Like Eating Glass-Chapter 5
Okay, it's bright and early on this beautiful Saturday morning and I figure it's time for a new chapter. It's kind of funny because this is where I kind of intended for the story to start, so this was originally chapter 2, but I thought I needed a little more backstory to lead up to this. Tell me what you think please. Just giving some credit where it's due: I got the structure of the SIU interview from the wonderful Tinkerpanda's story, "Long Ride Home." You guys know it by now, but I don't own Flashpoint, I only play with the characters...well if by 'play with' I mean 'put them through hell.' P.S. The beginning of this chapter is kind of graphic.
Time seemed to slow as Wordy felt himself pull the trigger of his gun; an act so repetitive, so second nature from his training, felt new...felt inhuman. It was almost as if he could see the bullet fly from the barrel of his gun and travel across the room. He could see the bullet meeting its target, her wide eyes shocked and afraid. A spattering of blood arose from the wound as her head whipped away form the impact, an unconscious movement which did her no good. She was dead before she hit the ground. The blood seeped from the small hole in the side of her forehead, Wordy didn't even want to think about the exit wound as his eyes remained glued to her's. Those dulled, green eyes that looked so out of place on a girl so young were now glazed over, still open, still starting at her killer.
There was movement around him, around her, but he didn't notice. He was still standing as he was, the shield propped in one hand, the gun extended in his other. Jules was no longer by his side, he saw her leaned over the girl before him but he knew there was no point. Spike ran in and out of his line of sight as he secured the father, still sitting on the ground with the sick, drunken smile on his face. There was someone near him now, someone speaking directly to him, but his eyes didn't move. They were hurting a bit; he didn't remember if he'd blinked since he'd fired his gun but he wasn't about to do so now. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he jumped at the contact, finally breaking his gaze. He saw Greg's lips moving but he wasn't hearing a word that was being said to him.
"W...What?" He asked, his voice horse, barely louder than a whisper. Greg looked at him with sympathetic but concerned eyes before speaking again.
"You've got to go with SIU, Wordy." It was only now that he noticed a man in a suit standing just behind Greg. He looked annoyed as Greg tried to coax Wordy back to reality. Greg glanced behind him and gave the SIU agent a firm look. "You okay, Wordy?" He whispered as he moved his face a bit closer.
"We've got to get going. I've already broken regulation and allowed you to talk to him Sargent," The SIU agent said bitterly. Greg was not supposed to be speaking with Wordy, he was the subject officer right now and he needed to be questioned.
"I know Brian, thank you but-" Frustration was evident in Greg's voice as the agent cut him off.
"No. Now." He said firmly as he stepped up and nudged Greg out of the way. "SIU, Agent Brian Cooper. I need you to surrender your weapons and come with me." He said coldly to Wordy. It took him a moment to realize that he was still holding his gun tightly, his finger still resting on the trigger. He gave a shaky nod before handing the gun to him and following out of the house.
A crowd had gathered at the barriers and Wordy felt like everyone was watching him as he followed behind the SIU agent. He saw Sam standing near the truck and Wordy thought he saw him give a small nod towards his direction. Suddenly, Wordy wanted nothing more than to go be near Sam and Ed and the team, but he dutifully followed the man in front of him. The back door of the car was opened for him as he slid his way into the seat and heard the man close the door behind him. It took a few minutes for the uniformed officers to clear a way through the growing crowd for the car to leave the scene. Wordy felt, more than he saw, the flashes of cameras and the glares of people. On calls he always tried to block out the bystanders and the media but he was acutely aware of them as they drove slowly through the crowd.
The agent driving didn't make any move to speak to Wordy, and he was okay with it. He didn't want to dabble in useless small talk, there was no point in the convention. He was numb. His mind was on images and not thoughts, not words. He saw that little girls eyes wherever he looked and he couldn't escape her gaze. He took a breath to steady himself and cleared his throat as they pulled up a tall building. He was led directly to an empty interrogation room and was suddenly aware of how cold he was. It was the winter and he was sure that the building's heat was going but there was an unescapable chill rising in his body. After a few minutes of sitting alone at the metal table, a small man came into the room with boxes, a camera, and a clipboard. He didn't look up from the clipboard as he spoke to Wordy.
"I'm with the lab. I need to process your clothes and take pictures for evidence." Wordy nodded and waited for instructions. "Stand over here." The man pointed to an area of wall painted a dull white color. Wordy got up and followed the direction as he took another deep breath to steady himself. After a few photos the man put the camera down.
"Boots." He demanded. Wordy nodded again and knelt to untie his boots. His fingers shook slightly as he grasped the small laces. He stepped out of them and felt the hard floor through his socks as he gave the boots to the man. More photos and then the next demand broke the awkward silence.
"Vest." Wordy nodded and started to unstrap his vest, his fingers still cold and numb. He felt like every layer he stripped from his body he was growing closer to a breakdown. He took another breath as he handed the vest to the man and watched him take his pictures. Easy, Wordy. He said to himself as he felt his breath hitch in his throat for a moment.
"Shirt." Wordy looked at him for a moment before peeling off his shirt and exposing his skin to the cool air. He handed it to the man, anger mounting slightly as he tried to regulate his breathing.
"Pants." He said as he wrote something on the clipboard.
"Seriously?" Wordy asked, an edge of frustration in his voice. The man looked at him with an unflinching expression. Wordy undid the button of his cool pants and slid them down his legs, stepping out of the left and the right foot. He stood against the wall in his boxer shorts and he felt his chest aching as he held his breath to avoid an explosion. He wasn't sure what was trying to escape, anger or sadness or something else all together, but he knew he couldn't contain it much longer. The man piled all his evidence into a box and took out a few folded articles of clothing, leaving them on the table. Wordy saw his white t-shirt and his jeans and realized that someone must have grabbed them from his locker.
"Someone will be in soon for the interview. You can get dressed." Wordy nodded, not trusting himself to speak, as the man left the room. As the door closed he let out the breath he had been holding. He felt dizzy as he regained his breath and quickly pulled his clothes on. They felt hard against his skin as he sat down in the chair again and picked at his finger nails, needing something to do, something to keep his mind off things.
He didn't know how long he'd been in the room when the door flew open and a man with some files walked into the room. He sat down laid his folders out on the table and set up a tape recorder before addressing Wordy.
"Standard procedure." He said simply as Wordy nodded.
"Ryan Shanri, SIU. How you doing constable?" He asked without smiling. Wordy nodded and took a breath.
"Uhh...you know." Wordy said, trying to be honest. He knew that interactions with SIU usually were not pleasant and he didn't want to show weakness, he couldn't afford to look like he was questioning his decisions.
"Well, I see you're not here too often." Shanri said as he glanced at Wordy's personnel files. "Looks like you've only been questioned as a witness..." He continued to read the files as Wordy tried to keep his breathing even. "Have you ever taken lethal action before today, Constable Wordsworth?" He asked with a bit of a cool undertone.
"Um, no. I've never needed to..." Wordy answered softly. Shanri nodded and opened another folder.
"I've got the transcripts and details from the call today," He said as he leaned back in the chair and looked over the files. "Let's walk through it." He said as he leaned in closer to the table and pulled a pen and notebook out of his pocket. Wordy nodded and started going through the call. Wordy started mechanically going through the details of the case and was explaining how he and Jules were trying to get eyes when the door to the room opened and a larger man walked in. Wordy vaguely recognized him but wasn't sure from where. He pulled up a chair and extended his arm towards Wordy.
"Frank McAndrew," Wordy shook his hand and looked at him questioningly. "I'm your lawyer." He explained. "Ed called me, told me that he needed me to stop in and help you out." Wordy nodded, his brain now connecting the face with the purpose. The lawyer looked up and pulled a chair over form the corner of the room. "Shanri, did you get my client to sign over his soul yet?" He said with a small smile.
"Nice to see you again Frank." Shanri said with a forced smile. "Where were we?" He looked towards Wordy and he continued to go through the call until Shanri interrupted him. "Subject: 'I should have done this a long time ago.' Constable Kevin Wordsworth fires fatal shot to subject." He read from the transcript before looking up at Wordy.
"Ah, that's how it went." He said, unsure about what to say.
"Yep, that's how it went." Shanri mirrored. "That's how a twelve year old girl abuse victim died today." He said harshly.
"You're tone, Shanri," Wordy's lawyer sat up and looked harshly at the officer. "could be a little less accusatory. My client understands his actions but he was forced to fire when threat was shown to the hostage." The officer nodded but wasn't finished.
"If there was threat to the hostage than why didn't the Sargent call Scorpio?" He asked softly. Wordy felt the breath caught in his throat for a moment as he thought about the call. He hadn't had Scorpio, he wasn't cleared to take the shot but he judged the imminent threat, he couldn't wait for the command.
"Constable?" His lawyer was looking at him with a bit of concern as he saw Wordy going around in his head.
"S...sorry. What was the question?" Wordy asked as he shook his head to clear his mind.
"Why did you shoot if you didn't have the clearance?" Shanri said slowly, enunciating his words. Wordy took a breath before forming answer.
"Sarge wasn't in the room, we were trying to negotiate but were having trouble breaking through. I thought that the subject showed the intention to harm the hostage and I did what I had to to protect the hostage." Wordy said mechanically, trying not to let the emotion through. Wordy didn't realize how much time had passed as he glanced down at his watch.
"Listen, just give him the wheel and we can wrap this up." His lawyer said as Shanri pulled a laminated sheet of paper out of the folder and placed it in front of Wordy. He looked at it and saw a progressive series of verbal and nonverbal cues. He glanced at his lawyer before pointing to a section that read 'shows imminent physical harm to hostage through verbal and/or nonverbal actions.'
"Okay," Shanri said as he pushed some papers into a folder. "I think I've got what I need, we'll contact you if any more questions arise." He said as Wordy's lawyer stood and shook his hand. Wordy did the same and turned to his lawyer as the detective left.
"If you need anything else, give me a call." He said as he handed Wordy a business card.
"Thanks." Wordy mumbled as he stood in the room, not sure of what to do next.
"I'll give you a ride back the station, no use getting a cab." Frank said as he walked out of the room.
"Ah, yeah, thanks." Wordy said as he followed, his mind racing.
I just can't get my chapters to be a uniform length this story. I actually had more outlined to go on in this but I'm going to split it up. Tell me what you think please. More might come tonight, not sure though.