CSIWATCHER
Police Officer
Yeah I know this may not be that good so sorry. First Chapter! Here it is
Shooting ruptures outside a warehouse, thirty or so officers swarm around the building, dodging bullets when they could. Many officers hunch behind squad cars and anything else big enough, in order to escape the flying bullets.
“Get those snipers on the roof!” and officer yells. Five men with sniper guns climb stairs while many officers cover them. One officer goes down, while the perpetrator tries to make it inside the warehouse, but is shot by another officer. The officer is revealed as Ryan Wolfe.
He makes his way inside with Tripp and five other officers for cover. Tripp puts his hand on his ear piece and nods. “Wolfe, they said they have visual of Perez from the skylight. Do you want them to take the shot?” Tripp asked. Ryan asked, “How many others are here?” Tripp put his hand up to show eight. Ryan squinted as though trying to figure out what to do.
“I think we should split up, take as many out as we can. Tell the snipers to keep visual if he looks like he’s going to shoot, take him out.” Ryan said. Tripp nodded and the seven men split up in different directions. They quietly slipped behind crates in search of the drug dealers.
Tripp came upon a white man, in his late thirties, bald, with a goatee, and a scar above his lip. Tripp came up behind him, pointed his gun at him, and whispered, “Freeze.” he obeyed and put his hand above his head. Tripp handcuffed him and sent him with another officer who arrived at the spot.
Three shots rang through the air and Frank ran towards the sounds with his gun drawn. He arrived to see Ryan down, along with Perez and another Latino man, in his late twenties. The other five suspects, whom were in the warehouse, also arrived at the scene, along with the four officers. Tripp made way to the injured Wolfe, shooting two men on the way. The other four officer apprehended the last three suspects as Tripp tended to Wolfe.
“We have a man down here! I repeat a man down, we need an ambulance here, NOW!” the officer that wasn’t handcuffing a suspect called into his ear piece. Ryan lay on the floor, bleeding profusely from his left side. Tripp took off his jacket and applied pressure to his wound, trying his best to stop the bleeding…
In the distance, an ambulance roared towards the scene. A couple of moments later, a paramedic came in with a gurney and another with a machine that Frank didn’t seem to recognize, to be honest he wasn’t even paying attention. He helped the paramedics get Ryan on the gurney to be wheeled away to the hospital.
Frank blew out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. “Duquesne.” the voice came through the line. “Calleigh…it’s Frank…look…I need you to do something for me.” Frank said. “What happened? I thought you and Ryan were just following up on a lead.” Calleigh said. “Yeah…turns out Perez was here, we called for back up…it was getting ugly. Me, Ryan, and five other officers proceeded inside the warehouse, with snipers on the roof looking from the sky light…look the point is…Wolfe got over his head with Latinos, and uh…he was shot. I don’t know, Calleigh, it doesn’t look good.” he said.
He heard Calleigh take a deep breath, as though she was about to cry, but then she replied, “What do you need me to do?” He told her to go to the hospital while he asked the snipers what they saw, and she agreed.
At the hospital, Calleigh and Alexx were sitting in the waiting room, when a nurse walked up to them. “Do you know if he has any family?” she asked them. They both shook their heads, neither of them knew much about his family. “We can find out.” Alexx said, and the nurse nodded and left. “Alexx, don’t you think it’s weird we don’t know much about his family? I mean I know he has parents cause he’s joked about them but I don’t know where they live or what other family he has.” Calleigh stated.
Alexx nodded and said, “I wish they would let us in….immediate family my foot. That boy is as much family as my children. I cant believe this happened to Ryan.” she was now sobbing. “I can. He froze once, maybe he did it again.” Stetler said as he walked up to the two women. “Ladies I think Ryan would prefer if you two were doing your job instead of sitting here doing nothing. I know you both care about Wolfe but we have a new case that needs dealing with.” he said.
“Rick, I suggest you get to work on it, if you need help, then I suggest the night crew. Because Calleigh and I aren’t leaving. Ryan is like family to us and we belong here.” Alexx said angrily as she stood and put her finger in Stetler’s face. “Alexx…I understand you’re under stress with your friend being in the hospital, but I need you on this case. Tripp can come in and hold down fort after he gets done questioning the snipers. He can call you two if there’s any progress. Then and only then will we put a hold on the case. I already have called the night crew, who is down there now…but I need you two. Especially since Delko and Horatio aren’t around.” Stetler continued, “I’m talking to you too Calleigh.”
“I have to track down Ryan’s family.” Calleigh said as she stormed past Stetler, ignoring his calls after her. Alexx smiled as Calleigh left, “Ata girl.” Alexx whispered. Rick looked like deer caught in head lights as he ushered Alexx out and back to the lab.
Back at the lab, Tripp asked a sniper by the name of Miller, what he saw. The man looked terrified, but he knew he had to tell the truth. He tried to be as thorough as he possibly could.
Flashback
Ryan slipped behind a crate and got a visual of a perpetrator, he moved around the crates to the man. He had his gun drawn and showed his badge. The man didn’t yield, he drew a gun and pointed it at Ryan, whom shot. The fire was heard and Perez, who was just around another crate, fired at Ryan, who went down. Miller, who was above the skylight, then shot Perez clear through the head, and he went down.
End Flashback
-“Look Tripp…I was there the day Ryan froze…he didn’t today. I don’t want Ryan to get into trouble. He followed protocol throughout the entire thing. I don’t know specifics on this case, all I know is that this was more than a drug bust wasn’t it? These guys had heavy artillery in those crates. I want to know what was going on. These guys looked more like hired killers than druggies.” Miller said.
- “You’re right…this was no ordinary drug bust. These guys are linked to a series of murders. Ryan and I was just following up a lead. We found guys paroling outside with some dangerous weapons, we immediately called for backup. We never expected Perez to be there. Drug and gun smuggling are just covers for the series of murders. And don’t worry Wolfe isn’t going to get into any trouble.” Frank said as he left the room.
At the hospital, Calleigh was on her phone. “Cooper…look I don’t care if it’s against protocol…I’ll deal with it later….. Yes, I know you aren’t good friends with Ryan after what happened last week. Look…just shut up and find out about his family…for me? I don’t know you’re the computer genius. Good, thank you.” she said as she wrote on a piece of paper and hung up her phone.
She walked to the counter, to find the nurse that asked about his family. “Here’s information on Ryan’s family. His parents live in Boston and he has a cousin that lives in Miami.” Calleigh told the nurse. “Thank you.” she replied. She picked up the phone and dialed his parents and as she told them, Calleigh felt bad, she always dreaded a call from the emergency room.
She walked over to a chair and sat down, as she watched the nurse dial another number, must have been his cousin’s. After the nurse hang up she said that his parents couldn’t be here for a while, since they were traveling by plane, but his cousin was on her way.
Back at the lab, Alexx walked into her morgue, and saw two dead bodies. College kids. Boy and a girl. Alexx shook her head and began her work. A man walked into the morgue, he was tall with black curly hair and wore a suit. “You from the night shift?” she asked. He nodded. “I’m K.P….I heard about your boy…I’m sorry.” he said as he approached the victims. “Yeah, he’s a good kid. When I heard the news I couldn’t help but think about Tim. Ryan’s had it tough, but he’ll be fine, Calleigh’s there…along with my prayers.” she said and he replied with a sympathetic nod.
“So, what killed our kids? We found them in the glades, gators got to them…it was hard to tell what did the damage that did them in, when we were at the scene.” he stated. She shook her head at the sight in front of her and replied, “Well it took some time, the alligators did some big damage to the bodies. However, I found a single shot in the back of each of their heads. Looks like Perez’s work, but I cant be sure.” she showed him the bullet wounds.
He nodded. “That’s not like Perez to go after college kids. Why would he go after them?” he asked. Alexx realized he was right but she had her own evidence and feeling about it. “You’re right, but I found a wallet, turns out the boy is Phillip Ringwood. The Ringwood’s are known as large distributors of cocaine. That’s how Michael Ringwood, this kids father, made his millions. And…that is like Perez to go after rich, vulnerable people.” she replied.
“But the Ringwood’s aren’t vulnerable. He usually goes after women or old people. Why go after a kid, who’s father has that many guys that works for him?” he asked. She smiled and replied, “That’s your job.” he nodded and turned out the door.
Hospital doors burst open to reveal a teenage girl running down the hall and to the nurses counter. “Um…I got a call. My cousin, Ryan was brought here.” the girl asked. The nurse brought her up to speed with the situation and told her to have a seat next to Calleigh. “Hey…you’re Ryan’s cousin?” Calleigh asked. The girl nodded with tears in her eyes. The girl had a thin surfer look, she had long blonde hair down to the middle of her back, and she had blue eyes, which were now filled with tears.
“I’m sorry…I know how hard it is to get those damn calls. I’m Calleigh, if you need anything don’t be afraid to ask.” Calleigh told the sobbing teenager. She dried her tears and looked at Calliegh. “You’re Calleigh? It’s good to meet you, Ryan talks about you a lot. You made this job a lot easier for him. He always had a tough time making friends, but you became his friend pretty quick. I’m Heather.” she said as she stuck out her hand to shake hands with Calleigh.
“He’s a good guy, he has a temper though.” Calleigh tried to laugh, instead a couple of tears trickled down. “Yeah, he told me about how he had a few falling outs with a couple of people at the lab.” Heather said. Just then a nurse came out of Ryan’s room. “He’s stable now…one of you can go in now if you want.” the nurse said. They nodded and Heather spoke, “I think you should go in. You’ve obviously been here for a while. I’ll go in after you.” Calleigh nodded and walked in to see Ryan awake, and obviously angry.
“Hey.” Calleigh said as she closed the door behind her. Ryan looked up and asked, “When do I get out of here?” this got a laugh out of Calleigh. “I think you have to be here a little bit longer.” she said kind of sarcastically. He sighed. “I keep telling them I’m fine. I have to get back to work.” he said as he tried to get up. “Ow!” he yelled and grasped his side, he fell back on the bed and laid there. “Yep…that’s called a gun shot wound.” she said.
“So…why aren’t you working.” he asked. She smiled at him and replied, “With you in the hospital gave me a reason to lay out.” he let out a laugh and grasped his side. “You know you missed a great little scene that Alexx and Stetler made in the waiting area.” she told him. “Oh yeah? Did Alexx sock him?” he asked with a smile. “No…but you could tell she wanted to. She got in his face, she went back to work…I’m going to call her and tell her you tried to get up and leave.” she said.
He laughed. “No you have to keep that a secret, you know if you tell her she will be here in two seconds to yell at me.” Calleigh nodded. “Okay I guess I’ll let it slide this time…oh, your cousin is here and your parents are on the way.” she said. He groaned. “Not my parents! Wait…what did you do hack into my file?” he asked. She smiled. “You did! Or you got someone to do it. That’s a little risky on your part, but thank you for finding my cousin’s number.” he said and she nodded.
“Well…I’m going to leave you with your cousin, while I call Frank and Alexx to tell them you are awake.” she said as she started out the door. “Hey, Cal?” he asked as she turned, and he continued, “Thanks for staying. I’ll see you later?” she nodded with a smile and exited. His cousin walked in after she exited the room.
“Hey!” Heather said as she walked into the room. He smiled at his cousin. “Wow…you aren’t surfing or on a computer, I’m shocked.” he said. She smiled. “So I met Calleigh. You were right…she is pretty. She’s been here since some dude told her about you.” she said. “Yeah…she’s fantastic.” he said. She laughed. “So…your mom is frantic, like always. Your dad’s saying you should go back to Boston. Don’t worry I’ve been on the phone calming them down.” she said. He nodded with a smile.
“Hey, honey.” Alexx said as she came to where Calleigh was sitting. “Hey, Alexx. He’s awake…you can go in and see him. His cousin’s in there right now, so you’re going to have to wait.” she said to her friend. Alexx sat down beside Calleigh, and waited for Heather to come out. When she did Alexx rushed in to Ryan. Calleigh laughed at how motherly she was. Heather didn’t even need an introduction. “I take it that’s Alexx.” she said with a smile. Calleigh nodded.
Calleigh’s pager went off, she looked at it, and grumbled. “Damn. It’s Tripp, they need me on a case. The night shift’s ballistics’ expert is at a total loss.” Calleigh told Heather. “I have a meeting there, with some dill weed named…Rick. I’m interning there as a computer analyst, and I took a cab to get here…so do you think you can give me a ride?” Heather asked. “Interning? You look like you’re sixteen.” Calleigh stated.
“I am sixteen…but I skipped the last two years of high school. So now I’m in college. Yeah I know…I look like a surfer bum. I do surf but I’m also pretty smart.” Heather said. Calleigh nodded and said to come on, and together they went to the lab.
Inside the hospital room, Alexx sat on Ryan’s bed. “How you feeling, sweetie?” she asked. He laughed and replied, “I feel fine, I think you should tell them to let me out of here. I have better things to do than to lie around all day.” she peered at him, as if with daggers in her eyes. “Look, if you even think about getting out of here…I’m going to track down my Aunt Bertha to sit on you. Besides, the reason you feel so good…probably has something to do with all those drugs being pumped into you since you’ve been here.” she said forcefully. He tried hard not to laugh and nodded as seriously as he could.
He looked at Alexx and thought to himself, maybe my mother isn’t so bad after all. “Thank you, for the wonderful talk. Threats really help me recover.” he said sarcastically. She smacked his arm lightly in a reply. “You know…you sure did miss a ‘Calleigh’ moment like no other. Rick was trying to tell her to go back to work and she totally blew him off and stormed past him. He looked like a deer caught in headlights.” she said with a laugh. Ryan laughed and replied, “I always miss the good stuff.”
At the lab, Heather walked into Rick’s office. “Nice office, dude…you look like you sit here all day. Do you even work?” Heather asked as she stated his office. “Have a seat.” he said, and she did. “Okay…looking over your school records…it seems you are rather intelligent. Top scores at your university. You seem to do well in Genetics and Ballistics, but what I am impressed with is your Computer Analysis scores. There a lot better than Dan’s. Even though he’s going to be the one to train you, it looks like you are a lot more skilled than he is.” Stetler said with a fake smile.
“Look, Dude. I already know that I can handle this job…I don’t need to prove myself at anything, I already have. Also, I don’t think I need your babble about how good I am. I know. Just tell me where Dan is and I’ll be on my merry way.” Heather replied. Rick was shocked at her behavior and said, “Look…if you ever want to work here I suggest you recognize who you talk to. I am your boss, whether or not you like it, and I will be treated with respect.” Heather laughed, and said “Yeah whatever you say.” and walked out of his office.
She walked down the hall, and saw Calleigh. She tried to make her way to her, to ask where Cooper was, but was stopped in the process. “Hold up. Are you lost?” a woman said. “Look…whoever the hell you are, get your hand off of my shoulder before I hit you.” Heather said to the woman. “For one…I’m Natalia. For two…watch yourself. And three…are you lost?” she told Heather.
“Um…for one I said get your damn hand off me. Two, you’re the skank that turned out to be the mole. Three, no I’m not lost. I work here.” Heather said as she shrugged passed Natalia. Four feet away, Valera and Calleigh stood watching the whole ordeal, and quietly laughed to their selves. “New girls nice.” Valera said sarcastically. Calleigh laughed, “That’s Ryan’s little cousin.” Valera started laughing and went back to her work.
Heather finally made it to a laughing Calleigh. “You know, you might not want to get into a fight your first day.” Calleigh said between laughs. Heather looked quite annoyed and replied, “That chick just tugs the wrong strings on me. She looks like a friken chipmunk that’s been ran over too many times. Anyways…do you know where a Dan Cooper is?” Calleigh nodded and pointed straight down the hall. “The office at the very end. The one with all the computers in it. But I have to go…ballistics guy on the night shift is baffled.” Calleigh said. “Okay…but if you need help, I can help. I studied it.” Heather said and Calleigh nodded with a smile.
Calleigh walked into the ballistics lab to find an older, mid to late forties, man looking baffled. He was hunched over pictures, as Calleigh approached. “Ms. Duquesne?” he asked and she nodded. “What’s the trouble?” she asked calmly. He told her about the alligators getting to the victims and how hard it was going to be about finding out what type of bullet it actually was. Calleigh rolled her eyes and said, “Well we can rule out any hand guns.” he simply nodded, but he clearly didn’t know that.
In the computer lab, Heather walked in and was immediately noticed by Dan. “Delko’s in Brazil, lady. I don’t know when he’ll be back.” he said to Heather. “Excuse me? I don’t know Delko…I’m here to see you if you’re Dan Cooper.” Heather said with confusion. Dan quickly rose from his seat and said, “uh….Yea…I’m Cooper. You’re the intern?” she nodded and stuck her hand out to greet him. “Heather Wolfe. Good to meet you Dan.” she said as she shook his hand.
“Hey, guys!” Calleigh yelled as she walked into the computer lab. “I have something for you two. We can’t figure out the measurements of the bullet, we’ve ruled out handguns, but we still have a lot of guns.” she said. “Why cant you take measurements?“ Heather asked. Calleigh showed them the pictures. “Gross…what the hell happened? Dude get eaten by a damn gator. Why cant you just look in his head for the bullet?” she asked and Calleigh replied, “We thought of it. Someone dug it out. Doesn’t look just like gators got a hold of them.” Cooper looked shocked. “Calleigh? How are we suppose to help with that?” he asked. Heather rolled her eyes and said, “We can make a computer cinematic of the victim’s head take the measurements we do know. Do a circumference of the wound then put it through the data base and find the right bullet.” they looked at her with wide eyes. Heather just shrugged it off and got to work.
“Well…when you get it, tell the guy in ballistics.” Calleigh said as Heather looked up with a grin. “Going back to the hospital?” she asked as if she were implying something. “Yeah…why?” Calleigh asked as she crossed her arms. “No reason at all.” Heather replied. With that Calleigh left in a grin.
At the hospital, Alexx was just coming out of the room when Calleigh came down the hall. “Jeez…you were in there for a long time.” Calleigh said as she strolled down the hall and to the door to the hospital room. Alexx nodded. “He’s asleep right now, honey. But go on in. Just be quiet.” Alexx said to her. Calleigh walked into the room and shut the door quietly behind her.
“Okay…quit pretending. She’s gone.” Calleigh said as she sat on his bed beside him. “Thank God.” he said quietly. “So I heard about your powerful strut passed Stetler…way to go.” he said. She laughed and told him about Heather. “Yeah…she’s got a brain.” he said with a laugh. “So you had to go in after all what a shame. Thanks for coming back though.” he finished. She smiled, as he grabbed her hand and pulled her into him, for a hug. “Your welcome, Ryan.” she said as she edged out of the hug.
Calleighs phone rang, causing her to jump. “Duquesne.” she said as she answered the phone. “Slow down, Frank…now what do you mean that wasn’t Perez? Oh…God. Okay, calm down. I’m on my way.” she slammed her phone closed, and looked at a horror struck Ryan. “Turns out they pulled a switcher. Perez wasn’t there. That was his twin brother. We have another lead, Frank and I are seeing where exactly it goes.” she said as she lifted herself off of the bed.“…hey, be careful.” he said, she gave him a reassuring smile and headed out of the room.
Shooting ruptures outside a warehouse, thirty or so officers swarm around the building, dodging bullets when they could. Many officers hunch behind squad cars and anything else big enough, in order to escape the flying bullets.
“Get those snipers on the roof!” and officer yells. Five men with sniper guns climb stairs while many officers cover them. One officer goes down, while the perpetrator tries to make it inside the warehouse, but is shot by another officer. The officer is revealed as Ryan Wolfe.
He makes his way inside with Tripp and five other officers for cover. Tripp puts his hand on his ear piece and nods. “Wolfe, they said they have visual of Perez from the skylight. Do you want them to take the shot?” Tripp asked. Ryan asked, “How many others are here?” Tripp put his hand up to show eight. Ryan squinted as though trying to figure out what to do.
“I think we should split up, take as many out as we can. Tell the snipers to keep visual if he looks like he’s going to shoot, take him out.” Ryan said. Tripp nodded and the seven men split up in different directions. They quietly slipped behind crates in search of the drug dealers.
Tripp came upon a white man, in his late thirties, bald, with a goatee, and a scar above his lip. Tripp came up behind him, pointed his gun at him, and whispered, “Freeze.” he obeyed and put his hand above his head. Tripp handcuffed him and sent him with another officer who arrived at the spot.
Three shots rang through the air and Frank ran towards the sounds with his gun drawn. He arrived to see Ryan down, along with Perez and another Latino man, in his late twenties. The other five suspects, whom were in the warehouse, also arrived at the scene, along with the four officers. Tripp made way to the injured Wolfe, shooting two men on the way. The other four officer apprehended the last three suspects as Tripp tended to Wolfe.
“We have a man down here! I repeat a man down, we need an ambulance here, NOW!” the officer that wasn’t handcuffing a suspect called into his ear piece. Ryan lay on the floor, bleeding profusely from his left side. Tripp took off his jacket and applied pressure to his wound, trying his best to stop the bleeding…
In the distance, an ambulance roared towards the scene. A couple of moments later, a paramedic came in with a gurney and another with a machine that Frank didn’t seem to recognize, to be honest he wasn’t even paying attention. He helped the paramedics get Ryan on the gurney to be wheeled away to the hospital.
Frank blew out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. “Duquesne.” the voice came through the line. “Calleigh…it’s Frank…look…I need you to do something for me.” Frank said. “What happened? I thought you and Ryan were just following up on a lead.” Calleigh said. “Yeah…turns out Perez was here, we called for back up…it was getting ugly. Me, Ryan, and five other officers proceeded inside the warehouse, with snipers on the roof looking from the sky light…look the point is…Wolfe got over his head with Latinos, and uh…he was shot. I don’t know, Calleigh, it doesn’t look good.” he said.
He heard Calleigh take a deep breath, as though she was about to cry, but then she replied, “What do you need me to do?” He told her to go to the hospital while he asked the snipers what they saw, and she agreed.
At the hospital, Calleigh and Alexx were sitting in the waiting room, when a nurse walked up to them. “Do you know if he has any family?” she asked them. They both shook their heads, neither of them knew much about his family. “We can find out.” Alexx said, and the nurse nodded and left. “Alexx, don’t you think it’s weird we don’t know much about his family? I mean I know he has parents cause he’s joked about them but I don’t know where they live or what other family he has.” Calleigh stated.
Alexx nodded and said, “I wish they would let us in….immediate family my foot. That boy is as much family as my children. I cant believe this happened to Ryan.” she was now sobbing. “I can. He froze once, maybe he did it again.” Stetler said as he walked up to the two women. “Ladies I think Ryan would prefer if you two were doing your job instead of sitting here doing nothing. I know you both care about Wolfe but we have a new case that needs dealing with.” he said.
“Rick, I suggest you get to work on it, if you need help, then I suggest the night crew. Because Calleigh and I aren’t leaving. Ryan is like family to us and we belong here.” Alexx said angrily as she stood and put her finger in Stetler’s face. “Alexx…I understand you’re under stress with your friend being in the hospital, but I need you on this case. Tripp can come in and hold down fort after he gets done questioning the snipers. He can call you two if there’s any progress. Then and only then will we put a hold on the case. I already have called the night crew, who is down there now…but I need you two. Especially since Delko and Horatio aren’t around.” Stetler continued, “I’m talking to you too Calleigh.”
“I have to track down Ryan’s family.” Calleigh said as she stormed past Stetler, ignoring his calls after her. Alexx smiled as Calleigh left, “Ata girl.” Alexx whispered. Rick looked like deer caught in head lights as he ushered Alexx out and back to the lab.
Back at the lab, Tripp asked a sniper by the name of Miller, what he saw. The man looked terrified, but he knew he had to tell the truth. He tried to be as thorough as he possibly could.
Flashback
Ryan slipped behind a crate and got a visual of a perpetrator, he moved around the crates to the man. He had his gun drawn and showed his badge. The man didn’t yield, he drew a gun and pointed it at Ryan, whom shot. The fire was heard and Perez, who was just around another crate, fired at Ryan, who went down. Miller, who was above the skylight, then shot Perez clear through the head, and he went down.
End Flashback
-“Look Tripp…I was there the day Ryan froze…he didn’t today. I don’t want Ryan to get into trouble. He followed protocol throughout the entire thing. I don’t know specifics on this case, all I know is that this was more than a drug bust wasn’t it? These guys had heavy artillery in those crates. I want to know what was going on. These guys looked more like hired killers than druggies.” Miller said.
- “You’re right…this was no ordinary drug bust. These guys are linked to a series of murders. Ryan and I was just following up a lead. We found guys paroling outside with some dangerous weapons, we immediately called for backup. We never expected Perez to be there. Drug and gun smuggling are just covers for the series of murders. And don’t worry Wolfe isn’t going to get into any trouble.” Frank said as he left the room.
At the hospital, Calleigh was on her phone. “Cooper…look I don’t care if it’s against protocol…I’ll deal with it later….. Yes, I know you aren’t good friends with Ryan after what happened last week. Look…just shut up and find out about his family…for me? I don’t know you’re the computer genius. Good, thank you.” she said as she wrote on a piece of paper and hung up her phone.
She walked to the counter, to find the nurse that asked about his family. “Here’s information on Ryan’s family. His parents live in Boston and he has a cousin that lives in Miami.” Calleigh told the nurse. “Thank you.” she replied. She picked up the phone and dialed his parents and as she told them, Calleigh felt bad, she always dreaded a call from the emergency room.
She walked over to a chair and sat down, as she watched the nurse dial another number, must have been his cousin’s. After the nurse hang up she said that his parents couldn’t be here for a while, since they were traveling by plane, but his cousin was on her way.
Back at the lab, Alexx walked into her morgue, and saw two dead bodies. College kids. Boy and a girl. Alexx shook her head and began her work. A man walked into the morgue, he was tall with black curly hair and wore a suit. “You from the night shift?” she asked. He nodded. “I’m K.P….I heard about your boy…I’m sorry.” he said as he approached the victims. “Yeah, he’s a good kid. When I heard the news I couldn’t help but think about Tim. Ryan’s had it tough, but he’ll be fine, Calleigh’s there…along with my prayers.” she said and he replied with a sympathetic nod.
“So, what killed our kids? We found them in the glades, gators got to them…it was hard to tell what did the damage that did them in, when we were at the scene.” he stated. She shook her head at the sight in front of her and replied, “Well it took some time, the alligators did some big damage to the bodies. However, I found a single shot in the back of each of their heads. Looks like Perez’s work, but I cant be sure.” she showed him the bullet wounds.
He nodded. “That’s not like Perez to go after college kids. Why would he go after them?” he asked. Alexx realized he was right but she had her own evidence and feeling about it. “You’re right, but I found a wallet, turns out the boy is Phillip Ringwood. The Ringwood’s are known as large distributors of cocaine. That’s how Michael Ringwood, this kids father, made his millions. And…that is like Perez to go after rich, vulnerable people.” she replied.
“But the Ringwood’s aren’t vulnerable. He usually goes after women or old people. Why go after a kid, who’s father has that many guys that works for him?” he asked. She smiled and replied, “That’s your job.” he nodded and turned out the door.
Hospital doors burst open to reveal a teenage girl running down the hall and to the nurses counter. “Um…I got a call. My cousin, Ryan was brought here.” the girl asked. The nurse brought her up to speed with the situation and told her to have a seat next to Calleigh. “Hey…you’re Ryan’s cousin?” Calleigh asked. The girl nodded with tears in her eyes. The girl had a thin surfer look, she had long blonde hair down to the middle of her back, and she had blue eyes, which were now filled with tears.
“I’m sorry…I know how hard it is to get those damn calls. I’m Calleigh, if you need anything don’t be afraid to ask.” Calleigh told the sobbing teenager. She dried her tears and looked at Calliegh. “You’re Calleigh? It’s good to meet you, Ryan talks about you a lot. You made this job a lot easier for him. He always had a tough time making friends, but you became his friend pretty quick. I’m Heather.” she said as she stuck out her hand to shake hands with Calleigh.
“He’s a good guy, he has a temper though.” Calleigh tried to laugh, instead a couple of tears trickled down. “Yeah, he told me about how he had a few falling outs with a couple of people at the lab.” Heather said. Just then a nurse came out of Ryan’s room. “He’s stable now…one of you can go in now if you want.” the nurse said. They nodded and Heather spoke, “I think you should go in. You’ve obviously been here for a while. I’ll go in after you.” Calleigh nodded and walked in to see Ryan awake, and obviously angry.
“Hey.” Calleigh said as she closed the door behind her. Ryan looked up and asked, “When do I get out of here?” this got a laugh out of Calleigh. “I think you have to be here a little bit longer.” she said kind of sarcastically. He sighed. “I keep telling them I’m fine. I have to get back to work.” he said as he tried to get up. “Ow!” he yelled and grasped his side, he fell back on the bed and laid there. “Yep…that’s called a gun shot wound.” she said.
“So…why aren’t you working.” he asked. She smiled at him and replied, “With you in the hospital gave me a reason to lay out.” he let out a laugh and grasped his side. “You know you missed a great little scene that Alexx and Stetler made in the waiting area.” she told him. “Oh yeah? Did Alexx sock him?” he asked with a smile. “No…but you could tell she wanted to. She got in his face, she went back to work…I’m going to call her and tell her you tried to get up and leave.” she said.
He laughed. “No you have to keep that a secret, you know if you tell her she will be here in two seconds to yell at me.” Calleigh nodded. “Okay I guess I’ll let it slide this time…oh, your cousin is here and your parents are on the way.” she said. He groaned. “Not my parents! Wait…what did you do hack into my file?” he asked. She smiled. “You did! Or you got someone to do it. That’s a little risky on your part, but thank you for finding my cousin’s number.” he said and she nodded.
“Well…I’m going to leave you with your cousin, while I call Frank and Alexx to tell them you are awake.” she said as she started out the door. “Hey, Cal?” he asked as she turned, and he continued, “Thanks for staying. I’ll see you later?” she nodded with a smile and exited. His cousin walked in after she exited the room.
“Hey!” Heather said as she walked into the room. He smiled at his cousin. “Wow…you aren’t surfing or on a computer, I’m shocked.” he said. She smiled. “So I met Calleigh. You were right…she is pretty. She’s been here since some dude told her about you.” she said. “Yeah…she’s fantastic.” he said. She laughed. “So…your mom is frantic, like always. Your dad’s saying you should go back to Boston. Don’t worry I’ve been on the phone calming them down.” she said. He nodded with a smile.
“Hey, honey.” Alexx said as she came to where Calleigh was sitting. “Hey, Alexx. He’s awake…you can go in and see him. His cousin’s in there right now, so you’re going to have to wait.” she said to her friend. Alexx sat down beside Calleigh, and waited for Heather to come out. When she did Alexx rushed in to Ryan. Calleigh laughed at how motherly she was. Heather didn’t even need an introduction. “I take it that’s Alexx.” she said with a smile. Calleigh nodded.
Calleigh’s pager went off, she looked at it, and grumbled. “Damn. It’s Tripp, they need me on a case. The night shift’s ballistics’ expert is at a total loss.” Calleigh told Heather. “I have a meeting there, with some dill weed named…Rick. I’m interning there as a computer analyst, and I took a cab to get here…so do you think you can give me a ride?” Heather asked. “Interning? You look like you’re sixteen.” Calleigh stated.
“I am sixteen…but I skipped the last two years of high school. So now I’m in college. Yeah I know…I look like a surfer bum. I do surf but I’m also pretty smart.” Heather said. Calleigh nodded and said to come on, and together they went to the lab.
Inside the hospital room, Alexx sat on Ryan’s bed. “How you feeling, sweetie?” she asked. He laughed and replied, “I feel fine, I think you should tell them to let me out of here. I have better things to do than to lie around all day.” she peered at him, as if with daggers in her eyes. “Look, if you even think about getting out of here…I’m going to track down my Aunt Bertha to sit on you. Besides, the reason you feel so good…probably has something to do with all those drugs being pumped into you since you’ve been here.” she said forcefully. He tried hard not to laugh and nodded as seriously as he could.
He looked at Alexx and thought to himself, maybe my mother isn’t so bad after all. “Thank you, for the wonderful talk. Threats really help me recover.” he said sarcastically. She smacked his arm lightly in a reply. “You know…you sure did miss a ‘Calleigh’ moment like no other. Rick was trying to tell her to go back to work and she totally blew him off and stormed past him. He looked like a deer caught in headlights.” she said with a laugh. Ryan laughed and replied, “I always miss the good stuff.”
At the lab, Heather walked into Rick’s office. “Nice office, dude…you look like you sit here all day. Do you even work?” Heather asked as she stated his office. “Have a seat.” he said, and she did. “Okay…looking over your school records…it seems you are rather intelligent. Top scores at your university. You seem to do well in Genetics and Ballistics, but what I am impressed with is your Computer Analysis scores. There a lot better than Dan’s. Even though he’s going to be the one to train you, it looks like you are a lot more skilled than he is.” Stetler said with a fake smile.
“Look, Dude. I already know that I can handle this job…I don’t need to prove myself at anything, I already have. Also, I don’t think I need your babble about how good I am. I know. Just tell me where Dan is and I’ll be on my merry way.” Heather replied. Rick was shocked at her behavior and said, “Look…if you ever want to work here I suggest you recognize who you talk to. I am your boss, whether or not you like it, and I will be treated with respect.” Heather laughed, and said “Yeah whatever you say.” and walked out of his office.
She walked down the hall, and saw Calleigh. She tried to make her way to her, to ask where Cooper was, but was stopped in the process. “Hold up. Are you lost?” a woman said. “Look…whoever the hell you are, get your hand off of my shoulder before I hit you.” Heather said to the woman. “For one…I’m Natalia. For two…watch yourself. And three…are you lost?” she told Heather.
“Um…for one I said get your damn hand off me. Two, you’re the skank that turned out to be the mole. Three, no I’m not lost. I work here.” Heather said as she shrugged passed Natalia. Four feet away, Valera and Calleigh stood watching the whole ordeal, and quietly laughed to their selves. “New girls nice.” Valera said sarcastically. Calleigh laughed, “That’s Ryan’s little cousin.” Valera started laughing and went back to her work.
Heather finally made it to a laughing Calleigh. “You know, you might not want to get into a fight your first day.” Calleigh said between laughs. Heather looked quite annoyed and replied, “That chick just tugs the wrong strings on me. She looks like a friken chipmunk that’s been ran over too many times. Anyways…do you know where a Dan Cooper is?” Calleigh nodded and pointed straight down the hall. “The office at the very end. The one with all the computers in it. But I have to go…ballistics guy on the night shift is baffled.” Calleigh said. “Okay…but if you need help, I can help. I studied it.” Heather said and Calleigh nodded with a smile.
Calleigh walked into the ballistics lab to find an older, mid to late forties, man looking baffled. He was hunched over pictures, as Calleigh approached. “Ms. Duquesne?” he asked and she nodded. “What’s the trouble?” she asked calmly. He told her about the alligators getting to the victims and how hard it was going to be about finding out what type of bullet it actually was. Calleigh rolled her eyes and said, “Well we can rule out any hand guns.” he simply nodded, but he clearly didn’t know that.
In the computer lab, Heather walked in and was immediately noticed by Dan. “Delko’s in Brazil, lady. I don’t know when he’ll be back.” he said to Heather. “Excuse me? I don’t know Delko…I’m here to see you if you’re Dan Cooper.” Heather said with confusion. Dan quickly rose from his seat and said, “uh….Yea…I’m Cooper. You’re the intern?” she nodded and stuck her hand out to greet him. “Heather Wolfe. Good to meet you Dan.” she said as she shook his hand.
“Hey, guys!” Calleigh yelled as she walked into the computer lab. “I have something for you two. We can’t figure out the measurements of the bullet, we’ve ruled out handguns, but we still have a lot of guns.” she said. “Why cant you take measurements?“ Heather asked. Calleigh showed them the pictures. “Gross…what the hell happened? Dude get eaten by a damn gator. Why cant you just look in his head for the bullet?” she asked and Calleigh replied, “We thought of it. Someone dug it out. Doesn’t look just like gators got a hold of them.” Cooper looked shocked. “Calleigh? How are we suppose to help with that?” he asked. Heather rolled her eyes and said, “We can make a computer cinematic of the victim’s head take the measurements we do know. Do a circumference of the wound then put it through the data base and find the right bullet.” they looked at her with wide eyes. Heather just shrugged it off and got to work.
“Well…when you get it, tell the guy in ballistics.” Calleigh said as Heather looked up with a grin. “Going back to the hospital?” she asked as if she were implying something. “Yeah…why?” Calleigh asked as she crossed her arms. “No reason at all.” Heather replied. With that Calleigh left in a grin.
At the hospital, Alexx was just coming out of the room when Calleigh came down the hall. “Jeez…you were in there for a long time.” Calleigh said as she strolled down the hall and to the door to the hospital room. Alexx nodded. “He’s asleep right now, honey. But go on in. Just be quiet.” Alexx said to her. Calleigh walked into the room and shut the door quietly behind her.
“Okay…quit pretending. She’s gone.” Calleigh said as she sat on his bed beside him. “Thank God.” he said quietly. “So I heard about your powerful strut passed Stetler…way to go.” he said. She laughed and told him about Heather. “Yeah…she’s got a brain.” he said with a laugh. “So you had to go in after all what a shame. Thanks for coming back though.” he finished. She smiled, as he grabbed her hand and pulled her into him, for a hug. “Your welcome, Ryan.” she said as she edged out of the hug.
Calleighs phone rang, causing her to jump. “Duquesne.” she said as she answered the phone. “Slow down, Frank…now what do you mean that wasn’t Perez? Oh…God. Okay, calm down. I’m on my way.” she slammed her phone closed, and looked at a horror struck Ryan. “Turns out they pulled a switcher. Perez wasn’t there. That was his twin brother. We have another lead, Frank and I are seeing where exactly it goes.” she said as she lifted herself off of the bed.“…hey, be careful.” he said, she gave him a reassuring smile and headed out of the room.
