PART 16
Amanda opened her eyes to the sun shining through the big picture window in the living room. She got up slowly, her body crying out in protest from the way she had slept. Stretching her muscles, she looked around the room, and saw Jesse asleep in a chair.
She heard the door to Steve's room open and shut. She started to walk over to the hallway, only to be greeted by Mark.
"Morning," she whispered.
"Good morning."
"How's he doing?"
"Still sleeping. I think he's going to sleep for awhile longer."
"Good," Amanda said with a smile. "Did he fall asleep right away after we left the room?"
"Went out like a baby."
The sound of the door being unlocked made Amanda and Mark look. Captain Newman and Cheryl walked in and over to them. Jesse got up from the chair and joined them.
"How's Steve doing?" Cheryl asked.
"He's doing okay," Amanda answered.
"What are you doing to do about Torres?" Mark asked, his expression turning serious.
"There's nothing we can do," Newman said. "We have to wait for him to make his next move."
"You mean to tell me that we have to wait for him to make his move on Steve?"
Newman glanced at Cheryl, and then back at Mark.
"That look says it all," Mark said angrily. "You don't have to answer the question."
Mark walked over to the window. Cheryl flashed Newman a look, and walked after Mark.
"Look, Doctor Sloan," Cheryl began.
"No, I don't want to hear it," Mark interrupted. "You're going to let Torres get to Steve just so you can arrest him, aren't you?"
"No, we won't let Torres get near Steve at all," Cheryl started to explain. "We just need to catch him in the act of trying to get to him."
"And what happens if you don't get to him and he gets to Steve first?"
Cheryl was trying to think up an answer to his question when Newman walked up to them again.
"You see, you can't answer the question, because you're not even sure yourselves if you can prevent that from happening."
"We'll have plenty of back up here," Newman said. "Nothing will happen to Steve."
"I don't like this," Mark told them.
"We don't like it either," Cheryl said. "But we have no other choice."
"Don't you think we tried to consider other choices?" Newman asked.
"Can't you move Steve to another safe house?"
"This is the only safe house we have at this moment," Newman told him.
"We wouldn't put Steve's life in danger," Cheryl said.
"I'm just so afraid for him, Cheryl," Mark said.
"I know," she said. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't afraid either. I am."
Mark looked at her.
"We're going to get Torres," she said. "And Steve's going to be fine."
"I hope so, Cheryl," he said. "Dear God, I hope so."
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Goodwin woke up to the sound of his bedroom door crashing in. He immediately sat up in bed, and saw Jackson and Franklin standing there.
"What the hell are you doing?" Goodwin asked angrily.
"Get dressed," Jackson said. "Torres wants to see you now."
"What the hell does he want now?"
"Don't know, he just told us to come get you."
"Some way of getting a person," Goodwin said sarcastically. "You could have knocked, you know." He put on his robe and turned to see Jackson and Franklin still standing there. "Tell him I'll be there when I'm ready."
Goodwin headed toward the bathroom. Jackson and Franklin came up behind him and grabbed his arms.
"Hey!" Goodwin yelled.
"He said right now," Jackson reminded him.
"Okay, okay. Take your goddamn hands off of me."
Jackson and Franklin let him go and stood there waiting.
"Can I at least go to the bathroom first?" Goodwin asked.
"Just don't take too long."
Goodwin walked into the bathroom; closing the door behind him, he went over to the sink. He knew something was up with Torres, he just didn't know what yet. Opening the cabinet under the sink, he pulled out a .38. Tucking it into his pajama pants under his robe, he looked at himself in the mirror.
"Better safe than sorry," he said to himself, flushing the toilet before leaving the bathroom.
He walked out to see Jackson and Franklin waiting. "Okay, lead the way."
Jackson and Franklin turned to walk out of the room. Goodwin followed, closing the door on his way out.
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Torres paced back and forth in front of his desk, glancing at his watch several times.
Where the hell are those idiots?
A knock at the door brought him back from his thoughts. "Come in."
Jackson opened the door and Goodwin walked in followed by Franklin and Jackson. The door was shut and they both stood by it.
"What the hell is this all about?" Goodwin asked.
"Sit down."
"What if I don't want to?"
"Then I'll just have to shoot you right where you stand." Torres laughed at the look on Goodwin's face. "Come on man, I'm only kidding."
"I don't find it very funny."
"Look, we have to make plans," Torres told him, walking around his desk and sitting in the chair.
"Plans?" Goodwin questioned, sitting down.
"Today is the day the Lieutenant Sloan dies," Torres said with a smirk on his face. "We have to figure out how we're going to get into that safe house to get to him."
"Oh yeah, that's right," Goodwin said nervously. "Did you have anything in particular in mind?"
"Not sure yet, thought I'd listen to your idea. You did think of something, didn't you?"
"Well, trying to go directly in will probably be no good," Goodwin began. "They might have a police officer outside watching the house."
"So you think we should get Sloan to come to us then?"
"That would probably be a better idea."
"But how do we get him to do that?" Torres asked. "I'm sure that if we call, they aren't going to let him speak to us."
"I didn't think that far ahead."
"I got a better idea. We're going to wait until it gets dark, then we go in and kill the son of a bitch."
"What about the cops outside?"
"In the dark," Torres said, "we have the edge. We can sneak up on them and take them out."
"But we don't know how many of them there are."
"I don't care!" Torres yelled. "Nobody, and I mean nobody is going to get in my way getting Sloan." He picked up a gun and pointed it at Goodwin, who quickly stood up. "And if they do, they'll get it right between the eyes."
"All right then," Goodwin said, not taking his eyes off the gun. "It's a plan. What time do we leave?"
"I'll let you know."
Jackson and Franklin moved out of the way as Goodwin opened the door and walked out.
"You want us to take care of him now?" Jackson asked.
"No. I want to wait and catch the traitor in the act."
"Do you want us to watch him?"
"Of course I do. Now go and make sure he doesn't leave here."
Jackson and Franklin walked out of the office. Torres brought the gun up and rubbed his hand over it; he just smiled.