"Officer Marlynn! Can you hear me? Miranda?" A middle aged man looking to be around his late 40's was screaming at his young officer. "Damn it! Miranda, don't you die on me! you hear me!" The man had began to shake the young woman as he yelled in her expressionless face.
"Sir, shaking her wont help her regain concisions. I'll have to ask you to step back lieutenant, we need to get her to the hospital immediately if you want her to even stand a chance of survival."
Lieutenant Hartford eased his grasp as the other paramedics rushed to their side with a stretcher. He reached across the woman's body and removed her blood covered badge. A young, blond haired man joined his colleague's side, they watched as one of their own was loaded in an ambulance and taken away; lights flashing and sirens wailing. The blond haired man spoke first.
"Who do you think could have done this Hartford?"
"I don't know, this is Miranda were talking about, it would take a hell of a lot more than just your usual psychotic son of a bitch to put her in that kind of condition." Lieutenant Hartford looked down at her badge as he spoke.
"Hart?"
The lieutenant turned his attention to his young colleague; a solemn look on his face, "What is it Devon?"
"Hart…is there something your not telling me?"
Lieutenant Hartford brought his eyes back to officer Marlynn's badge as he spoke; his voice almost a whisper, "Yes Devon, there is… unfortunately, it has to stay that way. I'm sorry." Hartford didn't attempt to look Devon in the eye as he walked away.
Two hours later, lieutenant Hartford had made his way to Boston Memorial Hospital. Officer Miranda Marlynn was in critical, but stable condition. Before Hartford could reach her room, an officer approached him; handing over the papers in his hand as he spoke,
"I have officer Marlynn's statement ready for you lieutenant."
Hartford looked from the papers to the officer standing in front of him and raised an eyebrow.
"How is that even possible officer?"
Brief confusion flooded the face of the young man.
"I have her statement Sir, I talked to her after she came out of surgery." He replied shyly.
Hartford's eyes now widened, "She came-to after the surgery then?"
"Yes Sir, she just passed out about fifteen minutes ago." Replied the officer as he cocked his head in the direction of Miranda's room.
Lieutenant Hartford brought his attention back to the papers that were now in his hands.
"Well then, lets hear this statement shall we?"
The officer nodded, "Sure thing Sir….
…Officer Miranda Marlynn left her apartment this morning at 5:00 am sharp. As she headed for her car, her attacker came up behind her with an A-K47 pressed to the left side of her rib cage. He told her to slowly step away from her vehicle, that's when he knocked her unconscious, with what? Miranda doesn't know. The next thing she remembers is waking up in the backseat of a pick up, dark blue, 4-door. Her radio and gun were gone; she was restrained with her own hand cuffs. The truck stopped and she was dragged into the warehouse where she was found. Her attacker carried on quite a long conversation with her…I'm still unclear what it was they talked about…but after he was done toying with her, he sent her flying to the ground; the impact dislocated her shoulder. The suspect went to shoot, but fortunately his weapon jammed. Miranda saw it as her only chance, she went for the back of his shins…her kick brought him down, but it sure as hell didn't stop him. He delivered a few blows using his fists, Miranda struggled to fight back however her hands were still cuffed. In the end the guy fractured her collarbone before firing two bullets into her. The first caught her left arm; the second, the right side of her abdomen. Every thing after that is blurry she says."
Hartford let out a sigh as the officer finished, "Alright…do we have any leads on the attacker?"
The officer gave Hartford a glance through the corner of his eye. "Take a wild guess."
Hartford crossed his arms in acknowledgement "Alright, so the same guy who kills Jensen comes back three years later to finish off the other partner?"
The officer shrugged, "Hey, I'm just a patrol officer. All I know is that Miranda worked Federal for a while. I heard her partner was brutally gunned down three years ago and that the killer was never caught, but swore he'd be back to finish what he started."
Hartford felt a slight pain in his chest at the reminder of his youngest officer's haunted past. He couldn't help but feel guilty, after the death of her partner Scott Jensen, Miranda was forced into hiding. The Feds had given her an alias she lived by when she first joined the academy. Jensen's killer had only known her by that name. After the incident, the Feds dropped Miranda, giving her back her ID and sending her into a witness protective program against her will. It was lieutenant Hartford who had recruited Miranda for Boston P.D and had gotten her out of the federal shadow that hung over her. Yes, if it weren't for him she may have still been in the program…still have been safe.
"Thank you." Hartford finally spoke as he raised the statement papers he had received from the officer and walked towards the parking lot.