A sniper taking shots at him from the roof of an adjacent building was a situation JT had more than passing familiarity with. He had dealt with snipers frequently while in the army. Sniper took out two of his buddies on the same day. Searching roofs and the roads became key to his and his squad mates survivals.
He thought he left the world of snipers behind when he finished his service but discovered he was wrong when six months after leaving the academy he and his partner were fired on by a man with a grudge against police.
JT had been fired at a number of times by people who hated the police.
Things like that came with the badge.
He accepted it, worked through it, dealt with the fallout from it, considered it the price he paid to do what he did: catch bad guys.
Then there was Malcolm Bright.
His chaotic, over-the-top, couldn't-keep-his-mouth-shut-if-he-tried ass got him shot at — or nearly blown up — a number of times since the first case they worked almost a year ago.
Never while the guy was handcuffed, though.
And never when his skinny ass stood a good chance at going down for murder.
Something JT believed, without a shadow if doubt, Bright hadn't done.
The guy was many things, and he had a list he could give anyone who wanted to see it, but a murderer wasn't one of 'em.
Malcolm Bright just didn't have it in him to kill.
Guy might have the instinct to kill, he thought as his finger tightened on the trigger of his gun, but he lacks the ability to carry it out.
He didn't need Bright's FBI file to know the guy never fired his gun in his ten years as an agent.
Swanson insinuated as much in a few of the conversations they had while she was helping them with the Junkyard Killer case.
JT considered himself a pretty good judge of character, and while he completely admitted to not trusting Bright in the beginning, he liked to think he had a grasp now on who the profiler was.
The first, and by far most important thing he learned about Captain Danger Magnet was the guy never thought about his own safety or well-being.
Bright always placed others ahead of himself.
Took risks so others didn't have too.
Placed himself in harm's way so others wouldn't be.
That's why it came as no surprise when the shooting started that Bright instantly moved to shield Lite-Bright.
Not that JT faulted him any there.
He'd do the same thing if it was Tally.
Protecting your own was the law of the land.
To do that, however, one needed the use of their hands.
Something Bright didn't have since his were currently behind his back. Can fix that, JT decided as another shot chipped away the asphalt near the precinct steps.
"What're you doing?" Dani hissed as he pulled the keys to the cuffs from his pocket. "You can't unlock Bright's cuffs."
"Guy's gotta right to protect his girl," was all he said.
And for JT it was that simple.
Bright might be suspected of murder.
He hadn't committed it.
More, his skinny ass was still part of their team.
He deserved the benefit of doubt.
More, he had earned it.
JT understood why Dani struggled with believing Bright was innocent. Her trust issues were about as massive as Bright's. A number of people she allowed inside her inner circle let her down. Hurt her in ways she didn't talk about with anyone, even Gil. Working undercover hadn't helped any, either.
Deep down, though, Dani knew Bright hadn't murdered Eddie Smith. She was just doing what the job taught her: following the evidence.
Which all pointed to Bright, unfortunately.
"Sorcha is capable of protecting herself," Dani said as someone screamed. "And Bright."
"Not about who can protect who here."
"What's it about then?"
"Guy's already lost one woman he cared for because of Endicott." Another bullet shattered one of the car windows. "Imagine how he'll be if he loses Mini-Bright."
Who ranked higher on the guy's list.
"It'll likely push him over the edge," she admitted begrudgingly. "Which won't help him or us with proving he didn't kill Eddie."
"Yup."
Dani blew out a heavy breath. "Let him go. For now," she added as more screams pierced the air.
JT twisted around and grabbed hold of Bright's right wrist to unlock the first cuff. Bright sent a panicked look over his shoulder but relaxed when he realized what JT was doing.
"Thank you," he mouthed as JT unlocked the other cuff.
JT nodded towards Bright-Light. "Protect your girl."
Not like he needed to tell Bright that.
The guy sucked at social cues and interactions.
Relationships?
He was a complete and utter disaster.
If the two didn't end up back on the same page after this, well then, he'd handcuff them together until they did.
Bright needed someone who not only understood his quirks and idiosyncrasies, but could put up with them, as well.
Needs someone to keep his skinny ass from bouncing off the walls.
Someone like Lite-Bright, in fact.
Kept telling his scrawny ass he was making the wrong choice.
Not that he had anything against Eve Blanchard. He only met the woman the one time. It was enough, though, for even Tally to have formed the opinion that she wasn't right for Bright.
"She's hiding something," Tally said moments after Eve and Bright left the pool hall. "Not sure what, but she's definitely hiding something."
That something was her being related to who Bright and Gil called the Girl In The Box.
Someone they believed had been murdered twenty years ago by Bright's crazy ass father and his equally nutty partner, John Watkins.
Both of whom were connected to Nicholas Endicott.
A guy with enough money and social connections to do whatever the hell he pleased.
Include frame Bright for murder.
"Where is that damn helicopter?" Gil grumbled as another bullet pinged off the car's roof. "It should've been here by now!"
"I'll get an ETA on it," Dani offered, reaching for her radio. "How's Markinson?"
"Needs to get to the hospital sooner rather than later."
JT translated that bit of Gil code as the young officer was fine.
For now.
Bullets hurt, though.
Anybody who said they didn't was either a masochist or fifty cards short of a full deck.
Most gunshot wounds to the arm resulted in minimal injury. Clean the wound, bandage it up, walk around in a sling for a few days, good to go.
Some, though, depending on where the bullet entered the arm, could cause extensive nerve and tissue damage.
Required more extensive care.
Additional surgery and physical therapy.
Some left behind permanent damage.
They wouldn't know how badly Markinson was injured until a doctor could take a look at his arm and assess the damage.
Hopefully, it was a through-and-through.
Good news if the bullet didn't fragment.
Bad news if it did.
JT went to look through the window but a drop of red on the step leading up to the entrance of the precinct caught his attention. He stared at the nearly perfect splotch, noted the shape it made on the concrete, the viscosity.
It didn't get there by chance.
Wasn't caused by someone waving an injury around.
No, that drop of blood got there one way, and one way only: dripping.
Like from an arm wound similar to the one Markinson had.
Only, Markinson wasn't shot on the steps, he realized, brow furrowing.
He'd been hit standing beside the police cruiser they now took refuge from the sniper.
A quick look revealed other blood drops leading away from the first instead of heading towards the wounded officer.
It's not Markinson's blood, he realized, gut twisting.
"Someone else was the target."
"What?" Dani glanced over at him. "You say something?"
"Look."
Dani followed his finger to the blood trail. Her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed as she stared at the series of drops.
"That makes no sense..." she murmured slowly. "Markinson stumbled towards us after he was shot." She indicated blood near Bright's right foot. "That's his blood there."
"Means someone else was the target," JT said again. "Not us."
"But if the shooter isn't aiming for us... who were they shooting at?" Her brow furrowed. "And why're they shooting at us?"
"Diversionary tactic." Something else JT was more than passingly familiar with from his days in the military. He and his buddies had faced this sort of situation a number of times. Always with one purpose: "They're keeping us distracted so we can't focus on figuring out who the real target is."
"Giving them a chance to get to them."
"Mhm," JT grunted as another shot pinged off the trunk lid. "Two shooters were probably up there. One has gone after whoever they were here to kill while the other..."
"Is keeping us busy."
Another bullet shattered the taillights on the police cruiser. JT's finger tightened on the trigger. It wasn't like the gun was of any use. Even if he could spot the shooter from this distance, he couldn't shoot 'em.
"Who do you think they were after?" Dani glanced over at Gil, Bright, and Light-Bright. "If it's not one of us?"
It was a good question.
One JT fully planned to delve into once they were out of danger. For now, he grunted and rumbled, "No clue," as an ambulance screamed to a stop a few cars from where they crouched. The EMTs didn't leave the cab, though. Not after another shot from the sniper blew out one of the headlamps.
"Where is that damn helicopter!?" Gil snapped.
"Chopper should be here in a few," Dani told him. "They were five minutes out."
As if on cue, a police helicopter swept over the top of the precinct and headed for the buildings across the street. JT spotted the sniper perched in the opening seconds before they took aim. He counted the number of seconds between the lifting of that M24 and the single shot that rang out.
Less than five seconds.
Quick, clean.
"Suspect down." The radio Dani rest on the ground beside her buzzed. "Repeat. Suspect down."
The street became a flurry of activity then. Cops poured out of the precinct as EMS raced over to check on the injured. JT stood and holstered his gun while looking around.
Thankfully, the street not been as busy as usual. With the exception of Markinson, the worst injury he saw was a woman with a cut across her cheek.
"JT," Gil said as he stepped back to let the EMTs check on Markinson. "You and Powell get Batman and Robin inside." He aimed a look at the two in question. "Sit on top of them if you have too."
"You got it, Boss." JT hooked Bright's arm and steered him towards the entrance. "Let's go."
"Gil..." Bright started but Gil shut him down.
"Go, Bright."
Bright went, only after Bright-Light took his hand, though.
A/N: Hello, all! Hope this finds you well!
I just want to send a special thank you to Rookblonkorules and NeoMiniTails for their lovely reviews!