OFFICE E.A. DISTRICT ATTORNEY JACK McCOY
THURSDAY, 2:14pm
Jack had barely finished hanging up his coat when Briscoe, Logan, Scully, and Mulder paraded into his office.
"Six is a crowd, don't you think?" McCoy comments in disgust.
"Listen, we all didn't caravan over here just for kicks," Logan counters.
"This is important. If it weren't, there's no way I would have dreamed of interrupting your little lunch party," Lennie adds with a generous amount of sarcasm mixed in for good measure.
McCoy glares across his desk at the older detective.
"So what's up?" asks Jamie, as she takes a seat.
Mulder and Scully, who hadn't said a word during the short confrontation, now took their cue from Jamie to say something.
"We've found another witness to the murder," Scully informs.
Jack turns from Briscoe to Scully with a look of disbelief, "Who?"
"A Mr. Arthur Macy, the land-lord of the building with the fire escape we found Cummings body hanging from," Mulder elaborates.
"Why didn't he come forward sooner?" questions Jamie, "I mean, he practically lives on top of the murder scene. There's no way he could've missed the police investigating the area."
"Yeah, that and the fact that Det. Briscoe and I already questioned him and during that questioning he never once mentioned witnessing the murder makes his statement now sound all the more suspicious," Mike gets in.
"It does make you wonder," Briscoe adds.
Jack runs his hands over his face. This case was turning into a bloody farce, "I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here, people."
All heads turn and look at the A.D.A..
Jack poses the most obvious question, "What exactly did Mr. Macy say in his most recent statement?" He was starting to feel like the freakn' ring master of this whole circus.
"His account of how the murder took place is exactly the same as Laura Andrews'," Mulder smugly states.
"This has to be a joke," Jamie says in a despairing tone.
"More like a damn nightmare," grumbles Jack under his breath.
Silence.
Jamie sighs and looks at the floor. Finally, she thinks of something to say to fill in the uneasy silence, "Did you bring him in?"
"You mean Arthur Macy?" asks Mulder.
"No, I mean the Boogy Man- yes, Agent Mulder, I mean Arthur Macy!" an exasperated Jamie snaps.
Everyone in the room starts at the rebuke by the once calm A.D.A..
"Agents Mulder and Scully picked him up before we all trucked over," Lennie tentatively offered, after Jamie had somewhat regained her composure.
"You have him working with a sketch artist?" Jack asks, hopefully.
"Yeah, Mr. Macy says he got a good look at the woman that committed the murder," answers Lennie.
"Sounds like a bit of progress," admits Jack.
"We may know what this woman looks like, but its going to be hard to draw her out into the open. Mr. Macy told Agent Mulder and myself that he had never seen our little ‘black widow' prior to the murder and has seen little of her since," points out Scully.
"Does Mr. Macy think she's been around since the murder?" Jack inquires.
"He thinks she has been, but only after dark and even then she seems to stick to the shadows," replies Mulder.
"So what makes him think it's the same woman?" Jamie questions.
"Her hair color is the same as the killer's- blond. Looks like its natural blond and natural hair color is a rarity among these young ladies so that's why she sticks out," Mike tells them.
"How do you know that, Detective? Mr. Macy never told us that," Scully almost demands.
"I got a hold of Profaci on my cell phone on our way over here. He had asked Macy how he came to suspect it was the same girl and he passed Macy's answer onto me."
"Oh..."
"How do you wanna run this, Counselor? This lady isn't going to come to us so we're going to have to go to her, " Lennie states.
All eyes turn to Jack. Jack sighs and rubs the back of his neck. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"Not quite the kind of person you want to meet in a dark alley, huh Detective?" Jack comments, as he thinks.
"Not if I don't have to," responds Lennie.
"Well, someone's going to have to play the part of the bait,"
"What are you talking about, Jack?" a confused Jamie questions.
"We're going to set up a sting of sorts. We'll send someone out after we get the composite sketch and have him act as a John. He'll look for and try and pick up our ‘black widow'. If everything works out right, we'll be able to catch our suspect safely, in a situation and setting we have control over. Lessens the chances she'll harm herself or someone else."
"It might work. We'll have to get in touch with Vice and give'em a heads up as to what we're doing. Its going to be a lot of work to set up," Jamie remarks.
"Do you have a better idea?" retorts Jack.
"No, I don't," sighs Jamie.
"I'm open to suggestions- anyone else have any thoughts?"
No one responds.
"Right then. We've gotta do something. Doing something gets more done than sitting around and worrying about it,"
Lennie nods his agreement to what Jack is saying.
"I'll call the head of Vice and fill them in," Jamie says as she leaves the office.
"Good. Get the ball rolling," Jack praises with a smile.
‘Hang'em High McCoy' looked at the four weary people in his office with an air of confidence. He hoped he looked more sure of himself and what he was doing than he felt. He didn't want them to realize that he was making this up as he was going along- they were all flying by the seat of their pants into an encounter with a woman who might be responsible for the deaths of eleven men. Not exactly a very comforting thought.
INSIDE SURVEILLANCE VAN
THURSDAY, 8:24pm
After several hurried meetings and phone calls, the operation was put into motion. One of the Vice squad officers would act as the bait for their ‘little lady'. Scully had suggested Mulder play the part of bait, seeing as how he had a lot of experience with the call girl services and would not seem out of place. Mulder told Scully, at this suggestion, that she should stick to working with dead people because her tact with dealing with live people left a lot to be desired. Scully said she would take this under advisement.
Now they all sat in the surveillance van with only the description and sketch of their suspect to go on as they gazed at the now famous street corner, searching for their quarry. It was turning chilly outside, and they were starting to wonder if she'd even show up. They being: Mulder, Scully, Logan, Briscoe, and Van Buren. McCoy had gotten hung up at a late meeting in the chambers of Judge Harrison. Judge Harrison was hearing arguments on whether or not to admit a piece of evidence into a murder trial McCoy was currently prosecuting.
And Jamie- Jamie had managed to get herself out of this wild goose chase. This was not of her own accord, though-
EARLIER THAT SAME DAY
Jack sits at his desk, nervously tapping his fingers. It was going on twenty-five to five. Jamie had left the office around three to make sure her daughter, Katie, was going to be okay for the night. She had a live in nanny who cared for Katie when Jamie was at work. She often worried that her daughter knew the nanny better than she knew her own mother.
That reminded Jack. The letter from Boston...He looked around his office trying to find another excuse to put off replying to her. He opened a desk drawer and pulled out the letter for about the tenth time that day. The D.A. was turning it over in his hand considering the situation when, much to his relief, the phone on his desk demanded attention once again.
"McCoy."
"Jack, its me."
"Jamie? What's up?"
"I've got some bad news."
"Jamie, I don't think I can take much more bad news today."
"I know, Jack, but this definitely wasn't planned."
"Nothing is any more," comments Jack, dryly.
"Katie was so upset when I told her I wouldn't be home until late tonight. I couldn't leave her feeling like she was so I took her out to Central Park for a quick little bike around."
"Oh God, Jamie, don't tell me-,"
"The chain on my bike broke and sent me head over heals down a little hill. I broke my collar bone and my left arm. I got pretty bruised and scraped up, too. I had to go to the hospital- that's where I'm calling you from. They're going to put my arm in a cast and put a brace on my collar bone. They say they can have me out by maybe six or six-thirty so I might be a little late for the first briefing at six."
"Jamie, you stay home."
"I appreciate the concern, Jack, but I don't need to be babied."
"Jamie, you would drag yourself into a courtroom if you were on your deathbed and that's all fine and dandy. But I'm not going to let you go on a sting of a murderer in the middle of the night when I know you must feel like you got hit by a tractor-trailer."
"I don't need to be babied."
"Its not being ‘babied', its common sense. You've gotta take care of yourself."
Jamie sighs. She knows Jack is right- about this at least, "I guess I'm talking to the expert on feeling ‘like you got hit by a tractor trailer'."
"Wet road, motorcycle, 40mph- draw your own conclusions," Jack replies.
Jamie chuckles at Jack's answer, "Alright, I'll be at home tonight if anyone needs to get a hold of me."
"Don't worry, Jamie. I'll try my best not to let the world end while you're not on the job."
Again, Jamie chuckles, "Take care and good luck."
"Right back at ya, Jamie."
Jack hangs up the phone and sighs. He had to re-arrange some of the plans now. More paperwork. He glances at the letter. He decides take care of it later and proceeds to put the letter back in the drawer- right next to another letter. We get a brief look at the return addresse on the envelope of the other letter- Jane McCoy.
BACK INSIDE SURVEILLANCE VAN
The wind began to pick up outside the van. Van Buren looked up from her Gin Rummy game with Det. Briscoe and listened to the wind.
"I wouldn't want to be out there tonight. Its going to be getting nasty," she comments.
"The eternal changing of the seasons. Going from the warm days of Summer to the chilly days of Fall," Scully sleepily puts in.
Mike sits at the front of the van, eyeing the street corner with the binoculars, "Lets hope the change of seasons doesn't find our murderer flying South," he yawns.
"Are you kidding, Mike? Those women out there are the poster children for true work ethic. Through rain, sleet, snow, or shine...," Lennie chuckles.
Mulder sits moodily in a corner. He didn't find the situation very amusing. This was a big joke to all of them. They had no idea what they were going up against. Plus, Scully kept on making those comments about his call girl encounters. Those were for therapy, not pleasure. How many times did he have to tell her that?
Another gust of wind roared by outside. A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance.
"Twas' a dark and stormy night...," comments Logan, quietly.
Van Buren cracks a smile at Mike's thought and then returns to the Gin Rummy game.
"So how long are we supposed to keep our vigilant watch?" asks Lennie.
"Until Hell freezes over if need be," growls Mulder from his corner.
"Agent Mulder, please stop acting like a self-righteous jackass or I may be forced to shove your head into the nearest fire escape," Logan sarcastically warns.
"You know, I've just about had it with your smart-ass routine, Det. Logan. You have no respect for our work -,"
"Its hard to have respect for work that involves alien abductions, little men from Mars, and Bigfoot!"
"They're aren't any men on Mars!"
Logan just stares at Mulder with a priceless "What the Hell is wrong with this guy?" look.
Scully rolls her eyes and prays that her torment will be over soon.
"I'm going to go outside and get some fresh air," She mumbles as she slips out of the van.
No one seemed to know she was gone. The wind whipped leaves around her feet and blew wisps of her red hair in her face. The streets were deserted except for the ladies across the way. Scully lets out a sigh and slumps back against the van. From this position she glances up at the sky. It was clear- so many stars up there...
Footsteps...
Scully looks up the see Lt. Van Buren walking toward her.
"I got tired of the testosterone laden atmosphere in there so I decided to come out and keep you company," Van Buren explains to Scully's questioning look.
"Who won the Gin Rummy game?"
"I did again, of course. Lennie always seems to forget I was like the Gin Rummy Champion in my neighborhood growing up."
Scully chuckles quietly at this, "Bet you helped him to remember."
"Oh yeah, you better believe I did. Kicked his butt."
Again, Scully chuckles, a little louder this time, though.
An awkward silence falls over the pair. Then-
"Do you think we'll ever catch this woman?" Scully asks, almost timidly.
"You're the G-Woman here. Thought you knew everything."
"Common misconception bred and fed by arrogant male egos- shows why the Bureau would have been so much better off if it had been founded and run by women."
"I see. So does your partner share your uneasiness?"
"I wonder sometimes if Agent Mulder is playing with a full deck- I would be somewhat frightened if we ever shared the same view on anything."
"That attitude really inspires my confidence in the federal government."
"Doesn't it though?"
"So he's a real nut-case?"
"Perhaps I was a little harsh in describing Agent Mulder- he has his good points, I mean, he's a loyal friend and partner. He just has some views and thoughts once in awhile that frankly scare me."
"Still not exactly reassuring..."
"Close enough for government work."
Now Van Buren is the one chuckling.
The discussion of the two women is interrupted by the distant low rumble of an engine.
"About time," mumbles Van Buren.
"About time for what?" questions Scully.
The engine rumble steadily grows louder.
"I'd recognize the rumble of that hunk of junk anywhere- A.D.A. McCoy's on his way."
"He's a D.A....Can't he afford a decent car?"
"Oh yeah, he can afford one- he just doesn't want one. He prefers to re-build some piece of junk yard scrap and then call it a motorcycle."
Sure enough, Scully looks down the deserted street to see a motorcycle precariously making the sharp turn and then head straight for them.
"Men and their toys," Van Buren comments as the bike slows to a stop near them.
The motorcyclist hops off his bike and removes his helmet- it is, in fact, McCoy riding the ‘piece of junk yard scrap'.
"You think you could ride your nice bike out in public, but noooooo," kids Van Buren as McCoy walks up to the two.
"No, that would be too easy for me to do, you should know that," replies McCoy with an impish grin.
"Typical male- why do things the easy way when you can do them the hard way?"
"Exactly- why not?"
"So when are you going to finish your little restoration job?"
"Can't rush it, Lieutenant. These things take time."
"Its been two years and that thing still looks like a bunch of tin cans on wheels with an engine."
"You have no vision, Lieutenant. That's your problem."
"Oh, I have vision- I have a vision of you as in several pieces plastered all over the pavement because that thing falls apart in the middle of the highway. I don't like the image of my guys scraping you off the pavement."
"No vision and negativity- those are your problems."
"Whatever."
Scully stands and watches the interaction between the two, amused. As McCoy and Van Buren continue their friendly banter, Scully's gaze drifts slowly back to the famous street corner. Something catches her eye. A figure cautiously steps from the shadows of the street corner. A figure that looks slightly familiar- too familiar for comfort.
"Lt. Van Buren, Mr. McCoy- do you see what I see?"
Scully discretely points out the familiar figure to them.
"Looks like our luck is finally turning," whispers McCoy.
The three silently hurried into the surveillance van.
"Saints be praised! The promised one has come- the only question now, though, is has he come baring gifts for his toiling charges?" Logan sarcastically remarked upon McCoy's entry to the van.
Jack shot an icy glare toward the insolent detective. Logan tried act like the D.A.'s wordless rebuke had not phased him but proceed to lapse into an uncharacteristic silence.
"What's going on?" questioned Briscoe as McCoy, Van Buren, and Scully, piled in.
"We think we've just spotted our mystery woman," replies Van Buren.
"I'll radio Vice and tell them to get their under-cover man in position," Briscoe whips out a walkie talkie.
"Tell them she's hanging back a bit from the others. She's the blond-haired one with the six-inch heels and the black leather jacket," informs Van Buren.
"And she's wearing a black skirt that's about the size of a wash cloth," adds McCoy.
Everyone in the van momentarily freezes and stares at McCoy.
"What?"
Before anyone can comment further, Briscoe waves his hand at them to be quiet, "Yes, this is Det. Briscoe," he speaks into the radio.
"Det. Briscoe of the 2-7?" crackles back a male voice through the radio.
"Yeah, Det. Briscoe of the 2-7. Listen, we think that we've spotted our suspect. She's the one kind of staying away from the rest of the merry band- blond hair, high-heels, black jacket, tiny skirt. Can you see her?"
"The one who's kinda pacing around like she's got somewhere to go that is, judging by her clothes, very warm?" the radio crackles back.
Briscoe shoots a smirk McCoy's way upon the radio's response. McCoy silently mouths out another, "What?" to Briscoe's smirk.
"Yeah, that's her. How do you wanna do this?"
"We'll send out our guy. He'll lure her out into an open area somewhere along in here. When he thinks the time is right, he'll give us the signal and I'll radio you all, and then it's party time."
"Okay, lets rock n' roll."
Briscoe sets down the walkie talkie and looks up at everyone.
"So that's it?" Logan nervously inquires.
"Yup. Detective Wells said that they'll get her into an open area somewhere along in here and then, when their guy gives the signal, we get her," Briscoe repeats, softly.
"‘We' being?" questions Logan.
"Lt. Van Buren, you, myself, and the full backup of the Vice squad."
"What about us?" Mulder demands.
Scully rolls her eyes, once again.
"You guys are invited to the party, too- that is, if you care to join," Briscoe sarcastically adds.
"You damn well better believe I wanna join."
"We're all gonna die," predicts Scully, under her breath.
Logan hears Scully's pessimistic comment and allows a brief smile to cross his face, "At least she knows her partner is a nut-case. There might be hope for the government yet," he thinks to himself.
The group settles into watch the show. A car rounds the corner and creeps down the street, toward the prostitutes. It stops next to the lone figure on the corner. They watch as the under-cover policeman and the woman converse for a few minutes. The man, finally, gets out of his car and follows the woman. The two disappear into an alley.
"What's he doing?" Logan whispers, alarmed.
"I don't know. He was supposed to lead her into an open area so you could make the arrest as safely as possible," Briscoe, his own bewilderment evident in her voice, answers.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't consider a dark alley to be ‘an open area'," Logan puts in.
"Something's wrong," Van Buren firmly states as she grabs the walkie talkie, "Det. Wells, are you there?"
"Hey, L-T. What's up?"
"You watching your decoy?"
"Well, that's not really my job. I'm just supposed to man the radio."
"Then ask whoever who's job it is to be watching your decoy why he just walked with our suspect into an alley."
"What? What do you mean ‘into an alley'? That's not part of the plan."
"I don't care if it's ‘not part of the plan' or not! I saying he just did it and I want to know why!"
"Hang on-,"
Van Buren lets out an exasperated sigh as she waits for the radio man to return, "Lennie, Mike- I want you two to get ready to go out there. We may have to go out there and find out what the Hell's going on ourselves. You too, Agents- I get the feeling we're not going to get much help from Tweedle Dumber here and his motley crew if they're all as ‘well-informed' as I'm starting to think they are."
"Lt. Van Buren?" crackles the radio.
"Yes?"
"This is Lt. Perkins. I'm in charge of the Vice squad. Det. Wells said you had a question for me? How can I help you?"
"You have a man out there, on his own, in an alley, with a suspected killer!"
"What?!"
"Do you all have hearing problems over there at Vice? Yes, you heard right! Is this some kind of change in plan or what?"
"No, he's not supposed to-,"
Van Buren to the group in the van, "Briscoe, Logan, Agents- get out there!"
Van Buren to the radio, "I'm sending out two of MY detectives and two federal agents- we're doing things our way from here on. Stand by to provide them with backup."
The detectives and the agents (weapons in hand, bullet-proof vests on) exit the van. Briscoe picks up another walkie talkie as they go.
Back at the other radio, "Van Buren, you asked us out here- let us do our jobs."
"That'd be fine if you DID your jobs!"
"Hey, you asked us out here!"
"Because I thought you knew what the Hell you were doing!"
"We do know what we're doing!"
"Then why didn't one of your geniuses see your guy go in the alley?!"
"Det. Cooper has been a decoy many times for busts. He knows what he's doing. We watch him but not like non-stop. He doesn't need us to babysit him!"
"This isn't a bust! This is the arrest of a serial killer who seems to have a knack for making odd things happen when she's around! You should have been keeping an eye on every single thing that was happening!"
"Lt. Van Buren, I think you need to settl-,"
Van Buren, enraged, slams the radio off before Perkins can finish, "When this is all over, I am going to skin Perkins alive and impale his head on a stake and stick it in my front yard- I swear to God, I will!"
Jack glances uneasily out the window. Van Buren turns her radio back on, "Lennie, you see anything?"
"Nothing yet- but our arrival on the scene seems to have scared off the rest of the ladies. Tell Jack that I'm sorry about that. I guess he'll actually have to meet someone who can put up with him without being paid if he wants company tonight," Lennie crackles through the radio.
"Funny, Lennie. Funny," grumbles Van Buren, obviously not amused by Lennie's attempt to lighten the grim atmosphere.
OUTSIDE SURVEILLANCE VAN
THURSDAY, 9:02pm
Briscoe, Logan, Scully, and Mulder cautiously enter the alley into which the Vice member and the woman had disappeared only minutes before.
"They couldn't have gotten too far," comments Logan.
"Well, at least it doesn't appear that the guy has become a fire escape accessory yet," remarks Scully, nodding to the empty fire escape above them.
"That's one thing to be thankful for in this whole fiasco," Briscoe puts in.
"Does anyone know where this alley ends?" Mulder asks.
"The other end! God, with all the problems with Vice we forgot to get someone block the other end!" Briscoe realizes, horrified at their stupidity to forget about such a simple thing.
"Hey...Help...," a weak voice interrupts.
The four startled investigators look around the alley, searching the alley for the source of the voice.
"Hey, over here!" Briscoe yells, waving the others over next to him.
Logan, Scully, and Mulder run to Briscoe's side- there in front of them, lying in a pile of garbage bags, is a badly beaten up Det. Cooper. Scully kneels down next to him and proceeds to inspect his injuries.
"What are you doing?" Cooper weakly demands.
"I'm a doctor, Det. Cooper- my name is Dana and I'm going to try to help you, so just hang on."
Scully turns quickly from Cooper to the other three, "He needs to get to a hospital- badly. Whatever she did to him, she did it damn well. I think we may have interrupted her before she shoved him up into the fire escape, but he still looks like he got hit by a freight train."
"Dammit...," mumbles Logan.
Briscoe whips out his walkie talkie, "Lieutenant, we found Det. Cooper. He's in bad shape. We're going to need an ambulance."
"She- she's got my gun," whispered Cooper to Scully as she was trying to treat what injuries she could there in the alley.
The color drains briefly from Scully's face upon hearing this news.
Behind Scully, Briscoe continues to get Van Buren up-to-date on their current status over his walkie talkie, "We also need someone to be covering the other end of this alley. With any luck she hasn't gotten out of the alley yet, so maybe we can corner her."
"Det. Briscoe?"
"Hang on a second Lieutenant," Briscoe turns to Scully, "Yeah, what's the matter?"
"Det. Cooper says that our suspect has his gun."
"Oh great...," Lennie groans, then, back to his walkie talkie, "Lieutenant, it looks like our lady is now also armed. She apparently has Det. Cooper's gun."
"And here I was thinking that things couldn't get any better," crackles Van Buren over the radio, "Listen, I've got Jack calling for an ambulance right now. I'll see what I can do about the backup. In the mean-time, I want you to proceed with caution, but I do want you to keep looking. We've come so far and we're so close now- we are not letting her get away this time, got it?"
"Got it. Over and out."
"‘Over and out'? How stale is that?" chides Logan.
"You know I'm not really going for the most hip phrasing at the moment, Mike, so if you think you can do this any better, you're damn welc-,"
BANG! BANG!
"AH FU-,"
"MIKE, LOOK OUT!"
The four dive for cover behind some nearby trash cans.
"Where the Hell did that come from?!" yells Lennie.
Before anyone can answer, Van Buren's panicked voice crackles through on the walkie talkie, "Lennie! Lennie, what's going on in there? We heard shots!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"SONOFVABITCH, VAN BUREN, WHERE'S OUR DAMN BACKUP?!" roars Mike across the alley as more gunfire sends him scrambling.
"We need help! NOW!" Lennie practically screams into the radio.
"I can't even tell where the little bitch is firing from! Mulder, Scully, can you see where she is?"
"I think she's up in one of the buildings firing down on us," Scully speculates, anxiously.
"Like fish in a fucking barrel!" screamed Logan as yet another shower of gunfire misses him by mere inches.
Mulder runs over to Logan, weapon drawn, prepared to try and help but just as suddenly as it began, the gunfire stops. An ominous silence is left in its absence.
"Don't leave me here!" Cooper, terrified, pleads from his trash heap.
"Scully, you're a doctor, right?" asks Briscoe as he gets out his gun and prepares to join Logan and Mulder.
"Yeah."
"Stay here with Cooper until the ambulance comes. You got a gun?"
"Yeah."
"Good you'll be able to defend him and yourself."
Before Scully can object to them charging off with no backup in sight, Briscoe follows Logan and Mulder deeper into the alley. Lightening flashes over-head.
"Lightening- perfect," Scully grumbles, as she returns to treating Det. Cooper, "Why not?"
INSIDE SURVEILLANCE VAN
THURSDAY, 9:22pm
"Lennie, what are you guys doing?" Van Buren, worriedly, inquires.
"Lieutenant, if I knew, I'd tell ya." crackles back Briscoe.
"Well, I finally got a hold of Vice. They'll be covering the other end of the alley."
"That's great, but this girl may end up blasting our asses from here to kingdom come before we make it to the end."
Van Buren holds the walkie talkie away from her mouth for a moment and says nothing. Jack can see the helpless look on her face and realizes that he is probably wearing a similar expression on his own face. Nervously, he runs a hand through his salt and pepper hair.
Finally, Van Buren puts her walkie talkie to her mouth again, "Agent Scully is staying back with Cooper?"
"Yeah, and Mike, Mulder, and me are trying to track down our suspect. Do you want us to keep going or come back to the van?"
Van Buren holds the radio away from her mouth again and looks over at Jack, "What the Hell am I going to do? I can't afford to get them killed but we also can't afford to let a serial killer get away again...Dammit, if Vice had done their job, I wouldn't have to make this decision."
"Lieutenant?"
"Yeah...Hold your position until backup
"Alright, keep going. But for God's sake, don't get yourselves killed. That would kinda ruin my day."
"Wouldn't exactly make our day either, Lieutenant."
Van Buren shoots a look at McCoy and Ross. McCoy nods grimly- if they wanted to catch this woman they would have to do it on her home tref. There would be no luring her out into an open space, no tricking her- she was turning out to be smarter than they had ever imagined she would be.
"Okay, stay in radio contact and if ANYTHING doesn't seem right, get back here."
"Nothing in this whole operation has seemed ‘right' but I appreciate your concern," Briscoe gloomily replied.
Van Buren switches channels on the radio to the general police channel, "This is Lt. Anita Van Buren of the 27th Precinct requesting that all units near the corner of 10th and Main to be prepared to provide backup," she announced into the radio.
Several area cars replied to her, but none were within 20 minutes of the scene- they had been told to steer clear of the capture area. They added that they were now en-route. Van Buren switched the radio back over to the channel the capture team was using.
"Lieutenant, what will we do if they run into more trouble out there before the area cars get here?" questions McCoy, uneasily.
Van Buren sighs nervously, "Then I get to find out if I've still got what it takes to capture a suspect by myself."
"Anita, you can't be serious."
"You don't think I could do it?"
"I don't doubt that you couldn't do it- I'm just saying that it would be suicide for anyone to go in there with no one to watch their back."
"Are you volunteering to come with me?"
McCoy looks at the floor.
"I didn't think so. I'd have to go- those are my guys out there. I can't let'em get killed without at least trying to help them."
"Even if it means you might have to save the lives of those two bumbling agents?" McCoy asks with a brief smile.
"All good things have their prices," answers Van Buren.
Before McCoy can even smile in appreciation of Van Buren's wit, the tell-tale staccato of gunfire punctures the night air once more.
Briscoe's panicked voice bursts through the radio static, "MAN DOWN! MAN DOWN!"
"Hang on- backup on the way!" Van Buren yells into her radio, "Vice, start entering the alley at your end. We'll take the other end!"
"But who's gonna enter at your end, Van Buren? You can't ris-," protests Lt. Perkins.
"Let me worry about that!" Van Buren hurriedly gets a bullet-proof vest from a nearby drawer and puts it on as she switches radio channels, "All units in area of 10th and Main, please provide backup to Detectives Briscoe and Logan."
Once again several units respond that they're en-route, but they're still too far away to offer help right away.
Without a second thought, Van Buren is out the back of the van and running toward the alley- department issued automatic hand-gun in one hand and her radio in the other.
Jack glances around the van for a moment after Van Buren is gone. He knows what he has to do. Silently, he gets up and grabs the last bullet-proof vest from the drawer along with a flashlight and charges out the van door after Van Buren.