Jovina had looked back at her, her look pointed. Cat had glanced back over at her, seeing the look she was getting.
Cat had blown her breath out, shaking her head, “I’m sorry,” she’d said, “I’m just goin’ nuts on finding this guy. I just keep feeling like he’s about to spring up from behind a rock or something and I’m going to miss it until it’s too late.”
“You’re doing everything you can, Catalina.” Jovina had said, her voice soft.
“I know,” Cat had replied, “But it’s just not getting me anywhere. And it’s frustrating as all get out.”
Jovina had nodded, “I know, I’m sorry.”
Cat had smiled over at her, walking over and leaning down to kiss her lips.
“I like that you get it,” she’d told Jovina, “I like that you care enough to get it. Thank you for that.”
Jovina had smiled, reaching out to touch Cat’s cheek. It was moments like those that made it worth it to Jovina to be with Cat, and they were much more often lately, and she loved that.
“I love you,” Jovina had said softly.
“Love you too,” Cat had replied, smiling.
A week later they still hadn’t been able to locate Abdi. They’d begun to wonder if he’d abandoned his campaign. They hadn’t put anything out in the media, because they worried that he’d flee and they’d never get him back from Iran. Jericho had told them that Abdi and his family was very connected politically in Iran, and that they’d keep him from being extradited if he got back there, so they couldn’t let that happen. Jericho had reached out to her father to see if he could find out anything about Abdi that would be helpful, since her father was still in contact with the Farzan’s. She was still waiting to hear what he’d found.
Zoey and Jericho were in the office one afternoon. Jericho was working at her computer, while Zoey sat at her conference room table working on her dissertation. Zoey noticed that Jericho was rolling her neck around, and she knew that the tension was driving her crazy. Moving to stand, she walked over to the office door, closing it quietly, then walked over to stand behind Jericho and started massaging her neck muscles to try and get them to loosen up.
“Jesus, you’re as hard as a rock here,” Zoey said, working to try and loosen the tension.
“Tell me about it,” Jericho said, sighing as Zoey hit a particularly sore spot.
They were both surprised when the door to Jericho’s office opened without a knock or anything and Sally walked in. The old secretary was usually so good about protocol and things like knocking, it was out of character for her. A moment later they knew why, Adbi Farzan was behind her.
Jericho stood from her desk, her hand pulling at the top drawer where she kept her holstered weapon, but Abdi immediately put the knife he held to Sally’s throat.
“Don’t move!” he barked as he closed the office door behind him, locking it.
He wasn’t a big man, he was taller than Jericho, but not any wider. But he was brandishing a nasty looking knife with a curved blade that was about 6 inches long.
Jericho put her hand up, the other arm down to block Zoey protectively. Abdi shoved Sally aside, striding toward Jericho, who moved to meet him half way; she didn’t want him anywhere near Zoey. He shocked her by shoving the knife into her stomach as he got to her.
Zoey screamed Jericho’s name as she saw the knife go in. Jericho’s hand shot out, to grab Abdi’s shoulder, shoving him back so he couldn’t move the knife around. He came at her again, his arm raised to slash down at her, he was taller than her by a head. Jericho lifted her arm, blocking his move, but getting her arm slashed open in the movement. She took the chance to get under him and level a punch to his midsection, he doubled over, but quickly recovered, slashing upward with the blade. Jericho jumped back, avoiding the blade a second time. She lashed out with her foot, catching him on the leg, but surprisingly he didn’t go down. She’d moved in expecting him to go down, but when he didn’t, she didn’t have time to back out before he grabbed her by the throat, dragging her forward, and trying to get the knife into her throat. Jericho brought her arm around, grabbing him by the neck, and bear hugging him to try and catch her breath. Abdi used his height to shove her backwards, they both fell to the ground, grappling.
Downstairs Devin exclaimed, “What the fuck?” just before the alarms went off, and Cat knew without a doubt that it was somehow Abdi. She looked up and saw Sebastian, he’d just come downstairs to check in.
“Who’s with the Director?” Cat yelled as she headed for the door followed closely by the rest of the team.
“Fuck!” Sebastian exclaimed, beating everyone to the door and heading for the stairwell.
“Go!” Cat yelled to every agent that she saw, “Director’s office now!”
Jericho was doing her best to hold of the blade that was now pointed at her chest, somehow he’d managed to get behind her and was doing his best to drive the blade through her. His face was near her ear, he was talking to her in Farsi, his words nasty, telling her he was going to kill her and then rape her whore.
Giving something akin to a banshee yell, Jericho wrenched her arm from his grasp and turned to him, throwing an upper cut to smash into his jaw. She threw her head back in shock as he drove the blade in her back. Zoey screamed as Jericho sank to the floor, gasping for breath.
Abdi moved in for the kill. That’s when there was a gunshot, and he fell to his knees with the most shocked look on his face. He still lifted the knife to drive it home in Jericho’s throat, Jericho heard a crashing sound and then Abdi was shot multiple times in the chest. He fell to the floor dead.
Zoey dropped the gun she held, its slide was locked back, she’d only managed to fire once before it had jammed. Fortunately Sebastian had kicked open the office door and had finished the job she’d started.
She ran to Jericho’s side, crying almost hysterically. Jericho lay bleeding on the floor, her hands bloody, and she was gasping for breath.
“Oh God, oh God…” Zoey chanted, “Stay with me, babe, please stay with me..” she pleaded. She was holding Jericho’s hand.
Sebastian was yelling over his shoulder, “Get an ambulance now, eleven ninety-nine Officer down, the director’s down!”
He moved to kneel next to Jericho as did Cat. Cat handed him a towel she’d grabbed from the kitchen area. He used it to try and press to the wound. Jericho jumped and tried to move away gasping sharply.
“Easy Director, we gotta stop this bleeding,” Sebastian said, to Cat he said, “She’s bleeding out, we need to get her to a hospital now.”
Moving to stand, Sebastian picked Jericho up and moved to the door. Cat grabbed Zoey’s hand, taking her with her as she strode after Sebastian. By the time they hit the front doors of the DOJ offices an ambulance was pulling into the driveway. Jericho had passed out by then. They bundled Jericho into the ambulance, Cat got in pulling Zoey in with her.
“Go!” she yelled at the ambulance driver even as the EMTs started working on Jericho.
“Her blood pressure is dangerously low, she’s bleeding out,” EMT yelled, “Get us there now!”
When they arrived at the Emergency Room, they’d lost Jericho’s pulse. They rushed her into the ER, giving her oxygen, not wanting to perform CPR due to the wounds to her chest, afraid they’d exsanguinate the blood left in her body.
Zoey stood staring at the doors they’d taken Jericho through. She wondered if that was the last time she’d see her. Cat moved to take Zoey by the shoulders, moving her to a chair nearby, afraid she was going to pass out. Zoey sat, rubbing her hands together, her eyes trained on them, seeing Jericho’s blood on them. The tears started then, and she couldn’t stop them. Cat put her arms around Zoey’s shoulders, holding her as she cried. When the girl finally quieted, Cat got up, getting a blanket from a passing nurse. She put the blanket around Zoey’s shoulders, worried that the girl was going into shock.
A half an hour later no one had come out to update them. Cat was going out of her mind. S
he knew it would do no good to scream at the hospital staff, so when Jeanie walked in, she put Jeanie on watching Zoey and went outside to smoke to try and calm her nerves. She was still out there when Jovina found her.
“How is she?” Jovina asked, seeing that Cat’s hands were shaking as she lifted her cigarette to her mouth.
“Don’t know yet,” Cat said, her tone dismal as she shook her head, “Damnit!” she exclaimed, “How did the son of a bitch get past us?”
“I don’t know, babe,” Jovina said, her voice purposely calm, “But you guys did everything you could to keep this from happening. He was just more determined.”
Cat closed her eyes, blowing her breath out. “If she dies…” she said, her voice trailing off as she shook her head.
“We’ll deal with that if it happens.” Jovina said.
“They lost her pulse in the ambulance on the way here.” Cat said.
Jovina drew in a breath, blowing it out as she nodded, “But if they haven’t come back out, then they must have gotten it back, right? They’d have come out and told you immediately if she’d died.”
Cat looked like she was considering that thought, “Yeah, that’s true,” she said, not having thought about that.
Sebastian walked out into the quad at that point, lighting his own cigarette. He walked over to where Cat and Jovina stood.
“Well, this sucks,” he said, his tone strident.
Cat nodded in agreement.
“How the fuck did he get in?” Sebastian asked.
“I don’t know,” Cat said, “Devin’s already looking at the tapes.”
Sebastian shook his head, looking aggravated, “All this security and we can’t keep the director safe…”
“You can’t predict people like him,” Jovina told Sebastian, “If he was determined to get to her, he was going to get to her one way or the other.”
Sebastian looked back Jovina, wanting to argue with her. He felt like Hell that Jericho had gotten attacked on his watch, but she did have a point. Finally he just nodded, continuing to smoke.
Midnight walked out a few minutes later. Cat grimaced, seeing her walking toward them.
“Midnight I’m sorry…” Cat said, her tone miserable.
“For what, Cat?” Midnight said, canting her head, “For not being able to read the mind of madman?”
Cat pressed her lips together, glancing at Jovina who nodded at her, agreeing with Midnight.
“I heard from Sally that Zoey is the one that shot him in the back,” Midnight said, her eyes sparkling with barely suppressed glee.
“Seriously?” Cat asked.
“Yep,” Midnight said, nodding, “I’m glad she got that.” She said, not saying ‘especially if Jericho doesn’t make it’ but it was in her eyes.
It was the thing no one was saying, but Jericho had sustained serious life threatening injuries. Everyone knew that it was highly possible that she’d die from them, quite possibly never regaining consciousness. They all worried about Zoey who suddenly seemed so fragile. She sat in the same chair Cat had put her in, not moving, not talking. She just stared at the floor or her hands. Someone had finally gotten her to use a hand wipe to clean the dried blood off of them, even that she accomplished mechanically.
Midnight had contacted not only Jericho’s parents, but Zoey’s parents as well, afraid of what would happen if Jericho died and Zoey had no one to turn to. Midnight had also been in contact with the Department’s lawyers, she was displeased to hear that Jericho hadn’t changed her emergency contact information and that her wife, Kelly had been contacted about her grave injuries. God help her if she shows up here, Midnight thought, looking around the room.
Not only was Jericho’s law enforcement family there, but so were her personal friends who’d known Kelly and didn’t like her at all. More than once during their vigil Midnight had heard it being discussed that Zoey had been so much better for Jericho. She also heard plans being made as to what would be done for Zoey if they actually lost Jericho.
Fortunately, the one thing Jericho had done was change her Departmental life insurance to name Zoey as her benefactor. It meant that in the event of Jericho’s death, any payout from the Department would go to Zoey and not to Kelly. Since Jericho would have been killed on duty, Zoey would receive a sizable sum from the Department, and Midnight would make sure she received every penny. Midnight sincerely hoped that it wouldn’t come to that, but she needed to know what she could do for the girl, just in case.
Zoey sat in a daze, knowing that people were talking to her, and knowing that they were checking on her, but she couldn’t make herself respond. All she could think of was how much blood there’d been, and how Jericho had looked, so pale, gasping for air. The sound of the EMT when he’d said he’d lost her pulse, that sound of that long drawn out beep that screamed in one constant sound “She’s gone!” She couldn’t believe that it could be that simple. That one minute Jericho was sitting in front of her, and the next laying almost dead on the floor. How was that possible?
Zoey felt a weight on her, like something pulling her down, but nothing stopped. How was it possible that she’d found the love she’d dreamed off all her life, only to lose her? What kind of world did she live in where someone like Jericho could just be taken like that? Maybe this wasn’t the kind of world she wanted to stay in, but she just needed to be done with this world. She faded in and out of lucidity.
It had been hours? Hadn’t it? Why didn’t they say something? What was happening? Those questions drove her to her feet and she was striding to those doors they’d taken Jericho through, she needed to know what was happening and they needed to tell her, right now, damnit!
Cat saw Zoey lurch to her feet, so did Quinn, they both moved to intercede.
“Whoa, babygirl, where you goin?” Quinn asked, her hands lightly on Zoey’s shoulders. Zoey was shaking her head.
Cat moved to get in front of her, “Zoey, hey? We can’t go back there, okay? We need to wait.” She said, her voice gentle.
“No, I need to know, I need to see her, I need to know…” Zoey said, tears starting down her face.
Cat took the girl in her arms, hugging her, her hand on the back of Zoey’s head stroking her hair the girl cried hysterically.
Everyone stood by, watching with varying degrees of sorrow on their faces. Midnight turned on her heel and marched over to the nurses station.
“You need to get someone out here right now,” Midnight said, her tone all cop, “And they need to tell us what’s happening with Director Tehrani.”
“Ma’am, we’re waiting for her wife to arrive.” The nurse said.
“That’s her soon to be ex-wife,” Midnight growled, “And that girl,” Midnight said, jabbing a finger in the direction of Zoey who was still crying, “Is going to have a nervous breakdown before you people get your shit together.”
The nurse looked nervous, but shook her head, “I’m sorry ma’am–” she started to say.
Midnight leaned closer to the girl, her gold green eyes narrowed dangerously, “Do you know who I am?” she asked, her tone as dangerous as her look.
“Ye- yes ma’am…” The nurse stammered.
“Either get a doctor out here, or I swear to God, I’ll take two of my best agents and we’ll be headed through those doors over there.” She said, pointing toward the doors Zoey head headed for, “Do you understand me?”
“Yes ma’am,” the nurse said, reaching nervously for the phone.
Midnight walked away then, giving Cat a nod, as Cat smiled nodding her head. Midnight Chevalier was no wilting flower, she didn’t use her power often, but when she did, she scared the crap out of people.
Within a minute a doctor appeared, looking around the room. Midnight tapped Cat on the shoulder canting her head at the doctor. Cat walked Zoey over to the doctor. The group crowded around, Quinn and Cat stayed closed to Zoey just in case.
“Ms. Tehrani suffered a great deal of blood loss, and trauma to both her abdomen and
her one of her lungs. We’ve been working to repair the damage and we’ll need to transfuse her with more blood when the surgery is done. She’s in critical condition at this time. We are doing everything we can to save her life, but we honestly don’t know if she’ll survive the night. I’m very sorry I don’t have better news at this point. I will do my best to update you every hour.”
With that the doctor walked away. Zoey blinked a couple of times, her lower lip trembling, but then she nodded, and walked back over to the chair she’d been in for hours. Sitting down, she looked resigned. Cat and Midnight exchanged a look, and Cat went to sit next to Zoey.
The next 12 hours were punctuated with arrivals. First to arrive was Kelly. She walked in and saw every eye in the waiting room on her. Quinn got up and walked over to her. Everyone watched as Quinn talked to Kelly. They saw Kelly gesture to Zoey, and they saw Quinn put her hands up to stop Kelly from moving past her. Midnight stood up then and walked over.
“I have the right to see her,” Kelly was saying when Midnight walked up.
“No one is seeing her,” Midnight said, her tone mild, “She isn’t out of surgery yet.”
“Fine, then I’ll wait,” Kelly said, folding her arms and starting to move past Quinn again.
“You won’t wait in here,” Midnight said, her tone still even.
“You don’t have any authority here,” Kelly snapped at Midnight.
Midnight stepped closer to the woman, Kelly and Midnight were about the same height so they were on eye level with each other.
“I don’t need authority,” Midnight said, her tone low.
Turning Tables (WeHo Book 3) Page 22