memories, psych [ 1 ]

087. escaped convicts

Vanessa gets to the police station and goes in, finding Shawn and Gus.

"Hey." She rushes over. "You guys okay?" She asks, glancing over them for any injuries.

"I'm fine." Gus nods.

"Yeah, we're good." Shawn says, reassuringly squeezing her shoulder.

"See, this is why you don't go on boats." Vanessa says.

"Why weren't you there?" Shawn asks.

"I have an easy out -- kids." Vanessa says.

"And you couldn't get me out of it?" Shawn asks.

"Little environmental work will do you good." Vanessa shrugs, innocently smiling at him.

"I hate you." Shawn mutters.

"You love me." She argues, grinning.

"All right, listen up." Vick speaks up. "By the time we caught up with the stolen medic boat, Northcutt and Sanders had already made their escape. The hunt is now an inter-agency top priority, so we are coordinating everything with the sheriff's department as well as the Coast Guard. Your personal assignments have been sent to your inboxes."

"Chief, anything on Northcutt or Sanders out of the Department of Corrections that can help us on this?" Lassie asks.

"I've got something, Chief." Shawn says. "I'm sensing these men belong to a prison brotherhood, a small cadre if you will. This indicates there could be an accomplice who potentially aided in the escape of Northcutt and Sanfus Sanders."

"Well, at this point I'll take any lead that I can get." Vick says. "Okay, Mr. Spencer, let's try to find other members if any even exist. And the rest of you, let's get to work. We've got an hour or two at most to catch these guys and then they're gone."

"Defense." Shawn claps. "What? What? What?" He asks, seeing Gus' expression. They walk over to where Craig is sitting.

"Hey, man, what are you doing here?" Gus asks.

"I had to  come in to give me statement to Detective Lassiter." Craig says.

"That explains the long face. I know dealing with Lassie can be very unpleasant. Like crawling over broken glass or any kind of wiener surgery." Shawn says.

"No, that's not really it. The warden called. He fired me." Craig says.

"What? Why?" Shawn asks.

"Two dangerous convicts escaped on my watch." Craig says.

"Oh, come on, I'm sure a snafu like that has happened at the prison before." Shawn says.

"First time." Craig informs.

"Ooh. In that case..."

"Man, I'm really sorry." Gus tells him.

"I'm not." They turn to Lassie. "There's no excuse for letting those men get the jump on you and putting those civilians at risk. At the very least, you should be bleeding to death from a bullet taken while trying to stop their escape."

"Come on, Lassie, there's no reason to kick a man when he's already down." Gus says.

"That's exactly when a man should be kicked because that's the only way he learns. The nuns taught me that." Lassie says.

"You and the nuns are mean." Vanessa says.

"Wow. Lassie, the more I learn about you, the more I'm convinced you are the Penguin." Shawn says.

"Except lankier." Gus says.

"Look, I do my job and put those animals behind bars. It was your job to keep them there." Lassie says.