The Wolf Code

He stepped back, kicking the door forcefully several times until it cracked and splintered, then finally went inward.  It bounced back, and Ty pushed it out of the way and went inside.

“Damnit, no!” he said, angrily dropping to the floor and pulling Robin onto her back. 

He felt for a pulse, listened for her breathing, then cursed and began CPR.  He counted under his breath, going through the motions calmly, though his face was frantic.  Robin was their only link at this point, and she was slipping away in front of their eyes. 

Senora offered to step in and take over, but Ty wouldn’t budge as he worked on the woman for what seemed like an eternity.  Senora watched as her lips turned blue, then gray.  She knew the instant that Robin was past the point of no return, and she knew that any hope that they had of Robin giving them some insight was gone. 

Robin was gone, and there was nothing that they could do about it.

Senora put her hand on Ty’s shoulder, squeezing gently at first then more forcefully as he continued the futile efforts to save her.

“We left the room ten minutes ago,” she said gently.  “She’ll be a vegetable even if you manage to save her.”

“I have to try,” he said, still working on Robin’s limp body.

Senora stood, pulling out her phone and calling 9-1-1.  She gave the address then hung up, going to the files that were open behind Robin’s desk and pulling out the ones marked with Addie’s name on them. 

There were a lot of them. 

She tucked them under her arm and left the room, Ty still giving Robin CPR on the floor in front of the large desk. 

She hurried down the stairs and out the side door, jamming a brick in the doorway to keep the automatic lock from engaging and running the files to her car.  She hid them under the driver’s seat and locked the car with the remote as she rushed back to the door and up the stairs.  She kicked the brick out of the way as she rushed by, reaching the office just as she heard the first wail of the sirens in the distance.

“Where did you go?” Ty asked, still working on Robin even though the look on his face said that he had given up hope.

“She was willing to take her own life for what was in those files.  Don’t you think we should hold onto them?”

“I do,” he said.  “I’m just surprised you thought the same thing and took them without a warrant.”

“I’m not about to let the Sheriff get ahold of them,” she said.  “I have a feeling the Sheriff’s hatred for Addie has more to do with a secret he’s trying to keep than anything Addie had done.”

“Do you think he’s our killer?”

“I don’t, as much as I’d love to put him away.  But he knows something, and I need to find out what it is.  It has to be something big.  Did you see her shaking when we were talking to her?  Robin knew something, and it was big.”

The first paramedic arrived a few seconds later and took over for Ty as the others worked on getting Robin onto a stretcher and to the elevator while one paramedic continued to perform CPR.

The Sheriff arrived then, looking at Senora, then Ty, his face unreadable.

“Did she say anything to you before she jumped?” he asked them both.

Before Senora could say a word, Ty spoke, his voice calm and firm despite the chaos around them.

“We found her like that,” Ty said.  “We never got a chance to talk to her.”