My first try at an "from scratch story." I hope it's not too detailed. Working on the second chapter now. I own nothing Flashpoint, but it's fun to take the characters out to play when I can.
It had been a fairly quiet Thursday at the SRU. The team had been out to serve a warrant early in the morning and then had a suspicious package call after lunch. Fortunately, in everyone's mind, but Spike's, the bomb call was a false alarm. In anticipation of getting off their shift on time, the team had started a good clean up and restocking effort. Sarge and Ed were plowing through some paperwork in the briefing room so light banter prevailed down near the gun cages.
"Spike, how's the new apartment coming? Are you ready for a Team One party to break it in?" Sam ribbed his friend as they coiled rope.
Spike replied with a grin, "There will be no partying until the painting's done. With the schedule we've been keeping that could take a while."
Jules heard the word painting and perked right up, "Painting, we love painting. We'll all come by this weekend and get it done in one shot." Sam groaned and Raf pointed his finger in Jules's face, "Hey, speak for yourself. Paint fumes give me a headache and I'm ready for some relaxation this weekend." Jules teased their newest member, "Raf, you don't know relaxing until you taped off and painted…"
She was interrupted by the whelp of the SRU alarm. "Hot call, Team One, hot call. Shots fired and officer down at 332 Chestnut Rd." The four team members looked at each other in horror, but Greg and Ed were already loping toward them. Ed stated what they already knew, "That's Wordy's address. Gear up and let's make tracks." The team was in the trucks and on the road in minutes.
Ed and Sam drove the lead SUV, Spike and Raf just behind them and Greg and Jules bringing up the rear. Winnie fed them information as she received it at the desk. "Boss, EMS is on the scene and it's Wordy. He sounds critical. They are taking him to St. Pat's. Shelley is with him. No shooter currently on scene."
The sergeant quickly gave out instructions over the headset. "Okay, Team One, I'm saying this for myself as well as each of you. Emotions are going to be running high. We need to stay focused here. Kevin Wordsworth is tough and would be the first one to tell us our jobs are to find whoever did this. Everyone understand?" A chorus of "Copy that, Boss" was heard over the headsets. Greg continued, "Jules and I will head over to the hospital and see if we can talk to Wordy and Shelley. I'll update you when I have information. Ed, the rest of you go to the scene. Get a canvas started. Spike, I want you to talk to the girls. Go gentle, see if they saw anything. Once we get a feel for what this is we'll plan our next step."
Spike hesitated just a second and then replied, "Okay, gotcha." His boss, who knew his team members eerily well, heard what Spike hadn't said. "Go easy. They'll just need Uncle Spike. Try to keep things low keyed until we know who saw what. Copy?" The response came quickly and with more confidence. "Copy that, boss."
Greg continued, "Ed, reach out to Guns and Gangs. See what Wordy's been working on and if there have been threats made. Let's work together to figure out this thing."
His team leader chimed in with "Let's do this!" and the team was ready for action. Sirens blaring two SVUs headed off to Wordy's house and the third turned off towards the hospital.
Ed and Spike parked their vehicles directly in front of the house. Ed headed toward Inspector Stainton who was already on scene. Spike spotted a neighbor he recognized from various gatherings in the past. He hurried up to her. "Do you know where the three girls are? Are they okay?" The neighbor had that wide eyed, stressed look that showed in times of trauma. She was staring at a pool of blood in the Wordsworth's driveway. Spike blocked her view with his body and tried again, "Grace, it's Grace, isn't it? Look at me. Can you tell me where the girls are right now?"
The woman made an effort to meet Spike's eyes and answered quickly, "Yes, it's Grace. Darby Hanes took the girls to her house. The green one two doors down. I can take you there." Spike guided Shelley's friend to Sam and said, "I'll go find them. You remember Sam, right? Can you tell him what you saw? That would be a very big help." Sam walked Grace to her nearby porch and Spike continued on to find the girls.
As he approached the Hanes house, the door flew opened and three year old, Allie, came flying out and into his arms. "Unca Pike, Unca Pike!" He carried her on his hip through the door and into the cozy living room. He saw a petite woman with long, brown hair comforting Wordy's older girls. Five year old Claire and seven year old Lillie had tear streaked faces and Darby was murmuring quietly to the girls. In seconds, Claire was attached to Spike's leg, but Lillie seemed to fold in onto herself on the couch. The pretty neighbor looked up at the SRU officer and made room for him on the large ottoman in front of the couch. "Here sit down. Girls, don't hurt him." Spike smiled at the three girls and exclaimed, "Nah, these little bugs couldn't hurt me. Give me some hugs and tell me what's going on." Allie and Claire started talking at once, but Lillie didn't even glance up at him. Spike met Darby's eyes and she shook her head almost imperceptibly. The brunette neighbor spoke again and said, "Claire and Allie, your Uncle Spike looks hungry and thirsty. Can you two help me make a snack in the kitchen?" The two little girls happily took her hands and the three headed for the kitchen.
Spike moved to the couch next to little Lillie. "Hey you, can I have a hug?" Lillie reached up her arms toward Spike, but spoke not a word. "You are very quiet today, Lillie-bug. Can you tell me about what happened?" With that Lillie burst into tears and sobbed inconsolably on Spike's shoulder. He let her cry for a few minutes and then set her on his knee. "All those tears tell me that you're feeling sad and scared. That happens to me sometimes too and I find the best way to feel better is to talk to someone who loves me. Sometimes I talk to your dad or Uncle Greg or Uncle Ed. Can you tell me what you're thinking about right now?"
Lillie's little mouth quivered as she struggled to share her pain with the officer she knew so well. "Daddy had to get out of the car because I left my bike in the driveway again. The bad guys in the car shot him and he fell down. He was bleeding and bleeding. It's all my fault because Daddy always says if I leave me stuff all over someone will get hurt and he did."
Spike's heart broke a little as he thought about the way Wordy would handle his sweet girl. He took her chin in his hand and turned her face to his. Then he spoke firmly, "Hey, Lillie, you didn't hurt your dad and leaving your bike didn't hurt your dad. The bad guy hurt your dad. Team One is going to find that bad guy and put him in jail for hurting your dad. The doctors are working to make him okay and your dad would be proud of you for being such a big help. Okay?"
The small girl nodded solemnly as Spike finished his comment. He continued, "Did you see the car with the bad guy? What color was it?" Lillie told him the car was brown and very dirty. The bad guy had a baseball cap and all she saw was is white arms. Spike praised her for each thing she remembered as the neighbor and the younger girls came back to the room with chocolate chip cookies and juice boxes. The constable was anxious to compare notes with his team mates, but took an extra minute to sit with them and have a cookie. He spoke quietly to Darby as he stood, "I'm going to go and see what the team has found out. We'll come up with a plan and I'll come back to update you. Can you manage for another little bit?" The kind neighbor explained that the girls were going to watch TV and would wait until his return.
Spike went in search of the other team members and found them near the trucks outside. As the group spoke it became apparent that they had little to go on. Lillie and the neighbors who saw the car agreed that it was dirty brown, but had no make, model or license plate number. There was a driver and a shooter, but no real description of either one. Ed related that Guns and Gangs were looking through Wordy's notes, but had no knowledge of threats. Their next step was for Ed to call Sophie and have her take the girls home to the Lane's house. Ed would put two cruisers on the perimeter. As the plan came together they decided to have Dean stay with Clark at the house as well. Until they knew what they were dealing with no one wanted to take chances.
"I'm going to go back to talk to Darby Hanes and have her take the girls through the back yard to pack up a few things from the house, but I want to go start looking through traffic camera footage. Raf, can you come and stay with the girls at the house?" Spike was already moving as he called to the other officer behind him. Ed spoke up, "Good thought, Spike. I'm going to call Greg and see what he and Jules found out. Sam, you're with me."
Raf and Spike were at the Hane's house in less than a minute. Darby let them in. After an update on the plan, she led them to the family room where the girls were watching TV. They looked up at the men approached. Spike crouched down in front of the children, "Girls, you remember our friend, Raf. I have to go work on my computer for a little bit, but he and Ms. Hanes are going to take you back home. We want you to gather some jammies, tooth brushes and maybe a spare set of clothes. Aunt Sophie's coming to take you to her house to play with Izzie, Dean and Clark until Mommy and Daddy get home from the doctor. Lillie, can you help your sisters gather what they need?" The sweet, but still very solemn little girl nodded. Spike turned slightly to address the little girl. "As soon as I hear from your mommy, I will call you and let you know how your dad is. In the meantime, you let the grown-ups do all the worrying. Is that a deal?" Lillie's face brightened slightly and the officer settled for that in lieu of a smile. He looked at his team mate and gave last minute instructions, "It should be a quick trip, but keep your eyes open. Sophie should be here shortly."
The group headed out and Spike hurried to the command truck.