--Mid-Wilshire parking lot--
I was outside guiding people to the right door for the gun buy back. When a car in the parking lot exploded throwing me back.
I regain my baring as some officers start coming out side to secure the scene for fire.
"God, what was that." I said sitting up and looking around and then seeing what exploded realizing it was the old lady that had asked me for directions for the buy back that had been the car next to mine. I flopped back down groaning when Chen came out side to check on me running over seeing me laying on the ground.
"Elena, Elena! are you all right?"
"physically my ears are ringing, the worst part is look where the explosion happened." I cried out pointing out to the parking lot. After a couple of seconds I here Lucy hiss.
"OO, that... I'm sorry about your car."
I was at home getting ready to cook Breakfast after a lazy morning when I got a call and an alert. I saw the name. "DANVERS"
I answered the phone with some sass. "What could miss. Secret Service agent want with me."
"Good Morning to you to El, I am calling to let you know I am in LA."
"Ah, it wouldn't have to do with the 'Mandatory Emergency Callback for all patrol' alert I got right?"
"Yea. No that's me."
"Great see you at the station. you got me called in before I could eat. I'm hungry bring me food as an apology." I laughed out before asking her.
"Ha, ha very funny I already ordered some. See you here."
I got to the station and changed before getting to the break room see the Captain, Sgt Grey, Nolan, Jackson, Lucy, Tim, Bishop, Lopez, and Danvers.
Danvers walked up to me first giving me a hug before handing me a breakfast burrito getting me questioning looks from the others. "El, its been too long the last time we saw each other was during my vacation before you moved here."
"Elena how do you know Agent Danvers?" Lucy asked first.
"I started serving in the same unit as her a year before she left and when I joined the 75th I saw her more when the president came overseas to see us. and for talks." I said while digging into the burrito.
Before anyone else could ask questions the Captain started to talk.
"Thank you for coming in on your day off. The Vice President is making an unscheduled visit to our city. So it's all hands on deck. Agent Danvers."
" Thank you, Captain. As always, the Secret Service appreciates the LAPD's assistance in clearing and securing "Redwood's" route. These are your Operation Plan Manuals."
" Officer Alverez, you will be riding with Nolan and Bishop they have a special assignment that might need your help." Captain said to me.
"Yes, Ma'am."
We get to the end of the briefing.
"These assignments are your sole priority today. You will not field calls from dispatch. Let the day shift deal with that. Captain?"
"Most of you know the drill. For our rookies, today is going to be ugly. Everything we do to ensure the safety of Redwood will create gridlock. It's important to be patient and vigilant. That's all. You're dismissed."
"Bishop, Nolan and Alverez Agent Danvers has a special assignment for you." Grey called out to us.
" We've got a Class 2 threat we need chased down."
"Class 2?"
"Class 1 is someone who's made overt threatening statements but made no overt action. Class 2 are individuals who have a history of assaultive behaviors toward authority figures."
" And Class 3?"
"Class 1 is someone who's made overt threatening statements but made no overt action. Class 2 are individuals who have a history of assaultive behaviors toward authority figures."
" Happy to do it, ma'am."
" Great. Call me if you need any assistance."
We walk away making way to the kit room.
"Happy to do it"? Nolan asked surprised.
" What?"
" Nothing. I've just never heard you use that word before."
We get our regular kit before leaving to head over to the man that was on the class 2 threat.
We got there and parked before getting out Nolan asked a question.
" Do you think our Class 2 threat is actually a threat?"
" Maybe. Maybe writing hate-letters to the Veep is just his way of blowing off steam." When Bishop answered it confused me but Nolan started first asking the questions.
" Did you just "glass half-full" our suspect? Who are you and what have you done with my T. O. ?"
" Look, I'm trying a much more positive approach. But if you'd rather I go back to yesterday's attitude -"
We started getting out when Nolan stopped Bishop. " Oh, no, no, no, no. Uh, no one's a bigger fan of positive than me." While we got out Nolan sounded super confused after looking down at his phone. "That cannot be right."
" Problem?"
" No. Sorry. My ex is selling our house. I largely stayed out of it because, honestly, I didn't want her to. But I just saw the price she's getting. The place has doubled in value."
" Mm, that sounds like a good thing to me, Officer Positive."
" N-No, it is. Yes. I was just thinking about trying to buy her out, you know, keep it in the family, but I can't match that price."
Before we can even completely cross the street the man we where here for walked out of the building and started across the street. We changed directions and met him at his car as Bishop was talking to him.
"There's our guy. Hey, Stanley. Can we talk to you for a minute?"
" What do you want?"
" Haven't you heard? Your friend's in town."
"What friend? I don't have a friend."
" Vice President." I spoke up unsurprised he doesn't have friends with some of the keyboarding he has been doing. Got to see a few when we got the report on him.
" So what?"
" So what's in the bag, Stanley?" Nolan so whated back at Stanley.
"Nothing."
"Then show us." I told him getting a little closer.
" We're not asking. We have probable cause based on your prior actions and a clear distress." Bishop said before also stepping forward.
Before we could say more Stanley took off down the street causing us to purse him before we could even catch him he stumbled dodging a car that stopped before hitting him giving me enough time to tackle him bouncing off the hood of the car then onto the ground.
Nolan came up and assisted me in arresting Stanley. " Come on. Hands. Let's go."
While Bishop searched his bag finding a flare gun. "Weapon."
" It's just a flare gun. I don't need a license. I looked it up online."
"Were you planning on pointing that flare gun at the Vice President today, Stanley? "Nolan asked him.
"He needs to be stopped."
"Sounds like a "yes" to me. You're under arrest, Stanley."
"Stanley, if we didn't catch you and you pulled this out the only thing that would have happened was you getting shot or tackled or shot then tackled." I said while shaking my head.
" Did we just foil a real-life assassination attempt?" Nolan asked all happy and proud.
"He's a nut with a flare gun wrapped in underpants. Not Jason Bourne." Bishop started before caving to Nolan's happy face and aura he was putting off. "But we just might have prevented a tragedy."
" Was that so hard?" Nolan said gleefully.
We search Stanley before calling and had him transported back to the station and getting there and booking him and finishing some paper work.
When do rookies get a step increase in pay?
"Not until you're off probation. This about the house?"
" Yeah. I'm thinking about buying it as an investment. I'm sure Sarah will sell it to me if I can just match the offer."
" It's not an investment if you can't afford it."
" Well, I have some savings. Maybe Ben will give me a loan."
" The only thing worse than going into debt is doing it with a friend."
" I get it. It's just I built that house from the ground up. You know, everything. The tree house in the backyard. My son's whole life was at that place."
" Sounds nice."
" It was. We never really talk about where you're from."
" Let's just say it didn't have a tree house." They had a back and forth when Grey walked in with a folder.
" It's a good job on the Class 2. As a reward, you get another assignment. Look, it's not so special."
" Every job is an opportunity, sir."
He asked us looking past Bishop. "Is she feeling okay?"
"Being positive." "Just go with it" Nolan and I said at the same time before Grey shook his head continuing.
" Positive? Good. 'Cause I'm assigning you both to rover duty."
"What's that?"
" LAPD version of a gofer. You'll spend the rest of your shift assisting officers all over the city bringing them food and water, giving them bathroom breaks. Here's a backlog of requests. Get to it." Grey finished then handed over the folder heading back to his office.
Bishop took a minute to not say anything mean before. "Well, it's an opportunity to support our fellow officers."
"Okay, I'm just gonna say it. It's starting to freak me out." Nolan said while I filed the finished report before heading back to the shop. We load down on cold water and snacks before heading out to starting on the oldest on the list.
We were on a gofer call walking around handing out water while I carried my trauma bag already have had to stop to help at a bad crash so I just started to carry it out at all the stops. It also helped since I had requestioned more ice packs to hand to some of the officers that might get heat related injures too. We handed off water and started off to the the next group which was two female officers.
"Ladies" Nolan said while handing over the last of the water we had on us before we continued walking.
"Let us know if you need anything else." I said waving bye to the two.
"So, what's with the positive attitude?" Nolan asked
" Do I need a reason?"
"No. It's just after four months together, it's the first day you've rolled in with it. I figured something must be up."
Before Bishop could answer him we heard a quick honk honk before we heard a collision.
"That can't be good" Nolan said before we got a little closer seeing a man got hit by a tractor-trailer looking like he was trying to cut in.
We get there and see two men arguing. We sped up our pace getting there to the end getting close enough to hear the last words before the bigger guy walked back to the truck.
" Yeah! Learn how to drive, man!"
We see him get there grab something and grab a gun.
"GUN!" Bishop yelled.
the other man apologized before realizing the futility of it when the man shoots his window with it.
" Drop the gun! Put the gun on the ground right now. Hands behind your head. Interlace your fingers. Do not move." Nolan yelled surprising the man apparently having not seen us.
" I-I was just trying to scare him." He stuttered out while Nolan was cuffing him.
I was watching Nolan's back when Bishop called for me.
"Alverez!"
" Control, 7-Adam-15. We have a gunshot victim female, adult, shotgun wound to the chest. We need fire and ambulance. ETA?" Bishop called out.
" 7-Adam-15, at least 10 minutes."
I run over seeing a woman shot in the neck by the shotgun blast I holster my gun and rush over while putting on gloves.
"Ma'am, this is going to hurt I'm sorry in advance but its to save your life." I said when I got there. Then I got Bishop to help me pull her from the car and lay her on the ground as I assessed quickly. " I didn't mean to hurt her!"
"Shut Up!" Bishop yelled at the man responsible.
seeing a sucking chest wound I start by cutting her shirt and using a chest seal then quickly work to stop the bleeding but she had stopped I tried for a little longer but I couldn't resuscitate her."
"Officer Bishop." I said quietly
" There's gotta be something we can do." Bishop said while digging through the trauma bag quickly.
" Talia. She's gone." Nolan said stopping her.
We stopped and I closed her eyes before throwing my gloves in a biohazard bag and tied it off.
in 8 minutes the ambulance got there we moved out of the way and started to change my top to a fresh one.
" You okay?" Nolan asked
" What do you think?"
"Sorry. It was a dumb question."
" Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. My therapist is trying to get me to be more positive. You asked why I was acting differently today."
" No, I just I didn't know you went."
"No reason you should."
" 'Cause the job frowns on it?"
" 'Cause it's nobody's business. But, yeah it is looked at as a weakness amongst the boys in blue."
"Well, that's stupid. Lot of stressful stuff we deal with, what we just went through, it's unhealthy not to talk about it."
" Does that mean you see someone?"
"Sarah and I used to go to couples' counseling. And I used to look down on it, thought it was like paying someone to be your friend, but I was wrong. It was helpful. Just, in our case, not helpful enough."
" So, what, you think less of me now?"
"I went to one before I left the military they are nice to have someone to talk to sometimes."
"No. The opposite. I think anyone brave enough to confront their problems head-on deserves respect."
We finished up and started finishing up the last of the tasks when we called it in Dispatch call us.
"7-Adam-15, I'm reattaching you to the motorcade detail."
"7-Adam-15, copy. Turn around." Bishop responded before looking at the computer then started to instruct Nolan. "We've got to go to Wilshire and Western. They're changing the Vice President's route."
" So what does that mean we have to do?" Nolan asked
"Put out cones, block off streets, check the area for any suspicious activity." Bishop said answering his questions.
"Isn't that what the department's been doing all day?"
"Yeah, but this is what happens when the Vice President decides to stop at Philippe's for a French Dip and a photo op."
" So basically, you're saying we have to clear out a whole new section of town because he wants to stop for a sandwich?"
" Yep."
"You know, I've always liked it when politicians stop at these little mom-and-pop shops. It makes them seem more human. But now - Not so much."
We got to the area we are checking and Nolan slowed to a craw while we looked every which way to check for anything suspicious.
"How much time till the motorcade passes through?" I asked while looking out the back window.
" 20 minutes. 7-Adam-15, new route appears to be clear. Stand by for final confirmation." Bishop called in.
"Nolan, take a glance to your right, tell me what you see." Bishop called out to us when she looked down a new alley.
" Car, single male occupant sitting behind the wheel. Engine running." He was listing off as we rolled past it.
"What else?"
" He's behind the weed dispensary."
" And was that dispensary open or closed when we drove past it a minute ago?"
" Closed."
"Good. So why is a lone male sitting in a running vehicle behind a closed business that deals in cash?"
" The store's being robbed." I said out loud to them
"7-Adam-15, we have a possible 4-5-9 in progress behind the Ganja Garden dispensary. Requesting backup." Nolan called in as he put the shop in park out of sight.
" Copy, be advised backup is delayed due to the road closures."
"What a surprise." I said quietly to Nolan and Bishop.
We got to the edge of the alley we slowly approached with our weapons drawn while Bishop started to give instructions.
"The driver's gonna be checking his mirror, so stay low in the blind spot. We need to get to him before he can alert his friends. Let's get behind the dumpster."
"I'll get the driver. Cover me." she then said before creeping right up to the driver door.
"Police. Give me your cellphone. Turn off the car. Give me your keys. What's your name?" she asked then after he handed over the keys After he handed the keys over I run to the other side of the car leaning against the brick to provide more cover and a new angle.
" Freddy."
" You trying to rob this place, Freddy? You got friends inside?" Bishop asked getting a nod from him "I'm about to pull you out of this car. Do not attempt to warn them." She pulled him out to behind the dumpster. After she pulled him out I run to the other side of the car leaning against the brick to provide more cover and a new angle. After she pulls him out and is back out of view I duck out of view of the back door.
"Hands up." She was patting him down when she found a gun. "Gun." grabbing it before handing it to Nolan before continuing with the questioning while she cuffed him.
"How many are inside?"
" Your best shot at leniency is to help us right now." Nolan said trying to speed it up.
" There's three people inside."
" Are they hardened felons or are they just a bunch of stoners?" Bishop asked.
" Don and Tyreek have done time."
" How long have they been in there?"
" Five minutes? They said they'd be fast. You know, just grab the cash and go."
We hear people from inside. getting closer.
" Here we go. Police!" Nolan called out only getting gun fire in return.
I pop out and start shooting at them too.
" Freddy! " Nolan yells out when Freddy takes off right when the shooting starts and immediately gets hit. "Freddy's down!"
" Get him!" Bishop yells out as her and I start shooting to provide cover for him to drag him back.
Nolan runs out and grabs him dragging him back behind cover.
" Come on. They got him in the neck. Freddy looks bad."
" There's trauma bag in the shop!" I yell out.
" Ready?"
Nolan sprints down the alley to get to the shop he gets in and calls it in over the radio.
"7-Adam-15, we have shots fired. Need backup and ambulance. Code 3."
" Copy. Be advised nearest backup is 8 minutes away."
I fire the last of the clip I had loaded hitting one of the three men in the arm injuring them.
I reloaded when I saw Nolan drive the shop up and start using the trauma bag. While he was doing that I moved to the get away car engine and took cover. I heard another car coming up behind me seeing Lopez and Jackson. they got out and returned fire too.
" How is he?"
" Not good."
I hear Nolan and Bishop over the gun fire.
As Jackson was shooting he took a shot to the shoulder pad.
" You okay?!" Lopez seeing him suddenly jerk to the side.
" I'm good! I'm good!"
Nolan yelled out. "He's bleeding out. We need to get him to a hospital!"
" We'll take him! Backup's only a few minutes out! Go!" Lopez yelled out when she did Jackson sprinted across the open area with Lopez me and Bishop started to shoot back covering him as he grabbed the man with Nolan and carried him over to the shop and loaded him in before Lopez got in and drove off. After they got him in the car Nolan joined me behind the car we fired back when the suspects retreated back into the store.
" They've gone back inside. We go in after them?" Bishop said
" No. We make them come to us."
Nolan ran back to the car grabbing the tear gas launcher. She had him launch them into the store.
The came out crying and and gagging.
When we saw them come out Nolan yelled out. "Get on the ground. Crawl toward the sound of my voice. Keep your hands where I can see them. Nice and easy."
After we cuffed them and got them searched and in the back of squad cars before processing the scene and when the crime scene unit finished.
We got back to the station and I saw Danvers stopping Grey.
" Sergeant Grey, a word?"
" Of course. Is Redwood wheels up?"
" Yeah, heading back to D.C. now. Look, earlier today, I gave a direct order to two of your officers that was disregarded."
" I'm aware. And I support their decision."
"They abandoned a post that had a direct line of fire on the Vice President."
" And you had snipers with long guns set on that post. See, I train my people to make educated decisions regarding threat assessment. My guys were under fire. Your guy? Was going for a sandwich. It's a no-brainer. I would like to keep going with you but it looks like someone wants to talk to you."
Nolan, Jackson, Lucy and I met up at Nolan's for a get together and some Chinese food I had to end up getting a ride from Nolan while I looked for a new car.
" All done?" Jackson asked Nolan as he finished signing papers to sell the house.
" All done. The house is now in the hands of a lovely young couple, their kids, and a French bulldog."
" Well, I'm sure they'll take good care of it." Lucy said comforting him.
"Yeah. Wow. What a day." Nolan sighed sitting back on the couch.
" Wait till the President comes. I hear it's twice as bad." Jackson said.
" That's not possible." Lucy said
"No he's right more long guns crazies then today." I said in between bites of food.
" Well, you missed all the drama altogether." Nolan prodded Lucy.
" I got stuck with a dirty needle." Nolan asked.
" Yes, that's right, I forgot. Tell me, is it too soon to make jokes about that?" He asked her
"A little." Lucy said.
" Of course. That's my bad." Nolan said waiting a couple of seconds before asking again.
"How about now?"
" Will you stop that?" Lucy said while pushing Nolan over.
That's when Ben came in to the room.
"Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late."
" Hey."
" Just got off the flight from Sedona. You know, I found this outside the gate. I think it's for you." Ben said with large tube in his hands.
" It's from Henry. If you would?" he asked Ben to grab it after he opened it and started to pull the object out.
" It's the doorjamb from his room where I marked his height every year. This is - This is the best. Oh, my God, I can tear a doorjamb down right here and I can install this." Nolan said getting a little teary eyed. He then took off for a random door frame with Ben following him.
" Um, did I mention that this house is featured in Architectural Digest?"
" Master bedroom." Nolan decided changing directions before speeding up.
" John. No. How about just a shadow box? To put it in?"