As the last ambulance door closed and the large van turned on their sirens to head to the hospital, DeWitt felt his knees growing weak.
The convoy of unmarked police cars and black and whites filled most of the shopping center parking lot on the south side of Lucerne, causing the passing traffic to slow down and stare at the commotion.
Letting his head sink to his chest, he inhaled deeply several times, unable to shake the 8-second rhythm out of his system, his hand having grown stiff and tired from the strenuous work of squeezing the oxygen bag. Behind him, Ed, Andy and Roy stood like a silent army of support and further back, Tanner and his men were busy keeping the press at bay, a development he wasn't exactly excited about.
"We've done everything we could, and then some. They're both going to be ok, I am sure of it. This was some pristine in-field triage work, Roy."
Ed's voice was calm and his words were soothing his soul that early in the morning. Nodding faintly, he raised his head again, swallowing hard before turning around to face his audience.
"I don't know Ed, I feel like I just aged by about twenty years."
"Welcome to the wonderful world of emergency medicine, my friend…at least the fog is slowly clearing and we can see past a hundred feet again. You will quickly learn to appreciate the small things that make life easier in my line of work."
"I am hoping not to get used to that level of…intensity…I'd have a heart attack long before I get to retire."
Running a hand across his tired blue eyes, Roy stepped closer, before gesturing to the waiting LTD's.
"Ed, I can get you a ride back to San Francisco in one of my cars in half an hour, or one of the uni's earlier if you'd like. And as far as you two boys are concerned…", he could see the young men straighten out nervously, ready for whatever reprimand he had to offer, "I truly appreciate everything you have done. And I mean everything. You helped save the lives of two witnesses today…and that of my detectives. You went above and beyond the call to help and even put your own safety as risk. I can't begin to thank you enough."
A faint smile returned to their ashen faces and DeWitt reached forward to shake each one of their hands, not having to work hard to repress his usual stern façade today and replace it with a warm expression of utter gratitude.
"I just hope the Lieutenant and Inspector will be alright.", young Andy said before running a nervous hand through his hair, "They're good people. Both of them. They risked their life to save those who could never pay them back."
"That's Mike and Steve for you, boys.", Ed chimed in and crossed his arms in front of his chest, still wearing his latex gloves, "They're the best damn cops San Francisco has to offer. They care. Sometimes a lot more than they should. That's why we love them."
The group nodded in unison, when Roy cleared his throat, before pointing at the waiting police car nearby.
"Tanner can get you guys back to Saint Helena in a bit. If you could just…just make yourselves available in case there're any more questions regarding this investigation, we'd greatly appreciate it."
"Absolutely.", Roy Delaney said before smirking, "I won't lie to you Lieutenant DeWitt, this has been the most exciting two days of my life. I never imagined we'd be getting this close to stopping these organ traffickers."
Raising his hands apprehensively, Roy shook his head
"Well, they're not all stopped yet. We lost at least one of them. I suspect that there's going to be a lot of forensic activity yet. We're going to comb through this farm house top to bottom, and once they're conscious again, we might find out a lot more from Mike and Steve too. I won't be letting my guard down and we will continue to look for that missing man as soon as we have a description or matching prints. I'd hate to think of how many innocent human beings have fallen prey to these…these animals. I don't care if we're chasing shadows. I know that in the end…we will catch them."
"Your word in Gods ear, Roy.", Ed said before taking off his gloves and reaching forward to shake his hand, "I eh, I've got some work to do in the morgue downtown. Something about two Caucasian males found shot to death in an old farm house up north and a third one in a tow truck. Bernie won't be back till next week so this is all my caseload. I will keep checking with the hospital on our boys, might even stop by this afternoon once I am done with everything. If you see them before I do, tell Mike he's a hell of a trooper. I don't know the whole story yet, but I am pretty sure that his actions saved his partner's life. And Stephen, give that boy a day off, will ya? He's fought hard. I'll see you next month at the mandatory cross-training meet."
Grasping Ed's hand with both of his, Roy nodded gratefully before pointing his chin at a black and white parked nearby.
"Have Sergeant Addison drive you back. I know these guys need to get moving. I will stay up here all day. I want to be around for the forensics detail on that farm house and I am working with Internal Affairs and the Feds on starting an investigation into the Sherriff. Steve showed me the file on how inappropriately his murder investigation was handled and because of that, two of my detectives nearly got killed, which should give me plenty of ammo to throw at those vultures. I might even sit in on some of those interviews to see if I can get him to fold."
There was a sparkle in Ed's eyes as the tall doctor smiled, before pursing his lips and lowering his voice.
"What are you going to tell Condon when he asks what in the hell went on here today? You know how…flustered he gets about bypassing standard operating procedure."
Running a hand through his gray hair, Roy shrugged and met the eyes of the unlikely team that had come to the rescue when support was limited, and yet, vital.
"Ed, I didn't become Lieutenant of Homicide because I am afraid to step on people's toes. And you have to remember that Mike was my partner too, for over thirteen years. You don't just walk away from something like that. That said, I know that there's going to be some friction about this whole ordeal here, especially now that the damn press has gotten wind of it. I am sure I will get yelled at by somebody, but I am going to tell you the same thing right now that I am going to tell whoever wants to push me about this…I'd rather lose my badge over saving my men's lives, than to climb the career ladder on the backs of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, while I sat in my cozy office chair looking the other way."