Текст книги "Заговор мечей"

Автор книги: Джейн Doy Press

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Текущая страница: 21 (всего у книги 40 страниц)

“And how was Gerlach involved?”

“Mallory? He wasn’t. I mean, he’s a big shot, yeah, but this was too secret. They didn’t want anybody to know. Only the people involved.” He shook his head. “I told them not to trust that fucking spook Mather. He wasn’t a soldier, he was a mercenary. But no, they knew best, and they wanted someone who could get the job done. Then when they caught him trying to sell the shit they’d given him, Derek fucking blew him and Wilford up, in my goddamn car! I should have known then that I was next. But I thought —”

“Okay.” Alex had to break in. “I understand there’s a lot we need to talk about, Mr. Brogan. I’d like to suggest that we don’t do it here. I think it’s best you accompany us —”

“Accompany you? Fuck you. I don’t go nowhere ‘til you tell me I got protection and immunity.”

“The Justice Department will have to make the final determination, but I’m very sure they’d be willing to give you immunity in exchange for your testimony.”

“You’re sure. That ain’t good enough.”

“Mr. Brogan, there is a felony warrant for your arrest in the works. I’d like to take you in voluntarily, but I will place you under arrest now if you don’t cooper—”

The sound of squealing tires broke into the conversation, and Alex looked up to see Ken drawing his weapon.

“Ambush! Get down!”

There was a car pulling up to the curb of the street just outside the parking lot. Gunfire and shattering glass were the only sounds Alex heard as she pushed Brogan down before kneeling in between the cars, her gun in her hand. Rick was on the other side of Brogan, and he also had his weapon drawn. David, she knew, was one car behind them, and Ken was one in front.

Alex peeked over the hood of the car to see one of the other two Philadelphia agents lying on the ground by the car blocking the entrance. The other agent was hiding behind the driver’s door, trying to take shots at their attackers. Alex looked backwards, toward the area where Wister and his officer were hiding.

There was no movement on the bike path.

Cursing, Alex raised up and aimed, waiting until she saw a member of the ambush squad do the same. Then she fired, and ducked back quickly. Not quick enough, she thought, as the bullet grazed her left shoulder. She glanced at Price as he ducked as well.

Radio, he mouthed, and motioned toward his car with his head. She nodded, and rose again to cover his movement.

Price rolled under the car, back towards the radio, while Alex continued to fire. She had to stop and reload her weapon, and that was when Brogan decided he’d have a better chance if he ran. Before she could stop him, he was on his feet, and heading down the short embankment that led to a tiny creek. Ken, seeing Brogan run, reached out to grab him. One bullet took Ken’s leg out from under him. Another one made half of Kyle Brogan’s head disappear in a red mist.

Alex looked up to see Ken roll under the car. She could see the blood trailing from his injured leg. She hoped Rick could bring in the backup cars soon, or they wouldn’t last. She continued returning fire, praying that she’d hear sirens in the distance.

Instead she heard the glass of windows breaking behind her.

Alex whirled, looking for Rick and David. Instead she saw a man standing at the hood of the car behind her. He had a gun in his hand and a smile on his face. In a split second, he turned and saw her. Both of them raised their guns and fired. Alex felt the bullet slide down her right arm, before thumping itself into the car beside her. At the same moment, the man’s right eye seemed to explode. Alex pulled her trigger once more, watching the man fall. Then she turned back to main group of attackers, returning fire as often as she dared.

Alex noticed that there was a deeper shot, like a larger caliber weapon, that began cracking across the parking lot. There were sudden shouts from their attackers, and it sounded like they were having trouble. Alex wondered if the agent from the blockade car had managed to flank them. She raised up to take a look, and saw him, half-in and half-out of his car. Whatever was happening to their opponents, he wasn’t the cause.

Ken took that opportunity to roll under the car, ending up next to Alex.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, other than being shot in the leg.”

Using Ken’s jacket, and a pocket knife, Alex rigged a quick bandage, wrapping it around the bleeding bullet hole in his thigh. In the middle of tying the strip, Ken placed a hand on her arm and told her to listen. She did, and heard silence, then footsteps.

Alex raised her head to look cautiously across at their adversaries. She saw two bodies sprawled on the hood of the car, and a tall figure in a black coat walking toward her.

Aiming carefully, Alex squeezed a round off, making sure it landed well in front of the approaching figure. The person stopped, and Alex stood, holding her gun on the roof of the car in front of her.

“Freeze! Federal Agent!”

The figure moved their hands far from their sides. The face was shadowed, but Alex could see the barrel of a gun in the figure’s hand.

“Drop your weapon!”

The gun didn’t fall, and Alex tightened her finger on the trigger.

“Alex, it’s Teren.”

For a second the name didn’t register, and then Alex’s eyes grew wide.

“Teren? What the fuck —”

“Later. Right now, I think you need an ambulance.”

Alex felt herself trembling, and realized the rush of adrenaline that had kept her in control through the attack, was about to run out. She was aware of pain, in her arm, and in her shoulder. Concentrating on that, she cleared her head, and nodded.

“You okay?” she called towards Teren.

“Yes. You’ve got one agent dead, and one injured over here. You want me to call for help?”

“Call 911. Tell them we need an ambulance and police backup. They should also contact FBI headquarters, let them know an agent is down.”

Teren pulled her cell phone out as she crossed the parking lot. “Got it. Everyone over here okay?”

“Ken’s hurt, I’m fine.” Alex looked around for her partner. “David?”

Not seeing him, she called for him again, and walked around the car towards the last spot she’d seen him in.

David was lying on his back, his hands out at his sides. One hand was still wrapped around his weapon, and there was a pool of blood forming under him. There was a bleeding hole in his chest, and he was very pale.

Alex dropped to her knees, and for a moment thought she might pass out. Then it passed, and she placed both her hands over the bullet hole and pressed down as hard as she could. “Ken! I need your help!”

Teren appeared, her armed wrapped around Ken’s waist. She eased the man off her shoulders, and turned away to dial. Ken pulled himself over.

“Where’s Rick?”

“I don’t know. The last I saw him, he was heading for the radio. By the lack of backup I’d say he didn’t reach it.”

Ken noticed that Alex’s voice had gone absolutely cold. There was no longer any emotion in the younger agent.

“What do you need?”

“Can you help me put pressure here? I can feel his pulse, and I know he’s breathing. I just need to get the bleeding under control.”

“Right. Here,” he ripped the buttons on his shirt front, and slipped the shirt off. “I’m gonna press this over your hands. Once I get it in place, you can slide your hands out, and help me press this down.”

They worked on getting the bleeding slowed, while Teren began to survey the scene. She saw Brogan’s body laying several feet away from the scene, and the body of another man by the front of the car. Alex had stepped over him to get to David.

“Is this an agent of yours, Alex?”

“No. I think he’s the one that shot David. I killed him.”

Teren, too, noticed there was no emotion in the woman’s voice.

She looked into the front seat of the car next to where Alex and Ken were working on their friend. She saw the body of a young man, with brown hair. His hand was wrapped around a two-way radio, and he’d obviously been holding it up when he was shot. There was a hole in the radio, as well as two in the man’s head.

“Teren, is there someone in the car?”

Teren hesitated for a second.“There’s a dead body in the car, Alex.”

Alex and Ken looked at each other, both knowing it had to be Rick Price. Ken felt the loss of the younger man keenly, and his eyes showed it. Alex’s eyes showed nothing. She didn’t think she’d ever feel anything again.

Chapter Twenty

In minutes, the scene was total chaos again. Two ambulances and a dozen cop cars pulled up in and around the small parking lot. It didn’t take long for them to get David onto a stretcher, and then Alex was closing the doors behind him as they rushed him to University Hospital.

One of the Philadelphia agents had been shot twice, once in the arm and once in the leg. He and Ken were taken in the second ambulance.

A third showed up to help collect bodies.

Alex was still watching the ambulance carrying her partner as it disappeared around a corner. She started when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She turned her head to find Teren beside her.

“David’ll be okay, Alex.”

She wanted to believe that. But she’d seen the pallor of his face and knew it would take good luck for him to even survive the trip to the hospital.

After a moment longer, Alex turned to watch as a crew picked up Brogan’s body. Her brain kicked in, and she stopped them for a moment.

“I want his body searched, here and now. Everything is to be recorded and tagged as evidence. Do the same with the other unidentified bodies. I want the stuff bagged and ready to be taken to FBI headquarters.”

“FBI? This a PPD crime scene and —”

“Wrong, Sargeant. This is the scene of an ambush of six FBI agents, two of whom are now dead. That makes it a federal crime scene. You can either work with me, or you can get the fuck out of the way.” Alex’s coldness made Teren raise an eyebrow. It made the sargeant angry.

“Well, if you feds hadn’t —”

“That’s enough Sargeant.” Jeff Harnisch stepped up beside the glowering officer. “Agent Reis is correct. Your men are to secure the scene, but the FBI will take care of any further investigations here. Is that clear?”

The man nodded. He glared once more at Alex and turned away. Harnisch watched him leave, then he turned back to the blond agent.

“What happened, Alex?”

“What happened? We got ambushed. Brogan showed up, we were attempting to get him to come in of his own accord, and in the middle of the discussion, we were attacked. It was a blatant, frontal assualt, and it should have brought our backup police friends running, or at least calling for help, but it didn’t. Ken and Rick left their two-way radio in the vehicle because they expected that the two in the drive car would be within reach of their set. They were told to stay in the car; why they didn’t do it, I don’t know.”

“And your police backup?”

“When we checked in with Wister before Brogan showed up, he said he was in position. We’ve heard nothing since.”

Teren cleared her throat. Harnisch looked up at her. “You are?”

“Teren Mylos. CIA. And you?”

“Jeff Harnisch, Director, Philadelphia FBI.” The agent narrowed his eyes. “I’ve got two conflicting reports on you, Mylos. Cliff Jackson said I could trust you. But I got another call that said I wasn’t to allow you anywhere near this investigation.”

“I heard that. I’d like to know who that second call was from.”

“Assistant Deputy Director Calvin Bishop, FBI, Washington. He said he wasn’t happy to hear that the CIA was getting involved in domestic affairs, and he wanted it stopped.” Harnisch crossed his arms. “Can you give me a good reason why I should disobey orders, Mylos?”

“I can’t tell you what to do. But I can point out a few things.”

“Like?”

“For one, even before that call was made to you, someone had called the Philadelphia PD and countermanded a request from Agent Jackson. And the caller did not identify himself as the Director, but as Agent Jackson, though Cliff said he had nothing to do with it.”

“And that means?”

“Someone didn’t want me here.”

“Obviously. But just because the FBI doesn’t want the CIA —”

“But that’s the point. I’m not a current CIA operative, and the CIA is not involved in this case in any way, official or unofficial. I am currently on loan to the Bureau as an instructor in their self-defense recertification program. While I may have used a contact from my days at the CIA I have not filed an official report, or been officially connected with this FBI case in any way.” She tilted her head and looked at him. “So, this leaves two questions. One, who told Bishop that I was involved, two, and who countermanded the order from Agent Jackson?”

Harnisch stared at the tall woman, thinking that what Jackson had told him about her was correct. She wasn’t someone to be taken lightly. “Got a question for you, Mylos. Did you take out those thugs by yourself?”

She nodded. “Pretty much. One of them was holding his shoulder, though, it looked like someone got a lucky shot on him.”

Alex hadn’t realized that Teren had been the one to rescue them, and she stared at the former spy. “You shot them? All three of them?”

“Yes. I tried to tell them to freeze, but they turned and fired, and I shot back.”

“How did you get here?”

Teren smiled. “I commandeered a police officer and his vehicle. We heard the gun shots as we got nearby, and I left him to call for backup. I came around the corner from that direction,” she pointed down the street, “and got behind them from across the street.”

Harnisch put a hand to his forehead. “Are you telling me you kidnapped a police officer?”

“No. Federal law says that a federal agent in pursuit of a felon has the right to commandeer a vehicle from local law enforcement to continue pursuit of said felon.” She shrugged. “I may have used a rather broad interpretation of the law, but I was after a felon.”

The older agent shook his head, rubbing at his temple. “And I thought Davies was pissed at me before. He’s gonna be really mad if he finds out about that.”

“No,” Teren said. “What he’ll likely be even more upset about is the fact that the two police officers set for back up are both dead.” Alex and Jeff Harnisch stared at her. “I checked the area out a few minutes ago. I found the police car on the path behind the wall. Both men in it were shot to death.”

The three of them were silent for a moment, then Harnisch blew out a breath. “Have you told anyone else?”

“No. I thought I should tell Alex first.”

Alex looked up at her. “Why?”

“Because both of them were shot in the back of the head at point blank range. Which means whoever shot them was sitting in the back of the car. And I doubt they’d let anyone sit back there with a gun unless they knew them.”

Alex’s eyebrows rose. “Are you saying another policeman killed them?”

“Not necessarily. But it does make you wonder.”

Harnisch was looking at the ground. “Ms. Mylos, you’re telling me that not only did someone from the FBI illegally countermand an official request from the Washington office, but that someone, possibly from the police department, is a turncoat.” He raised his eyes to meet hers. “Does that sound very likely to you?”

The smile she gave him held no humor. “You’d be surprised what I find to be likely, Agent Harnisch.”

He nodded again, and went to clap a hand on Alex’s shoulder, opposite of the one Teren had placed her hand on. He was surprised when the blond woman jerked away from his touch.

“Reis, you alright?”

“Couple scrapes. Nothing major.”

“So, some of that blood you’re wearing is your own?”

She shrugged. “Maybe a few drops. I’m fine.”

“Right. You go get them scrapes looked at, you hear?”

“I will. As soon as —”

“No. Now. I’ll make sure all the information gets to headquarters. You just get your ass out of here.” He looked around and then gave her a smirk. “And try to do it before our buddy Davies shows up, okay?”

Alex nodded, but could not return even the barest grin. “Yes, sir.”

Harnisch nodded again, and left, running a hand through the gray hair at his temples.

Teren took Alex’s arm. “Come on, Reis. Let’s get you looked at.”

The small agent shook off the hand. “I’m fine. I just need to find a ride to the hospital.”

“I think I can help. I spoke with the officer that drove me in from the airport, and he said he’d take me there when I was ready. I think you should come with us.”

“Fine.” Alex turned to her. “But only because I need to find out how David is.” She started walking towards the car. “And then I need to call Miri.”

*******************************************************

Alex refused to let anyone look at her shoulder or arm, even though Teren could see there was a spreading stain of fresh blood across the inner sleeve of her jacket. In the lights of the hospital corridor, the path of the bullet across the top of her left shoulder could be seen, and the rip on the underside of her right arm testified to the intensity of the battle. But Alex was adamant; she wanted to know how her partner was doing, and then she was heading back to the park.

Alex was still arguing with a nurse when Teren’s phone rang. She glanced at Alex, and slipped around the corner in the corridor.

“Mylos.”

“Teren, where are you?”

“Cliff? I’m at the hospital, trying to get information on David. He was shot in the chest.”

“Oh, no. Goddamnit. Is Alex with you? Is she alright?”

“She’s being stubborn and won’t let the doctor examine a couple bullet scrapes. I think that means she’s mostly okay.”

“You’ve got to get out of there. Both of you.”

“What? Why?”

“Listen to me, and listen good. I got a call from Harnisch. It seems a police captain named Davies has decided that you caused all the excitement tonight, and he wants you for questioning in the deaths of two police officers.”

“Fuck. I should have known not to stick around.”

“Yeah. Well, if you leave, take Alex with you. And whatever you do, don’t let her near Harnisch, and don’t let her call me.”

“Why not?”

“Because the order has come down from Deputy Director Bishop. He’s blaming the whole fiasco on her, even though he doesn’t know the whole story. If Harnisch sees her, he’s to take her ID and her weapon. If she talks to me, I’m to order her to relinquish them.” He hesitated. “They’re trying to railroad her, Teren. Get her out of there.”

“And then what? She can’t go the FBI offices here, and she can’t go home to Washington. Where is she supposed to go?”

“I don’t know! All I know is if she doesn’t see Harnisch, he can’t take her badge, and if I don’t talk to her, I can’t tell her to hand it over. You’re the only chance she has of keeping her badge. You have to keep her safe until we can clear her name. “

“Why the hell should I do that? I’m not even officially in this case, and now you’re telling me that I’m wanted by the Philadelphia PD? Because I saved the lives of a few agents?”

“No. Because you’re convenient. And so’s Alex. What’s happening here is wrong, Teren, but I can’t stop it right now. All I can do is warn you, both of you. And I could lose my job for doing it.”

Teren had to admit that was true.

“Alright. I’ll get Alex out of here, if she’ll let me. I’m not sure what we’ll do after that. Both of our phones will be off after this, so don’t bother trying to call.” She sighed. “I don’t know if we’ll stay in the city, or not, but I’ll find a way to contact you about where we’re going and what we’re doing.”

“Good.”

“Cliff?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t think for one minute that this is going to make me get out of this case. This is the second time in two months that someone’s set me up, and I’m not letting go.”

“I didn’t think so. Be careful, okay?”

“Yeah. Find out who the snitch is, got it?”

“Right.”

Teren hung up and turned around to see a black man on crutches watching her intently. She recognized him as the man she’d helped at the scene. Alex had called him Ken.

“So, you’re the Teren Mylos that everyone was talking about, ” he said. “We didn’t exactly get around to introductions earlier. I’m Kendall Thomas.” He held out his hand, carefully keeping his balance. “Everyone calls me Ken.”

“I’m Teren.” She shook his hand. “How’s the leg?”

He grimaced. “Hurts. But there’s not a lot of damage. The bullet passed right through and didn’t hit anything major. It’s just going to be a bitch to deal with for a while.” He looked up at her. “I take it that was Cliff you were talking to?”

Teren eyed him with wariness. “Yes. Why?”

He raised his hands, palms to her. “Don’t get defensive, please. David warned me you had a tendency to get a little gun happy when you were feeling defensive, and I don’t think I could duck right now.”

His words were said in humor, and Teren’s lips twitched into a smile.

“Actually, I spoke to Cliff a few minutes ago, and he told me someone was trying to railroad Alex. It wasn’t her fault, but she’s the only one that wasn’t wounded, so she’s gonna be the scapegoat.”

“I wouldn’t say she wasn’t wounded, but they are trying to blame her.”

Ken frowned. “Are you saying she was shot?”

“Couple of bullets grazed her. She won’t let the doctors look at her, though. Her only concern right now is David.”

The agent nodded. “Sounds like Alex. Her and David are like brother and sister. Every time one of them gets sick, the other gets sympathy pains.”

“Well, she’s gonna hafta have her pains outside the hospital. Want to help me talk her into leaving this place?”

“What about her wounds?”

“She’s still on her feet, so I don’t think they’ll kill her. I’ll swipe a couple suture kits and fix her when we get where we’re going.”

“I won’t ask where that is. Tell you what. I’m supposed to still be in this little room just down the hall. I saw where the kits are. You get Alex, and drop by the room before you leave. I’ll give you the supplies.”

“Oh, right, make me talk her out of barging into the operating room.”

Ken grinned at her, and she gave him one of her own before turning to find the blond woman.

Teren found Alex sitting on the floor against the wall. She was folding up her cell phone. Alex’s cheeks were dry, but her eyes were red.

“Who were you talking to?”

“Miri.” Alex was looking at the floor, and she didn’t raise her eyes. “She’s going to find someone to stay with Arlea, and get a flight up.”

Teren wondered how Alex had found the courage to call her partner’s wife. It had taken Teren herself nearly a month to speak to Perry’s parents.

“How’s David?”

“Still in surgery. The bullet broke a rib and punctured a lung. Plus, it’s close to the heart. At this point, they’re giving him a fifty-fifty chance.”

Teren was silent for a moment. She knew what it was like to lose a partner, and she could only hope that Alex didn’t have to go through the same thing.

But at the moment, they had other things to worry about as well.

“Alex, are you sure you don’t want a doctor to look at your wounds?”

Alex shook her head. “No. They’ll be fine.”

“Then we need to get out of here.”

Alex stood up, wincing as she did so.

“You’re right. I’m going to headquarters. Are you coming with me?”

“Alex,” Teren said as she reached out to stop the agent, “you can’t do that.”

“What are you talking about?”

Teren searched for the words to tell her friend what was happening. “Look, there’s good news and bad. The good news is I saw your friend Ken, and he’s fine. The bullet passed through without any real damage.” She took a deep breath. “The bad news is, I spoke to Cliff. He said that there’s a serious effort underway to railroad you, and place all the blame for the shooting on your shoulders. If you go to headquarters, you’ll lose your badge.”

Alex just stared at her.

“Cliff also said he’s under orders that if you call, he’s to order you to relinquish your ID and your weapon.”

“Great. So, we get ambushed, my partner is shot, and someone’s trying to blame me?” Alex’s voice was very quiet.

“That’s not all. I believe you know a police captain by the name of Davies?”

“Yes.”

“He wants me for questioning in the deaths of those two cops. He’s claiming I killed them.”

“Wonderful.” Alex dragged a hand across her forehead, and Teren noticed that she left a trail of blood.

“Are you sure you don’t want to get looked at? You’re still bleeding.”

“It looks like I don’t have time, and neither do you. Davies and Harnisch will both send someone to find us here.”

“Right. Come on. I told Ken we’d stop by his exam room before we left.”

“What for?”

“He’s stealing some medical supplies for me, so I can fix your arm later.”

“Great. With one night I got Rick Price killed, David shot in the chest, and turned Ken into a thief. What’s next?” There was no humor in Alex’s voice, and Teren tried to inject some levity into the situation.

“Well, you’re about to go on the run with a suspect in a murder investigation.”

“Yippee.”

*******************************************************

They stopped by the hotel where Alex and David had stayed. For a moment they considered remaining there, but decided that it would be too easy to find them. Teren went in and gathered Alex’s things, ensuring no one saw Alex’s bloodstained clothes. She also found a hotel near the airport for them to stay in, registering with a false ID. Alex raised an eyebrow when Teren told her, but didn’t say anything.

They rented adjoining rooms, and as soon as Alex walked into hers, she dropped her bags on the bed and sat in a chair. Teren was knocking on the connecting door, but Alex ignored the sound and just stared into space.

There were two emotions battling inside her. The first was anger, a rage that boiled just under the surface. It fought with the second emotion, the despair that wanted to settle over her. One moment she would be clenching her fists until her fingernails cut into her palms. The next, she was wondering if she shouldn’t just let them have her badge.

Besides the emotional pain, there was a physical ache. She hadn’t yet pulled her shirt off to see just how bad her wounds were. She knew they couldn’t be too serious because she hadn’t keeled over from them. But she dreaded getting undressed, knowing that the congealed blood would be pulled off the wounds, and there would be more blood and pain.

She looked up when a shadow crossed her vision. Teren had somehow gotten into her room.

“I guess ignoring you was pointless. You must have some magic way to get into any locked room, courtesy of the CIA, right?”

“Actually, when I rented the rooms, I got two keys to yours. Just in case.”

“Oh.”

Teren sat down on the bed, facing her. “You want to get out of those clothes?”

“Not particularly.”

They were both quiet for a moment.

“Do you generally like to sit around in blood stained shirts?”

“No. But it seems better than the alternative.”

“Which is?”

“Ripping them off and opening the wounds again. That sounds painful, so I think I’ll stay in these for a little while longer.”

Teren nodded, and got up. She went into the bathroom, and Alex could hear the water in the shower come on. Moments later Teren sat across from her again.

“Okay. Empty all of your pockets, take off your shoes and pants, and leave on any clothes that seem to be glued on. Then get into the shower, let the water soak the cloth that’s stuck to your skin. Once it does, you can peel the material off with a lot less pain.”

Alex stared at her. “Had to do this much, Teren?”

There was a sad smile on Teren’s face. “As a matter of fact, yes.”

Without bothering to reach down, Alex kicked off the boots she’d been wearing. They thunked on the floor.

“You’ll have to help me with my holster. I don’t think I can reach it.”

“Fine.”

Between the two of them, they got Alex down to her shirt and underwear, and Teren watched her disappear into the bathroom. While she was in there, Teren unlocked the door to her own room, and brought back several large towels. She also ordered room service, asking them to send the meal to her room. Taking a chance, she added a bottle of wine to the order. She didn’t have any pain killers, and enough wine would help Alex get some sleep.

A few minutes later the bathroom door opened, and Alex came out. She was wrapped in a large bath towel that draped around her breasts, leaving her shoulders free. Teren could see the bloody scrape across her shoulder. It was bleeding, but didn’t look like it would need stitches. Her right arm, however, had another towel wrapped around it. This one, Teren could see, was bloody.

“Okay. How about I move a chair into the bathroom. We’ll probably need to be by the sink, and there’s tile in there. I’d rather not leave blood stains on the rug if we can help it.”

“Fine.” Alex returned to the bathroom, dutifully sitting on the chair when Teren brought it in. They held the arm over the sink and Teren unwrapped the injury. The blood began to run down Alex’s arm, to her side, where it disappeared into her bath towel.

“There is no local anesthetic. Are you going to be okay while I sew this up, or do you want to wait for the bottle of wine I ordered?”

“Just do it.”

Teren knelt beside the woman, and ripped open the suture kit. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

Teren expected to hear Alex cry out when she put the first stitch in, but Alex just clenched her jaw. By the second stitch she was crying. It wasn’t until the fourth stitch that she actually made a sound, and that was a moan rather than a scream.

“I’m sorry, Alex. I know it hurts.”

Alex didn’t say anything, she simply sat there, her arm over the sink, and tears running down her face.

Teren was halfway finished when they heard the knocking from the other room. She apologized to Alex, and went to collect their dinner.

Alex stayed where she was. She was too exhausted to do anything else.. The pain from her arm had mixed with the emotions inside, becoming a roaring storm in her head. It was exhausting, that storm, and she leaned her head back, trying to quell the turmoil she felt.

But when she closed her eyes, she saw David’s body on the ground, and heard Miri’s accusing voice asking why Alex didn’t protect him like she’d promised. Alex tried to say that she couldn’t, she couldn’t have protected anybody, but the voice kept asking why it was David in the hospital, and not her. Why Rick had died, and not her. Because she had been a fool, and a coward, and —