Chapter 6: Rewind

Jordan sat in the padded green chair in the hospital waiting room, biting at the fingernails of her right hand, left leg twitching. Nigel sat on one side, Garret the other. Bug and Lily had wanted to come too, but someone needed to stay at the morgue to help the family of the fallen officer. Detective Santana stood, pacing the length of the room. Having just arrived, she had not been there long enough for the room to sap her strength. In the chair across the room, Jordan recognized an older man as Woody's captain. A few other officers shuffled around the room as well. And save for the occasional quiet murmuring, the room was silent.

Unable to bear sitting any longer, Jordan stood and walked over to the doorway, looking out through the window at the happenings on the surgical ward of Boston University Medical Center. "Why haven't they told us anything? It's been almost three hours."

"That's probably a good thing, Jordan," Garret said. "It means they're working hard and he's got a good chance." Garret didn't know if that was exactly true, but it made sense, and he hoped it would appease Jordan. Calm her a bit.

It didn't quite work. She turned away from the window, arms wrapped around herself. "Well, couldn't they send, I don't know, a liaison or something? Give us an update at least."

Garret gave Nigel a quick glance before going to her side, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Jordan, I know it's not easy, but we've just got to wait."

Unexpectedly, she turned into him, crying into his shoulder. "You didn't see him, Garret. There was so much blood, and he wasn't breathing…"

It took a few more minutes for Jordan to calm down. Garret let her cry, knowing that, if nothing else, it would drain some of her nervous energy. When she was finished, he handed her a tissue from a nearby box and lead her back to a chair, where she sat down heavily. Garret looked away from Jordan. Though he knew the cause – Jordan was clearly in love with Woody – it still unnerved him to see the usually strong Jordan sitting in a chair, hugging her knees to her chest, tears still trailing down her cheeks. His gaze settled on Woody's commanding officer, Captain Ray Thatcher. "What happened out there? I thought the scene was secure."

Thatcher took his cap off with one hand and rubbed the top of his head before replacing his cap. It was easy to see the toll the last couple of weeks had taken on the man. Dark circles ringed his eyes, and his face seemed pale, sallow. "I'm still not sure what the hell happened out there. Reports are still coming in. Lieutenant Mansky is coordinating, and he's been updating me every 20 minutes. From what I've been told, the scene was secure." He shrugged. "Then Hoyt had half a dozen officers go off across the street, and all hell broke loose."

Santana stopped pacing. "He knew where they were, sir."

The Captain, and everyone else in the room, turned to her.

She rubbed the back of her neck, a move reminiscent of Thatcher's actions only moments before. "As far as most of the team was concerned, and every one else there, actually, the scene was secure. Everything was playing out just like the other robberies. The shooting had stopped more than ten minutes earlier. The hostages were coming out, the suspects were long gone. We were trying to take care of the wounded." She chuckled softly. "Which, uh, actually included Hoyt. Idiot got a graze to the arm but refused to get treatment until everyone else got it."

Nigel squeezed Jordan's arm gently. "Sound just like him, eh?" He was rewarded with a tiny smile.

"We already had the evidence team processing the scene. Someone had called in the coroner for, uh, for Officer Johnson. But see, on the way over, Woody, er, Hoyt, had this idea that the perps never really left the scene.

Garret's eyebrow quirked. "I don't follow. The police searched the areas high and low, checked all the banks' cameras."

"Yeah," Nigel chimed. "I mean, the whole point of getting away with a crime is exactly that. To get away."

"Yeah, I know, that's what I said. But Hoyt calls back to the A/V team. See, we were pretty sure that the sniper and the get away driver were one and the same, and he was firing from nearby parking structures. There was one within 200 feet, all with a clear line of sight, of each location. Hoyt's theory was that the perps never left the area, but circled it. He said if he were them, he'd want to see the damage for himself.

"By the time we get there, the shooting has stopped completely. Woody wanted to go over to the parking garage, but I didn't think it would do any good. I mean, if he was right, they wouldn't be there anymore anyway. So we start doing the usual, interviewing the vics, etc."

"I saw that part." Jordan's voice made everyone jump. Apparently, finally having some details seemed to shake her out of her temporary stupor. "What happened then? Why did it all go to hell?"

Luisa Santana met Jordan's eyes, and for a moment, understood. She didn't know quite what… why Woody was so enamored with the woman, maybe….or maybe she was finally understanding Jordan's feelings for Woody, maybe something else entirely… but she understood. She felt her voice and features soften when she spoke next. "Woody got a call from the A/V guys. I talked to them, afterwards, before I came here. They told me that they had already been looking at the tapes, and when Woody pointed out what might be there, they found it. A blue, totally non descript, Honda Civic. They said it was circling the area, had several people inside – unusual for downtown Boston in the middle of the day, on weekdays at least. And that they back tags were missing. All the sudden, it was like both of us went on full alert." She paused, remembering, shaking her head almost imperceptibly. "The big doofus, probably only because he's taller, saw them first. They were across the street in one of the metered parking spots. As soon as we got close, they panicked, got out of the car and ran. They managed to get off a few rounds, but we chased them down before they got too far." Santana took a deep breath. "How're the others? There were three, right?"

Captain Thatcher nodded. "Officer Miller, Officer Daly and Sergeant Fuentes. I've already spoken with their families and doctors. All of them are superficial. Daly's going to have to spend the night, but other than that… Well, all three of them will be fine."

"I'm glad to hear that," Santana said. She sent a quick look to Jordan. "We got all of them. They're all sitting in lockup, and every cop in the city wants a piece of them."

"There not the only ones," Jordan muttered.Chapter Manager

Garret thought about trying to ease her off that idea, but was interrupted by the arrival of the doctor...