Clear Blue Sky Ch. 15
Keeping her eyes on the screen in front of her, Evie was so distracted by her current side project with Hicks, that it was one of the only things keeping her together. Right now, she was hiding in Hick's office, it was the only place that she felt safe to work on the project. She was constantly getting asked by everyone why she was spending so much time in his office, her only response was it's quiet. Which wasn't a total lie, a lot of the noise that was out in the main HQ that it could be distracting. Hearing a knock-on Hick's door, she wasn't sure if she was supposed to answer it, say come in.
Standing up she opened the door to find Molly on the other side, stepping aside, she watched as the tall brunette walked in. She could see that she was wanting to say something. "What's up Molly?" she asked her.
Looking around she sat down on one of the chairs that her father had in his office. "I was just checking in on the investigation." Chewing on her lip. Which was not even 10% of the reason she was here.
Evie looked over at her, "Molly, I'm saying this with as much respect I can give you, I'm not saying anything about it. You've given us the information that we needed to start it, but you know you shouldn't know any more than that." Sitting in the chair next to her, "Why are you really here?" she asked her.
Nodding, "You know you're really observant." Chewing her lip, "Is Jim Street single?" she asked, looking a bit nervous.
Snorting, "Yes. He is." It took a lot for not to feel the pang of hurt at the thought of Molly wanting to take up with a SWAT officer. Since her relationship was over. "Just word of advice, he works under your father, so always take that into consideration."
"But who I date isn't my father's business." She said almost defensively.
Smiling at her, "I know, and for the most part that is true, but this isn't some guy that you met at a bar or at a conference. This is someone that your father has to see every day. Just be respectful of that, and everything should be fine."
Molly didn't get a chance to agree with her, because her father walked in on them.
Looking at the two girls, "What's going on?" he asked them.
Realizing that Molly was just as bad as lying as she was, but she gave it a shot, "She was checking in on me. Making sure I'm OK." Standing up, "You have one hell of a daughter sir." Opening the door, she could see that Hicks was smiling at her for saying something so kind.
Finding her way back to her old office, she found Jim sitting on her desk, "What can I do you for?" she asked. Sitting on her desk, she waited for him to answer.
Jim felt like an idiot, normally he would go to Chris about his love life, but she was dealing with a lot of things with Kiera and Ty. "So, Molly, I saw her head to Hick's office, and…." Stopping mid sentence, not knowing exactly what to say.
"You like her." Smiling at him, trying not to be bitter at the whole situation, "Just remember, don't rush it, her father is our commander, so don't go charging like a bull, OK?"
Standing up, he gave her a small hug, "Thanks." As he headed out the door, "How are you doing?"
Looking up from her computer, "Day to day." Keeping the tears at bay, she turned her attention towards the computer, it's not that she didn't want to talk to people, but over the last 2 weeks, she needed to start treating work like work, and not get too personal here, she needed to protect herself, if she didn't, she'd fall apart, and right now all she had was her job.
Jim watched her focus back on the computer, no one knew what happened, all anyone knew was what she said that they ended their relationship. No one got an explanation, not even Hondo. She said only one thing after, that it wasn't his fault, and no one should treat him any differently things just happen.
Hearing her phone chime, she looked down she frowned a bit. That's not good. Getting up she needed to head to Hicks, this was her first lead. Running out the door, she headed back towards Hicks, he needed to know immediately.
Turning the corner, she had to slid to a halt because a body was in front of her. Looking up she found the eyes of Rocker staring back at her. "Oh, excuse me." Giving him a small smile, she didn't have time to say more than that, moving around him, she bolted up the stairs.
Rocker watched as she ran up the stairs, the only time he ever see's her running like that is when there is information to get to the powers that be. His heart broke, the last two weeks have been his own personal hell. Heading towards the main HQ room, he found himself in front of the punching bag, quickly wrapping his hands, he started pounding the bag. He needed to relieve his stress.
It was self-induced, but he was protecting her, that's what he had to keep in mind, he was protecting her. He would never forget that was the mission, to protect the love of his life.
Lightly knocking on Hick's door, she heard him say enter. Stepping inside, she quickly looked around finding that there was no one else in the room. "A wire was triggered in the key suspects that we narrowed down."
Coming around the desk, "Who?" he asked, this was one of his favorite parts of being a cop, hunting the bad guy.
Smirking at him, "A Lt. Grayson. He triggered the trap and trace I place on every person that works in this building. He just ran pulled Jim Street's information." Feeling a little nervous, "What should we do, sir?" she asked him.
Rubbing his chin, "I need you to go over every arrest from the moment that kid put on his badge until today. Flag anyone that might have the potential to pull it off." Starting to pace, "Go see Dr. Wendy once you have the initial list, she may have a way to narrow it down further." As she went to head towards the door, "See if anyone in Lt. Grayson's circle is helping him, within Molly's parameters."
"Yes sir." With that Evie headed towards the roof, to start compiling the list of the potential threats to Jim. As she walked through HQ, Evie didn't realize that she was being watched by all of 20D.
Hondo watched her head towards the roof, looking over at Deacon, and Street. "How's she doing?" he asked. His eyes never leaving her until she was out the door.
Deacon had a small frown on his face, "I don't know man, I mean, she's been to church with us a few times, she's putting on a brave face, but she doesn't talk about it, I don't think she knows how to." He said.
Street could see that they were worried about here, "I'll see what I can find out, we're roughly the same age."
Hondo turned towards Street, "Do that, and you let me know what's going on with her."
Nodding towards his team. First, he needed to finish his workout, then he would annoy her until she agreed to go to breakfast with him.
Deacon found Rocker sitting outside HQ, 50D was on call, 20D was up, so it surprised him to find him sitting outside staring at nothing. Walking over to him, "What's up man?" sitting next to him.
Rocker looked over at him, "Not much." Looking at his friend, but the more he sat there in silence with Deacon, the more he needed to talk to his friend. Rubbing his face with his hands, "I really screwed up man." Looking over at him.
Deacon knew eventually one of them was going to break down and talk, it was a surprise that it was coming from Rocker. "What's going on?" he asked his friend.
Looking up at the sky, "I broke up with Evie to protect her." Letting out a sigh, "After what happened at your house, then you add what happened with Rodriguez and his family, I couldn't do that to her. Now, every time I see her, my heart breaks, and all I want to do is fix this."
Blinking at him, it took a second for him to process what he said it, it hit really close to home with him, "I felt that way, a few times with Annie." Looking at him, "There was one time after my second year on SWAT, I got stabbed. I thought of leaving her, that my job was too dangerous, she didn't sign up for all this."
Rocker looked at him, "How'd you move past it?" Hoping for some sage advice.
Looking at him, he was going to be honest, this was something that no one really knew. "She told me she was pregnant with Michael. I was going to pull the plug on our marriage, and those two little words stopped me." A tear slid down his face, "It saved my marriage, and helped me pull my head out of my ass." Taking another deep breath, "Here's the thing, you could be SWAT, or you could be an Uber driver, doesn't matter, somewhere, somehow, she could get killed, by walking across the street. Hell, Annie almost died because of brain aneurysm, that had nothing to do with my job, but it almost happened. So, you going to let the woman that you love be alone because you're scared?" Shaking his head, "Nothing is guaranteed in this life, and any moment I have with my family, good or bad is worth it."
Rocker stood up, but his alarm went off, he needed to focus on his new mission, but when he got back, he was going to do everything he needed to convince Evie to forgive him for being such an idiot.
Evie made her way towards Dr. Wendy's office, knocking on her door, she heard a come in, "Hey Dr. Wendy," stepping in and shutting the door, "I need to talk to you about something."
Indicating for her to sit, "What's up Evelyn?" she asked.
Sitting on the couch that she spent a few weeks on almost a year ago, looking down at her hands and back up, "I'm going to let you in on something," taking a deep breath, "I got the OK from Hick's on the way here." Letting her sigh out, "After the incident with Sgt. Kay, and then with Officer Rodriguez, Hicks and I determined that the only way for someone to get information on a SWAT member was someone somewhere was helping them. With the help of Molly Hicks who gave us the parameters to work within the law." Pulling up her tablet, "One of my traps that I placed over the people that worked in this building, someone accessed information on Jim Street," looking into her eyes, "I compiled a list of potentials, but I have no idea from a psychological standpoint who would make a really good candidate."
Wendy was shocked, "That is a lot of information," looking up at her, "Does the teams know?" She asked.
Shaking her head, "No. That was Hick's call. We needed to make sure it wasn't coming from someone here first."
Nodding her understanding, "OK, I can look at it now," looking at her she could see that Evie needed to go inform Hick's, "I'll keep my mouth shut," before she shut the door, "A word of advice, Rocker didn't do it to hurt you, he thinks he's protecting you, he's going to come to his senses and realize that he made a huge mistake."
Looking over her shoulder, "I know. I just hope he pulls it out of his ass soon, because I am not going to wait around forever." Giving Wendy a small smile as she shut the door.
Running towards the war room, Evie found 20D, Hicks, and Mumford standing around, feeling like she was on display, she smiled at everyone, "Hey." Looking at Hicks, "Sir, I need a moment, please."
Nodding, he tapped Mumford's shoulder, "You too Jack." With that they headed towards his office, once the door was shut, he could see her confusion, "I trust him."
She understood, she trusted Mumford as well, she missed seeing him around HQ, sitting down, she started explaining what she did, and what she found, looking over at Hicks, "I've cleared everyone one in this building and their family, I think we should at least talk to the team leaders of SWAT. Wendy has the tablet now, she'll be by later with her top suspects on Street."
Mumford was pacing, he looked at Hicks, then Evie, taking a second to calm down, he wasn't mad at them, he understood, "So, how do we get Lt. Grayson?" he asked with a growl in his voice.
Hicks looked at Evie, then back at Mumford, "I'm not sure, when both 50D and 20D are back at HQ, we'll brainstorm."
A knock on their door had them all standing and looking at the door, "Come in." Hicks said.
Street opened the door seeing everyone standing around, "Hondo got a lead on the shooter, but wanted me to run down his tech support," looking at Evie, "Wanna go for a ride?"
Turning to Hicks, she got the nod, "Sure, let me grab my stuff, and we'll knock on a few doors." Following Street out the door, she made her way to the locker room, quickly changing into her basic gear so she looked official, finding Street sitting near the charger. "Let's do this."
Pulling out of the suspect's driveway, "So, does he look good for it?" Street asked her. Seeing if spending all this time around cops has honed her already impressive skills.
Tilting her head, "No, while he's not a fan of the PD, he's not tech savvy enough to pull off this. We need another suspect. Let me call Hondo."
Pulling out her phone, she started to dial, but it was the sight of another car purposely swerving into their lane. "STREET!"
The sound of screeching metal, and breaking glass was the last thing that she heard before the lights went out.