Half Truths, Name Tag, Call Laura, Fake Smiles & We Have a Problem

Hospital – West Wing

Spike decided to give Scott some time alone with Sam. Scott had a way with Sam that no one else did. Sam was freaking out about the possibility of losing his leg.

To be honest he himself was freaking out about it too. Spike had never seen a cut get so horribly infected in such a short time. He wandered the hall of the small hospital.

He thought it would be a good idea to get the layout and it would let him walk off some of his nervousness. The ground floor of the hospital contained the six bed ER, a kitchen and cafe, the break room and lockers, and the surgery room. As he went up to the second level he found it was broken into two wings, the east and west wings. He found they really only had rooms for up to twenty four patients, twelve in each wing.

They currently had five in the east wing and three in the west wing. There was also the boy in surgery, the prisoner, Scott and Sam in the ER. Half-full Spike thought as he was exiting the west wing and saw a nurse coming out of the stairwell with a tray loaded with food. It looked heavy.

Spike had met the other nurse Jasmine and the orderly Jeremy already so he smiled and said "You must be Vera."

Vera stopped and looked at the handsome man "And you are?"

Spike offered "I'm Spike, my two friends are down in the ER. I was just stretching my legs. Can I help you with that?"

Relief crossed Vera's face "Ah. Yes. Minna told me about our two new patients. The ones that look like twins but aren't. I'm glad you got them to our little hospital."

As Spike took the tray from Vera he gazed at the pretty nurse "Yeah me too."

Vera smiled and said "Thank you. I haven't had to climb so many stairs in such a long time and that tray was heavy."

Spike grinned "Where do you need it?"

"Could you just follow me to the rooms so I can hand them out?" Vera politely asked.

Spike nodded and followed Vera. They headed back into the west wing and delivered the food to the three patients in those rooms. Then they headed out to the nurses' station.

Vera slumped into one of the chairs "I'm exhausted. I'm used to long hours but not like this."

Spike leaned on the counter and the two of them had a nice conversation about the area and what it was like living in a small town. Vera shared with him how the Craig's had started the hospital and how she became a nurse. She was currently telling him all about the summer festival.

He was enjoying a small break. But then the hairs on the back of his neck tingled. Spike looked around and he caught sight of Officer Barton. The officer had changed into the scrubs but still wore his gun.

The officer was checking out the rooms. Much like he did earlier but there was just something about the officer that didn't seem right to him. Spike said "Excuse me Vera I need to speak with Officer Barton."

Vera shivered involuntarily.

Spike asked "You okay?"

Vera rubbed her arms and looked at Barton who was still quite a ways down the hall. Vera said quietly "Officer Barton, Noah that is, gives me the creeps for some reason. He must be a new officer. I've never seen or met him before."

"It was weird and creepy. He was asking lots of questions about the patients. Noah said he was just checking out the hospital because he had a prisoner. But the way he looked at me just felt creepy" Vera shared.

Spike thought about what Vera said. Why did that name sound familiar? He struggled to bring it to mind but it was just out of his grasp, like a word on the tip of his tongue he could not remember.

He could not shake the odd vibe telling him there was something not quite right so Spike asked "Minna had Ron put my gear in the storage room the paramedics use. Can you tell me where that is?"

"Sure. Why?" Vera asked.

"I just need to get something" Spike said with a wide grin. He did not want to worry Vera unnecessarily. But Vera's words were mixing with his unsettled feeling and he thought it might not be a bad idea to be armed.

She gave him directions and Spike headed off towards Officer Noah Barton first. Perhaps speaking with the officer would help him recall whatever it was that was niggling at him.

Spike stopped a little ways away and said in a friendly tone "I see you took Minna up on her offer."

Noah looked at Spike and said "Yes I did. What are you doing up here?"

Now that the officer was in short sleeves, Spike noticed thin red marks on the man's wrists. His alertness spiked. Handcuffs would make marks like that. Suspicion grew but he couldn't quite get a handle on it.

Spike smiled broadly covering his true feelings and quipped "Gonna be here a few days and my friends are in no shape to talk. I was bored so I thought I'd check out the nurses."

Noah looked down the hall at Vera with a leer "That Vera is a cute one. Too bad she said she was married."

Internally Spike stiffened. Vera very clearly told him she was single and still looking for mister right. Vera must have been very uncomfortable with this man to lie. The man's expression raised his hackles.

But Spike just smiled and said "Yeah too bad she already found Mr. Right. Hey I was just gonna head down to the kitchen to rustle up some food. Why don't you come with me?"

Noah wanted to keep looking around but he needed to see if this guy was a threat so he said "Okay."

Spike relaxed ever so slightly. Thank goodness he agreed. It got the officer away from Vera. The way he looked at her did not bode well Spike thought.

"So what do you do for a living?" Noah asked.

Spike had to think fast. Something told him not to reveal he was a cop but he was not very good at lying. Answering quickly Spike said "I work with computers. Kinda a geek you might say." It was true but not the complete truth.

Noah smiled, a geek, no worries there. This guy was no threat. Then he asked "What about your friends?"

Crap, how to position Sam and Scott truthfully but not give away their professions. Then he got inspiration as he said "Scott is a researcher and Sam does risk analysis."

It was again a half truth. Scott worked in Navy Intelligence and he did a fair share of research. His research had to do with national security but the officer wouldn't know that. And Sam was constantly analyzing risks. Just like everyone on Team One. It was part and parcel with their job in SRU.

"Risk analysis? Is that like something for insurance companies?" Noah asked.

Spike smiled liking what Officer Barton, if he was truly an officer, inferred. He nodded "Yeah, rather boring if you ask me."

Noah nodded thinking a computer geek, a researcher, probably for some stupid university and an insurance analyst. He lucked out. No real threat from any of them. Good.

"So how long have you been an officer?" Spike asked. He had learned from Sam the trick of turning the tables and asking a question when you did not want to be answering them.

"Not long" Noah answered.

The two walked in silence down the stairs both analyzing the other.

Hospital – Locker Room

Jeremy picked up the blue bag that Minna said would contain Officer Barton's uniform. He went to the small laundry machine and opened the bag. He would put this in here now and get things prepped now so he could wash it with the scrubs from Ethan's surgery once Doc Landry and Vanessa were done.

He pulled out the shirt and pretreated the blood stains. He checked the pockets and then tossed it into the machine. Jeremy then pulled out the pants and pretreated the blood stains on them too.

Pushing his hand into one of the pockets he felt something metal. He pulled it out. It was covered in blood.

Jeremy grabbed a damp rag and wiped it down. He froze when he read the name tag. Alex Roman. He pulled the shirt out of the washer and checked the tag on the inside. Roman.

This was Alex's uniform. What was Officer Barton doing with Alex's uniform?"

The light bulb turned on.

Oh sweet mother of Jesus!

Quickly Jeremy shoved the name tag in his pocket and put the shirt and pants back into the blue bag. Jeremy read lots of crime novels. He knew he should not wash off the blood. It might be evidence. He hoped the pretreatment did not degrade it.

Jeremy was shaking very badly as he decided he needed to talk to Ron. Ron would know what to do. Jeremy shoved the blue bag to the bottom of the linen cart to hide it and then headed for the surgery room.

Hospital – ER Treatment Area

Scott got Sam calmed down. They decided to wait until Doc Landry had taken a look at Sam's leg before they placed a call. If the doctor felt it needed more attention than he could provide then he would call Sam's dad and see if they could arrange some sort of evac.

Sam looked across the room at Scott and said "This shit always happens to me."

"Yeah it does" Scott responded drily. What else could he say? Sam had just stated a fact. To distract Sam he said "I wonder what that guy did?"

Sam glanced at the man who was out due to the pain medications he was given. There was a bag of blood hanging as he received a transfusion.

He answered "He looks sort of familiar to me."

"Really?" Scott asked.

"Yeah. I'm not sure where I've seen his face but it is familiar" Sam replied and his mind tried to recall where he had seen him before.

Minna came over and wiped Sam's forehead again. She put a thermometer in his mouth "Time to see if the fever is rising or falling."

Scott piped up "He's coherent so my guess would be falling."

Sam rolled his eyes.

Minna giggled and patted Sam's shoulder. When the thermometer beeped she withdrew it and smiled "Down a bit. That's good. Looks like meds are starting to do their job."

Sam's stomach roared.

Minna looked at him sadly "Sorry you can't eat anything yet. Doc Landry should be in soon."

Nodding Sam said "I understand."

He leaned back and closed his eyes letting his mind focus on the prisoner instead of thinking about his leg. Sam knew he had seen that man somewhere before. He just needed to figure out where.

After a bit of getting nowhere with recognizing the man Sam thought about Scott. He opened his eyes "Hey Scott."

"Hey what?" Scott answered putting down his book. He was so glad the fever was down and Sam appeared to be doing a bit better.

Sam said "About waiting to call."

"Yeah what about it?" Scott queried.

"Call Laura. I'm sure she is worried about you. You are overdue to call her. She shouldn't worry. Not with the little ones" Sam suggested.

Scott nodded "Yeah I was thinking about that. Along those lines, not worrying her, I'm gonna skirt our issues. For one thing I want her to see that I'm okay when I tell her what happened to me. For another we don't yet know about your leg. No sense in making her worried on that account until we know for sure one way or the other."

Sam chuckled "You are so gonna be in trouble for not telling her but I get it. I'd do the same thing. Say hi for me."

"You're right you know. I'll probably end up in the dog house for a long time. Gonna be spending several nights on the couch I think" Scott bemoaned.

Sam snorted "I bet this is the last time Laura lets you go on a ski trip with me."

Scott laughed "Probably."

He picked up the sat phone and dialed his home. Scott needed to hear Laura's voice. He was very worried about Sam and Laura would help to center him. He would be able to draw strength from her in order to be strong for Sam if the worst was to come for him.

As Scott dialed Sam thought Ed is gonna be pissed when he finds out the true situation too. Scott may be in the dog house with Laura but I'm gonna be benched by Ed for a very long time. Sam cringed as he thought that is if I get to go back to SRU.

Sam looked down at his covered leg. God damned infection. What the hell would he do with his life if he lost his leg and he could not be on Team One anymore?

A small voice in the back of his head whispered 'you could be with Jules'.

Sam leaned back and closed his eyes as he allowed his mind to contemplate that thought. If he could no longer be on Team One then perhaps he and Jules could get together again. That is if Jules would want damaged goods.

He had promised Spike to remain positive so he channeled his thoughts away from the negative. Sam landed on the positive thought that for the first time in his life that something good might actually come out of something bad that happened to him. If he lost his leg he might just gain Jules.

Hospital – Cafe

Noah decided he needed more information on the men in the ER so as they neared the kitchen he asked "So how did your friends get hurt?"

"Skiing and running into a wall" Spike answered truthfully but not giving any detail. His doubts about the officer were increasing every second.

Noah asked "Running into a wall?"

Spike shrugged "My friend is a bit accident prone."

Noah laughed "I'd say. Running into a wall lands one of them in the ER. I thought one had a fever and was hallucinating."

Noncommittally Spike said "Infections can do that."

Spike needed to get Noah to stop asking questions about Sam and Scott. He also wanted a bit more information on the prisoner. How the officer responded could help him decided it there really was something to be worried about.

Deliberately Spike added nervousness to his tone. Not wholly unwarranted but would lend credence to him being just a geek and no threat. Spike probed "Do we need to be concerned with your prisoner? Jonas I think you said his name was. Is he like some really bad dude?"

Noah didn't like the question. But he guessed a computer geek might be afraid. His tone indicated he was nervous.

He lied outright "You do not need to worry about him. Jonas is harmless; just had a warrant out for him for a suspended license. Lucky break for me he had a broken tail light. I ran his name after I pulled him over and his name popped."

Spike wanted to get to the paramedic storage room fast now. That was an out and out lie.

Why would anyone try to escape from an officer for a suspended license? Especially in this storm. Also no officer would shoot a man for that offense either unless he was a hothead or rookie.

This man did not give off the vibe of either of those. He seemed cold and calculating to Spike. It did not fit. Spike had a serious feeling things were not as they appeared.

Spike needed to get their weapons and make it back to Scott without raising suspicion. Spike thought that it wouldn't do for whoever this was, and he was leaning heavily toward it being another prisoner, to go through their belongings. If he did he would find the three handguns and each of their ids.

He looked around the empty café and found some fruit along with chips and soda. Spike grabbed a few apples, a bag of chips and three sodas then said "I'll pay for this later Officer."

Spike forced fake smile and a little chuckle as he added "Thought I'd tell you that so you know I'm not stealing and arrest me."

Noah gave Spike a fake smile "You're good. It's not like you can go anywhere."

Spike played along and kept his fake smile in place "True. I think I'll just take these to my friends. They'll be hungry when they finally wake up. I'll catch you later Officer."

Noah nodded and watched as Spike headed out. He looked around. He grabbed an apple and several bags of chips and a soda.

Then Noah sat down in the empty café. So far he saw nothing that worried him too much. Spike was a nervous computer geek. Jeremy the orderly was wimpy looking, pimple faced kid of no more than early twenties. The nurses were too busy with the patients.

Ron was the only one he had any real concern with. But a threat to shoot that little nurse Minna would get him to comply. If not, then one bullet to the head between the eyes would take care of Ron.

Hospital – ER Treatment Area

Scott hung up from a call to Laura. Sam had been right that he should call. It was good to hear her voice. It tickled him to no end to hear that Jerrell and Anna calmed down when she wrapped them in his shirts.

He said "Laura sends her love to you. She said she would call Sergeant Parker for you and let him know that you and Spike are snowed in."

Sam nodded but kept his eyes closed as he was picturing a life with Jules. It could be a good life even if he didn't know what the hell he would do without a leg.

Spike came into the ER treatment area and looked first at the prisoner. Good he was out. Then he looked at Scott who had just picked up a book. He went directly to Scott.

"We have a problem I think" Spike said quietly as he put his backpack down on Scott's bed.

Scott put his book down and noticed the nervous energy around Spike. He asked "Besides the obvious problems, what's got you so wired?"

Hearing Scott, Sam opened his eyes "Spike?"

Spike unzipped his backpack and pulled out Scott's handgun "Put this someplace concealed."

Then he went to Sam "I have your off duty weapon too. Are you in the right frame of mind to have it? Is it safe to give it to you?"

"Spike what's up?" Sam asked.

"Are you in the right frame of mind to have it Sam?" Spike demanded.

Sam wanted to say yes but answered "Right now I am but I can't guarantee I won't hallucinate again. Probably safer it I don't have it. Now tell me why?"

Scott had concealed his weapon at his side and used the cane to come over to Sam's bed. He brought the sat phone with him.

Spike shared his suspicions with Sam and Scott and the reason the prisoner was in custody. Scott and Sam agreed that it was high unlikely that anyone would run and try to escape for just a suspended license especially in this storm. They also agreed that an officer would not shoot someone for that. Spike then gave them both a quick verbal layout of the hospital and who was in it.

"So you really think he is one of the prisoners?" Sam questioned.

Nodding Spike said "I got a weird vibe. His uniform did not fit. He had no name tag. His name sounds familiar but I cannot place it. This is a small town and everyone seems to know everyone. But none of them know this officer."

Sam glanced over at the prisoner "I swear he looks familiar Spike. I just cannot place it. What is his name?"

Minna had been observing the three and overheard a bit of their conversation as she tended the prisoner. She walked over to them pulling a chair behind her. She put it close to Scott and made him sit down then said "Officer Barton called him Jonas."

Spike asked "Did he fill out the paperwork with a full name?"

Minna went to get the paperwork from the nurses' station. She returned with an odd look on her face. "That's strange. The patient's last name is Barton too. What are the odds?"

Spike said "Vera said the officer's first name was Noah."

Recognition hit Spike and Sam at the same time. They shared a look of disbelief. Shit!

Sam blew out a breath "Noah and Jonas Barton. We were briefed on their crime spree about a month ago. That's why he looked so familiar."

Scott asked "Who are they?"

Minna blanched and grabbed the rail of Sam's bed. Scott reached out to stabilize her.

In a small voice Minna said "I heard my Dad and Uncle discussing the Bartons last week at dinner. Oh my god. Oh my god. That means …" her voice wavered "… he killed one of the officers."

Tears welled in her eyes. Which officer was it? She knew all of them. They all came for dinner on a rotating monthly basis. Her father liked to invite them over for a relaxed meal to keep open dialog with his officers. They were like a family to her father. Who was killed?

Minna wracked her brain. Oh god not Alex Roman. He was the only heavy set officer and he was so nice. Only last week he had joined them for dinner. Alex had complimented her on her apple pie and asked for a second serving even though she had burnt the crust.

Tears spilled as Minna softly said "They killed Alex. Alex Roman."

Spike asked gently "Minna, who is your father?"

Minna couldn't stop the little sob as she wiped her eyes "My dad is Captain Lundgren of the local RCMP my uncle is also in the RCMP. I know all the officers that work under my father. Alex is the only heavyset officer. The uniform was falling off of that man. He had no name tag. Oh god what are we going to do?"