Journey Through the Past- Chapter 44
Shifting through the debris left behind from the explosion at County Lock-Up, Catherine Willows and the rest of the graveyard shift carefully picked their way through the row of cells that constituted the isolation block. The two dead inmates lay outside the cell designated for Lucas Mallory. Both men had been beaten beyond recognition. Mallory had survived and had been taken to Desert Palm. He also had been beaten but was in critical condition.
"Jim, it looks like your instincts were right. Something was up with Mallory," commented Catherine as she shifted through the contents of Mallory's cell.
"Yeah, well, at least we know where Mallory is," replied Brass drily. "Still, this doesn't seem right. Something's off. Maybe I'm just being paranoid about this whole business."
Brass paused, then continued, " I've assigned two police officers to be with him at all times. They should be relieving the two correctional officers who rode in the ambulance with him."
"Good. Do you know when those two officers will check back in? I'd like one of the guys to interview them," said Catherine.
"I'll have them get in contact with you or one of the guys as soon as they report back here," said the captain as his phone chirped.
Taking the phone out of his pocket, he answered with a terse, "Brass."
Catherine watched as the police captain's face turned a deep red with anger.
"Are you sure? What do you mean that the inmate who was just brought in wasn't Mallory? Where the hell is he? Better yet, who in the hell is lying in the hospital bed? What do you mean you don't know? Damn it! You'd better find out. Keep me informed- and you'd better have some news for me soon!" ordered an angry Jim Brass.
Watching Brass snap his phone shut, Catherine stared at the police captain with consternation.
"Jim? Did I hear that correctly? What's going on?" asked Catherine.
Shaking his head, Brass bit off each word in a worried tone, "Apparently, when they did a cross-match for Mallory's blood-type, the blood types didn't match for what they have on record. They're checking into it to find out just who's in the ER."
The homicide detective brushed by Catherine and made his way back into the cell block. Assistant coroner David Phillips had just arrived and had just released the bodies for transport.
"David, when you get back to the morgue, run their ten-cards along with the two guards who accompanied "Mallory" to Desert Palm Hospital. I have a feeling that we have two missing inmates and two dead guards," said Brass.
David gave him a questioningly look but nodded nonetheless and headed out.
Catherine, who had followed the detective, grabbed his arm, "Jim, what the hell is going on?"
She paused momentarily when a horrifying thought entered her mind.
"My God, Jim! Grissom…what about Grissom?"
Having the same sudden thought, Brass was quickly on his cell phone to Detective Vartann.
"Hey, it's Jim Brass. Listen, I don't have time to go into all the details, but I want 24-hour guards outside of Grissom's room asap. We have reason to believe that Mallory has escaped."
Nodding his head as if Vartann could see him, Brass went on, "I'll fill you in with more of the details as I find them out, but right now I want Grissom protected. You got that? Now get a detail up there NOW!"
Turning to Catherine, Brass asked the senior investigator, "Let's hope that the detail gets there before Mallory does. Where is Sara? Is she with Grissom?"
Shaking her head, Catherine said, "No, she was going to get some rest and go up to see Gris after he had his late afternoon PT session. I'll give her a call to let her know what's going on. Another set of eyes at the hospital won't hurt."
"I'm going to head over to the hospital right now. I want to check on who's ever in the ER and see if I can get some answers from him. While I'm at it, I will check in with Grissom," said Brass, "Keep me informed of anything you find out here."
"No, the guys will call in any information. I'm coming with you, and you'd better be running with your lights flashing," said Catherine as she hustled over to where Warrick and Nick were examining the remnants of a detonation device to let them know that she was leaving with Brass.
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Wilson stood over Grissom and quickly hauled the injured man to his feet and unceremoniously dumped him into the wheelchair. A low moan escaped from Grissom as he tried to right himself in the chair.
"Grissom, you okay?" asked Jones quietly.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just dizzy and a little nauseous," groaned Grissom.
Mallory turned to both men. "Remember, no funny business. I'm not in the mood to be playing games. You understand?"
"Kenny, start pushing the chair. Wilson, open the door. Remember, Cousin, the service elevators."
Jones nodded reluctantly and proceeded to push the chair out the open door. He looked up in time to see Sara and Scott emerge from the elevators to the left, deep in conversation. If he turned quickly enough, hopefully, they wouldn't notice them and would be out of Mallory's sights. Making the right hand turn to the service elevators around the corner, they were quickly out of sight of the visitors.
Mallory pressed the elevator door button, the doors immediately slid open and the party of four quickly entered the lift and was gone.
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Scott and Sara entered the hospital doors together. It was late afternoon, and they had brought with them two bags of Thai food to share with Grissom. The man had lost thirty or so pounds since this whole ordeal had started. Though he had little or no appetite, the meals served him at the hospital did little to entice him to eat. Sara had thought that maybe bringing food that he had enjoyed previously might encourage him to eat.
"So Thai food was one of my father's favorite foods?" asked Scott as they emerged from the elevator that had taken them to Grissom's floor.
"Yeah, Scott. They say smell and taste have tremendous power in triggering memories. Since your father's appetite has been severely lacking, I thought I'd try to kill two birds with one stone."
The chirping of her cell phone had Sara pausing in her tracks as she checked the caller ID.
"Well, hi Catherine. Scott and I were just about to see Grissom…" Sara stopped speaking as she listened intently to the caller. She gave a quick glance at Scott and stepped away from him.
"Wait a minute, Cath. Mallory, Mallory has escaped? You and Brass are already here? You think he might…" Sara didn't finish her statement as she quickly scanned the nurses' station and the rest of the floor.
"I don't see anything really unusual going on. Looks like business as usual. The floor is pretty quiet. I'll go in and check on Grissom. You said that Vartann is sending up a couple of officers?" She paused as she listened to Catherine.
"No, I'm not carrying, but, then again, I'm off-duty. I don't think the officers have arrived, but I'll check with the head nurse. Then, I'll check on Grissom. I'll call you back in just a minute," said Sara, her voice filled with concern.
Returning to Scott, she handed the bag of food she had in her hand to Grissom's son. "Stay here. I want to check with the head nurse and then see your dad before we bring him his dinner."
"Sara…" Scott queried, "What's going…"
"Listen Scott. It's probably nothing. Just hang out here, okay?"
"No, I'm coming with you. If it's something to do with Grissom, I should be there," Scott said stubbornly.
"Scott, something happened at County Lock-Up, and Brass just wants to make sure that things are secure here, all right?"
"What happened at County? It's Mallory, isn't it? What's that got to do with Grissom?" Scott paused, his eyes widened, "He escaped, didn't he? Brass is afraid that he's going to come after my father, isn't he?"
Sara let out an exasperated sigh, "Just stay here okay? I'm sure he's just fine."
"Are you kidding me right now? No way, Sara."
"Fine. I don't want to waste time arguing with you. Just stay behind me," Sara grumbled and then in a whisper just under her breath, "God, you're as bad as your dad."
"I heard that," Scott whispered back.
Sara quickly gave Scott a hard look and proceeded to the nurses' station. Stacey Knight, the head nurse for the floor, looked up from her computer screen.
"Hi. I see that you brought Mr. Grissom something to eat. It smells good. If that doesn't jumpstart his appetite, I don't know what will," she said with a grin.
Sara smiled back and looked down the deserted hallway towards Grissom's room.
"You haven't seen any strangers hanging around, have you? Specifically a white male about his tall with dark blonde hair cut into a crew cut?"
Stacey frowned, "No, can't say that I have, but I barely came on shift just before you and Scott got off the elevators. You should probably ask Jenny. Her shift doesn't end for another hour, but I think she's making her rounds. Is there anything wrong or that I need to know?"
Sara shook her head, "I don't know. Just a little paranoid where Grissom's concerned. Scott and I will go see if we can get him to eat something before he fades completely away."
Sara tipped her head at Scott and led the way to Grissom's room. The door was shut so she knocked softly. Hearing muffled sounds coming from the other side of the door, she quickly opened the door.
"Hey Gil, Scott and I brought…" Any further words momentarily died in her throat. Sara quickly surveyed the scene that lay before her. Turning to Scott, she ordered him to have Stacey call hospital security. Stunned, Scott stared into the room, the bags of food forgotten.
Sara grabbed the bags and tossed them down and shoved Scott out the door. "Go Scott! Now! Quickly!"
Seeing that all three occupants of the room were not injured, Sara quickly pulled out her cell and hit speed-dial.
"Cath…it looks like we're too late," Sara tried to swallow the panic that was rising within her and stay calm, "It…it looks like this just went down. I've got three victims tied up and gagged. They don't look like they've been injured. I'm going to try to get some answers. Yeah….see you when you get here."
Sara hurriedly slid on latex gloves from the bathroom and swiftly untied Jenny. The handcuffed officers would have to wait until other law enforcement officers to arrive so that they could be uncuffed. Sara quickly removed their gags and helped them into sitting positions.
Automatically shifting into investigation mode, Sara grilled the officers on the details of Grissom's disappearance. It had only been a matter of minutes since Mallory had taken Grissom and Jones.
Sara was immediately on her cell phone to Catherine and she had hospital security locking down the facility as best they could. The elevators were shut down and the hospital exits were either guarded or locked. All emergencies were being diverted to other hospitals in the Vegas area. All hospital personnel had been alerted that two escaped prisoners from County were loose in the hospital with two hostages, but were to remain calm as to not disturb or upset the patients.
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Mallory knew that it was only a matter of minutes before Sara would discover that Grissom had been taken. Time was short. By now he was sure that the authorities had discovered that the man in the ER was not who they thought he was. Wilson seemed to have things under control. Except for Jones entering the room, everything had gone as planned. Mallory hadn't planned on taking his cousin, but Mallory would make it work. As far as he was concerned, taking Ken Jones along with them was a bonus.
Wilson stopped the elevator on the next floor down, knowing that in a few moments the elevators would be locked down. The stairways would take a little longer to be secured. Emerging from the elevator first, Wilson checked to make sure that the hallway was clear. Turning his head, the tall Afro-American nodded his head, and the group made their way quickly to the stairs.
Jerking Grissom out of the chair, Wilson pushed the injured man against the wall and held him there.
"Doc, get over here. You're going to have to help him down the stairs," ordered Wilson.
Jones took a deep breath and draped his left arm around Grissom's waist and pulled the man's arm around his own shoulders. His patient gave him a wan smile to let him know that he was okay, but Jones could plainly see the pain etched across his face.
Taking the lead in the stairwell, Wilson opened the door and led Jones and Grissom down the stairs with Mallory bringing up the rear. They would have to move quickly before security was fully alerted.
After stumbling down two more flights of stairs, Wilson let the two men rest a bit while he checked for security. Seeing the way clear, they made their way down one more flight to the hospital's underground parking garage.
By this time, Grissom was feeling serious pain rear its ugly head from his abdominal injuries. Though Jenny had just given him his pain medication minutes before, the jostling, pulling, and stumbling aggravated his injured ribs and abdominal wound. His head was spinning from Mallory's blow to his head, and he had trouble focusing his vision.
"C'mon Grissom, not much further. Just through that door. Our ticket out of here should be right outside this door," said Mallory has he grabbed the front of Grissom's T-shirt and pulled him away from Jones. Grissom staggered forward holding his casted left arm close to his side with his right hand.
Mallory proceeded to push Grissom against the wall next to the door as he carefully opened it and shoved the injured man through the opening. Following right behind him, Jones was being pushed forward by Wilson who was pressing this gun into the doctor's back.
The driver of the blue Missions Linens utility van had backed the van up to the entrance of the back door. As the driver waited patiently for his "delivery" to show up, he pulled his cap low over his head and adjusted his dark glasses. The stairwell door slammed open, and Grissom stumbled forward and fell to his knees.
"Get up Grissom. Your friends are going to be showing up any second, and we need to be away from here before that happens," said Mallory forcefully.
Turning to his cousin, Mallory added, "Kenny, I'm sorry, but you're not coming with us. It's obvious that you can't be trusted. I just want to have to deal with what you might do when my back is turned. Wilson, you know what to do."
Grinning like a mad man, Wilson turned towards the doctor, but Jones was not about to be gunned down without a fight. He charged Wilson, catching the escaped prisoner off-guard. They crashed into the open bay of the van, and both men fought for control of Wilson's gun. The gun went off and an errant shot ricocheted through the van.
Panicked, Mallory screamed at the driver, "Let's get out of here! Step on it, damnit!"
The driver hesitated for a second, but then the door from the stairwell burst open with several LVPD officers spilling through. Seeing the police, the driver immediately hunkered down in his seat and gunned the engine. The sudden lurching of the van as it screeched from its parking space ejected the two fighting men out onto the concrete floor of the parking garage.
As the escaping van squealed around the corner and up the exit ramp, Mallory was able to brace himself and slam the cargo doors of the van shut. Gulping for breath, Mallory slid the gun into the holster at his hip. Grissom who was holding his injured left arm close to his body was trying to brace himself against the wild rocking of the van has the driver sped from the hospital parking garage to the bright sunlit streets of Las Vegas.
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A/N: There'll be one final twist, but it will all be good. Believe it or not, we're close to the end. Please, please review and let me know what you think. beck