Revenge is always the weak pleasure of a little and narrow mind.
Juvenal
2813 Merton Street Toronto, ON M1L 3K7 – Lane's Residence – 11:05 am
Ed's face was a mixture of shock and surprise as he looked up at Richard and felt the cold steel of the knife against his throat. He looked over at Sophie who was on the verge of hysteria.
"Alright, take it easy Soph, take it easy," Ed soothed as he was forced up by Richard, "Deep breaths."
"Shut up!" Richard yelled at Ed, "Shut the hell up!"
Ed nodded and complied with Richard's orders. Richard forced him into the living room, glaring at Sophie and Clark as well, "Get in the room! Or else he dies!"
Clark and Sophie went in, encouraged by a nod from Ed. Richard glared at Clark, "Go close the blinds," he said angrily, "Now!"
Clark's hands shook as he closed the blinds, Ed closed his eyes. This meant that a sniper or anyone else couldn't get eyes in. It made it that much harder to plan an entry. Richard directed Sophie to close the doors to the room; they were now essentially locked in.
"Sit on the ground," Richard ordered Ed's family, he stayed standing with Ed, keeping the knife pressed against the officer's throat.
"My name's Ed," Ed said to Richard, "You don't want to do this, you really don't."
"Don't tell me what I can or can't do bastard!" Richard snarled, "You killed my wife dammit!"
Ed would have recoiled at that bit of information if he wasn't being held with a knife to his throat. Richard noticed the shock on Ed's face.
"What? You don't remember?" Richard snarled dangerously in Ed's ear, his hot breath searing Ed's ear, "March 12, 1995. You remember your little raid on that warehouse on Queen Street? That woman you shot and killed in cold blood because she was just there? She lost her life, you got probation."
Ed exhaled and nodded, he remembered. It was the worst day of his life.
"We're raiding a warehouse today," the chief said as he briefed his men, "Possible weapons and drugs, civilian presence is heavy, so be careful."
"Shouldn't we be handing this over to the SRU?" an officer asked.
The chief glared at the officer, "I'm going to pretend I never heard that Constable Marlett. We leave in 20."
Fast forward to 30 minutes later, Ed stood in his uniform, yelling at people to lie on the floor and put their hands on their head. He was clearing out a small room with tons of boxes and plenty of places to hide. He saw a woman in the corner crying, Ed pointed his gun at her, "Put your hands up where I can see them! Hands where I can see them!"
She did what he said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know what was going on here honestly! I'm innocent!"
Ed placed handcuffs on her and he turned around to find himself face to face with a man who immediately went for his gun. Somehow the gun was grabbed and Ed struggled to get it back, shots went off and the woman fell to the ground, a bullet wound in her chest. Ed caught the man in a chokehold and held him there until he fell, "Stay down!" he yelled, "STAY DOWN!"
The man was more inclined to obey orders once a gun was pointed at his head, "Dispatch this is officer 5321 requesting EMS, woman down. I repeat I have a woman down." Ed zip tied the man's hands and ran over to the woman, "I'm so sorry," he said as he placed pressure on her wound to stop the bleeding, "I'm sorry, just hang in there."
Her eyes glazed over as she breathed her last breath. Ed yelled, "No! NO! Don't give up on me!"
Meanwhile, the six SUVs screamed up Eglinton Avenue, Sarge was spearheading the caravan in the truck. They had listened to Spike's recap of what was in the file, "This is bad," Greg said, "It's personal for him. Stealth approach, I don't want any sirens or lights when we drive up there. Wordy."
Wordy shook his head as he tried Ed's cell for the umpteenth time, "No joy Sarge, Ed's not answering his phone."
Sam shook his head and swore under his breath as he gunned the engine and the truck accelerated. They screeched to a halt at the house, it looked quiet, too quiet. The blinds were closed and Ed's car was parked in the front.
"Ed's still in there," Donna said as she pulled up silently behind Sam's car.
Greg got out of his car and started issuing orders, "Sam, Donna try to find a sierra shot," the two officers nodded and jogged off in different directions, "Wordy, Leah, go around back and see if you can get eyes in, find out which room they're being held in. Spike, you're with me in the truck. Let's find out all we can about Richard before we begin negotiations."
The three officers went to their positions, Leah and Wordy went out back, checking windows for their team leader. No joy.
Hotch had ordered each of his team to pair up with an SRU officer to supply additional backup. Rossi went with Sam, Morgan went with Wordy, JJ went with Donna, Emily with Leah, and Hotch and Reid were in the truck with Greg and Spike.
Sam sat on his perch, it was the roof of the truck, he lay there looking in the scope of his rifle as he said, "Sierra One has no solution. Looks like blinds are drawn in the room in the south west corner of the house, lower level."
Wordy nodded, "That's Ed's living room." He knew from years of being at Ed's place for nightly hockey games and barbeques.
"Wordy do you think you can get a cam in?" Greg asked.
"Copy Sarge," Wordy was already at the SUV, grabbing the necessary equipment from the trunk, Leah covered the window as he placed the kit on the ground and prepared to drill into the wall.
Sam grabbed the infrared scope and glanced through that, "Looks like we have four subjects in the room, one has a knife. Two are on the floor and the other one's being held by the one with the knife."
"Copy that," Greg stated as he nodded at Spike. Spike leaned in and said into the microphone, "11:19 am Sergeant Parker begins negotiations."
Greg nodded and dialed Ed's number.
RING! RING!
Richard jumped at the sound of the phone ringing, he glared at it and yelled at Clark, "Pick it up! Answer it dammit!"
Clark nodded and picked up the phone, "Hello?"
Greg nodded to Spike, "Hi, I'm Sergeant Gregory Parker with the police Strategic Response Unit, who am I speaking to?"
Clark looked up at Richard, "Clark Lane."
"Hi Clark," Greg said, "Can I speak to Richard?"
Clark looked at Richard, "They want to speak to you."
"No!" the man yelled, "I'm not speaking to them! Tell them if they come in, Constable Lane dies!"
Clark relayed the information to Greg, even though the shout was loud enough for Wordy to hear outside. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.
Ed knew the importance of getting ears or eyes in on the situation, he felt his cell phone in his pocket, he needed a good distraction and he needed Clark and Sophie out of the house. He had a plan.
"Listen Richard," Ed said to his captor, "Soph and Clark have nothing to do with this, alright? It's just between you and me, okay Richard? Let them go, I'll stay."
"No, I need as much leverage as possible!" Richard snarled, "I need them!"
"It was me you were looking for all this time," Ed said calmly, "Richard, I need to protect my family, like you're protecting your wife's memory. Please let them go," he said as he pressed the 1 on his phone, it was the speed dial number for Greg.
Greg got the phone call and he motioned for the truck to be quiet as they finally got ears in on the situation.
Richard considered Ed's proposition, "How do I know your guys won't just kill me? Huh? Like you did my wife."
"I promise they won't hurt you," Ed stated calmly, "Let them go and I'll stay."
"Alright," Richard said and he glared at Clark as the phone rang again, "Tell them you and your mom are coming out, no funny business or Ed dies."
Ed sighed with relief inwardly, for one, he negotiated his family's release and two, he was being called by his name, rather than Constable Lane. This man may be viewing him as a human being rather than a robot in uniform.
Clark picked up the phone and Greg nodded as Clark said the terms for their release. Greg told Clark, "We'll have some men waiting outside, don't worry they won't hurt you. Just come out with your hands in the air and we'll escort you to safety."
"Okay," Clark answered, swallowing dryly. He hung up at Richard's bidding and Richard followed them out to the front door, he stood out of sight with Ed still in his grasp, Clark slowly opened the front door.
Wordy stood there with a shield in case Richard had something more than a knife in his arsenal, Leah, Emily and Morgan stood behind him, each of them aiming their weapon at the door. The door slowly opened and Clark came out with both hands in the air, Sam could see Richard standing in the back with Ed at knifepoint.
"No solution," Sam stated into the radio.
"Easy Sam," Greg cautioned, Rossi could hear the tension in Sam's voice. No one messes with the police or their friends and expect to get away from it alive.
Clark and Sophie walked out of the house, Richard prodded Ed forward, and Richard shouted, "If anyone tries to come in, Ed Lane dies!"
He then forced Ed to shut the door and they returned to the room. As soon as the door slammed shut, Leah and Emily were rushing Clark and Sophie out of danger while Wordy and Morgan backed out, covering them.
"Come on," Emily said leading Sophie to safety behind the trucks, "You're safe now."
Clark turned back to face the house, "Dad," he said, trying to run back, Wordy intercepted him, "We'll take care of your dad, don't worry. He's family to us, we look out for each other."
Wordy lead Clark back to behind the SUV's, "We'll get him out of there, Ed's a smart guy. He knows how to handle this."
Meanwhile inside the house, Ed was back in the room with Richard. Richard trusted him enough to keep the knife away from his neck, but Richard kept the knife out of Ed's grasp and in plain view as he paced the room.
"What happens now?" Richard said angrily, "I bet they'll do everything to save you, huh? Shoot me?"
"We won't hurt you Richard," Ed assured, "It's not our policy to shoot first and ask questions later. Let's just talk this out, okay?"
"I'm done with talking," Richard glared at Ed, "You killed my wife dammit! Shot her in cold blood!"
"I swear," Ed said calmly, "It was an accident, I couldn't live with myself after that. I almost quit the force."
"Well why didn't you?" Richard asked pointing the knife at Ed and pressing the point against his windpipe.
"I wanted to protect those who were closest to me," Ed answered looking Richard in the eye, "I promised I'd never hurt the innocent again."
"A little too late for my wife, don't you think?" Richard asked rhetorically, smiling dangerously, "Just a little too late."
"It was," Ed agreed, "And I'm sorry it had to end up like that, I really am. But if you kill me, it's over. It's over."
"It already was over," Richard grinned maliciously, backing away from Ed, "I killed Constable Chandler, Constable Callaghan and both of their families. I've got nothing left! Nothing!"
Ed started a little at the last name, 'Jules?' he thought. That made no sense, she had no immediate family.
Richard backed away from Ed, pointing the knife downward, "You were my last target Constable Lane, my last target."
Wordy sat quietly in the hallway outside of the room Ed was being held in, he had placed a fiber-optic camera under the door opening and wiggled it around so he could get a good view of the room. He saw Richard step away from Ed and point the knife down, he nodded towards Leah and the FBI, "Entry in 3, 2, 1." He whispered.
Donna launched CS grenades into the room, while Wordy and Spike busted the door open and threw a flashbang into the room. Suddenly, chaos erupted.
Shouts of "POLICE STRATEGIC RESPONSE UNIT!", "FBI!", "POLICE!" and "Show me your hands!" rent the air. Richard simply shook his head and said, "Good bye Ed," and he slit his own throat. Landing dead as soon as the police entered.
Wordy ran over to Ed who had fell to the floor and put his hands where they could see them, "You okay Ed?"
"You guys owe me a new door and window," was Ed's response as he was helped up by the hand-to-hand combat expert.
Greg patted Ed's back, "Glad to have you back Eddy."
Leah shook her head as she felt for Richard's pulse, "He's dead, slit his own throat."
"An investigation will confirm that," a gruff voice interrupted from the doorway. Inspectors Stainton and Donovan stood there.
"Inspector," Ed greeted curtly.
"Constable," Stainton returned with the same air of slight hostility, "Glad to see you okay."
"I'll bet inspector, I'll bet," Ed said as Wordy lead him out of the building.
"Okay, what was that?" Emily asked as she saw them both walk out of the house, leaving behind a slightly confused and slightly bemused team of cops and agents behind.
"Apparently Ed beat Stainton into the SRU," Sam said, "Ed was chosen over Stainton. They've been having a rivalry ever since. Stainton ranks higher than Ed but Ed has his dream job."
"Interesting," Emily muttered as she watched the paramedics look over Richard's body.
Suddenly Hotch ran up, "The hospital called, Anna Callaghan's gone missing. The police officer assigned to her was found dead."
Greg looked over at Ed, "You ready for action Eddie?"
Ed nodded, "Absolutely," he said as he strapped on a vest and holstered his service weapon.
'mmakingthisintoalinebreak!wheeeee!
Okay, so apparently an update "soon" meant within 24 hours . . . huh. :) Hope ya like?
