Chris didn’t bother to thank the woman. He dashed down the hallway, blond ponytail flapping with each step. As he ran he smelled the antiseptic scent of the hospital, and felt the cold air on his skin.
A left, a right, then an open area with an aquarium, chairs, tables, and a TV on the wall. The afternoon news was on the set.
“I-5 southbound is closed from South Tacoma to Olympia. Police don’t know yet what caused the crash. An officer who wished to remain unnamed told me that the car went out of control. The driver, who has not yet been identified, was airlifted to Harbor View Medical Center, where she is undergoing surgery now.”
The scene behind the red-haired reporter showed a foam-covered blue car smashed into the center barrier of the road. A patrol car sat with its driver-side wheels on the jersey barrier.
“Chris!” Ted yelled and jumped to his feet.
Mama was faster. She wrapped her arms around Chris before he took a breath.
“How … how is she?” All Ted told him on the phone was that Hope had been in an accident and to get to the emergency room right away.
“We don’t know anything.” Ted placed a hand on Chris’s shoulder. “She’s in surgery. They’ll tell us as soon as they have an update.”
Mama released her hug and Chris felt his body flush with heat. A tingle ran all the way down to his feet. He expected to melt into the floor at any second.
“Chris, Ted, how is she?” Chris’s step-mother and business partner, Candice Hardwick, came running into the room on clicking heels.
She wrapped her arms around Chris and pulled him tight.
“We don’t know anything yet,” Ted said. “She’s in surgery.”
Chris’s world spun around him. No. Not again. I can’t lose someone I love again. Why is it everyone I love dies? Chris staggered towards a chair, grabbed the seat back and lowered himself into it.
Ted sat next to him. “Hey, hermano. She’s gonna be okay. You know that don’t you?”
Chris stared at the floor.
“She’s seen worse. Higuera’s are remarkably tough.”
Chris thought back to their last trip to Mexico. He, Cat, and Hope went south to help Ted rescue his fiancée who had been kidnapped by a drug lord. Hope was shot up so badly, no one thought she’d live. Now this.
Why her? Hasn’t she already suffered enough?
Candace squatted down on her heels in front of Chris and Ted. “I heard something about her car going out of control?”
Ted looked at her. “We don’t know anything for sure yet. I know my sister though. She would never be doing over a hundred. Something must a gone wrong.”
Chris watched his step-mom. Just having her there was like having a little bit of Dad. Seeing her brought a measure of calm like lying on a warm, sandy beach.
“Mrs. Higuera,” a short, dark doctor entered the waiting room and removed her cap.
Mama stood. “That’s me.”
“She’s out of surgery and doing well. She has a broken clavicle and some broken ribs, and a rib punctured her lung, but she should heal. She’ll be off her feet for some time, but she’ll be all right in the long run.”
Tears flowed from Mama’s eyes. Candace grabbed her in a big hug. Chris cracked a smile at the two women. In her heels, Candace was more than a foot taller than Mama.
“I’ve got to see her. Can we talk to her?” Chris asked the doctor.
“One person can go in now. For only a few minutes. Then she needs to rest. You can all see her tomorrow.”
The family looked at each other. “I’m going,” Chris said in a voice that brooked no disagreement.
“Can you give us a minute?” Chris asked the assembly. “I need to talk to Ted.” He led Ted to a corner of the waiting room.
“What’s up?” Ted asked.
Chris swallowed. “I’ve been trying to get up the nerve to have this discussion for some time.” He stared off into space.
“And?”
Chris turned back to Ted. “You know how I feel about your sister …” More silence. “I, uh, Ted, you’re my best friend. You’re like a brother to me.”
Ted furrowed his eye brows.
“There’s nothing I would do to mess that up. I mean, I know family comes first for you.”
“What are you getting at? Stop beating around the bush,” Ted demanded.
Chris took a deep breath. “I want to ask Hope to marry me. I mean …”
“Woo-hoo!” Ted leapt and pumped his fist in the air. He grabbed Chris by the wrists and looked into his blue eyes. “I’ve been wondering when you’d ask her.”
“I … I … don’t know. I mean, with the wreck and all. Do you think she’ll think I’m taking advantage of the situation?”
“You’re an idiot. She’s been wanting you to ask forever. Do you know how hurt she was when you gave her a bracelet for her birthday? She thought for sure it was going to be an engagement ring.”
“Really? I mean, I didn’t know. I mean, I wanted to square things with you first.”
“Hey, brother.” Ted pulled his tall friend into a big abrazo. “They’re more than square with me.”
Chris had his fill of hospital rooms when recovering from being shot by terrorists in Canada. He wasn’t happy about being in another one, but he was happy to see his soul-mate on the bed. She had a cover pulled up to her chin with tubes going in and coming out from under it. Her shiny black hair was pulled back in a ponytail.
He’d never seen the olive-skinned girl look so pale. Her deep-brown eyes were open but had no fire in them.
“Hey, love, can you hear me?” He pulled a chair close to the bed.
“Corazon.” She made a barely audible sound.
“The doc says you’re going to be all right. What happened?”
She closed her eyes for a moment. “I don’t know. My car went out of control. It’s like it wanted to kill me …”
Chris struggled with whether or not he should hug her, hold her close. He finally settled on taking her hand.
She winced at the touch.
“Listen, I don’t have much time. They said I could only be here a couple minutes.”
Hope turned her head and looked into his eyes, then let out a little groan.
“This wasn’t how I planned it. I mean, I wanted to go to some romantic restaurant and ask you between dinner and dessert. I wanted all the diners to applaud you.”
Hope wrinkled her nose.
“I mean, uh … what I mean is … I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. The time never seemed right. Then, with the accident and all, I realized I have to ask you now. We never know if we’ll have a tomorrow.”
“Chris, you big babaso, what’re you talking about?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Chris slid from his chair to one knee, reached into his jacket pocket and produced a tiny, velvet-covered box. “Hope Higuera, will you marry me?”
“Ohhh.” She let out a little gasp. She wriggled her fingers to indicate she wanted him to give her the ring.
He handed her the box.
She stared at a huge diamond in a gold setting. Dozens of smaller diamonds surrounded the central stone.
“Oh, my.”
Chris felt her pain as the words came out.
“Well, what do you think?” he asked.
Tears flowed down Hope’s face. “Chris, I do want to marry you. To make you happy, but …”
Chris creased his brow. “But what?”
“I can’t give you children. I can’t give you a son. When I took those bullets down in Mexico, one of them ripped through my uterus. The doctor said I couldn’t ever have babies.”
Chris smiled. “I know that. Ted told me.”
“That miserable little turkey-butt ... He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. When I told him, I swore him to silence. I didn’t even tell Mama.”
“There’s not much we don’t talk about.” Chris smiled at his girl. “We’re kind of like, you know, joined at the souls.”
“Mary Beth, may I see you a moment?” Ted stood at the entrance to her cubicle and motioned for her to follow him to his office.
As he seated himself in his swivel chair, Mary Beth reached his door. “Yes?”
“Come in.” He waved her in. “Close the door. Sit down.”
He watched the petite woman take a leather-covered cherry-wood chair opposite his desk. She had on her “Catrina outfit.” Tight black jeans that complemented her slim figure, a tight black T-shirt, and boots with three-inch heels. He could smell the leather from the new boots. Catrina used to have her “work” boots custom made. These looked more like something from the Shoe Warehouse.
“You wanted to see me?” She had the look of a whipped dog in her eyes.
Ted wasn’t used to people seeing him as a man of power. “Relax. You want a bottle of water?”
“No thanks.” Mary Beth swallowed.
“Here’s another card from Cat.” Ted tossed the card across his desk.
This one had a picture of Machu Picchu in Peru on the front. On the back were the words “Having a great time. Wish you were here.”
“She’s sure getting around,” Mary Beth said. “First Hong Kong, now South America.”
Ted turned to the refrigerator under his credenza and grabbed a bottle for himself. “Yeah. I’m glad someone is having a good time. As for me, I have a problem. You can help me with it.”
Mary Beth let out a huge breath and rolled her eyes to the side. “What kind of problem?”
Ted twisted the top off his bottle. “Since Cat left, I’ve been in over my head. I can’t do everything she did and all the stuff I did, much less all the stuff we never got around to. Since she left me in charge, I want to run F&A in a more professional way. Like a business.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Ted leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. “I’ve given this a lot of thought. I’ve talked to Chris and Candace about it. They don’t agree with me, but, what the hell, I’m in charge here.”
The words hung in the room.
“What don’t they agree with?”
“Chris started me thinking about it. I told him I’m in trouble, and he suggested I split the company up; hire a consultant to help me figure out where we’re going. He thinks we should have an Investigative Department and a Cyber Security Department.” Ted leaned forward in his chair and scooted himself closer to his desk. “He’s right. I need two strong people I can count on. People I can trust. People with the same values this company was built on.”
“So …” Mary Beth tapped her right index finger on the arm rest. “What does all this have to do with me?”
Ted stopped to think. This is it.
“I want you to head up the investigative department.”
Mary Beth sucked in a breath.
Ted continued. “I know you’re still new to this, but hell, so am I. You’re smart, strong and have common sense. You’re going to have to hire at least one more detective to fill your spot, then you need to bring your co-workers along. Get them experience in the field. Get them licensed.”
“I … I … I don’t know anything about this. I can’t run a department. I barely make it through the day as it is.”
“You’re gonna have to trust me on this one, MB. I know you can do it. You know how I’m always telling you to trust your intuition, your Spidey sense? Well, my Spidey sense is telling you’re the man for the job.”
He could see the confusion in her eyes. How hard do I push?
“Chris and Candace disagree with me. They’ve got nothing against you, but they think you’re too inexperienced. They want me to hire someone with a solid background. I don’t agree. I think you’re the best person because you worked so closely with Cat. She rescued you and your kids from your abusive husband. She taught you the trade. You’ll think like her and, more importantly, your heart thinks like her.”
“What would I do? I mean, how is the job different than what I’m doing now?”
Ted pulled a file folder out of his desk drawer. It was labeled “Head of Investigations.”
“I’ve been working with the business consultant to help plan this all out. Here’s the job description she put together for you.”
He handed her the folder.
“Aside from what you’re already doing, you need to lead the team. You need to delegate authority to someone to head up the Background Check group. That group has always run by itself, but each employee always reported to Cat. We think you need a subordinate who can do the hand-holding and report to you.”
“Ah … okay … probably Susan. She’s been there the longest and knows all the ins and outs. But Marilyn is always there to take care of the systems problems. Our rickety old database is always going down.”
Ted got up and walked around his desk, sitting in the chair next to Mary Beth. “We need people with special talents. You need to develop people who are good at surveillance, at deep background checks, at working under cover. Cat used to do all of that, but if we’re going to grow we need to handle multiple clients at the same time. You can’t do it all.”
Tears streamed down Mary Beth’s cheeks. “Oh, Ted. I can’t do any of this. I’m not Catrina. I can never replace Catrina.”
“Nobody will ever replace Catrina. I just need someone to do her job. I need a Number Two.”
Mary Beth flipped the page in the folder. “Holy crap! I mean, I’m sorry. I mean, wow! Is this true? Is this salary right?”
Ted flashed a big smile. “Yep. We thought we should be competitive. Actually, I’m starting you at the low end of the pay-scale, so you have room to increase as you grow in the job.”
“I can’t believe it.” She turned a serious eye towards Ted. “Who do I have to kill?”
Ted laughed. “That’s the first light-hearted thing you’ve said since Cat left. Maybe there is hope for you.” The smile left his face.
“There is one other thing.” He studied her as he spoke. “I hired a head of the cyber security department. His name is David Jones. Everybody calls him Bear because of his surly temperament and grumpy moods. He’s the best there is at what he does, but he isn’t real good at handling people …” How can I put this? “He … ah … doesn’t get along well with women.”
Mary Beth’s eyes widened, and her mouth formed a little “o.”
“Don’t get me wrong. He’s not a misogynist or anything. It’s just his religious views, I mean, he thinks women should stay home and take care of the family.”
“You’re out of your mind.” Mary Beth jumped to her feet. You’re not going to bring a person like that into the firm, are you?”
“It’s not as bad as it sounds. I just wanted to prepare you …”
“Prepare me! Ted, look out your window. What do you see?” She didn’t give him time to respond. “Twenty-six women. All of them are here because they were abused or mistreated by men. I won’t let you turn a bull, or a bear or whatever, loose in this China shop.”
****
Abiba sipped on her strong coffee and stirred the pot of oatmeal, her daughter, Aida’s, favorite breakfast.
The kitchen in the First Hill apartment was small, but efficient. A new refrigerator and stove gleamed between the cabinets. Abiba wasn’t happy that she had to buy a countertop microwave with such little counter space, but that was life.
And life was good. With her job at Flaherty & Associates, she could put a little away each month for Aida’s college fund. With today’s prices, it would never be enough. Aida had to win the Miss Washington pageant and get that scholarship.
With her looks, slender body and copious talent, Abiba thought she had a chance.
“Morning, Mom.” The perky seventeen-year-old flounced into the kitchen.
“Indemin adersh.” Abiba smiled. “And how is my precious gift this morning?”
“Oh, Mom …” Aida opened the refrigerator and rooted around inside. “I’m going to Ja
rucia’s after school today.” She pulled a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and gulped it down.
“Aida!” Abiba waved a spoon at her. “And just what are you two planning to do this afternoon? I’m sure it doesn’t involve boys.”
Before she could answer, the microwave oven turned on.
Huh? I wasn’t using that, Abiba thought.
She took a couple of steps to the appliance and pushed the stop button. It didn’t shut off. She pushed the button to open the door. It wouldn’t open.
“That’s really strange.” She randomly pushed buttons on the keypad, but nothing changed. The microwave continued to buzz, the turntable inside continued to spin. She could feel the appliance getting hot to the touch.
What’s going on?
“Mom,” Aida asked. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know, my precious. The microwave just went on by itself. It won’t shut off.”
“Just unplug it,” the long-legged girl said.
Abiba did. I’ll have to call Panasonic when I get to work.
On the bus, Abiba scanned the news on her cell phone. There it is.
The headline read “Hundreds of microwaves go crazy across the country.”
Microwaves all over the city sparked fires, the article said. Every piece of firefighting equipment on the East Side was engaged in fires and the calls were still coming in.
Chapter 10
“Mr. Ted,” Abiba was out of breath as she ran to Ted’s office with a coffee cup in each hand. “Have you heard the news?”
“What news?” Ted looked up from his monitor. She looks like a kid looking for the bathroom.
The last employees had long since left Flaherty & Associates, leaving only Abiba, Bear, and Ted. The lights in the investigative area were out, leaving a ghost town like feeling to the offices.
“Microwaves all over the country are catching fire.”
“Huh …”
“At home, my microwave turned on this morning and wouldn’t turn off. It’s brand new.”
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