Chapter 2:
I was soo happy to see that so many people already read and reviewed my first chapter. Thanks heaps guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter too, sorry it's so long, but I wanted to end on a good cliffhanger. Please remember to review‼
Shannon continued to stare at the door which her daughter had disappeared through. It felt weird letting her daughter go into the care of someone else when it had been her looking after Bella all her life. All of a sudden she felt Lawson gently pulling on her hand.
"C'mon" he told her gently, pulling her away.
"Ok" she whispered, letting Lawson lead her away.
They both got into the car and Lawson started the engine.
"Do you want me to drop you at home?" he asked her.
"Um nah it's ok, I'll come with you, I've been meaning to say hello to Stella, and I keep missing her calls and stuff".
"Ok…sure" Lawson replied.
…..
They drove into the car park at the headquarters and were greeted by Stella and Christian, who were busy stocking the TR cars ready for the next shift.
"Hey stranger" Stella greeted Shannon and threw her arms around her in a welcoming hug.
Shannon returned the hug. "You alright?" Stella asked Shannon as they broke apart. "You seem down".
"Yeah, I'm fine" she replied, not sounding convinced herself.
Lawson grabbed his backpack and walked into the locker room, he opened his locker. He glanced at the photo of Bella, Shannon and himself at the park which was stuck onto the inside of his door. He smiled and continued to get ready. Just as he was about to put on his vest, Kerry walked in behind him.
"Morning Kerry" Lawson greeted her with a nod.
"Hey Lawson" she replied "hey is what's Shannon doing here? I didn't think she had a shift today? I just walked past her and Stella and she looked a little down, not her usual self, everything alright?".
"Nah, she not working today, has a day off but we just dropped Bella off at her first day of school. Shannon's just missing her I guess, I am too".
Kerry just nodded and gave an understanding smile before turning and leaving, walking towards the Intel room. Lawson closed his locker and door and was greet by Josh who had just walked in, after coming from having a shower.
"Hey mate" Josh greeted him.
"Hey" Lawson replied "how was last night with Melissa?" he asked smiling.
Melissa was Josh's girlfriend, they had been going out for a few months now and Josh was really happy being with her.
"Yeah it was good" Josh replied happily "we had dinner and watched a movie together….it was nice".
"That's great mate, I'm happy for you".
"How's Bella? I remembered that today was her first day at school".
"She seems good when we left this morning. She was excited and smiling so that a good sign but Shannon's is missing her quite a lot".
They finished getting changed and walked back to the cars where the Stella, Michael and Christian were waiting for them.
"I'll see you later Stell" Shannon said to her friend, giving her a hug before Stella jumped in the car.
"You ok?" Lawson asked his wife once again, putting on hand on her should, giving it a gentle squeeze and looking deep in her blue eyes with concern.
"Lawson!" she said smiling "Stop worrying! I'm fine, I was a little upset before but I'm ok now, Stella cheered me up".
"Ok, I'll see you tonight?" Lawson asked.
"Yep, me and Bell's will pick you up at 6; she can tell you all about her first day".
"Looking forward to it" Lawson grinned, giving his wife a kiss on the lips before jumping into the car. Christian started the engine and they drove off.
Shannon sighed and walked back to her car. She decided she was going to the market to pick up something to make for dinner. She glanced at her watch.
Still 5 hours before she had to pick up Bella. It was going to be a long day.
….
Lawson couldn't help but stare out the window into empty space as TR2 drove through the eastern suburbs of Melbourne on their patrol.
"Didn't your wife once say that if you stare at the window for too long, it will crack?" Stella asked with a laugh.
Lawson looked over at her. It took him a second to register what she had just said but after a second he just laughed.
"Yeah yeah I know" he said.
"Something on your mind Lawson?" Christian asked glancing over at him.
"Nah it's just Bella's first day at school, I'm just thinking about how she is going".
"Lawson, I'm sure she's fine!" Stella told him "Shannon told me that Bella was really excited about school, she's probably having heaps of fun, while you're here worrying and brooding".
"Yeah your right" Lawson said with a sigh.
"I know what will cheer you up" she said playfully.
"What?" Lawson and Christian asked together.
"Michael and I got together" she said triumphantly with a happy smile.
"What?" Lawson asked in disbelief.
For the past few years, Stella and Michael had been having an on/off relationship. They were always flirting and going out together after shifts. Everyone at headquarters knew about their 'secret' relationship and it was a matter of time before they got together.
"About time" Lawson said smiling, happy for his two colleagues.
"How did this happen?" Christian asked intrigued, glancing at Stella through the rear-view window.
"That's my business" Stella replied cheekily with a huge grin "all you need to know is that we are together".
"TR can you please respond to an armed robbery in progress at the Kingston Hotel on Richard St, North Melbourne, possible hostages" the radio interrupted them .
"VKC, TR2 responding" Lawson said into the radio, "we are…." Christian held up three fingers "3 minutes away".
"Josh" Lawson instructed into the radio on his vest "get your butts over there"
"On it Lawson" came Josh's reply. "We are 10 away, you'll get there first"
"Rodger that"
"Leon, see if you can get that CCTV inside the pub and let us know what we are in for" Lawson instructed into his coms.
"Onto it Lawson, when I get the footage I'll let you know".
As Christian turned the corner into Richard Street, Lawson switched off the sirens and lights and directed Christian to stop a few metres down the road, on the other side, opposite the pub. They all got out quietly and went to the back of their car, opened the boot and changed into their bulletproof vests.
"Leon, we're going to need uniforms down here" Lawson said quietly in his coms. "But make sure you tell them to approach without sirens and light, we don't want to scare whoever is in there, we don't know what could happen. Oh and make sure you tell Kerry about this, I think we might also need her down here".
"Rodger that" Leon replied.
Lawson turned back to face Stella and Christian who were standing behind the car with their weapons drawn. Suddenly TR1 came from around the corner, also without sirens and lights. They pulled up directly behind TR2 and jumped out, when they had put on their vests. They walked up to Lawson and his team.
"What's going on?" josh asked.
"Dunno yet" Lawson replied "I'm waiting for Leon to send me the CCTV footage of inside, I need to know who and what I'm dealing with before I send anyone in there".
"I've got that footage for you Lawson" Leon's voice said into his earpiece. "There are two offenders, one with a rifle and another one with a crossbow. There seem to be five people hostage inside" Leon explained as Lawson watched the footage, the people were sitting, lined up against the wall with their hands tied behind their backs. A man was pacing in front of them pointing a rifle.
"Ok, Leon, I need you to organise these streets to be closed and the few surrounding houses cleared"
"Ok Lawson" Leon replied "but you might want to know this, one of the offenders is Robert Farrington".
Stella and Christian couldn't help but gasp in surprise and look at Lawson to see his reaction.
Robert Farrington was a notorious criminal. He liked doing armed robberies and he was damn good at them. He didn't care who he had to hurt to get his money. Two police officers had been shot the last time Robert tried robbing a bank. One of them couldn't go back to being a cop because his injuries were too severe. Robert always had an accomplice who he left behind to take the fall, while he disappeared into thin air with huge amounts of money.
"Ok thanks Leon" Lawson replied quickly.
"Stella, you and Christian go around the front and try to get some camera going, but make sure you aren't seen"
The pair nodded and set off with their weapons ready in front of them.
"Josh and Michael each take a side of the building and look for any other points of entry, I'll go straight to the back and meet you there".
Josh and Michael nodded and went off while Lawson quickly ran around to the back of the building.
Josh was walking quietly along the wall of the building when he saw a window about a metre above his head. There were no other doors and this looked like the only way to get in apart from the front door.
"Lawson" Josh said into his coms "I've found a window about a metre above me, but other than that I haven't found any other ways to get in"
"Ok, copy….." suddenly a loud gunshot rang out, it sounded like it came from the back of the building.