Chapter 22: Falling
"Hey Street!"
"Hey Nora, you good?"
"Yes! Hicks just asked me to join your team today. Told me a paramedic in addition would not be a bad thing."
"See you then!" Nora continued to walk through the yard while Street entered the building. His shift started in 20 minutes and he still needed to change. Hondo hated his team being late. He knew too well about this.
He walked in the locker room, Chris was already in SWAT uniform, talking with Deac and Luca. As if nothing had happened in the car. Jim let out a sigh. "Hey, everything is ok? How did things go with Chris yesterday?" Tan popped behind him, speaking soft.
"Hey, bro. Everything was OK, she slept like a baby and I finally slept in her coach. Couldn't find an affordable Uber to get back home." Sometimes it was better to keep some things quiet.
"She seems fine this morning."
"Seems too. But you know her. She's good at hiding the way she feels deep down."
"You tried to talk to her?"
"A little but as always she shut her down. Hope she listened to my words... I mean our words… I told her we were all worried about her…"
Tan tapped Street's shoulder before they left the locker room. They had to hurry to join the team in the control room. Hicks's briefing was about to start.
"Thanks all for joining so early." He looked at Rhokker's team who was there three hours early. "Diego's arrest is a big win for all of us…"
A general "yeah" came from the room. "Yeah, you can applause yourself. Because it's huge." He let them some minutes to enjoy the moment. They needed that. "But it's not over! " He continued with his big voice, which made everyone focus on the case again. "Karlsson is still in the nature and we need to catch this man. Because he's running one of the biggest gun traffic on the West Coast, because he's a danger for the whole area but also because he targeted one of our own and almost killed another."
His gaze fixed on Chris and Jim. Each one at a corner of the room. Chris gave him a faint smile. Street smiled at him. Even if he was not with Molly anymore, Hicks still respected him as a SWAT officer and it was a lot. The fact that Molly dated a lawyer and was three-month pregnant was surely to be thankful for but he preferred not to think this way.
He stopped wandering in his mind and focused again on Hicks's speech. "Any question?"
Some hands raised to wonder if they had any plan for this afternoon's operation. "We will tell you as soon as the county will tell us. Lynch is with them at this very moment and should have news in the next hours. Waiting for her return, go prepare and read some files, talk with your team. This afternoon, we break Karlsson's network and take down his main hub for the arm trafficking. Let's go!"
[…]
The morning went quick. Hondo and 20-David Squad talked about the tactics to use to get into the warehouse while 50-David Squad focused on the outside. 40 and 60 – David Squads took care of the gun preparation. Before noon, Lynch was back and ready to announce the plan to the different David Squads.
"I hope the morning had been productive for all of you! I've spent the whole morning with the county administrators, LAPD supervisors and LA mayor. And we've discussed a lot, harder sometimes but anyway... We have come to a concession. Not easy but we did. From now on, SWAT will be on charge of the case but it will have to share all the information with the county sheriffs. Mayor orders!"
She could hear the discontentment fulfilling the room. "Everyone, calm down! I'm not happy either but it's the best I could get. Or the FBI would have kept the whole case for themselves. And I couldn't accept this. Not after all we have done. I told you at the beginning, it was all about concession."
"Better than nothing." It was Hondo's voice coming from the back of the control room. "Now focus on the mission from this afternoon. County sheriffs will know the information in good times. Right?"
He looked strongly at Lynch who nodded at him. "Of course! And as we're SWAT, they won't be mad at us if they get the information afterwards… We're the kind of people who needs to act urgently." She marked a pause. "Now go and get ready, you're leaving in two hours."
The leaders of the teams remained in the control room to adjust their technics of approach. Then they will tell everything to their respective teams. As Hondo came back to the locker room, the whole team was ready to roll. Including Nora who had come and joined the team for the day. He exposed them the situation, explained to them that 20-David was the one entering the warehouse by the front door. 50-David will enter by the back one while 40-David will look over the place from the roof and 60-David will cover the area from the ground.
"Glad you accepted the invitation!" He told Nora.
"No one refuses such an invitation, Hondo!" He liked her, she was tough and witty. Perfect mix for his team. He turned to the whole team. "Ready to roll?"
"Atta boy!" They all yelled before closing their lockers and going to Black Betty. On the road, no one talked, focused on their mission. Tan and Street shared a look. They were still worried about Chris running out of sleep hours. They exchanged a concerned look. They will keep a look at her today and will advise what to say after the warehouse will be broken up.
They got up from Black Betty and placed as Hondo ordered them to. Tan was with Luca, Chris with Street, Hondo with Deac. Hondo confirmed to the other David Squads they were in place. Rhokker did the same as his team was in place. 40 and 60 David Squads confirmed their position. Only Hicks and Lynch's go from the HQ was missing.
After five long minutes, Hicks ordered them to move into action. Deac and Hondo went first, then Chris and Jim. Tan and Luca brought up the rear. And soon the whole team was inside the warehouse. Chris climbed on a storage shelf to have a view over the whole place. Street imitated her to look after the other side of the room. Tan and Luca united behind Hondo and Deac to form a new duo.
At the same time, Rhokker's team deployed in the warehouse from the back door. "50-David to 20-David, we're in place. Copy?"
"Copy that, time to put some action here".
In less than a second, the two teams invaded the place. "SWAT, put your hands above your heads. No one moves. I said put your hands above your heads."
The people in the warehouse stopped moving and knelt on the floor. "We don't want you any harm. We're after the people you work for. Can you tell us where they're hiding?"
One of the men knelt on the floor raised his hand and showed a door behind a storage shelf. Rhokker nodded and went to see there with his team. "24 and 26 David, do you see something from up here?
"Negative, 20-David." They both answered. "Only you, our team and the workers." Chris added.
"Get down and join us. I don't want these men to escape from us and warn Karlsson."
"On our way." Street answered before climbing down the shelf. "Any help, Chris?"
"Not a kid. Can do it by myself. " As they were both on the ground, they joined Hondo, Tan, Luca and Deac. "Form the teams and inspect this warehouse from the roof to the last, tiny corner. We ARE catching these guys, today."
They spread through the place, looking every nook and crannies. As Street looked behind boxes, he was knocked over the ground and felt violently. Chris turned her head and ran to him.
"Are you Ok?" She sounded so worried.
"Yeah yeah, don't worry about me and catch this guy. I'm just after you." She nodded and started running after the fugitive. He stood on his feet, picked his gun and started running too. He caught her as she was almost at the level of the runaway. "SWAT, stop. I tell you to stop!" She yelled at him.
He didn't stop. Or freeze. But just turned and grinned at her. She ran faster and decided to climb on the little wall to catch him more quickly. Jim continued to run after the man. "Chris, what are you doing you're gonna…"
Before he could end his sentence, she fell hard on the ground. "Chriiiiis?"He turned his head towards her, she was lying on the ground. He sped and jumped over the man to immobilize him on the ground. "You're under arrest for gun trafficking." He told him as he cuffed him. Luca and Tan were just behind him.
"What a jump, man!" Luca congratulated him. But before he could continue, Street threw the cuffed man in their arms and ran to the wall. "Chris? Chris? Are you ok?"
He knelt next to her. She was slowly recovering her mind. "Yeah, yeah… Just a little knocked up but it's ok." She tried to stand up but quickly sat down on the ground as she felt dizzy. She grabbed his wrist not to lose her balance. He grabbed her hand and helped her to sit.
"Stay here, I'm gonna look for Nora! And don't try to fight it or…"
"What's up?" Luca was just behind them.
"Chris fell while running after the man. She's not feeling well. Could you bring Nora here for her? Gonna stay here with her so she's not alone…"
"Of course, man! Will be back in a few minutes."
She waited for Luca to be far away to turn to Street. "You didn't have to do this, I can…"
"Take care of yourself." He cut her off. "Oh yeah I do know this but right now, you need to remain seated and I know you'd be up if I have not remained here. Kind of a stubborn woman…"
She looked at him, with her big chocolate brown eyes. A little disenchanted. "And don't tell me I'm wrong because I know I'm right about this. And also stubborn women are my type so I know them very well… Even if you are the most stubborn I've ever met."
She was about to argue when Nora came by. "So Chris, tell me everything."
Jim stood up and walked away, giving them some privacy. Nora couldn't but notice Street and Chris's hands clutched together and quickly separated when she came closer. She smiled slightly.
"So Chris, tell me everything. What happened?"
"I slipped while trying to climb on this little wall. And my head finished on the ground. Just a little dizzy. Bad luck, I think."
Nora pressed on the ankle she was holding and seemed to make her suffer. "Does it hurt?"
"Not really… I mean a little but it's ok. Can I…"
"No, you stay with me and I take you to the hospital for some exams. Luca told me you were pale. Which is true. And you knocked your head on the ground while slipping. No talk here. You follow me."
Chris complied to Nora's orders. She knew she had no other choice. She could see the whole team looking at her, checking she was alright. She waved at them and showed them the paramedics EMT. The two women got into the car. And soon the car was far away.
"Can't believe we got them! Was looking bad at first. Eh, by the way, where's Chris?"
"In the hospital, she fell and knocked her head on the ground. Nora is with her." Street answered in a hurry.
Hondo noticed his concerns. "Time to go HQ and question those men."
[…]
The way back to the HQ was quiet. Except for Luca who was talking about his last meeting with his brother. "It was awesome. Think we're gonna reconnect and it feels so good."
"So glad for you, bro. And Terry seems to be a good man. A little pain in the ass when it comes to his documentaries but for the rest, he's OK."
"Ah ha ha true, remember when he tried to enter the hotel we were on mission in! I wanted to crush him so bad this day!" Hondo joked.
"You, OK?" Deac asked in a whisper to Street. "You seem to be somewhere else."
"No, I'm ok, just a little tired…"
"And worried about Chris, right?" Street raised his head and gave him a faint smile. "Me too. But she's in good hands with Nora. Let's focus on our debrief and wait for some news from Nora and Chris when they come back here."
He tapped his shoulder as a way to show him he was there for him. He appreciated the gesture, nodded and remained silent till HQ. Lynch and Hicks were waiting for them as they arrived.
"Perfect timing, we take care of these guys with Hondo and Rhokker while we call the county sheriffs?"
"Sounds like a plan. " Lynch answered. "Will briefly talk with each of you after that." She told to all the David Squads before vanishing in the building.
All went in the building just after and dropped their stuff in their lockers. Then they took some moments for themselves. To relax. To empty their heads. Lynch called them one by one leading a short debrief with every one of them. Street was the last one to be called. It was already late. Chris and Nora were not there again. They were surely still waiting in the ER.
"Street, your turn. Sorry for the wait. I had to deal with a political request…" She raised her eyes. He understood she was pissed by whoever had called and his request. "But no matter to talk about it anymore, I listen to you. Tell me everything you reminded of this afternoon." He talked for about ten minutes, marking no stop. He wanted to go home and sleep. He could feel the exhaustion over his shoulders.
"I got all I need. You can go, Street."
"Thanks." He walked towards the door and froze. He didn't know if he should do this but he was afraid, anxious and he needed to let his fears get out for once. He turned back. "Commander Lynch, can I talk to you about something?"
"Yes, of course. I'm listening."