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Chapter 16- Calling Backup.
"Andy" the pounding on the front door was accompanied by Sophie's voice crying and yelling at the same time as the three of them descended the stairs.
Andy was about to take a step forward and rush towards the door, but Sam's hand on her arm stopped her.
"We don't know if she's alone". Sam said when Andy gave him a horrified glare.
"She's a kid Sam" Andy shook her arm loose and stormed the door while Peck looked out the windows, pointed her gun at the door and then nodded.
Sam lifted his on the other side and Andy opened the door when she had his confirmation.
As soon as the door opened, Andy found Sophie looking really bad before she shrieked when she saw Sam's gun pointed at her head over Andy's shoulder.
"It's okay" Andy pulled Sophie in and shut the door, Sam stepping up to slide the locks into place.
"I'm so sorry, he made me" Sophie cried out in a panic. "They're right behind me".
"Who Sophie?".
"Nico, and a couple guys. They're coming for you".
The next few minutes went by in slow motion, Sam springing into action to grab Sophie and a duffle bag before pushing her towards the stairs. Gail took the bag from him and dragged the zipper down before pulling out a vest and stopping Sophie. Next she helped Sophie put the vest on before she handed another vest and a gun to Andy.
"We need to go" Sam ushered them all upstairs, Peck's hand holding out the only other vest towards him only to receive a shake of the head.
It was hers to wear.
The sound of screeching tires sounded outside, Gail's voice ragging above the sound. Andy hadn't even seen her retrieve the phone she was talking into desperately.
Sam pulled Sophie up the stairs and opened the bathroom door before telling her to get in the tub after locking the door. Sam pointed to windows at the end of the hallway before barking out orders about staying away from them and taking shelter behind walls.
Andy seemed dazed. She really wasn't in the mood for this.
Each of them went to their assigned area and waited, Andy watching Sam as he too made a call and zoned out on the world.
He really was a born cop.
After minutes of waiting, nothing happened.
No knocking, no breaking wood or gunshots. Just absolute silence.
"Is this happening?" Peck asked like she was bored and looking forward to some action.
"I smell smoke" Andy said and turned to look down the hallway where she found a steady waft of white seeping in under a closed door.
"Move" Sam suddenly said, rather loudly as he stood up and headed for the bathroom where he hid Sophie.
After banging on the door and convincing Sophie to open it, Sam was just about ready to head through to one of the bedrooms and use the window as a means of escape when he saw the door handle sagging.
If the door handle was sagging then there were flames on the other side.
Sam looked up to see Sophie freaking out until Andy stepped in front of her and yelled her name to get her to focus.
"We'll be okay" he heard her reassure the young girl.
"We're going to die Andy. They're burning the house down" Sophie sobbed.
"No Sophie, we're going to be okay. I promise". Sam couldn't help but smile. Even when they were facing dire straights, Andy believed that they would be fine.
"There's no-one I'd rather go through this with than Sam and Gail okay. You need to stay calm, we'll be okay. Trust me".
Sophie nodded, but just barely.
Andy's words hit a nerve with Sam. He remembered saying them to her once upon a time.
"What do we do now?" Peck asked eyeing the stairs. There was no smoke coming up that way which meant that whoever was burning the house down wanted them to go downstairs.
"They want us down there" Sam replied and Peck nodded. She assumed that too.
The sound of crackling wood grew louder and it was most likely from petrol bombs thrown through the windows into each of the rooms upstairs.
"We go up".
It was the worst idea ever.
Right now, they were trapped on the second floor while it was burning, downstairs had probably been set on fire too, to some degree in order to get them to go where they were wanted.
And maybe even the attic had been set alight, or the roof, but if they went downstairs- they were all dead.
Sam moved away from the three sets of eyes and tried the door at the end of the hallway opposite the stairs and furthest from the bathroom.
The wood felt cold so it was probably safe to open the door.
But, if upstairs had been petrol bombed too, and the windows were smashed, the fresh air could turn the hall into an inferno if a draft came down and caused a backflash.
Then again, it was that, or die.
"Get in the bathroom and close the door".
Surprisingly, all three women listened to that command and Sam was left alone to open the door.
When he did, nothing happened, so he called out and three pairs of feet followed him upstairs.
The room was safe, okay for now but it posed the problem of how to get down before the house started collapsing down around them.
Callaghan was taking him time to show up with backup and emergency services, the wail of sirens still only a myth.
Sam whipped his phone out again and made another call to him as the house began creaking...
...
The calls had been expected if he was honest.
He knew that Nico would go after Swarek and Andy when he found out they were cops, and seeing as the kid managed to bolt out the barn he knew that Nico would pick her up before she got too far.
Okay, maybe the third call from Swarek was unexpected. The call wasn't supposed to end with 'they're burning us out'. But it had, so now it was time to pull them out.
This op was deader than a door nail.
Walking through the barn Luke had stopped when he got the first call from Peck.
He headed straight for Frank's office and told him he had UC's in trouble and that he needed the parade room now.
Frank didn't hesitate, he jumped up and called out across the barn, all available officers flooding towards the parade room in seconds.
Most officers were on patrol, but Frank sorted that out by picking up his phone and calling dispatch to radio them back to the barn.
Luke had his file in his hand, a weary breath drawn as he faced the front of the room and waited for Frank to enter the parade room.
When he did, Luke flipped open the file and pinned the first photograph to the board.
The murmurs and gasps were severe as they drew through the room, Frank took a step to the side and sat down in the first chair he found when he saw Swarek's face appear as the first photo pinned up with words like "We have three US's in danger".
After briefing the disbelieving faces very quickly, Luke led them out the barn after ordering a full 'gear-up'.
There wasn't really time to play with.
He had called fire and rescue and medics to the scene, now it would only be getting there in time.
The radio's were like live-wires, calls going back and forth between dispatch and responding units as a state of emergency was declared.
It was only called out as 'Officers in jeopardy with no mention of their names, so Luke was riding the adrenaline wave in anticipation of how Shaw and Williams would react at seeing Swarek still alive.
Drawing closer to the scene, Luke noticed the string of cruisers and ambulances following. A fire truck joined in three blocks from their destination, the sight a warm relief considering that the house they were in was on fire.
Pulling up in a screeching halt Luke got out of his car and started throwing orders around to the closest uniforms as he had them close the block down. He had Epstein and Collins move to the furthest end of the block where they set up a road block. Every passing car was stopped and the occupants searched and identified. Price was running the ID's as fast as she could in a bid to make sure that none of the face passing them were affiliated with Ramos, Vega or anyone wanted by Guns and Gangs.
The hosemonkeys set up, a spray of water billowing out across the lawn seconds after they pulled up. Luke tried calling Peck and Swarek, and neither answered. The hosemonkeys told him that it would take a wile before they could go in to the house, the flames refusing to die down.
Half an hour of being patient was wearing him thin around the edges with no contact from inside the house.
"Who we got?" Shaw asked when he finally arrived on scene and sought Luke out.
"Three UC's". Luke said still watching the spray of water flying through the air.
"McNally happen to be one of them?" Shaw chuckled out.
Luke turned to face him wearing a look that had Shaw's chuckle die down instantly.
The fire chief approached at that moment and asked Luke who he wanted to send in first because Luke had given the order that an officer would be going in with them once the building had been cleared on their first survey.
"Time to get out boys back" Luke said slapping Shaw's shoulder.
"Boys?".
Luke nodded and reached for his radio while his hand waved the medics closer.
"Nash what's your twenty?" Luke asked over the airwaves.
"End of the block with Collins" came her response.
"I need you in front. I need to go in with the medics and assess".
"Okay, copy that".
"So, who's with her?" Shaw asked as soon as Nash stopped talking.
"We have a suspect" came Price's cheery voice over the radio a second later making Luke let out a sigh.
"Price, hand it to Nash, I need to go into the house and find Swarek, Peck and McNally".
Instant radio silence crashed around them as every officer in view of Luke sought him out and stared at him.
"Repeat that!" William's yelled into the radio breaking the dead zone.
"I need to pull Swarek, Peck and McNally out". Luke repeated watching Shaw as he tried to comprehend what he had heard for the second time.
"Son of a..." Shaw let out a laugh, one that came from deep down inside. His hand were on his hips and his head shook lightly but there was no mistaking the sheer joy he was feeling right now.
"Let's go" Shaw said his way, Epstein and Collins suddenly appearing there too.
"Monroe and Leroy have got it covered". Collins cleared their presence up. They were obviously not letting him go inside without backup even though they had no idea what they'd find once they made it inside.
"Okay, stay close, step where we step and don't touch anything. At all" Luke said directing most of his words at Epstein.
Frank materialized with Nash a nod confirming that they could go.
"Need a hand?" Nick asked one of the medics as she juggled a heavy looking bag in one hand and an oxygen tank in the other. They were packing heavy, and she didn't look like she was struggling with her baggage, he just needed an excuse.
"Sure, thanks but stay close okay" she said handing the bag over.
"Stay on the radio" Frank said as the group moved passed him and made a beeline for the burnt embers of the wooden front door.
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Jelly Bean Jenna©