“Mattie?” Alex asked.
Matthew held his hand out to Alex. She took his hand with both of her hands. Their eyes held for a moment.
“What can I do?” Matthew asked.
“I need a shot… for my hip? Remember those?”
“Do you have the meds?”
Alex dug in her backpack then gave him the shot.
“Do you want to do it here?”
“I don’t have any idea what Charlene is going to need,” Alex said. “I forgot to get it when I was getting my cast.”
“Let’s do it,” Matthew said.
He held his arms open and Alex leaned over his lap. She unbuttoned her jeans so he could pull them down.
“Nice thong, Alex,” Troy said from the passenger seat. “Purple, like your bruises.”
“I can shoot you,” Alex said.
She saw White Boy’s eyes flick into the rear view mirror. He laughed.
“One, two, three.” Matthew plunged the needle deep into her left hip.
“Awww yuck,” Troy said. “I don’t even want to watch any more. That’s disgusting.”
White Boy punched Troy’s arm. Troy mock squealed. Matthew slowly plunged the thick cortisone and pain medication into her hip.
“Those are horrible scars, Alex,” White Boy said. “Are the bruises from the Boy Scout?”
“Yep.”
“Jeez, that’s got to hurt,” White Boy said. “Did you really have a hole in your hip the size of a basketball?”
“Yeah,” Alex said. “They had to grow back most of the bone. That’s why I had so many surgeries. They had to scrape the bone to shape it.”
“I thought Joseph was exaggerating. I mean, we saw you in the hospital,” White Boy said.
“We never saw her without bandages,” Troy said. “She was all tubes and wires.”
“You saw me five or six weeks after the assault,” Alex said. “They set up the electrical thing in my hip to grow the bone back in Germany. It was… ticklish and painful at the same time.”
“Ok, Alex, you’re done,” Matthew said.
“Thanks Mattie.” Alex buttoned her jeans. “Remind me, Chris. I’ll show you around the scars.”
“Ok, we’re almost there,” White Boy said. “Are they clear to land?”
“Yes, I just received the text. Joseph and Nancy are waiting on the tarmac. Alex, you’re supposed to stay in the car. They will bring Charlene to you,” Matthew said. “I’ll stay here with you. Troy and Chris will stand outside the car.”
“Do we have any idea what’s going on?” Alex asked.
“No. Your Sergeant sent the police report and photos of the house. It’s been ransacked, but it appears everything is still there – television, jewelry, the usual stuff. Whatever’s going on, only Charlene knows what was taken.”
“How is Raz?” Alex asked.
“Asleep, mostly,” Matthew said. “Samantha is with him as much as she can. He has to walk every six hours. He wants to walk with you tonight.”
“Easy,” Alex said. “I have a question for each of you to think about.”
White Boy stopped the SUV on the tarmac. He turned in his seat to look at her. Troy turned around and Matthew rotated so he could look at her.
“There’ve been lots of bombs this week,” Alex said. “While not an uncommon way to kill someone, it’s not the most direct way to complete a hit. Plus last year, our house was destroyed in a car bomb. Lots of bombs. I’m wondering why?”
“Car bombs are common in the Middle East,” White Boy said.
“The house bomb last year was supposed to compound your distress over discovering about John’s background,” Troy said. “IRA switch bombs and all.”
“What do you mean why, Alex? Is there something else?” Matthew asked.
“Well, none of them have worked,” Alex said. “I was lucky in the mine. Jesse told us about the bomb. And Perses saved us in the Weminuche Wilderness. But...”
“You think the bombs aren’t supposed to kill you,” Troy asked.
“I wonder if it’s a possibility,” Alex said.
“Can’t you ask Perses?” White Boy asked.
“Yeah, like she can call a professional killer,” Troy said. “Here we go.”
As a plane pulled up, White Boy and Troy left the car.
“If the bombs aren’t designed to kill you, what are they designed to do?”
“Remind me of something,” Alex said. “I have something ‘they’ — whoever that is — want. But I don’t know what I have. Even though Eleazar thought it was, it’s not in the vault.”
“What would they want you to remember?”
“Who knows?”
F
CHAPTER THIRTY-five
Two hours later
Monday night
March 31 – 9:20 P.M. MDT
City Park, Denver, CO
“What did Perses say?” Raz asked.
“What does he usually say?” Alex asked.
“I’ll check it out,” Raz and Alex said together.
They laughed. With her purple cast through his elbow, they walked around Ferril Lake. Alex held Maggie’s leash in her other hand. Bounding to the edge of her leash, Maggie sniffed at everything while they made slow but steady progress. Trece walked ahead at a distance and White Boy followed. The night was cool, but not too cold.
“Are you warm enough?” Alex asked.
“Yes,” Raz said. “Your sister wrapped me in many layers and even a sweater. I don’t think I’ve ever worn a sweater.”
“You look handsome,” Alex said. “As always.”
He kissed her cheek.
“I can’t tell you how nice it is to walk,” Raz said. “Miraculous doesn’t quite describe it. I don’t feel whole. But I know I will be strong, capable… again. Thanks.”
“The doctor said you’re in great physical shape. That’s why you’re healing so well.”
“Doctors.” Raz smiled at Alex. “They don’t know about the fairy that saved me in the mine.”
“It’s been quite a week,” Alex said.
“What happened with Charlene?” Raz asked.
“I’m not sure,” Alex said. She pointed to a flock of Canada Geese landing on the water. They stopped to watch nature’s moonlit drama. “She’s freaked out. She wouldn’t talk to me in the SUV. Said she was afraid of being listened to. Nancy took her to her old Denver house. Joseph called about an hour ago to say Charlene has been sedated and her daughter is with her.”
“So we wait?”
“Maybe,” Alex said. “She wants to see me tomorrow. I couldn’t push her, you know? She was a wreck.”
“You think she has something for you?” Raz asked.
“I have no idea,” Alex said. “She said we would ‘trade’ for her diamond ring and Charlie’s wedding ring. She was kind of joking, playing the spy, like she was in a movie or something. I played along because I felt so bad for her.”
Maggie yelped and pulled her nose out of a pile of snow. Her nose was covered with snow flakes. They laughed. Alex wiped the snow off the puppy’s nose. After a brief cuddle, Maggie romped to the edge of the leash.
“Do you know if I’ve ever been involved in any bombings?”
“You mean while we were working together?” Raz asked.
“Or in my file. Outside of James and his Fey museum, you seem to have comprehensive knowledge of my career.”
“What does James say?”
“No bombs. Well, except for last year.”
“I can’t think of any bombs,” Raz said. “You and the boys used to get in and out of places with a kind of razor precision.”
“Joseph,” Alex said.
“He’s good,” Raz said. “Joiner?”
“Tristan survived surgery. We sent Bobby Lopez and his daughter to be with him when he wakes up. The baby, Cory, seems to be kicking the mercury. Cody and Kyle will go home to their mothers soon. A guy’s coming tomorrow to pick up Krystal and take her back to Texas.”
“A guy you know?”
“A Texas Ranger who wears an F,” Alex said. “He’s from a different division but it was pretty easy to get him detailed to our little project.”
“That’s that?” Raz asked.
“I guess so,” Alex said. “It doesn’t sit very well with anyone, but there isn’t anything more we can do. Unless we’re going to place them with Social Services, which no one wants, the boys need to get home. And Joiner... I could spend a life-time looking for him. The FBI is still going through the trash from the mine. They may find the guys who captured and killed the boys, but there’s no way to know when that will be.”
“What does the President want?” Raz asked.
“The President is humiliated by all this Joiner stuff. Ben told him everything – Joiner’s involvement in the Fey Special Forces Team murder, the connection to the President’s own attempted murder through the Weasel, how Joiner let his children die...”
“And the Boy Scout.”
“Exactly. Right now, the President is hoping the press doesn’t get wind of this scandal. I don’t think we’ll have any more hassles from him. With any luck, he’ll retire to Texas taking his best-friend with him.”
“You’re saying there’s two things going on – Joiner’s bullshit and the hit on your life.”
“I guess so,” Alex said. “Listen. There’s something I need to tell you.”
Raz stopped walking to look at her. She nodded her head toward a bench near the City Park Pavilion. Before she could do it, Trece cleared the snow from the bench. He helped Raz sit then nodded to Alex. Scooping up Maggie, Alex sat down next to him. Trece and White Boy stood behind them.
“What’s up, Alex?”
“Do you remember agreeing to go to Troy’s party?”
“To help him avoid the lovely Dahlia?”
“To help him keep it zipped around his brother’s wife. She’s had two of his children already.”
“I remember Troy giving your shoulder a workout when she married his brother.”
“Me too,” Alex said. “Anyway, the party is tomorrow.”
“Oh crap, Alex,” Raz said. “There’s no way I can go.”
“I have intel that a major action is going down at Troy’s father’s party,” Alex said. “A whisper from a reliable source.”
“Why?”
“God Raz, the ‘whys’ in my life don’t exist. Why am I charged with assaulting the Boy Scout? Why did my baby die? Why are people trying to blow me up? And why don’t I remember what the fuck was supposed to be in the vault? Why can’t I remember who betrayed me? Why can’t we get the fucking fight video off the Internet? And...”
Raz stroked her fuzzy head. She leaned into his arm around her shoulder.
“I like this hair cut,” Raz said.
“There’s something else,” Alex said. “We resigned from Homeland Security.”
“WHAT?”
“Yeah,” Alex said. “You and I. Well, Joseph resigned us. Max took care of the details.”
“How am I going to pay for all this ...?”
“There’s more,” Alex said.
“I’m listening.”
“Max spoke with the Giants. He went over the details of your contract with them. They’ve picked up the bill for the surgery and any further treatment.”
“WHAT?”
“Yeah, Max is good. He said to give you this.”
Alex gave him sealed envelope out from her jacket. Raz opened the envelope.
“My signing bonus,” Raz said.
“Plus interest,” Alex said. “Their records state they looked for you when you were injured and couldn’t find you. They couldn’t find a bank account for you. I guess you were supposed to get it after six months with the team.”
“I don’t know about my bank accounts. I probably didn’t have a bank account then. I lived hand to mouth.” Raz looked at Alex. “I entered the academy as a way to pay the bills. I never would have if I had this check.”
“Well, now you do,” Alex said.
“So I don’t have a job, but I have a very large check,” Raz said. “This is very Alex. I guess they’ll offer me another job?”
“Homeland? Or the Giants? They’ve both made offers. Max is taking care of all of that.”
“Wow,” Raz said.
Maggie barked her agreement.
“We should walk before you get too cold or tired.”
Raz stood and hugged Alex. Releasing her, he looked into her face.
“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” Raz said.
“You say that to all your girls,” Alex said.
He laughed. She set Maggie down and they began walking toward home.
“You seem to be feeling better,” Raz said. “Not so dark.”
“I’m realizing it’s not my fault that I can’t figure everything out. I’ve always been really good – almost too good – at figuring everything out. Now I have to be all right with not knowing. It’s change... I guess I’m learning to be a little more flexible.”
Raz nodded. He waited hoping she might say a little more. When she didn’t, he asked, “What does Jesse think?”
“He thinks all of this is a mind fuck. I keep jumping from this to that to something else, bomb here, tunnel there, hostage here, so as not to notice something right in front of me.”
“And what does he think that is?” Raz pressed the walk button on the stoplight at Steele Street.
“He doesn’t know. He says if I can slow down enough, I’ll get there,” Alex said. “When I slow down, I fall asleep.”
“You need to rest and recover,” Raz said.
“So do you,” Alex said.
“Are we going to take the Homeland job?”
“Let’s see if they make a better offer,” Alex said.
Raz hugged her again at the door to the rooming house. John was waiting inside the door for them. Alex climbed the stairs to their bedroom while John helped Raz get settled. She slipped into bed to wait for John and fell fast asleep.
FFFFFF
Six hours later
Tuesday early-morning
April 1 – 4:30 A.M. MDT
Denver, CO
In the small first floor bedroom of the carriage house, Alex stared at Troy’s notes about the Boy Scout and Joiner. The pain in her arm and hip were becoming unbearable. Of course, her monkey mind didn’t make things any easier. The restlessness in her mind fed the pain in her body. The pain in her body fed her restlessness. Finally she had to move. Not wanting to wake John, she wandered out to the carriage house.
To be safe, she made sure to wear her dragon body armor and carry her handgun. Reaching into her backpack, she pulled out her thermos of hot coffee with milk. She grabbed a Ziploc baggie full of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
Coffee and cookies. The perfect wee hour snack.
“You were like this when we were at training.” Speaking Spanish, Jesse materialized next to her.
“I had so much to think about at training. I felt like a band of monkeys jumped on trampolines in my head.”
“Coffee and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are always the answer.”
Mid-bite of cookie, Alex nodded.
“Cian was kind to make them for me,” Alex said.
“I loved these cookies,” Jesse said.
“I know,” Alex said.
“Does he make them like you do?”
“I gave him all of my cookie recipes when they started the bakery,” Alex said. “They do a good job.”
“And no one will ever guess you can cook?”
“Makes them so happy to think I can’t cook. Why spoil the fun? Nice to drink real coffee again.”
Jesse smiled. Alex walked back to the parchment then shook her head.
“Why are we here?” Jesse asked.
“I started thinking about what you said, you know, about this whole thing. If I separate the distractions from the clues, maybe I’ll get some traction. But when I look
at all of these notes – everything on this paper seems crucial and important.”
“Let’s start a new sheet,” Jesse said. “Troy left the roll right there.”
Alex unrolled a sheet of white butcher paper. She struggled with taping the paper herself until Jesse helped. Able to manipulate electricity, Jesse used static electricity hold the paper to the wall.
“Hey! That’s good. Did you find the ghost manual?” Alex taped the spots he held.
“Practice, practice, practice,” Jesse said. “After the Boy Scout, I’ve been practicing balling up electricity and throwing it.”
“Steve used to talk about balling up chi,” Alex said.
“Yeah, we practiced it for a while,” Jesse said.
“It’s too hard.”
“It’s a little easier in this form. I’m all energy now.”
“I wish you were...”
“Me too,” Jesse said. “I’m glad to be here at all.”
“Oh God, Jesse, me too. I’m so glad you’re my friend.”
Jesse beamed. Even after all these years, he never got tired of hearing her say that.
“Let’s try to sort this out,” Jesse said.
Alex took a long drink of coffee. Going over to the wall, she uncapped a black Sharpie. She stopped and turned to Jesse.
“I don’t know what to do.”
“Ok how about this? What’s happened to you?”
“Well, I’ve been involved in three bombings in a week and a half.”
“Ten days,” Jesse said. “Bombings, attack by the Boy Scout.”
“Police. Injuries. Team bullshit.”
“Write it down. Good,” Jesse said. “Now take everything off the table. Draw a box around those items. What do you have?”
“Um,” Alex said. “Gosh, this is like learning to stand. You know, when I got my new hip? I remember we used to do this but I don’t really remember how.”
“What matters the most to you Alex?”
“Max. John. You. My friends. My family. Maggie.”
“Love matters the most to you,” Jesse said. “That’s why this is so muddled. We’re dealing with Joiner. He doesn’t love anything.”
“Except money,” Alex said.
“Maybe.”
“You’re right. We don’t really know that either.”
“What’s opposite of your values?” Jesse asked.
Learning to Stand Page 30
