Chapter 1
JUDGMENT
The ability to apply knowledge to the best advantage of all concerned.
Officer Craig Anderson was having a bad day, and it didn't look like things were going to let up any time soon. The officers around him changed quickly and left without a word, further punctuating his frustration. He looked at his reflection in the locker mirror: his usually neat dark blonde hair was mussed, and his hazel eyes reflected frustration, confusion and fear. His pleasant features were now unkind, reflecting his mood. He closed his locker door and walked into the hallway, stopping in surprise. Several officers appeared to be waiting for him and none looked happy. Steve McLeish was the first to speak.
"You just couldn't follow orders, could you Anderson? You couldn't leave well enough alone. Because of your poor judgment, two officers may lose their lives, not to mention nearly killing a close personal friend of mine who did nothing more than risk her own life to save-"
"That's enough McLeish!" Captain William Anderson strode in to view, and there was no denying the family resemblance. "Is there a problem here?"
A smattering of "No sir!" came from the cluster of officers before him.
"Then may I suggest you head back to your beats or home, or wherever you feel you need to be that isn't this station."
Some officers turned to leave, but Steve couldn't let go of his anger. "Make sure you tell Daddy exactly what happened!"
"In my office now McLeish! You too Anderson."
Steve stormed into the office and turned on his commanding officer the moment he entered the room. "There is absolutely no excuse for what he did out there today Captain. He endangered the lives of civilians and officers alike! If you had the-" he cut off his tirade just in time; the next words out of his mouth would have gotten him suspended, or worse.
"If I had the what, Officer McLeish?" The captain came around to his desk and sat down as he watched Steve fight for control.
Now you've done it, Steve thought bitterly. Dad always said your temper would get you in trouble... "Permission to speak freely, sir?"
"Granted."
"With all due respect, sir, if you had the balls to discipline your son, none of this would have happened in the first place. You show favoritism toward him and have let him slide where others have gotten suspended, and I personally am tired of watching Craig benefit from your badge and position when he screws up. This time it may very well cost two officers their lives!"
"How dare you!" He roared. "You're lucky I don't …"
As Steve got the tongue lashing of his career, Craig held his head in his hands. God my head hurts... His thoughts were spinning out of control, his mind buzzing so that he couldn't follow the conversation around him. He knew McLeish had crossed the line with his dad because he could hear him bellowing. His head flooded with irrational thoughts that frightened him and he tried to push them away. I was only trying to help! It made sense at the time...
"… believe you'd let him get away with this, sir."
"Just what exactly are you accusing Craig of, McLeish?"
"I am accusing him, sir, of gross negligence, refusal to follow orders, conduct unbecoming a CHP officer--"
The Captain was now standing behind his desk and slammed his hands on top of it causing the pencil holder to fall over and rattle the phone in its cradle.
"Enough! I don't want to hear another word about this for the rest of the day." Steve opened his mouth to respond but was instantly cut off. "Zip it McLeish or you'll find yourself suspended for a week. I will make sure a full and thorough investigation is started immediately, and that proper disciplinary action is followed for everyone involved and that includes my son. Dismissed!"
Steve spun on his heel and stormed out of the office, slamming the door so hard the wall trembled. Captain Anderson took a few deep breaths then looked at Craig, who hadn't moved or even seemed to register what was happening. He walked around the front of the desk, knelt before Craig and looked into his eyes. Damn it, not again! Why does this keep happening? He placed one hand on Craig's shoulder and the other on his wrist and applied firm pressure to both.
"Craig? Son, can you hear me? Snap out of it Craig..."
His eyes focused on the captain, "Dad? I'm... it's..."
"Have you taken the med-"
"No!" Craig jumped up and away from the captain. "That crap doesn't work so why should I take it? I can't do my job when I'm on it, or is that what you want? Is it dad, huh? It would make it real easy for you to suspend me if-"
"Craig that's enough!"
Will Anderson paced his office to gather his thoughts. He had seen the early news reports about the traffic accident on the 405 and was very worried about the officers who had been injured. But more disturbing were the reports that started filtering in about Officer Craig Anderson as more officers arrived on scene. At least two other officers besides McLeish reported that Craig was ordered by Jon Baker to cease his rescue efforts on Grossman because he was causing injury to the officer. I wish I knew what was happening to him...
A voice cut through his thoughts, "Captain, you need to come see this." It was Turner, and the Captain noticed the black man was actually pale.
"Not now Turner."
"Sir, it's a new report about the accident... they have footage you might want to see..." he glanced meaningfully at Craig.
Turner led them back to the briefing room where it seemed half the department was watching the news report. There was the standard overhead view from the news chopper, but then it cut to ground level. It was a shot from behind the overturned cab of the double flat bed truck. There was a brunette woman on her knees, working feverishly on the trapped officer who had ended up pinned between the shattered windshield and the passenger door. Two officers were helping her, one with her at the injured man's head and the second on the other side of the cab at his feet. The Captain easily identified Baker with the woman and Anderson on the other side of the cab. The woman was directing them in the rescue efforts and the camera panned the scene of the accident. The noise on scene was a jumble of shouting and traffic noise from the northbound side, and the reporter directing the cameraman where to shoot next. And then a man was shouting followed closely by a woman screaming.
The camera swung around dizzily, looking for the commotion as another voice was heard ordering someone to stop. The camera came back to the cab of the truck just in time to see McLeish pull Anderson up with a firm grip. Baker and the woman were now frantic as they worked on the injured man. The image of Officer Sindy Cahill suddenly filled the screen, "Please turn off your camera…"
The news anchor came back on screen, "And that was the scene an hour ago on the Southbound 405 at National. Sources at Cedars Sinai Hospital tell us that both officers injured are in critical condition-"
"Turn it off," the Captain said in a tired voice. The room was heavy with silence as each officer processed what they had just seen. A few of them had been on scene but were not with Baker and the woman that had helped the victims, but had heard what happened from Baker and McLeish. Even though nothing could be seen on camera, the officers knew who screamed and why, and they also knew why McLeish had grabbed Anderson the way he did.
"Well isn't this just great? I've been made a fool of on national television! Let's throw a party, shall we?"
"That's enough Craig!" Captain Anderson thundered. He took a deep breath before addressing the briefing room, "Look. We're all under a tremendous amount of stress right now, and these damn news reports aren't helping anyone. If you're on duty, hit your beat or be wherever it is you need to be. If you're off duty, go home, or go to the hospital. Don't speculate about anything and for God's sake, don't start any rumors, either. You're all dismissed."
Craig glared at Turner and McLeish as he stormed out, followed more slowly by the rest of the officers. Captain Anderson sighed heavily, shaking his head. Tuesdays aren't supposed to be like this…What the hell happened out there today? And why would Craig... he thought back to the newscast, knowing it corroborated McLeish's story. Why would he do that? What's happening to him? He stood, sighed again as he grabbed his suit coat and looked around the now empty room. "I've gotta get down to the hospital and talk to that nurse."
-oOo-
This had to be the most horrific day of her life. Lindsey Buchanan was running on adrenaline and she knew the crash was coming, and soon. She had already put in a twelve hour shift at the hospital, and was now back here again, working on two officers, hell two friends, and had just about reached her limit.
She leaned against the wall, and ran her hands through her wavy shoulder length light brown hair, trying to get the images out of her head. She wasn't supposed to see how people got hurt; she was supposed to fix them when they arrived in ER. How no one was killed by that truck still boggled her mind and she thanked God for the forty-seventh time that neither of the two motor officers had been Steve.
It was hard enough to deal with seeing Bruce pinned under the wheel of the flatbed. Not that Bruce or Artie deserved to be involved, but she didn't know if she could have handled seeing Steve pinned under that cab or trailer. She shook her head and took a shaky breath. Oh Lindsey stop it! You have to keep it together just a little while longer.
Her pager went off and she headed to the nurses station. "What is it, Karen?"
"There's another CHP suit here to see you, Linds. I don't think you can get out of giving that statement any longer." Karen looked down at her friend and put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "The sooner you get this over with the better you will feel, you know that."
Lindsey nodded despondently, her brown eyes reflecting her nervousness. "You're right of course. But it was so hard to see them that way, Karen. I can deal with them bruised and bloodied on a stretcher, but to see them at the scene like that... It was horrible." She looked at the double doors leading to the ER waiting room and took a deep breath. "Pray for me. I'm gonna need all the strength I can get. Do you know if Steve is back yet? I really don't want to do this without him."
"I haven't seen him, I'm sorry."
"Well then, I guess it's time to go tell my story," she said with a sad smile. Lindsey walked out into the waiting room and her breath was stolen away. There must have been 30 uniformed and off-duty officers there; some still dirty from the accident scene, some just come from their beats or Central, and all looked at her expectantly when she entered. Oh dear God, I'm not ready for this. Think fast Linds 'ole girl, think! Oh no, please not Getraer... put your game face on... no emotion, not now... Steve where are you?
"Any word yet Lindsey?"
She stood rooted to the spot with the classic 'deer in the headlights' look on her face. She forced herself to speak, not really knowing what to say. "I, ah... ummm, wow. There's so many of you." Several of the officers smiled and some even chuckled.
"You've obviously never witnessed this before, have you?" That was Ponch, always trying to make light of a serious situation.
She smiled, her composure somewhat restored, "Not to this degree, no. I wasn't expecting so many of you here. But of course you would be... I'm sorry Sergeant, what was the question?" Cute banter helps calm nerves. You're doing fine Linds.
"How are Bruce and Grossie?"
"I can tell you what little I know, but you'll have to get the full report from the doctors. When I got here with Bruce, they'd stabilized Officer Grossman enough to get him into surgery to repair his chest and his leg. He lost a lot of blood-"
"We can donate," Jon interjected.
"Thank you, Jon. We may very well take you up on that offer. But as I was saying, he's still in surgery and I haven't heard anything from OR 4, which is a good thing. As for Officer Nelson, it's a miracle he wasn't... well, it's just a miracle that he sustained so few injuries given the situation he was in." Don't lose it now Lindsey, focus! "He has a concussion, a dislocated shoulder and at least two broken ribs, one of which punctured his lung. He's been taken to OR 3."
One of the two men in suits stepped forward. "Miss Buchanan, I'm Lt. Rick Michelson, and I'm in charge of the investigation. If you're feeling up to it, I'd like to ask you about what happened out there today. Captain Anderson here and Sgt. Getraer will be joining us, if that's okay by you..."
"I'd like to be there too, sir." Steve made his way through the crowd.
"Yes, please!" The relief on her face shone like the sun.
The Lieutenant smiled and nodded. "Then it's settled. Is there a room where we can conduct this privately?"
Lindsey led them into a small conference room and they all sat down around the table. As Lt. Michelson set up the tape recorder Steve sat beside Lindsey and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "They won't be as bad as facing Principal Robertson and Mr. Carlisle in High School Buck, but I don't think the telling will be any easier." She laughed nervously and glanced at the three men across the table.
"I can safely assume you two have known each other for a while then?"
Lindsey nodded, "Yes Sir Lt. Michelson. Our families have been friends since we were in grade school. He's my oldest and closest friend."
"I keep tellin' you I'm not that old Buck!"
"C'mon Mickey, you know darn good and well that-"
"As heartwarming as this all is McLeish," Captain Anderson broke in, "we have an investigation to conduct and if we don't get started, I fear we may be worse than talking to Principal Robertson and Mr. Carlisle. And I hope that wasn't a derogatory comment either, especially after our discussion earlier today."
His tone was cold causing Lindsey's anxiety to return with force. She looked down nervously at her reflection on the conference room table while Steve glared at the captain angrily. Getraer made a mental note to have a talk with the Captain and McLeish separately and spoke to the group.
"Let's not make this any harder on Nurse Buchanan than it has to be gentlemen. Agreed?" They nodded and the sergeant looked at Lindsey. "Before we start I have to ask. How do you get Buck from Buchanan? Mickey from McLeish is easy enough, but Buck?"
"I can answer that one Sarge. See, for all her sweet and kind exterior, she's as stubborn as they come. She stood up to my older brother Toro once when we were kids, and he said trying to deal with her was like hitting heads with a buck. And the name stuck."
"Thanks for making me look good, Mickey. I appreciate it."
"But at least now you're smiling," Joe said kindly. "And now I know who I want taking care of me if I'm ever admitted." She blushed and Joe leaned forward slightly. "Now Lindsey, please tell us what happened out there today."
Michelson started the recorder. Gripping her friend's hand tightly, Lindsey began her story. "I had just finished my 12 hour shift here and was heading home on the 405 North. I think it was about 10:45am, and I was in the fast lane. Traffic came to a sudden stop and I thought I saw something flip over on the southbound side, like a car maybe. Traffic was crawling, and I pulled into the median and drove forward to get a better idea of what was happening. Another driver had gotten out of his car and climbed over the center divider, and from the look on his face, the accident was bad. So I parked my car and grabbed my first aid kit from the trunk."
She paused a moment, visualizing the scene from hours before. Steve placed his free hand over hers and she continued. "The first thing I saw was the two flatbed trailers; one was empty and the other was loaded with concrete piping, and it was tilted, kinda leaning against the empty trailer, forcing it close to the ground. One end of the empty trailer was up against the center divider and it stuck out across three lanes. The cab of the truck was still attached to the loaded trailer and it was shattered."
Joe and the captain were both taking notes as she spoke, impressed with the detail she provided.
"There were seven vehicles involved, but only one hit the truck, and that was against the empty trailer in the third land from the left. I climbed over the divider onto the empty trailer and ran to the car that had hit it. The driver's side passenger door was impaled on the corner of the trailer and there was glass everywhere. The driver had a minor laceration to his forehead but appeared uninjured otherwise. I told him to stay put till emergency crews arrived and went to the next closest vehicle."
Steve kept his face impassive but if they looked in his eyes, they would see how proud he was of her.
"They had been rear ended but had no life threatening injuries; the driver had a broken finger that I splinted, and the driver that hit them was pinned by his seatbelt. There was a cutting tool in my first aid kit so I cut him free and made sure he was okay before moving on. I was amazed that no one was seriously injured, given how horrific everything looked. Then I heard someone shouting for help over by the cab of the truck. I ran over and that's when I saw the CHP motorcycle and knew an officer had been involved." Lindsey glanced at Steve and he nodded slightly. "I ahh... I ran over to the bike and keyed the mic and put in an 11-99 call."
"You did an admirable job, Lindsey," Sgt. Getraer said kindly. "You obviously have the benefit of knowing an officer and therefore, some codes. Regardless, you handled yourself well."
Lindsey smiled, "Thank you sir. I'm not even sure what I said, other than I was a nurse at an accident scene and there was an 11-99, motor officer down..."
"Attention any CHP units near the 405 South and National on ramp. This is Nurse Lindsey Buchanan on scene at a multi-vehicle accident on the 405 Southbound just North of the National on ramp. 11-99. Motor officer down!" Oh God... Please don't be Steve… "We need several ambulances and possible life flight to this location."
"Nurse Buchanan, this is Officer Bonnie Clark. I will be there in two minutes. LA 15 7 Charles, continuing to accident scene from Northbound 405 at Washington."
"LA this is 7 Mary 3, approaching scene with Mary 4 from 405 South just past the 10. Advise rescue units to take National on ramp on the Southbound side and approach scene from behind. There's no way rescue units will get through this mess. ETA 2 minutes."
"10-4 Mary 3. Attention all units..."
"After I called it in I ran over to where several people were attending to the driver. He'd been thrown from the cab and how he wasn't killed I'll never know. I tried to render assistance but they said the officer needed medical attention immediately and they had the driver handled, so I went to the cab. I'm still not sure how the officer ended up between the shattered windshield and the remains of the passenger door. As I was checking his vitals, I heard a squad car pull up behind me. Officer Anderson introduced himself and asked how he could help and I told him we needed to figure out how badly Officer Grossman was hurt before trying to move him. Then Officer Baker came over."
"Before you continue," the Lieutenant interrupted, "it might make it easier on you if you just use last names. We know who was on scene."
"Thank you sir. So Offi... I mean Baker and I climbed into the cab and Anderson was at Grossman's feet waiting for me to tell him what to do. We had to be careful of Grossie's left leg because I could tell it was broken. Grossman started to come around and Jon kept him calm while I assessed his injuries. I heard other officers arrive but they kept back and let us work. There were some large pieces of jagged glass and metal from the door that had been torn off that were pressing against his chest and I was trying to determine how to get him out from under them when Anderson started pulling from the other side..."
"Look you guys. We can just slide him out like this!"
"Craig don't. He's not stabilized yet and his leg is broken—don't pull him, Craig! Damn it Stop-"
"Stop! You're going to – Oh my God stop you're going to kill him!"
"Hey, Anderson! Damn it stop now!"
Lindsey was crying now and they waited for her to compose herself. "I know he, he was only trying... to help," she said between ragged breaths, "but to just move someone without knowing the full extent of their injuries... and he pulled on his broken leg! I told him we couldn't move it until we got it splinted. Hell, Grossie could have had a broken neck or back. But Anderson couldn't see the metal pinning Grossie down. He just wouldn't stop. Steve actually had to tackle him! The, the metal punctured... I'm sorry. I just..."
Steve pulled her to him and she cried harder. "It's okay Linds."
"No, Steve, it's not okay! I'm a nurse! I see this kind of thing... all the time!"
"But never from the battlefield, Buck. Take your time, it's all right."
Captain Anderson felt sick. So the reports are true after all. Not that Baker of all people would ever lie about something like this, but... Damn it! What the hell was Craig thinking? He knows procedure! This was not a judgment call for him to make! He looked over at Michelson, knowing the conversation they would soon have, and he knew he couldn't protect Craig this time.
"Are you ready to continue Ms. Buchanan?" Michelson asked.
"Yes, sir. Thank you. When Officer Anderson pulled Grossman, the metal pierced him between the 4th and 5th ribs. He had comparatively minor injuries until that point; Steve stopped him just in time or the damage could have been so much worse. I'm not sure when the EMTs arrived, but they quickly took over for myself and Officer Baker. That's when Ponch called out that he found another bike, and it looked like the second officer was underneath the empty flatbed."
"Jon said he'd stay with Grossie so I ran over to them and saw Baricza and Ponch trying to get under the trailer. The trailers were wedged against each other and the loaded trailer had forced the empty one lower to the ground. There was just enough space for a smaller person to get under the trailer, and my being five foot two made me the only option. I mean, there was no way Bear or Ponch were gonna fit. They tried to stop me, but I asked them if they had their nursing degrees and felt comfortable making a life or death call, and they relented."
"She never did play fair," Steve said with a smile.
"I crawled under the trailer and saw the officer up against the center divider. He was on his right side, pinned under one of the tires which was in shreds. I don't know if that caused the accident or if it happened afterward, but at least two tires looked that way. I crawled over to the officer and told them it was Bruce Nelson. He was conscious, and scared. He was wedged between the rim and the concrete divider and he was having trouble breathing. Someone passed a radio in to me so we could stay connected, and Steve was on the other end. I asked him if they had anything to lift the trailer just an inch or two so Bruce could roll free. The officers decided with enough manpower they could lift that corner on their own. I guess they got civilians to help because there must have been 15 or 20 people out there."
"I can't... breathe... Please help... me... Lindsey…"
"I'm here Bruce, it's going to be alright. We're going to get you out, I promise. Steve, are we ready?"
"As ready as we'll ever be Linds! Just tell us when to lift and when to release."
"Okay! Bruce, look at me, okay hon? Look at me! I'm going to need you to help me, but it's going to hurt. You're going to need to roll towards me when I tell you to."
"No, please... no more... it hurts."
"Lindsey?"
"Hold on Steve! Bruce, it's the only way! Hold my hand... good. Now look at me. We can do this. Steve, Bonnie, Ponch and Bear and a whole bunch of other people are trying to save you. You're not alone. We can do this. Are you ready? Okay Steve, on your count."
"Alright people, on three! One... two... Three!"
"I'm still not sure how they managed it, but they lifted the corner just enough for Bruce to roll clear. I was trying to decide how to move him toward the side where they could reach him when I realized I smelled gasoline. And then I heard Bear and Ponch shouting at someone to stop whatever it was they were doing. The next thing I hear is Steve on the radio telling me to move fast...
"Don't touch that Craig! You'll drop the whole load!"
"I'm just tightening it down Bear. I know what I'm doing."
"Anderson, get away from there! Let the driver take care of it!"
"No not that way-- Oh my God!"
"Lindsey, move now! Lindsey, Bruce!"
She was trembling as she plowed through the rest of the story. She wasn't going to stop because if she did, she would never finish. "I didn't know what was happening, but I had to do something. We were lying face to face, so I grabbed the back of Bruce's utility belt and we rolled toward the center of the trailer just as something very large hit the trailer hard. I think we rolled twice before there was no more space to move. Bruce was unconscious by this point, and then I heard the distinct whoosh of a fire. It was so hard not to panic... there was smoke and I couldn't see where anyone was..." Lindsey covered her face with her hands, willing her emotions to stay in check. Just five more minutes, please!
Steve looked at his superiors, "Do we have to do this now? Can't we take a break and let her compose herself?"
"No, Steve. I have to finish this now. I'm okay... it's just difficult." She took a deep breath before going on. "We must have rolled sideways because we were very close to the side and I saw lots of feet. I couldn't find the radio to tell them where we were and there was too much noise for my shouts to be heard, so I removed Bruce's gun and started pounding on the trailer until someone heard me. Baricza dropped to his knees and saw us and called the medics over, but the edge of the trailer was now too close to the ground and we couldn't get out. The fire was getting closer I think because it started to get warm under there, and I know people were panicking as Bear kept talking to me. I guess they were looking for something to cut away part of the trailer and I told Barry to have the medics slide a backboard with ropes attached to it in to us so I could get Bruce on it and they could get him out more easily."
The three officers had looks of amazement and shock on their faces, and Steve had to smile. He was very proud of how she handled the accident today, and could tell that his superiors were impressed as well. He knew it wasn't easy to think clearly under that kind of stress, and his friend was showing them what made her a great ER nurse, and a good friend too. She had stopped to take a drink of water and he smiled at her encouragingly,
"You're almost done."
"I know. Okay, home stretch, right? Umm, oh yeah, the backboard. Bruce came to and was able to help me maneuver the board under him, which was no easy task in that tight of a space. Some firemen had shown up and somehow created a space for us to get through. They had just started pulling the backboard out when the explosion hit."
"C'mon Bruce, we're almost out. That's it..." God it's hot. Please Lord, don't let the fire get here... "Okay, he's on. Pull!"
"Get down, it's gonna blow!"
"Ahhh! Bruce, where are you? Oh my God. Barry, Steve help me!"
"Lindsey come on, we're right here! A little further... I've got her. Run Steve, I've got her!"
The stress and long hours were rapidly catching up to her, and Lindsey struggled for control. The adrenaline rush was gone, and she was falling apart. "I just remember a lot of heat and smoke, and Bruce disappearing from my side. I crawled forward and Barry grabbed my hands and pulled me out, picked me up and ran behind some cars. That's when the second explosion hit." She was shaking now, her breathing fast and she couldn't calm herself. "I was so scared. I didn't think I was going to make it..."
Sgt. Getraer reached forward and turned off the recorder. "That's plenty for now Ms. Buchanan. I want to personally thank you for your heroics today, and thank you for saving two of my officers and friends."
Lindsey barely heard him as she dissolved in Steve's embrace. The three officers stood and headed for the door, leaving the friends alone to comfort each other.