Chapter 5
“That’s gunfire”, Reade said, looking at Weller. The two of them were sitting in the suburban, monitoring Jane, Tasha and Patterson via audio. They couldn’t exactly tell what was happening in the bar without visual, but for the last few minutes it sounded like the situation had been deteriorating. Tasha seemed to be in some kind of personal spat with Liz, then Powell started questioning what the women were doing in the bar, and then they heard Patterson yelp in pain, and then it sounded like things had spiraled downhill from there. They had been hoping for their teammates to walk out before things went south, but no such luck.
“Let’s move!” Weller barked, and he and Reade exited the suburban, guns drawn. They hit the sidewalk and had taken about five steps when they saw Jane, Tasha and Patterson burst out of the front door and head their way, panic on their faces.
“Weller!” Jane shouted. A moment later Liz, Powell and Colleen exited the front door, guns blazing.
“Take cover!” Weller shouted to Jane, Tasha and Patterson, and motioned for them to dive behind some parked cars, as he and Reade laid down some cover fire.
“Shite!” Liz swore as she saw Weller and Reade advancing towards them, guns firing.
“Goddamit!” Powell yelled as she squeezed off rounds. “Feds! I fucking knew it!”
“Get to the car!” Reade yelled at Tasha, Jane, and Patterson, as he continued to fire. Tasha, Jane, and Patterson inched along the ground towards the van.
“Fuck you, coppers!” Liz yelled, continuing to fire.
Powell fired a few more shots and then started to back up. “C’mon, let’s go!” she yelled at Liz and Colleen. Liz fired one more shot and then backed up, and the three of them retreated into the bar.
“They’re heading back into the bar! Reade - with me!” Weller yelled, then yelled for Jane, Tasha and Patterson. “Get to the car, grab your guns and vests and then follow us!” Weller and Reade reached the front door to Molly’s. Weller counted to three and then nodded, and he and Reade busted in the door. Nothing. Weller scanned the room for a moment and then heard a car start out back. He looked at Reade, and the two of them ran to the back door. They stalled cautiously for a moment and then ran outside, just in time to see Liz, Powell and Colleen drive away. Weller took a few shots, trying to hit a tire, but missed. “Dammit!” he swore, while Reade closed his eyes and cursed under his breath.
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Jane, Tasha and Patterson entered the bar a few moments later, just as Weller and Reade were coming back in.
“They’re gone”, Weller said. He looked at the three women and then asked, “What the hell happened in here?”
“Uh…Powell started asking questions, and um-“, Patterson said, but Weller cut her off.
“No”, Weller said, then looked right at Tasha. “What happened between you and Wells?”
“She hurt Patterson”, Tasha said.
“Tash!” Patterson said. Weller looked over. It was the second time today Patterson had called Tasha “Tash”.
“She grabbed you by the arm”, Tasha said to Patterson.
“I was fine”, Patterson said.
“No you weren’t!” Tasha said back.
“Stop!” Weller said, glaring at Patterson and then Tasha. He stared at Tasha, who stared back but didn’t say anything. The truth was, she had let things get personal. She shouldn’t have, but Liz had been lewdly eyeing Patterson, and then had grabbed her, and then had threatened her, and she hadn’t been able to control herself. Weller stared at Tasha for another moment and then addressed the three women. “Your guys’ objective was to come in here, find out if Wells and Powell were both here, find out if there was anyone else here, and then come back out”, Weller said. “If you guys had done that, we could have netted them both. There’s no one else here. It would have been an easy bust.” He glared again at the three women, especially Tasha, and then said, “Alright, let’s get back to base.”
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As soon as the team arrived back to the office, Weller ordered Tasha into his office. The two of them walked in and Weller slammed the door.
“Well the hell happened in there?” Weller said again.
“I told you, Patterson was in trouble”, Tasha said.
“No, she wasn’t”, Weller said. He stared at Tasha, who said nothing, and then said. “Reade and I were monitoring you guys. You had plenty of chances to just walk out, which is what you should have done as soon as you guys saw that it was just Wells, Powell and that woman Colleen in there. I even heard Jane tell you that she was going to collect Patterson so you guys could leave, and then you started confronting Wells. Now, she and Powell are gone, and we have no idea where they are.” He stared at Tasha for another moment, and then said, “It was a simple assignment. What the hell happened?”
“Like I said, Patterson was in troubl-“
“No! Wells only grabbed her after things escalated because you engaged in a pissing match.” Weller stared hard at Tasha and then said, “Is there something going on between you and Patterson?”
“Wait, w-w-what?” Tasha played dumb.
“I saw the way you guys came in this morning. Reade was right. It looked like the two of you had just gotten out of bed. I find it hard to believe it was coincidence that both of you slept in separately, especially Patterson. She’s never late and never misses work. Then, right before we left, you guys got into a small spat in here about Patterson going out into the field, and then you guys continued it in the car on the way over to Molly’s. You’ve been glancing at each other all day. And then, in the bar, while you’re supposed to be undercover, professional, you get worked up because Liz is all over Patterson, and then you get into a pissing match, which pretty much blew the whole thing.” He stared at Tasha and then said “Talk to me, straight.”
Tasha stared back at Weller and then dropped her gaze. He was right. Tasha had let it become personal. She should have kept her cool and had Jane politely collect Patterson from Liz. Then they could have walked out of the bar, regrouped with Weller and Reade, grabbed their weapons, then headed back in the bar armed, and taken down Liz, Powell and Colleen. It would have been a straightforward bust. But instead she had gotten heated. She saw the way Liz had been looking at Patterson and the way she had grabbed Patterson’s arm and had escorted her to the bar, and she had gotten jealous, and then when Liz had put her arm around Patterson she had gotten upset. Then when Liz had threatened to rough Patterson up, she had lost it. That would have never happened if I didn’t have feelings for Patterson, Tasha thought. She exhaled a deep breath, looked at Weller and started talking.
“Patterson and I…got together this weekend”, she said.
“What do you mean, got together’?” Weller asked.
“You know, we…” Tasha let it hang.
“Okay, wait, what?” Weller asked. Even though he had a hunch something was going on, he was still surprised to hear it from Tasha’s mouth.
“No, wait – not like that. Well, kind of. I mean, we didn’t… it wasn’t planned. At all. But we spent the whole weekend together”, Tasha continued. “Look – I don’t know what’s happening between me and Patterson, and I’m sorry I botched the surveillance operation, but…I couldn’t take seeing that scumbag threaten Patterson or put her hands on her.” She paused, exhaled again, then looked at Weller and said, “I’m sorry.”
Weller stared at her, trying to figure out what to say. He wanted to admonish her, for engaging in unprofessional behavior and for blowing the operation, but he also knew how it felt, to feel something personal for someone you work with. He looked at Tasha for another moment and then said, “Look, we can’t let personal feelings get in the way of our job.”
“I know”, Tasha said. She wanted to bring up Weller’s feelings for Jane, but she felt bad about blowing the operation, so she held it in. “And it won’t happen again. But, Patterson doesn’t belong in the field.”
“We needed as many eyes as possible in that bar, especially since Reade and I couldn’t go in.”
“I know, and I understand that for the situation this morning, but she’s not a field agent. She doesn’t belong out there”, Tasha said, and then thought, I don’t want to have to worry about her when we’re out there, not just professionally, but personally.
“That’s not your call to make”, Weller said.
“Weller, this Liz Wells woman is bad news. I saw the way she looked at Patterson, the way she treated her. She’s a predator. If we encounter her again, and she somehow gets a hold of Patterson…”
Weller stared at Tasha for a moment and then said, “Look, I understand Patterson’s not as field trained as the rest of us. I’ll take it under advisement. But right now, the most important thing is to find Wells and Powell and stop them. Whatever you've got going on with Patterson is secondary. Understand?” Tasha nodded, and then he said, “Alright, let’s get on it”, and the two of them exited Weller's office for Patterson’s lab.