"Don't know yet, Mather—you'll be the first to know, I promise."
Officer Reed quickly scribbled two checkmarks on his clipboard before rushing off, leaving Sean and Sophia in the back of the ambulance.
The EMT finished wrapping the side of Sean's head. "Nothing else I can really do, besides disinfect it—skin isn't even lacerated. You can go, but you'll need to get to a hospital to get that glass out. Any bleeding, pain, change in vision, start feeling ill—anything—get to the E.R, got it?"
"Got it," Sean said, lightly touching the bandages. At least his eye had been left unobstructed by the medical bandages. "Thanks."
"No problem." The EMT started putting things away. "Sure you're okay, ma'am?"
"Yes, thank you," Sophia said. "I'm sure there's more injured people you can help."
The EMT grimaced. "Still waiting."
Sean hopped out of the ambulance, stopping to take Sophia's hand and help her step down. Police cars and government vehicles continued flooding into the makeshift triage area and beyond, filling the surrounding streets for entire blocks, their red and blue lights circling and flashing like glowing haloes in the foggy night. All of the remaining evening traffic had been crowded out, essentially creating a fortress of emergency vehicles that encircled the scene for an entire half-mile.
"Thank you," Sophia said. "For saving my life."
"It's okay. Thank Fury."
"Who?"
"The dog."
Sean immediately started towards the giant rubble pile on the far side of the lot.
"Officer Mather, wait!" Sophia said, trailing after him. "Where are you going?"
"Ava," Sean said. "She's still in there. Trapped."
"Officer Mather—Sean—please, stop. They'll find her, you know that... if she's even..."
Sean had to stop as four massive APC Bearcats rumbled by in front of them, black paint gleaming and reflecting the bright, twinkling stars above and the dark, wet pavement below. Fully geared SWAT officers stood on running boards, ringed around all sides of the giant armored vehicles. They held on to the roof-railing with one hand while their other cradled black assault rifles.
They gave Sean and Sophia a nod as the vehicles trundled by.
Sean hurried on as soon as they passed, yanking the bandages off his head and shoving them in his pocket. His boots made small splashes on the wet pavement.
"Officer Mather," Sophia tried again. "You have to face the fact that... the fact that... she might—"
He didn't slow down. "Can't think about that right now. Have to find her."
"They're already searching, Sean."
"There's no—"
"You're just going to get in the way!" she suddenly shouted.
He stopped.
Both of the department's Bell 206 helicopters continued circling above, the night now clear and starry, their rotors whirring as their spotlights flitted over all of the construction vehicles—front-loaders, excavators, and bulldozers that were already picking through the rubble, all working in unison under the criss-crossing arch of streaming water that came from the firefighter hoses.
Sean roughly wiped down his face with one hand, flicking the tear angrily off as he kept his back to Sophia.
"What am I supposed to do then, huh? Nothing? Be helpless?"
"I don't know, Sean," she said quietly. "But over-reacting and getting crazy won't help Ava."
Sean didn't respond...
At first.
Finally he said, "You sound like Pete."
"Then you know I'm right."
He sighed.
Of course she was right—he'd literally achieve nothing more than getting in the way of the rescue effort. But he had to do something. ANYTHING. Sean had always thought he'd felt helpless before, but what was going on now was pretty much his worst nightmare.
His mind whispered to him. You failed.
Again.
"Okay," Sean said suddenly. "Come with me."
"Where?"
His cheek was suddenly wet again. "To finish what Pete told me to finish."
A blacked-out BMW SUV suddenly screeched up in front of them, a man and woman immediately stepping out. She was tall; he was taller. Her light-ebony hair was curly, draping down both sides of her sharp, exotic face, and coming to settle just above the shoulders of her jet-black, long coat. The man behind her was enormous—at least a foot taller than Sean. He wore his own long, trench coat; his pale, blustery skin was red and blotchy, his giant cheeks puffy and round like the top of his bald-shaven head.
Woah, Sean thought.
The woman strode up to him—the giant man lumbered to position behind her. Her fingers were long and delicate; she reached inside of her coat and pulled out a badge-wallet, flicking it open for him to see the large logo and agency name.
FBI.
"Officer Sean Mather?" she inquired.
Her voice was soft, courteous... but firm. It was a kind of restrained "soft" that Sean didn't know how to explain, but knew exactly how it made him feel—
Intimidated.
"Yes?" he said.
"I'm Special Agent Kiana Leigh, with the FBI main office here in Chicago," she said politely. "This is my partner Special Agent Johnson. We'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's okay."
The giant man behind her merely nodded—Sean waited for a surly grunt, but it never came.
"Honestly, right now isn't actually the—" Sean started.
"We've spoken with a 'Jorge Gonzales,'" Agent Leigh continued, replacing her ID in her pocket and pulling out a small notebook, "who has indicated to us that your sister—an Ava Mather—made possibly related statements prior to the witness regarding this event..."
Agenet Leigh's eyes suddenly flicked up to his.
"...as well as her involvement with the young man she was detained with."
"Yeah, well, she's still in there," Sean said, jerking his thumb towards the collapsed rubble. "So until we can get her out, I really need to go."
He started away, only for Agent Leigh to quickly grab his wrist.
"Officer Mather, please," she said gently.
Her voice was now completely different—as well as how shocked Sean was at how strong those thin hands actually were—
He was stopped in his tracks.
"I'm sorry about your sister," Leigh said, her voice still even and measured, yet still empathetic. "As well as your fellow officers—you know that. Which is why we need to know anything she might have told you. We have to stop it from happening again."
She slowly let his wrist slide out of her hand.
Sean was suddenly struck by how loud the night air was—it was like he was hearing it for the first time. The beeping of construction vehicles, loud bangs of giant pieces of rubble being moved and dropped, the shouting and communicating of officers and rescue-workers.
The sea of blue and red flashing of police lights surrounding them stretched on forever, like a never-ending poppy field.
I can't believe any of this is happening.
"The kid's name was Henry," Sean said.
"Last name?"
"She didn't tell me."
Leigh checked her notebook. "There was a reported firearm discharge incident earlier this evening? During a—"
"Look," Sean said, suddenly impatient—not with Agent Leigh, but from an inner, urging voice... a voice that growing more insistent with every passing moment.
There's no time.
"She was going on about was black clouds chasing them or something," Sean said. "Smashing up her car. Related to the kid. And for some insane reason, she thought the kid was safe. That's all she told me, I promise."
"Officer Mather," Agent Leigh said, just as reassuringly, "you do realize that I can—"
Agent Johnson suddenly pulled out and checked his phone; his nose was bright red from the cold, frost chuffing out from his mouth.
He tapped her on the shoulder and whispered something in her ear.
Agent Leigh pulled out her own phone.
"Alright, Officer," Leigh said as she scrolled distractedly through her phone. "You get a lucky break—but I expect you back here immediately for further inquiry."
"Absolutely," Sean said eagerly, already turning away.
"And Officer?"
Sean stopped to look back.
Agent Leigh's face was completely open and honest, her eyes concerned—not practiced, not manipulative...
But a face that seared itself into Sean's brain.
Her bright hazel eyes shone in the hazy light as she handed him a business card, their fingers lightly brushing against each other.
"Good luck with your sister. Contact me here if you need anything... please."
Her voice was so soft and caring that it made Sean almost want burst out in tears... whether from the all the stress, or because of everything he had gone through, he did not know.
Or maybe it was how heartfelt she came across. All he DID know was that he could feel her sincerity.
And it was heartbreaking.
He turned away quickly. "Thank you, Agent Leigh. I promise I will."
The two agents got into their cars as Sean immediately took off again. Sophia stayed right on his heels as he continued across the parking lot.
"Officer Mather," she said, "where are we going?"
He quickened his pace. "Back to where all this started."