“When Mrs. Chandler mentioned Gutiérrez, I stepped away to make a phone call to the Marriott to see if they would give me additional information. I learned about the warrant Orinda’s friend called in. He made sure to list me as approved law enforcement personnel to inquire. In fact, I was listed as the lead investigator. When I called, the concierge confirmed what I figured after Mrs. Chandler divulged what she did. I inquired about occupants of all rooms surrounding the room which housed Cruz, and right across the hall was Lieutenant Gutiérrez. They set us up for an ambush, but the car ride over to Chandlers would change how I approached. I needed to do things differently. I needed to trust my team again which I haven’t done since Nam. I also needed to listen to the people who trusted me with their lives, meaning you and Orinda. If that meant having a contingency plan, then that’s what I would do. When I gave you my extra weapon, I figured it would be more useful to have two guns drawn. That’s why I didn’t recover it back once we left Delaware back into the city. If we were going to go in together, I wanted us each to have the same advantage,” Griffin continued.
“I didn’t reveal on the ride over about Gutiérrez occupying the adjacent room because I wanted to make sure not to deter the team from the mission at hand. We intended to apprehend Cruz and get Chandler out of there, but if you knew about who was across the hall, how would we have been able to get them both in the same location? We needed them together and that’s exactly what we did. We used their plan against them. When I was in the bush, I didn’t know how to be a leader. Being a leader encompasses more than just telling someone what to do; it’s being willing to listen to others while planning action. I didn’t do that before. When Vernon and I were out there, he said something to me before we took fire that I should have listened to and not just heard: ‘Griff, it’s okay to be tired, and it’s okay to admit you’re scared. I’m scared, too. Being scared doesn’t make you weak. It makes you normal.’ I will never forget it. I was too proud to admit my fear of dying, my fear of failing, or my fear of leading my team on the hump that would lead to their deaths. It would be horrible to die tired, but I didn’t want to stop moving our guys. If I would have stopped and rested, we could have waited for daylight. Instead I kept us humping right into a dark covered ambush. The same ambush that changed Chandler forever. I never forgave myself. When I got the chance to save his life tonight, I would not make the mistakes I made years ago. I would listen to my troops and I would take advice. I would allow those who were willing to help to help. The phone call was not a fluke of coincidence. It was all a part of our plan. We were the resistance to the Bay of Pigs," Griffin confessed in conclusion as they followed the medical staff out of the room.
The crime scene indoors that couldn’t be wiped clean from the winter storm had evidence tags marking bullet shell casings on the floor and pools of blood left behind by Cruz and Lieutenant Gutiérrez. There was a marking next to the purse she leaped for while officers were in the room. The scene was different from Stockton’s. This was coordinated with precision. A sign Gutiérrez had successfully altered the frozen, snow cover industrial zone to fit her plan. It wasn’t a part of her plan to succumb to fatal injuries.
"What’s next for us? The unlikely group united to take on a case that would reveal more about us than the actual victim?" Mason queried not making eye contact with Griffin. Instead he watched on as the paramedic team that paired with Orinda and Chandler waited for the larger service elevator. He wondered if she was okay because he cared. The admission of betrayal before they risked their lives was something that trumped any emotion he built for her with fantasies before they worked together, but the feelings that he felt once they became one helped him release to her his concealed demons and his thoughts and that was more important.
"We move forward, Marine. You know that. The next mission is at hand. Our team is now a group of individuals with different missions but all the same we have to move forward. I have to return to office life that was becoming stale for me but with a new appreciation for being back at the desk. I’m an old man now, and I’d rather not have to worry about being killed on duty before I retire. I want to finish my time with the Pennsauken Detectives Bureau quietly while I enjoy my wife. I owe her a lot, more than I have given her and I want to give her everything I have left. We always wanted to leave the cold and snowy weather of the Northeast and head out west to Arizona. I see that being my next mission. You and I are at different stages in our lives with different gifts. Use yours and if you can, tell my story, too," Griffin requested as they exited the service elevator on the first floor and then out on the delivery dock where emergency vehicles waited.
The cold winter air cooled the sweat on their faces, and it was welcomed. Griffin handed Mason Orinda’s purse and car keys while Mason removed a pack of cigarettes from the inside pocket of the winter coat. He didn’t offer Griffin one because he remembered Griffin said he quit years ago, but as he lit up, Griffin voluntarily took the pack to help himself. Mason looked on at the ambulance that carried Orinda and then exhaled smoke camouflaged amidst the elements of the cold air as he jingled her keys in his hands.
He hadn’t driven in years, and his first time would be in the vehicle of the first woman who ever gave him a chance, but she wasn’t there now. She was lost in an oblivion with no conscious thoughts. She was the only one that gave him a chance but not the only one to break his heart.
"I have to be with her, Detective. She was there for me before, and she was there for us when she faced a woman who despised her for the same reason she was underestimated. Her beauty is unparalleled, but her brilliance and instinct are the same. She’s my woman. I need to be a man and accept that she went above and beyond to help us with our common cause, especially me as her man."
"Remember, Mason, her life was on the line, too. She did what she had to do," assured Griffin with a pat on the shoulder. Then he took another drag from his cigarette. "I’m gonna get home to my wife now. I think she will forgive me for having just one cig. I think I earned it tonight. What do you think?" he asked and then smiled. He walked down the steps and joined with another officer who was waiting inside of a cruiser.
"Before I head out of here, Mason, don’t forget to tell our story. Oh yeah, you may want to get to the hospital. I heard that Jefferson University Hospital is where they’re taking her. Let her know you care by being there when she wakes up and when she is ready, go home. Her clothes already are in the car, remember?" Griffin said. He flicked his cigarette, offered a slight two-fingered salute before he entered the cabin of the vehicle and drove away.
While leaving Philadelphia back into Delaware, they made a stop at Orinda’s Wilmington home to grab a few things she would need after their mission was over when she would return to Mason’s where they would become one to be one. The plan to be together was based off of what they were, living for the same reasons and that was to survive death. He couldn’t imagine going back to an empty home again to be alone because without her there, he would have been dead.
Mason finished his cigarette, entered back through the lobby only to exit and locate where her car was parked. He opened the door and sat down in the driver’s seat. The entire car smelled of her vanilla and hibiscus scent which ignited his fire to get to her. The smell she smelled of the day they were paired. He needed to be with her because to be in the presence of her scent minus her felt wrong. He needed all of her. He loved her and he was on his way.
Chapter 20
After arriving at Jefferson University Hospital, Mason rushed into the emergency ward to find Orinda and check her status. The clinical florescent lighting made his head hurt so much he had to squint his eyes in order to keep his vision focused.
The triage coordinator was made aware by authorities that he would be visiting before his arrival which made it an easier process to check in at the hospital. Orinda was unable to verify that she knew him because she was still unconscious. She had no immediate family to visit her and since they were not married,
he had no official visitation preference at the hospital.
In his hand, Mason carried her purse with her driver’s license and journalist access credentials which he used to inquire Orinda’s whereabouts and to find out her medical status. The medical staff also provided some promising news no matter how grave it was. She was checked into the intensive care ward with internal bleeding and several bruised ribs. Because of the head trauma she suffered after being pistol whipped with such malicious force, she suffered a concussion with possible amnesia results.
The doctor informed him of all Orinda’s immediate medical conditions as they walked to where she was located in a secure area of the ward. Two uniformed Pennsylvania State Police officers stood guard to secure the area because of the situation they survived. They made everyone that entered show ID and announce why they were there. The medical staff even needed to be verified each time they entered. Every precaution was made to ensure Orinda’s safety.
The evening shift doctor informed the law officers of Mason and let them know that he would be the only person visiting with the patient for the evening and the foreseeable future. Mason knew that he was all she had. If it weren’t for him, she would have no visits from anyone. He was all she had and she was the same for him. He realized this more when he drove over to the hospital. The quiet from the car was deafening. They needed each other.
After being briefed by the doctor, he was finally allowed to see her. The room where she lay in bed had a moderate temperature. It was not too warm or cold. The medical equipment created a symphony of beeps and drips, each used to monitor Orinda’s vital signs. The heart monitor kept pace with the drip of her intravenous therapy connection that administered medications for pain and fluid to prevent dehydration. Her state was severe.
The bruises on her face, the blood that filled the bottom of her eye pockets and the bridge of her nose began to settle in color, all made her appearance bad. The tracheal tube inserted to assist with her breathing —because a broken rib had punctured her lungs—was unflattering and was the loudest instrument of them all. Her chest cavity slightly moved with the assistance of the machine. She couldn’t speak to him or see him. She was alive to the world, but she didn’t know she was alive.
Only the machinery did and for that Mason was grateful.
He pulled up a chair to the edge of the bed and then held her hand. He wanted to tell her everything that he felt, but he would wait until the doctor finished writing notes on Orinda’s medical chart. He needed the privacy of a man sitting alone in a confessional booth. He had to confess his love for her now because until her condition improved, it could get worse. The doctor must have known what Mason needed because she only lingered for a few more minutes and then left the room.
It was overheard from the inside of her telling the law officers that Mason would probably stay the night tonight and most likely would be there for a number of days. There was a response from the officer, but it was unintelligible over the room noise and the officer’s radio communication.
"Can you hear me, baby? I’m here. Can you hear me? If you can hear me, give me something to let me know," Mason said but she did nothing. In his mind, she would squeeze his hand to give him a sign that her ears were awake and listening, but instead she just lay there. In spite of her condition, she was still so very beautiful. Her scent didn’t disappear either. She still smelled as pleasant as she always had.
Everything fit except that she was unable to talk back to him. The sassy confidence she always had was silenced, and that’s what scared him most.
"I have to tell you that I love you, Orinda Costa. I have never felt this, but I know without a doubt that this is what love is supposed to feel like. I love you so much, and I thank you for allowing me to love you. You are my savior. You are my hero," Mason said as streams of tears began to flow from his face as his words filled the air.
"You saved my life in many ways, but tonight you saved my life by buying us more time. You knew more about the lieutenant than we did. She did more talking to prove why she was worth being in the position she was, instead of completing the task of taking us out the way she was supposed to. She was threatened by you. You were something she wasn’t. You were a woman who earned your respect from a team of men, and you held your position. You were the one to prove to a woman who dedicated her life to trying to prove to men in the military she was as venomous as any male. She didn’t have a clue or even understand the history of military failures. You were the one who reminded our team to have a contingency plan when we didn’t have one. We were walking blind. Without you, if the Chandler’s home was the ambush, we would have been dead and because of you, Griffin was able to put a plan in place of action to ensure we had the support we needed. It’s all you, baby. You saved our lives. You saved our lives because you were willing to take a killer’s mind away from the objective and buy time. I think that’s why she had it out for you. It was you who changed the whole course of the case. How would we have known about Samuel Butler without you? I would have been dead before the mystery of Cruz's connection was solved if it weren’t for you. You, baby! It was all you. I would still be taking pills, a cocktail of prescription drugs concocted for my slow demise of overdose if it weren’t for you. It was you who connected the handwriting on the envelope sent by Cruz to my home with the letter left at Stockton’s murder ground. You see? If you weren’t there to be brilliant, I would have been dead long ago. You are the reason we all survived. We. That’s right, I know you don’t know this, but Chandler survived tonight, too. He’s here in the same hospital. His wife is here visiting with him, and his other children are on their way from what the doctor who is helping the both of you said. His condition is up in the air right now, but he isn’t dead like we thought. After Gutiérrez did what she did to you, the authorities made their way to the room, but it was your wit for insisting that the phone call was from Cruz’s mother. Your quick wit allowed Griffin’s plan to work. It’s you, baby. You’re the key to this victory," Mason said squeezing her hand.
He knew she heard him, but he didn’t know if she would remember his words. The doctor said because of her head wound, it would be difficult to have a conversation with her. There was no evidence of brain damage, but she couldn’t ensure no loss of cognizant ability. It was known that those who are unconscious can hear voices of loved ones, and it stimulates them in a way to aid the brain and the body’s ability to heal.
He talked to her because he needed her to know. There was not enough time to tell her later. If she didn’t remember who he was when she awoke, then how would he let her know? What would he do if she didn’t remember his face or remember his voice? He would be a stranger to the woman who won over his heart with her confidence and her unselfish ability to listen. The way she understood without passing judgment was one her greatest traits.
"I also have to tell you this. I never thought that I could have you. Let alone have a chance at your heart. At first I only saw with my eyes, I’m a man and I’m flawed. I saw you and all of your beauty. The way you would walk by with your natural switch to your hips and the way you glide across the floor. The way your curly hair would lay down the center of your back caught my eyes’ attention after I raised them from looking at your ass. I remember thinking to myself what it would be like to be with you. I wanted to see if my mind’s fantasy would be better than the real thing. There was this one time when you walked by my desk to warm up food for lunch, I put my head down because I didn’t want you to see me looking at you, but once you walked past, I smelled your perfume that sent me to heaven. You were talking to one of the other girls in the office about how you made yourself a nice Spanish paella the night before and how nice it would be to cook for a man that you could love as much as you love to cook and who would love you more than he loved your cooking. I wanted to tell you then how I wished to be him, but I knew you were way out of my league. A man feels that way more often than not. That’s something you probably didn’t know because the guys tha
t you have involved yourself with oozed machismo. I wanted to run over and beg to be the man who loved you and your cooking. I would have even offered to bring a Spanish wine. I would have done anything to be with you because though I had no experience with loving a woman, I had in my heart something you have never experienced before. When Chandler paired us together, I was nervous and excited. I had the chance to be around you. To learn more about you and to get a chance to know the woman behind the sexy persona who loved to keep a graceful appearance, but what I was able to learn as more than I expected. I knew there was something special about you. Over time I learned that you are so smart and precise with your methods for anything. Nothing you do or know is by fluke of chance. You are the most prepared woman I have ever met. You aren’t afraid to be a woman. You want to be as womanly as possible by doing what’s needed for your man. You let me be a man. I didn’t know how much I was missing. Not just with amazing sex but having another voice to hear at home. I have someone to be with, to protect and to plot with. You allowed me to feel like I had pull on this team, but we both know you were the glue that held it together, and that’s God’s truth. I know it, you know it and Detective Griffin knew it, too. That’s why I’m so protective of you. It may seem like insecurities, but I honestly don’t want to lose what I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I’m a guy that was expected to die alone, but finally I have what millions of men who have lived and died before me needed; that’s love. When Griffin was being inappropriate, it incensed me. When you reached out to a man who felt an abbreviation of what I feel, it scared me. I didn’t know how to accept it. I know you didn’t do it to spite me, but it scared me that maybe the door was still open. It’s a scary feeling, but I’m okay with it now because I know it’s what was needed to give us the leverage in a case that was bigger than my insecurities as a man. I’m so sorry, baby. Please forgive me. I can be better for you. I promise. Just give me another chance of loving you."
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