A/N: Things are definately heating up. Glad you liked the story so far, we have a long way to go. Trust me. I hope it lives up to your expectations. This chapter was probably the toughest for me to write so far.
I am really looking forward to the chapters to come because these scenes are my favorite and the reason I even started this story.
Enjoy, everybody and please review!
;-)
Tori's ears were still ringing long after the world stopped shaking around her. There was so much dust and dirt in the air, it took what felt like forever to try and open her eyes. She tried to get up but Tori became increasingly aware of a tremendous weight on top of her.
Once her eyes began to really focus, she could make out a fallen bookcase still with a considerable amount of its shelves were still full. It must have weighed hundreds.
"Give me a hand," she could hear her father call out.
Suddenly the bookcase was elevated slightly off of her, just enough to slip out from underneath it.
David Vega helped his daughter to her feet. She could vaguely hear him thanking two burly cops named Carlos and Rick for helping him.
"Are you alright?" Tori asked.
"Yeah," he said. He shook his head that she was more concerned about him. "What about you?"
"I'm fi-" Tori hacked and coughed. That little bit of talking must have loosened up some debris in her lungs. "I'm fine, dad. Did you see…"
"No, but obviously I felt it. I was about two floors above you. That's almost the only section of the building still standing."
"What?" Tori asked dumbfounded.
"Just look," he morbidly ushered her away from the room. Or what was left of it.
The entire precinct was almost in ruins. Daylight illuminated the first three floors. Big sections were missing but otherwise the fourth and fifth floors were relatively intact. They probably won't be standing for very long.
Bodies were strewn about on the floor. Some were writhing in pain. Others weren't moving at all.
Tori covered her mouth in horror. She had never seen such a sight. Acts of violence were not uncommon for the Latina police officer in one of the most densely populated cities in the world. But nothing compared to the savagery she saw here. Never had she witnessed mass murder.
"Did you see anything?" David Vega asked.
"Yeah," Tori coughed lightly. "There was a van. White. But, no driver."
The captain nodded. "I've seen individual officers targeted before but nothing like this. Who could have done this?"
Tori was listening but mostly her focus was aimed at the path of destruction. She shuddered at the thought of how the room she was in prior to seeing the van right before the explosion was completely destroyed.
"Oh my God," Tori whispered. "It was the evidence room." She pointed, "Look!"
David Vega saw what Tori was talking about. The explosion was not a random act of violence. They made sure their van crashed into the precinct at the right spot.
"Fincher," he gritted. He's the only man crazy enough to execute something like this. Nobody in this town could afford to have the kind of heat brought on by this come at them.
Tori scratched her head. "Makes sense. He was here hours ago. Probably remembered the layout of the station."
"But I don't get it. How did he know about the evidence room."
"I don't know," Tori shrugged. "You don't think he's infiltrated..."
"Well, it's clear to me he already had," David Vega retorted, gesturing to the mayhem.
They stopped talking among themselves when the first of the many paramedics started to arrive.
Jade pushed the front door of her back. People stood down the hall, stunned.
"Are you alright?"
"Holy shit!"
"What the fuck happened?"
"What's going on?"
Jade put up her hand, signaling them to all shut up. She brought herself to her feet, clutching the wall. A rapidly-growing headache consumed her. Jade's vision was blurred, unable to make out the firefighters charging down the corridor.
"Ma'am? Ma'am, can you hear me?"
She nodded slightly.
The man then started to administer oxygen to her. After struggling for a few seconds, Jade began to comply and allow the mask to help her breathe. She wasn't aware enough to notice how much smoke was in the air.
Jordan was woken up by the sound of her phone ringing.
"Hello?"
She shot up.
"What the fuck?...How many?...Jesus...Where are you?...I'll be right down there."
Jordan jumped out of bed and scrambled for her clothes.
"What's the matter?" Nathan, her husband, sat up rubbing his eyes.
"There's been an attack on the station. Eleven dead. Thirteen injured. And they still haven't found everybody."
Nathan opened his eyes and brushed back his hair. "Holy shit. Who called you? Vega?"
"Yeah," still pacing around the room trying to get her things. "She's at the hospital with the captain. She says they're fine but its standard procedure."
"Right," he nodded. "Well, look" he got up and found a shirt. "You're not going anywhere without something for breakfast."
Jordan checked her phone's time. "Babe, I can't..."
"Don't argue with me on that," he smiled. "You need your energy."
"Okay," Jordan smiled back. "Um, babe, have you seen my pants?"
He marched out of the bedroom as he yelled back, "Nope. We really didn't care then, remember?"
Jordan smiled, thinking back to when they jumped each other the moment she came home after that long day. And she was prepared for this one to be even longer.
"Tori," Jordon waved as she made her way off the elevator and charged down the hospital corridor.
"Hey," she responded, tired.
"Where's everybody else?"
Tori shrugged, "Some are in intensive care. A were near the blast and got badly burned. Much of the others were hurt by flying and falling debris."
Jordan shook her head, "This is insane. Do we know who did this?"
"It has to be Fincher."
"What makes you so sure?" Jordan asked.
"We've had threats before and even some attacks like outside an apartment building. But nothing like this. It just seemed like too much of a coincidence that this happened hours after Fincher got sprung. He's got the means to do it."
Jordan sighed. "Well, if that's the idea we may have to consider witness protection. I'll bet you that he was banking on Jade still being at the station."
Captain Vega appeared behind Jordan. "Tori. Jade's downstairs."
Tori's eyes widened. "What?"
Jordan squinted at the strange circumstance. "How'd she know you were here. I guess the bombing was news but..."
David held up his hand. "That's not what I mean." He gulped. "She was targeted too."
She almost knocked over her partner, her eyes going tunnelvision. Tori remembered that below them was the morgue.
"Is..." Tori fought back tears. Jordan couldn't help but notice. "Is she...okay?"
He nodded.
"Where?"
Jade laid back on a bed behind a curtain. It was one of those very compact spaces where doctors can treat the most people from the ER as quick as possible. She was one of dozens in this series of curtained-off areas.
She had minor cuts and bruising from the intensity of the blast. A nurse bandaged her up and Jade had been waiting alone for an hour.
Her face softened when she caught sight of Tori.
"Jade," she shouted, running to her side. "Oh no," surveying her bandages. "You okay?"
"It's alright, Vega" she smiled. "It actually doesn't hurt as much as it looks. I'm just tired of staring at this wall." She then gazed up at the ceiling. "Must have counted the tiles thirty times."
Tori chuckled.
"I heard about the bombing on the way in," Jade tilted her head. "How are you holding up?"
"I'll live," Tori shrugged.
"Jade," Tori's father stepped into the room. "We need to talk."
"About what?" the black-haired girl sat up.
"We believe there was an attempt on your life," Tori explained.
"No. Fucking. Shit."
The two Vegas exchanged glances.
"Jade," the police captain continued. "You need to go into hiding. Fincher may have posted bail but that doesn't mean he won't go to trial."
She looked at Tori.
"Jade," Tori leaned in. "You are all that's left to put this guy away. He made sure he fucked up all of our evidence."
Despite being grown up, David Vega still winced at his youngest daughter using such language.
"I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" Jade raised an eyebrow.
David shrugged. "Not if you want to live. But...we may have the odds in our favor."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, as far as he's concerned, you're dead. If we keep this quiet, we might be able to keep them from trying again."
Jade held up her hand to speak. "Let's go back to the whole hiding thing. How long?"
"Days...weeks..." Tori trailed off.
"Are you kidding me?" Jade asked.
"And you're going to need an escort, obviously" David added.
"Okay," Jade crossed her arms. "Who you gonna get?"
Tori cleared her throat, trying to not make eye contact with Jade.
Jade massaged her temples, sighing. "Well this day just got better."