“Fine.” I gave in. I was getting my breath back. They removed my vest and cut open my shirt.
“The vest stopped the bullet from penetrating, but I think you might have a couple of broken ribs. We will get you to the hospital and get you x-rayed.”
“I’m fine.” I tried to sit up again.
“Boss, you’re going to the hospital even if I have to sit on you to get you there.” Logan threatened.
I had no doubt he would make good on that threat too. I cooperated as they put me on a gurney and loaded me in the ambulance.
“Stay here, work the scene.” I said to Jared and Logan.
“Okay, I’ll come by and pick you up later.” Logan smiled.
“Don’t wait too long.” The ambulance doors shut, and I couldn’t hear what else Logan said. I thought it sounded like he said, ‘stubborn bastard’.
◆◆◆
I hate the way hospitals smell. I think it is the mixture of disinfectant and alcohol.
The EMT was right as I had two broken ribs. They bandaged me up, gave me something for the pain and told me to stay home for a few days. My shirt was useless, so I tossed it in the garbage. I had my jacket. I don’t know what happened to my vest. I was at the counter signing paperwork so I could get out of there when Logan finally showed up.
“So, you’re gonna live?” he joked.
“Looks that way.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” He clapped me on the back. “I was worried for a minute.”
“Just a couple of broken ribs, nothing serious.” I told him.
“Here I brought you this.” Logan handed me a t-shirt.
“Thanks.” I slipped it on as we walked out the door.
“So where are we with case?” I needed to know where we stood now.
“Well we arrested everyone in the warehouse except one.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, the guy who shot you didn’t make it.” Logan said.
I paused and looked at Logan. “You take him out?”
“Well, yeah. He had just shot a federal agent so what was I supposed to do?” He just stared at me.
“You did good.” I smiled. “Did we get all the explosives?”
“Yeah, we did. We still don’t know the extent of the plan yet; do you want to hear the kicker?”
“There’s a kicker?”
“Oh yeah. A big one.” He smirked.
“Well, then you better tell me.” I wasn’t sure I was ready for it. It had been one hell of a day already.
“Mike Russo is alive and well and asking for his lawyer.”
I stopped and looked at Logan.
“Yep, I’m not kidding. He faked his own kidnapping to cover up his involvement in all of this. I suspect Branigan was going to be a scapegoat all along.”
“So, who got shot when the negotiator was talking to them?” I asked.
“Apparently, Russo shot the guy on the phone because he thought he was talking too much.”
I shook my head. Well at least we had rounded them all up. “So, you’re sure we got everything?”
“Yes. We have someone from Camp Allen coming over to confirm the inventory of items.”
I nodded. I felt tired. It must have been the meds they had given me. My knees were a little weak.
“You okay?” Logan paused.
“Yeah, just tired.”
“Why don’t I take you home.”
“No, office.”
Logan shook his head. I knew he disapproved. He had no room to talk as he was a Marine and a tough son-of-bitch and he would have done the same thing. Besides, we were going to have a ton of paperwork to do and putting it off wasn’t really an option.
“Boss, should you be here?” Stephanie looked up when Logan and I came through the door.
“No.” Logan answered again showing his disapproval.
“Getting shot only adds to the paperwork; it doesn’t make it go away.” I went to my desk and started sorting through the files.
Chapter Six
Kay
I woke up in a hospital. I remembered a blast of light. Everything was silent as a bright white light blinded me. Then as quickly as it had appeared it was gone and all that was left was chaos. Screaming, shouting, and gunfire. Someone was yelling at me. Everything was grey and black, like all the color had been sucked out of the world. I could barely see anything. It took me a minute to realize what had happened. We had been hit with an RPG. I couldn’t fine the new kid that had been standing next to me. He was a young Marine that had joined the team recently and Chris had taken him under his wing. The rest of the team was to my left and they were on the ground. I needed to move and fast. I tried to run. It felt like something was attached to my leg and it was making it hard to move. I didn’t have time to investigate. I looked down and saw my camera on the ground. I grabbed it and then crawled over to Oliver as he was the closest to me. I needed to get to the rest of the team. Oliver was unconscious so I went to check on each of the others. Chris was semi-conscious and in a lot of pain.
“Get my pack.” He looked to the right. “First aid kit.” He managed to say.
I crawled over and grabbed it.
“There is a morphine injection in there you are going to need that for Oliver.”
“Why?”
“Look at him; he has a huge hunk of wood sticking out of him you need to remove it.”
“What are you talking about? I can’t do that!” I exclaimed.
“Well, normally I would but I can’t right now, so you have to be my hands.” He replied.
I wanted to argue further but I knew he had a point. I could see his right arm was mangled. “Why don’t we fix you first and then you can help the others.”
“He is dying while you are arguing.” Chris grabbed me with his good hand. He was right, I could see the blood pouring out of Oliver. He would certainly bleed to death if I
