by Kelly Shade
Gray was driving. Jane had a chance to look again in Silvio‘s background. His record was clean, and it seemed like he had a trade business and a chain of sportswear stores. Looked legit, as expected, of course.
The Los Angelis Police Department building was in front of them. Ryan parked the car, and together they hurried to the office. The rest of the team were just back from a crime scene. It turned out Jane and Ryan were missing for longer than they thought.
“Hey, do you have something?” Hunt whispered in Jane‘s ear, while the others worked on the crime timeline on the "murder" board.
“We‘ll talk later; we have some clues, but not now,” Blake murmured under her breath. Hunt nodded, and they joined the rest of the team.
Ian decided to fill them in on the case.
“Hey, guys! We missed you,” he smiled. “Anyway, the victim is Robert Buckner. Cause of death is blunt force trauma to the head; in other words, a very heavy vase was thrown at the back of his head. Looks like a robbery gone wrong. His house was trashed, and the money and valuables from his personal safe were stolen.”
“Did he have bruises on his arms or body?” Jane asked while looking at the crime scene photos. The house was upside down. Every room was searched; the furniture was torn apart; all of his belongings were scattered on the ground.
“No, we found him, as you can see, in the bathroom. Probably he told them to get what they wanted, and he hid in the bathroom, but at some point he decided to take a peek; they saw him and . . . you know, the vase,” Nick answered.
Jane took the photos. She was silent for the rest of the briefing. Nick and Ian were explaining every detail they were able to find about the victim. They made Ryan hack Robert Buckner‘s computer to check for suspicious activities, and he found a secret bank account with almost a million in it. The man was rich, and that was an excellent motive for a lot of people to kill.
“What kind of food was in the fridge?” Jane asked after she finished inspecting all of the photos.
“Urgh. Vegetables. Healthy stuff, why?” Ian answered with confusion.
“Because he wasn‘t a very athletic guy and there was a diet and exercise plan for men on the fridge. He wanted to improve his life, which means two things. Either he was seeing someone, or his business was getting better,” Blake explained.
“His wife is here, Emma Buckner. Do you want to talk to her?” offered Nick.
Jane followed him to meet Emma. The woman was at least fifteen years younger than the victim. She was wearing a beautiful dress and expensive-looking high heels. Even though she was crying, her makeup was perfect. When she saw them, she stood up and, while shaking hands, wiped the tears from her face.
“Hello, Mrs. Buckner. This is Jane Blake; hope you don‘t mind answering a few more questions.” Nick pointed to the chair, and the woman sat down again.
“Yes,” Emma cried.
“First, because of the protocol, where were you by the time of the murder?” Nick asked as politely as he could.
“In my friend‘s house. She is a yoga instructor and gives me lessons. She can confirm it,” the wife nervously answered.
“It‘s not going to take long,” Jane comforted her. “Tell me how did you and Robert meet?”
“I was one of the maids. He hired me, but after a month he shared that he was in love with me. I was in love, too; he was handsome, gentle, not an ordinary rich guy. He was loving and we had a secret relationship for six months.” She started crying again.
“Why was it secret?” Nick lifted his eyebrows. Apparently, they didn‘t ask the right questions before.
“Because of his family. They wouldn‘t let a nobody like me marry their son. But after six months, Robert couldn‘t take it anymore and he proposed. We married, but his father never forgave him. They haven‘t spoken since our wedding day. Well, I‘m not counting the few times he called to threaten his own son. He said Robert would be excluded from the will if he didn’t divorce me. Robert‘s brother was against their father‘s behavior, but the old man has a temper.”
“Okay, just one more question,” Jane said and the woman nodded in agreement. “Did Robert cheated on you a lot?”
“Cheated? No, he loved me! He would never do that! How can you say that?” shouted Emma. The door opened and a cute little boy ran to her, yelling Mommy.”
Jane and Nick left them and headed to the other room where the victim‘s parents were. They were a sophisticated old couple from the high life. The grief they felt was written on their faces, but there was not even a tear in their eyes. Jane asked some questions about Robert‘s marriage, and they didn‘t deny they had objected to it. The father confessed he called his son to make him get a divorce.
“The worst was that this woman didn‘t let us see Jeffrey, our grandson. She was always blabbering how we shouldn‘t be around her boy.“ Mr. Buckner didn‘t show emotion, but it was apparent he was furious.
”And she, Emma, she was cheating with her ex,” added Mrs. Buckner.
“How do you know that?” Jane asked.
“I hired a PI, of course. She was seeing that guy for months. The investigator couldn‘t catch them in the act, but we had plenty of photos of them together. When I showed them to Robby, he said I made someone fake them on. Picture-shop, no Photo- Photoshop I think it was. I don‘t even know what that is!” The old woman lifted her guard. She leaned back with her hands crossed on her chest and legs locked in tight.
“Thank you! You were very helpful. One last question. Where were you at the time of the murder?”
“I was home, alone,” said the father.
“I was at a charity event. You can check; this is the address and my assistant‘s number.” The mother handed over a business card after she wrote the address on the back.
They were free to go, and the team had work to do. Jane wanted to go to the crime scene. She said she needed to "feel the house," and after that statement, Hunt happily let her and Gray go and have a look.
Jane and Ryan were just about to go to the victim‘s house when Jane spotted someone in the garden, picking something from the bushes. She let Ryan know with a look and together they ran after the person. At that moment bullets flew their way. Ryan started shooting, too, but Jane didn‘t have the license to carry a gun, so she had to stay behind. Now, she felt terrible about agreeing to the terms before they hired her. Since then she didn‘t have a free minute to pass the test, and she was always delaying it. Now she regretted it. They were hiding behind one of the trees, and the intruder was still shooting at them. Ryan decided to run closer to the shooter. The thief ran when he saw Gray. Ryan had a clear shot and aimed at the person. At that moment Jane jumped over Ryan, pushing him to the ground.
“There is one more . . . ” she said breathlessly. Ryan couldn‘t understand what just happened. He looked around and saw the second shooter disappear around the corner. Still puzzled and frightened, Gray stood up and looked around to check if the gunmen were still there. He didn‘t even notice Jane was still on the ground.
“It‘s clear. Let‘s go.” Ryan turned reaching his hand to help her get up when he saw the blood. “Oh, my God! You‘re shot!”
“You don‘t say!” Jane said sarcastically. “Help me to stand up!”
She was holding her left shoulder. Her white t-shirt was half red now. Ryan lifted her and offered to carry her, but she kindly declined.
“We have to call an ambulance; you are losing too much blood!” Gray was horrified and shaking more than Jane.
“I’m okay; just drive me to the hospital. The bullet is inside, and I will not torture myself again to pull it out.” She was pretending everything was fine but her face was getting whiter and her left hand was shivering.
“Again?” Ryan asked while helping her sit in the front seat of the car.
“Yeah, I‘ve been shot before. On one job. But it was worth it.” Almost out of breath but still holding it together, Jane was trying to keep busy so as not to faint “The bastard shot m
e in the stomach, and I had to deal with it myself. You know. Because of the cops.” She forced a smile.
Gray was driving like a rally driver. He was drifting and sliding on the road like a pro. Jane was impressed. They arrived at the hospital in no time. Ryan grabbed Blake against her will and carried her to emergency. The LAPD badge had magical powers in these kinds of situations. The head nurse only glanced at it, and the team for Jane‘s surgery was gathered in a minute. Ryan put her on the stretcher, and before Jane could even say thank you, the doctors surrounded her. The anesthesia was in her system. Her vision was getting blurry, the doctors faces were spinning, Ryan’s frightened expression was going away. Blake was out.
Ryan called the team. He was blubbering. Gray was pale and shaking. Hunt couldn’t understand what Gray was saying.
“Jane g-g-got shot!” was the only thing Ryan said clearly.
Nick, Ian, and Connor came just in no time. They went to Ryan, padded him on the back and waited in silence.
The surgery was done.
Ryan still had Blake‘s blood all over him when the doctor came to inform them about her condition.
“She’s okay. She lost some blood, but the woman is a fighter. Her life indicators were perfect. The surgery went well. The bullet hit her collarbone but stuck in the deltoid muscle. I believe she will recover fast. Ms. Blake should be awake now. You can visit her in room 217 on the second floor.” The doctor smiled, and after everyone on the team shook his hand and thanked him, he went away.
Everyone hurried to room 217. Worried and relieved at the same time they stormed into Jane‘s room.
“How are you?” Ian asked while sitting on her bed.
“Still a little dizzy, but okay.” Jane made a tired smile “Thanks for coming!”
“Are you kidding me? You are one of us, Blake! We’ve got each other‘s backs; get used to that!” Nick said while checking the AV line.
“And today, Blake, you proved you have our backs. If you hadn’t pushed Gray, he would be dead. The bullet was going right to his chest,” Hunt said. He looked so proud of her. “And, Blake, when you get out of here, the first thing you should do is to pass the test.”
“Yeah, I‘ll do that.” Jane felt great, even though she was shot. In all her life, she had just a few people who cared about her. The worst was that the friends she had were long gone. When she became Jane Blake, at the age of 21, she cut off all friendships. Just one of them found her, Smith, the FBI guy, and she let him in because she knew he knew how to protect himself. Jane didn‘t realize she needed people she could trust until now. Yeah, to be shot hurts and all, but to understand you have a team you can rely on_priceless. Maybe the bullet in her arm was the best thing that had happened to her in a long time.
Hunt saw that Blake was day-dreaming and decided to let her rest.
“Look, we spoke with the maids. They said the Buckners were fighting a lot. For the last year, they fought almost every day. And the funny thing is all three maids got a day off only once a month. This tradition started a couple of years ago after Mrs. Buckner started to whine saying she couldn‘t take it that they were always in the house. On that day, she would cook the dinner and wash the dishes.” Hunt walked to the door. ”I’m telling you this now because I know you will ask, not because we need help. We will let you know when we find the killer. Now rest!”
“Thanks!” Jane smiled.
Hunt got Nick, Ryan, and Ian out of the room.
As expected, Jane had just half an hour to be alone. Ryan came back as soon as he convinced Hunt he was not coming to see her but that he was staying in the office. He walked through the door, straight to her bed. Jane was shocked when he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
“Thank you! I can‘t believe you risked your life for me. Thank you!”
“Come on, don‘t dramatize! You would do the same for me. And in our line of work, I‘m sure you‘ll have the chance to prove it!”
Jane was happy and smiling.
Ryan took her hand and, still with a serious face, he added. “You can trust me, you know that, right?”
Blake nodded. Now they were looking into each other‘s eyes, still holding hands. At that moment Jason Carter came in; slammed the door; he was breathless. “I‘ve heard what happened and I came as soon as I could!” he said. Jane and Ryan froze. They both were looking at him with a what-are-you-doing-here type look. Jason saw their hands together, cleared his throat and snarled. “Can I talk to you alone, Jane?”
“Ryan, I‘m dying for coffee; could you go and get me one from the cafeteria downstairs?” Jane wanted to be as polite as she could, and she really needed the caffeine. Ryan stood up, and on the way out he bumped Jason‘s shoulder on purpose.
“Are you okay?” Jason was trying to hold his anger. “What happened?”
“Yeah. I‘m fine. Well, we were at a crime scene, and someone shot at us,” Jane explained.
“The word is you saved Gray.” Carter was losing it.
“Yeah. I jumped in front of him,” admitted Blake.
“And what was that holding hands; taking a bullet for him. Are you sleeping with him?” he lost it.
“No.”
“Come on. I saw how he looked at you!” Jason was almost shouting.
“Jason, I want you to listen to me very carefully! It is my own business who I fuck with.” Jane took a deep breath, “And you come in the hospital after I‘ve been shot and you‘re acting like a jealous teenage boy? Are you kidding me?”
“I‘m . . . I‘m sorry,” he murmured.
“Get out of my room now!” Jane said those words loud and clear.
“But . . .”
“Out!” she repeated and gave him a you-are-dead-to-me look.
Jason had no choice but to leave. Ryan had a silly smile as he waited with two cups in front of the door. After Carter stormed out, Gray laughed and turned to Jane while handing her the coffee.
“That was unbelievably awesome.”
“Hey, I told you not to listen to my conversations,” she laughed.
“Yeah, I couldn‘t miss that!” His smile froze a moment later. “Look, we still don‘t know who shot at us, and I‘m not sure if it was connected to the Buckner‘s case. What if that Silvio sent someone after us?”
“Don‘t be paranoid! I know who it was and I know who Robert’s killer is.” Jane stood up and got her clothes. “Help me with that.” She handed him her shirt. There was still blood on it.
“What are you doing; you can‘t go; you need to rest!” Ryan said with a worried expression.
“No, I can‘t stay here. Hospitals drive me crazy.” Jane started to undress.
“Well, at least let me buy some new clothes. Next, to the cafeteria, there is a clothing shop.” Ryan offered.
“Okay, something in black, I‘m size . . .” Jane agreed instantly. She didn‘t want to go around wearing a bloody t-shirt and jeans.
“I know your size; I‘m not blind. I‘ll get you a sports suit; it‘s comfortable and easy to put on. Okay?” Ryan went out again.
He came back with an adorable black sports suit. Jane thank him and put the pants on right away. Since she had the bandage over her shoulder, it was hard to put a shirt on.
“Help me with the sleeve,” Jane asked.
Ryan turned around to see her standing half dressed. His eyes widened. Jane made a "come on, dude" face. He shook it off and helped her.
They got out of the hospital without signing the needed documents and headed to the car.
“So, who is it?” Ryan asked and started the engine.
“The wife. Her yoga friend shot at us,” said Jane, fighting with the seatbelt. “Now call Nick and tell him to get the kid in the office and to find someone to babysit him. Then call the wife and the ex-boyfriend and tell them the kid was abducted and they need to wait for the kidnapper to learn how much the ransom is. Send Ian and Hunt to the wife‘s friend’s house to arrest her and her boyfriend.”
“Why? What?” Ryan co
uldn‘t understand a thing.
“They‘ll ask if we have evidence. Hunt will say there were fingerprints on the bullets. They will crack and turn on each other.” Jane was talking fast, but when she saw Ryan‘s look, she slowed down. “Please, just do it!”
He did everything as she said and after a bit he explained that he convinced the team to work with the plan.
Until Gray and Blake were in the station, everything was taken care of. As Jane said, Emma‘s friends cracked and confessed, so they didn‘t need to worry about them.
Emma and her ex, Jamie Fox, were at the office. They looked nervous. Jane stopped Ryan at the door and pointed him to the kitchen. They went, and she took her phone, made the caller ID unknown and dialed. The office phones started to ring and Nick picked up.
“Tell them I‘m the kidnapper and I want a million dollars in two hours or the kid is dead,” Jane whispered.
Nick did so, and then Blake and Ryan went in. The wife started to cry and said she didn‘t have the money. Her husband had locked the accounts, and the only one who could unlock them was their son at the age of 21. Her ex-boyfriend dragged her out and pushed her into one of the interrogation rooms. The team followed them and sneaked into the back room to hear what was happening.
“Blake, did I tell you to rest? And Gray, I expected you would be more responsible!” Hunt said with disapproval.
“Listen!” Jane pointed at Robin’s wife and Jamie Fox. Hunt stopped talking.
Jamie Fox was whispering, “I know you have the money! This is our son! You will let them kill him because of money! Please, Emma!”
“Oh, now he is your son!”
“If I didn‘t get the DNA test, I wouldn‘t have known! Please, get him back, Emma!” Jamie cried. “What did you do, Emma?”
“I didn‘t kill a man to be left with nothing. And now it is even better when that kid is gone, I‘ll be wealthy” she said. Her eyes were moving from side to side like crazy. “If you want you can be rich with me, but if you say something to the cops, you‘re dead, too!”
The man pushed her to the wall with his hands on her throat.