One Step Ahead

Breach

February 4th, 12:07 AM

"Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak,                                                                                                                            Somewhere in the town                                                                                                                                                      Tonight there's gonna be trouble,                                                                                                                                  So don't you be around"

      Sanger's eyes snapped open as Phil Lynott's voice filled the silence of the darkened bedroom, and as his hand shot out to grab the phone, he glanced at the bedside clock. When he saw the time, he instantly tensed, steeling himself for whatever was coming. Thumbing the send button, he struggled to a sitting position and croaked, "This is Sanger."

      "Garrett, it's Dean Bledsoe" he heard, and tensed even more. "The alarm at the facility sounded just a few minutes ago. Dispatch followed procedure and called to make sure it wasn't accidental, but got no answer. We've got units heading to the scene, and I'm on my way to pick up Paul, but I thought you might want to be there too."

      "I'm on my way now, sir," he announced, throwing back the comforter and swinging his feet to the floor. By this time, Nora had awakened as well, and lay watching him silently from the bed.

      "And when you get in your car, turn the radio to the closed channel," Bledsoe stated. "The chief wants to keep the media away as long as possible, so all units have been instructed not to use open communications."

      "Got it. I'll be there ASAP."

      Striding to the closet, he yanked open the door, grabbed some clothing, and began to change out of his pajamas. Nora got out of bed and walked to the dresser, removing a pair of socks from a drawer and crossing the room to hand them to her husband. "What happened, sweetie?" she inquired.

      "We seem to have had a breach at one of the safehouses," he replied, as he pulled on the socks. "They have units on the way, but Dean and Paul are going out too, and want me there as well."

      "It's him again, isn't it?" she questioned, as he jammed his feet into a pair of sneakers, and he paused for a moment, returning her gaze.

      "More than likely, yes," he answered. "There's still a chance that it was a malfunction, or that someone set it off unintentionally, but I'm almost sure we'll find out it wasn't." He rose from the chair, gave Nora a quick kiss, and hurried from the room.

      "Go back to sleep, hon, you have to be at work in a few hours," he called out from the hallway. "You don't want to fall asleep doing your rounds. Love you, babe!"

       "Love you too, Garrett. Call me when you get a chance, and let me know if you'll be home tonight," she responded.

      He dashed to his car and climbed in, extending an arm through the window to fasten the detachable flasher to the roof as he backed out of the driveway. Snapping on the radio as he drove, he listened intently, but at first heard only the call numbers of units who were en route to the scene. Then, as he neared the exit that would take him to the freeway, a voice cut clearly through the babble, quavering with emotion: "Dispatch, we have officers down, we need medical response to the scene... And someone from the ME's office."

      "Fuck!" he growled, switching on his siren as he increased his speed, glad that traffic was lessened by the late hour. Using the cars' navigation system to guide him through the fastest route, he reached the building in less than ten minutes, observing his superiors closing the doors of Bledsoe's car as he careened into an empty spot and turned off the motor. He exited the vehicle and hurried toward the two men, quickly catching up to them, and they walked rapidly through the crowd of officers and paramedics. Then, as they pressed forward, they heard something that stopped them in their tracks. From somewhere ahead of them, there was a raw, anguished, primal scream: "Nooo...!"