The Dark Edge Chronicles - Hardwire

Chapter 24: Shadows Revealed

"No, not yet, Duffy," she said hoarsely, sliding from the gurney with a groan, bracing herself against a nearby wall as her head swam drunkenly for a moment. "You know we've still got a shit load of stuff to worry about. I need you here and focused on what's going on if you're going to be any use to me and the taskforce."

"Right," Duffy husked. "Well, just thought I'd check." With a groan of his own, he slid from his own perch to join Dee somewhat unsteadily on the floor.

Before Dee could push away from the wall, her head somewhat more solid now that she had a minute to collect herself, she felt a hand on her arm. Turning slowly so as to not upset her fragile equilibrium, Dee looked towards the owner of the hand.

And found herself looking into the grim, but pretty face of Karen Hawkes, the CPD's RRT commander. The tall, broad-shouldered blonde had her shoulder-length straight hair pulled back into a functional tail, easy to wear under a helmet. Her Kevlar flak jacket and gear were the same as the other officers under her command and she looked like she would be ready to go at the drop of a hat. And right now, she didn't look all that happy.

"Detective?" she said somewhat formally when Dee's eyes fell onto her. She took a quick look over at Duffy before returning to Dee's face.

"Do you have something for us, commander?" Dee asked softly. She knew the proud RRT commander had taken the deaths of two of her people straight to the heart. Still, Hawkes had a job to do and she did it well.

"CSI is all over the place, detective," Hawkes returned. "Hopefully we'll get some prints off those four bodies we recovered in the OR that will lead us somewhere. And your witness is stable, in the ICU. I have a team standing by in case he spontaneously regains consciousness." Her face abruptly tightened.

"But that's not why I'm here. You've been commanded to return to your precinct ASAP. Since you're in no shape to actually drive, I've been instructed to convey you there myself."

Dee grimaced and looked over at Duffy, who mouthed the words 'uh oh!' It didn't take Duffy's incredible mind to discern that trouble was brewing. Immediately a feeling of foreboding descended onto her shoulders.

"Right. Well, commander, lead the way then!" Dee indicated with a gesture.

That feeling of foreboding only grew as Dee and Duffy rode in the back of a RRT van, Hawkes at the wheel as she wove her way through the city to the precinct house. It peaked when the two detectives made their way through the station house to McLaughlin's office to find it packed full of VIPs.

Dee's face went grim as she stepped in the door that McLaughlin had opened for her, his own expression carefully blank, her eyes quickly picking out Councilor Simpkins sitting in front of McLaughlin's desk, dressed in a rather reserved business suit in dark rose, unusual for her. Her dyed blonde hair was coiled perfectly on top of her head. Standing just behind her was Calgary's police chief, Def Sorrenson, a raw looking, square-jawed man as angular as a rectangle in his dark uniform, an equally dark frown on his own on his lantern-jawed face as he stared into space, lost in thoughts of his own.

On the opposite side of the room was none other than Calgary's gruff mayor, Anson Comrie, the short, squat balding man already perspiring heavily, a trademark, despite the relative cool of McLaughlin's office. He looked like he had already sweated through his plain brown suit, his collar undone and his tie loosened. He was also sitting in the only other chair.

Behind him, looking almost stiff in his formal uniform, was a senior RCMP officer that Dee didn't recognize. But seeing him made a singular thought go through her mind: the Feds were moving in to take over the investigation!