Episode 33 Fallout (part 1/3) (Patreon)

Penny Teller

Ding!

Ding!

She was still paranoid and quickly observed the new customers as they opened the door to the restaurant. Ever since those gunmen stormed the Cheesecake factory the other day and took all their cash and the guests' valuables, she and the other waitresses and staff who didn’t resign now scrutinized every customer that came in. It was also the first time she was glad she was too poor to replace the cracked screen of her phone. One of the masked robbers took one look at her pink casing with the cracked screen and tossed it back to her without any hesitation.

She calmed down as soon as she spotted the four familiar faces.

She never had a gun pointed at her before, and now it scared her. Perhaps that stupid armor costume Jack had wasn’t so stupid after all. Howard did say it could even stop bullets shot at point-blank range, but the management would probably not budge on their uniform policy.

Her workplace had always been safe, but with the pronouncement from the handsome criminal of 100 million dollars, it felt like everything had changed. She could always hear the sounds of sirens every hour for the past few days, and it was only after Montel was reported to be now secured in a federal facility out in the desert that the city had calmed down.

She made a note to ask Professor Routh for some self-defense lessons. She could handle bullies no problem, but she didn’t know what to do with a gun pointed at her.

“Hello, Penny.” Leonard tried to give him a charming grin. He needed to work on that more. Raj kept quiet while Sheldon selected his usual, cooked, and prepared to his exact specifications, and deviations were not allowed.

She turned to Howard, and she took a moment to properly take in the changes he noticed on the fourth member of the group. He wore new, stylish clothes that actually suited him well. She kept an eye on the group as her shift continued, and they usually stayed for dessert and waited for her to finish her own shift.

Their presence eased her fears somewhat and that allowed her to continue working. They might be nerds and socially inept, but she appreciated their own way of helping her, and it was very useful now, just days after her experience with armed robbery.

“So, how are you, Howard?” She asked on their way back to her apartment. The smallest member in their group had been pretty busy lately, and for the past month, she only seen him a handful of times. “Any interesting projects you’re working on?”

“Please.” Sheldon cut in. “Engineers don’t have interesting projects. They do the grunt work. Theoretical physics, that’s the really exciting area of science.”

“I’m working on the suits Jack’s friends ordered.” Howard replied. “I think I can finish with Christina’s suit tonight. Women’s measurements are different.”

Who was Christina? Intrigued she turned to Leonard for an explanation.

“He made new friends with the guys Jack Routh works with.” Leonard explained. “They’re all police officers.”

“Right.” She couldn’t believe Howard would be capable of befriending law enforcement officers. But then, he was also friends with Professor Routh.

“What about that hot FBI agent? Are you going out with her?” Leonard teased Howard. The engineer looked uncomfortable and shifted in his chair. She raised an eyebrow, intrigued at this new piece of gossip. Howard was actually seeing someone?

“What happened?” She asked.

“The pretty FBI agent came to our apartment first to conduct a background check on Howard since he’s working on some cutting-edge technology for the government.” Leonard explained. “Sheldon nearly revealed about that time with the North Korean spy.”

"I owe you." Howard nodded gratefully to Leonard. "Thanks for having my back, man."

“But it was relevant to her questions.” Sheldon argued. "Lying to a an FBI agent is a federal offense!"

“Anyway, I saw her picking up Howard late one night at Caltech.” Leonard gave Howard a friendly punch to the shoulder, totally ignoring Sheldon’s explanation about federal laws.

“Agent Page just wants to know more about my work. She picked me up because she was concerned for my safety, thanks to what’s happening.” Howard finally broke his silence. “She just came to my house while Jack and I were busy in the garage working on some upgrades to his armor.”

“Apparently, Jack knew Agent Page’s boss.” Howard added. “And Angela said they’re trying to recruit Jack to the bureau. She became real friendly after she realized I was friends with Jack.”

“So it’s Angela now?” Leonard smirked. “You have to meet her, Penny, she’s really nice.”

“Maybe I will.” It would be pretty cool to have an FBI agent to call a friend. She already knew a police captain and Professor Routh, anyway.

She spent dinner in apartment 4A and watched as the guys discussed the physics of a small jet landing the Sixth Street bridge with illustrations drawn on a whiteboard. It looked like they were calculating air speed and lift, but she was more focused on the news as footage of Alex Montel’s attempted escape was featured.

“And we have just received word that KWLA has obtained exclusive footage of the events leading to the arrest of Alex Montel.”  The pretty anchor with Asian features on the TV stated. “These are a combination of police bodycam footage of officers who foiled Montel’s escape attempt on a Jet plane and other CCTV footage from the LAPD Airship.”

“That’s right, Lisa. And before broadcasting this video, we have to warn viewers that these are graphic images of violence.” The male anchor stated. “We’re showing the footage now. Viewer discretion is advised.”

She leaned forward, the Chinese takeout box in her hand forgotten as she watched the scenes on the TV. Even the guys had stopped their discussion as they also moved to watch the footage.

It was a grainy footage of what looked like a Learjet preparing to land. It had its landing gear down and she watched in amazement as it was able to land without hitting the steel beams that lined the sides of the bridge. She had heard that Montel attempted to escape through a plane and thought it was just one of those ultralight planes with a big prop at the back. This was a real private jet, one used by CEOs and rich retired people.

 The scene shifted to a shaky bodycam footage of what looked like cops inside a vehicle. They were chasing the plane as it prepared to take off.

“Up on the roof Jack!” One of the cops shouted.

“On it!” The man wearing the bodycam footage replied.

“That’s Jack and Hondo!” Howard exclaimed. Was that her professor?

She saw the moment that Jack climbed through the sunroof, and she flinched when the hatch to the jet opened and two men started firing in their direction. She flinched when she heard rounds whizz by. That was fucking close! Holy Shit! Jack remained unfazed and started shooting back in controlled bursts with his rifle.

“Contact! Friendly shop at twelve!” Jack called out.

She didn’t know what he was talking about until she saw another police vehicle heading to the plane from the opposite side of the bridge. Jack was reloading when the gunmen on the plane suddenly stopped shooting, and they fell down the hatch. Were they shot?

Another man pulled the hatch close, and she watched with her mouth open in amazement as the vehicle Jack was on accelerated and slammed against the side of the jet, forcing it to the side and spin. It stopped when the Jet slammed into the side of the bridge.

She winced when the hatch opened and Montel came out, firing bullets as he ran. Jack took cover before he lifted himself through the sunroof and started running after Montel. She could hear his labored breathing as he slowly gained on the fleeing criminal in the orange jumpsuit. It went on for half a minute, and Montel jumped the last few steps heading to the ramp for bikes and pedestrians at the side of the bridge. Jack must have jumped too, as he quickly crashed with Montel in mid-air and they both landed painfully on the ground.

Montel started moaning in pain as Jack quickly secured his arms behind his back with handcuffs and started reading his Miranda rights.

“Fuck you.” Montel spat some blood and what looked like teeth in reply.

“That was dramatic footage.” Lisa Mays, the news anchor, commented as the footage ended. “It seems like these are SWAT officers chasing after Montel, but wasn’t he already in protective custody? This raised a lot of questions. What do you think, Bill?”

The male anchorman looked intrigued. “I’m not sure, Lisa. He must have escaped after their convoy to transport him to Maxville was attacked. The new police chief, Susan Coleman, still refused to release a statement on what happened.”

“More of the footage will be shown after this commercial break.” Lisa smiled for the camera, and a commercial for cereal started playing.

It was a good thing that bodycam footage was leaked. She had a lot of questions regarding the events of the last few days, but the LAPD spokesperson continued to be evasive when asked by reporters about the situation on the attacked convoys and the increased crime rate.

She looked at Howard and Leonard and decided to hang out with them the next time they had a project with Jack Routh.  Maybe she could get the inside scoop of what really happened.

Grace Nolan nee Sawyer

They were swamped.

It was like a revolving door, every time they discharged a patient, two more would come in with even more serious injuries than the last one.

Stab wounds, gunshot wounds, and concussions. It looked like all the criminals were emboldened due to the LAPD’s focus on Alex Montel and his promise of 100 million dollars. She wanted to go home herself, but her husband insisted he would pick her up.

She spotted his truck waiting in the driveway and headed over. Her smile vanished when she saw the bruise on his left cheek and immediately looked at it closely.

“What happened?” She asked. The bruise didn’t look to be that bad, but she checked John’s eyes for any signs of dilation.

“I’m fine.” John gave him a quick peck. “It was just some robbers who were desperate even if they were already cuffed and secured. I shouldn’t have let my guard down, rookie mistake.”

“But you are a rookie.” She replied.

“We’re about to graduate from the program.”  John replied. “Harper gave me grief over it.”

“She’s not wrong.” She gave her husband a look. “In surgery, even the smallest mistakes can lead to life or death.”

“She already chewed my ass, not you too.” John complained.

“Come here.” She leaned over and gave him a quick hug and felt him respond in turn.

BEEP!

“Right!” John quickly moved his truck out of the driveway and headed towards their home. She noticed he was absently tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as he listened to some music that was playing on the radio. He looked more relaxed and less tense compared to the past few days.

“So how’s the situation in the station?” She asked.

“It’s slowing down.” John replied. “With Montel behind bars in a federal maximum security prison, everyone knows that 100 million dollar reward is now useless.”

She felt happy with the news. The media blew up the situation, causing harm to the city and its citizens.

Blair London

“Jesus Christ.” She muttered under her breath as she reviewed the personnel files from D-platoon. Susan Coleman had brought her in to investigate the culture of murder as the older woman described it during her first day. The woman believed her job as a psychiatrist would be able to help determine the mental state of these violent men.

She interviewed each one, reviewed hours and hours of bodycam footage. They were brutal, ruthless, but she realized they only acted in defense of the public and their safety.  She could honestly say the accusations were unfounded, but Coleman did not like her report.

In her first week on the job, the Chief called or visited her office every day, but after submitting her findings, silence. Everything had been done by the book. D-platoon could use more training with how crudely they speak sometimes, but it wasn’t that different from regular LAPD officers.

She could even say they were more behaved than the other Metro platoons, and that was saying something when LAPD was already recognized as one of the best-performing police departments in the country.

What concerned her, though, was their mental state after seeing so much action. Hondo’s squad, most of all, she was worried they were being run ragged, being forced to handle stressful situations in such a short time period. Their minds needed to recover, and gave her recommendation to the higher-ups.

One file caught her attention, she couldn’t believe the famous Sugar, Jack Routh, was part of the elite platoon. He was the youngest member, but he scored high marks in the tests and got his slot. But he was also the one who experienced the most harrowing encounters, and he honestly could not comprehend how the man stayed sane.

In his first deployment in Rampart, just weeks after graduating from the academy, he had to save his T.O. from a shootout with bank robbers.

He was assigned to Mid-Wilshire after that, and on his first day made an impossible shot that was still talked about by officers to this day that which had turned into legend. Even she didn’t believe it at first, until she saw Routh’s bodycam footage.

Then he saved the captain and a fellow classmate from the academy after they were kidnapped by a large gang, sacrificed himself, and saved the city from a deadly virus that would make Ebola look like a common cold. The footage gave her goose bumps, as she saw from the bodycam how the poor infected civilian quickly deteriorated by bleeding out from every orifice while weakly asking for help. It had given her nightmares.

She cried when she watched the CCTV footage of his heroic actions during the school shooting. He was so close to dying as he pulled himself up to sit up against a wall after getting shot. The man deserved the highest medal the department could give, in her opinion.

There were many more others. He saved Taylor Swift from a kidnapping attempt, captured a couple of serial killers, and even assisted the FBI in one of its investigations. His file had notes from Homeland Security and the Bureau that stated their intention for early recruitment.

She didn’t know why he was placed by Coleman on administrative leave in the first place. The decision was incredibly unpopular, from what she noticed from the other commissioners. Then she realized it was Coleman, not punishing Routh, but to give a message to one of the younger female captains in the city, and also Jack Routh’s wife.

She was honest with herself, and she already had a crush on the man before he even entered her office. That crush rattled her brain for a moment, and she noticed a moment later that she had unconsciously adjusted her hair as he entered her small office, signs of a woman finding a man attractive.

She couldn’t even meet his gaze for long and constantly averted her gaze, and started her appointment with the famous super rookie.

“Please have a seat, Officer Routh.” She cursed her voice for going deeper than she meant to. Damn, she knew this counseling session would be hard for her.

She looked back at him and noticed his hazel eyes were staring at her. They were calm, steady, and she realized she had overlooked one part of the file she had reviewed before he came in. Routh was not just a powerful brute, he was described as observant and an academic by Special Agent Garza of the FBI field team.

She realized he was analyzing her at this moment, and she forced a more neutral look on her face to hide her attraction.

“So how are you?” She asked.

“Fine.” Routh replied. She was used to one-word answers at the start. All these big tough men were usually at the beginning.

“The purpose of this counseling session was initially about the concerns about animal cruelty.” She tossed the file into the bin to demonstrate to Routh what she thought about it. Maybe she could build some rapport, and she spotted the raised eyebrow on his face.

“It’s clear there’s no case here at all.” She continued speaking. “I just reviewed your file, and in barely a year as a police officer and you experienced things most officers would not experience in their entire career.”

“You’re concerned how I’m handling it.” Routh nodded. He looked uncomfortable in her chair due to his large frame, and she made a note to get a better one for their next counseling session. She needed the man to relax and lower his walls, and a tiny chair wasn’t helping at all.

 “I honestly feel fine.” Routh added. “I don’t have nightmares about the experiences I encountered while on duty, and I have a hobby and a relaxing home environment to go to after every shift. It’s the ideal work-life balance for me.”

There go her next ten questions. It was like Routh knew her line of questioning. No matter, she looked for the next topic and proceeded from there.

“Your hobby, this music career you have on the side, are you sure you don’t want to go full-time? It’s a lucrative business, and you’re already friends with one of the world’s most famous pop stars.” She didn’t get it.

“I like helping people, those who can’t fight back.” Routh explained. “The earnings from my work with Taylor also help those who need it with the charity foundation I set up.”

The day that their mysterious benefactor revealed his identity was a day she would never forget. Coleman looked so frazzled as she scrambled to get more partnerships and donations after Routh suddenly cut off his funding.

They spoke for fifteen more minutes, and then she let him leave early. There was really nothing she noticed from Routh that would alarm her. The man was not plagued with PTSD, but she immediately noticed he was a very private person. Questions about how his marriage was going were shut down immediately, and she quickly backed off from that.

She made a few more notes and looked up another name that was on her schedule today. Daniel Harrelson. She knew this would be another difficult session. While waiting for the famous sergeant, she let her mind drift a bit on Jack Routh.

Was his marriage going well? Or was he trying to protect his wife? Statistically, 3 out of 4 marriages always end in divorce. Maybe she had a chance. He was young, rich, and handsome with famous connections. She’d have her future secure if she snagged him, she just needed to wait.