Chapter Seven

Fearful for the lives of Griffin and Monica, the team rushes to the precinct.

With an entire team of private investigators in tow, Cooper rushes down the sidewalk in the direction of the billowing smoke.

            “I don’t see why we couldn’t drive,” Greg whines.

            “Because, dumbass,” Kimberly says as her now dirty barefeet gallop over the concrete, her black high heels in hand. “There’s going to be police blockades diverting all traffic trying to get anywhere within a block of that building.”  

            “Or what’s left of it,” Lisa adds. It’s a dark take on the finishing each other’s sentence game, but a very real one.

            The smoke is becoming so thick that it’s nearly being inhaled by the team as they turn the corner, the building coming into sight. Or, as Lisa worded it, what’s left of it.

            The entire precinct has erupted in flames, a large hole blown into the side. Not by coincidence, it appears to be the side that houses the interrogation rooms. “Oh, s**t…” Greg says, shock and worry being the first genuine and selfless emotions he’s shown all day.

            “Was that where they had Griffin?” Abby asks, her voice no more steady than it was in the high-rise nor during her interrogation. She takes the silence as the answer she feared most, her body slipping into some form of fearless autopilot as she begins sprinting down the sidewalk. “Abby, no!” Greg says as he lunges forward after her, his hands grappling her back into his hold.

            “Keep her here, we’re going to see what’s happening.” Cooper’s orders are short and stern, reading more like commands from a police chief rather than the assumed manager of a small private eye firm.

            Abby tries to fight his hold, but her five-foot-two frame is no match for his six-two. At least not when she’s in this state. She’s practically cried herself to exhaustion and the fast-paced walk to get to where they are now was no help.

            Cooper, Lisa and Kimberly move forward towards the scorched building. “You don’t think they’re…” Lisa begins, even her more twisted mind refusing to utter such a word about her co-workers.

            “Don’t go there, Lis’. They’re fine,” Kimberly reassures her friend.

            There’s the sound of a secondary explosion, although the flames barely flare out any more than they already are. Still, the sound startles the trio enough to send them running far ahead of a shrieking Abby and an increasingly frustrated Greg.

            The fire department is distracted with connecting their hoses to the truck and unraveling the ones that already have water flow. There’s a startling �" make that alarming �" shortage of police officers patrolling the perimeter.

            “No cops stopping us? That’s not good,” Lisa notes aloud as they hop a cement barricade, all casting sideways glances to each other as they move onward.

            “Say a prayer and keep moving,” Cooper says as withdrawn as he can. He’s painfully aware of the reality that there are probably countless dead law enforcement inside that building, but the stakes are so high and they have a very limited time frame. There’s no time for emotions. Especially the ones that can slow you down.

            Of course he still has his little tendencies that he is doing in secret, currently it’s counting the remaining bricks with nothing but wandering eyes to mark which one he’s currently delegating a number to.

            They’re one-hundred feet from the flames when Cooper’s eyes narrow, his squint nothing but a poor attempt to try and see through the smoke and into the hole.

            “Anything?!” Lisa asks, her voice strained from trying to shout over the sirens, the powerful stream of water and the crackling of the fire.

            “No, I can’t see a thing,” Cooper sounds defeated. It’s disheartening to the two girls to his right.

            “Well that’s just not acceptable,” Lisa takes a step forward, her shoulders broad and showing confidence that is typically uncharacteristic of her.

            “Lis’, no. What are you doing?” Kimberly says as she grabs her best friend’s forearm.

            “We’re not official EMTs or police, Lisa. We can’t go in there,” Cooper adds.

            “No? Well this is what I know.” Lisa turns, her lips quivering when the fire casts enough light on them for Cooper to see. “This morning I came to my normal everyday boring desk job. I thought the biggest threat to my passive life was that I was going to be laid off in the next month or so.” Her palm slaps her thigh, her gritted teeth showing her frustration. “In the last eight hours there has been an assassination attempt on the president, the geeky guy who sometimes brings me coffee got taken out by a military sniper and now he and the woman who basically acts like a mother to all of us are missing inside of a building that has a big gaping hole in the side of it. And on top of all of that, someone is trying to make me and my coworkers look like conspirators.”

            Coopers eyes trail off as the realization of just how bad today has been setting in. Jack Bauer set unrealistic expectations for dealing with multiple cataclysmic situations in one single day. It can’t be done.

            “So excuse me while I go see if my friends are alive,” the tears are visible in her eyes and audible in her voice.

Instead of holding her back, Kimberly walks with her hand on her arm for support.

            Cooper shakes his head while laughing softly. Nothing about the situation is funny, but it does seem to be bringing out the best in his team of formerly mismatched individuals. And that makes him proud.

            “Hey, hey you can’t go in there!” A firefighter shouts after them.

            They look over enough to notice the man’s preoccupation with his hose. Knowing that he can’t walk away to stop them, they continue towards the hole. The fire there is greatly minimized, but the smoke clouds still circulate in the opening. Cooper grabs his tie and places it over his mouth and nose, the girls doing something similar with the sleeves of their sweaters.

            Kimberly looks up to Coop, her piercing blue eyes beaming through the smoke and hitting him like a brick. “Oh, ladies first,” Coop says as he uses his free hand to gesture towards the hole.

            Kimberly begins to step into the opening when Cooper stops her with his forearm across her pathway. “What? I’ll go first, it’s not a big deal.”

            Cooper’s head shakes again, but this time it’s not a look of pride that’s present on his facial features. Pointing to a pile of rubble, the women’s collective line of vision transitions there. It’s not so much the pile of rubble that’s alarming. It’s what’s under it. Or who, rather.

            “Oh my God!” Lisa cries out, her soot covered hand coming up to cover her mouth.