Benefit of Discussing and Debating Tactics
Ed's Home – Day 5 – Ed's Room – 12:30 pm
For the second time today Ed was jolted awake by a horrible sound. He was disoriented having woken so quickly and was scanning for the threat. It was a woman's voice yelling. It came from inside the house. The last words chilled him to the bone "I ought to kill you now."
Ed's mind was working at hyper speed as he went into action.
He turned to grab his weapon. It was gone. "What the hell?"
He looked for his phone, gone. "What the hell?"
He noticed the desk phone was gone too. "What the hell?"
He ran to the door and yanked to open it. It didn't budge. "What the hell?"
He looked at it. Locked! He unlocked it and pulled again. Nothing! "What the hell?"
He jerked several times with all his strength. It remained sealed shut. "What the bloody fucking hell?"
The woman was screeching but her words were incoherent now. Ed needed to get to Sam now! How the hell to get out of the room?
Ed's eyes scanned the room. He went to the window. He could go out it. Long drop to the ground though.
Rope? He scanned the room again. No! If he broke his leg dropping he would be no use to Sam.
He scanned again thinking as his eyes landed on items and dismissed them. Bed sheets! He could tie them together, make a rope.
Damn that would take too much time he thought as he moved forward to execute. Then her yelling ceased. This could not be good he thought.
As he stripped the bed his eyes scanned the room once again. Gotta be something better, quicker.
Think Lane, think.
His eyes landed on the baseball bat. He ran to it and grabbed it. He lifted the bat high above his head and brought it down on the door handle with full force.
Ed felt the reverberations from the hit flow up his arms. The handle partly broke. He repeated the motion and the handle tumbled to the floor.
He yanked the door open and saw the other side of the handle on the floor. He followed the twine tied to it and saw that it had been tied to Clark's door. The handle to Clark's room was also partly hanging off. "What the hell?"
With the baseball bat in hand he raced down the hall to the stairs going down two at a time then running to the back of the house toward Sam's room.
Just what the hell was happening?
Ed's Home – Day 5 – Sam's Room – 12:30 pm
Think Braddock, think.
Sam's mind was working at hyper speed as he gathered his wits.
His first thought made him want to retch. Oh god it hadn't been a dream. It wasn't Jules's hand that had stroked his erection and almost got him off. It was this woman that touched him. He quickly put that thought aside. He would deal with that later.
Sam's second thought was his life depended on assessing the situation and his options. Any more pressure applied to the cold metal pressed to his neck and it would draw blood. He scanned the room from his prone position.
He saw the duct tape and twine. Oh crap, she had other plans. He wasn't about to let her follow through.
His third thought as he watched her intently was OH SHIT I'm in real trouble. He saw a switch flip in the woman's eyes as she ranted incoherently. This was bad. No idea what was coming but this was definitely bad.
Sam had seen that type of psychosis in someone's eyes before. It was gut wrenching, literally. One name popped into his head Donner.
His fourth thought was her yelling would alert Ed. Shit, she's been yelling so long, he should have already arrived. Did she harm Ed already?
He had to get a hold of the situation. Knives to throats were very tricky. One wrong move and he could bleed out very quickly.
First choice try to talk. Get her to move the knife away, less risk that way. A quirky thought entered his mind. Ed would be proud. He was not taking an unacceptable risk.
But damn, now he would have to try and negotiate himself out of it. God he wished his team was here. Greg or Jules they would know what to say to a deranged woman wielding a knife.
He still basically sucked at negotiations with a few rare exceptions, mostly with soldier types. Sam could usually connect with them. He preferred the tactical aspect but kept trying to learn the negotiation skillset. Greg always reassured him it would just take time and more field experience.
Sam wished he already had that experience right now. Crap. This type of situation he really didn't know how to connect or proceed. So he decided to start with his standard introduction for negotiations.
In the calmest voice he could muster Sam said "Ms. Holmes. I'm Sam Braddock with SRU."
That got her attention, she stopped ranting.
Ah crap not the right thing to say. She looked right at him like he was the dumbest person on the earth and had just said the most idiotic thing.
She replied "I know exactly who you are. You are my Sammy. You are coming with me. We will be happy together. You want me. You only want me."
Sam's stomach rolled sickly at her comments. He was about to say something else but he heard a loud crash from upstairs followed by a second one. At the sound of the second crash her hand pressed the knife firmer into his neck drawing a small trickle of blood as cold hard sharpened steel met with warm soft skin.
His mind could be weird sometimes as a thought flashed through, I know I need a shave but not one this close.
He saw her free hand as it reached behind her and withdrew a gun. Holy shit it looked just like his pearl gripped one. Fuck! It was his, it had the small nick at the end of the barrel.
What the hell? How the hell did she get that? It was in his apartment locked in his gun safe.
This was just getting too bizarre. He heard the running steps it was Ed. She had a gun. Sam shouted out "ED STOP GUN."
Ed instantly heeded the warning. He planted both feet just in time to stop from entering the doorway as two shots were fired. The abruptness of the stop caused him to lose balance and land hard on his ass on the floor.
He was chiding himself for a stupid rookie mistake of rushing in without information as he righted himself and stood near the entry way. Damn, Sam just saved my life looking at the placement of the bullet holes in the opposite wall Ed thought. Both would have hit him square in the chest.
Sam's stomach was in a free fall, twisting and turning he wanted to hurl so badly. From his position he could not see the door clearly. The bitch was in the way and all he had heard was a loud thud. Then only silence.
Fear laced through Sam's heart as he frantically yelled "God damn it Ed. You better not die on me or I'll kill you. I promise."
Ed heard Sam. God that kid was funny sometimes but he heard the real fear in his voice. Sam thought he was hit. He quickly yelled "No harm, no harm! Sam status?"
"Ugly old bald guy, you better get in here unarmed or I slice Sammy's throat wide open" the redhead said.
Sam swallowed hard at her words and felt the bite of the blade at his throat.
But Sam took real offense at her words about Ed so he said "His name is Ed." He wanted to add the word 'bitch' at the end but didn't because of the knife. Not a good idea to antagonize someone with a knife to your throat.
Ed called out "My name is Ed Lane with SRU. Can you please tell me your name?"
"I don't care what your name is. Just get in here where I can see you or Sammy is dead" the redhead replied.
Sam was rapidly thinking again. Hopefully someone would report the gunshots. Would it be his team to respond? No they were off shift.
Crap Jules is coming over soon. If she walked in on this unawares she could end up hurt. Then he relaxed as he thought Jules is smart, she would recognize something was amiss. She would summon help if the shots were not already reported.
"Alright, I'm coming in slowly. Just let's take it easy. It would be nice if I knew your name" Ed said as he carefully showed a portion of himself in the door. His hands were out palms forward to show he was not armed and Ed took in the scene.
Christ. Sam lay prone on the bed with a knife to his throat as the woman pointed the gun towards him. Ed thought vintage colt, six shots, two gone. Four left assuming it was full. Always assume it's full he told himself.
"Sit over there" she waved the gun to the stool near the desk away from the door. Ed thought, excellent, at least he had a good view of Sam from that point.
Ed slowly moved to the stool and he glanced at the clock on the wall 12:45. Someone was sure to report the gunshots in his neighborhood. SRU would be here soon.
Sam and Ed locked gazes. Ed could see Sam was thinking tactics, most likely how to free himself.
Sam couldn't stand it. He needed to get out from under the knife. Ed was now in as much danger as himself. Ed had no vest on and the gun was pointed at his chest.
He rapidly went through his entire catalog of Special Forces moves trying to find one that could get him out. The knife was pressed too firmly against his neck. It was already breaking the skin. It only needed a tad more pressure to slice into his jugular vein. Every move he could think of had a high potential to cause enough pressure to do just that. So he remained stock still his face now firmly set in disgust.
Ed saw when Sam reached his conclusion. No options for self-extractions. The look on his face told Ed that Sam was thoroughly pissed off that he could not free himself.
He wished she would answer his request for a name. Twice now she ignored him, Ed wondered if this was the redhead from the dock.
"Do you want talk about what brought us here today? It would be helpful to know your name" Ed said in an attempt to engage her. He wanted to get her to move the knife a little. He saw it was already drawing blood.
"Shut up, I don't want to talk to you. You're not beautiful like my Sammy. Sit there and be quiet or …" she motioned that she would shoot him.
Ed could see now what they were dealing with. This was not going to be easy. She was out of her mind and poor Sam was her object of desire. They could really use Greg or Jules help.
Sam recoiled at the psychotic ring to her words as she said 'my Sammy'. Ed shared a look with Sam he understood but also said 'three strikes, I'm out, you're up to bat now'.
Channeling Lou's smooth, calm negotiator voice Sam pulled himself together as he said "Ms. Holmes, I remember we met at Darby Dock. We had a long conversation but I never got your first name. Can you please tell me your first name?"
Sam had to repeat internally to himself, connect, respect, protect. Well he could try hard to do the first two if it meant protecting Ed. What he really wanted to do though was kill the bitch for several reasons. He was surprised by his dark thoughts, it scared him.
"It's Jess. I'm so glad you asked Sammy" the redhead said in a sickly sweet voice as she looked to Sam and smiled.
He shook himself mentally "Okay, Jess. Good, thank you." Sam said but wasn't sure what to say next. He was flying blind, no clue what caused her to come here and do this, no idea what she might be capable of.
Sam wished he had the Boss or Jules in his ear to guide him. He hoped he wouldn't say the wrong thing and set her off. He decided to parrot what Ed had just said "Do you want talk about what brought us here today?"
Ed's internal dialog was struggling with the absurdity of the situation. Sam laying in his boxers on the bed with a knife to his throat and a trickle of blood running down is neck. But talking so calmly as if he was having coffee with a friend instead of a psychotic woman bent on killing them both.
Team One Enroute to Ed's Home – Day 5 – 12:45 pm
The team was all on channel one. Jules and Greg had quickly filled in everyone on the details each had. Spike and Jules were three houses away now. Greg, Wordy and Lou were one minute out. Everyone was worried.
She brought the SUV to a rapid and silent stop in front of Ed's home having turned off the sirens over a block away. Silent arrival would be best. Spike and Jules exited quickly and geared up with MP5s.
Jules spoke "Boss, Spike and I are going to do a quick recon of the perimeter outside. See if we can establish a location for Sam or Ed."
"Go careful. Shots fired so assume there is an armed subject on the premise" Greg directed.
Spike added "Boss, several kids outside two doors down. We need to secure them."
Greg directed "Jules you do the perimeter check. Spike secure the children. We are almost there. Calling in units to clear the surrounding homes."
"Copy that" both Jules and Spike responded. Spike raced toward the kids. Jules slowly approached Ed's home.
Jules crouched low and peeked into the corner of the front room window. The living room was clear. She moved around the right side and quietly made her way to the next window. It was to the kitchen.
The window was very high. She rose to her tippy toes and still could not see in properly. She reached into her cargo pants pocket and withdrew the mirror stick and extended the handle.
Carefully she positioned it so she could see into the room. It was hard to see all angles, she needed to be taller. Jules scanned the area for something to stand on and found nothing suitable.
"Jules, we're here. Wordy is coming to you. Spike is heading around the left side. Lou, need you in the truck. We need background information, we need to profile Ms. Holmes. We know what she did but not why. Seems strange it only started three years ago and that she picks one type of man" Greg said.
"Copy that" all said.
"Living room clear. Kitchen appears to be clear" Jules added. As Wordy approached he saw she was too short to see properly into the kitchen and saw the mirror stick. He knew from her statement she could not get a full view of the room.
"Jules" Wordy whispered letting her know he had arrived.
Jules nodded and moved quickly out of the way so he could view the room, well aware he knew the room needed to be checked more thoroughly. They were a team and always covered each other's weaknesses without preamble or prejudice. It is what made them so damned good.
"Study clear" Spike stated.
"Kitchen clear" Wordy stated.
Spike moved onto the family room and Wordy and Jules moved to the spare room. They all knew the layout of this home well.
"Family room clear" Spike stated.
Jules and Wordy rounded the back of the house. Jules couched low to move to the opposite side of the window. Both carefully peek into the room from the edges of the window at the same time.
"Boss we have a hostage situation and we need EMS on standby" Wordy stated flatly.
"Sam is prone on the bed with a knife pressed to his throat. Ed is on a stool nearby with a gun pointed at his chest" Jules was able to get out in a clear unshaken voice. It was so different than the emotions roiling in her gut. But those emotions would not help two men she deeply cared about so she stowed them away for now.
"Confirm subject is Ms. Holmes. Not good, not good at all" Wordy added his gut rolling as much as everyone's on the team. Two members of their family were in jeopardy but they needed to focus and use clear judgment to get them out safely.
"Is there a Sierra position that would work Jules?" Greg asked.
Jules looked around not many options. She was assessing angles. "I think I have a possible position Sarge" Jules responded.
"You're Sierra One Jules. Get the Remi and get into position. Spike, I need eyes and ears in. Lou any information yet?" Greg directed and asked.
Jules and Spike moved off quickly to comply with Greg's orders. Wordy maintained watch of the room.
"Not yet but I think I might have something. Give me a few minutes" Lou intoned.
Greg was frustrated he had no infomation and no visual or sound yet. "Wordy what is the current situation in the room, the position and condition of all?" Greg asked.
Wordy replied knowing he could use more familiar descriptors than colored walls, this was Ed's house and they all knew it so well. "Ed is on the stool at the desk. Sam is on the bed flat on his back with a large butcher knife pressed to his throat."
"There appears to be some blood but it doesn't look too bad. Sam appears to be speaking to the subject. I cannot hear him though. The subject is standing next to the bed. She has the knife in her left hand and the gun in the right."
"I can see two bullet holes in the hall wall. She must have fired the shots. The subject appears extremely agitated. There is duct tape and twine near the foot of the bed. It looks like she was preparing to abduct Sam and Ed interrupted" Wordy reported.
As he finished his report, Jules had said she was in position and had a solution and Spike reappeared with the microphone and mini cam and immediately set up the mic.
The conversation in the room fed into their headsets and they heard Sam say "Jess, I'm sorry that angered you. Can you tell me what you need?"
They all smiled a bit, Sam was the hostage but he was trying to negotiate himself out of it.
Lou silently wished Sam was better a negotiation. He was good with military types but other scenarios not so much. He vowed he was going to work more with Sam on that when this was all done. Lou continued digging for information on Jess Holmes.
"I need you to be with me. You are coming with me" the redhead responded.
"Jess, I can't go with you. You need to …" Sam was cut off as she ranted at him again. Damn, I just can't say the right thing Sam thought.
Spike had gotten the camera setup. The whole team could now see what was transpiring in the room. Spike and Wordy from their position at the window, Lou and Greg in the command truck and Jules from her sniper perch.
When Greg saw the position of the knife and the gun he directed Jules "Jules, this woman has killed five men by slitting their throats. Sam will not be the sixth. She has also shot one man. Ed will not be number two. If you see any motion that is a threat to either of them you have Scorpio. Take the shot if necessary."
"Copy" Jules said and settled in to watch through the scope for even the slightest threatening movement. She calmed herself with sniper breathing and slowed her heart rate way down. A slow heart beat allowed for a more accurate shot and the subject was so close to Sam. Jules couldn't afford any error, Sam's life depended on it.
Greg could hear that Sam was faltering with the negotiation. He didn't have any information about the woman and kept hitting hot buttons. He needed to intervene.
"Wordy, Spike we need to go in. Meet me at the front door" Greg directed.
Ed's Home – Day 5 – Sam's Room – 12:50 pm
Sam just couldn't say anything right. Everything he said set her off. Flying blind sucked.
His muscles were so stiff from holding so still. Sam could not get her to move the knife a fraction regardless of whatever tactic he tried and he'd tired so many. His ears picked up the sound of the front door opening. God let it be a SRU team and not Jules alone. He needed to warn whoever it was.
So in a loud voice that carried he said "Jess, let us go. You need to put down the knife and gun."
He earned a long incoherent rant for that one but whoever it was now knew something was up and there was an armed woman in the house.
Ed gave Sam a questioning look that turned to understanding. Sam had heard someone enter the house.
When she subsided they heard Greg from the hallway "Jess Holmes, this is Sergeant Parker. I'm with the Police Strategic Response Unit. We're gonna talk and we're gonna figure a way out of this. How does that sound?"
Sam thought that sounds great to me. Both he and Ed thought thank god the team is here.
Greg continued when she didn't respond "Okay, Jess? Do you want talk about what brought us here today?"
Sam inwardly laughed, that must be a stock question. All three of them used it.
Jess finally responded "No, Sammy and I are leaving and we are leaving now." She looked at Sam and said "Sit up now." She moved the knife slightly away.
Sam thought he might be able to complete the maneuver without getting his throat sliced open. But he decided to let his team handle it. He was so stiff from being in the same position for over twenty minutes and so many things could go wrong.
He was certain that Jules was set up as Sierra One. There was a clear line of sight into this room from the roof of the house behind and the curtains were wide open. He could accidentally get in her way if he moved to quickly.
That was always their greatest fear that a hostage would move at just the wrong time and get in the line of fire. Sam wouldn't add to Jules's pressure so he very, very slowly complied with Jess and sat on up on the bed and then slowly swung his feet off the edge.
The knife never moved far from his neck. He couldn't see Ed now. He was behind him.
Jess spoke again "Back down, clear us a path, we are outta here."
Greg responded "I can't do that just yet." Greg showed himself at the door just behind Wordy who was holding a shield. Greg saw Sam sitting now, a slow trickle of blood running down his chest from his neck. His eyes flicked to Sam's and Sam communicated he was okay, it was only a minor cut.
"Sammy and I are leaving. He is mine. He is not yours. He is mine and nobody is going to take him from me" Jess ranted.
Lou said from the command truck "Boss I found something. I don't know if it will help or not. It seems Ms. Holmes was engaged to a man named Larry Tyson. I got a picture of him. Same profile as all the men she targeted."
"An assault report from five years ago says he left her at the altar, quite literally. She walked up the aisle and then he told her out loud in front of everyone gathered that he had married a beautiful woman only an hour before. Tyson called her a prude and said she was sexually uninteresting and he did not want her. That he now belonged to woman that was hot for him and eager to please him and that she would die a dried up spinster."
Spike quietly said "Damn that's harsh."
Lou continued "I contacted her mother and she said that Jess was committed to an institution for a year when she went off the deep end and attacked Larry with the wedding cake knife, tried to plunge it into his heart. He survived."
"The doctors said she developed a jealous and possessive nature toward any man that looked similar to her ex-fiancée and abnormal sexual tendencies. When she was released after a year of therapy the mother said she refused all contact with family. She had not heard from her daughter in about four years."
Greg processed the information. Jules did too and her heart dropped. "Boss, based on that and what Constable Davidson related to you about their suspicions as to why she killed the men I don't she is going to let Sam go."
Jules stopped herself from ending the sentence with 'alive'. They all knew it.
Constable Davidson had told Greg that based on the one survivors account anytime he said he needed to leave or begged to be let go she raged and would threaten to kill him. He had rope burns around his neck where she had nearly choked him to death before he convinced her he wanted to stay and that he loved only her. She was clearly unstable. She clearly had no intention of letting Sam go.
Greg wanted so bad to give into his nervous urge to rub his head and eyes but he was in front of the subject and that would not be good. He needed to show calmness and control. How was he going to resolve this so everyone got out safe?
First thing he needed to build trust. Maybe he could elicit concern for Sam's well-being. It might be a path to start down.
Greg took a steadying breathe "Jess, I can see that Sam is important to you."
"Yeah, he's mine, he wants to be with me, so back off and let us leave" Jess responded.
"Good. I'm glad he is important to you. I can see Sam has been injured. He is bleeding. Sam needs medical attention. Can we get him the attention he needs to stay safe?" Greg asked.
Jess looked at Sam and saw the blood running down his chest. How did that happen she thought? She looked at his face. Sam put on a small smile. He wasn't feeling it but it seemed the right thing to do.
"Yeah okay. But they have to come in here to do it" the redhead replied.
"Let me check with my boss and see if we can do that?" Greg said to stall for time. He knew he could not send and EMT into that room. He stepped out of the room to consider his options.
"Lou is EMS here?" Greg inquired.
"Yes" Lou replied.
"Get a headset for one of them. I have an idea" Greg instructed.
Ed's Home – Day 5 – Outside – 1:00 pm
Lou grabbed a headset and ran to the EMS truck. He spoke to the first EMT he saw "We need one of you to put a headset on. The Sarge needs to speak with you."
Just as the EMT was reaching for the headset the second EMT looked from behind the open door. "Lou?" Jim said loudly.
It startled Lou and he cringed when he saw who it was. Ah man, not Patch he thought.
In the past year they had been lucky enough that Sam never needed to be checked out when Jim was on duty. It was always too painful for Jim. Lou still had that damned image locked in his brain of Patch collapsing in the waiting room in Blaze's arms completely covered in Sam's blood.
Jim grabbed the headset from his partner and put it on "Greg, this is Jim. How can I help?"
Greg's heart skipped at Jim's voice. But he forged ahead. His plan changing slightly after hearing Patch's voice. "Jim, I need you to grab a med kit and come in the house. We have a situation here that requires minor attention" Greg tried to minimize it.
"On my way" Jim responded as he grabbed the kit and headed into the house.
Ed's Home – Day 5 – Hallway – 1:00 pm
Greg was now rubbing his head constantly and pacing a bit because he was out of sight of the subject.
Think Greg, think.
I need to end this situation. I want all to come out unharmed. I just don't see a path forward. His mind was running a mile a minute trying to assess different way to achieve the outcome he wanted.
"Spike, we need another headset. I've got an idea. I'm going to try to get Ed tagged into us."
Spike nodded and raced to grab another headset.
Jim approached as Spike sped passed him. He noticed Wordy was also with Greg. That left Jules, Ed and Sam unaccounted for. Perhaps they were outside or in sniper perches. Greg looked at him. The worry in his eyes was deep. Something was up. He began to get nervous. EMS was not normally allowed to come into an active scene.
"Jim, good to see you. We need some help. I can't allow you to enter the room. But I need you to talk Ed through assessment and treatment of what we believe is a minor injury to a hostage."
Jim nodded.
"I wouldn't normally allow EMS in here but the situation may call for immediate intervention if it does not go as I hope. There are two hostages, one with a knife to his throat and one with a gun pointed at him" Greg informed Jim.
"And the minor injury is?" Jim asked.
"The knife has been cutting into the hostage's neck. There is a slow but constant trickle of blood. I truly believe it is minor but I'm trying to use this to my advantage for negotiations" Greg answered.
Jim nodded again.
Ed's Home – Day 5 – Sam's Room – 1:05 pm
"Jess, I'm coming back in" Greg called into the room as he moved slowly back into view. "We cannot allow an EMT to come into the room. But if you allow it, I have a headset here that I can give to Ed and he can talk to the EMT so he can treat …"
Damn up until now Greg shielded Jim from the fact Sam was the hostage. He selected the last word carefully "him. Would that be okay? He does need help."
Ed and Sam picked up on the change in Greg. He wasn't using Sam's name. What's up they both wondered?
Jess looked at the blood that continued to flow. Her beautiful Sammy was hurt. She didn't want to let the ugly guy touch him but he needed help. "Okay. But I shoot him if he hurts Sammy" she responded.
Jim's heart dropped. He hoped that the Sammy referred to was not Sam but something told him it was. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Spike and Wordy's faces.
He looked around the hall. Jim focused on the pictures on the wall. Damn, this is Ed's home he realized as he stared at a picture of Team One on the wall next to one of Ed and Sophie, next to one of Clark with his cello. What the hell happened?
"Okay so Ed is going to move toward me now to get the medical supplies. Is that okay?" Greg asked.
She nodded but kept the gun on Ed and the knife at Sammy's throat.
Ed slowly edged toward Greg not wanting to startle Jess in anyway. The gun followed him. He put the headset on and then grabbed the supplies and was on his way back to Sam.
"Okay so now Ed is going to help Sam" Greg said calmly.
Ed was close to Sam now.
Greg said calmly "I need you to lower the knife from his neck so Ed can help."
Jess did not move the knife an inch but the gun now pointed at the floor.
Ed opened the bag and withdrew a small pressure bandage. Sam looked to Ed they both read the situation. Silently they communicated.
Ed's eyes asked can you?
Sam's eyes answered yes.
Sam's eyes asked can you?
Ed's eyes answered yes.
Ed's eyes stated high risk.
Sam's eyes stated not unacceptable risk.
They were about to reap the benefits of discussing and debating tactics. The last four afternoons where they had spent several hours discussing old calls and tactics and challenging each other to come up with the best options. Those conversations had attuned them to each other's thought processes. Everyone was getting out of this situation alive.
"Buddy, I'm gonna wipe this blood off you in three" Ed said.
The team tensed. Sam and Ed were up to something.
No additional words were spoken. Three seconds later they each made their move. Sam grabbed the hand with the knife and twisted at the same time Ed grabbed the one with the gun and twisted. In less than a second Jess was disarmed. In another second Ed had her pinned to the floor on her stomach.
Spike and Wordy rushed in to help Ed restrain and cuff her. Jess was screaming at the top of her lungs for her Sammy.
Sam lay back on the bed holding his hand over his neck stemming the quick flow of blood. The knife had been too firmly pressed, too close. He hadn't been quite fast enough to avoid being cut.
Ed noticed Sam and the blood quickly seeping through his fingers. Crap! He grabbed the pressure bandage and sat next to Sam.
Sam moved his hand and let Ed apply strong pressure. Laughing because he could see it was bloody but not serious Ed said "God damn it Sam. You better not die on me or I'll kill you. I promise."
The team was stunned when both Sam and Ed roared with laughter. Clearly it was an inside joke.
