It took less than three weeks for everything to go wrong. Though neither Mary nor Marshall were happy with the new arrangement, they were willing to give it a shot. They both figured maybe if they played well for a little while, they might be allowed to partner up again. And after the display at the training complex, all parties were satisfied that their partners would do.
After that first week, Mary had begun taking Teddy when she went to see her witnesses; introducing him to them and helping him get a feel for the job. Marshall was doing the same thing with Royce. Though they no longer were partners, Marshall and Mary still ate lunch together, sometimes inviting one or both of the other guys to join them. Because he knew her witnesses almost as well as she did, Marshall would often surprise Mary by filling out her paperwork for her. She would return the favor by super gluing things to his desk. Though they were technically no longer partners, they still acted the same way toward each other. On mornings they didn't come to work together, Marshall would get her coffee and when they needed something, even work related, they called the other.
Teddy and Royce had been in Albuquerque for exactly 20 days when the alert went up on Whitney Cole, nee Myers. She'd been in the program for seven months. Mary had thought she'd do well. She had been working as a secretary for a man she believed was a banker. It turns out he was actually a don in the Italian mafia. Once she realized that some of the errands she had run had led to the deaths of 5 people, she called the FBI. She had no living family, her parents had been dead for years and she was an only child. The only person she'd even mentioned since coming into the program was her best friend.
Whitney slipped. She made one phone call, didn't even speak, just listened long enough to hear her best friend say hello. Afraid that she could put both of them in danger, she'd hung up. But that had been enough. The man she'd been working for had friends monitoring the line. Two days after the aborted phone call, the mafia was in Albuquerque. But Marshall wasn't.
One of Marshall's witnesses had needed to be in court in Florida. Marshall and Royce had flown out on Sunday evening. Mary didn't expect him back till Wednesday.
When the computer flashed the alert, saying that Joey Figs and Tony 'Knuckles' Falcone had just landed at the Sunport, she didn't have a minute to call him either. "Stan, I've got to go. I've got two Italian hitmen just landed here. I've got to get to Whitney's house now. Come on, Teddy, we're on."
She grabbed her badge and her gun and was out the door. Teddy froze. It took Stan coming out of the office and yelling at him to follow her to get the younger man moving. He barely made it into the elevator before the doors closed. Mary moved toward one of the official SUVs, complete with bullet resistant glass and lead door paneling rather than her own car. Needing to get a hold of Whitney, she pointed Teddy to the driver seat. She quickly programmed the GPS for him so that she could focus on the call.
"Whitney, it's Mary. I need you to go into the bathroom. Stay there until I come get you, okay. I'm on my way. Just stay down." She hung up the phone and looked over at Teddy, "Step on it, Daniels, this is an emergency."
When Teddy pulled up in front of Whitney's house, Mary was out of the car before he'd put it in park, "Keep the engine running, I'll be back in one minute." She ran inside, gun drawn, searching for signs of foul play. Seeing that the door was locked and no traces of a break in, she cautiously called for Whitney. "Whitney, it's Mary, come out, we've gotta go."
Whitney cautiously peaked her head out of the bathroom, "Mary? Is this because I called Lizz? I'm sorry, I just…" Mary saw the tears building in Whitney's eyes. She moved quickly to her side.
"It doesn't matter right now, okay, we've got to get out of here. Let's go. I promise, we'll figure this out."
Mary peered into the yard before allowing Whitney to leave the house. She looked toward Teddy, checking for the all clear. But Teddy was not looking for threats. He had his eyes anxiously glued on the door Mary had disappeared through. She let out a harsh breath, "I'm gonna kill him." Hoping that there was no one hiding in her blind spots, she took one more quick scope of the yard, wrapped her arm around Whitney and ran for the car.
Teddy had pulled into the driveway, so Mary's dash had her angling for the rear door on his side. When she reached the car, she pulled the handle, but nothing happened. She stared at in confusion for a moment. Then her brain kicked in and she began pulling at it. "Damn it, Teddy, unlock the door, hurry the hell up."
She watched through the window as Teddy fumbled for the unlock button. And then she heard shots. The first hit the door just to the right of her shoulder. The second and third hit her. Not having had time to put on a vest, her body erupted in pain. She pulled Whitney closer, shielding her young witness. Teddy finally hit the button, unlocking the door. Mary grunted in pain, reached for the door and shoved Whitney inside. She hopped in behind her, trying to ignore the pain and the blood steadily flowing down her right arm and back. The shooter got off two more shots before Mary closed the door. One went wide just grazing Whitney's arm, Mary felt the fifth hit, but there was so much pain at that point, she couldn't tell where it landed.
"Drive, Daniels, get us the hell out of here." Mary tried to fight off the blackness that was encroaching on her sight. She felt lightheaded and was having trouble focusing, but knew she had to keep it together. She reached for her cell. "Stan, I need you to meet us at UNMH, I'm gonna need backup there."
"Mary, what happened, are you all right?" Stan was on his feet, already moving out the door.
"We didn't get there fast enough. Whitney's hit, but it doesn't look too bad." Mary's voice was getting weaker. Whitney saw that Mary was bleeding. She took the phone.
"Mr. McQueen, this is Whitney. Mary was shot, she's bleeding. There's blood everywhere. Oh my God, what do I do?" Whitney moved the phone to her shoulder and tried to get Mary to focus. "Mary, Mary, I need you to look at me, please.
Hearing the young woman plead with his inspector, Stan cursed himself. He didn't think he could go through this again, watching Mary lie in a hospital bed while a ventilator kept her breathing. "Whitney, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, a little cut is all. Mary protected me. The bullets hit her."
Stan let out a breath; of course Mary had protected her. "Whitney, I need you to find the wounds, apply pressure to them, okay. Now, hand the phone to Teddy." Whitney did as directed, passing the phone forward to Mary's new partner. "Daniels, what the hell happened?" Stan couldn't keep the anger out of his voice.
"I don't know, Boss. There were bullets everywhere. I couldn't see the shooters from where I was." Teddy had panicked. He knew that. In all the time he'd spent in the IOD, he'd never found himself in the direct line of gunfire. He hadn't mentioned that to his new partner, or anyone in the office for that matter.
Stan knew he didn't have time to figure everything out over the phone. He had to make sure Mary got to a hospital. "UNMH, do you know where that is?"
"The University Hospital? Yea, Mary pointed it out last week." Teddy was quickly trying to remember how to get there. Luckily, he was good with directions.
"Get there, now. And I swear to God, if Mary doesn't pull through this time, I'm gonna have your badge and your ass." Stan hung up and drove faster. He checked the clock. Marshall would be out of court. They were scheduled for a plane out Wednesday morning, but there was no way Stan was going to let him sit in Miami for 12 hours while Mary was in the hospital. He called the Miami office first.
"This is Stan McQueen, from Albuquerque…I've been better, Rick…Listen, I need a favor. I need you to send a few men over to relieve Inspector Mann…I'm trying to get him on the next flight home…His, uh, girlfriend, is in the hospital, emergency…No, I haven't talked to him yet, I wanted to make arrangements for him to get home first…Thanks, Rick, I appreciate it. I'll let you know… Inspector Royce and his charge are still on tomorrow's flight… Yea, ok… Bye."
Stan next call was to his boss. "Director, I have a situation. I need a private plane out of Miami, and a ride for one of my Inspectors…Which one? The one you insisted couldn't be partnered with Shannon… No, Mann's fine, but Shannon's on the way to the hospital with several GSWs…I don't know the story yet, but I'm willing to bet good money that the new partner you insisted she have is an idiot…I don't care at this point. But I'm about to call Inspector Mann and inform him that his girlfriend is in the emergency room, so there needs to be a car at his hotel ASAP to take him to the airport, and there needs to be a plane waiting for him there…Director, last time Mary Shannon got shot, she almost didn't make it. No way am I taking that chance again. Mann's on a flight home within the hour. And once I know Mary's going to make it, we're gonna revisit the idea of them being partners…I'm glad you understand, sir, thank you…I'll be sure to let you know." Stan disconnected the call. He'd been worried that splitting Mary and Marshall up could have consequences, but he hadn't imagined this.
Steeling himself for a very painful conversation, Stan dialed Marshall's number. The younger man answered on the second ring. "Hey, Stan, what's shaking?"
The laughter in Marshall's voice just about broke Stan's heart. "Marshall, there's been a situation."
Marshall's good mood vanished. Royce watched his face go from relaxed, to dead serious in a heartbeat. "What kind of situation, the 'Mary beat someone to death' kind of situation or the 'one of your witnesses is in trouble' kind?"
Stan tried to keep his voice level. "Mary's on her way to the hospital, Marshall. One of her witnesses was tracked down, they caught her off guard." Stan didn't know exactly what happened, so he knew it was better to be vague.
"Is she alright?" He paused, waiting for an answer. When Stan remained silent, Marshall asked again, "She's going to be okay, though, Stan, right?"
"I don't know yet, Marshall. She's en route to the hospital now, with Daniels. I'm meeting her there. She called in after it happened, but her voice was fading and Whitney had to take the phone. I don't know exactly what happened. From what Whitney said, Mary was shot, more than once." He didn't want to sugar coat it for Marshall, out of fear that things might be worse than he currently thought. Last time Mary had been in the hospital, her heart had stopped. Stan still remembered how devastated Marshall had been that day, and they weren't even dating then.
"Stan, I need to be there. I can't lose her. I need to see her, to talk to her." Marshall could feel the tears, but he didn't try to stop them. Never mind the fact that there were two men, practically strangers, sitting there watching him fall apart.
"I have a car on its way to the hotel to pick you up and a plane standing by at the airport. As soon as I know Mary's condition, I'll call back."
Marshall did not have the presence of mind to thank his boss. "Stan, if you talk to her, tell her she promised me. She's not allowed to leave."
Stan felt for his Inspector. He'd known Marshall the longest, had worked with him for near a decade. He'd never seen him happier than when he was with Mary. "I'll tell her."
Marshall hung up the phone and felt the strength leave his legs. He fell onto the bed, struggling to keep himself together. He felt Royce come up next to him. "What happened, Marshall?" Royce handed him a glass of water, hoping to calm his partner down.
"Mary's been shot. Stan doesn't know how bad it is." Marshall looked down at the glass, without warning, he launched it against the wall, shattering it. "And I wasn't there, again."
"Marshall, man, whatever happened, it's not your fault. Mary's not your partner, you can't watch out for her every second anymore. That's Teddy's job now." Royce offered the words as comfort, he didn't mean to upset Marshall more.
"No, protecting Mary is my job, it's always been my job. I'm her keeper." His voice softened as he spoke. He thought about the night he'd proposed, how happy they had both been. A tendril of fear took root at the thought of never seeing Mary in her wedding dress. He stopped himself from following that train of thought. "Stan's sending a car, I'm going back."
"Marshall, think about this man, we've got a job to do. You can't just take off." Royce had seen over the past few weeks how close Marshall and Mary were, but he didn't understand the man's reaction. "You're not Mary's partner."
Marshall stood, done with this conversation, "Yes, I am." He grabbed his coat and his bag and moved toward the door. He didn't bother saying goodbye, simply swept out of the room. By the time he made it downstairs, the car was waiting for him.
