Heart of Fire

by Carter, Dawn

  Frank ran over and peered down at the young girl. He looked at the men then to Danni. “Can I go home?” the girl whimpered.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  Danni leaned against the wall shaking her head. “What the hell is going on here Frank? We were either set up again or she was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she hissed as she looked at her watch. “I don’t believe in coincidences and she’s wearing the same jacket, and has the same hair color?” Danni looked back to Frank and she shot up. “Have them bring her back to interrogation. She knows something.”

  Four hours of grueling questions before the girl finally admitted to being paid to be there. She told them that a man gave her two hundred dollars and the coat to just walk down the alley and to repeat the few words given. The girl admitted as soon as she heard gun fire she just ran and all she wanted to do was get out of there.

  It all started to make sense now. They were played again and now they knew a man was involved, and he knew every step they were taking. “Cut her loose Lopez,” Frank motioned to Lopez and Walker. “We need to go back and search the area.”

  “Our team is still there,” Lopez confirmed. His green eyes flashed with triumph. “I told them to mark off the area off and take pictures and to not stop until they found the gun.”

  The condescending tone in Lopez’s voice irritated Danni, she had already labeled him an arrogant know it all pretty boy. The first time Frank introduced him and Walker as part of the team she was a little taken back, here was this five foot eleven athletically fit white man with sandy brown hair and green eyes sporting a Hispanic name. She dismissed him as her phone buzzed on her side.

  Annabel’s name flashed, Danni flipped open her phone and stepped out of the room. “Hey baby, how you feeling?”

  “I’m great Hun I got the stuff you asked for. But that’s not why I called. I’ve been doing some more digging and found a few things I want to show you. You need to bring Frank with you.” She took a deep breath. “And tell him not to tell anyone he works with.”

  “What did you find?”

  “Not over the phone, I e-mailed all the information to him, but I need to explain how I found it.”

  “Okay give me thirty minutes.” Danni flipped the phone shut and waved over to Frank. “We need to get up to the hospital, Annabel found another lead.”

  “I’ll meet you in the car I need to give a few instructions to the men.” Frank turned and gave orders to Walker to take the girl to the hospital, then quickly stepped in his office and pulled himself forward and balanced his elbows upon the walnut desk and supported his head with his hands as he gazed incessantly at the screen. He read, and re-read the email from Annabel, when he got to the last line a lump formed in this throat, he read the several lines of translated text that would change everything and made no sense, he felt no closer to understanding what it meant as he locked his computer and headed out the office door. He needed a moment away from the madness. He stood in the completely deserted room, silent except for the wind that whistled through an open window. He turned sharply when he thought he heard a noise across the room. Staring through the darkness he rubbed the back of his head as he saw nothing. He was alone, his men already left, he got on his radio to make sure Walker had no problems with delivering the girl, but no one responded. “Shit.” He bolted from where he was standing and bypassed the elevator and ran down the stairs as fast as his legs would carry him. Once outside he scanned the area, he spotted Danni in the car waving to him. As he opened the car door and he ordered her to drive off before he was in.

  “Where to boss?”

  “The hospital, Annabel knows where Travis is.”

  Danni wanted to ask him what he knew but when she saw him nervously play with the safety on his gun she turned on the sirens and speed off. She could see the itchy trigger finger look in his eyes, it made her own excitement increase.

  It took longer to get to the hospital than Danni anticipated; she was directed off the interstate by a state patrol officer due to a wreck, as they were driving along the access road Frank watched in horror as the fire department put out the blaze, he gasped when he realized it was Walkers car that was the one they were working on.

  “Stop!” he yelled and jumped from the moving vehicle as she pulled over and ran up the incline, a police officer tried to stop him but as soon as he flashed his badge the officer stepped out of the way. Danni caught up just at the moment the paramedic pulled the burnt lifeless bodies from the car.

  “Is that?” is all Danni could say when Frank put up his hand silencing her. She heard one of the officers taking reports from witnesses. One said she heard a loud bang then the car exploded, another said he saw someone in the other lane, but could not make out who it was and the person shot several times at the gas tank.

  Frank made several calls then turned his rage onto one of the officers at the scene to close down the interstate. Frank turned to Danni, his face sunken in as he wept for his lost friend. Hours passed as they stood on the sidelines as the CIS collected all the evidence.

  “Let’s get that Bitch,” Frank broke the silence. “I’m going to stick the needle in her arm myself.” Then he turned and walked back down the embankment where the car was parked.

   

  Once the elevator stopped, Frank rushed past Danni and made a quick left into Annabel’s room but she was not there, he called for the nurse to find out when she would be back, he assumed she was either having tests or in physical therapy.

  The nurse shrugged her shoulder and stepped away. Instinctively Danni called her cell; it only rang once when Annabel answered.

  “Where are you?”

  “Down stairs in the emergency room,” she explained she had been keeping O’Sullivan detained while waiting on them. Danni flipped her phone closed and relayed the message to Frank.

  He looked at her and bolted out of the room and ran down the flight of stairs almost tripping several times before he reached the bottom. They took the long hallway that led to the emergency room and found Annabel slouched in a chair outside a room with the curtain closed.

  Impatiently they stood outside the room while the suspect was being treated, but the news was not good. The treating doctor explained she had managed to get the bullet out but infection had set in and all her major organs were failing. His news was grim and that infuriated Frank. He knew if she was in the hospital while Walker was transporting the youth that there was still another suspect on the loose, and without her help they would never find out who it was.

  Frank called his wife to say he would not be home; he never had to explain why, she just knew. The long hours were hard on his wife, and he just knew one day he would go home and she would be gone, but she always surprised him when he would walk through their front door she would have a beer waiting for him with dinner heating in the microwave.

  “It’s going to be a long night,” he said as they transported her to intensive care. “Care to get coffee and then I want to hear how you knew she was down here?” he said directing his attention to Annabel.

  They sat in the chair just outside the room provided by the hospital staff; she explained she did not want to take any chances so she told the attending doctor that she was a suspect in an ongoing investigation. He unwillingly allowed her to handcuff O’Sullivan to the bed post using the hospital security’s hardware. The doctor assured it was not necessary since she had slipped into a coma, but Annabel insisted and eventually he gave in. She explained she was not going to risk someone walking in her room and carrying her out

  Frank had a hundred questions but decided to let them wait.

  “Were the locals called?” He held his breath hoping she would say no.

  “No absolutely not!” Annabel said through a half smile.

  Danni listened unable to get a word in as Frank grilled her. She cleared her throat to interrupt. “One question, how did you find her in the hospital?” she asked the one question nagging at her but Frank never aske
d.

  Annabel laughed, “By total accident.”

  “I don’t understand,” Danni looked at her puzzled.

  “Well it’s simple, I remembered shooting her and I knew it wouldn’t take long before she had no choice but to get medical help.” She smiled brightly. “So each night I would come down here if I learned there was a woman brought in with infection or a gunshot wound.”

  “How did you find out?” Danni interrupted.

  Annabel’s laugh echoed. “You would be surprised how even nurses like to play detective, all you have to do is ask them to keep their ears open, and soon enough after a few hours, Silvia the night charge nurse almost tripped over herself to tell me.”

  “Travis, I mean O’Sullivan, almost slipped by because she had help to get the bullet out but not before infection set in.”

  Frank patted her on the shoulder and smiled. He had doubts at first that she could be useful, but she had proven herself several times to a good detective, but he knew he had to be careful how much he praised her since she had already asked about him getting her a job.

  Danni noticed the look on his face and nodded her understanding, Frank had already warned her that Annabel inquired about a job and ask him to put in a good word, he also told her he knew from day one that they are romantically involved but reassured her that she had nothing to be concerned about.

  Days passed as O’Sullivan healed and gained finally gained consciousness. Frank did a good job of keeping the fact she was in custody a secret from the agency. He continued to follow leads but each one dead ended. He was no closer today then he was yesterday at catching the accomplice. He was tired and frustrated, he hardly went home, and when he did it was to shower and change clothes. His wife begged him several times to take a day off, but he would just shake his head and tell her he couldn’t, but assured her it would not be much longer and when the case was solved he would take her on a vacation of her choice. He knew when he told her that, it was going to cost him. Tiffany, Franks’ wife had been begging him for the past few years to take her to the Bahamas, and if that was where she wanted to go, he would take her.

  On the eighth day, the doctor finally gave the okay to release her, excited by the news Danni ran down the hall to the cafeteria where Frank was seated eating his lunch.

  “Let’s pack it up.” She smiled and flashed the release papers in his face.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  Back at headquarters, Danni circled the table in the interrogation room. “Who are you working with?” Danni demanded an answer as she slammed her fist down on the table

  “No one,” Travis sat, unmoved by the outburst.

  “Why were you after the Mayor?” Frank interrupted, directing his eyes in the direction of the door.

  The silent request was received and Danni walked out and slammed the door behind her. Once in the hall she stepped into the observation room. She did not watch the interrogation; instead she flipped through files of everyone on staff on leave or recently fired or retired from the FBI. She knew O’Sullivan was not working alone but she was not talking. She told herself in the past that this woman knew things that only she and the agents knew, but Walker’s death confirmed it.

  Danni relayed her thought to Frank by text. She watched as he read it, and saw the expression as his face changed then he hesitated. “Time for a break, I’ll have you escorted to a cell. When I get back I want answers!” He looked down at her as a parent would when scolding a child.

  Once in the hallway, he entered the glass room and ordered everyone else out. “You got a lead?” he whispered as he sat down in the chair next to Danni.

  “Maybe, but let’s keep it under wraps until we’re sure.” She bit on her bottom lip nodding her head as she put the pieces together in her head.

  “Did you send it off?” Frank whispered under his breath.

  “Yup, but it could take up to a week to get it back.” Danni shrugged. “The price we pay to keep this under the table.”

  “Good, your turn to interrogate her,” he said feeling drained and defeated. “Maybe you could use some of your female charm to warm her up.” He chuckled as he walked away.

  “I think I’ll pass,” she chucked and walked out of the room and took the long corridor down to the holding cell. She carried two bags of food from McDonalds. One for her and one for O’Sullivan, she felt if she changed the scenery and made her more comfortable, maybe she would be willing to talk.

  She sized her up as she walked in holding the bags in the air. “Lunch is served.” But her hope for a full confession erased as she witnessed O’Sullivan’s face devoid of almost all emotion. Her dark eyes were bottomless. Her arms looked as if they were completely sinew. She paused to gather her composure and took a step toward the table and opened a file folder that had been resting there which revealed several photographs and pages of text. She placed the photos in a neat arrangement before the woman opposite her. With each snap of a photo against the tabletop her eyes seemed to grow more intense. She sighed with each second no reaction was drawn. “Let’s eat then we talk.”

  Motionless O’Sullivan sat looking at the bag, her stomach ached from hunger but her unwillingness to allow them to break her kept her in place.

  Danni shook her head. “If you’d rather die from starvation then do what you have to do, you will only save tax payers money.”

  She looked gravely into Danni’s eyes, and her shoulders slumped in defeat. She grabbed the bag and emptied the contents. It was not long before everything in the bag was devoured. Satisfied she broke through some of the barriers; Danni smiled to herself and pushed the soft drink in O’Sullivan’s direction.

  Pointing to the first victim photo, Danni looked intensely into her eyes. “Tell me about her, and why she had to die.”

  She shook her head, “I... I...” Is all she said before the loud bang from the main cell door crashed around them, within seconds Lopez stood with his fingers gripped tightly around the steel bars of the cell, Danni witness the terror in O’Sullivan’s eyes as she exited her seat and found solace on the bunk with her back to him.

  “Anything?” He stood there with his hands on his hips, his gun in view as he looked at Danni then to the woman’s back.

  “I wasn’t supposed to be disturbed Lopez,” Danni snapped just feeling like she was getting somewhere before his intrusion.

  “I came down to give you news on Curtis,” he defended his action.

  Danni swung her hands in the air. “And, that couldn’t have waited?”

  His smile turned to a frown, and he shook his head. He was embarrassed and annoyed by her tone. Who did she think she was talking to him like that? “Yes, but since I’m here I wanted to let you know that Frank is there talking to him now.”

  “Thank you. Please let me finish here and I will call Frank when I’m done.” Her tone reflected her annoyance with him and the useless information. She knew once Frank finished he would text her himself. It bugged her that he intruded into her interrogation.

  She wondered if he felt like she was stepping on his toes, she knew he did not like the fact that she was heading the case. She had overheard him telling Frank earlier that day. She was so tired of the good ole’ boy mentality and she was not willing to move on elsewhere to just be subjected to it here as well, and at the same time have to prove herself over again. It made her question if she wanted to transfer after this case was solved.

  Once Lopez went through the last door and it slammed with a boom, O’Sullivan looked over to Danni. “I’m glad he will be okay.”

  The room went silent as Danni held her breath. She was not sure she heard her say that. She was glad Curtis lived yet she killed all these women and tried to shoot the Mayor? None of this was making sense to her as she was looking in the eyes of a full blown killer, but she was talking and perhaps ready to tell them everything and that was a start.

  “Okay come sit here with me,” Danni patted the metal table with the palm of her hand.

 
O’Sullivan did as asked and sat there silent at first and then started to cry. “It’s not safe here for me,” she wept soft whimpers at first then buried her face in her hands. “You have to get me out of here and I will tell you everything I know.”

  Danni stood up and looked down at her, she wanted to scream at her and refute her request but deep down she agreed, it was not safe here for her, they had a mole and they needed to catch him or her.

   

  Back in the office away from prying ears, Danni called Frank. She told him how she reacted when Lopez came down and how O’Sullivan agreed to cooperate if she was moved. Frank listened carefully with one finger pressed against the other ear. He had just left Curtis’s room and as he reached the parking lot, an ambulance sped past him with their sirens blearing.

  “I’m on my way; get her ready for transport and we will take her up to this cabin I use when I go fishing.” He paused as he tried to remember if he had ever mentioned it around the office. “Give me thirty minutes; what I have to do shouldn’t take much longer than that.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

  A thud from the outside caused Danni to jump, it sounded like something hitting the window, although this was louder, not some bird, at least not that loud. With her hand firmly gripped around the handle of the gun, she held it close to her side as she looked out the window.

  The storm moved in which brought strong winds within its wake, Danni watched as the trees danced and the storm door opened and then slammed shut several times keeping her on alert. The night sky lit up as lightening whipped across it and the woods around the cabin were a mixture of leafless trees and rotting foliage. Dead leaves hung in clumps from a few low branches that slammed against the side of the cabin. Danni was amused how they resembled bats in the dimness of the thick shrubbery. She noticed about thirty feet up through the trees the early sun rays lit up the east side of the sky. The golden rays reached just above the treetops and into the pale blue winter sky.