by J. E. Taylor
Yeah right. He closed his eyes. “Sorry, I’m just a little stressed.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Turning, he stared at Charlie. “Find the bastard and kill him,” he finally said.
He shifted his gaze to Steve’s hand and nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.” He stood to leave. “And congratulations on the engagement,” he said before he left the waiting room.
Steve stared after Charlie, his mind grappling with the conversation. How the hell did he know about the engagement? Shit, he must have seen Jenny. The thought pissed him off more than he already was and his hands curled into fists again. Shooting pain followed up his arm and he winced. “Fuck,” he muttered.
“Mr. Winchester?”
He looked up at the attendant.
“Please follow me.” He led Steve into a room at the end of the hall. The doctor stood looking at his x-rays.
Crinkling his nose, he suppressed a sneeze as the smell of hot fiberglass and plaster filled the air. He took a seat on the table that the attendant pointed to. “Is it broken?”
The doctor removed his glasses and turned to Steve, nodding. “You’ve done quite a job on yourself. You’ve fractured the second and third metacarpal bones in your hand and you have a hairline fracture in your ulna. John’s going to put you in a cast to limit the motion of those bones.” He nodded to the technician. “Next time you should think twice before taking on an oak door.”
He glanced at his swollen hand. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to get the dented wedding band off his ring finger, but he tried anyway, and with the help of some antibacterial soap, he was able to slide it off without too much damage to his knuckle. He slid the slimy blood-ridden metal into his pocket.
With his wrist set in a blue fiberglass cast and already throbbing, he found Jennifer’s room on the other side of the hospital.
The guard stopped him at the door, scanning him with skeptical eyes. Looking down at his blood-smeared shirt and back up at the officer, he pointed his new cast toward the door. “She’s my fiancée.”
The officer waved him through.
He stepped into the room. The moment Jennifer saw him, she burst into tears and he shot to her side, wrapped his arms around her, and buried his face in her hair. Pulling away, he ran his left hand over her cheek, his thumb grazing her swollen lip lightly. “I’m here now.”
Her teary green eyes lowered to the cast on his arm and back to his face.
“It’s nothing,” he said and offered her a slight smile. “Stupid, really.” He glanced toward Jack, then back to Jennifer. “How’s the baby?”
“The baby’s fine,” she said, sniffling.
The last hint of relief swept through him and he exhaled. “Did you finish with the sketch?” he asked the agent sitting next to the bed. When she turned the rendering toward him, he stared at it, memorizing the likeness. His eyes narrowed and he chewed on his lip. There was something vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it right away. Then it all clicked into place and he shot to his feet. “That’s the fucking courier!”
“What courier?” Jack asked.
“The one who wouldn’t leave the package for Charlie with me last week.” The development was a physical blow. This meant there was a connection to his current assignment, to Charlie, or his organization at the very least, and he led her right into the middle of it. Again. He shook his head. “God damn it!”
Jennifer glanced from the picture to Steve. “You’ve seen him before?”
He nodded, trading a glance with Jack. Exhaling, he swung his gaze to her, pointing a splinted finger in her direction. “I want you out of the city tonight.”
“Not tonight. I need you tonight.”
“Jenny, I can’t take the chance. He threatened you.”
She looked between Jack and Mary. “Would you two mind if I talk to Steve alone?”
Mary packed up her things. “I’ll get this on the wire,” she said and left the room. Jack followed her out.
Jennifer’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m not doing this pregnancy alone.”
Steve sat on the side of the bed and took her hand, bringing it to his lips. “Jen, I can’t take the risk of losing you.”
She reached out, running her fingers over the rough fiberglass cast. “I don’t want to be alone.”
Steve racked his brain for options. He didn’t want her in the city, not with what happened, but he also didn’t want her too far away. “What about your parents?” He threw the question out there, even though he and her father were at constant odds with each other it was the most logical choice to keep Jennifer safe.
“You want me to go to my parent’s house?”
“It’s safer than being here with me. And it’s not that far. I’ll come by on the weekends.”
“Can we find a different apartment instead?”
He didn’t speak but pressed his lips together. It had taken a few months for the bureau to obtain the apartment they were in and he didn’t have that kind of time right now. “I don’t think that’s possible.” Slipping into the chair by the bed, he turned over his options. “I could have a body guard assigned when I’m not with you.”
“I’m not sure I’d be comfortable with a strange man watching my every move.” She shifted and met his gaze.
“Then it’s your parents.” He tried to cross his arms and couldn’t comfortably manage it with the cast.
“A body guard or my parents—that’s quite a morbid list of options.”
“It’s better than being dead.”
Jack saved her from making a snide comment, walking into the room unannounced, followed by a nurse with scrubs for her to wear out of the hospital.
* * * *
“What do you mean the FBI doesn’t have the resources?” Steve snapped at Jack. They stood in the hallway outside Jennifer’s room while she dressed.
“The FBI doesn’t have the man power to put someone on her for that kind of time commitment,” Jack answered. “I can have someone with her this week, and then I’m tapped.”
“Jesus H. Christ!” He ran his good hand through his hair. The next thought that crossed his mind made his skin crawl, but it was the only other plausible option outside of her parents. “Fine, cover her this week and then we’ll figure it out, but I want someone at the apartment before I leave, and they are to stay with her until I get home.”
“Are you giving me orders?” Jack stepped toe-to-toe with him, glaring.
He didn’t react to Jack’s violation of personal space. Instead, he continued to level his cool, uncompromising stare at his boss.
Jack stepped away when Jennifer opened the door. He dug in his pocket, producing the keys to Steve’s BMW. “I’ll catch a cab.”
He caught the keys in his left hand and looked at Jennifer. She was in no condition to drive and neither was he. For the first time in his life, he wished he drove an automatic transmission. “Jack?” he called.
Jack turned halfway down the hallway.
“You need to drive Jen back. I’ll take the cab.” He tossed the keys to Jack and, with a nod; Jack went to get the car.
Steve walked Jennifer to the emergency entrance. “I arranged for an FBI body guard this week so we don’t have to make any decisions right away.” He saw her stiffen. “It’s either that or your parents.”
Jennifer didn’t speak until she was sitting in the passenger seat looking at him. “I’ll see you at home?”
“Yes,” he said and closed the door. Steve straightened his back, watching the car pull away, and then hailed a cab. After he rattled off the address, he settled into the seat and flipped open his cell phone.
“Charlie?”
“What’s up Steve?”
He took a deep breath; hating himself for turning to the man he was sworn to take out. “The FBI doesn’t have the resources to protect Jennifer while I’m at work. Do you?”
“What do you think?”
“I’m not playing games, Ch
arlie. The bastard threatened to come back and finish the job and I need to know if you’ve got someone who can protect her.”
“Yes, I’ve got a few contacts. Do you want a male or a female watching over her?”
He hadn’t considered gender, and the offer caught him by surprise. His initial reaction was to say a man, but based on what she had said at the hospital, he reconsidered. “A woman probably would be better under the circumstances.”
“When do you want her to start?”
“How about Monday? I’ve got the FBI until the end of this week.”
Silence blanketed the line. “I’m not sure I like the idea of you fraternizing with the FBI for any length of time. How about if I have her start Wednesday and you take tomorrow off to be with your girlfriend?”
Steve knew neither Jack nor Jennifer would like it, but he had to do what was best for his wife, and right now, that was making the alliance with Charlie. He exhaled audibly. “I was hoping you’d say something like that. I don’t want them hanging around either but I don’t want my girl getting hurt and it was the only option I had to make sure that didn’t happen.”
“Well, your options just changed,” Charlie said. “I’ll get on that right now.”
“Thanks, man.” He folded his phone and dug in his pocket for his wallet as the cab pulled up in front of the apartment complex. He fumbled to pull the cash out and traded a twenty for change before heading inside.
Formulating his thoughts, he knocked on the apartment door. He knew Jack wouldn’t be pleased with the deal he just made with Charlie. Might as well have been a deal with the devil, but if it kept Jennifer safe, he didn’t give a shit. He’d trade his life for hers in a heartbeat.
Jennifer came out of the bathroom with the back of her hand to her mouth. She traded a glance with him and stretched out on the bed on her stomach.
“I’m all set with a body guard,” Steve directed at Jack. “We won’t need the FBI’s protection.” He tore his jacket off, tossing it on the computer table.
“What the hell did you do?”
Jack’s snarl was enough to make Jennifer roll to witness the conversation.
“I ensured my wife would be safe.” He crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed next to her, avoiding Jack’s gaze.
“Steve, what did you do?” she asked.
“I pulled some strings.”
Jennifer threw herself on her back, and stared at the ceiling. “You asked Charlie.”
He nodded and turned his head toward his boss. “He has the resources. We don’t.”
Jack pressed his lips into a thin line. “You stupid son of a bitch!”
Steve shot to his feet. “You couldn’t guarantee her safety, so I took advantage of the resources that I have access to. I did what I had to do and honestly, it will put me in a better position than where I am right now. The last thing Charlie wants is for FBI involvement anywhere near one of his employees.”
“Don’t give me that as an excuse. You used the situation for your own personal gain.”
“You’re the one who put me on this case and you’re the one who couldn’t guarantee her protection.” He pointed his cast in Jennifer’s direction. “What would you have done if the tables were turned?”
“I would get my wife as far away from the city as humanly possible!”
Silence blanketed the room. He and Jack locked angry glares, neither one willing to back down first.
“This is going to be done my way,” he said. “Or you can kiss this ass goodbye.”
“Steve!” Jennifer gasped.
He shot her a quick glance before continuing. “I’m the one who’s knee deep in shit here. I’m calling the shots on how this goes down, not you and not Jerry.” He stood his ground, wondering if he had just screwed his career to the point of no return. “You’ve got enough information to lock him up for tax evasion, but you want to go for the drug charges on top of that, well, this goes with the territory.” He spread his arms out. “Take it or leave it, Jack.”
Jack turned his back to Steve, his fists clenching and unclenching.
Steve cast a sideways glance at Jennifer. Her eyes darted between the two men, waiting for the floor to drop out from under them.
“Fine.” He swung around, pointing at Steve. “But so help me God, if you screw this case up…”
“I know. My ass is toast.”
Jack sucked in the air quickly. “More than that, Steve. I’ll throw so many charges at you that you’ll spend the better part of your life in a federal penitentiary.”
He crossed his arms as best he could with the cast. “I’m a lawyer, remember?”
“You’re a cop.”
“With a law degree, so that pussy ass threat has no credence.”
His face turned beet red.
“Don’t blow a gasket, Jack. I’m good at my job and I want to take down Charlie as much as you do.”
“Pussy ass threat? That’s as good as ballistically, rip shitting pissed.”
Steve broke out in a grin. “It’s a legal term.”
Jack burst out laughing. “One of these days I’m going to have your badge.”
He lifted his shoulders in an easy shrug.
“I only put up with your shit because you get the job done. The minute you fuck up, I’ll personally yank your badge.”
His smile faded, Jack’s words itching under his skin. “You really think I’d fuck this up on purpose?”
Jack leveled his gaze. “I don’t know, Steve. Money is a pretty seductive bitch and Charlie is certainly throwing a shit load in your direction.”
“Thanks for all your help today.” He crossed to the door, opening it. “Now get out of my apartment.”
Jack stopped when he was shoulder to shoulder with him. “Working undercover as a college student isn’t in the same league that you’re in now. Be careful to keep your priorities straight.”
He slammed the door after Jack passed through into the hallway. His eyes landed on Jennifer’s wide green ones. “What?”
“What’s Charlie going to do? Assign that greasy thug to watch me? Thanks, Steve.”
“He’s getting you a female body guard. At my request.”
Jennifer eyebrows shot up into arches that rivaled McDonalds. Her stunned expression was almost comical but in light of the current situation, he didn’t react to the sudden urge to laugh.
Crossing to the bed, he lay down next to her, propping his arm up over his head. Throbbing immediately took over his limb and he closed his eyes, breathing slowly to control the pain in his wrist. “It’s more than you would have gotten from the FBI.”
“Cut the sarcasm.”
Steve sighed and looked at her. “You don’t want to leave, I want you protected. And Jack was right. I capitalized on my situation and put myself into Charlie’s debt.”
She propped herself on her elbows and stared into his eyes.
“It was the smartest play I had. He would never have trusted me if the FBI was involved any further.”
“But now I have to be on all the time.”
“You could always go home, Jen. That’s where I wanted you in the first place.”
“Are you insinuating this is my fault?”
“No, I’m not. I’m just saying if your choice is to stay put, this is what you’ll have to live with because I’m not leaving you unprotected for a second.” He rolled on his side and wiped a stray hair out of her face. “Not after today.” Not ever again.
She nodded and curled into him, her back against his chest.
He ran his fingers through her hair and they lay in the silence.
“You shouldn’t have taken it out on the door,” she said after a while.
Steve didn’t answer her. His heart had found its way into his throat and a slow track of tears flowed from his eyes. The anger finally gave way to painful desperation as he ran through all the different outcomes the day could have resulted in if she hadn’t been quick enough or strong enough to fight back.
The image of her in the same position as all the bastard’s other victims, raped, defiled, stabbed and dead, gave way to the memory of the gang rape in the crypt he had been forced to watch.
Never again.
Chapter 30
Steve puttered around the apartment after dropping Jennifer off at the theater for rehearsal and the evening performance.
He glanced at the clock. “What the hell am I going to do for seven hours?” It had been months since the last time he was alone for that chunk of time. The shooting range and gym were out because of the cast, surfing the web had gotten old, and he’d already responded to all his emails from both C.W.FOG and the FBI before dropping her off. Pacing, he flipped through daytime television, which to him was as painful as having a root canal without Novocain.
“Fuck it.” He tossed the remote onto the table and grabbed his coat. Twenty minutes later, he stepped off the subway across from the office. He walked into the reception area wearing jeans and bomber jacket, and looking much more casual than anyone else in the office.
Linda looked up and raised her eyebrows. Scanning him from head to toe, her eyes lingered on the blue cast poking out of his sleeve. “I thought you had today off.”
“Daytime television sucks,” he replied and walked into the heart of the office.
Charlie looked up from the copier, his head cocking to the side at the sight of him crossing the office. “What are you doing here?”
Steve stopped in the entry to his office, glancing at him. “I was bored shitless at home. I dropped Jenny at the theater and had nothing to do. So here I am.” He offered a shrug to the multiple pairs of eyes staring at him and ducked into his office out of view.
Charlie walked in before he had a chance to take off his coat. “Desiree will be stopping by tonight to meet you and Jennifer.”
“Desiree?”
“The body guard.”
“A body guard named Desiree?” Steve repeated, not knowing whether to be slightly amused or aggravated.
Charlie cracked a smile. “Yes. She’s a piece of work. Doesn’t look like she could hurt a fly, but she can be as deadly as a six-five, three-hundred-pound thug. So don’t even think about testing her.”
“Like that’s going to happen.” He raised his casted arm. “Besides, I’m not picking up Jennifer until after the show tonight.”