I squinted into the darkness as I tried to pinpoint the source of the voice. "I'm here. Alone. No weapons. No communications. Tell me where Darius is."

  A figure stepped out of the shadows and my heart skipped a beat. El Diablo, He wore his normal trenchcoat accompanied by staff with a snake head at the top. He wore a very devilish mask that showed none of his real identity. Underneath the trenchcoat, he was dressed in a tailored black suit that contrasted sharply with the dark surroundings. It gave him an air of very dangerous sophistication.

  "I came alone, No backup, no weapons. No hidden camera or phone on me where anyone is listening." I replied as I held up my hands to show that I was unarmed. "Now let the doctor go."

  Diablo chuckled, the sound sending a chill down my spine. "But, Darius is quite a valuable asset. He treats my staff when they get injured by people of your kind, and he has some pretty good ideas. But maybe, just maybe, we can come to some sort of, I don't know, arrangement?"

  "What kind of arrangement?" I asked, my mind racing, I knew that anything I chose was simply making a deal with a force much more powerful than I.

  "Your cooperation," He said smoothly. "And maybe, just maybe, If you don't double-cross me, which we both know you probably will, or I to you... Maybe, If I'm feeling generous. I'll let your precious doctor go."

  I clenched my fists, as I tried to keep my emotions in check. "What do you want me to do?"

  "Simple," He replied, steeping a bit more out of the shadows. "You work for me, Feed me information. Help me out when I need it. And in return, Darius lives."

  "I'm not turning on my team," I said, as I felt a surge of anger and fear.

  El Diablo tilted his head, his eyes gleamed with pure amusement. "Think it over Izzy."

  "Your loyalty to your team. Catching the one mastermind that your department has been on the lookout for, for months. OR. The life of a man you care about so dearly? Your choice." He laughed again.

  Before I could respond, I felt a sharp pain hit the back of my head which made me drop to a knee. Followed by another one which overtook me. The darkness consumed me again.

  _________________________________________________________

  When I came back I found myself in a dimly lit room. The air was thick with dust and the only sound audible was the faint dripping of water in the distance. The room was lined with books and bags of papers and a map of the city sprawled on a whiteboard. Along with a single bare bulb hanging from the ceiling, which casted a weak, flickering light over the scene. As my eyes continued to readjust, I saw the same business card next to me on the floor, drenched in a coat of blood. My head throbbed, and as I tried to move, I realized that my hands were bound behind me. Panic surged through me, but I forced myself to stay calm and take in my surroundings.

  I still tried to process this when the door cracked open and a figure stepped inside. They whistled as they approached closer. My breathing became more and more quickened.

  "Ahhhhhh! She's awake! Goood! Glad to see you back with us Detective."

  My vision was still blurred as I tried to see if I could make out the real identity of who El Diablo really was. He turned and smiled at me.

  "Ohhhhhhhhhhh, that's adorable. Aren't you a stubborn one? Knock you out a thousand times and you'll still come back fighting. Sophisticated talent right there if I do say so myself.

  "What do you want from me." I asked as I continued to blink.

  He laughed. "I told you already. Your cooperation."

  "How are we supposed to do that when I don't know your identity." I yelled.

  He laughed again, more wicked than before. "Ohhhhhhhhhhh, but don't you see Detective? That makes it more worth wild. I get to torment you and you don't even know who the real perp is." He continued to laugh.

  "Take off your mask. If we do this, We do it right. I want to see the face of the person I'm looking at."

  He turned around quick and began to pace around the room.

  "No, no, no, darling. That's not how this works here." He began.

  "If you know me well enough like you claim you do. You should know that I enjoy confrontation. But, it should be done by two mature adults. Not one adult and one little coward who wants to pretend to be all big and bad like it's Halloween. So, you either remove the mask or I'm not saying a wor-..."

  He grabbed me by the chin, a machete in his hand.

  "You will! You will speak no matter the circumstance. If I ask you to speak, You will. That's an order!" He demanded and let me go.

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  I laughed. "Take it off." I said nice and calm.

  Diablo snarled again. He threw another bucket of papers off the table. A few moments later, he removed the mask. He didn't turn right away to reveal his face.

  "You're quite persistent Detective. That's a quality of yours I have always. hated about you." Diablo said, except. Something was different. The voice.

  My hands began to shake and a cold sweat came over me. I knew that voice. It sounded familiar. It was Darius.

  "No."

  "No..."

  "No....."

  "I didn't want to believe it. I couldn't" I said as I began to cry. Tears began to stream down my face.

  Darius stood at the table where he just removed the mask. A look of pure spite on his face.

  "Surprised Detected Grant?" He taunted.

  "I mean, You shouldn't be. I mean, after all, You were always so close yet so far from the truth right?"

  I couldn't speak, my voice didn't allow me to speak. Darius smirked at my state and pulled up a chair from nearby. He sat across from me and tried to put his hand under my chin. I pulled away to which he laughed.

  "Shall I explain? Let me explain." He said and cleared his throat.

  He stood and began to pace, his movements tense and controlled. "I was a different man back then. Fresh out of medical school and eager to make a name for myself. I wanted to save lives, to make a difference. But Miami... Miami is a city that can swallow you in one bit if you're not careful. Which I was not."

  He paused as he cleared his throat. "I started working at Miami General where I met a man named Carlos. He was charming and persuasive. He saw potential in me that I didn't even see. He offered me opportunities. A research fund. Clinical training. Connections with influential people. I was so na?ve that I thought he was a friend."

  My face held it together but on the inside. I wanted to die. Carlos, that name sounded quite familiar.

  Darius's voice grew colder and more distant. "But Carlos wasn't a friend. No no, He was the head of a powerful cartel and he had plans for me. He was looking for a leader. At first, he had me overlooking certain injuries and writing false reports. But it sooner escalated. before I knew it, I was performing surgeries on wounded criminals. I saved their lives o they could continued their reign of terror.

  I sighed and laughed at the same time. "So, you're telling me you couldn't have walked away? Why didn't you walk away?"

  Darius stopped his pace and turned to face me. "because by the time I realized what I had become it was too late. Carlos had dirt on me. Evidence that would destroy my career and my life. He threatened to ruin me if I didn't comply with his orders. And then I started to change. The power, the money, the fear. I can't lie. It consumed me. I became El Diablo. The very monster I once vowed to fight against.

  He then knocked another basket of papers off of the table which made me jump.

  "I can't lie Iz. When you came into the hospital. I never imagined you as the persistent type. I knew you all were looking for El Diablo. But I didn't realize at first that once you came up short. You wouldn't quit. I-..."

  "Wait, if you're the real El Diablo. Who'd we capture down in the abandoned hut that you eventually broke out? I asked as I cut him off.

  "Marcel. Another worker of mine. I didn't want you to find out. I had to do everything I could. Once I found out that you continued to search after Marcel was broken out? That's when I knew." He said.

  "After our "date" I stopped at a gas station where I found another one of my associates. Krush, who was there trying to stick up the gas station." He'd stop and sigh.

  "Oh why am I explaining myself to you?" He'd sigh again.

  "He was going rogue, but it was ALL apart of the plan." He added.

  I felt a surge of conflicting emotions related to everything that was going on. Anger, pity, sorrow. So what now?" I asked as I struggled to keep my emotions in check. "What happens to us?"

  Darius's gaze hardened as he began to laugh. "Oh Detective. That's funny."

  "He'd move closer to me. "Awwww, how sweet. You thought there was an us. That's adorable. That my friend is how na?ve you really are. I'm sorry, I can't let you walk out of here. You know too much."

  "Double J. Lennox. Take our little friend to her containment quarters." Darius ordered two men outside the door. A few moments later they walked in.

  "Get up." One of the men ordered. His voice was rough but commanding. His name tag stitched on his jacket read Double J, a big man with a long gray and black sort of Viking braid. A goatee on his face looked to be freshly trimmed. Tattoos present in every spot you could imagine.

  Ignoring the throbbing pain in my head and fatigue everywhere else. I pushed myself to my feet. My resilience earned a mocking laugh from the man closest to me. A big dude with a scar running down his cheek.

  Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed my arm and yanked me forward. Instinct took over. He grunted in pain, momentarily loosened his grip. I took advantage of the opening and twisted my body. I landed another kick towards his midsection.

  The other men closed in and I fought with every fiber in my being that I had left. I used my bounded hands as a weapon, I used my legs as a weapon. Despite the odds, I refused to go down without a fight.

  "Get her under control" Darius yelled to the men as he tried to find something that he could use to slow me down.

  Darius grabbed a small metal pipe of the table whilst he almost hit me in the neck as he aimed for my shoulder. The one weakness he knows about., I shrieked in pain but I wasn't down and out yet. I continued to fight back as I kicked Darius in the knee and began to focus on the other two men.

  Just as one of the men managed to grab me from behind, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed outside. The door burst open and Jacob stormed in, his gun drawn and eyes blazed with fury.

  "Let her go." He commanded.

  The men hesitated, their grip on me loosened. I used the movement to wrench myself free and staggered towards Jacob., Relief washed over me but it was of course short.

  The larger of the men, Lennox, recovered from the earlier kick I gave him lunged at Jacob and chaos erupted once more. Fists flew, bodies collided and the room was filled with the sounds of struggle. I tried to help but my hands were still bound which limited my ability to fight.

  Jacob fought valiantly, his movements precise and powerful. He managed to subdue one of the men with a well-placed punch, but another came at him from behind. My heart raced as I saw the danger he was in.

  "Jacob, behind you!" I screamed desperation in my voice.

  Jacob spun around getting a stiff right hand to the jaw that rocked him a bit but the fight was far from over. I could see the determination in his eyes, a reflection of my resolve. He stood there laughing a bit while the other man who delivered the punch tried to act tough.

  Just as we seemed to be gaining the upperhand, a chilling voice cut through the noise.

  "ENOUGH. That's it."