Chapter Thirteen

Beautiful Set Up

Sanford paced the room like a caged tiger while running a hand through his thick black hair, sighing in frustration. He stopped momentarily to stare at the light drizzle in the darkness of the night outside the window. "I don't know what's wrong with you, Sergeant Grey-," he began before turning around to face the man, "- but I can't believe you would even consider that I could have something to do with Dyer's crazy schemes."

Daniels studied the hurt expression on the ADA's face.

"I was a victim too," he reminded them bitterly as his dark brown eyes hardened. "I would never hurt Lucy or Tim or anyone else for that matter. That is just insane."

"Okay, take it easy," Grey said kindly. "I have to ask. Your name came up as the founder of 'Mastermind Media', so this is standard procedure. You know it is."

He nodded. "I suppose I should be grateful you haven't dragged me over to the station and locked me up."

"I have to ask you how our serial killer and her friends came across your sensitive information," Grey said seriously.

He shook his head slowly as he made a face. "I really don't know. I don't usually put myself on public display that way." He remained thoughtful for a moment then added; "Except for the few months where I became obsessed with the Dyer group. It's not like I shared that much information there either but I had to log on and register."

"Unfortunately, that is good enough for a skilled hacker," Daniels said and picked up her phone. "Excuse me, I need to make some calls. I have a few skilled friends back at the company I work for."

Sanford watched the agent retreat from his office and make her way out in the corridor.

"Look, if it helps in any way-," Grey said, calling his attention back. "I never thought you would do anything to hurt my people."

"Make this case watertight-," Sanford said seriously as a fire lit in his eyes, "-and I'll make sure none of the involved will ever see the sun again."

"Sounds almost like a threat," Grey said with a smirk.

"It is a fact," Sanford promised.

The sergeant reached into his pocket as his phone rang. "Yeah," he said.

"Sarge, you'd better get back here. They've found them," Thorsen said with relief in his voice.

OOOOOO

Aaron didn't realize that his grip around the radio was so hard his knuckles had turned white as Lucy was being hauled up in a rescue basket.

"Madre Dios," Karla mumbled as she saw the officer gently being lowered onto the grass, dusty and bloodied.

Aaron swallowed. He drew closer. It felt like a scene from hell. Lucy's tight white t-shirt was soaked with perspiration around the neck and down on the chest, stains of crimson red adorned it on her left side. Her arm appeared to have a deep cut, her hair was a mess of dust and at her temple blood had dried up from a wound in her scalp somewhere. Her pant leg was torn and he saw that her knee sported a cut too. He silently wondered how the rest of them looked.

It suddenly hit him this must have been what it felt like to John, Lucy and Tim when he and Celina had been attacked in that alley a while back. Standing on the sidelines was horrible, he preferred being the one injured any day compared to standing here, not knowing if his friends would live or die.

"Easy, easy," the paramedic cautioned.

"Lucy?" Aaron said kindly as he neared. "Can you hear me?"

She moaned softly, a careful nod with her head. All her pains and aches were catching up with her. They were safe now - Tim was safe - in the capable hands of the paramedics. That was all she needed right now. She could finally give in to the darkness that was greying her vision.

"Cuts, bruises, abrasions. Chest sounds a bit constricted on the left side, possible rib fractures, bruising on the lung," the paramedic rattled off to his colleague. "We need to leave." He looked at Aaron since he was the closest police officer in the vicinity. "We need clear passage."

Thorsen nodded. "Of course," he said as he reached for his radio. "It didn't matter how much he wanted to stay where he was and make sure all his friends got out of the hellhole they'd been in for the duration of almost twenty hours, he had a job to do.

"Jacobs," he called over his shoulder. "Make sure Mrs. Juarez is allowed to go with her daughter to the hospital as soon as she's been retrieved."

"Yes, sir," she said.

OOOOOO

When Lopez, Harper, Jan and Rex walked into the lobby of Mastermind Media no one came to great them and Smitty was nowhere to be seen. However, on the floor, in a tight ring, sat several human sized dolls dressed up as clowns. All of them staring unseeingly through their black eyes on the barrel in the middle of the circle.

"That is just disturbing," Nyla said disgustedly.

"Okay, however you are-," Angela called out, "-I am sick of your games. Why don't you come out in the open and show yourself?"

A set of double doors suddenly opened, beckoning them to enter.

Jan's hand hovered over the tilt of his weapon as the sound of an evil laugh carried over loudspeakers.

Rex swallowed as the entrance doors to the lobby locked behind them. "This is worse than the house of horrors," he said.

"Radio is out," Nyla stated.

"The stage is set. Why don't we see what we can find?" Lopez suggested coldly.

They walked into the large room and found themselves surrounded by a maze of mirrors. The four of them appeared longer, shorter, bigger and smaller in the distorted blank surfaces while they made their way forward.

"I don't know about you but this is definitely not my idea of fun," Rex said.

Angela set up a brisk pace, not giving her own reflection much thought, as she headed down the narrow line. She took a few wrong turns, leading them into dead ends, cursing a little under her breath as she did.

Nyla glanced up at the black painted roof situated several meters above the upper edge of the mirrors and halted mid-step, causing Jan to nearly collide with her.

"What it is it?" he whispered cautiously.

"They are watching us from above," Harper noticed.

He lifted his gaze and saw a white face against the black surface above them. "There must be gangways above us," he reasoned.

"There must be a way out of this," Lopez muttered unhappily.

OOOOOO

Grey pulled up at the scene, two officers lifting the do-not-cross line so that the car could pass.

"I have enough information to work with," Daniels said, sitting in the front passenger seat. "I'll make some calls and talk to Garza. Make sure your people will be all right and the FBI will take care of the rest. We're going to end this once and for all this time."

He nodded at her as they got out of the car. Grey jogged over to the rescue team and made it just in time to see Karla Juarez gently take her daughter's hand into her own as she was settled in the ambulance. "Which hospital?" he called.

"Douglas Shaw Memorial," the paramedic answered as he closed the doors and made his way to the driver's side.

"Bailey?" he called as she was being hauled up from the basement. "What's the situation?"

She grabbed her colleague's hand and moved to the side to unhook herself, leaving the rope free. She shook her head as she made her way over to him.

Nolan was slowly and carefully being pulled up. Grey felt a chill down his spine as he saw the condition the man was in. He was white as a sheet, his uniform torn and dusty. The pantleg was cut open and a heavy bandage sat tight around some sort of metal rod that seemed to go straight through his leg.

"They're alive-," she said seriously, "-barely. Lucy and Celina are off to Douglas Shaw. John is coming up now. Tim insisted we extracted the others first."

Grey felt hope rising, maybe he could be questioned. "He is not as badly injured as the rest of them?"

Bailey shook her head. "He insisted he was the ranking officer and demanded the others were brought up first."

Despite the situation Grey chuckled but it was without mirth. "Yeah, that sounds like Bradford."

Bailey cast a worried glance at her finance.

"Go with him," Grey said. "I am sure your boss can spare you."

"Thank you," she whispered and quickly made her way over to the ambulance.

The watch commander glanced around the premises wondering where the hell the man he'd left in charge of the scene was. "Jacobs, where is Thorsen?"

"He is making sure the ambulances are getting out of here," she reported.

"Go and relieve him immediately and have him report back here on a double," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," she replied.

He watched her take off at a run and then made his way over to Bradford as he was pulled out of the debris. "Hey, Tim," he said kindly.

"You need to stay back, sir," the paramedic cautioned as he rounded the rescue basket.

On three the rescue team gently - as gently as they could - moved him over to the stretcher from the awaiting ambulance.

The look on Tim's face told the watch commander all he needed to know.

"Grey," he whispered.

"Yeah," the older man was at his side instantly.

"She's really something," he managed through clenched teeth. "She's already killed Tim and Lucy."

Grey frowned, not following his reasoning, thinking he was delirious. "Lucy's not dead and neither are you. By the way, stop talking about yourself in third person."

Bradford shook his head. "No, Tim lived here," he said. "Lucy lived at that other house. They-," he hitched on a breath. "-they killed people with our names. You've got to make sure those bastards pay for what they have done."

"We have got to go," the paramedic said seriously.

"The Feds are on it now. They won't get away this time. This will be the last of Rosalind's legacy," Grey assured him.

"Sarge!" Thorsen hollered as he ran up to them. "And sarge," he added looking at Tim, trying to hide his concern as he took in his appearance.

Tim didn't have the energy to respond, the only sign that he'd heard him was a slight twitch to his lips.

Thorsen stared at the backdoors of the ambulance as it drove away. "That didn't look good, sir," he said.

"I don't like it either but we need to focus on the task at hand," he reasoned. "Where is Lopez and Harper?"

"I don't know, they haven't called in, sir," Thorsen replied.

"And why is that?" he looked at the younger man, demanding an answer. "They left hours ago."

"I-, well, there's a lot going on," he began.

OOOOOO

To be continued