Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2010 02:34:34 +0000
From: Paul Tolbert <jatonblue@gmail.com>
Subject: The Unit 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven -- Prey

Lincoln sat behind his large, spacious desk, contemplating what had just
transpired between him and his already ex-partner Dave. He sighed and
rested his head on the cluttered surface and closed his eyes. He was
clueless as to why Dave had made the decision he made. Lincoln thoughts
were at warp speed, trying to figure out why Dave decided to leave The Unit
so early.

"Ugh, maybe it just wasn't for him I guess." Lincoln thought.

Lincoln shook his head and began to organize the mountain of files on his
desktop. He imagined Dave's unpleasant reaction to having Maryse debrief
him tomorrow. He'd seen the video footage of their first encounter and
could instantly tell that Dave didn't care for her much. Not too many folks
did. Lincoln seemed to like her however. They got along quite fine.

As Lincoln finished stacking the files into one massive pile his office
phone ranged.

"Burros."

"Hi Mr. Burros. This is Kelvin Sparks down at cyber forensics, I just
wanted to follow up with you on the information I sent you earlier about
the Gillete/Baker case."

"Oh yeah. I got the fax. I'm going to go check out the information in a
short bit."

"OK. We'll let you know when we finish decrypting the files on Ms. Baker's
hard drive"

"Thanks. Bye."

Lincoln hung up the phone and stood up from his chair. He received a
preliminary report from the cyber forensics division of The Unit earlier
that morning about a possible connection between Cheryl Gillette and
Kathleen Baker. It turns out that both victims were campaign contributors
and volunteers to Mark Hanson's political run for Mayor earlier that
year. Lincoln thought that was an interesting link between the 2 and
prepped for him and Dave to check it out. With Dave now gone however, he
would have to be accompanied by another agent. The forensic tech also found
a bunch of encrypted e-mail files on Kathleen's computer. That sparked
Lincoln's curiosity.

He left his office, grabbing his leather coat and headed out to see Agent
Ballard. Ballard was a nice enough guy and Lincoln enjoyed his company. He
didn't mind asking him to go out in the field with him.

"Mr. Burros."

Lincoln swung around to see a tall, clean cut, authoritarian male standing
in front of him.

"Hello Boyd...oh um *cough* Mr. Langton."

Boyd Langton was head of security and operations at the dollhouse. His
presence was very commanding, yet he was one of the nicer agents inside the
secretive fortress. Lincoln, as well as many others admired the seasoned
vet of The Unit.

"I heard about Agent Batista's decision to leave. Sorry to hear that. He
seemed like a good candidate and I could tell you enjoyed working with him.

"Yeah, um he was OK." Lincoln said quietly, not trying to let on how
confused and hurt he was that the larger man had left.

"I should be assigning you another partner soon enough.

"Sure. Well I have to go. See you later."

"Might I ask where you are going?" Boyd inquired.

"To see Agent Ballard. I think I hit a break in the case and I need someone
to go out in the field with me to question the suspect."

"You have a suspect?"

"Yes. Both Kathleen and Cheryl were campaign contributors to Mark Hanson's
mayoral run."

"And your thinking the suspect is...?"

"Mark Hanson." Lincoln said quickly without hesitation.

"I see. I think it would be best if I assigned the case to someone else."

"Why?" Lincoln asked confused.

"Well for starters you have no partner, and given your record of not
keeping one for too long, I would feel more comfortable if a more stable
pair investigated the murders. Besides Mayor Hanson is a big figure to be
accusing of murder."

"But Boyd I've been working this case really hard. I know it better than
anyone. Just let me continue to work it. I promise I'll work with anyone
you throw at me."

Boyd stood there for a while before nodding.

"How about me?"

"You?"

"Yes. I got some free time. Let's go.

"Great..." Lincoln said dejectedly.

...

Boyd and Lincoln arrived at the Los Angeles County City Hall building only
a few minutes after leaving the Kelencine building. Lincoln proceeded to
step out of the vehicle until Boyd placed a gentle hand on the eager man's
shoulder.

"What?" Lincoln asked.

"We need a plan Linc." The older man replied.

"OK. What kind of plan?"

"We go in tactfully. This is the Mayor's office after all."

Boyd stepped out of the vehicle and Lincoln followed. They walked up the
long, washed stone steps and entered the temperate building. Lincoln
watched as Boyd walked over to the receptionist desk. He reached for his
"FBI" badge and showed it to the lady behind the desk.

"I have a few questions for Mayor Hanson. Is he available?"

"Sure let me check."

As the woman called Mr. Hanson's office, Lincoln looked around the airy
room. It had a sanitized feel to it; everything was bright white and lacked
any colorful expressions.

"Mr. Hanson will see you now. Floor 5."

"Thank you."

Boyd motioned for Lincoln to follow him to the elevator. They got inside
and rode it up to 5 floors up.

"I'll ask the questions OK?" Boyd said as they exited the lift.

Lincoln protested. "But I—"

"No Buts." Boyd replied. Lincoln frowned and followed Agent Langton to
Hanson's office.

"Hello. Are you here to see Mr. Hanson?" Another female sitting behind a
desk asked the two men.

"Yes we are." Boyd answered.

"Just right through that door." She gestured towards the large double doors
across the room. They walked over and opened the door. A clean cut, alert
man sat behind a desk near the windows. He was on the phone.

"OK OK I'll talk to you later Bernie. Thank you. Bye." He hung up the phone
and stood up promptly.

"Welcome. I'm Mark Hanson. How can I help you two?"

Boyd spoke. "We're here to talk to you about two of your campaign
contributors, Cheryl Gillette and Kathleen Baker.

"Hmm...I'm not sure I know those names. Should I?" Hanson responded.

"Of course you should. They help you with your campaign." Lincoln replied
coldly. Boyd shot him a look of agitation.

"Oh, well I had many people to thank for helping out with my political
run. It's sometimes hard to remember them all."

Boyd began to speak. "We understand. Is there some way we could talk to
your chief of staff? Maybe he or she might be able to provide us with some
insight?"

"Oh of course. Just ask my secretary Carly on your way out. She can give
you the information you need. Is there anything else I can help you two
with?"

"No that's all. Thank you for your time." Boyd smiled and proceeded to
leave the office but stopped dead when he noticed Lincoln walking up
towards Mr. Hanson's desk.

"You know Mr. Hanson. I don't agree with the decisions you've made during
your what I hope to be your short tenure in office. I think your stance on
community project funding is nothing short of gross incompetence. You have
no idea what that money means to the people who need it. Furthermore your
failure to react and lack of compassion for the 312 city employees who've
lost their jobs last month is revolting. I certainly didn't vote for you
and those who did made a huge mistake."

Mark Hanson stood there with a blank face before responding to the fired up
male.

"I understand your frustration sir. It is duly noted."

"Right of course. You once again brush off the concerns of your
constituents, an easy cop out for the dense politician."

"Mr. Burros I believe we should be going now." Boyd insisted. He grabbed
Lincoln's shoulder but the younger man pulled away.

"Your son Peter, you know the drug smuggler, is better off where he is now
than anywhere around you. Then again he's a murderer so he belongs where he
is."

Boyd shook his head as the gloves were thrown off.

Mark Hanson stood up with fury plastered on his face. Lincoln wasn't
backing down.

"Now you listen to me very carefully son. I don't appreciate you coming in
here and copping an attitude with me. If you have legitimate concerns about
the way I run things then you address them to the appropriate channels. If
that is all then good day to you." He gestured for the two men to promptly
leave his office.

"Oh right because the man who actually makes the decisions doesn't want to
hear any complaints from those he is suppose to serve directly. You just
send us off to someone else."

"LINCOLN!" Boyd stepped in front of Lincoln and Mark. He had an irate look
on his face. Lincoln bit his lip and nodded. He turned around and stormed
out of the office.

"I apologize for that." Boyd said to Mark as he too left the office. He
headed towards the elevator where Lincoln was furiously pressing the
buttons on the panel to get the doors to open.

"What a jerk!" Lincoln shouted as the elevator doors opened. He rushed
inside and quickly pressed the ground floor button. Boyd had to rush inside
to avoid the doors closing on him.

"Lincoln..."

"Yeah Yeah I know. I shouldn't have done that. I was just so upset. This
guy is a disgrace to the entire city and the office he serves. I mean my
god the different blunders he's committed is ridiculous. How on earth did
he get elected in the first place?"

"Where is this anger coming from?" Boyd asked.

"What do you think? The guy can't do his job right." Lincoln replied. He
crossed his arms and kept a stern look on his face.

"Is that all?" Boyd solicited.

"What other reason would I have?" Lincoln asked.

"Maybe the fact that Mark Hanson is the father of the man who's responsible
for the death of your former partner's Dave's partner?" Boyd answered.

"Peter Hanson didn't fire the shots that killed Roger, Jeff Hardy did."
Lincoln retorted.

"Yes but he was still involved was he not?"

"True, but whatever."

The elevator doors opened and out stepped the two men. They exited the
building and swiftly walked down the steps to the vehicle Boyd had secured
from the garage of Kelencine. They got inside and drove off to the
stronghold that was the dollhouse.

"Ouch." Lincoln said as he rested against the car door.

"What's wrong?"

"My head hurts."

...