Caught in the crossfire

Price drove the car to the school, and Soap sat in the passenger seat. Anxiety and panic gripped them both, for they knew that Elena needed their help as soon as possible. Ghost sat in the back seat and stared out the window, his thoughts were on the same page as the rest of them. They all silently hoped that she would be alright. They couldn't imagine that anything could happen to Elena. Just then, their attention was caught by a black, heavily tinted BMW that drove past them. It drove in from the direction of the school. A car like that was far too expensive for the teachers at this school, and certainly didn't belong to any of the parents. Which immediately made Price tense up. Price drove the car to the school, and Soap sat in the passenger seat. Anxiety and panic gripped them both, for they knew that Elena needed their help as soon as possible. Ghost sat in the back seat and stared out the window, his thoughts were on the same page as the rest of them. They all silently hoped that she would be alright. They couldn't imagine that anything could happen to Elena. Just then, their attention was caught by a black, heavily tinted BMW that drove past them. It drove in from the direction of the school. A car like that was far too expensive for the teachers at this school, and certainly didn't belong to any of the parents. Which immediately made Price tense up. As he drove past the BMW, Price muttered: - "Too expensive for a high school student... Too flashy for a teacher... Something's not right here..." Soap only nodded in agreement, frowning. - "And considering the school's on lockdown, who would be leaving now?" He muttered, looking at the car pulling away. A sudden realization came over everyone. Price looked at Soap. - "That wasn't a parent... And certainly not a teacher." He said, and the feeling of horror began to slowly build. MacTavish's eyes widened, and he looked at Price. - "It can't be... It was the shooter?!" He uttered as a terrifying realization began to occur to him. All eyes turned to the receding BMW. - "Of course we don't know for sure, but it's entirely possible..." Price mumbled. Suddenly, Ghost said: - "It can't be... How is that possible? We just got an alarm and..." He interrupted himself, gritting his teeth in anger. Price drove until he finally pulled into the school car park. He pulled up to the side of the road. As soon as everyone got out of the car, the first thing they saw were the terrified students. Some were crying, some were sobbing, and some were just frozen in shock. Seeing the panic and shock of the children, they became worried. They urgently began to search among the students for any sign of Elena, their eyes quickly scanning the crowd. But the girl was nowhere to be seen... MacTavish ran up to a small group of teenagers who were slightly older than the rest. - "Hey, have any of you seen a girl with brown hair and blue eyes, about 5' 9"?" He muttered. The teenagers looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, and then one brown-haired of them called out: - "Wait, isn't that the one that was kidnapped right out of class?!" - "Wh-what?!" Soap muttered with widened eyes in astonishment. - "They say that the younger ones who managed to run outside first saw some girl being kidnapped by a man with a gun..." The brown-haired guy continued. Although the description of the kidnapped girl wasn't clear enough, this information was enough to make Soap worry even more than before. - "You said she was kidnapped right out of class, but what about her classmates and teacher?" He asked, trying his best to remain serious. - "It seems that class is being questioned by other teachers right now..." Mumbled one of the girls with blonde hair. - "And Mrs Cooper has been taken to the infirmary. They say she felt sick." She continued, slightly thoughtful. Soap only nodded, thoughtful. However, Price's voice quickly brought him out of his thoughts. - "Soap, where the hell have you been?! Come on, we've got another problem." Price said, pushing the sergeant towards the entrance of the building. - "Cap? What happened?" Soap muttered feebly. The information he'd received from those kids kept him on edge. Elena was too close to him to let something like kidnapping happen to her. - "Not in front of the kids." He replied simply, stepping into the school building with Soap. Soap only raised an eyebrow questioningly at Price's words, but didn't question him further. As they walked down the school corridor towards the locker rooms, MacTavish realized what was wrong. There was a man's body on the floor behind the wall of one of the locker rooms. - "Is this the problem you were talking about?" He asked as they got closer to the body, with Gaz already standing beside it, running the dead man through the database. - "Yeah. As you can see, it was not without casualties..." The captain muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose. - "So, with any luck, this case will fall under our jurisdiction." He said. - "Hey, Cap, our dead guy owes some mobsters a favor." Gaz said suddenly, taking his eyes off his tablet. - "Huh?" Price only mumbled as he stepped closer to Gaz. Soap didn't hesitate either, stepping closer to Gaz. He decided to hold back the information he'd learned from the children for now. After all, it didn't seem like a good time right now. And he didn't have any proof. He was snapped out of his musings by Gaz's voice. - "Check this out. Victor Morris, several bank loans and a few utility debts." Read Gaz. - "Nothing supernatural... What does this have to do with mobsters?" Soap asked. - "Have a closer look. That's the company he borrowed from." Said Gaz, pointing his finger at the tablet screen. - "It's 'FineCapital' People say the cops haven't been able to apprehend them for years because they don't have any evidence..." Soap muttered, more to himself. - "That's what I'm telling you." Gaz muttered. - "It's all too weird..." Price just muttered to himself. - "Do you think they'd attract so much attention? They're in court all the time, they wouldn't have the courage to kill someone in a place like this..." He muttered. - "I don't think anyone but them knows about it." Gaz simply said, shrugging his shoulders. - "Well. Anyway, it's a police issue, not ours." Price said, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers. - "The main thing we need to do now is to find Elena..." He said, sighing slightly. - "By the way, Price, have you questioned her teacher about where Elena is yet?" Soap muttered with a slight hesitation. - "Not yet. I sent Roach up there, but Ghost said he'd go with him." Price replied, looking at Soap for his strange hesitation. - "I think we have a problem with that..." MacTavish muttered, looking at Price. He wanted to say it all at once, but the lump in his throat made him hesitate. - "Soap, have you found out anything yet?" Price asked in a stern, commanding tone, as if ordering him to tell it like it was. MacTavish only sighed weakly and said: - "I asked the high schoolers. They said that some girl had been kidnapped right out of class... If Mrs Cooper confirms it, we're in big trouble..." - "What?! And you're telling me this only now?!" Price asked with eyes rounded with shock. Soap only shrugged his shoulders. He couldn't say he just wasn't able to do it. What happened next was quick and as if in a blur. Here was Price contacting Ghost and requesting information. And here they were, standing next to the teacher, confirming the details. But her confirmation only seemed to break them up. Elena has been kidnapped. The realization of this fact came upon them all abruptly and unexpectedly, like a bucket of cold water on their heads. Price took a shaky breath as it hit him - his greatest fear had come to pass. Elena was in the hands of who knows who or what. Every father's worst nightmare, and TF's as well, as she was like family to them all. He gripped Soap's shoulder. - "We'll get her back. I don't care what it takes." He said sternly. Soap nodded, jaw set with determination. - "Have faith, mate. She's smart - she'll find a way to help us help her." He tried to reassure him. Roach and Ghost joined them, grim-faced. - "The teacher said the man took her at gunpoint, so she couldn't help in any way..." Roach muttered to himself, thinking. - "Do we have any other leads?" Ghost suddenly asked, interrupting the heavy atmosphere. Gaz went through the database again. - "There was no orientation on the black BMWs..." Gaz only muttered, shaking his head slightly. - "Shit!" Price growled, rubbing the bridge of his nose. - "Then we should at least go through the school's security cameras. Maybe they'll show us something... Gaz, get on it." He said in a commanding tone. - "Yes, sir." Gaz simply muttered as he walked off down the corridor. - "Basically, we can ask the kids if they've seen anything..." Soap muttered, looking at Price. - "Go, it's still better than just standing here." Price said, as if he knew that Soap wanted his permission. - "Got it." He simply said with a slight nod. - "I'll take Roach, all right? Cos Ghost will scare all the kids." Soap muttered, grabbing Roach and heading outside, where most of the kids were. Ghost only cast a sizzling glance in Soap's direction, then turned back to Price. - "Any other ideas on how to get information?" The captain muttered. - "I think that's the most we can do in a school setting." Ghost only said. - "But I'd go see Elena's things. They're still here, aren't they? Maybe there'd be something suspicious..." He muttered. - "I don't think her backpack will be useful, but it's worth checking it out..." He replied, heading towards the classroom where Mrs Cooper had said everything had happened. As they entered the classroom, they were greeted only by a complete mess. Scattered things and trampled notebooks that fell to the floor at the most inopportune moments. But what struck them the most was the overturned desk, right in the middle of the room. - "What a mess..." Price muttered to himself as he approached the overturned desk. Looking around the area under the table, he noticed a backpack that definitely belonged to Elena. He grabbed the backpack, pulling it out and setting it on the desk next to him. The ghost only took a step towards him, stepping over the pencils scattered on the floor. Price only began to look through the items in her backpack. A notebook with notes, a lunch box, a cosmetics bag with small things, a pencil case. And her phone. Of course, Price immediately grabbed her phone, but it was password protected. - "Damn, there's a password..." Price muttered to himself unhappily. He thought for a moment. Obviously, he didn't know the password to her phone. So he decided to enter the first thing that came to his mind: the date of her birthday. But the password didn't work. Price only raised an eyebrow in surprise. His daughter was certainly more original than that... Then he tried a different password, which was their home password. But also to no avail. He just swore. And wondered even more. - "What could Elena have put as a password on her phone?" He muttered to himself. Still determined to try his luck, Price entered his own password, which he had on his phone. [81013] But to his surprise, the phone didn't lock, but unlocked. - "What?" Price muttered. - "How does she even know the password to my phone? And why did she put the same one for her phone?" He said to himself. When Price unlocked Elena's phone, his sense of unease increased. He noticed recent messages from an unknown number, but they were blocked as spam on the girl's phone. Opening the messages, he felt the blood run cold in his veins from what he read: 'I've been watching you, beautiful. Can't wait for you to be alone...' Read the text of one of the messages. Price's protective instincts flared, but he took a calming breath. Emotions wouldn't help Elena right now. He continued reading - the messages had been coming for weeks now, their tone becoming increasingly harsh because the girl wasn't even responding to them. 'We're meant to be together. Stop fighting fate.' Read the last of the messages, sent hours before the kidnapping. A clue. But also a dangerous one - this man was clearly not himself. - "Let's go, Ghost. I think we have a lead. Hopefully Gaz can track it down..." Price said, picking up the girl's backpack and walking out of the classroom. Making his way to Gaz, who was in the security room. Ghost only followed him silently. They reached the security room in silence. - "Gaz, are you here?" Price asked, stepping into the room. - "Yeah, Cap, I'm here." Gaz replied, waving his hand for them to come closer. - "I just went over the security footage. You wouldn't believe it, but a couple of cameras in the corridor even caught someone carrying Elena out of the classroom and towards the exit." He muttered, turning towards them. - "Is his face visible somewhere?" Price only asked, stepping closer to Gaz. - "No, unfortunately, he was wearing a mask. But at least the footage shows that he has black hair and green eyes. And we basically have his build, too." Gaz muttered. - "Shit, it's going to take longer. We'll have to turn over the whole database to find out who it was..." Price muttered. - "We don't have enough time for that." He said after a moment's thought. - "I'll still request access to the police database. It's worth checking to see if they got a match." Gaz muttered. - "Do as you please..." Price only mumbled. - "By the way, here's another clue." The captain said, handing Elena's phone to Gaz, on the screen of which were those very messages. The man took the phone held out to him and even raised an eyebrow as he read a few messages. - "Trace that number and see what you can find out. Just be careful - I don't want to spook him before we're ready to move out." Price said. - "It will be done, sir." Gaz simply replied. Price hoped their quick reaction and tracking skills would be enough before the situation escalated further. Elena was strong, but even the strongest could only take so much before they needed to. They had to work fast.