Incensed, Cameron rushed at Kelly, getting off several wild shots and missing his target before Kelly vanished in the haze. Mandy looked on through the spreading flames, horrified, as Kelly appeared again behind Cameron and fired several more times. Kelly then rushed Cameron but didn’t fire again as he got close enough to aim a perfectly timed kick at Cameron's hand. Mandy saw, but couldn't hear, Cameron's yelp of pain as the gun flew out of his grasp and skittered across the floor. Kelly kicked it out of range and then went after the man who had been holding it. As Kelly moved out of her visual field an overhead fan came crashing down from the ceiling, taking a bookshelf loaded with papers with it and obscuring her view of the other room completely.
Mandy waited, unable to breathe, for some sign that Kelly had survived. She was sobbing helplessly, dry racking sobs, as the noise outside the building grew louder. The screaming of the police cars and wailing of the fire engines, the rush of the water streaming from massive hoses crashing through the windows, the crackling of the flames which were escalating and threatening to consume her, all drowned out any other sounds. The pulsating lights of the official vehicles illuminated the dirt covered windowpanes. She peered through the chaos for some sign of Kelly, unwilling to move from the spot where he had last seen her.
Kelly. Oh God, where was Kelly?
Mandy finally heard his voice yelling her name through the din which surrounded them. She closed her eyes in gratitude for one second and then screamed his name back at him, swallowing smoke to get the sound out as loudly as she could.
He heard her. "Amanda?" he shouted. "Where are you? Amanda?"
"Here!" She waved her arms and screamed again. "Here!"
Then she saw him, picking his way through the sodden, charred mess on the floor, his face covered with soot, his gun drawn. When he spotted her he holstered it and covered the space between them in three leaps, the flames forming a dancing backdrop behind him. When he reached her he grabbed her bodily and hoisted her into the air, enfolding her so tightly she couldn't move as he wrapped his arms around her.
She had never been as conscious of his brute strength as she was at that moment.
"Are you all right?" he asked with his mouth pressed to her ear.
She nodded wordlessly, clinging to him, reveling in the feeling of his hard shoulders under her hands, the rough cloth of his coat against her skin. He was here, she was with him, all would be well. It was the most comforting and reassuring sensation of physical safety she had ever experienced.
He held her off and looked down into her face. His mouth was bloodied and there was a long scrape at this temple. His cheeks were covered with soot and his coat was dusted with ash.
He had never looked more beautiful.
"We have to get out of here now," he shouted. "This place is going to come down around us."
"He was tossing grenades into the offices," Mandy sobbed.
"I know. Don't think about it."
“I think he killed Officer Banks.”
“Banks is all right. We got him out.” He set her down quickly and took her hand. "Come on."
"I can't walk," she yelled, shaking her head. "I think my ankle is broken."
He looked at the doorway to the hall. "Put your arms around my neck," he yelled back.
She did so and he swept her up immediately, shifting her weight to carry her easily. "Listen," he said, putting his mouth against her ear again.
She nodded, he heart thundering in her ears.
"The street outside is filled with reporters, officials, cops, firemen, everybody," he said urgently. "Put your head down on my shoulder and close your eyes. Just keep your face pressed into my neck and don't look up. If they think you're unconscious they'll leave you alone and I'll take you straight to the medics."
He drew back and looked at her. "Okay?" he mouthed.
She nodded again.
"Good girl," he said, as her head dropped back to his chest.
Mandy felt her throat tighten at the surge of happiness which filled her as he began to dodge and weave through the melee, making his way to the street with her in his arms. When an offhand compliment from an obviously distracted man in this dangerous extremity had such an effect on her, she knew she was far gone.
She obeyed him completely, keeping her eyes closed as he carried her through the burning building. She gasped twice as she heard crackling objects fall into their path. She clutched him closely when he ran down the last flight of stairs and then she knew from the rush of fresh air that they were finally out in the open.
The noise outside was thunderous. In addition to the burgeoning sound of the fire what seemed like hundreds of people screamed Kelly's name, thrusting microphones forward as a line of uniformed police held them back. Kelly ignored everything, moving steadily toward his goal with Mandy in his arms, oblivious to the surrounding chaos.
He bent his head suddenly and said into her ear, "The ambulance is fifty yards away."
Mandy didn't move, certain that he would get her there. She realized they had made it when she heard the doors of the ambulance slam open and a male voice say, "Just give her to us, officer. We'll take it from here."
Kelly handed her over to the EMT, taking care to make sure she was lifted onto the stretcher comfortably, and then said to the tech curtly, "I'm going with you. This woman is a witness to several attempted homicides. I need to take her statement once she is able to talk."
"That might not be for a while," the EMT said, opening his medical box as his partner broke out an IV line.
"I can wait," Kelly said, as he climbed in next to Mandy and crouched beside her pallet.
"She's coming around," the second EMT said. His name tag read Ken.
"I don't think she was out," the first EMT said. He was Val.
The two men exchanged glances. Kelly looked at them steadily while Mandy took a quick peek and then closed her eyes again.
The med techs decided not to challenge the police. "Any injuries?" the first one asked Kelly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just take care of her.”
"You'll both need to be checked for smoke inhalation. Any burns?"
"None that I could see," Kelly replied. "But check her out for everything. Her ankle may be broken.”
"You look like you have stab wound on your arm," the first tech said dryly to Kelly.
Mandy gasped and opened her eyes.
All three men looked at her.
"Feeling better?" the first tech said.
"Did you get stuck with something?" the second tech said to Kelly, indicating the slash in his jacket sleeve which was seeping blood.
"Just tape it up."
"What happened, Kel?" Mandy asked, as the first tech draped a blood pressure cuff around her arm.
Kelly sighed. "Cameron stuck me with scissors he grabbed from a desk."
"It's pretty deep, might need stitches," Val observed.
"It's not bleeding much," Ken said. "Looks like a clean slice."
"Is Cameron...dead?" Mandy asked.
Kelly nodded, as Val cut away the cloth, swabbed the wound and applied a bandage to it.
"You killed him?" Mandy whispered. “How?”
"I kicked him twice. Once to get his gun away from him and the second time to break his neck."
Val and Ken looked at each other again. Val rubbed her skin with an alcohol wipe and inserted a needle into her arm. She winced at the stick.
The driver took a turn sharply and all the passengers in the vehicle rocked.
"That guy's a cowboy," Val observed testily. "He should be competing in the Indy 500, not driving an ambulance."
"What's that?" Mandy asked, as Val prepared to inject a full needle of clear liquid into her IV line.
"Something to relax you," Val said.
Mandy looked anxiously at Kelly, who nodded.
"It's okay," he said to her.
She reached for his hand and his fingers closed around hers.
"ER coming up," Ken said as
they pulled into the overhang outside the receiving bay doors.
"Don't go," Mandy said to Kelly nervously.
"I'm not going anywhere," he replied firmly. The ambulance doors opened and both EMTs rose to get their passengers into the hospital.
Kelly followed Mandy's stretcher inside. The EMTs gave their report to the ER personnel and then went back out to the ambulance.
"Now there's a love story," Val said to Ken, nodding back toward the hospital as he discarded wrappers and restocked the ambulance supplies.
"I don't get it," Ken replied. "Isn't she engaged to that Congressman who was on the TV in the ER lounge just now? She was described as his fiancé." He folded the blood pressure cuff and replaced it on a shelf.
"Yeah, he’s out of town," Val said sarcastically. “He’ll be back in time for the photo ops when the fire at the DA’s office is out.”
"You don't think he's for real?" Ken asked.
Val shrugged. "You saw what I saw. If anybody should be engaged to the lady it's that itchy cop we just met. Did you see them come out of that burning building? He was carrying precious cargo and she was clinging him to like he was a life raft in a raging sea. They're in LUV, honey."
Ken laughed.
"Stay tuned for further bulletins on the Congressman's crumbling romance," Val added, and Ken laughed again.
* * * * *
Mandy's dose of joy juice helped her drop off into sleep after she was settled in the ER bed, and she spent the next couple of days drifting in and out of consciousness on a tide of drugs in a private room. Tom and her parents were sitting in chairs by her bedside when she woke up fully on the evening of the second day.
Tom had apparently been summoned post haste to provide damage control in the crisis, which had to be handled effectively with the media.
Mandy closed her eyes again. The only person she wanted to see was Kelly, and he was gone.
"Darling, we were so worried about you," her mother began.
"I'm all right, Mother," Mandy said. "They let you in here to see me so I must be able to have visitors."
Mandy was silent as they expressed their shock and concern about recent events. She was only half listening and making minimal responses when everyone looked at her at once and she realized she was expected to speak. Into the silence she said, "Where is Detective Kelly?”
"I'm going to make sure that guy is fired," Tom said tightly. "He's supposed to be guarding you and you wind up in this…conflagration?"
Mandy sat up in agitation. "If you do anything to hurt him or his career I will never speak to you again," she said to Tom.
Her parents exchanged quick, startled glances and Tom stared back at her, aghast.
"What are you taking about?" Tom demanded. "Wasn't he assigned to protect you? Where the hell was he when this nut case Cameron showed up at your office?"
"Kelly was not with me, since he has a few things to do besides babysitting me," she said evenly. "Cameron overpowered the officer who replaced Kelly when I was alone in there. Once Kelly heard I was in trouble he came to the scene and killed Cameron."
"He killed him?" Mandy's mother said, looking at her husband again.
"Yes, Mother. He thought about playing poker with him, but what with him trying to murder me and all Kelly decided it was just better to finish him off."
"There's no need to take that tone with me, Amanda," her mother said stiffly.
Mandy closed her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm just really tired."
"Of course you are, dear," Margaret Redfield said, standing up, seizing the excuse to make her exit.
Tom rose also as a young nurse's aide came into the room and said cheerily, "Is there anything I can get you, ice water or juice? Your dinner should be up shortly."
"I'm not hungry," Mandy mumbled. "I'll take the ice water, though." She handed the girl the plastic carafe from her bedside table.
"Is that an engagement ring?" the girl burbled, gesturing to Mandy's hand.
"Yes," Mandy said shortly.
The girl smiled widely. "Are you engaged to that adorable detective who was here when you were admitted? Big shoulders, dark hair? He's juicy."
"I'm the fiancé," Tom said lightly. "Not quite as juicy. No uniform, no dimples. No gun." He bent and kissed Mandy on the forehead. He then walked out of the room, followed by Mandy's parents, who filed after him silently.
The girl blushed furiously and said to Mandy, "I'm so sorry. I'm always putting my foot in my mouth."
"Don't worry about it," Mandy said wearily, closing her eyes.
"I can't believe I was so stupid," the aide added, grabbing Mandy's patient tray as she fled.
Maybe not so stupid, Mandy thought. The girl had sensed the relationship Mandy had been trying not to acknowledge in front of her audience.
This was too troublesome a thought to ponder and Mandy went back to sleep.
* * * * *
It was full dark when Mandy awoke again. The windows reflected a distorted image of the room glassily and through them she could see the lights from the parking lot outside the hospital. She turned her head to look toward the hall and saw that her door was ajar, the illumination from the corridor casting a glow onto the floor.
Then she realized someone was sitting next to her in the chair her mother had vacated.
Kelly was sprawled in it, asleep, his arms folded on his chest. He had a strip of plaster on his cheek where she had seen the scrape and his tanned face had a renewed high color, as if he’d been sunburned. He was wearing an "Ancient Order of Hibernians" T shirt emblazoned with "caed mille failte" above the waistband. A "Kelly's Karate" hoodie was draped behind him on the chair.
She touched his hand and his eyes opened.
"Visiting hours are over," she said.
He gazed at her for a long moment and smiled slightly. He looked very tired but also relaxed. It was a good tired, the way an exhausted runner looked crossing the finish line as he won the race.
"Not for the police," he replied.
"Abusing your law enforcement privileges again?"
"Yup."
Mandy reached for his other hand across her siderail and he caught her fingers in his. He closed his eyes for a moment and said as he opened them, “Are you really okay?”
“I’m really okay.”
“Why do I have such trouble believing that?” he asked rhetorically. “I was so sure you’d be dead by the time I got to Cameron.”
They looked at one another in silence, secure in the knowledge that the danger was past.
"Aren't you supposed to be working this shift?" Mandy asked, to change the subject. "Did they give you the night off for conduct beyond the call of duty?"
"Not exactly," he said dryly.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm inactive pending a hearing to review my insubordinate behavior."
“What insubordinate behavior?” Mandy paused to reconsider his arrival at the DA’s office fire and realized she had never thought about how he got there. She’d been so overjoyed to see him that the process hadn’t mattered.
He looked away from her. “I couldn’t wait for everybody above me to understand the situation and give approval to what I was doing. So I just took a squad car and did what I had to do to get there quickly.”
“And?”
“I crashed into a parked car on the way to your location, I took several clips of ammunition without authorization. I didn’t communicate with my superiors, I came alone without backup and I endangered civilians all along the way.”
“I see.”
“So I’m suspended.”
She gaped at him. "Are you kidding me? You saved my life when you killed Cameron!"
He shrugged. "That's not the way the force sees it. I disregarded a superior's directive and ignored the chain of command. I bolted and acted without orders. I broke a lot of rules and they aren’t happy about it. It’s like the service. It’s all about obedience and respecting your superiors. You flout the protocol, you pay
for it.”
Mandy couldn't believe what he was saying. He was going to get into trouble for rescuing her? "So what's going to happen to you?"
“I’ll be fine. I’ve got a PBA attorney to represent me.”
“I should never have contacted you. I should have just let 911 handle it.”
“If you had done that you’d be dead right now. As soon as Cameron got wind of any kind of official response he would have killed you. The only way to handle it was for me to sneak up on him alone.”
“But now you’re in the hot seat. What’s coming next?”
He waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing," he said. "It's all to demonstrate to the rank and file that they're going by the book. I got a call tonight saying that the mayor is awarding me some medal for heroism. They can hardly drape a medal around my neck and can me at the same time." He was grinning.
“Heroism?” Mandy said.
“What? I’m not a hero?” Now he was laughing openly.
"What kind of medal?"
He looked puzzled. "Congressional Medal of Honor? Pushcart Prize? Chevalier de France? Palme D'Or? Academy Award? Golden Globe?"
"Kelly, be serious. I’m worried about this.”
Amanda's Blue Marine Page 13