Disclaimer: Not my world, not my characters. I just love writing about them.
My first story, reviews welcome.
A little while later, Lucy and Emerson pulled up to the San Rafael police station where they would be meeting with their backup. It was raining heavily, but it looked like the storm would not last long. Lucy, still uncomfortable in the bulletproof vest and the overcoat that was hiding it, looked around. The traffic seemed a little heavy, but otherwise normal.
There would be 4 police officers working with them. Emerson did his best to explain what they would need to know without raising any unanswerable questions. "The man we're after is armed and... hard to predict. He's responsible for killings in multiple states, including a federal official. We believe him to be dangerously insane. We've tracked him to the area, and he may not be alone. He may have come here deliberately, in which case he may be very well prepared. We're primarily here to scout, but if the situation allows for it, we would like to apprehend him."
It was obvious that there was more to the story than that, but he remained closemouthed on any more details. Art had been able to detect a couple of likely spots for a possible hideout. One building near the edge of town appeared to have an underground floor that hadn't been part of the original plans, and the other strong possibility was an old abandoned warehouse that had recently seen some traffic. When Emerson showed these possibilities to the police, one of them told him that the warehouse's owner had decided to try to sell it, which would account for the traffic. The other building had been a gas station until it closed sometime in the '90s. No one had ever heard that it might have anything larger than fuel tanks underground, so they decided to start there. The plan was for Lucy to stay out of sight at the edge of the nearby trees while Emerson and the police went around the outside of the building looking for traces of a way underground.
It was dark by the time they were in position, and it had stopped raining. The ground around the station was muddy and the trees were dripping water all around Lucy and the officers. Emerson indicated that he would start his search around the old pumps, and the officers grouped up behind him. That area was paved, so it was unlikely he'd find the entrance they were looking for, but it could provide cover for someone. "Emerson," she murmured, "if he's here, he's not alone. Remember that he was used to being in charge of a large staff. This place is exposed enough that he would feel the need to have a number of guards. I don't know how many of the men he truly trusted, but they'll be here somewhere." He nodded, and moved out with the police behind him. The men silently cleared the area around the pumps, and started advancing on the building. Lucy found herself holding her breath and listening intently.
She never knew when their presence had been spotted, but one moment they were quietly advancing and the next moment they were blinded by a large floodlight trained on them. The light itself was on the other side of the building from Lucy, but she could see that it was shining almost directly on Emerson .
"So, our humble home has been found?" The voice was unmistakably that of Warden James. "I believe these men need to be relieved of their weapons. Perhaps they can be... persuaded to leave us."
All the men started to raise their weapons, but immediately three '63s came around from the other side of the light with their guns trained on their targets.
"I would suggest you drop your guns, sirs," said the warden, "and turn around. One of you, bring me the one in the suit, he looks like he might be in charge."
The '63s quickly relieved Emerson and the police of their guns. Two of them herded the officers around so that their backs were to the light, and the other one grabbed Emerson and marched him around the other side of the light. Lucy's blood froze and her feet seemed rooted to the ground where she stood. She knew she should slip further behind a tree so that they would be less likely to see her if they glanced in her direction, but she couldn't stop watching the spot where Emerson had disappeared.
"If your men do not leave this area immediately, they will be killed. By the time you can return with a new force, we will have vacated this place in favor of another, and bother this city no more. You look like a sensible man, sir. Can I count on you to do the sensible thing?"
She couldn't hear Emerson's voice as clearly, but he said something to the officers.
"Good. Men, why don't you escort the good policemen back to their cars while I have a brief word with their leader here. Have a seat, sir. No? Prefer to remain standing? Well, I can but offer." The next few moments passed in near silence; the only sound that of the policemen and their escort trudging off towards the road through the mud. Soon, she could hear the warden again. "In addition to sensible, sir, you also look familiar. I have an excellent memory for faces and you won't be returning with your companions tonight. Come with me."
Lucy let out a quiet gasp. This second shock seemed to have freed her feet and she managed to put the nearest tree completely between her and the light. What would the warden do if he found out who Emerson was? Would he deduce the involvement of the FBI and the existence of the task force? Probably, she thought. It makes an unlikely coincidence, to have a policeman the warden would recognize from 1963 sent after him in 2012. He certainly wouldn't let Emerson go.
"Stop," she shouted.
"Now, that is a voice that I'm certain I recognize! Dr. Sengupta, what an unexpected pleasure. I have been looking for you for some time now. Would you care to join us?"
"No," she said. Maybe if she made him look for her, he would be interested enough in finding her to leave Emerson alone behind him.
"No? One wonders why you revealed yourself if you planned to refuse my invitation. I can hear you in those trees, you know." She stayed silent. "What a time to have sent my men away. Ah well, if you want something done right, you just have to do it yourself. Come on, this way."
She risked a little peek around the tree. She could see them both, and the warden was holding a pistol to Emerson, whose hands were handcuffed in front. He seemed to be starting his search in the trees closer to the front of the station. Good, she'd been right to keep the talking to a minimum and now he didn't have a clear idea of where she was.
"Now I wonder," said the warden, "just what made you speak up at that moment. Your protection has been chased off, and I doubt you're armed. Didn't want to lose sight of me, perhaps? Thinking I might disappear into the darkness and you'll have to go back to running from my men? Maybe you think you can talk me out of my plans? I assure you, it's far too late for that."
He was getting closer now, still pushing Emerson in front of him. She slipped along the tree, trying to keep it between her and the warden. Unfortunately, her sleeve snagged in some small branches, and they made a loud rustle. The warden snapped his head around towards her. A couple of large steps brought him around to where he could see her, though he was still several yards away.
"Ah, there you are. Dr. Sengupta, you have proven yourself to be... extremely troublesome. You must know I can't let you get away from here." He brought his gun around towards her, and she started to throw herself to the ground. Her feet slipped out from under her in the mud, and she felt a sharp pain in her ankle. She waited for the gunshot, but when it came, it hit the mud several feet from her. She turned her head up to see why.
Emerson had knocked the warden's gun arm away, and seemed to be... Lucy couldn't see very clearly through the weeds, but he had wrapped the handcuff chain around the warden's arm. Suddenly the warden screamed and dropped to his knees, the gun falling from his hand. Emerson was pulled down after him.
"Lucy?" he shouted frantically, "Lucy?"
"I'm alright, he didn't hit me," she said, trying to get up. "I'm alright, ow! Except my ankle hurts. I don't think I can stand up."
Emerson extracted his arms from around the warden's arm, and quickly stood up and stepped on the warden's neck. "Stay down unless you want me to break your other arm."
It didn't take long for more police to show up. Emerson called 911 and then retrieved the gun from the ground and quickly searched the warden's pockets. They both stayed quiet, hoping to see police before they saw the warden's guards. The warden himself hadn't said a word and Lucy kept looking at him to see if he was still breathing.
No longer needing secrecy, the police and ambulance pulled up near the old pumps. Soon, Lucy was having her ankle wrapped by a nice young man who told her that she should go to the hospital to have it X-rayed. He said it looked like a bad sprain, but the X-ray might find a break. The warden had been handcuffed and was in the back of the ambulance. Emerson had started arguing with the police about jurisdiction even before they'd gotten the handcuffs off of him, but since neither the warden nor his men had killed anyone here it was shortly clear that they would all be in Emerson's custody as soon as the paperwork could be processed. A couple of phone calls later and even the paperwork would be expedited and the FBI would be sending some transportation for the warden's men within hours.
Lucy waited patiently for the medic to finish with her foot and tried to look like she didn't need an X-ray – she didn't want any more examinations in case they led to awkward questions. When the paramedics started helping Emerson, she slipped away from the crowd of people and as discreetly as possible limped back towards the trees, where it was darker. She wished she could pace, to deal with the jittery feeling she had, but doubted that her ankle would stand up to it. She watched the police bring the warden's men into custody, and she closely watched a paramedic cleaning and bandaging Emerson's wrists. It looked like he'd hurt them quite badly. There were a couple of policemen around the spot where the warden had fallen, taking pictures and searching through the weeds, and she moved a little farther away from them, deeper into the shadows.
Emerson didn't have any trouble finding her, however, when the paramedic was finally finished with him. The ambulance crew left, to take the warden to the hospital, and Emerson strode towards her. His eyes blazed, and she prepared for him to shout at her for risking revealing herself to the warden. She got barely a moment to realize that it was not rage that shone in his eyes before she found herself pressed against the tree, his mouth on hers, insistent and demanding. The adrenaline in her body turned to fire and she melted against him.
He pulled away to catch his breath and there was a glint of a smile in his eyes. "I had intended," he said, his voice raw, "to ask you how your ankle feels."
Lucy knew they'd have to rejoin the rest of the people at the crime scene unless they wanted someone to come looking for them. Emerson helped her to a low wall near the building where she could sit and put her foot up.
"I think they've done about enough here," he said, watching the remaining police officers. Some had left for the hospital, and some had taken the guards to await pickup, but there were still a few poking around the scene. "I'd better get them out of here before they find something."
Lucy sat on the wall and watched him chase the officers away. They started arguing with him, and she wondered if there was another one as curious and bold as Rebecca Madsen among them. Seeing how quickly they gave up, she thought not. Emerson came back to her and helped her up.
"One of them is going to give us a ride back to the car. We'll need to collect Warden James from the hospital as soon as they'll release him. They should have his arm set soon, and we can take him back to Dr. Beauregard."
"What about this place?" she asked. "We still don't know what might be underground here. There might even be more '63s"
"There's a cellar door with a padlock on the other side of the building. It's painted the same color as the dirt. I got the key from the warden's pocket and we can come back tomorrow. If there's anyone else here they're locked in now, and I put a motion alarm and camera on the door so we'll know if anyone else tries to open it. If there are any other '63s around, leaving surveillance on that door might be the best way to find out."
They made their way to one of the police cars and she got in. Already she was having to fake feeling more pain, and she hoped no one would look too closely at her foot.