud. It would make sense. It would be consistent with their usual operations, but if that's the case, we are dealing with some seriously nasty people.

“Be honest with me, Eli. I don't want you to sugar coat it for my benefit. I'm already in this, so just say it like it is.”

“I think so. I mean, from what Dani's told me, it certainly fits. We're not just dealing with some little gang of people who rob, smuggle drugs and do some money laundering. This is the big stuff. These guys will do absolutely anything for their brotherhood. I don't even know where to begin with taking people like that down.”

“Well, we start with what we have. Your pops is going to talk to Ty, so once we get a name, we bring this Artur guy in. You want to see if we can flip him?”

I cluck my tongue at that prospect. “Doubtful. He'll have gone through some pretty nasty initiation to get there and I'm betting he'll be a lot more scared of them than us. We could use him though. Let's see what we can bring him in on and go from there. We might be able to use them to do the work for us. Let's see how it plays out.”

I stare at the tattoos again and I find the thing that is the same as Dani's. There's some Russian writing underneath a Russian Star. I don't know what the writing says, but I think its a brand or identification of some sort. “Ash?”

“Yeah?”

“You know what that writing says?”

He looks at me like I've sprouted a third eye or something. “No. Why would I read Russian? Can't you just ask Dani what it says?”

“I don't want to upset her. I'll just try to find a translation or something. I need to speak to Greggson.”

“Go ahead. I'll carry on here.”

I head to the locker room, so I'm out of Dani's earshot. As soon as Greggson picks up, I say, “Hey Captain Greggson, it's Ramirez again. Have you got a minute to talk?”

“Sure. Go ahead, son.”

“Ok, so I've been looking through the file and I've done a bit of research myself and I think we're looking at the Solntsevskaya Bratva...”

“Really? What brings you to that conclusion? You do know that arrests were made in '89/90 that pretty much crippled the group, don't you?”

“I know. I read that as well, but this is bigger than most crime syndicates.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Call it a gut feeling.”

“There's something you're not telling me, Ramirez. Want to fill me in?”

“I can't easily read you in on this, sir. I've sort of picked up some inside information. Nothing illegal, sir, I assure you. It's just some information that makes me believe we're dealing with something more than the general Russian Mob. It's more organized and intricate. They're into some nasty stuff that the Russian Mob don't usually get involved in.”

“For now I'll go with your gut feeling and I'll get my guys to look into it. But, I'm only doing this because I've heard about your reputation. If it's a complete fail, I will be having words with your Cap. Understood?”

“Yes sir, I understand.”

“Ramirez?”

“Yes sir?”

“Why are you so interested in this case?”

“It's the one I couldn't finish. Myself and our analyst know something isn't right about the whole setup, but we can't focus on the organized crime section of it. I only want to get this cleared up and get some clarity on what actually went down. That's all. I'm not used to not getting a clear cut result.”

“Ok. If you come up with anything else, give me a call.”

“Will do.”

By the time I finish my call, Ash is sitting on the edge of Dani's desk talking to her. She seems a lot more relaxed in his company, which I am very grateful for. Ash is my best friend and Dani is, well, I don't even know what the title for that is, but the thought of Ash making Dani uncomfortable isn't something I want. I want the both of them to become friends so I don't have to feel like I'm split between the two of them.

I overhear Ash asking Dani what she's doing tonight. She replies, “I'm going to Eli's parents' house.... Are you going too?”

There's a slight hesitation before she asks if he's going, but I don't know if its because she's seen me or if she doesn't know if he's been invited.

“No ma'am. It's just you and Eli tonight.”

“Do you want to join us, Ash? My folks won't mind.”

“You sure? I don't want to intrude...”

I chuckle, “Since when has that ever bothered you? You know it's your house as well.”

“You might be doing some bonding or something.”

I laugh at his expression. It's similar to shock/distaste. “Dude, seriously? I nearly always go to eat or to train. Usually both. You know that.”

He shoots me a lopsided grin, “True. You sure it's no problem? Dani?”

“It's ok with me if Eli doesn't mind.”

“Cool. Everyone ready to go?”

“Yep. Let's get out of here.”



Dani stands up, but makes sure she has some distance between us and her. Maybe she's still a bit shaken up from her panic attack. I make a mental note to talk to her about it later.