24
(Season
3, Episode 2)
The
Hurt
Sidney was in the kitchen, half
out of her dress having just gotten home from the wedding, when she got the
call from Tobias.
“Spaghetti.” It was their secret code word for danger. When they had worked together in the past, it
meant the job was blown and they had to drop everything and run.
That was exactly what Sidney did.
Panic filled her as she heard the
background commotion, from what could only be a life and death struggle. She did not bother with shoes, pulling the top
half of the dress back up over her bra and sprinting out the front door, keys
in hand.
This was the day she had feared. The day Tobias would be gone, really gone, and
she would be on her own. He had always
been her conscience, her life line to the good part of her soul that she so
often ignored. She started the car and squealed
backward out of her driveway before slamming it into drive, and peeled away.
Tobias and Linda’s condo was in
Stow, her house was in Ravenna, thirty minutes in traffic going the speed limit.
She would make it in fifteen, as long as
she did get pulled over. She took a hard
right off Route 59 onto Brady Lake Road.
The back road was winding but she would have less chance of meeting a
police officer this way. She hit a
straight away and opened up the throttle, pushing her little car to its limits.
It was in this moment of peace that
she had a moment of levity. What was she
going to do when she got there? Sidney
couldn’t fight, not really, and she didn’t have a gun or a weapon of any sort. Even if she did, she wouldn’t know what to do
with it.
What am I going to do, talk the problem to death?
She pushed the thought out of her head, she
couldn’t just do nothing. Just sitting
at home and hoping everything worked out wasn’t an option.
She finally hit the condo’s
parking lot after what seemed like an eternity. The parking lot was crawling with cops, at
least four cruisers and two unmarked. The
dark half screamed at her to put the car in reverse and get out, a natural
instinct for a con artist.
The Life Flight helicopter changed
her mind.
She brought the car to a stop as
the helicopter lifted off into the air. She was seven feet past the police line before
the blue and whites realized it. She saw
Linda standing there in her white dress, covered in blood, watching the
helicopter fly away in some kind of trance.
She looked like the ghost of a
dead wife, haunting the place where she died.
“Hey, get back here!” One of the cops yelled, realizing she had
crossed the line.
The cop’s shout somehow snapped
Linda out of her trance and her wide eyes shifted into that direction, catching
Sidney running toward her.
“Linda, what happ-” Sidney was cut
off as Linda took two steps to meet her and hit her with a right cross.
Maybe it was the surprise, or just
Linda’s pure rage-driven madness, but Sidney had never been hit harder in in
her life. The blow turned her half
around and put her on the asphalt. She
saw stares and it took a second to get her barring’s.
“You just don’t get it, do you?!”
Linda was screaming down at Sidney and all the cops had stopped moving,
confused by the scene they were watching. “He listens to you! For some reason, you have some terrible effect
on him, and you don’t even see the damage you do!”
Sidney shook her head desperately.
“No, no Linda, this has nothing to do
with me!”
Linda shook her head. “It’s you. It’s always you! This only happens when it has something to do
with you. Why can’t you just let him be
a good man?! Why do you keep dragging
him down with you?! Why, God damn it, tell
me why?!”
Linda had broken, her face had
become a ball of uncontrollable rage and sadness and desperation and Sidney had
no answers for her. A detective stepped
in, tall and lean with a tan complexion and short curly hair that made him look
younger then he was.
“Come on now Mrs. Snyder.” His
voice was low and soothing, made for the task at hand. “I will take you to see your husband.”
The detective turned to a uniform.
“Put her in my car, Harry.”
The uniform came over and helped lead
Linda to the detective’s car. The smooth
detective turned back toward Sidney who had pulled herself to her feet. “How did you know the victim?”
Sidney decided to take it slow
with the cop. “What happened here?”
“A professional hit man broke in
and put two in Mr. Snyder. He would have
killed Mrs. Snyder and her brother if he hadn’t charged in to the rescue.” The
cop gave a quick summary.
Sidney turned. “Oh, God.
Hank. Is he okay?”
The detective eyed him and Sidney
cursed herself. The emotion of the
situation had clouded her judgment. This
police officer would never have just given her the story if he didn’t think she
had some kind of information. He had
baited the trap and she had taken it.
“The brother-in-law is in the
ambulance. He’s banged up, but stable.” The cop said, then stepped in. “I’m Detective Eugene Sellers of the Kent P.D.
I have to go right now, but if you think
of anything that might help, gimme a call.”
Eugene handed Sidney his card. “Also, you might want to not go anywhere for a
couple of days. I’m going to want to
interview you.”
Sidney took the card and gave him
another look and decided the best way to go was silence. She nodded and began to walk toward the ambulance. She had to figure out what was going on. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this had
something to do with her. They had made
a lot of enemies. Could it be one of
them?
Savannah?
Tyrone Johnson?
“They don’t let anyone on the
ambulance other than family and police!” Eugene called to her, then turned to
walk away.
Sidney turned to make sure he
wasn’t looking at her anymore, then changed direction, slipping over to one of
the cruisers and grabbing a hanging police jacket then a police cap she found
on a dash. She turned back and watched
as one of the two paramedics got in the driver’s side. The other, a small, unthreatening, white guy,
finished talking to another couple about something and began over to the ambulance.
Sidney knew the jacket would only
hold over for a second, the dress and bare feet would be dead give a ways, so
timing was everything on the next play. She kept five or so steps from the paramedic
as he approached the back of the truck. When
he was about to get in, Sidney pushed forward and leapt up in front of him.
“Police business, you stay here
for the coroner, I’ll ride with him!” She slammed the back door shut, the entire
exchange was a second long, giving the paramedic only time to notice the coat
and hat. She banged on the front cabin
quickly being sure to keep herself only visible in the rear view in a way that
would only show the coat and hat.
“Let’s go! He’s going to stay for the coroner!” Sidney yelled to the front and they were on
their way.
Sidney watched the frustrated face
of the other paramedic fade away in the window. Hank saw her and a grin creased his weary
face. Banged up wasn’t the word. His arm had a blood soaked bandage around it
and so did his chin. His face was
swollen. He looked worse than Sidney had
ever seen him.
“Let’s go, siren all the way!” She shouted to the driver.
“You got it!” He keyed the sirens
and they started to wale.
The loud things would mask her and
Hank’s conversation from the driver. “Hank, what the hell is going on?”
Hank shook his head. “You are gonna be pissed, but we stole
something a couple of weeks ago.”
Sidney looked confused. “Without me? Why would you do that?”
“You wouldn’t have gone for it,”
Hank explained. “Anyway, it was supposed
to be a present, a little revenge job for you. We had no idea he would come back this hard.”
Sidney suddenly realized what Hank
was talking about. “Tell me you didn’t
rob who I think you robbed?”
“It was your dad Sid. We robbed your dad.” Hank said.
Sidney’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me everything.”
****
Eugene walked to his car and opened
the door, looking back as the ambulance passed, then over to the paramedic
standing in the parking lot looking upset and that was all he needed to see to know
what happened.
He turned to Harry. “Hey, make sure he gets a ride back to the
hospital, will you Harry.”
Harry followed Eugene’s look to
the paramedic and frowned. “Why the hell
did they leave him here? They’re supposed to stay with the ambulance, aren’t
they?”
Eugene shrugged. “He got conned
out of it.”
Harry looked confused then
shrugged and went to gather up the medic. Eugene knew he was in for some action know. He knew this because he knew Sidney Thomas, at
least by reputation.
Eugene had to admit, he was
looking forward to what came next.
END EPISODE 24
