Chapter 26

Dispo Day

/Two Weeks Later/

Jim, Khandi, Sam and the kids were all hanging out in the living room when they heard the front door open. Stacey walked up the stairs and stopped at the entrance to the living room. "Hi," Stacey said.

"Hey," they replied in unison.

"How was the honeymoon?" Khandi asked.

"Incredible! Champagne, candle-lit dinners, walks on the beach. It was so romantic," Stacey answered.

"So, where's Cosmo?" Sam asked.

"Oh, he's at the doctor, he didn't poop the whole time we were there."

"Well, anyway, we're glad you're back," Khandi said.

Just then the front door opened again. "I am a GOD!" Cosmo yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"So, the trip to Greece payed off?" Jim asked him.

"What?" Cosmo asked in reply.

"Ignore Zeus, Jimmy, he's probably still constipated," Khandi said.

"Thanks, Stace. You had to tell them?" Cosmo yelled.

"Of course I did. They asked where you were."

"What? It didn't occur to you to make something up."

"No, this was much more funnier," Stacey replied, smirking at him.

Cosmo carried the bags to their room and then joined everyone in the living room. Little Jimmy ran to him when he saw Cosmo. "Unca Como, Unca Como," Little Jimmy yelled with his arms raised. Cosmo picked him up and gave him a hug.

"I can't believe he's finally saying my name. Well, he's trying at least," Cosmo replied setting Little Jimmy down. He went over and sat next to Stacey on the couch.

"Hey, Khandi, was it weird changing your name to Brass," Stacey asked.

"Not at all. I couldn't wait to be Mrs. Brass," Khandi replied, smiling at Jim. Who smiled back at her.

"Honey, would you want me to take your name?" Stacey asked Cosmo.

"Oh, it's up to you. It's your name, you have to live with it."

"All right, let's see, call me Mrs. Renfro."

"Mrs. Renfro?" Jim replied.

"What? Can't you see I'm in the middle of something? Ooh, I like it." Stacey said.

"I guess it's settled then, huh?" Cosmo asked.

"Oh, yeah definately. Tomorrow I'm gonna change my name and officially be Mrs. Renfro," Stacey replied.

Everyone took time to relax. Cosmo and Stacey were relieved to be back home, although Stacey wasn't too thrilled with Cosmo returning to work tomorrow. But what could she do about it?

/Dispo Day/

The next day came fast. Khandi, Jim, Cosmo, Sam and a few uniformed officers had another long day ahead of them. They had to move a van full of narcotics to Washington. Well to the plane that awaited the van. Over the radio came a voice saying, "CSI evidence disposal motorcade heading into Washington."

Inside the Charger that was behind the van, Jim answered, "Roger that. Proceed North on Calahoo, and keep this channel open, please."

The van and the escort traveled along the road. Jim, and Cosmo were in one escort vehicle, the Charger. Sam was in another just behind the Charger. Behind them, a hearse with a police escorts a motorbike came up. Sam, in his car looked behind and saw the police escort and hearse. Along with that, Jim and Cosmo in the Charger looked in their side-view mirrors and saw the procession. As the procession continued down the road, the officer on the motorbike flashed his sirens.

Over the radio came a voice saying, "Uh… CSI we have a funeral procession making its way to you."

Sam took the radio and answered, "All right, let them pass."

The evidence van and the vehicles pulled over to the side to allow the funeral procession to pass. As they drive by, Sam, Cosmo and Jim notice that they're wearing Kevlar vests, under their uniforms. Cosmo looked at Jim, "Kevlar… at a funeral?"

"It's a trap." Jim answered.

Sam came over the radio, "Everybody… get on alert!"

The hearse came to an intersection and didn't bother stopping which an oncoming station wagon drove by and rammed into the side of the hearse, the ensuing accident blocks the intersection from all sides. The 'officer' on the motorbike and the officer car followed to a stop. The evidence van was caught somewhere in the middle of the incident. The 'officer' from the motorbike, got off and threw it aside and reached for his gun. Jim, Cosmo and Sam jumped out of the cars. The two men that were in the hearse got out and looked around. A females voice screamed out, "Oh, my God!"

The 'officer' from the motorbike took out a smoke bomb and set it off dropping it. He took his gun and fired it at the two-uniformed officer in the police car. The windshield shattered, with bullet holes. The officer on the other side of the cruiser fired back at the 'officer' and hits him.

The back door of the hearse was kicked open and a man carrying a large gun jumped out and started firing at the police cars. The men that were inside the front of the hearse got out of the car firing their own guns. Sam, Cosmo and Jim found their own cover and started firing back; it was like déjà vu all over again.

One of the men from the hearse steps forward and boldly fires at the evidence van. The driver inside was hit. Khandi who was in the evidence van shotgun, grabs the driver as she opened her door and slid out of the van as the other officer was hit. Khandi got up and started to fire her gun as the same woman before screamed again, "Oh, my God! The baby! The baby!"

The baby was crying in the back seat as the woman leaned over and tried to get the baby out of the car seat as the gunfire continued. Jim who was still behind his car firing at the gunmen, finally hit one of them. The other two boldly walked out firing at anything in front of them. Khandi tried to fire, but the security guard who didn't make it all the way out of the van fell over onto Khandi. The two fall onto the ground.

Jim made his way to the station wagon, and the woman screamed, "The baby!"

Jim grabbed the woman, "Get down!" Jim stands up and shoots at the gunman trying to get into the evidence van. But misses, Cosmo who saw what Jim was trying to do shoots at the same gunman, and hits him in the back. The gunman gets up and opens the van door.

"Oh, my God! The baby!" The woman screamed again.

"Lady, stay down!" Jim ordered.

One of the gunmen walked right up to Khandi. Khandi aimed her gun and tried to fire, but she was out of ammo. The gunman glared at Khandi and fired, hitting her square in the chest.

Sam ran to the station wagon to help the woman caught in the cross-fire, "Get down! Get down on the seat!" he shouted.

"He hit my baby!" the woman driver screamed.

Sam opened the back door to get to the baby, but he looked up to see the gunman slip into the driver's seat of the evidence van. Cosmo and Jim both saw too. All three of them raised their guns and fired at the van. With the two gunmen inside, the evidence van sped away. They all fired at the retreating truck, finally one of the bullets hit one of the tires.

As the smoke cleared, Jim saw Khandi lying on the side of the road. Blood apparent on her chest. Jim stuck his gun in his holster as he ran to her, "Khandi! Khandi! Hold on, babe, let me see it."

Khandi shook her head as Jim started to check on her, she gasped, "My chest…"

Jim looked into her eyes, "All right, hold on!"

Jim opened Khandi's shirt and finds that the Kevlar held up. Khandi who was still gasping spoke in a softly pain filled voice, "Jimmy… My chest… my chest…"

"Honey… wait, wait, wait, the Kevlar caught it." Jim said placing one of his hands on her cheek, "The Kevlar caught it." He added as Sam and Cosmo came running, "Just breathe. Breathe easy. Keep breathing for me."

Sam who made it to them before Cosmo yelled, "Rescue! Get us some rescue right now!"

Jim helped Khandi up and waited for a paramedic. "Take it easy, honey. You're going to be okay."

"I know, Jimmy, I have you here with me," Khandi replied and rested her head on Jim's shoulder.

The paramedic arrived and attended to Khandi. He checked her blood pressure while Jim watched. "B.P.'s one-forty over a hundred," the paramedic said, removing the blood pressure cuff. "Chest contusion from the impact of the projectile is what took the wind out of her. If her lungs were collapsed, she'd be blue by now."

"Okay, thank you," Jim said.

"Hollis?" Khandi asked.

"No. Are you okay, sweetheart?" Jim asked her and put his arm around her shoulders.Khandi nodded, "I'm fine, Jimmy, really."

"All right. I'll be right back, honey. Hang in there, okay?"

"I will. Jimmy?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too," Jim replied and kissed her before he walked away. Jim walked up to a uniformed officer, "We shot out the tire. They should be within a one-mile radius. Probably already into a safe car. Let's check the street for tread debris." Jim left the officer and walked over to a body on the road. "Doc...?"

"Hollis got one in the head. You can tell his family he went quick," Doc Robbins told Jim.

"Shouldn't have to tell them at all," Jim replied.

"Ain't that the sad truth," Robbins stated.

Jim was about to leave when he noticed a paramedic walking toward him. "The mother and little boy?" Jim asked him.

"Kid checked out fine. Mother got shot, upper humerus. They're at a clinic. She says to tell you thank you. Wants to bake you a cake," the paramedic replied.

"Really?" Jim asked.

The paramedic smiled at Jim. "I gave her my address," he said and walked away.

"Thanks, man. Thanks for all your help," Jim called after him.

Just then Sam walked up to Jim. "Sam - five hundred dispo's... we've never had a problem."

Sam sighed, "You take the dope out of evidence, re-analyze it to make sure nobody pulled a switcheroo and then cart it across town? We should just burn it at CSI."

"Remind me to have them order the industrial-sized incinerator next time," Jim replied.

"Dispo route's classified. Somebody was in on the secret," Sam said.

"No such thing as a secret in Las Vegas, Sam. Only useful information."

Nick takes pictures of the hearse, while Catherine puts her gloves on. "It's creepy. It's still running," Catherine stated.

"You ought to be there in the middle of the night when we pull one of these things out of the water with the radio still on. Talk about creepy," Nick replied.

Catherine checked the front tires and found a bullet embedded inside. Nick crouched down near the open door and noticed something. "Car's stolen," Nick stated.

"Based on...?"

"Based on the screwdriver in the ignition," Nick interrupted and snapped pictures of it. "Without the key the screwdriver completes the circuit."

Catherine dug the bullet out of the tire and examined it. "Well, stealing cars is their side job. This is a death talon."

Nick stood up to look. "They don't sell those anymore."

"Haven't been sold commercially since '96 or '97. They must have been stockpiling their bullets," Catherine said.

"It's hard core," Nick replied.

Doc Robbins is next to a body of one of the guys dressed as a fake cop. "I'll post this guy first," Robbins said.

"C.O.D. seems pretty clear to me," Jim replied.

"Don't need an autopsy to see that our fake cop is in great physical condition."

"Uh-huh, prison buff," Jim stated.

"I'll print him, get his prints to the lab for AFIS. See if they can get you a release date."

"Okay, thanks Doc."

"Sure thing. By the way, here comes your favorite reporter."

Jim noticed a reporter and his camera crew heading toward him. "Enrique Rayas, in the field. Captain Brass, a drug-related shoot-out in the streets of Las Vegas. Any sense of déja vu once- removed?"

"Your about to make a mistake you don't want to make," Jim warned him.

"Just drawing a parallel here. Officer Bell gave his life in the line of duty six months ago, albeit under much cloudier circumstances."

"Circumstances weren't cloudy. The reporting was," Jim said and motioned a uniformed officer over. "You know what? Get rid of him."

"Back behind the tape," the officer ordered Rayas.

Rayas puts his hands up and backed away from Jim. "Okay, okay, okay."

"Let's go, sir," the officer insisted.

Cosmo walked up to Jim. "Rubber took us to some buildings. Homeless guy saw our truck near the pier."

"Let's check it out," Jim replied.

/Pier/

Armed SWAT officers suited up with guns exited the back of the truck. They ran out and positioned themselves, pointing their guns at something. Jim pulled out his gun and approached the abandoned evidence truck. He carefully pulled the back doors opened and looked inside. "Nobody's home," Jim informed everyone.

Jim and Cosmo stared at the evidence left behind. Just then Khandi walked up to them. "Heroin, weed, meth. Hell, they left the drugs behind," Cosmo said.

"Everything but the cocaine," Jim replied.

"It doesn't make sense. There's millions of dollars worth of drugs here," Khandi stated.

"Well, maybe the flatened tire made them change their plans," Jim said.

"Yeah, they took only what they could carry," Cosmo replied.

"Yes, they did. Right to their buyer. The question is who is the buyer?" Jim asked.

"Hey, Jimmy?" Khandi called to him.

"Yeah?" Jim replied walking over to her. "What have you got, honey?"

Khandi held up a blue uniform. "It looks like they changed clothes," she answered.

"Wait a second. It's a laundry tag from a dry cleaners," Cosmo said joining them.

"Sweat on these clean uniforms, the lab will get their DNA. There's also blood in the cab," Khandi added.

"One of our suspects is wounded," Jim said.

"I'll track it down," Cosmo replied.

"Sounds good, Cosmo," Jim said as Cosmo walked away. Then he turned back to Khandi. "Let's broadcast this. Someone out there must have seen this guy."

"Yeah, but the thing is, will they talk?" Khandi replied.

/CSI - Lab/

Khandi walked into the lab carrying an evidence bag. "Khandi hey. I heard it was the wild west out there again," Sara said.

Khandi sighed. "Yeah. I don't know why we always get caught in the middle of all this bullshit." Khandi placed the evidence bag on the table. "See if you can get any DNA off these."

"Whew. Smells like I will," Sara stated. "I'll start with collars and cuffs. You want to sign here? So everyone says that Hollis would have gotten much worse if it hadn't been for you pulling him out of the truck."

"He died, Sara," Khandi said.

"I know that. But his family can have an open casket, and that means more than you might think. You were brave."

"I wasn't brave, Sara. I just did my job, okay?"

"Okay," Sara nodded. "I'll page you with the results."

"Thanks. I appreciate it," Khandi said and left the room.

/LVPD/

Jim got out of his car and noticed Ortega heading toward him. "Well, look what the cat dragged in. I must have really pissed someone off to have to deal with this asshole again," Jim mumbled to himself.

"SWAT lost a man today," Ortega said.

"Yeah, and Officer Hollis left two small children behind," Jim replied.

"Well, that's a real tragedy. SWAT guys cost more to train. We're talking half a million bucks here."

"You're an asshole, you know that? I can't believe I.A. is placing a dollar value on officer's lives."

"Somebody talked about Dispo day," Ortega replied, ignoring Jim's remark.

"Can't put one past you, Ortega. You should be a cop," Jim stated sarcastically.

"Your wife requested the assignment, didn't she?"

"Yes, she did, and the request was approved. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an investigation to conduct."

"So do I. Starting with CSI."

"Well, talk about a waste of taxpayer's money, Ortega."

"I.A.B.'s not asking permission. I'm going to poly everyone involved."

"You poly them, you better poly me first."

"I would, if I thought you leaked anything. Tell them no nicotine and no caffeine. That'll only hurt them once they're wired up."

"Hey, Ortega. You miss being a real cop?"

"You're just full of them today, aren't you?"

"You have know idea," Jim replied and walked off into the department.

Reporter Enrique Rayas walked up to Sam as he approached the front doors of the department. "You're one of the investigators in the dispo case that resulted in two tragic deaths. You mind if I ask you a few questions for our viewers?"

"Yeah," Sam snapped and walked past Rayas and into the building. He noticed Jim walking down the hall. "Saw your friend out front. Guy thinks he's Tom Brokaw."

"If he's Tom Brokaw, I'm Elliot Ness," Jim replied as he and Sam walked down the hall.

"Yeah, he's bummed. No dope burn. No money," Sam stated.

"What about the dry cleaners?"

"Owners thought it was vandalism. They replaced the glass, cleaned up the mess and they're back in business. I'm gonna have a CSI go over and see if they can recover any prints."

"Wait a second. When was their break-in?"

"Ten days ago."

"About the same time we decided to dispo the dope."

"Ooh, media will be all over that."

"Well, even sharks gotta eat, right?"

/CSI - Breakroom/

Catherine opened the fridge door and pulled out a can of pop. "You can't drink that," Nick reminded her. "Cola has caffeine."

"Oh right, thanks, Nicky," Catherine replied and put the pop back in the fridge.

"Nervous?" Nick asked.

"Well, I figured if I passed the polygraph that got me through training, it'd be smooth sailing. You?"

"Nuh-uh. Stuff like this always makes me feel guilty."

"Why do you feel guilty when you haven't done anything?"

"I'm Catholic. I don't know. I always feel guilty."

Just then Khandi walked in, looking like she hadn't slept in about a year, and joined them. "Don't worry about your religion in the chair, Nicky. The polygraph picks up discomfort, not the truth. Did you recover my weapon?"

"Yeah. Hey, Khandi? You gonna get cleaned up before you go to I.A.B? You look like hell," Catherine replied.

"It's a polygraph test, not a portrait," Khandi said.

"Well, you know, presentation is everything," Catherine stated.

The door opened and Ortega came in the room. "Who's first?" he asked them.

"I've got a lab full of evidence," Catherine replied and left the room.

Ortega turned and looked at Khandi. "I have a mountain of paper work to get through," she said and left the room.

"I guess that means me, Ortega," Nick said getting up from his chair.

TBC…