by Peyton Bogue
“Are you sure?” he asks, glancing back at Hazel in the rearview again.
She nods, moving to gather all of her brown hair into her hands as she begins pulling it back and out of her face into another low ponytail. “Yes," she says. "The plate matches.”
Sage puts the car in park, turning to Kai and grabbing their radio. “This is Detectives Kaelan and Tate, requesting back-up to the truck stop at mile-marker one-oh-five.”
“Confirming mile marker one-oh-five,” a dispatcher’s voice echoes back at them. “Sending back-up.”
“It looks empty,” Hazel says after Sage puts the radio back down, grabbing a flashlight and shining it towards the back of the semi.
“Hazel,” Kai hisses, turning around and moving to grab the flashlight from her. “We don’t want to let this guy know that we’re here.”
She turns the flashlight off, handing it to him with a sheepish smile. “Right, sorry,” she says.
Kai takes it from her, huffing, but looks out of Sage’s window towards the semi with a contemplative expression. His eyes squint as he assess the truck. “It does look like there isn’t anyone there," he says.
“Do you want to check it out?” Sage asks, turning back to look at him.
“Back-up’s on the way,” Kai replies, shrugging. “It can’t hurt anything, right?”
“Mik said to keep the perimeter,” Sage reminds him, but he moves to grab his gun at his waist, flicking the safety off.
“What Mikalina doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Kai replies gruffly, grabbing his own gun and Hazel's flashlight in his lap. “Grayson and Richards were right behind us, man. They should be here any second. The best thing we could do right now is apprehend this guy before he’s tipped off that the entire New York field office of the FBI is on his trail.”
Sage just shrugs, opening the car door. He stands fully, closing the door softly behind himself and moving his gun into position. Kai rounds the front of the car a second later, and they both make their way to the rear of the semi. Hazel follows after them, setting her forensic case against the back wheel of the semi and bringing her own gun up quickly.
Kai steps in front of the trailer hatch, glancing back at Sage and Hazel to see if they’re ready to make entry into the trailer. Sage nods, and Kai pulls down on the hatch sharply, tugging the door open.
The inside of the semi is pitch black, and both Hazel and Sage point their guns into the inside of it hastily, moving forward slowly. Kai steps back to shine his flashlight into the trailer, his finger resting on the trigger of his gun.
Sage quickly sweeps his eyes over what he can see from outside of the trailer in the darkness, then pockets his gun quickly and grabs a side rail to pull himself inside of it. He takes his gun back out immediately once he’s standing inside of the trailer, and Kai throws the flashlight up to him.
The beam stretches out over the trailer, and Sage can see piles of scrap metal and wood leaned up against the walls of the semi. He carefully but quickly sweeps his eyes over the trailer, looking for any signs of life with sharp eyes, and quietly mutters “Clear,” and walks further into the darkness.
There’s piles and piles of colorful rugs, some covered in plastic and others resting somewhat haphazardly on top of the wooden panels and the sheets of scrap metal, but Sage doesn’t see any of the EL-J46 guns as he sweeps his eyes over the trailer.
He hears the low grunt of Kai lifting himself into the trailer a moment later and waches as Kai turns around and politely offers his hand to Hazel to help her into the trailer.
Sage turns back around, moving the light around the dark alcove. Kai is at his back a second later, his gun pointed towards the rugs. Sage sees him look at the rugs with a weird look, then he says, “I was kind of expecting something with a little more color.”
“I don’t see any of those guns,” Sage says, shining his light around the ground again. “Someone’s already taken them.”
A muffled groan sounds at the far end of the trailer, and Sage turns around sharply to sweep his light back over towards Hazel. In the corner of the trailer, a rug moves again, and another grunt sounds as both detectives move hastily towards the right corner, their guns drawn and ready.
Kai moves in front of the rug, and Sage trains his gun on the squirming movements before Kai leans down, ripping the rug harshly off the person underneath it.
A man dressed in jeans and a sleeveless shirt rolls onto his back quickly as he groans loudly. There’s duct tape over his mouth, and his arms and legs are bound firmly together, completely restricting his movements.
Sage looks down at the man and sharply asks, “Jack Newsom?”
The man grunts unintelligibly underneath the duct tape, and Sage looks at Kai, who’s staring down at the suspect with his eyes squinted in confusion.
A loud metal noise reverberates through the trailer abruptly, and Sage whips the flash light up past Hazel’s shoulder in time to catch the trailer door being slammed shut, and the hatch clicks firmly into place.
Sage springs into action, running back towards the door and pushing against it harshly. Whoever’s on the other side of the door doesn't let up, and Sage repeatedly smacks his hands against the metal, yelling loudly.
“Shit,” he growls, banging the door again. Kai has still got his gun trained on Jack Newsom but he pounds a fist against his side of the trailer sharply, huffing aggravatingly.
The distinct sound of a gun cocking on the outside of the door sends a chill down his spine, and Sage screams, “Get down!” as bullets begin to fly through the walls of the trailer.
Sage grabs Hazel, the closest person to him, and pushes her harshly and hastily forward towards the back of the trailer, where he tackles her to the ground as one of the bullets barely misses his head.
The bullets come flying through the trailer with the back speed of a machine gun and the force of an AK as they pound through the metal and out of the other side lightning fast. Sage can’t move his limbs, afraid to lift his head up to see if Kai has gotten down to cover himself, and he moves to grip his gun firmly, still pressed right on top of Hazel’s small body.
“Kai!” Sage shouts over the noise of the onslaught of bullets.
“I’m good!” Kai shouts back, his voice strained. Another bullet hits the wood right above Sage and Hazel, and Hazel yelps from underneath Sage’s body. “I’ve got Newsom!”
“Stay down!” Sage shouts back, his finger resting on the trigger of his gun. He looks up towards the bullets, still careful to keep completely still, and everything begins to move in slow motion around him as his heart pounds loudly in his chest.
The bullets continue to fly through the trailer as the rapid sound of gunfire echoes in Sage’s ears. Suddenly, he’s back in Afghanistan again, his body shielding a kid soldier's like he’s shielding Hazel, and time stops completely. His pulse pounds heavily in his ears. His mouth tastes like blood and ash.
Fucking hell, Kaelan, we’re getting shit on!
Everybody stay down!
Sage locks his limbs as panic surges and coils around his lungs. Jesus H. Christ, Cap, something’s gotta give. We’re fucking fucked! He feels like he’s choking on sand. He’s sweating through his t-shirt. We don’t leave men behind. Everybody needs to get out of here, now! Distantly, Sage thinks he can hear the sounds of helicopter blades. Sirens thrum over the loud echo of a heartbeat in his ears.
Focus. Up to our necks in shit, boys. Focus. Whatever you do, don’t fucking stop shooting. Focus. See you on the other side, Cap!
C’mon, Sage thinks to himself. He can’t let himself panic. He’s not in Afghanistan. He’s at a truck stop in New York City, and if he doesn’t do anything now, he, Kai, and Hazel are going to die.
Focus.
Sage raises his gun up, aiming it towards one of the bullet holes, and squeezes the trigger. A trail of bullets stops abruptly, and the other one continues steadfast through the metal, but Sage can hear the sound of a heavy artillery weapon fall onto the ground, and
the distinct thump of a dead body follows only a second later.
The other trail speeds up, and it’s closing in on Sage and Hazel. Five bullets imbed themselves in the scrap metal right above his head, and Sage closes his eyes, his heart racing. His grip tightens on Hazel, and his breathing picks up to the point of hyperventilation.
A bullet grazes over his shoulder where his bulletproof vest isn’t covering it, and he grunts sharply at the explosion of pain as the bullet plunges into a nearby piece of wood.
Jesus Christ, Sage, one of these days you’re going to get hit where you can’t handle it any more. You got a death wish, Kaelan?
And that’s. . .that’s Rhys’s voice in his head now. It’s not. . .shit.
I’m sorry, Sage thinks distantly. I’m sorry, Rhys.
Kai begins to shout something indistinctly, and Sage can feel Hazel’s body tremble underneath his.
It’ll happen fast, he thinks again, his eyes screwed shut in pain. Don’t be mad at me, Rhys. And then everything stops abruptly. There is no gunfire, no more bullets flying at thrm through the walls of trailer, and no more grazes. Their collective harsh panting sounds through the dark, their fear stiflingly thick in the silence. The sound of Newsom groaning echoes against the metal walls as Sage's ears pick up sounds of movement near the rear of the trailer.
“There’s another one out there,” Kai hisses, drawing his gun up.
You’ve got the biggest guilt complex I've ever seen. Even worse than mine. That guilt is going to eat you alive, Sage. You’re going to burn out this way.
Sage lifts his upper body off of Hazel, twisting so that he can turn towards the door of the trailer. The metal gives way from the hatch, and Sage draws his gun up quickly, pointing it towards the door, ready to fire.
“It’s all good! It’s all good!” he hears, and Sage looks past a Persian rug in his line of vision to see Grayson and Richards, their guns drawn but both of them sharing matching looks of reassurance.
Sage deflates as his entire body relaxes, and he lets out a sigh as his head lolls forward in relief.
The sound of police sirens reaches his ears clearly, and every shrill wail as they grow closer calms Sage’s erratic heart.
“Are you all okay?” Grayson asks, and Sage moves to lift himself off of Hazel, offering her a hand to help her stand. Hazel looks up at him with wide-eyes as both of her hands cling to the sleeve of his jacket.
Kai huffs, moving to his feet and leaning against the side of the trailer, still breathing heavily. “We’re good,” he says, leaning down and forcibly using both of his hands to haul Newsom to his feet.
Sage leads Hazel to the exit of the trailer with a hand on her shoulder, and she lets go of his sleeve as he accepts the hand Richards gives him, allowing the kid to help him out of the trailer.
“You’re bleeding, Sage,” Richards says, looking at Sage cautiously as his eyes run over the bloodied shoulder of Sage's NYPD jacket.
“It’s just a graze,” Sage assures him, patting Richards’s shoulder in thanks. He turns to Hazel, helping her down and out of the trailer with two hands on her waist.
Kai and Newsom follow out after her, and Newsom is immediately escorted to a squad car, his hands still bound behind his back.
Sage moves towards the right side of the semi, still gripping his gun tightly, and rounds the corner to reveal two dead assailants, their EL-J46 guns resting at their sides.
“The rest of these guns are in those two SUVs over there,” Grayson replies, nodding his head towards the two cars parked in front of Newsom’s semi.
“Who are these guys?” Sage asks, holstering his own gun with a sigh.
“They’ve got to be working for Sirin, right?” Richards asks, leaning down and grabbing the two guns. “Why else would they have shot at three policemen?”
“Maybe to cover up what they’ve done,” Sage answers, running a hand through his sweaty hair as he takes a calming breath. “You’re probably going to have to autopsy them, Hazel. I think my bullet killed one of them.”
Hazel doesn’t respond to him, just gazes down at the two dead men in front of her with a haunted look. She’s still trembling and her hands shake as she reaches up to pull her hair out the ponytail she’d put it in.
“Are you okay, Hazel?” Sage asks her, moving closer to make her look into his eyes. She looks up at him, startled.
Hazel takes a deep breath, swallowing quickly before she nods and says quietly, “Yeah, I’m alright.”
Sage nods at her, taking a step back. She’s probably just in shock, and Sage doesn’t want to overwhelm her, so he makes sure to stay in her view line but puts space between them, so that she has plenty of room to breathe.
“What the hell did I say about keeping the perimeter?” a shrill voice sounds at the five of them suddenly, and Mikalina stalks up to them angrily, a stern glint in her eyes and her jaw clenched. She’s addressing all three of her subordinates, but her blue eyes are blazing at Kai, and she looks about ready to set him on fire with just the heat in her gaze alone.
“We saw an opportunity and took it, Lieutenant,” Kai says to her, standing tall even as his voice takes on a less-than-confident tone. “We had no way of knowing this was going to happen.”
“You three could have gotten seriously injured,” Mikalina says sharply, her eyes snapping to Sage. “And you’re bleeding. What happened to you?”
“I’m alright, Mik,” Sage tells her, trying to sound steady and calm. He can’t even feel the pain anymore, but he knows as soon as his adrenaline leaves his system, he’s probably going to crash hard. “It’s just a graze. I’ll be fine.”
Mikalina takes a deep breath, shaking her head angrily. “I am not going to lose the three best policemen this precinct has ever seen just because you all are incapable of following orders,” she tells him, whipping back around to glare at Kai.
“We’ve got the suspect in custody, Mik,” Kai tells her gently. “And we’ve recovered the guns. This is a win!”
Mikalina continues to stare at him, scowling, before she sighs deeply, bringing a hand up to rub at her eyes. “All of you go home,” she says aggravatingly, but her voice is softer. “Get out of my sight before I write you up for insubordination.”
“We’ve got to question Newsom, Mik—” Sage starts, but Mikalina’s cold eyes snap up to his sharply, and he shuts his mouth quickly.
“I’m going to interview the suspect and get his confession. I want him out of our custody, now,” she says, turning to Grayson. “You’re welcome to join me, and then once I’ve finished, he’s no longer any of my concern.”
Grayson nods at her, a polite smile resolutely on his lips. “Of course, Lieutenant. We’ve caused enough uproar here.”
She nods back at him, turning back to Sage with another glare. “And you,” she points at him. “Go get checked out by one of those ambulances over there. After you do that, go home. All of you.”
Sage just nods, keeping his mouth shut. He knows better than to argue with her when she’s like this.
“Take tomorrow off, too,” she says, and Sage and Kai eye her warily, their brows raised in silent suprise. She shrugs, unbothered. “You’ve all worked hard on this case, and it’s practically over. I’ve been running you ragged for weeks now. You guys deserve a break. Catch up on your case files when you come in on Friday,” Mikalina tells them. “I’ll have a uni pack up these guys and the guns for you, Hazel. Someone else can do their autopsy for you, so don’t worry about that. We know what killed them.”
Hazel just blinks at Mikalina, nodding slowly.
Mikalina eyes each of them again, before she turns on her heel and walks amorously back the way she came without another word.
“I would not want to cross that woman,” Grayson says, watching as she disappears behind a squad car.
“No, you wouldn’t,” Kai replies, chuckling. “So, you better go with her before she comes back and drags you to the precinct by your ear.”
Grayson chuckles, bu
t Kai looks at him seriously, his eyebrows raised. Grayson sobers quickly, nodding before he takes off after her hastily.
Sage chuckles lightly at him, shaking his head. He turns back to Richards, who’s still standing next to he and Kai, looking a little out of place, and asks, “What took you guys so long to back us up? I thought you were right behind us.”
Richards runs his hands through his hair, sheepish. “We were, and then we accidentally took the wrong exit when we realized you weren’t in front of us anymore. It took us a few minutes to find this place once we realized our mistake.”
“And the other squad cars were following behind the two of you,” Sage continues, nodding, “so they followed you when you went the wrong way.”
Richards nods, flushing a little in embarrassment.
Kai chuckles at him, looking up from where he’d been typing something on his phone, and fixes Richards with a pointed look. “We’re lucky you showed up when you did. Thank you for being here for us.”
Richards nods again, offering Kai a shy smile. He motions behind himself to the SUV he and Grayson had ridden in, and says, “I’m going to follow Grayson and the Lieutenant back to the precinct and see if I can help with the interview.”
“Make sure you don’t get lost on your way back,” Kai says, chuckling. Richards’s face turns a shade darker, and he nods.
“It was nice working with you, Logan,” Sage tells him, sticking his hand out.
Richards takes it, smiling politely. “Thank you. You too, Sage.” He turns to Kai, nodding. “You as well, Malakai. Enjoy your day off tomorrow, guys.”
Sage nods at him, watching as Richards follows along after Mikalina and Grayson. Kai comes up next to him, gently patting Sage on the shoulder opposite his bullet graze and gives him a little shake.
“I’m sorry that you got hurt, buddy. I shouldn’t have suggested that we apprehend Newsom without back-up. I’m sorry,” he says remorsefully.
Sage shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it, Kai. It’s not your fault. I’m fine. I promise.”
“Let’s get you checked out,” Kai replies, and Sage groans.