Chapter 34

The gentle knock on the door brought Ben back to the present. He realised where he was and looked over at the man standing in the doorway of the intensive care room and smiled then said. "Come in Ricardo it's good to see you. How are you?"

Ricardo came in silently checking him over and sat on the chair beside the bed and gave a slight smile as he replied. "I think I should been asking you that question. … But I'm fine and sorry I've not been before but Tyus was keeping visitors down to family."

Ben gave a slight smile and commented. "You should have told him you're family." His voice changed to serious with gratitude as he continued. "Thanks for being there for us I owe you."

Ricardo shook his head and the anger and guilt that lay beneath the surface erupted forcefully. "No! We messed up. … I should have double checked everything was all right with the transfers and got there and shot him earlier…."

"Hey!" Ben interrupted he could not shout because it would send the machine racing and then the nurse would coming running and knock him out, but there was enough force in his word to stop Ricardo from carrying on and look at him.

Ben kept eye contact and measured his words carefully to make sure pain and tiredness stayed out, he'd managed it with Meg he was sure he could do it now with Ricardo and said. "Let's get this straight. … It was not your job to make sure the prisoners were transported safely. … They messed up and paid the price. … You knew there was only one thing on Derek's mind and you stopped that! … He had his finger on the trigger; it was embedded in his brain to pull it no matter what happened. … If, you had shot him earlier there would have been four deaths instead of two." He stopped for a moment.

Ricardo was unconvinced and was going to speak but Ben put a hand up and Ricardo kept silent recognising that steel glint in Ben's eyes 'the Evans stubbornness' Meg called it … yeah he knew all about that and let him carry on.

Ben gave a brief nod and reasoned. "Yes, you would have killed Derek, but his bullet would have gone through me into Meg and the baby. … Certainly the baby would have died and if Meg survived she would have been left to mourn both our deaths. … He wanted to see my pain; he knew how precious she is to me … in a mad way he loved her and wanted to make sure no one had her if he could not.

Ricardo, I could not live without her or the baby she carries. I was willing to die to make sure they were not hurt. … Not your choice. Not your fault. … My choice, especially as I had a flash connection seconds before I moved … I hoped I was quick enough to save and avoid injury to both of us, but I knew the risk and accepted the risk. In those seconds he thought I was giving myself … my life to him at his command. In fact I was giving my life for Meg and our baby." He gave slight smile as he continued. "So brother dear! Stop feeling guilty … you killed him and also saved me by putting pressure on both wounds so I could breathe and have a chance… I could feel that and it helped me."

Ben had to stop his throat was dry, he'd not spoken that much in a whiled and the memories were still a little too close. To cover he carefully reached for a drink and sipped it keeping an eye on his friend.

Ricardo gave a laugh of acceptance and smiled at the nickname of brother used with 'that' tone. Everyone had been trying to convince him there was nothing else he could have done, but to him there were just words hearing it from Ben somehow made it feel real and a weight lifted off his shoulders.

Ben knew the truth had worked and carried on before Ricardo could say anything. "You're looking smart so what's the story and bring me up to date. Everyone's been walking on eggshells around me and making me sleep most of the time. It's been two days since the shooting so I think I can take the fact Derek killed or tried to kill everyone in sight. I know the Estrada's survived … I hope the family are being taken care of."

Feeling more relaxed Ricardo put the bag of grapes he had been carrying on the bed so he and Ben could share them as they talked. He knew from Ben's tone he needed to hear the truth and guessed he had been keeping his questions away from Meg to spare her the hurt and knew Tyus had been keeping him asleep most of the time so he would be strong enough to recover from everything.

He gave Ben a slight smile and said. "Okay, but promise me not to get too excited or Tyus will come running, and a cross Tyus is not someone I want to face…."

Ben nodded and sighed knowingly. "Not a pretty sight and too damn quick with a needle or knock out drug." He took a grape then asked knowing it would give Ricardo something to start from. "Those lights were being repaired when I arrived home earlier, is the man all right?"

Ricardo thought for a moment then smiled "Ah yes the electrician he saw you come home knew you were in the area and was taken in by Derek's impression of you a little later on. You can't be expected to keep track of everyone walking around while you are running up and down the poles dealing with wires. He was only taken in for a moment but that was all it needed. He was knocked out, bound, blindfolded and gagged Spencer and the others freed him while we were dealing with you after the shooting. He's pretty shook up as he thought the bullets were for him. His firm is giving him time off and will send someone out with him for as long as he wants."

He paused and covered it by taking a grape, he knew this was what Ben wanted but it would still be painful finished his grape and continued. "The driver and guard were seriously injured and not likely to go back to their old jobs. AJ's looking into the possibility of helping them with rehab he guessed you would want something worked out."

Ben nodded letting him carry on. "The Estrada children are staying with relatives, parents should be out of hospital in a couple of days but they will need care for a while, luckily the children are old enough to help. She sends her regards and apologies for not seeing it coming … I told her it was not her fault no-one could have guessed what he had planned."

Ricardo took another grape and pushed the bag towards Ben who took one, while also giving him a nod of understanding and reassurance … no one could have seen that one coming, Ricardo finished the grape and commented casually. "Grapes are good must get some more. Your brother's plan was very good; hate to think what you two might have been like together…. Sorry Ben. " He could have kicked himself as soon as it was out, they'd been avoiding the death of the twin and now it happened and there would be no reconciliation ever.

Ben smiled at the thought of him and Derek together and saw Ricardo's pain and said, his voice could not hide his sadness but also told the truth. "Don't be … I lost him along time ago; perhaps now I can move on … think of the good times."

Ricardo nodded pushing the grapes over to Ben, if he was not careful he would eat the lot as Gabi had teased him earlier and admitting that would not be a good thing. "Right the bare facts as found out later. Inside the lining of a case Derek had in jail were a set of master keys to the hand and leg cuffs. They are a standard issue but these keys had a fine but strong handles and were embedded in plasters so no one could detect them when they were stuck to their arms. Of course we did not think to strip search before and after each court appearance or going to the new jail. As far as everyone knew they were in a 'safe' environment. As the two keys in one plaster or two plasters on one person would have raised questions Derek must have passed one key to Tess when they had their husband and wife visit. I think the Judge is going to ban those types of visits in future and x-ray everything brought in. … I've never seen the three wise monkeys so pissed off before, especially as their orders to the Jail had been disobeyed."

He smiled at Ben's puzzled expression and explained. "That's what everyone calls them, the three Judges, hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil, personally I can never work out which one is which perhaps they change positions for each case. It should be hear all evil considering what they do, someone presented them with the paper weights of the three monkeys and it seems to have stuck.

Anyway Tess and Derek put the plasters on their arms most likely on the last day of the trial. We can tell from the medical records Tess and Derek reported injuries at different times, most likely to make sure the medical officer would not make a connection. That worked. Tess made little of hers and just got a plaster put on and no doubt changed it later, the officers dealing with knew about the plaster and thought nothing of it.

Derek made a bit of a fuss said he had knocked himself on a shelf in the cell and showed the guard the sharp edge, which was smoothed off. An officer quickly checked other cells nothing was found. Obviously he changed the plaster when necessary; they were the standard colour of plasters so it didn't stand out. Of course as he'd been quiet all the way through the trial they believed he had really changed and did not think anything of it … well you wouldn't especially as the Doctors dealing with him were pleased with him. Then there were the other circumstances at the Jail, which no one thought could have been part of the scheme, but with hindsight we know better."

He paused and pinched another couple of grapes giving Ben a chance to take things in and then carried on. "Okay … two days before the end of the trial the new van would not start so it went to the garage to be checked over, so they used the old one. We don't know if it was part of the plan or just bad luck and made their job easier but it must have been when the man got his mucky paws on it. He knew about engines and put a domino fault in it.

At Ben's puzzled look explained. "You know one small fault sets off another and so on and nothing that shouted sabotage or dying engine of course. So on the last day by the time it came back from the Court House the damage was done and the final start up to take them to their jails finished the engine off. They stripped the engine down and found a few new pieces were needed and delivery would not be till the next day so they decided to use the old van rather than wait the extra night.

Of course there was not a lot of difference in the two vans, mainly radio contact was better and the walls stronger … oh yeah it would have been faster. Anyway our officers were due to escort it while in our area on the understanding a patrol from the jail was going to escort it the rest of the way. They duly escorted it and received a radio message from base that the patrol was on its way and would pick it up at the next junction so they could turn back. Unknown to them the other team had been called back to the jail because of a siege and the governor and or the security chief had decided that the van could travel by itself. But did not inform the radio room who were working on the original plan. Of course if our lads had known they would have carried on through and possibly stopped the escape or become extra victims."

Ricardo paused for a moment and gave a fleeting smile as he carried on. "I believe all the Judges went to the Jails to investigate what went wrong so I guess a few people will be quaking in their shoes." then sighed "Apparently it was a small siege and as you know you usually wait sieges out. I don't think even Derek could have foreseen that bit of luck. … Back to the van, hell knows how they knew when to do it, but Tess played a dying swan act, Derek brought it to their attention and the driver slowed the van down so the guard could see to Tess. Radio contact is usually kept during transit unfortunately it was just static; we now know it was jammed so the driver could not tell base or the supposed escort he was stopping.

Because of their injuries the next bit is confused but we do know they were not in on the escape. There's a metal grill which separates the driver from the prisoners, Tess was sat on the opposite side of the van to Derek; Jake was at the rear of the van on Derek's side. The guard went over to see to Tess, not realising she was free Derek could have been free as well All the guard remembers is starting to check Tess, a blow in the back then he was shot we think Tess shot him as it was front to back wound. As soon as the shot was fired the driver stopped the van and got his gun out and went to his partner's aid. Derek attacked him and got his gun and shot him. The Driver vaguely remembers banging on the window as he lost consciousness so Derek must have got the keys to the back of the van and passed them to the mechanic through the driver's window.

We do know that Tess and Derek had been watching each other like hawks since the beginning of the journey. Whether they fell out or it was his original plan I've no idea but Tess was shot in the van. She had a gun in her hand and so did the driver, but of course he did not know it, because Derek placed it there when it was all over. He also locked the doors to the back van and threw the keys next to the driver's body so everyone would assume he had dropped them … Oh yes the driver's door was unlocked ... Jake had no chance whatever promises they'd told him, he was still in chains was shot once and died instantly.

Ricardo gave a long sigh and said quietly. "I suppose you could say this was the clever part, the mechanic/helper had dark hair, was nearly six foot and clean-shaven. Somehow Derek got this man to wear prison clothes and give him a set of ordinary clothes, to me that would have shouted danger, whatever the man felt he ended up dead, with handcuffs and ankle chains to make the point he was a prisoner giving them the right number in the van.

So, Tess was the one breaking out and everyone was killed in the fallout end of story. Derek ended up without any serious injuries, had clean clothes and a vehicle. We tested the gun the driver had and Derek's prints were on and it was used to do the killing. Tess's gun was used to shoot the guard. So my guess is she was killed straight after the driver was shot."

Ricardo paused to let Ben take it all in then carried on when Ben nodded he was all right. "We are not sure on timing but the shooting would not have taken long and the road was quiet. But we reckon about three quarters of an hour later two local police officers in a patrol car passed by and found the van, dead prisoners along with the critically injured driver and guard. No one was thought to be missing because they found the chart saying three prisoners were being transported. There were no photos of the prisoners and as the prisoners were dead and weren't a threat they concentrated on helping the unconscious Officers.

We got a name of the helper John Smith." He smiled at Ben's expression and agreed. "Yes I know too many of them and he has no record either. Derek used Smith's car, which turned out to be stolen but had not been reported in, to get away from the scene and then later did a driver in trouble act when he wanted to change it. Unfortunately Derek's request for help was answered and the Good Samaritan found himself in the trunk of his own car on a mystery tour. … Umm thought that sounded too familiar … the other car was tucked behind a hedge found by farmer trying to get his tractor out of the field to go home, his phone was dead so he had walk and found some very helpful police officers. Though he got a bit cross when told it was a crime scene, when they found some prison overalls on the back seat so couldn't have it."

Ricardo stopped for a moment and got himself a drink, Ben had one himself and tried to relax to stop the monitor from bleeping too much half expecting Tyus to come in but nothing happened so Ricardo finished his drink and carried on. "Anyway Derek used the car to go to the Estrada's place, as you know she tries to keep her address private but nothing gets past him, their neighbours had loud music so it masked any noise. Mr Estrada thought it was you and let him in, Derek informed them differently and her husband tried to protect her by staying in front of her, he shot them as he said with one shot. They were both out cold so Derek must have thought they were dead, even so he pulled the plug on the phone. They were close to death when they were found, shock and loss of blood rather than hitting anything really vital if you see what I mean. Smith must have given Derek the gun it was powerful and fairly quiet.

Derek moved out unnoticed and of course set up the diversion by ringing 911 saying a gunshot or shots had been heard in the other street away from the Estrada's house and a man had been seen running away from the area. A little while later we had another call asking if anyone had reported a gunshot, the woman had been on her way home thought she heard a shot but was not sure so when she arrived home she rang and gave the right area.

Derek's voice was disguised and the call not long enough to get co ordinates, the number was traced to Smith's mobile phone. Jude rightly flooded the area with Officers to find the victim and the gunman we also had paramedic on standby and they saved the Estrada's. In fact by doing that South Bay had two operating theatres on standby. I was called in to man the station and heard what was going on, feeling paranoid got an officer to check the Estrada's address when we found out what was going on they checked the house. They found them and checked all the cars in the road for out of town number plates to see how he got there. An Officer heard a knocking noise and found the driver in the trunk of the car, and he was gagged and tied up so he could hardly move. As soon as Tyus heard Derek was in the area he cleared the other theatre and had staff on close call and warned Christopher he might be needed.

He paused again to give Ben time and then said. "Let's go back a bit in time and to the prison van. As far as Officers were concerned they had an open and shut case three bodies one obviously escaping two still in cuffs etc and all the guns were accounted for. It looked as though the driver had foiled an attempted escape they would not know who shot who till later. Everyone's top priority were the injured officers, so they moved them to hospital and an officer rang through to the receiving jail to explain what had happened and they sent out an Officer on a motorbike with photos just to make sure. So you could say that is one point in their favour I suppose the officer arrived and found they had a runner. …"

Ricardo paused realising for the first time where Derek really slipped up. "You know if Derek had shot Smith in the face no one would have known. … Anyway they knew they had a runner and assumed he would run for cover away from the area I mean Canada not the US. Someone thank goodness informed the jail this end, unfortunately they did not think to tell us … just as well I was feeling paranoid and rang them first to get the leaving time could not believe what they said so rang the others to get confirmation and blew up at them then at everyone else here to get things moving and got someone to ring Maria just in case he was going after Benjy first or only.

By then of course we had the added evidence of the shot being fired near Dr Estrada's but with Derek's clever misdirection meant everyone was the wrong end of town. Anyway I grabbed Spence and the car drove like hell to the beach feeling cross frustrated and powerless. I knew … we both knew what he was going to do and everything seemed to be falling right for him. Somehow he even managed to find and pinch a sign about explosive material, which diverted people from the area around you hence the quietness and our drive on the sands. Luckily the sign was from a site that had just been made safe, the man realised it had gone after he cleared up checked kids had not moved it. He then rang the station, which in turn meant we could get the ambulance to you easier."

"Hey we both know how that bit worked out." Ben said gently not wanting to relive the rest.

Ricardo nodded and took some more grapes then covered the rest over nearly half had gone between the pair of them and he knew Ben was still having to be careful what he ate.

He looked at Ben and sighed. "Yees, … mind you, you two didn't help by both having your phones off." They both smiled at that remark and Ricardo carried on with a slight smile. "You know I thought that's why people had the damn things. So they could go off when you don't want them too." He then went on seriously. "You were so close Ben, thought we were going to lose you." The memory thrown up was suddenly almost too much for him so he broke it. "Hey thanks for the gift of the house that was sneaky."

Ben grinned and asked. "So, why the suit?"

Ricardo pretended to look hurt and huffed. "You know full well…"

Ben remained quiet so he carried on. "Okay I will spell it out for you." and laughed as he spoke. "Gabi and I have been talking" then took a breath and sighed. "To be honest this and starting a family has made me realize I want to go home in the evening at a set time, I know nothing can be a hundred percent safe but some things safer than others. I went to see AJ this morning at his request. I guess Jude must have passed on my feelings or mutterings anyway he asked me if I would run their security department which would include your businesses as well.

I was not sure about a desk job but then he told me it would be shared with a job at the Station teaching other Officers uniform and plain clothed about detecting to try and make sure no one ruins the scene, intuition etc. Which sounded good as I could still keep in touch with the people I care for and Gabi hopes to go back part time when the baby is born. So I said I would think about it." he sighed again and then admitted. "AJ had to leave the office and I sneaked a look at the file on the desk and saw you had all ready put my name in for it if I ever wanted to retire and it was dated before this escapade."

He gave a smile as he carried on. "I guess I can't really say no because Gabi has set her heart on that house and it is nice and convenient. AJ returned and guessed I had a peak told me it was not a token job so I've said yes he rang the Chief and I start on Monday… Wages are good too."

Ben added keeping a straight face. "You know of course if you don't meet our high standards you'll be out on your ear."

Ricardo smiled at the teased threat and quipped back. "Yes and you will have to face Gabi and Meg."

"You know that's blackmail don't you."

Ricardo nodded and smiled "I've heard about Meg's dream."

"Umm interesting one so I guess we will have to stay friends then."

"Sounds good, Gabi and I will be giving blood soon so they can check our DNA now I must go before Tyus comes I promised him not too long. Glad to see you are looking better."

They both looked at the doorway as if expecting Tyus to materialize he did not.

"I can only improve from the last time you saw me. Give my love to Gabi, I trust Maria's all right." Ben asked.

"Yes she was shocked at the news I know she had feelings for Derek but I think she's glad it's over there's no hold over their future. That sounds cruel but you know what I mean. I don't know if Tyus told you that Antonio is looking after Derek's body and there was a note that he wanted to be cremated and his ashes scattered. So when you are strong enough he will do a private service at the crematorium."

Ricardo noticed the shadow crossed Ben's face and knew in spite of everything Ben was grieving for his brother and said gently. "Everyone knows you are hurting at his death Ben you've lost your brother and a chance of ever having that young brother back again. I'm sorry it had end in his death and grieve with you."

"Thank you." Ben said quietly knowing he really meant it.

Ricardo sensed there was more and added gently, remembering how frightening it was to see the pair of them facing each other. "He was different from you; you have nothing to fear Ben now or in the future. Look, I should go you need your rest and I know Meg will be coming later and I certainly don't want to be in her bad books if she sees you looking tired."

Ben stayed quiet for a moment then said. "Yes your right. Thanks again, perhaps the girls can wangle an appointment at the same time and we can make it a foursome now I'm stronger."

Ricardo got up smiling and shook Ben's hand "Those two can wangle anything once they put their minds to it." And left him.

Ben settled down to think and sleep but before he finally drifted off to sleep he knew there was only one-way to make things right for his family and he had to do it.