She finds herself frozen as she watches the trees whiz by, staring out the windshield...blinking as water drips from her hair, into her eyes. She starts to see a shape ahead...her brow crinkles...then her eyes close, thinking she's hearing sirens.
When she opens them again, the shapes have grown bigger...and the sound's gotten louder. Her head tilts, as she realizes what it is. Sykes sees it too, cursing to himself. He stares straight ahead, as the two black and whites from the local sheriff's department come screaming toward them, sirens blaring. The cars start a game of chicken, speeding toward each other on this narrow dirt path...
Sykes remains steady, refusing to slow down. The gap closes...until the cops realize he's not stopping...and swerve out of his way. The rental races past the cruisers as they try to get back on the road.
Tea blinks...staring into space, lost in her own thoughts...as she sees the entrance to the highway in front of her.
Back a ways, the cop cruisers split up...one heads for the house. The other turns around fast, speeding off down the road after the rental. Sykes gets to the entrance, the back end of the car fishtailing as it turns sharply onto the highway...the tires squeal as Sykes floors it. A few seconds later, the cruiser does the same, turning hard and speeding off after them.
Todd sits curled up against the stairs, one hand cuffed, the other covering his face. All he hears is the rain for a moment. Then, gradually, another sound becomes audible...he raises his head, tear tracks glistening on his cheeks. He listens...
...his eyes widen when he recognizes the sound of sirens. He looks toward the front door, hearing the car stop...the siren shuts off...doors opening, closing...the police radio...
He stares anxiously at the door...
"Dr. Atherton?! Police!!"
The two officers enter, guns drawn. They look around...their eyes fall on Todd, chained to the railing. They look at each other in shock. One of them starts to approach him.
"Where's Dr. Atherton?"
Todd just shakes his head, shell-shocked, muttering. "I...I don't know...please...you gotta help me..."
The officer looks him over...then kneels down in front of him. He looks up at his partner.
"Better check around."
He nods, heading down the hall. The officer turns back to Todd, looking at him warily.
"What's your name, sir?"
Todd looks at him blankly, his voice quiet. "Todd...Todd Manning..."
"Mr. Manning...who did this to you? Are they still here?"
Todd just blinks, staring off...listening to the sirens of the approaching ambulance. Finally, he looks directly at the cop.
"Please help me...he took her..."
He shakes his head, trying to understand. "Who?"
"My...my wife..."
The cop's brow furrows. "Who took her?"
"S-ssykes..."
The cop looks down, thinking. Just then, his partner calls from Joely's office.
"Hey!! EMT's here yet?! I found Dr. Atherton!!"
The cop gets up, looking out the door as the ambulance pulls up, and the EMT's get out, grabbing their gear.
"Yeah! Here they come!"
The two EMT's rush in, and the cop points them to the office. One of them stops, looking at Todd.
"He alright?"
The cop shrugs. "Yeah, I think he's okay...better take care of Dr. Atherton first."
The EMT rushes down the hall. The cop stands there, looking at Todd for a moment...then heads for the door.
"I'll be right back."
The cop runs down the stairs, over to his cruiser, getting in. He grabs the radio and calls to dispatch.
A helicopter races across the Montana sky...Bo, West and a couple of local FBI agents sit, all staring out the window with binoculars, as they approach the Atherton Foundation. One of the feds turns around to Bo, hearing something coming through on his headset. He waves at Bo, who leans forward.
"Call just came in from one of the local cops...they just got to the house...one of the cruisers is in pursuit of a rental car headed north!! Hold on..."
The agent pushes his earphone in, listening...then looks up at Bo.
"They found Dr. Atherton, and another man...hold on...Manning, Todd Manning!! You know him?!"
Bo and West exchange looks, nodding. Bo yells to the agent. "Is he alright?!!"
The agent shrugs. Just then, the pilot turns to them, pointing ahead.
"Heads up!! There's the house...and there's the car...up ahead!!"
Bo grabs his binoculars, looking out the window. He spots the house, then follows the highway north...spotting the cop cruiser...and the rental, speeding along ahead of it. The agent taps Bo's arm...he looks up.
"You want to set down at the house?!"
Bo shakes his head. "No!! Stay on that car!! That's the guy we're looking for!!"
The cop comes back in, walking up to Todd. He kneels beside him, taking out his handcuff keys.
"Well. Let's get you outta here...hope this works."
Just then, the EMT's enter the foyer from the hall, carrying Joely away on a stretcher, her head bandaged. Todd looks up as the cop tries his own handcuff key. It clicks. The cuff falls away, dropping his hand. The cop stands up, offering a hand to Todd. He takes it, standing up...then runs over to Joely as they carry her down the stairs.
"Oh, God...doc? Doc?"
Joely's eyes flutter, as she looks around, her face getting pelted with rain. She looks over at Todd as they place her on a gurney and start to wheel her over to the ambulance. She blinks at him...and smiles weakly. She mouths some words, but he can't hear her. He bends down closer, walking backward with the gurney. She turns her face toward him, whispering.
"I...I'm glad you're alright...where's Tea..."
Todd looks at her, helpless. "I...he took her...oh God, doc, I'm...I'm sorry..."
She closes her eyes gently, shaking her head slightly. The EMT's pull the gurney up into the back of the ambulance, moving around him, shutting the doors. Todd stands there, and watches as they drive away. The sirens soon give way to the sound of rotor blades...Todd and the cop, standing by him, both look up in time to see the helicopter swoop overhead, heading in the direction of the chase.
Todd whirls around to the cop. "We gotta go after them!"
The cop stands there, reluctant. "Look, Mr. Manning-"
Todd gets up in his face, furious. "That is MY wife in that car..." Then he pauses, centering himself. "Please."
The cop sighs, looking down a moment. He makes a clicking noise with his mouth, then starts sprinting toward the cruiser. "Come on."
They jump in the cruiser and head off, down the dirt road.
Tea sits in the passenger seat, strangely quiet ...solemn...looking down at her hands. She twists the wedding band around her finger, deep in thought. Sykes glances over at her, worried...but is too preoccupied with the cruiser on their tail to pay her much mind. He checks the rearview mirror, then stares out the windshield...catching sight of something in the air. He looks up...
...and sees the helicopter, carrying the feds, Bo and West, keeping pace with them as they speed north. Sykes' eyes flash with rage and panic...
...Tea lifts her head slowly, a million thoughts racing through her mind, watching her life pass by as she stares out the windshield. Her eyes fix on a point on the horizon, becoming larger as they approach. She tilts her head, focusing on it...
...a trestle bridge lies ahead of them, still a bit far off, but visible now. Tea's chin lifts...and she bites her lip, remembering having passed it before...
...Sykes' eyes dart around wildly, back and forth, between the road, the rearview and the helicopter...feeling his stomach tying itself up in knots, as he tries to figure out just what he's going to do now.
... Tea looks out at the bridge, sitting in front of her like the answer to her question...then silently, she reaches behind her, tugging on the seatbelt. She grabs the buckle and pulls it over her lap. She turns her head slightly to look at Sykes, who's busy watching the helicopter above them. She keeps her eyes on him as she straps herself in. She twitches a little when it clicks quietly...but he doesn't seem to notice, looking in the rearview now...
...she shuts her eyes, nervous...but also more awake...and clear-headed than she's ever been in her life. She takes a deep breath, preparing herself, trying to stifle the butterflies in her stomach. She looks at the bridge again...
...then over at Sykes, who turns to look at her...
...and finds himself totally distracted by her eyes, gleaming with a quiet fearlessness...
...her eyes dart over to the bridge one more time...as they speed towards it, the steel of the abutments as gray as the skies...
...his eyes follow hers...and sees the bridge coming up fast. He looks back at her...
...as she lunges over, grabbing the steering wheel with both hands, and yanking it toward her with all her might...
...the car turns sharply...too sharply...the tires squeal loudly, slipping on the wet road and losing traction...
...Sykes' face pales as he yells, braking, trying to grab the wheel from her. "TEA!!! NO!!!"
...she gets one last look at the world...then lets go of the wheel. She shuts her eyes, covering her head with her arms, and folding herself up, bracing...
...the police cruiser skids to a stop...the officer jumps out, just in time to see the rental car spin around, the driver's side headed right for the bridge abutment...
SMASH!!!
Everyone watching from the helicopter jumps in shock...the officer on the ground stares in horror as the moving meets the unmovable at about 50 miles an hour. The speed and momentum causes the rental to wrap itself around the abutment, making horrible, sickening noises as it stretches to its limit...
...CREEEEEEK....SNAP!!!
The car splits in half...the officer's mouth drops as he watches the front end of the car break away, ejecting the passenger seat and flying off down the slope, into the water below. The other half of the car spins away, bouncing off the girders until it comes to a stop farther down the road.
Behind them, the other cruiser races along, trying to catch up. Todd and the other officer hear the crash, looking at each other. Todd turns back to the road, watching with huge, frightened eyes, as they approach the bridge...
...his heart sinks like a rock when he sees the steaming debris from the rental car, strewn all over the road. They pull up behind the first cruiser, skidding to a stop...they jump out, and Todd goes running for the wreck.
"TEA!!! Oh, God...TEA!!!"
The two officers go running after him, up to the abutment. They stop a few yards away, seeing blood everywhere...undoubtedly all that's left of Sykes. Todd starts shaking his head, looking around wildly. The two officers peer over the embankment at the front end of the car, nose down in the water.
From the air, Bo looks over the wreckage, seeing the car, the bridge, the water...and something else, on the other side of the road, in the grass. He grabs his binoculars and looks at it carefully...
...then slaps the agent in the front seat, eyes wide, yelling.
"I see her!!! Tell them I see Tea!!! She's on the other side of the road!!!!"
The agent nods, then starts talking into his headset...
...and on the ground, the radio starts blaring. The officers look up at the sound, and go sprinting for the car, leaving Todd standing in front of the smoking wreckage. He walks over to the embankment and looks down, seeing the front half of the car buried in the water. He looks back at the steel beams of the bridge, the road...his eyes focused on the sheer amount of blood covering everything...refusing to believe any of it could be hers. He looks around, bewildered...feeling like he's trapped in the worst nightmare he's ever had. Tears form over his eyes, blurring his vision, as he listens to the sounds of the approaching sirens.
"Roger that...got it!!" One of the officers drops the radio, and they both go running down the opposite slope...
"Manning...over here!!!"
Todd turns his head, to see them waving him over. He blinks the tears out of his eyes and runs toward them. The officers run out into the field, seeing the ejected passenger seat, resting a hundred feet or so away from the road...
Tea's contorted body lies just beyond it...on her side...conscious, but in shock. She blinks rapidly, disoriented...seeing all the legs running toward her. The officers gather around, trying to look at her.
"Mrs. Manning? Can you hear us?"
Tea looks at them, dazed. She opens her mouth, but can't form any coherent words. She tries to move, but sharp, seizing pain shoots through her body, from everywhere. She tenses, groaning loudly.
"TEA!!"
Todd falls to his knees as he approaches them, sliding on the wet grass. The officers hold him back some, preventing him from getting too close to her.
"Don't...don't move her until EMT's get here...she's probably broken bones...she could have head injuries."
Todd strains against their grasp, pulling free and crawling over to her, putting his face right into hers. He covers his mouth, scared to death, as he looks at her...she's drenched, bleeding, covered in mud...her clothes ripped up and blood-stained. She groans as her chest heaves...and her eyes dart all around...glazed, unfocused. She coughs, blood trickling down her chin from a gash on her lip.
He swallows hard, then tries to talk, his voice wavering, as he reaches out and gently touches her face.
"Tea...Tea...can you hear me? Oh, God please, Delgado...look at me..."
Her eyes continue to dart around, but less frantically now...finally, they flutter, then close. Her whole body seems to relax a little. Todd's heart stops, and his mouth drops open...everything seems frozen for that one horrible moment...
...then her head moves slightly, and she swallows...then coughs, spitting out more blood, and opening her eyes again. She looks down at the grass. Todd lets out a tension-filled breath, trying to get in her line of sight, as the paramedics arrive, surrounding them.
"Delgado? It's me...it's me, can you hear me?"
She blinks...then looks up...and sees him. Her face softens...and her mouth opens. Still unable to speak, she mouths a word...
"Todd...?"
His face breaks out into the biggest smile he's ever smiled. He laughs, and nods at her...hidden by the rain, tears of relief run down his face. The EMT's look at each other, then descend on her, starting to push everyone back.
"Okay, people, clear out...let us do our job."
The officers pull Todd away from her, as the EMT's get to work. They lift him up, and one of them pats his shoulder.
"It's alright, man. She's gonna be okay."
The bridge has become a flurry of activity, police and emergency vehicles all over the road. The helicopter sets down, letting the feds, Bo and West out. They run over to the huddle of people around Tea. Bo stops, catching his breath, then walks up to Todd, who stands with his face buried in his hands.
West looks on as Bo walks around in front of him, hesitating a little before he speaks.
"Manning...you okay?"
Todd sighs, face covered...then slowly drops his hands. He looks at Bo warily, running a hand through his wet hair and nodding. Bo bites his lip, then turns, looking at the crowd around Tea.
He looks back at Todd, speaking gently. "How is she?"
Todd stares at him a moment, then looks down, shrugging. "I, uh...I don't know. She--she's pretty messed up."
Bo rubs his chin, nodding. He struggles for some kind words. "You want a ride to the hospital?"
Todd looks back up, surprised by his compassion. He shakes his head. "Th-well, thanks, but...I'm not leaving her."
Bo nods again, biting his lip. He sighs, then starts to walk away as the EMT's lift Tea up, strapped down on the stretcher, and start to carry her off. He sees the restraints, her cut up, bloody face...and has to look away for a second. He looks back as Todd takes off with them, running alongside the stretcher. Bo wipes his wet face, shaking off the rain, and walks over to West. They walk back to the road, heading toward the bridge...then turn and watch as they carry Tea up to the ambulance, putting her on the gurney and wheeling her in. Todd jumps in after her, followed by the EMT's, who swing the doors shut as the ambulance starts to drive off, sirens blaring.
Bo and West watch as they speed off down the road. They exchange glances, then look toward the bridge, both of their faces heavy as they look at the wreckage.
To be continued...
