Suarez picks up one of the kids-not more than four years old-as she goes to the door. This is it, Samantha tells herself. The door opens and there's Gutierrez. He kisses his mistress and then the child like he's just got home from a long day at the office.
Samantha tosses the binoculars onto the backseat and opens the door. "He's in there," she says over her shoulder as she breaks into a run.
"Hey kid, wait up," Fitzgerald calls out. She ignores him and keeps going, bursting through the front doors of the apartment building. No time for elevators, she thinks as she starts up the stairs to the third floor.
She opens the door slowly, careful not to make a sound that might alert Gutierrez that anyone's on to him. She slides along the hallway, counting the doors to 3F. At 3E she pulls her gun from its holster and takes a deep breath.
She throws all her weight against the door to 3F, smashing it open with her shoulder. "Freeze! FBI!" she shouts, training her gun on Gutierrez and Suarez in the kitchen.
"What are you doing here? I didn't do nothing," he says to her in Spanish.
"You're under arrest for the murder of four people in San Diego," she responds in Spanish. "You, step away from him with the child. Keep your hands up," she says to Suarez.
The woman takes one step back and then another. Samantha keeps her gun trained on Gutierrez, resisting the urge to put a bullet through his head now. As she's reaching back to take the handcuffs from her belt, she hears Suarez whispering something into the child's ear. Some kind of prayer.
From the corner of her eye, Samantha sees the child flying from Suarez's hands towards her. On instinct she drops the gun and catches the little boy. When she puts him down, she hears the click of a safety being released. "Now, pig, you're going to get me out of here," Gutierrez says.
Samantha raises her hands, wondering where the hell that slob Fitzgerald is. He probably had a heart attack making it this far, she thinks. No matter, she can take this guy on her own. "We're not going anywhere," she says.
Gutierrez takes a step towards her, the gun pointed at Samantha's head. "How many more are there?" he asks.
"Two in the hallway and three more by the elevator. Plus local PD all around the building," she says.
This causes him to smile. "You lie," he says. He reaches out with his free hand to grab Samantha by the hair. "You're a foolish little girl to come here alone."