The Price of Justice

The Price of Justice
Elena Santos' POV

"Let Sarah go, Marcus!" I screamed, running toward the lighthouse with my gun drawn. Black helicopters were landing all around us, and armed men in military gear were jumping out like dangerous spiders.
"Elena, stop right there!" Marcus pressed his gun harder against Sarah's head. "One more step and Agent Kim dies!"
I froze twenty feet away from them, my heart beating so hard I could barely think straight. Sarah's eyes were calm but scared, and I could see blood running down her neck where Marcus's gun had cut her skin.
"Marcus, Chen's men are here! They're going to kill all of us, including you!"
"Not if we make a deal right now!"
The armed men from the planes were spreading out, surrounding the lighthouse. But something was wrong. They weren't shooting at us. They were waiting for something.
"Elena," Marcus called out, "Chen's men have orders to kill everyone except me. But if you let me go, I'll call them off."
"You're lying!"
"Am I? Then why aren't they shooting?"
He was right. Chen's assassins were in perfect position to kill everyone, but they weren't shooting. They were waiting for Marcus to give them a warning.
"Marcus, what do you want?"
"I want to walk away from this living. And I want you to have the information that will destroy Chen's entire network."
Sarah tried to speak, but Marcus tightened his grip. "Elena, don't trust him!"
"Agent Kim is right to be suspicious," Marcus said. "But Elena, look around. Those are experienced killers with enough firepower to level this entire town. The only reason they're not shooting is because I told Chen I could handle this quietly."
I counted twelve armed guys positioned around us. My pistol had four shots left. Even if I was the best shot in the world, I couldn't take down twelve experienced killers.
"Marcus, what's your deal?"
"Simple. I walk away tonight, and I give you everything. Chen's operation handbook, the locations of every facility, the names of every buyer, and the schedule for moving forty-three girls who are being held right now."
"And if I say no?"
Marcus nodded toward the armed men. "Then Chen's cleanup protocol goes into force. Everyone dies, I leave anyway, and those forty-three girls get shipped to buyers tomorrow."
This was the hardest choice of my life. Every instinct I had as a cop screamed that letting Marcus leave was wrong. But every sense I had as a human being said that saving forty-three innocent girls was more important than punishing one guilty man. "Elena," Sarah whispered, "whatever you decide, I understand."
"Marcus, how do I know you'll really give us the information?"
"Because Chen failed me tonight. He was going to kill me along with everyone else. The only way I survive is if Chen's network gets destroyed before he can hunt me down."
One of Chen's men was talking into a radio, possibly asking for orders. We were running out of time.
"Elena," Marcus said quickly, "Chen's man just asked if he should start shooting. I told him to wait five more minutes. After that, everyone dies whether you make a deal or not."
I thought about Amy Rodriguez, who'd trusted me to save her sister. I thought about Dr. Archer, who'd finally found the strength to do what was right. I thought about all the families who'd lost girls to Marcus's operation over the past twenty years.
And I thought about the forty-three girls who were sitting in Chen's facility right now, waiting to be sold like animals.
"Marcus, if I let you go, you disappear forever. No more trafficking, no more hurting innocent people."
"Elena, I'm done with the crime business. Too risky, too much attention. I just want to retire somewhere warm and try to forget the last twenty years."
"And you'll give us everything we need to destroy Chen's network?"
"Every place, every contact, every method he uses. Elena, I built half of Chen's business. I know where every body is buried."
Sarah looked at me with understanding in her eyes. She knew what I was going to decide, and she was telling me it was okay.
"Marcus, here's my deal. You let Agent Kim go right now. You call off Chen's men. And you give me the first piece of information to prove you're telling the truth."
"What information?"
"The exact address of Chen's main facility in Seattle."
Marcus smiled grimly. "1247 Harbor View Drive, Warehouse Complex C. Security code is 4-7-2-9. There are currently forty-three girls being held in the basement, and they're due to be moved tomorrow at midnight."
I grabbed my radio. "Control, this is Elena Santos. I need a quick raid on 1247 Harbor View Drive in Seattle. Warehouse Complex C. Multiple people being held against their will."
"Elena, we'll need a warrant—"
"There's no time for warrants! Those girls are being moved in less than twenty-four hours!"
Marcus nodded approvingly. "Elena, you're learning that sometimes rules have to be broken to save innocent lives."
"Let Agent Kim go, Marcus."
"Not until I'm safely in that helicopter."
He started going toward one of Chen's helicopters, dragging Sarah with him. The armed men stepped away to let him pass.
"Marcus!" I called out. "The rest of the information!"
"When I'm flying! Elena, Chen's operation instructions will be emailed to Agent Kim within one hour. Use it wisely."
I watched helplessly as Marcus pushed Sarah into the helicopter. Every part of me wanted to kill him, to make him pay for thirty-seven murdered girls. But forty-three live girls were more important than revenge against one dead monster.
The helicopter lifted off, and Marcus leaned out to shout something I could barely hear over the rotor noise: "Elena! Chen knows about the raid! He's moving the girls tonight!"
My blood turned to ice. If Chen was moving the girls tonight, our raid would find an empty building.
I grabbed my radio. "Control, change of plans! The targets are being changed tonight! We need that raid to happen right now!"
"Elena, it's 2 AM. We can't organize a raid in—"
"Then those forty-three girls are going to disappear forever!"
As Marcus's chopper flew away into the darkness, Agent Williams came running over to me. His face was angry.
"Elena, what the hell did you just do? You let a mass killer escape!"
"I made a deal to save forty-three innocent lives."
"The FBI doesn't negotiate with terrorists!"
"Then maybe the FBI should care more about saving victims than following rules!"
Agent Williams got on his radio. "Control, this is Williams. Elena Santos just allowed a criminal fugitive to escape. I want her arrested for obstruction of justice."
"Agent Williams," I said quietly, "arrest me after we save those girls. Right now, we have less than six hours before Chen moves them to a place we'll never find."
That's when Sarah's voice came through my earphones. She was still in the plane with Marcus, but somehow her radio was still working.
"Elena, can you hear me?"
"Sarah, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Elena, Marcus is giving me details about Chen's network. There aren't just forty-three girls in Seattle. There are over two hundred girls being held in sites across five states."
My legs almost gave out. Two hundred girls.
"Sarah, did Marcus give you locations for all the facilities?"
"He's writing them down right now. Elena, this is bigger than we ever thought. Chen's network has been running for thirty years."
Agent Williams heard every word through the radio. His rage was slowly being replaced by understanding.
"Elena," he said quietly, "if Marcus is telling the truth, you just made the biggest breakthrough in trafficking enforcement history."
"And if he's lying?"
"Then you let a killer escape and forty-three girls die anyway." I looked out at the dark ocean where Marcus was disappearing forever. In the distance, I could see the lights of Moonfall Bay, where families were sleeping comfortably for the first time in twenty years.
I'd made my choice. Now I had to live with the results.
But first, I had to save two hundred innocent girls.