There Goes My Hero (Closed for NbT)

[Mephistophelily]

Closed for Mephy & NothingbutTruth​

[size=-2]Hannah Masterson, Age 20.
Daughter of Jared Masterson; student at NYU.
Usually quite shy and reserved, she rarely seems to let out the emotions inside her...
Until something/someone finally makes them flood out, and the tidal wave that is released is far more than she can control.[/size]​

*Don't stop; just keep going, keep running, don't look back.*

This mantra repeated itself over and over again in Hannah's head, tears filling her eyes as her feet touched against the pavement for mere seconds, her breaths coming in heaving puffs as she tried to get away from the men that had followed her for so long now.

She didn't know who they were, but she had an idea as to why they were doing this. Her father was Jared Masterson, one of the richest men in the city. He had come upon his money in both legal and illegal practices, something that she had always known but never asked him about. He had told her that the only thing she needed to worry her pretty little head about was the next present she wished to receive from her doting daddy, only to have the butler escort her away from his meetings in his office and back to her room full of expensive things.

She hated the gifts that came from his dirt money; the money he received from his business with those despicable men, the ones who used to smile their fake smiles to her as a child, their gruff hands rubbing harshly on her head as they passed to his office. Over the years those fake smiles changed from trying to scare away a young girl to watching a bit too closely at the wandering young woman, now passing through those halls as she neared her twenty-first birthday. The worst of all of these visitors was the man she had seen enter that office for years; the rotund man with the sweaty palms and panting breaths, the one her father forced her to greet as Mister DiNucci. That man had always scared her.

These men were sent by that frightening pumpkin-shaped man, and she knew she had every right to be scared. She had heard the stories about him and his men, and overheard all the threatening warnings passed on to her father.



A scream left her lips as one of the men suddenly rounded the corner of the building before her, surprising her and sending her stumbling backwards. Her body slamming hard against the brick wall behind her, she began to sob, shaking as the man approached with a sadistic grin.

"We've been looking for you awhile now, Miss Masterson...," He crooned devilishly, gruff hands clamping onto her shoulders and thrusting her against the rough stones, lifting her feet from the pavement. "Your father owes us, and since he doesn't seem to want to pay his debt, we'll just start taking collateral."

"Let go! Let me go!," She shrieked, trying to hit the thick man holding her as she continued to scream. Her howls were muffled as his hand dropped against her mouth, glaring at her as he scowled and shook his head. She attempted to bite him, only to have him laugh.

"That tickles, kid. I get shot at about 3 times a week. Ya really think bitin' me is gonna hurt? Now you be good and shut yer little mouth, an' I won't hafta do somethin' you really won't like." He nodded as she stopped flailing, slowly removing his hand. "That's a girl. Now you come with me and Joey, and we're gonna make a nice lil phone call to Daddy. You better hope he's in a giving mood, kid." Glancing to his partner as he approached, he grabbed Hannah about the waist, tossing her over his shoulder before starting towards the black Cadillac parked at the side of the road. Dropping her into the backseat, he slid in beside her, still glaring at her as Joey started the car. "Little bitch drew blood," he announced, shoving his hand up to show his driving friend.

"I thought you said it wouldn't hurt," Hannah asked flatly, looking towards him.

"I thought I said shut up." He barely finished the sentence before his hand swung around and being the last thing Hannah remembered before everything went black.



When she awoke, she had a pounding headache and found her hands bound behind her on the wooden chair. "Wh-What's going on? Where are we? Please, just let me go, I won't say anything to anyone-"

"Oh, no, no. You wanted to talk earlier, Hannah. Go ahead, be loud now. Let Daddy hear you loud 'n' clear on the phone. You scream your head off all you want." The bleeding-handed man grinned, leaning over her shoulder and pressing a cell phone against her cheek. "Say hi to daddy..."

"Dad?! Dad! Please, dad! Do something, these guys are-"

"Aaaht, that's enough." He hastily yanked the phone away, putting it back to his own ear as he paced the small room. "That's right, every damn cent you owe us, you asshole. You've got 24 hours... and for every 10 minutes after that you're late, I start takin' souvenirs from Hannah... You can keep those. Mister DiNucci will keep what's left of her." He grinned as he nodded, snapping the phone shut and peering down at Hannah. "Sounds like Daddy might actually follow through, kid..."



Jared dropped the phone back against the receiver with a light sigh, running a hand over his face. He knew he should have sent someone to watch over her, but he had thought the majority of the threats were against him.. not Hannah. He should have expected this. That last threat, however- That had him worried. With a hesitant hand, he picked the phone back up. He couldn't go into full details as to why these men had his daughter, but he needed the police... His fingers trembled as he dialed, closing his eyes as it was answered.

"Hello? Yes, this- ahem- this is Jared Masterson. I... My daughter- My daughter has been kidnapped..."

 

[NothingButTruth]

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp21/NothingButTruth/039.jpg
Melissa Paxson
Detective, NYPD Major Crimes Unit
Strong, ambitious, driven, devoted to her duty, she's a loner who doesn't deal well with personal relationships...
Until Hannah comes into her life, and turns it upside down.​

Melissa Paxson looked up as her partner, Dave Michaels, rapped his knuckles on her desk.

"Captain wants to see us, Lissa. Looks like something big's going down. The DA and the Deputy Mayor are in his office, too. Let's go!"

Melissa stood and followed Michaels to the captain's office. She sighed, remembering that she'd left the day's first cup of coffee on her desk, but reluctant to turn and go back for it. When the big boys from City Hall showed up, it wasn't a good sign, and she knew better than to delay things for a cup of coffee.

The captain was pacing his office when they entered, yet another bad sign. When the two detectives entered, he motioned them to close the door. He didn't waste any time.

"You both know the District Attorney and the Deputy Mayor already. We've got problems, and they're big ones. The name Jared Masterson mean anything to you two?"

Melissa's eyes went big as she and her partner exchanged glances. Mean anything? Of course it meant something! Masterson was in bed with some of the most notorious crime bosses in the northeast. Rumor had it that he'd made his millions because of these associations, but then the mob had turned around and started bleeding him dry. He got caught up in a vicious circle, borrowing money to stay afloat, then having to pay exhorbitant interest rates on those loans. He was also rumored to have at least a few top level city officials in his pocket, which would explain the presence of the Brass, and the closed door.

Both detectives nodded, but kept their mouths shut. The captain stared hard at them, then nodded once. "Good. Here's the situation. Masterson's daughter has been kidnapped. From the little bit he's willing to give up, he knows the people who took her, and he knows why. He owes someone - he won't say who it is - and he owes them a lot. They've taken the daughter and given him twenty-four hours to come up with the money."

He stopped speaking for a moment, then, with a look at the Deputy Mayor, said, "He can't come up with it. And he's scared enough of whoever has the kid that he's asking for police help. You two get to handle this. I need you to talk to Masterson, get as much as you can, and then find that girl."

Melissa and Dave looked at each other for a moment, a silent but almost verbal exchange taking place in the space of about three seconds. They want just two of us on this? Why? This needs manpower! Why are they throwing it on two detectives?

The DA spoke up. "Your captain says that you two can be counted on to keep this quiet and completely under wraps. Not one word of this can go any farther than the five of us. Is that understood?"

Melissa spoke first. "Yes, but why? I mean, this is going to need more than..."

"Why is not important!" snapped the Deputy Mayor. "Just keep it quiet, and for God's sake, find that girl before they kill her!"

"Here's what we have so far. It's not much." The captain handed Melissa a single sheet of paper. It wasn't even a criminal complaint form, just a sheet of paper with Masterson's home address, his business address, and several phone numbers. That was it, nothing else. She handed the sheet to her partner.

"How old is the girl?" she asked.

"She's twenty. A student at NYU. As for the rest, get it from Masterson - he knows as much or more than we do right now." The captain stared hard again, shifting his gaze from Melissa to Dave, and then back to Melissa. "Well? Get going!"

The two detectives left the office, muttering to each other as soon as the door closed behind them.

"What the fuck was all that?" Melissa breathed. "Those three looked scared shitless!"

Dave grinned at her. "If we pull this off, all three of them are going to owe us. Big time. Heads are gonna roll if this goes south, and those three are scared enough that theirs will be the first heads to go. Masterson has a few big boys in his pocket. You gotta love corruption, Melissa. Makes for great career opportunities!"

Melissa shook her head. "I'm just worried about the kid. You know what some of these guys are capable of."

"Yeah, I do," said Michaels. "And if they said twenty-four hours, then she's fine until then. At one second beyond, they start hurting her. And they don't play nice. We need to move. Who's turn is it to drive?"

"Nice try, asshole," Melissa laughed. "No way do I ride shotgun with you behind the wheel. You're a fuckin' menace to the cab drivers of New York."

"Worth a shot," replied Dave, grinning.

Then they were out of the squad room and in the garage, jogging to get to their car. Melissa started the car, then asked where they were going.

"Uhm, East 83rd and York Ave.," said Michaels. "Right up there by Gracie Terrace. Must be some nice digs." He put the bubble light on the roof of the car as they pulled out of the garage and headed for Manhattan's Upper East Side...

 

[Mephistophelily]

Jared paced the floor of his office, his hands never ceasing movement as he rubbed his forehead, his neck, each other... only to repeat the pattern once again. His head raised briefly as the butler announced the arrival of the two detectives, giving a quick affirmative nod before restarting his laps. The two were shown in to the rather large office, Jared starting towards the leather chair behind the mahogany desk, only to continue straight behind it and taking a smaller pacing path from there.

"They called again," he said flatly, his eyes never lifting from the floor. "They called and left me details on where they wanted their money brought. It's impossible, I simply can't come up with that in such a short time... The wharf, they said- they said pier 19. That there was a boat, a boat I'd know was meant for me. They wanted the money left under the seat. I can't.. I simply can't come up with it all in less than a day-"

He raised his gaze then, the redness in his eyes a sign tha he had been crying, but was now trying to keep his composure with the detectives before him. "The sounds in the background; I could hear Hannah, she's alright for now... but the other sounds.... They're right there at the wharf, I'm sure of it. You don't hear things like that in the middle of the city." Grabbing the back of his chair, he spun it around, dropping into it with a heavy thump as he shook his head. "I should have sent her away for school... I should have made her go to one of those other colleges-"

He raised his gaze once more, frowning. "Please. I realize I'm not exactly the ideal citizen in this city, but my daughter- Hannah has nothing to do with any of this... Please find her, get her out of this mess..."


-----

Her hands hurt. Hannah closed her eyes as she twisted her wrists, yelping softly as he rope tightened into her skin and pinched the nerves. She hastily relaxed them, watching the large man once again as he paced past her, a cigar dangling from his lips. "Sir?," She asked softly, trying to smile as he looked back at her. "M-May I have a drink? Please? It's so dry in here, and my throat really hurts..."

"Maybe you should'a stopped cryin' when I told you to. All yer screamin' and wailin' like that didn't do much good at all, now did it?" He grunted out a quick laugh, peering down at her as he took the cigar from his mouth.

"Aw, c'mon Mikey. Let her have a drink. I mean, she did bite you. Needs somethin' to wash all that nasty shit from you outta her mouth," Joey cackled from the corner, coming over with a bottle in his hands. "Here, kid. Easy, easy... There ya go." He smiled, lifting it to her lips and letting her sip from the bottle, only to laugh again as she spit it out.

"What was that?!," She coughed out, spitting again in disgust.

"It was fuckin' water, why you spittin' it?" He glared at her, dumping what was left onto the floor. "Straight outta the harbor, just for you. Kids these days, Jesus. No fuckin' respect or thanks..."

Hannah closed her eyes tightly, trying to keep from crying as she attempted to drone out the laughing men next to her. Her father was doing something... He had to be. Maybe once he could actually prove to her that he loved her.