Chapter 4

It was 11:30, so Ironside, Ed, Fran, and Mark left the office together to ride the elevator down to the garage and the van. As they left the garage, not know what was to happen, everyone was silent. However, they didn't know that a car was parked on the street opposite the garage door, and the occupant watched them leave. He started his car and began following the van as Mark drove it to SOMA and the warehouse. About ten minutes later, the van arrived a few blocks from the warehouse where Samantha was being held. The man following in his car parked down the street from the van, not wanted to be seen by Ironside and his friends. When the van stopped, Ironside called on the phone to the back up officers to make sure they knew the plan.

Then he spoke to Ed, Mark, and Fran. "Remember you are to go to the back of the warehouse and make sure that you are not seen. I will take the elevator and meet with Iggy. Meanwhile, if you can get into the back door, then you will look for Samantha. If you don't find her, then try to find the stairway and come looking for me. "Chief", Ed suggested, "I brought a wire that you can wear. Just wanted to have some insurance for your safety." Ironside pondered Ed's suggestion and said, "Ed, I'm concerned that Iggy will find the wire." Ed thought about it. "We could put it under your jacket in back so it's hidden between you and the back of the wheelchair. If Iggy tries to pat you down, he won't find it." The Chief considered it, and decided that it should work. Ed helped him place the wire. Then it was time for the Chief to open the doors to the lift and roll onto it. "Take care of yourself, Chief", Fran gently said. "Remember what I said back at the office."

Ironside began to roll toward the warehouse, while the others moved over to the back of the warehouse. Ed checked to see if the light on his receiver was working and tracking the Chief. Inside the warehouse, Iggy had tied Samantha's hands and feet together and gagged her mouth to keep her from screaming and alerting Ironside. "You better be quiet.", Iggy ordered. "Ironside owes me for arresting my brother. He should have been dead long ago. What my brother started, I will finish."

The Chief reached the front door, not realizing that he had been followed. The man following him hid around the corner from the front door. Ironside pulled the door open and rolled through the threshold. Then he found the elevator and waited for it to arrive. When the doors opened, he turned around and backed into the elevator. The doors closed. The man who was following Ironside walked to the front door and entered. Not seeing the Chief, he looked for the stairway and started to climb.

Ironside reached the floor where he was supposed to meet Iggy and rolled off the elevator to a darkened room. Samantha was no where to be seen. The doors of the elevator did not close behind him and he didn't see anyone at first, which sent a chill through him. Then the elevator lowered without Ironside touching any buttons, trapping him on the floor without any way to escape. Ironside looked a bit alarmed. Meanwhile, the man had climbed the stairs, trying to find the floor where Ironside was.

Outside, Ed, Fran, Mark and all of the backup officers were trying to enter the back of the warehouse, so they could try to find Samantha and the Chief. Ed check to see if the light was still showing on his receiver, and it indicated that the Chief was still OK. Mark thought about all the times that he was able to help the Chief, but felt helpless not being able to be with Ironside. "Ed, do you have the door opened?", Mark inquired. As Ed was about to answer, the door opened and everybody entered to look for Samantha.

As Ironside rolled away from the elevator and into the darken room, he saw Samantha sitting on the floor. "Samantha, are you all right? I am so relieved to see you". The Chief saw that she had a gag on her mouth and rolled over to her to untie the gag. Samantha started to say something, when a figure stepped out of the shadows. It was Iggy. "Now I have you, Ironside! I'm going to finish what my brother started." Iggy started to push the wheelchair toward the open elevator, while Ironside struggled with him. Samantha screamed. As much as Ironside tried to stop Iggy, his efforts were failing. Iggy pushed hard and the wheelchair with Ironside in it rolled into the open elevator shaft. The Chief grabbed hold of the elevator cable as he fell. He heard the crash of the wheelchair below him. Samantha screamed again, the mystery man heard her, and ran through the door from the stairs and attacked Iggy. They struggled and ultimately, the mystery man subdued Iggy. Samantha finally recognized the man and said, "T.D, Robert was pushed into the elevator shaft. Please help him!"

While Iggy and T.D. struggled, Ed and the others climbed the stairs. Ed looked at the receiver. "The light went out on the receiver." he shouted. Fran and Mark felt panic. They all bolted up the stairs, hoping to find the Chief, hoping he was alive.

After grabbing the elevator cable and with his bloody hands, Ironside lowered himself to the top of the elevator cab and sat next to his wheelchair. T.D. ran over from Samantha to the elevator shaft. "Robert, are you O.K.?", T.D. called. "Who is that?", Ironside inquired in pain from the pain in his hands. "It's T.D. Are you hurt?" Ironside told him about his hands. T.D assured the Chief that he would find a way to rescue him. "Hold on!". T.D. looked around for a way to raise the elevator and found a remote control. Just as he found it, Ed, Mark, Fran and the backup officers found Samantha and T.D.. They saw Samantha. "Where's the Chief?", Mark, Ed and Fran all asked in unison. "He's down in the elevator shaft, sitting on top of the cab." T.D. explained. "His hands are injured. I found this remote control that I think Iggy used to raise and lower the elevator. Ed grabbed it from T.D. and ran over to the elevator shaft and called, "Chief, we found a remote control that we can use to raise the elevator up to us. Hold on." While Ed moved the elevator, Fran went over to Samantha and finished releasing her. "Thank you, Fran", as she hugged Fran. "I have to see how Robert is." Fran agreed and both of them ran over to the elevator shaft to see if Ironside had reached them. The officers had already taken Iggy away.

The elevator cab reached the point where Ironside could be rescued. One look at the Chief showed bloody hands on a man who was exhausted from lack of sleep. The bags under his eyes looked larger. Ed and Mark pulled the wheelchair out first and then helped Ironside slide out of the shaft and into the wheelchair. Then the elevator was raised to the level where the Chief, pushed by Mark, rolled off the top of the elevator. Samantha hugged the Chief and kissed him on the cheek followed by Fran. Ed and Mark breathed a sign of relief. Ironside had a few tears from the pain in his hands and his exhaustion. Samantha said, "Robert, thank you for rescuing me along with T.D." The Chief looked around and saw T.D standing nearby. Ironside queried, "What are you doing here? I told you that we didn't what you to come." T.D. hesitated, but then spoke to Ironside. "Robert, I know how important Samantha is to you, but she also is important to me. She is my friend also, just as Mark, Ed and Fran are for you. I couldn't sit by and let Samantha be harmed, just as as you couldn't sit by and let Mark, Ed, Fran and Samantha be hurt or killed. And they couldn't do the same. That's why I'm here". The paramedics arrived to attend to Ironside, but before they did, the Chief did something he rarely did, and thanked T.D. Then the paramedics bandaged Ironside's hands and brought him down to a waiting ambulance.