“Because of her?” Kelly exclaimed, hooking her thumb toward the house and to Zoey within.
“She’s one reason, yes,” Jericho said, “But mostly because I’ve seen what I want my life to look like now, and it doesn’t involve my life revolving around you, like it has for the last ten years.”
“Around me?” Kelly repeated, “We moved over and over again because of you, because of your job.”
“Yeah, well, I was the only one with a job in the marriage, Kelly, so I needed to make more money to buy you all the shit you needed to make you feel complete. But now I’m done doing that.”
“We’ll see about that.” Kelly said, her tone haughty now.
Jericho looked back at her, her eyes widening slightly. There was the Kelly she knew.
“You mean in court?” Jericho asked.
“Yep,” Kelly shot back, “Since you just admitted to me that you’re having an affair.”
Jericho’s lips twisted in a sardonic grin.
“You’re gonna try that, huh?” Jericho said.
“You’re cheating on me,” Kelly said, shrugging, “What do you expect me to do?”
Jericho nodded, her look considering, “Okay, that’s fine,” she said, “Just remember that door opens both ways, babe.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Kelly asked.
Jericho rocked back on her heels, her look malevolent.
“Do you really think I don’t know about Shelly?” She asked, her tone mild.
“What are you talking about?” Kelly snapped.
Jericho grinned again, “Do you really think that my connections in El Paso ended when I left the DEA?”
“You wouldn’t dare…” Kelly breathed, narrowing her eyes.
“Bet me,” Jericho replied, her look ice cold now.
Kelly didn’t reply for a long moment, finally she shrugged, “It didn’t work out, I don’t love her like I love you.”
Jericho made a clicking sound with her tongue as she shook her head sadly, “Well that’s a fuckin’ shame, cause you left me for her. So… Maybe you should go back to El Paso and give that another shot, cause you aren’t gonna get dick from me.”
With that Jericho turned back to the retaining wall and didn’t turn back around. Kelly finally left. When Jericho heard the slider close she sat down on the wall she’d been building. Grinning she took a cigarette out of the pack and lit it. It was amazing how liberated she felt suddenly.
Across town, sitting at Devin and Skyler’s Malibu house, Kashena was smoking in the backyard with Skyler when the vision hit her. She squeezed her eyes shut as the pictures ran through her head there were always three, they ran through a few times. Then the headache hit right after that. She gripped the arms of the chair she sat in, grimacing as the headache slammed into her.
“Devin!” Skyler yelled, seeing what was going on with Kashena and having no idea what was actually happening. She’d stood, and was by the woman’s side, “Kash, are you okay?” she asked.
Kashena was shaking her head, and breathing heavily, her eyes were squeezed shut.
“I need…” she breathed, gasping as the pain seared through her head, “My bag, my black bag…”
Skyler ran into the house, as Devin walked out.
“What’s going on?” Devin asked.
“Get her,” Skyler said, “I’m not sure what’s going on.”
Devin strode over to Kashena, who’s leg was moving in agitation.
“Gotta talk… to the Director… Gotta tell her…” Kashena was saying, her voice laced with pain.
Skyler walked out with the black satchel Kashena had with her stuff handing it to Kashena. Kashena opened her eyes slightly to search the bag, pulling out a small bag, and reached blindly for the beer she’d been drinking a few minute before that she’d set aside. She quickly emptied the contents of the small bag into the beer, swirling it and then drinking it down. She sat completely still for ten minutes, while Devin and Skyler looked at each other repeatedly trying to figure out what was happening.
Finally Kashena stood up, “We need to go.”
“Go where?” Devin asked, standing too.
“We gotta get to the Director’s house,” Kashena said, “I’ll try to explain on the way, but we gotta go.”
An hour later they were at Jericho’s house, only things were crazy there already.
Jericho had finally gone into the house, to find Zoey sleeping on their bed. Jericho had let her sleep, thinking that she was maybe getting a cold or something. Things had been stressful lately, so it was possible that a little cold bug found its way in. Jericho had showered and changed, sitting in the living room with the TV on and reading some reports.
Suddenly Riley had become alert, and suddenly run back toward the master bedroom. Jericho got up, walking back to the bedroom. She saw the light on in the water closet part of the bathroom, so she moved to lean against the wall. Riley sat, completely alert staring at the door. When the door opened, Jericho had noted that Zoey looked really pale. Zoey took one step and then fell forward, Jericho had to leap forward to keep her from hitting the floor. The girl had passed out cold. Feeling her head, Jericho had noted that Zoey was hot. Lifting her up, she carried her to the bed, laying her down, and going back to the bathroom to get the thermometer. Coming back into the room she put the thermometer in Zoey’s ear. The reading came back at 105 degrees.
“Shit,” Jericho said, “We gotta go to the hospital babygirl. Sebastian!” Jericho yelled as she moved to get her shoes.
Sebastian strode into the room, his eyes darting around the room.
“We gotta go to the hospital,” Jericho said, “She passed out cold and she’s got a hundred and five temperature.”
“Kashena just got here,” Sebastian said, “She had a vision.”
“Okay,” Jericho said, nodding, “Have her follow us to the hospital, I don’t like her being this sick suddenly.”
Moving to the bed, Jericho picked Zoey up. Sebastian took the lead, in the living room he stopped to tell Kashena what was happening. Kashena nodded, and waited for Jericho to pass.
A half hour later they were at Cedars, and Zoey was being looked at. Jericho turned to Kashena.
“So what did you see?” Jericho asked.
Kashena replayed the images in her head slowly.
“I saw a curved roof of a building with a spire, a ring and nail.”
Jericho nodded, “Any idea what it means?” she asked.
“Subtitles, I told you,” Sebastian said in an aside to Kashena.
“Shut up,” Kashena said to her longtime partner, giving him a foul look.
“Huh?” Jericho asked.
“Sorry, ma’am,” Kashena said, “Baz is always telling me that I should ask my ancestors for subtitles for the visions.”
“So always a smart ass,” Jericho said, grinning at Sebastian.
Sebastian shrugged, nodding his head unapologetically.
The doctors came to talk to Jericho a half an hour after they’d gotten to the hospital. They said they thought that Zoey had a bacterial infection and that she was being given a round of antibiotics. They said that Jericho could go back to see her. Jericho walked into the semi-private room, seeing Zoey still unconscious.
Stepping over to the bed, she leaned down to kiss Zoey’s head, feeling that her temperature was already lower. Reaching over she smoothed Zoey’s hair back from her face, looking down at the girl. It still astounded her how quickly she’d fallen for her, but Zoey had a quality about her that drew her in. She wanted to protect her, but also to feel protected and loved by the girl at the same time. What she knew for sure was that earlier in the evening when Kelly who’d been her life for ten years had offered her a second chance, it hadn’t even begun to sound appealing. It had sounded more like being re-sentenced to Hell. Looking down at Zoey, she felt like she was looking at her savior.
In another room in the same hospital, Jovina sat next to Cat’s bedside. She was dozing when she fel
t a hand touch her. Opening her eyes, she saw that Cat had moved to the absolute edge of the bed to reach out and touch her shoulder. Looking to Cat’s eyes, she saw that Cat was watching her.
“Well, hello there, beautiful,” Jovina said softly, reaching up to take Cat’s hand in hers.
“Hi,” Cat said, her voice rough.
“How are you feeling?” Jovina asked.
“Lousy,” Cat said.
“Well, rest honey, I’m right here, okay?” Jovina said, moving to stand so she could smooth Cat’s hair back carefully, avoiding the bandage at the back of her head.
Cat groaned softly.
“Are you hurting, hon?” Jovina asked.
Cat moved her head around on the pillow, hissing when she hit the bandage on her head. Jovina reached over and hit the button for the nurse. When the nurse entered, Jovina told the woman that Cat was hurting, the nurse nodded and left the room, coming back a few minutes later to put an injection into the IV. Cat’s eyes closed almost instantly.
“Is this the agent that works for DOJ?” the nurse asked.
“Yes,” Jovina said, nodding.
“Her director is here down the hall.”
“She’s not hurt is she?” Jovina asked, worried instantly.
“No, her friend is sick.”
“Zoey?” Jovina asked.
“Yes,” the nurse said.
“Okay, thanks,” Jovina said, worried again.
When she was sure that Cat was asleep, Jovina got up and walked down the hallway. She spotted Sebastian Bach standing outside of a room. She walked over to him and smiled up at him. He nodded to her.
“Is it okay if I go in?” she asked him.
“Sure,” he said, opening the door for the girl.
Jovina stepped inside, she saw Jericho sitting next to Zoey, on the hospital bed itself. The girl was curled around Jericho’s body, her hand in Jericho’s, even though she appeared to be completely unconscious.
“Is she okay?” Jovina asked.
“Oh, hey,” Jericho said, looking over at the other woman, “They say she has some kind of bacterial infection, they’re giving her antibiotics. How’s Cat?”
“She’s sleeping again, she woke up hurting, so I got them to give her something.”
“Good, she probably needs the rest just as much,” Jericho said.
“Yeah, she hasn’t been sleeping well, or much,” Jovina said, looking closely at the Director, “And it doesn’t look like you have either.”
Jericho’s look flickered, even as she grinned slightly.
“We don’t sleep much during stuff like this,” Jericho told her, “But believe me, when the case is done we crash and sometimes we crash hard.” She said, her look pointed, “So you’ll need to keep an eye on her.”
Jovina smiled warmly, “As long as she keeps me around,” Jovina said.
“Why wouldn’t she?” Jericho asked.
Jovina shrugged, “Cat’s really hard to read. She’s changed so much since I knew her before, and she’s been through more than I can even imagine.”
Jericho nodded, “I can understand that,” she said, “But you love her, don’t you?” It wasn’t really a question, Jericho could see it in the way that Jovina looked at Catalina.
“Loving her hasn’t ever been hard.” Jovina said, smiling fondly.
“Well, from what I’ve seen and heard about her, and the women she’s dated,” Jericho said, “She needs someone she can count on, and who’s going to be there when the chips are down.”
Jovina nodded.
“But,” Jericho said, her tone cautionary, “Don’t let her treat you bad, because you teach people how to treat you.”
“What does that mean?” Jovina asked, interested in Jericho’s perspective.
“It means that if she treats you like shit and she gets away with it, she’ll keep doing it because she’ll think it’s okay to do. Don’t let her do it. If she does something you don’t like, talk to her about it, don’t just let it go.”
Jovina thought about what she was saying, and nodded, “I guess that makes sense.”
“If she loves you, she’ll care about how you feel,” Jericho said, “And if she doesn’t, then you need to move on.”
Jovina drew in a breath, blowing it out slowly as she nodded, her look sad. “I really don’t want to lose her again.”
“Yeah, but if it’s not right, it’s never going to be.” Jericho told her.
Jovina nodded, feeling sad suddenly.
Two days later, Catalina was going home from the hospital, and Zoey was worse. Jericho was beside herself with worry. The doctors were running new tests. Jericho had not left the hospital room. At one point, when Zoey came to, she was calling for Jericho, and Jericho ended up having to climb onto the bed to let Zoey know she was right there. She spent most of the day sitting on the bed next to Zoey, either holding her, or with Zoey laying against her, her hand curled around Jericho’s.
When Zoey’s fever spiked to 107, the doctors had to give her an ice bath to cool her down. Jericho asked Kashena to get ahold of Zoey’s parents in Maine and ask them to come. Jericho felt worry gnawing at her constantly, even as she read reports and made phone calls.
They were still following up on things found at the scene of the double murder of the suspects. The plans that Cat had been examining when she’d been attacked had disappeared, so they’d obviously been important. They were fairly certain that the man that had attacked Cat was their main suspect. Cat was still trying to remember what she could about the man who’d attacked her. She knew he was tall, because she’d felt the hollow of his shoulder when he’d grabbed her up, so that made him at least six feet tall. Unfortunately she didn’t know much more about him.
They’d started canvasing the area that the house was in to see if anyone had seen their suspect come or go to get a description. Another door had been discovered hidden behind some boxes and plywood; it had been what the suspect had used to escape after attacking Cat, with no one seeing.
Kashena walked into the hospital room, seeing Jericho pacing by the bed.
“Hey, thanks for coming,” Jericho said, “I was hoping we could talk more about your visions.”
“Okay,” Kashena said.
“The curved roof, can you sketch that out?” Jericho asked.
“I have, here,” Kashena said, handing Jericho her notebook.
She had sketched all of the pictures. Jericho stopped at the last picture, pointing to it.
“You said a nail,” Jericho said.
“Right.” Kashena said.
Jericho looked back at her, then closed her eyes, “Shit!” she said, moving to where Zoey lay.
She started checking the girl, her arms, her shoulders her neck. Then she checked her back.
“There,” Jericho said, pointing to a red scratch that looked benign enough, “That looks like a scratch, right?”
Kashena nodded, her look puzzled, “Like from a nail,” Jericho said, tapping the picture, that was a finger nail.
“Ohhhh….” Kashena said, nodding at what Jericho was thinking.
“Get the doctor, now!” Jericho yelled to Sebastian.
When the doctor walked in Jericho pointed to the mark on Zoey’s back, “Culture that.”
“Ma’am…” the doctor began, shaking his head.
“Do it,” Jericho said, her tone no non-sense “Or get me someone that will.”
The doctor didn’t look pleased, but he responded to the authority in Jericho’s voice.
An hour later the doctor walked in looking quite abashed, “You were right, there was a trace of toxin in the skin that was causing the symptoms. We’re going to start her on a round of flushing, both the skin and her body. She should get better very quickly.”
Jericho nodded, looking at Kashena.
“All you,” Jericho said, grinning at the other woman and extending her hand to her, Kashena took nodding.
“Thanks Director,” she said, “I’m glad it helped.”
“Now let’s figure out what the other two mean,” Jericho said, picking up the notebook again, “This one looks like a mosque to me,” Jericho said.
“That’s what I was thinking, but I wasn’t sure.” Kashena said, her look cautious.
“Because I’m Iranian?” Jericho asked.
“Kind of, yeah,” Kashena said, “Kind of like assuming that I wear a feather in my hair because I’m American Indian.”
“You’re Indian?” Jericho asked, her eyes sparkling humorously.
Kashena laughed, “I know I don’t look it, my wife does though.”
“Yes, I’ve heard you’re married to Midnight’s Deputy AG in charge of the Crime Division.”
“Sierra, yes ma’am,” Kashena said, smiling fondly.
“Well, let’s see if we can get you back to her soon, huh?” Jericho said, so relieved that Zoey was going to be okay, she was sure she could leap tall buildings at that point.
Two hours later they’d looked at as many mosques as they could find in Los Angeles, and had started looking at ones in Sacramento and also in San Francisco. There was a knock on the door to the hospital room and two people walked in, Jericho knew instantly that they must be Zoey’s parents, her mother looked a lot like Zoey with blond hair and hazel eyes.
Marie and John Cabbott had rushed to California when they’d received a call from the California Attorney General herself telling them that their daughter was very sick. She’d explained that Zoey had taken ill and that they were having a hard time diagnosing the problem. By the time they’d arrived in California an hour before, they’d been met by a Special Agent Supervisor Sebastian Bach, who’d happily reported that they’d finally figured out what had made Zoey sick, and that she was getting better.
At the hospital Sebastian had parked in front, escorting them inside the hospital and showing security his badge. The security officer had nodded, and waved Sebastian through.
Now standing in the room, the saw the dark haired woman sitting on the hospital bed, next to their daughter. The woman’s posture was very protective, her cowboy booted foot was up on the bed, an iPad against one jean clad leg, the other leg closest to Zoey was extended straight. The woman’s arm was down next to Zoey’s head. Zoey was on her side, her hand on the woman’s arm, her head against the woman’s upper arm, but she was asleep.
Turning Tables (WeHo Book 3) Page 19