Chapter 7: Stakeout

The scenery changes as we approach the coast, and the area starts to look more and more like the photos I reviewed earlier: A quaint little fishing neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. I can see a couple of fishermen walking away from their boats as we make our way to the stakeout location

I check out Marina’s phone as Elliot parks the car in the designated spot, 6:59 pm. Gotta hand it to the man, he pushed that pedal hard. I show him the phone screen with a huge grin on my face. “Well, we made it.”

“Yeah. Woo.” Elliot says, catching his breath. “Let’s get on the comms. The earpieces are inside the glovebox.”

“Sure,” I say, opening the compartment that’s right in front of me. Inside, I see some binoculars, two small black boxes, extra ammo that seems to match my handguns, and some documents.

“These?” I say, as I pull out the black boxes.

“Yeah, thanks.” He says, taking one. He opens it and takes out what looks to be a small earpiece. He promptly places it on his left ear, then taps it twice.

“King, reporting for duty.” He taps the device twice again.

Figuring I gotta do the same, I put the earpiece on and I hear a voice I don’t recognize, “Roger that, King. Hayes?”

Mimicking Elliot’s movements, I also tap the earpiece twice. I hear a beep and get ready to speak, “Hayes, reporting for duty, sir.”

After a few anxious moments, the voice on the other side of the line finally replies. “Roger that, Hayes. It’s gonna be a long night. Get comfortable. Myers out.”

I tap the earpiece twice, just as Elliot did, and I hear another beep. I assume they signal when to start speaking and when the mic is off. Thank god Elliot knows what to do because I sure don’t.

Binoculars, earpieces. I put two and two together and realize that neither Marina nor Elliot have any augmentations on their bodies, so they have to rely on this type of equipment. I imagine other officers might have bionic eyes that can automatically zoom, or some audio component integrated into their brains. I wonder why they were assigned as partners; wouldn’t an augmented partner be able to keep Elliot safer?

I also gather that Marina doesn’t have augmentations because the writers might have wanted her to look relatable, or because of some other beauty standard of “purity”. Suddenly, a thought comes to mind; maybe that’s why she acts the way she does with the love interests. Her lack of enhancements is definitely a big part of their dynamics; they are stronger, enhanced, so she ends up being the weaker party in the affair, despite her prowess as an officer. The frustration in her goodbye letter makes a lot more sense now.

I grab a pair of binoculars and point them towards the warehouse, curious about its state. The red warehouse looks abandoned, rust covering many of the metal panels that form its walls. Short, wide windows span the upper length of the building; no lights are on, but I swear I can see shadows moving.

I concentrate, and eventually I see a long weapon glint in the dark, the light from the streetlamps bouncing off of it. I adjust the binoculars and see the silhouette of a big person carrying the gun.

“How many do you count?” Elliot asks, and I put the device down. I see him holding the other pair of binoculars. He must have taken them while I was concentrating.

“Uhh, I don’t know, I’ve only seen one. It’s kinda hard to tell since it's dark, no?” I say, oblivious to what the right answer is. He lowers his binoculars and gives me a puzzled look, eyebrow raised to the sky.

“Are you joking? This is important.” I think he’s starting to get annoyed. Clearly, that wasn’t the right answer.

“Uhh- No? Sorry? I think the nerves are getting to me,” I rack my brain for a way to get out of this. “I think I haven’t used these before. Did we get a new model?” I say nervously as I hold the binoculars, pretending to examine them. Maybe implying I’m technologically challenged is a believable excuse.

“I’m pretty sure we’ve used these before, Marina.” He narrows his eyes. I think he’s suspicious of me now. “Should be quite easy to tell how many there are with the thermal camera functionality.” He reaches over to the binoculars I’m holding and presses a small button hidden on its underside.

“Hah, ha ha… Right. Thermal camera. How could I forget?” Pretty sure I’m doing a terrible job at convincing him that I’m Marina. She’s much more capable than I am, not to mention she’s an actual cop, and I am just a civilian. 

“Look,” He looks straight into my eyes now, a serious expression on his lovely face. “I know we aren’t that close, but even I can tell something’s up with you. So, let’s hear it.”

“Uhh-” I blink once, then twice. An awkward silence stretches as I think of how to respond. I mean, what am I supposed to say? That I’m a girl from another world inhabiting his partner’s body? Best case scenario, he blames my weirdness on stress; worst case scenario, he gets me committed to a mental institution. No, I don’t think I’m taking that risk. No to the loonie route.

“I’m fine, I promise. First big stakeout jitters and all that. Don’t you feel them?” I smile hesitantly. I am nervous to be here, yes, but I had expected an otherwise peaceful night.

“I mean, yes, but I’ve never known you to act weird like this. I just need to make sure you’re not gonna mess this up for me.” I feel slightly disappointed, as his concern seems to be more for himself than for me. Even though he would be correct if he were talking to Marina, it annoys me that he’s expecting ME to mess things up.

“Whoa, ok. Why would you say that?” I say, fighting back against the idea that I’m some psycho, “I may be acting weird, but it’s not like I’m going to do anything.”

“You always do something, Marina. It’s in your nature.” He turns away from me, arms crossed; he’s clearly getting angry. “Should I remind you of that time when dispatch sent us to the lake last year? Or when we were chasing those bank robbers last month?”

Ok, so Marina might be a bit of a menace. Still, that doesn’t mean that I have to take his condescending tone. I haven’t even done anything!

“Look, I’m saying it’s fine, so it’s fine! Why don’t we leave it at that for now? Let’s concentrate on the task at hand.” I say, bringing the binoculars up. Would you look at that, the thermal vision does work! I can see at least ten men patrolling the building now. The security today seems more relaxed, the number of guards noticeably lower than the dossier suggested.

“Sometimes I wonder if you notice-” He starts, but then stops himself, letting out a small grunt. I keep looking through the binoculars. Maybe if I ignore him, he will stop.

“-How you act against your own wishes-” I try to concentrate on the patrol patterns, but I can’t. All I hear is Elliot struggling to communicate to his partner how her actions have hurt him in the past. It hurts me as well; I don’t want to see him like this. It’s unfair, Marina is the one who’s supposed to be hearing this, not me.

“You run into danger recklessly, and sometimes it works, many others it doesn’t,” I am about to lower the binoculars to address him, but then I notice something. The loading bay, which was empty about a minute ago, now shows 3 heat signals exiting the building. A fourth person is outside, parking a truck. They’re dropping new cargo.

“But tonight, we can’t afford to be reckless. If we want a promotion, we have to do things by the bo-.” I raise my hand in front of him to make him stop, not taking my eyes off the truck. “Look,” I gesture to the warehouse.

I’m not sure if he looks or not, as I follow the situation closely, but he stops talking. I switch to normal vision and assess the situation. “Shit, they’re dropping off cargo today.” He sounds surprised.

“Myers, are you seeing this?” Elliot’s voice cuts through the silence. I hear Myers talk through my earpiece as well, replying to him.

“See what? You got movement on your side? Report,” I recall the position of the other teams; they are facing the other side of the warehouse. I suppose that gives them limited visibility.

“We got a cargo drop at the eastern loading bay. Should we move in? There are fewer guards than usual. This could be our only chance,” Says Elliot in a serious, yet enthusiastic tone.

This is the scene where Marina rushes to the warehouse, thinking that she can sneak her way in and take a peek at that crate. She didn’t contact anyone before doing so, making her look extra sus when Elliot goes missing. No such thing shall happen today under my watch, however.

“Hold, King. I’ll contact HQ for advice.” The truck stops, and the driver steps out of the vehicle. A rhythmic sound, the beating of shoes on the car’s floor, drifts from the driver’s seat. Elliot is anxiously waiting, gun in hand, for Myers to give us the green light. Why is he so jittery all of a sudden? I don't remember him being this nervous in the game.

“Negative, King. We don’t have enough men on site to attempt a raid. Stay put and keep an eye out for the rest of the night. Myers out.”

Crisis averted. If no one goes into that warehouse tonight, Elliot doesn’t go missing, and everyone lives happily ever after, right? I lower my binoculars and breathe a sigh of relief.

But the peace is broken almost immediately as a loud bang makes me jump. I turn and see Elliot, his fist on the headboard. He looks angry, the snarl on his face ill befitting his gorgeous manner.

“Wha-” I barely get a word in before he exits the car. He moves towards the warehouse at a worryingly fast pace, sticking to the shadows.

WHAT?