Author's note: I noticed something strange with the traffic statistics, it appears as if approximately 20% of people who read chapter 5 did not read chapter 4. I am new to writing FF so it is possible that I am unaware of a reason for this. However, if you missed chapter 4 (video call between Jane, Angela and Maura) I recommend you go back and read it. Thank you for reading!
Commander Prince led her team through the hallways towards the Northwest stairwell. Several feet before the stairwell, she stopped abruptly and motioned for the rest of her team to stop as well. Blocking the entrance to the stairwell stood 10-12 heavily armed people. The entire team slowly backed up and around the last corner and stood together while Commander Price considered the next step.
After looking over her team, she began speaking in a hushed voice. "Rizzoli, I want you to take Smythe and Unser and try to find another way to the pharmacy. Stay in communication and keep your eyes opened for other law enforcement teams in the building. The rest of us are going to attempt to clear these people out of the stairwell. Good luck!"
Jane and the other two stepped away from the rest of the team to begin their own plans. Vicki Smyth was a forensic accountant for the FBI. She looked to be approximately the same age as Jane and she appeared calm but seemed to lack the situational awareness that both Jane and Robert Unser displayed. Robert Unser reminded Jane a little of Vince Korsak. He was in his early 60's and was a bit overweight. His eyes held a similar combination of kindness and wariness Jane was used to seeing from Korsak. While not the best team she had worked with, Jane was glad to not have been assigned to work with any of the greener team members.
Jane pointed at a nearby hospital directory and then began speaking, "From what I can see there are 3 nearby stairwells that may bring us to where we need to go. These two look to be part of main hallways in the hospital. This third stairwell is less visible as it is off this maintenance room. I think we should try the third stairwell first. If we aren't successful we can circle back and attempt the other two. Do you guys agree?"
Unser nodded immediately in agreement. Smythe thought briefly before replying. "This type of field work is obviously not my strength. If the two of you think this is the best plan then I will follow your lead."
Jane replied, "Okay then, I will take point. Unser I would like you to cover me and Smythe will come behind us. Let's get this done."
With that, Jane turned and began carefully moving toward the maintenance room with the other two following behind her. After quietly opening the door to the maintenance room, Jane peered inside and spotted three people who looked like they were supposed to be guarding the stairwell. Instead, they were lounging at a table while eating sandwiches. They had left their rifles leaning against a wall several feet away from them. Jane used hand motions to convey a plan to surprise the three inside the room. Once her team was prepared, Jane and her team burst into the room with their guns drawn.
The three in the room were quickly subdued without anyone sustaining an injury. Unser used flex cuffs to restrain their hands while Jane and Vicki searched through the maintenance room. Jane found a roll of duct tape and secured them to their chairs and then secured all three chairs to a support beam in the middle of the room. Smythe placed a piece of tape over each of their mouths in order to silence them. Finally, Jane secured their weapons, unloaded them, and then threw them out a nearby window. Jane then used her communication unit to contact Hughes to let him know about the three men they would be leaving in the maintenance room.
Before heading out Jane turned and spoke to her team. "I believe this stairwell will lead us to the hallway outside of the morgue. From there it is only another 200 or 250 yards to the pharmacy. Let's be really cautious now. We need to get home safely."
Once Jane reached the bottom of the stairwell she heard some muffled noises coming from inside the morgue. She decided they needed to clear that space before continuing on. Ignoring Unser's jokes about finding the undead in the morgue, Jane slowly pushed one of the swinging doors open with her foot. Inside the morgue were 12 members of the hospital staff and three ambulatory patients. They were all on the floor and were restrained with duct tape on their hands and feet. One armed man stood with his back to the door, guarding them.
Jane immediately rushed into the room with Unser and placed her weapon to the man's head, demanding he drop his weapon and raise his hands into the air. Unser collected the man's weapon while Jane restrained him with another pair of flex cuffs. Then while Robert guarded their prisoner, Jane and Vicki worked to free the patients and hospital employees. Once all of the employees and patients were free, Jane began to question them. "Can any of you tell me anything about how many people are down here? How many of them are supposed to be in the hospital and how many of them are armed combatants? Do you know if they had inside help or where they were going from here?"
One of the patients spoke up first, "Ma'am there were about 40 of them in the group that brought us in here. I don't think that they are the only group in the hospital. I don't know anything about inside help. I think they were going to the pharmacy next."
Jane respectfully replied, "Thank you soldier. Does anyone else have anything to add?"
After several minutes of silence, a neatly dressed young woman spoke up, "The pharmacy is just beyond the far wall in here. If you go back in the hallway it is around the next corner. I don't think they have been able to get inside yet as I have been hearing intermittent noises from power tools. There is another way inside the pharmacy. The morgue lab used to be where the pharmacy is now. One of the doorways was closed up to make two separate storage closets. If you remove the shelving, there is only a thin piece of wood between us and the pharmacy. You should be able to get in there undetected."
Upon hearing this news, Jane and her team sprang into immediate action. First Jane contacted Hughes to let him know of their plan and to see if Commander Prince and the rest of their team wanted to join them in the morgue. Jane also informed Hughes of the 15 newly released prisoners and the detained combatant. It was decided that the group of 15 would take the detained prisoner and retrace the steps of Jane and her team. They would also collect the prisoners from the maintenance room and then make their way out of the building. Hughes informed Jane that her team was on their own as Commander Prince and the rest were heavily engaged with the group blocking the northwest stairwell.
After the communication tasks were complete, Jane began removing all of the morgue equipment from the shelves in the closet. Smythe found a broom and used her knife to flatten the tip of the handle so it could be used as a pry bar. After the last of the group of former prisoners left, Unser locked the doors to the morgue and began moving furniture in front of the doors to slow down anyone else who tried to enter. Once the shelves were empty, Jane began working to pry off the wood backing in the closet. Finally, the wood gave way and the three walked through the newly created doorway and into the pharmacy.
As soon as she was in the pharmacy Jane began looking around the room, evaluating for threats and dangers. There were 3 pharmacists inside who looked terrified. Jane did see any other people present. Jane quietly introduced herself to the 3 pharmacists, "Jane Rizzoli, FBI. We are here to help you secure the vaccine and then get you guys out of here. Can someone please tell me where the doses are being kept?"
A young, petite blond stepped forward, "my name is Lily Ford, we are so glad to see you guys. The vaccine doses are in several large boxes on a pallet in our cold storage. If you follow me I will show you to them."
Jane followed Lily and the other two pharmacists to the cold storage while Smythe and Unser remained behind to guard the entrances. When Jane observed the oversized pallet of boxes and knew it would be difficult to attempt to disguise the contents. Each box was clearly labeled as Covid-19 vaccine. After thinking for a moment, Jane jogged out of the room and returned with a pile of empty boxes she had seen earlier.
Jane directed the pharmacists to help her take entire boxes of the vaccine and to place them inside the empty boxes. "Lily, please work on labeling these boxes with the names of things you would typically find in this room. For example, insulin. However, please only label a few boxes with the same name. This way if they find some of the doses it will be harder to discover the rest."
When the boxes were all packed and labeled they were distributed throughout the shelves in the room. Once this task was complete, Jane and the three pharmacists returned to the main room where Smythe and Unser were waiting for them. Lily locked several locks and a padlock on the cold storage and gave the key to Jane. The six began brainstorming ideas to make it more difficult for intruders to enter the cold storage when a small explosion sounded on the other side of the wall.
