Tough Love

Chapter Four

“Are you in some kind of trouble? I can help you if you are.”

“You can’t help me; no one can.”

I quickly walked away and left him there shocked. I was sure I’d regret being so rude, but I couldn’t deal with his questions. Who did he think he was trying to pry into my personal life? He’d only known me 5 minutes and he’s asking for my life secrets?

For the next few days I left for work early, so I didn’t risk bumping into Elijah or any of his team. It seemed to be a good plan, and it was working, until Ash saw me one morning. I was an hour early for work, so I have no idea what he was doing there already. Just before Ash got into the elevator, he said, “I think you’ve lost your tail.” If I didn’t know I was busted then, I surely knew it later on. Elijah stood in front of my desk and cleared his throat.

I jumped and looked up. I briefly looked into his beautiful green eyes and I was sure I saw hurt in them. I quickly shook off the feeling and put my head down. “You’ve been avoiding me.” It wasn’t a question.

“Sorry sir. I’ve been busy.”

“Really?”

“Yes sir.”

“I’ve been trained in interrogation, I can tell when you’re not being truthful with me. I’d rather you didn’t answer instead of lying to me.”

See, I told you I was busted.

“Sorry sir. I just.... I was rude to you. I’m sorry.”

I briefly looked up again. I really needed to stop doing that. Elijah shot me a confused look before he understood what I meant. “Don’t worry about it Dani. I asked you something you weren’t ready for. I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable. I just don’t like seeing you so torn.”

“I’m ok, sir.”

He didn’t believe me, I could tell that without even looking at him. His whole body stiffened and it sounded like he was going to say something, but Captain Michaels shouted, “Ramirez! Flash the team and get here for briefing.”

Elijah whispered, “I’ll be back to finish this conversation.”

As Captain Michaels was briefing Elijah’s team, I got a call patched through from a local bank. I rushed to the Captain’s office and knocked on the door. I said, “I’m sorry sir, but there’s been a robbery on the Wells Fargo bank on Lexington. They’re calling for a SWAT team. They have hostages.”

“Get suited up and out there guys. Ash, you take lead sniper. Danica, I want you to call up the blueprints of the bank, including secret tunnels, and you can be our eyes on the outside.”

“Yes sir.”

I dug into every government database I could get access to and got onto the Wells Fargo headquarters for their blueprints. I was linked through to the guys and I talked them through all the possible exits. I warned, “There’s one secret tunnel that leads from the bank to a sewage system. It’ll take you onto 3rd, but then it branches out into various directions. My guess is they’d head east toward Central Park if they get into that tunnel.”

Elijah took over, “Johnson, you get onto NYPD and get some guys into that sewage system. We want to stop them in their tracks if they discover that tunnel. Scott, you and Jones head up the sniper team. We need to cover all angles. See if you can get a lock on any of the perps without putting any hostages in danger. I’ll go see what the negotiator is doing. Romanov, you need to be ready if I need you. Ok?" 

“Yes sir. I’ll check all the routes of the sewage system and I’ll hit all the local surveillance cameras, see if I can match the vehicle.”

The guys couldn’t help but wonder at the difference in me. I would never act like this when they were with me. Obviously it could only be a passing thought, as they had jobs to do.

I did the best I could to ensure that the guys had all the information I had access to. Through the communication system, I could hear most of what was going on. I could hear Elijah was most definitely the one in command. Even the cops on the ground seemed to just let him take the lead. It must have been his demeanor, because he couldn't be older than most of the cops.

I could hear the guys making plans on how to get the hostages out, what negotiations they would make to get at least one hostage out.

Elijah warned, "Scott, don't take a shot until the hostages are clear. We have 5 perps and all hell will break loose if one of the perps goes down."

"Roger. Sniper team can only get a lock on 2 perps. We're green to go on your command."

"Hold fire for now. Wait for my signal."

There was a stand off for a few hours before anything happened. I heard Elijah say, "Scott, we have an opening to get in there. On my command you take those shots. We'll use gas to mask our entrance. As soon as the gas has gone in, you take your shots. 

"Roger."

It was weird and also pretty terrifying to hear everything that was happening on the ground. I could hear shouts, orders, loud bangs, and also there was no mistaking the gunshots. I jumped in my seat when I heard a round of shots. I couldn’t distinguish the guys’ voices so I didn’t know what had happened or if any of the team had got hit. As much as I didn’t like human contact, I didn’t want any of our guys to get hurt.

There was radio silence now, and the suspense was killing me. After a few minutes, the Captain appeared in his doorway, looking rather disheveled. “Danica, I need you to type up the transcript for the radio coms. Can you do that?”

“Yes sir.” I opened my mouth to ask about the team, but he looked troubled, so I closed my mouth and did as I was told.

The whole time I was typing the dialogue out, I couldn’t help but panic that something had gone wrong. There was no word from the team, at least nothing that had come through me. They all had the Captain’s direct line, so they didn’t need to be patched through me. I’d gone from dreading the thought of seeing these guys to wishing they’d all just walk through the door. I didn’t know where the change of heart had come from, I guess most people in times of crisis take stock of their lives and think about all the things that could have been. I was in no way ready for friends, but I just wanted to make sure none of the guys had been hurt.

It was nearly 9pm when I took my report into the Captain. He was looking a little less apprehensive, but I could tell something hadn’t gone to plan. I whispered, “Is there anything else I can do, sir?”

“No, no. It’s ok. You can go home now. You did an excellent job today, Danica. If I had known you were such a wiz on intelligence, I would have given you another position. If you ever want to change to a tech job on the team, just let me know. We can always use extra eyes.”

“Thank you, sir. Do you mind if I stick around for a bit sir?”

“Go ahead. Is everything ok, Danica? You look a little worn out. 

“Did something go wrong, sir?”

“We had more casualties than we would have liked. You can never predict these things. Unfortunately we are in a dangerous job, especially the teams.”

“I know sir. I’ll just carry on with my work, sir.”

At half past 10, the elevator doors opened and the team appeared. Well, all of the team except for one member.