The Ends Justify the Means (Solo)

(OOC: In honor of Jorge’s 666th post, I thought I’d write a small, one shot solo post with him doing something a little darker than normal. Enjoy!)

Jorge sighed as he sat behind his desk, staring at the photograph of a kidnapped child. The bright, blonde hair pulled into pig tails, the big smile with the missing tooth gap, and the squinty blue eyes seemed to make even him want to grin a little. It really was so sickeningly cute that the hardened detective began to feel his own heart melt a little bit. It was then, as he stared at those picture with the rosy cheeks, and an unflappable sadness began to overwhelm him. Only twenty-four hours ago, this daughter of a New York City judge had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom. The drop for the money and the trade-off was supposed to be tonight…but something went wrong.

Whether the criminals caught wind of what was happening, or they were just too paranoid to begin with, the trade did not go off exactly as planned. The kidnapper showed up to collect the money, but he had no kid in tow. Apparently he claimed that he wanted to extort the family for more money, which is why he did not bring the girl with him.

Now…they had one kidnapper in custody and no child with no idea where she was. The criminal knew this was the ace up his sleeve and he was going to keep his ace as long as he could.

It did not take long for the news to spread around the precinct. The kidnapper was holding onto information, making demands and making sure that no one had any clue as to where that little girl was. For all anyone knew the girl could already be dead…but the man was not giving them any definites. All he said was that if they wanted to see her again, they better give him his money, set him free and give him a ticket out of town. Lofty demands for a way too bold two-bit thug.

Jorge definitely did not like the situation.

Without really knowing why, the detective suddenly found himself standing from his desk and circled around and made his way into the hall. On his trek, his shoes echoed in the dull, tiled hallway as he made his way to the interrogation rooms. The picture of that little girl in his head driving him to keep moving forward. He was tired of hearing about how the man would not talk, or that this was going to be that girl’s last night. If anyone could make that man talk, if anyone could make him sing like a featherless parakeet, it was going to be him.

As he turned into another hall, Jorge knocked on one of the doors to an observation room and was immediately allowed entrance. The person on the other side of the door, a Detective Chambers, arched a brow and nodded to the detective. The man looked haggard and older than he really was supposed to be. The stubble on his face was gray, his eyes had heavy bags and looked bloodshot, the man was beginning to make this case personal to him. Jorge sighed as he saw this. Chambers was one of the few detective he actually respected in this precinct that were outside of the MRC division. It killed him to see him so tired and exhausted.

“Anything?” Jorge asked as he stepped in and looked in through the two-way mirror.

“No…monster won’t say a word until we meet his demands.”

The man inside was smug, standing around and trying to brush back his slicked back, greasy hair. His mustache and goatee were thin and spidery with red and gray hairs. While his face looked shallow with sunken eyes. He was definitely a man that should never be trusted with so much as a spork. But it was the arrogance behind his eyes that really angered Jorge, and he was sure pulled Chambers to the end of his rope.

“They’re not actually considering what he wants, are they?”

Chambers shrugged. “Practically. All I keep hearing is that they want to offer him a plea deal for the safe return of Becky.”

Jorge shook his head as he started at that cock, wide grin on the man’s face through the mirror. It was then that he turned to Chambers. “Listen, we’re running out of time. Give me five minutes with him, I can make him talk.”

Chambers looked a little shocked and wide-eyed but seemed to considering it. So far peace talks between him and the cops were not working, and as much as he wanted to bludgeon the man with a pipe, he knew he could not. Still though, the mental images were all he needed to keep the idea alive.

“Cervantes….I…”

Jorge narrowed his eyes and nodded to the camera that was pointed towards the two-way mirror. “Just…turn it off…give me five minutes. All I’m asking. I want to get this girl back safely just as much as you do. But you know that no matter what deal his is offered, he is not going to hand over her location easily. Not without milking the information for all it’s worth, and we need to act fast.”

Chambers stood there, looking confused a little unsure, but as he followed Jorge’s gaze, the detective saw the same arrogant expression on the kidnappers face. Those said sadistic eyes, the cruel twist of his lips, and the nostrils that flared as if he were catching the scent of all the money he would get for his troubles. It really was too much to bear anymore. So with a defiant nod, Chambers moved over to the camera and accidentally flicked the off switch.

When Jorge saw the little red light on top of the camera die, he took a deep breath, cracked his neck the side and exited the room. A second later a door leading into the interrogation room opened and Jorge stepped inside. The mutant detective was dressed in jeans, heavy work boots and a leather brown bomber jacket over his red and black flannel shirt. The veteran detective reached up an ran his fingers through his salt-and-peppered colored hair as he glared down at the man.

Silently the kidnapper looked up and the second he saw the look on Jorge’s face, the light and arrogance melted away from his face. Chambers could not hear what the man whispered he tried to make a snarky comment about Jorge’s attire and serious look. With a grunt the man reached over to a plastic pitcher of water that was sitting there, waiting for him to sip from at his leisure. Chambers watched as the water twirled dangerously inside the pitcher, faster than it could have done under normal circumstances. The kidnapper noticed this as well and looked at the pitcher with shocked expression.

Another silent question as to what was going on, and he glanced at Jorge.

That was when the first speed shot of water flew from the pitcher and struck the man square in the eye. The kidnapper’s dull yell of pain echoed around the interrogation room but did not escape into the hall. But that was not the end of it. With a flick of his wrist, the detective summoned more water, this time it flew forward and quickly began to envelope the thug’s head…

Chambers, deciding that ignorance was bliss, grabbed his coat, left the observation room and closed the door behind him. Casually he waited outside the interrogation room door, catching dull snippets of conversation followed by splashes of water and more muffled screams.

He said nothing as he stood there, his back against the wall and his eyes closed as he listened the the few sounds that managed to make it out into the hall. The splashes of water, the short and then cut off screams of the panicking kidnapper who kept trying to yell that he was drowning. These words were cut off again and again by the what sounded like more swirling and splashes of water. The curses, the yells of pain, the sobbing cries to be left alone barely reached Chambers’ ears as he stood still, listening intently for something, anything, as he kept a steady eye on his watch…

Three minutes…Splash! Muffled scream!

Four minutes…Splash!! Choking gasps Splash!!!

Four and a half-minutes…SPLASH!!! Sobbing cries… then utter silence…

For a moment complete panic settled over Chambers’ heart as he heard nothing and could see nothing. He really felt he had made the wrong decision now and immediately turned to run into the interrogation room to see if their only link back to Becky was even still alive! He reached out, grabbed the door knob and began to turn it…

At that moment, Jorge opened the door, looking like he was trying to calm down a storm that was going off in his mind. Behind him, Chambers’ could see the drenched, exhausted and sputtered form of the kidnapper as he lay sprawled over the desk. He had only one fearful eye open as he watched the back of Jorge with compete fear, his cheek resting against the table, with little to no strength to left his head.

“What…?” Chambers started.

Jorge took a long, steadying breath as he held up a piece of paper with what looked like an address scrawled across it. It was dotted with a few drops of water, but it was perfectly legible. And one of the addresses that was in the vicinity where they had picked up the kidnapper.

“Get there now. She’s tied in the basement and has been without food or water for almost two days now.” Jorge said as he turned and glanced at the kidnapper again. The man immediately flinched under Jorge’s gaze and tried to cringe away. The water-bending detective turned back to Chambers and nodded to the address he had handed over. “You better get a move on. The address is legit, he…assured me it was.”

“Jorge…I…” Chambers mumbled as he stared dumbfounded at the address.

Jorge nodded in understanding as and gave him a sad smile. It was obvious that the detective was beginning to feel a little bit of remorse for what he had done. He had let anger get the best of him and as much as he wanted to admit that he did the right thing here, that he made that monster talk, part of him still knew he crossed a line. It would be something he would have to live with.

Moving past Chambers, who scrambled off to gather a squad to get the judge’s daughter, Jorge sighed to himself and felt a shudder run up his spine. He needed, real bad, to head home…and attempt to convince himself for the rest of the night that the ends justified the means.