Welcome to my life:

Chapter 4

A couple weeks later found Spike working a night shift. Amy was pretty understanding and fine with him having to work crazy shifts at times. She had her hobbies that did not include Spike, and encouraged him to have the same. She had come up with a system. She didn't spend time with him every single day. When she knew he was working a night shift, she would take food over to the station for him and the others. She did this as a favor to his mother who worried alot.

He didn't always go over to her house either. Sometimes on the rare occassion when they both had the same days off they would go out. More often than not they wouldn't see each other everyday. Spike was fine with it as well. Tonight though, Spike was very glad that he was working a night shift and that Amy was working the night shift at the diner and wasn't able to bring over dinner.

Amy was angry with him. No wait, make that extremely pissed at him. Spike reflected on just why Amy was pissed at him. Earlier in the week, after Amy had noticed that someone had broken into her garage and had filed a police report, Spike waited until she had gone to work and went over and had an alarm system and locks installed in her house. He paid for it and didn't tell her ahead of time. Didn't ask if that was what she had wanted. That was the mistake he had made.

He could still remember the harsh and angry words that they had exchanged when she had come home and found out what he had done. She had said that she really appreciated the fact that he wanted her to be safe, but she resented his just going ahead and doing things for her. After he had left, he reasoned that she was mostly right. He should have asked first. He was pulled from his thoughts when his cell phone rang.

" Michaelangelo Scarlatti Speaking." He was hoping that it was Amy, calling to say she was sorry. Spike dismissed that thought a second later. Amy was a strong stubborn young woman. She would never say that she was sorry if she was in the right. And Spike admitted to himself that she was right. He had had no right to install the alarm system and locks.

"Spike. This is Amy. I am at work. Listen, I called the police two hours ago because James and Pablo are here, and no one ever showed up. I figured that I would cut them some slack as there could have been a major emergency that required them more. There's nothing. I am in the back room and I don't think that James and Pablo know I am here. Patrick said that I was away visiting family." Spike stood up and hurried to the briefing room where Ed and Greg were sitting going over some manuals.

"Amy Honey. Are you in sight of James and Pablo? Do they know where you are at the moment? Are you in plain sight in the back room or are you hidden. Are you wearing your work clothes or are you wearing your street clothes." He reached across the table and grabbed a pen and paper and started to jot some things down with Greg peering over his shoulder.

"No. I am wearing my black sweater and black jeans. I am in the back room Spike. There's a door that is shut. There is a door that leads out the back where we usually throw the garbage in the dumpster for pick up. If I could reach that door, I could sneak out and be down the street before they decide to check the back room." Spike nodded and then realized that she couldn't hear a nod.

He waved his hand to get their attention and motioned to the table. He sat down as they did the same. Ed got up and yelled for the rest of the team. They assembled and looked at Spike. Spike was writing down little details on a sheet of paper, trying to keep Amy as calm as possible. They listened to his side of the conversation. Sam motioned for him to put Amy on Speaker.

"Amy. It's Greg. I need you to stay hidden in the back room. Do not come out for any reason until someone from the team comes and gets you. Do you know if there are any weapons involved? Anything that you can tell me about James or Pablo? We know that Pablo is a filmmaker from France. We also know what kind of filmmaker he is. We ran his fingerprints." Amy shifted position under the desk where she was currently hiding.

"Yeah. He's a creep. He's been after me for some time. He wants me to star in his next film. I have no intention of doing so. I am royally pissed at James though. He took pictures of me and sent them to Pablo who published them. I overheard James saying something about a gun. He has several registered to him. He's threatened me with one before. Several times actually. Oh no." The last part was said in a hushed whisper and they could hear muffled noises.

"Amy. If you can still hear me, I want you to press a button on your phone." They heard a beep. Spike sighed in relief. Greg took the phone and took it off of speaker to minimize the noise. He heard a door creak open and then a muffled yelp and muttered cursing. Greg waited a second and then spoke again. They were in the trucks on their way to the coffeeshop.

"Amy, if it's safe for you to talk, I want you to press another button. If not keep quiet." There was no beep. Greg nodded to himself. Just as he was about to speak again to ask another question, he heard some muffled voices over the phone. He could only hope that Amy was safe and well hidden. He said a small, quick prayer to himself that she really would be ok. He focused on the voices, hoping to glean some information.

"I told you both. Amy is not here. She went out of town to visit family. She is not due back until the end of the week. If she were here, she would have been up front with the rest of us." Patrick was speaking, while looking around trying to make sure that he didn't lead James anywhere near Amy. James wasn't buying it. He knew Amy's family. Amy's parents were still at home. He had gone driving by their place first before coming to the coffeeshop.

"Bullshit! Don't lie to me Patrick. I know her family. She's here somewhere. Wait- Why is that door there open? I thought you said no one was back here, that everyone was up front. YOU LIED TO ME." Greg could hear a thump and he assumed that James had slammed Patrick against the wall. He heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked. He was about to have someone call the coffeeshop phone when Patrick's frenzied voice was heard.

"That door leads outside behind the building to where we throw the garbage. Where we have the dumpster. Kelly must have come in that way and left it open again. It's happened before. I've told her time and again to not leave it open. Apparently she keeps forgetting." Greg heard another thump and winced when he heard the gun go off and Patricks agonized scream. He could only hope that it wasn't a fatal shot. Then he heard vague moaning. That reassured him.

"Let that be a lesson to you Patrick. Don't ever lie to me. I don't like being lied to. Amy knows that. She lied to me only one time. I beat her ass for it too when I discovered the lie. I told her the penalty for lying to me was severe and she understood. She is very smart and won't lie to me again." James sat down on the couch briefly before jumping up and pacing. Spike was in the truck gathering intel and trying to keep from barging in there and beating him up.

The team were at the coffeeshop and had set up a perimeter. Greg had already told Amy to remain on the line and put the phone on silent. She had done so. He picked up the phone in the command truck and called the coffeeshop. She kept her hand over her mouth, sure that if she took her hand away, she would scream.

The phone in the break room started to ring as Greg tried to call to distract James from finding Amy. Amy rolled her eyes, as James crossed to the phone. Answering the phone brought him that much closer to her. She remained as still as a statue, thankful that she had chosen to wear her black street clothes tonight. Praying to God that he would not look under the desk.

"Hello? Amy sweetie, is that you?" He said into the phone eagerly. Amy rolled her eyes again. She was trying to figure out why she had dated him in the first place. He was an annoying, clingy, jerk who wanted his ex girlfriend to be in pornographic movies and magazines. She was still pissed that James had secretly taped him and her having sex and had given pictures of her naked to Pablo who of course had them published.

"James Watson. This is SGT Greg Parker with the Police Strategic Response Unit. How are you doing today buddy?" There was no answer, so Greg assumed that he was at least listening to him. He continued to talk, hoping that his words would somehow calm him down. His first priority was getting the hostages out and keeping James from finding Amy in the back room. He covered the mouthpeice of the phone and turned to Ed.

"Eddie Find a perch. Sam lethal. Wordy Less Lethal. Spike in the truck and Jules, you are my second. Let's go. Remember. He doesn't know that Amy is in the back room with them. She's depending on us to keep her location a secret. Let's do everything we can to keep him from finding her. Let's keep the peace." The team scattered to their various tasks. Greg turned his attention back to James, who he could still hear muttering.

"James, why don't you put the gun down and come outside and talk to me, or I could come in there and speak to you. What do you say to that?" There was no response. Greg tried again to get an answer from him. Still nothing. He relayed some orders to the team and picked up the phone again. James had set the phone down on the desk and Greg could hear everything going on in the room. Greg knew that he was on the edge.

"James, you know if you tell me what it is that you want, maybe I can help you out. Maybe a fair exchange or something." Greg heard James yell an obscenity at him and he rolled his eyes. He kept talking, hoping that something that he might say would click with him. He had very little hope of anything making a crack in James's train of thought.

Ed and Wordy had already run around back and were preparing for entry into the back room. James had not shut the door, so it gave them good vantage and eyes in. Pablo had already fled the coffee shop and the people in the front had been evacuated. But James didn't know that. Ed and Wordy continued to watch him pace.

"Boss, I have a good vantage point and if he come near the open doorway again, I can wing him a bit. take him down without killing him. Problem solved." Wordy spoke into his mic, while watching James pace inside the back room. Ed was deathly quiet and focused. Wordy knew he was poised to take the shot if Amy was threatened in anyway.

"A possibility Wordy. Hold on to it for the time being. I'd rather try to get him out peacefully. Any suggestions you have Eddie?" Ed was about to answer Greg when his attention was drawn to the room once more. He pointed to Wordy and then to the door. Wordy dropped down closer to the door and hid just barely out of sight.

Suddenly James stopped his pacing and turned towards the desk. Ed knew what he was about to do before he did it. He hoped to god that he was wrong, but Ed knew in his gut that he wasn't. He watched helpless as James casually walked over to the desk and pulled out the desk chair. At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Suddenly James' arm disappeared under the desk. It reappeared a moment later.

"There you are."