"Why the hell won't the captain answer her phone?" Provenza asks Flynn.
"How should I know? She's probably busy."
Rolling his eyes, and heaving a huge sigh, Provenza tells Flynn to call her. "Maybe she'll pick up if she knows it's you."
Looking at his phone, Andy notices he has received a text from Sharon. After reading the message, he informs Provenza that his supervisor is checking on her ex-husband who is in the hospital, and he's not going to call and bother her right now. Before Provenza can argue further, Sanchez interrupts the bickering to let them know the press has shown up demanding answers.
"Well, I want some answers too," Provenza says. "How come I still have to pay wife number three's alimony, and how come the Dodgers haven't won the World Series in damn near 30 years? Andy just shakes his head, and Sanchez suppresses a laugh as he walks away to help Sykes search for bullet casings from the shooting of their latest victim. They're in the backyard of a McMansion owned by a wealthy, prominent plastic surgeon to the stars. His dead body, full of bullet holes, was discovered in the pool house in the middle of the night by his fourth wife.
The sun is up now, and it's already getting uncomfortable outside forcing Provenza to wear his hat.
"When are you going to throw that thing away, and get a new hat?" asks Andy.
"When are you going to stop asking me stupid questions?" answers Provenza.
It's just a typical day for them.
Captain Sharon Raydor can't say the same. She wouldn't normally start the day with a gun planted in the back of her head. All activity in the hospital room stops while her phone rings inside the pocket of her blazer. The detective, who had just entered the room when her phone started ringing, is shocked to see the man he believes to be Jack Raydor up out of bed and walking to the door. The detective can see the man, but he can't see the gun the man is holding. Taking a step towards the couple, and reading the look on Sharon's face, it registers with the detective that something is wrong. Really wrong. He asks, "Captain, what's going on?"
Mark Evans snarls, "Do not say a word, either one of you." Shoving Sharon forward, she stumbles into the detective who clumsily catches her. Turning to face her attacker, her blood runs cold at the look of pure evil in his eyes. Evans says, "Damn baby, this one is young. I thought you went for old guys." The detective takes his hands off Sharon and starts to protest, but Evans shuts him down by staring him straight in the eyes, and shaking his head from side-to-side. "Do exactly as I tell you, and you just might make it out of here alive. Both of you put your arms up in the air, walk into the bathroom and stand in the shower. Don't turn around, and keep your arms up or you're dead." Sharon glances up at the detective as she's raising her arms. They briefly lock eyes before Evans says, "Move."
She moves toward the bathroom on shaky legs, slightly ahead of the detective. She's praying someone, a nurse, doctor or housekeeping, will walk in the door to create a distraction. Entering the bathroom, and stepping into the shower with the detective close on her heels, she hears Evans say, "Put your hands up on the wall." They comply as he silently slides the gun in his pocket, retrieves the scalpel from his sling, and uses it to cut the string hanging off the call button next to the toilet. The detective looks down at Sharon and makes eye contact. He's mouthing something to her, and staring intensely into her eyes. She shakes her head, and hopes he understands not to try anything. As soon as Evans disables the call button, he slides the scalpel into his left pocket, pushes the sling out of his way, and takes the gun out of his right pocket. Using his injured arm, he steps forward and pats the detective down. Evans has no idea who the man actually is, but he's taking no chances. He's not at all surprised to find a gun strapped behind the man's back under his suit jacket. He figured the guy was a cop when he addressed Sharon by her rank. Taking the gun off the detective, he sets it on the toilet, and then reaches in the detective's pocket for his cell phone. Putting the phone into his own back pocket, he then slowly slides his hand over Sharon's hips searching for her phone in the pocket of her blazer. Relieving her of her phone, he then picks the detective's gun up off the toilet, and pushes it down into his right, front pocket. He's now in possession of two guns and two cell phones.
Evans presses the front of his body against Sharon's back. Sticking the gun into her right side, he glides the palm of his left hand through her hair and whispers in her ear, "Don't you move, beautiful. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you give me a reason." Stepping back, he moves the gun away from her and pokes the barrel into the detective's back. "Young man, get out of the shower, and get on your stomach on the floor, then put your hands behind your back." Evans backs up a few feet, and points his left index finger to indicate the spot on the floor where he wants the detective to be. With the gun aimed at him, the detective turns around with his hands still in the air, steps out of the shower, and gets on the floor underneath the towel rack. The detective is tall, and takes up most of the available floor space in the small bathroom. Evans walks backwards until he is just outside the bathroom door. He glances quickly to the nightstand, a few feet to his left, where he knows there's a small, plastic bin full of medical tape, gauze, and Ace bandages. He also takes note of a small puddle forming on the floor where the antibiotic is continuing to drip out of the sliced IV tube. Returning his gaze to the two in the bathroom he figures he can grab the plastic bin using his left hand, and get back into the bathroom in about six seconds. It's not going to be easy; he'll have to avoid the puddle, and he doesn't want to leave the cops alone that long, but he has no choice. He goes for it. Sharon hears him move away. Without hesitation and acting on pure adrenaline, she turns and steps out of the shower, almost tripping over the detective who is getting up off the floor. When she looks up at the open bathroom door, she's horrified to see Evans is back with the gun in his right hand pointed at her, and the plastic bin in his left. She is frozen in place, staring at the gun.
Using his foot, Evans pushes the detective back down on the floor. Thrusting the bin at Sharon, he says, "Get busy. Tape his mouth shut. Then use the rest of that stuff to tie his hands to his feet behind his back. I'm watching you; do a good job, and do it quickly. We have to get out of here; we have a busy day ahead of us."
She is terrified; she's fumbling with the bandages and tape. Evans just stares at her from a few feet away, and continues to hold the gun on her while her mind races. She's relieved that he appears to be sparing the life of her colleague; however, he has made it clear that she will be his hostage. Never taking his eyes off her, he crouches down near the toilet; using his left hand, he picks up the two feet of string he cut off the call button, and hands it to her, saying, "Start with this. Use it to tie his hands together; tie it tight."
Focus. I have to focus; she thinks to herself. Taking a deep breath, she takes the string from Evans and gets to work. Underneath all the bandages, gauze, and tape in the bottom of the bin, she thinks she feels a small pair of scissors with her fingers. She's careful to keep the object concealed from him as she follows his demands. He's staring at her, and not paying much attention to the plastic bin. It seems to her that an hour has passed; however, it's only been a few minutes when she uses the last of the supplies. There's nothing left in the bin but a bit of tape, and the scissors she has concealed under the gauze. She has tied the detective's hands together behind his back with a crazy combination of string, surgical tape, and bandages. His feet are bent back at his knees, and tied to his hands with another Ace bandage. Evans stands up, and tells her to get up. She palms the scissors as she stands. The detective makes eye contact with her one more time before she leaves him bound and gagged on the bathroom floor. Before exiting the bathroom, Evans locks the door from the inside.
This is almost too easy; Evans thinks to himself. He has spent the previous hours, before heading to the ER, meticulously planning every detail even though he was in a great deal of pain after the altercation with his former partner. Damn, he didn't want to kill the guy, but he was forced to defend himself. It was kill or be killed. He knew he needed medical attention after he dumped his partner's body in that dirty, decrepit abandoned building. His wound was becoming infected and swallowing a handful of Aspirin just wasn't cutting the pain. What he hadn't counted on was Sharon bringing back-up to the hospital with her to visit her supposedly injured ex-husband.
With a scalpel in his pocket, a gun in his other pocket, and another gun pointing at Sharon, but hidden in the sling, he tells her, "We're going to take a little stroll down the hall to the elevator. We're not going to walk fast. I'm still recovering, and you, my loving wife, are helping me so you are going to keep your arm around me. Just look at me; don't make eye contact or talk with anyone else. We are going down to the first floor in the elevator, and then we are going to walk right out to the parking lot. I have several weapons; I'll hurt you, and a lot of other people if you don't cooperate. Now, let's get going."
The hallway is empty when they step out of the room. The nurse's station is behind them; the elevator is about 20 yards in front of them. Sharon almost recoils at the thought of touching him, but she swallows the acid rising in her throat and puts her left arm around his waist. He places his right arm tightly around her waist under her blazer, and digs the barrel of the gun into her left side. He nuzzles his lips in her ear and says, "You are doing great. Just walk casually to the elevator; you'll be fine. I don't want to hurt you. I have big plans for us."
She feels his lips brush the shell of her ear, and it's all she can do not to turn her head away. They start walking to the elevator, and her heart is beating rapidly. Her mind is blank; she's moving like a robot. She doesn't want to die. She doesn't want to leave with this man. She doesn't know what to do, so she just walks until another patient steps out of a doorway right in front of them.
"Good morning," the elderly man says.
"Good morning," Evans answers back.
"Do you know when they serve breakfast around here?" asks the old man.
"No idea," Evans says as he continues down the hall.
The old man just keeps talking. Sharon can hear him say something about how good bacon would taste right now. They are almost to the elevator when it opens, and a man carrying a huge bouquet of flowers steps out. He almost runs into them, but continues walking down the hall without a word. The elevator doors close just as they approach. Evans leans into Sharon, and says, "Push the down arrow." She leans forward to touch the button and he stays molded to her side. The doors re-open immediately; they step inside; it's empty. He says, "Push the button for the first floor." She does it and the elevator starts to move. He leans into her again, and brushes his lips back and forth on the spot just below her left ear. Drawing a deep breath, he says, "You smell good. I can't wait to get you home. We have twenty years of catching up to do." She can feel his fingers stroking her waist. Her breathing is shallow. She's sure her face must be white as a ghost, and she feels like she could faint.
The elevator stops on the fifth floor. Sharon swallows hard as the doors open. A young mother, and her two-year-old girl get on. The mother just looks straight ahead, but the little girl turns and stares at the couple who are standing slightly behind her. The elevator starts to move again; the little girl begins to whine. "It's okay, honey," says the mom as she strokes the girl's hair. The elevator stops again on the second floor. A large family gets on, paying no attention to the other occupants in the cramped space. They are all talking loudly, pretty much at the same time. "Uncle Phil looked good, didn't you think?" "He could lose a few pounds." "His doctor said they got all the cancer, this time." Evans looks at Sharon and smirks. The elevator reaches the ground floor and everybody exits. Evans hangs back with Sharon for a few seconds; he digs the gun into her side a little harder just to remind her not to try anything stupid. They get off the elevator and cross the lobby to the hospital entrance.
Detective Nelson sits across from Detective Molina in the office of Threat Management. He has offered her a cup of coffee twice while they wait for Captain Raydor, and she has declined twice. They've made small talk for ten minutes, and the captain still hasn't made an appearance or called. "Let me just give her a quick call," Nelson says as she takes her phone out of her pocket and scrolls to the correct number.
Evans and Sharon are halfway across the lobby when her phone rings in his pocket. "Just keep walking," he says.
Flynn walks to the front yard of the McMansion to help Tao get rid of the media. Provenza takes the opportunity to call the captain once more. He'd like to inform her about their latest case.
Reaching the double doors of the hospital entrance, Sharon's phone rings again. "Damn, you are one popular lady," says Evans.
