A Warranted Box Set

by Shannon Nemechek

  ***

  The hospital was quiet as he pushed the button for the tenth floor. Leaning into the elevator wall, he looked around; seeing his reflection in the mirrored back wall, Raleigh smoothed down his uniform and ran his hand over his hair, then wiped his face of any bread crumbs from the chicken sandwich he had just consumed. As the elevator pinged for the tenth floor, Raleigh took a deep breath then the door opened. He stepped out toward the nurse’s station. When he approached, he noticed a young, dark-haired woman, her hair pulled tightly against her head as she sat typing on the laptop in front of her. When Raleigh placed his hand on the counter, the young woman looked up.

  “May I help you, sir?”

  “Yes, ma’am, you just might. I am looking for Jerold Thompson’s room. Would you be able to point me in the right direction?” he asked, leaning over the counter as he turned on the charm with his deep gravelly southern twang.

  The nurse smiled a hello then seemed to stare at Raleigh until she finally blinked, almost forgetting to ask one important question. “Are you a family member?” she asked once she got her wits about her. Raleigh could tell by the young nurse’s reaction that she was attracted to him, but he smiled back, and his first thought was of Samantha as he replied, “Well no, ma’am, not in the Biblical sense, but they did pretty much raise me, and I call Jerold ‘Daddy,’ so does that count?”

  The nurse looked down at her notes then back up to Raleigh. “Are you Raleigh Fitzgerald? I am assuming so since your uniform says Fitzgerald.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “All right, Mrs. Thompson has you down on the visitor list. Mr. Thompson is in room ten-twelve. You can go down this hallway to your right, and his room is on the right side of the hall. I will call down to let Mrs. Thompson know you are on your way.”

  “Thank you, ma’am. You have a fine day now.” Raleigh was making his way down the hallway when he saw Nancy Thompson peek out the doorway and in his direction. When she saw Raleigh, she walked to him and met him just in front of the door to Jerold’s room.

  “Oh, Raleigh, I am so glad you came. Jerold has been asking for you. Where’s Jared? Where’s my son, Raleigh? I thought Jared was coming with you.”

  Raleigh’s face turned almost pale as he placed his hand on her shoulder. It was then that Nancy Thompson realized that Jared wasn’t coming. “What happened, Raleigh? What happened to my son?”

  “Ms. Nancy, is there someplace else we can talk?”

  “Yes, of course, Raleigh. There is a waiting room just over here.”

  Raleigh placed his hand on Nancy’s shoulder and guided her into the waiting room. As they sat down, Nancy’s eyes filled with tears.

  Raleigh’s heart broke as he watched the woman with whom he had spent so much of his young life weeping. It was that weeping and her questions that told him that Nancy Thompson knew her son was dead.

  “How did it happen, Raleigh?” she asked. Not sure she wanted to know the real answer, Raleigh went with his gut and told her what he had planned to tell her.

  “Ms. Nancy, he died on a mission. The Army is still investigating, and that’s all I know. When I found out, I asked that I be the one to come tell you. I am so sorry, Ms. Nancy. I should’ve been with him.”

  “Oh, now, Raleigh, it’s not your fault. Jared was doing what he loved with people he loved. He loved you, son, like his own brother. There is no way you could’ve known.” She placed her hand on Raleigh’s shoulder and pulled him in for a hug. “Now boy, we can’t tell Jerold. He is already in such a weakened state this might kill him. I can’t go out and make plans for the funeral. Would you be able to assist me?”

  “Ms. Nancy, I will do all I can. I have to go back to Bragg in the morning, but I will send out Macalister to help until I can get back over here. He and I will work both ends and make it a beautiful ceremony. I will have my assistant Samantha O’Hara help also, if that is okay with you?”

  “Oh, that is fine, son, just fine.”

  “Ms. Nancy, I am truly sorry you have to go through all this,” he replied, looking down at his feet. He could barely look her in the eye for fear she could tell he wasn’t telling her the entire truth.

  “Oh sweetheart, when you’re the wife and mother to soldiers, you pray every day that the next knock on the door will never come, but you always mentally prepare for the day just the same. Now why don’t we go see Jerold and we can discuss the funeral arrangements later. I am gonna go freshen up. I don’t want Jerold to see that I have been crying.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I’ll be right here, and Ms. Nancy, I really am sorry I couldn’t be there for Jared.”

  “I know you are, honey. Now just wait here and we will walk in the room together.”

  Raleigh’s heart raced and ached at the same time, wishing he could turn back the clock and get Jared and Semeana the protection they needed, but as he thought about how it happened and when it happened, he wasn’t at all sure getting them extra security or even moving them would’ve stopped whoever murdered the couple.

  Raleigh just needed to wrap things up here and get back to Bragg; he still had a lot of work to do. Not that helping Ms. Nancy with arrangements wasn’t work, but he had to find out who was responsible for Jared’s murder as well as find out who all was involved with the thefts as well as figure out how Senator Warren fit into all of it. As he went through the whole scenario, a thought came to him. Closed circuit cameras. The jail has closed circuit cameras. He needed to call Samantha ASAP and have her get to those cameras and see if she could get Maxwell to get search warrants for the news crews’ footage. Why I hadn’t thought of it before now is beyond me. Maybe it was getting shot at and keeping Kristen at bay that had my mind a mess.

  Grabbing his cell phone, he quickly dialed Samantha and asked her to follow up with the closed-circuit cameras and to get with Chance Maxwell about a search warrant for the television stations. “Maybe we got our perp on video, Sammie. Check it out and let me know. I am heading into Jerold’s room with Ms. Nancy in a couple. She is in the bathroom getting freshened up.”

  “Yeah, no problem. I am heading into the office in a few so I will start working on it as soon as we get off the phone. Raleigh, baby, are you okay?”

  “I’m okay, Sammie. Don’t worry about me. I will call you when I head over to the hotel. I miss you.”

  “I miss you too, Raleigh. Talk to you later. I love you.”

  “I love you too, baby.”

  Raleigh clicked the phone off just as Nancy walked out of the bathroom. “Did I just hear you say, ‘I love you baby’?” she asked.

  “Yes, ma’am, you heard right.”

  “And who, may I ask, has my Fitz’s heart?”

  “Well, ma’am, she’s an amazing woman. She has fire, and she’s strong and intelligent. You will love her. She is a lot like you, Ms. Nancy.”

  “Well, Raleigh, if she is half what you say she is, then I know I will love her. When do we get to meet this young lady?”

  “Soon. I promise. We are working on something big right now, but we will be coming home to visit soon. You will meet her at Jared’s funeral. I am also moving back to Bragg.”

  “All right, Raleigh Fitzgerald, I am gonna hold you to that promise. Let’s keep Jared’s funeral from Jerold right now. I don’t want to lose him, too. Once he is doing a bit better, I will tell him.”

  “All right, Ms. Nancy.”

  Nancy placed her hand in Raleigh’s, and she pulled him out the door to Jerold’s hospital room door. “Now, Raleigh, be prepared. Jerold has lost a lot of weight, and he sees and says things that don’t make much sense so just nod your head. I know he will be happy to see you. Are you ready?”

  Taking a deep breath, he answered, “Yes, ma’am.” As he grabbed the handle and pushed on the door, the light from the hallway illuminated their backs as they started to step through. Jerold made a sound and spoke. “Are you an angel?” He struggled to see them standing by the door. Raleigh stepped through with Nancy behind him.

>   Raleigh smiled and with a half laugh said, “No sir, it’s Fitz. I came to get you up outta this bed and back to work. You been lettin’ your meat loaf too long.”

  The old man’s eyes lit up as Raleigh walked closer and seemed to perk up as he attempted to fumble for the remote to move the bed up so that he could see Raleigh better. “Fitz, how are you, son?”

  “Well, sir, better than you it seems.” Sitting down in the chair next to Jerold’s bed, he reached to pat the old man on the shoulder.

  “What brings you way back home?”

  “Well, sir, I found out you were down and that you won’t leave the nurses alone, so I thought I best come save them.”

  Jerold laughed as the two men bantered back and forth until a nurse walked in to change Jerold’s IV bag, administer meds, and take his vitals. As the nurse worked, Raleigh sat and chatted with Nancy.

  “What are the doctors saying, Ms. Nancy?”

  Nancy’s face turned visibly worried as she explained to Raleigh that Jerold was set for quadruple bypass surgery in the morning.

  “What is the prognosis?” Raleigh leaned in closer to Nancy so that Jerold couldn’t hear just in case the news wasn’t good.

  “Right now, the doctors say it’s fifty-fifty, so we are just praying for a good outcome. Jerold will have a long road ahead of him. It won’t be good for him right now to know about Jared. So if he asks, just tell him he’s on a mission. Jerold won’t press then.”

  “All right, Ms. Nancy.”

  As they chatted, the nurse squeezed between them and Jerold was right back to Raleigh. “Now Fitz, where’s that damn son of mine?”

  Raleigh’s heart fell into his feet, and he tried to keep his wits about him as he quickly looked down at his watch to hide his face. “Sir, I was told on my way out here that he’s on a mission and can’t be contacted, but as soon as there is clearance, I will let him know what’s going on.”

  “Oh well, if that’s the case, leave him be. No need to worry him on a mission, that’s for sure. Besides, I got you here, and I know Jared would be happy for that.”

  “Yes, sir, he sure would. I best let you get some rest before Ms. Nancy puts a boot in my backside.”

  That was Nancy’s cue to step in. “Yes. Yes, Raleigh, you have been traveling all day, and I know you have some things to set up at your house for your move back to Bragg. And this rascal needs to get some sleep for tomorrow’s surgery.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I will stop by in the morning to check on you.” Raleigh stood up and leaned over the bed railing to give Jerold Thompson a hug. When he turned, Nancy was already standing, her arms open.

  “Now don’t you worry, Raleigh, I have everything under control here. If you want to stop by in the morning, I will be here, but don’t go out of your way. You just get done what you gotta get done and I will call you when this ol’ fart is out of surgery.”

  Raleigh hugged the woman and whispered in her ear, “If you need me, just yell. I will be here till two o’clock, then I gotta catch my plane back. I will be here in the morning. You couldn’t keep me away.”

  Nancy kissed Raleigh on the cheek then swatted him on the back as he headed out the door of the hospital room.

  “Take care of yourself, old man. I will see you when you are outta surgery if I am still in town. If not, you will see me next week.”

  ***

  When Raleigh arrived at his apartment, it had felt like a lifetime since he had stepped in the home he and Kristen had once shared. So much had happened, and he had been traveling so much the last six months or so that Nancy and Jerold had been checking the apartment every few days, watering plants and turning lights on and off. When he sat down in his chair, he dug into his pants pocket and pulled out his cell phone to call Samantha. The phone rang six times then went to voice mail. Strange, not like Sammie not to pick up or at least push the button to send to voice mail immediately if she was busy doing something. Raleigh pushed the thought to the back of his mind, pulled off his boots, and yanked the bedding off his bed.

  He tossed the laundry into the washing machine then grabbed the remote and clicked on the television. Leaning back into his favorite chair again, he began flipping through the channels until landing on ESPN and the college football report. Grabbing the pad from his breast pocket and a pen from his sleeve, he began writing down all the things he planned to move with and those items he would donate to Goodwill, all the while wondering where Samantha was and why she hadn’t answered her phone.

  Chapter 21

  Samantha

  Just as Raleigh requested, Samantha arrived with Chance Maxwell in tow at the jail just in time. They had requested the closed-circuit camera footage as well as any cameras near the jail, and Chance obtained the search warrants for the television stations. It had already been a long day, but when the pair arrived back at the old post office to begin reviewing the footage with Major Chambers, it felt like a breath of fresh air had swept them up and gave them a jolt of energy. Although that could’ve been the smell of hot coffee in the air, too.

  “Did you get it all?” Matt Chambers shouted down the hallway, balancing three coffees in his hands.

  Samantha shouted back. “Yeah, and we are in for a long night. We probably have at least seventy-five hours or more footage on just one hard drive.”

  “How many hard drives we got?”

  Chance interjected. “We got three from the jail and the new post office across the street, and we have four from the television stations.”

  Matt entered their squad room, still balancing the coffees in his hands. Samantha jumped up and assisted, grabbing two of the cups and handing one to Chance.

  Matt’s face showed signs of frustration, and his words solidified it. “Well, fuck. I hope we get something quick then, because skimming through hundreds of hours of footage is not my idea of a great Friday night.”

  Chance echoed Matt’s sentiment as they all grabbed a hard drive and got to work. The minutes passed into hours, multiple pots of coffee, and bathroom breaks. They sat in utter silence for hours, reviewing footage mostly of guards walking back and forth and of various prisoners being brought back and forth. Matt sat leaned back in his chair half asleep, and Chance was already snoring when Samantha sprang from her chair and yelled, “Holy shit! No fucking way! It can’t be! He’s dead.”

  “Who?” Chance rubbed his eyes with his fists at the same time Matt was picking himself up off the floor. Samantha’s shouting startled him and caused him to fall backward, dropping him onto the floor on his back.

  “Saheed!” Samantha paused the video. “That’s fuckin’ Saheed. I’d know him anywhere. How? Raleigh shot him, and he fell overboard. How do you survive that?”

  “With help,” Chance replied.

  Samantha sat back in her chair, and a look of fear and anger overtook her. She grabbed her coffee cup and flung it against the wall behind Matt.

  “Hey now! I’m not Saheed. Save that for when we catch him.” Matt and Chance watched the video as Saheed came into the frame, turned and looked directly into the camera, then swept one finger across his throat and proceeded to disappear down the hallway. Within a few minutes, Saheed walked back into the frame, looked back into the camera, smiling, then mouthed, “You’re next,” and disappeared again.

  “What do you suppose he meant by ‘you’re next’?” Chance asked.

  Samantha and Matt looked at each other and replied, “Means we gotta watch our backs.” Then Samantha added, “I should call Raleigh. He needs to know.”

  “Sammie, it’s two a.m. Just call him in the morning. Hand me the hard drive. We need to lock it in the safe.”

  “Yeah, you’re right, it’s late. We should get some sleep. I will call him tomorrow morning.” Samantha handed Matt the hard drive then they grabbed their bags and headed out the door.

  “Watch your backsides, guys. I will see you in the morning.”

  Matt stopped, waiting for Samantha to catch up with him. “Do you want me to follow
you to the hotel?”

  “Yeah, you better, that way when Raleigh asks you won’t have to lie to him. Just follow me till I get to the parking lot then I’ll be fine. Too many people around for anything bad to happen there.” Samantha laughed as she got into her truck and waited for Matt to bring his car around.

  ***

  Pulling into the parking lot, Samantha flashed her lights to Matt as a sign that it was okay for him to go on and go ahead. Samantha watched his lights on the back of his car leave the lot and head down the street. Pulling into a space just a few spots from the front door, she gathered her phone and her bag in one place in the passenger seat.

  Once she had it all in one place and her attention went to her surroundings, she started to get a feeling, the kind that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, then a cold shiver came over her. Her senses were in overload, but instead of heeding her own warning, she looked around the parking lot and when it appeared all clear, she grabbed the handle of the door and got out. Get it together, Sammie! You’re just freaked. There is no way Saheed even knows you’re in town. And besides, it’s only a couple hundred feet to the hotel entrance. Get it together. Get it together. Samantha continued to repeat the mantra to herself.

  As she started toward the entrance, she realized she had forgotten her cell and bag in the truck. Looking around again, she quickly walked back to the truck, opened the door, and leaned inside. Then everything went black.

  ***

  Matt

  “Have you seen Sergeant O’Hara this morning?” Matt Chambers asked Chance as he sat down at his desk.

  “Naw, not yet. But it’s only eight a.m. I’m sure she will be around soon. She probably stopped to get coffee for us. She’s handy like that.” Chance laughed.

  Matt quickly replied, “I wouldn’t say that around her or Chief. Chief would be liable to teach you a lesson.”