In the Presence of Mine Enemies

by Debbie Viguié

They turned a couple of corners in quick succession, trying to get as far from a line of sight of Hazim’s body as possible. If only he knew which hotel they were all meeting at, then that would be something.

  He stopped to rest, leaning against a building. Remembering the phone he’d taken from the car he pulled it out of his pocket. Hazim had been about to text something when he ran from the car. Jeremiah tried to focus on the screen, but his vision blurred, and he couldn’t make out the words. He finally handed it to Cindy.

  “What does it say?”

  “I don’t know, it’s not in English,” she said after a moment.

  “I need someone who can read it,” he muttered.

  “Mind if I give it a try?”

  Fortunately, Jeremiah recognized Martin’s voice, so he didn’t have to try and raise his weapon. He realized he was still holding the gun. He should put it away. It looked incredibly conspicuous. Then again, everything about him did right then.

  He turned his head slowly as the C.I.A. agent walked up to them.

  “How did you find me?” Jeremiah asked.

  “How do you think? I just followed the trail of bodies,” Martin said. “You know, you really aren’t subtle.”

  “That was fast,” Jeremiah said, his words slurring even more.

  “And a good thing to by the looks of you,” Martin said. “Time for the hospital.”

  “I told you no. Not until it’s done,” Jeremiah said.

  “Well, in that case, I have good news for both of us. We think we figured out where the meeting is happening this evening.”

  Jeremiah nodded. “Fantastic. Take me there.”

  “I’d rather not. In your condition you’re more of a liability than anything else.”

  “I have to know they’re dead. I won’t take anyone’s word for it,” Jeremiah said.

  The pain was spiking so high that he was in danger of blacking out again. Every time he breathed, let alone spoke, more pain knifed through him. He probably had some cracked ribs as well. Frankly, he’d be shocked if he didn’t.

  “I know I’m going to regret this,” Martin said. He lifted his watch to his lips. “Send in the car.”

  Moments later a black sedan pulled up. Jeremiah accepted Martin and Cindy’s help getting into the back. They also got in with him. As soon as the door closed the driver took off.

  Martin turned and looked at Cindy. “One of these days you and I are going to have a long talk,” he said.

  “Yeah? Well maybe that won’t end up a win for you,” she said.

  Jeremiah wanted to chuckle. Cindy was adorable when she was defiant like this. At the moment, though, he had much more pressing urges. He was about to black out.

  ~

  Jeremiah slumped over and Cindy gave a little scream.

  “He’s alive. He just blacked out,” Martin said. “Which is good for us because it gives us a chance to get him to the hospital.”

  “No.”

  “What do you mean “no”?” Martin asked her incredulously.

  “We’re not taking him to the hospital until this is over.”

  “We’re not playing here,” he told her. “There’s still a chance that even if we get him to the hospital right now that he’s still going to die. He could have an infection, blood poisoning, and if he has any more blood loss-”

  “I know,” Cindy said, biting her lip and trying not to cry. “But he feels the need to see this through and I love him too much to rob him of that. I don’t want him to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder.”

  “That’s kind of the nature of our business,” Martin said through gritted teeth.

  “He’s out of that business,” Cindy said.

  “Just because you’re retired doesn’t mean you’re out. Not really. It stays with you forever even if you spend your days in a rocking chair on your front porch.”

  “Please. I owe him this,” she said.

  “For the record I think this is a terrible idea,” he said.

  “I understand.”

  “Okay. Then you might want to say a prayer.”

  “For Jeremiah?” she asked.

  “For all of us. We’re about to walk into the lion’s den.”

  ~

  Two hours later Cindy’s heart was pounding as she sat waiting in a hotel lobby. Everyone else in the lobby, as far as she understood it, worked for the government. Even the guy dressed as a bellboy. She was pretty certain she was the only civilian there. Even the bellboy who looked like he was all of nineteen was a spy.

  Jeremiah was tucked away in a corner. He was wearing fresh clothes and his hand was now neatly bandaged, so he didn’t look instantly terrifying and out of place. He was on a sofa leaning his head against the wall behind it and she couldn’t tell from moment to moment whether or not he was awake or asleep.

  Or alive or dead, the thought came to her unbidden.

  She had a hard time believing this was about to be all over. There were so many things in her life lately that she was getting no sense of actual closure on. It was getting a bit difficult to deal with.

  She nearly jumped when a couple of men came walking in through the front doors carrying briefcases. They were dressed like ordinary businessmen, but there was something about them that she didn’t like. Maybe it was because she was keyed up. Maybe it was because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. And then, when she saw Martin nod to someone out of the corner of her eye, she realized that maybe she didn’t like them because they were arms dealers.

  She felt her stomach twist in knots as the men took positions on chairs not that far from her. She wanted to get up and run. Part of her wanted to run out the door and not look back. The other part of her wanted to run to Jeremiah. Either way she had to fight her instincts and just sit there pretending to read the book that Martin had handed her.

  The elevators opened and three men in expensive looking suits came out. They were speaking in another language, but she clearly heard them say “Hazim”. Her stomach tensed even more as she realized that these were the three men Jeremiah was here to kill before they could kill him or her. Which meant, these three also knew what she looked like. She quickly buried her head in her book. Her heart was pounding so hard now that she felt like she couldn’t catch her breath.

  Martin had told her that they planned to capture all the men together. From where she sat she could see five agents, including Martin. She hoped that was enough. She wondered if they’d spring into action when the Iranians first greeted the arms’ dealers or wait until the transaction was underway or even finished.

  Martin hadn’t shared details and she hadn’t asked. Making sure that she and Jeremiah were here in the first place had been a fight and a half. She figured once she accomplished that she should just keep her mouth shut and not try and draw too much attention to her presence by anyone.

  She should have expected what happened next, but she was certain that it caught everyone by surprise. Jeremiah, who she’d thought was unconscious, sprung to his feet and approached the three men who had come out of the elevator.

  He lifted his gun and shot two of them before the third could even draw his weapon. She turned her head and saw Martin lunge to his feet with a look of panic on his face. Jeremiah and the remaining terrorist stood, facing each other.

  “Still alive,” Jeremiah snarled. “Can’t say that for your friends. Including Hazim.”

  The other man looked like a trapped animal.

  “Now that it’s just down to us, why don’t you tell me what all this is about?” Jeremiah said.

  “Twelve years ago, you killed my older brother. We were all standing there, shoulder-to-shoulder. He was in the middle and you killed him. It was as though the rest of us didn’t even exist. Our youngest brother was ten at the time. You killed him in the church. You never even look at the faces of those you are hurting.”

  “Your brother was the target, not you,” Jeremiah said
evenly.

  “But you should have known better. You should have seen the looks of hate on our faces. But how could you?”

  “Because you think I only fired straight ahead, that I never looked to the left or the right,” Jeremiah said.

  “You never did,” the man said, his face contorting in hatred. “And you still don’t.”

  Cindy screamed as she realized that the two arms’ dealers had circled around behind Jeremiah. Martin and the agent dressed as the bellboy fired, killing both of them.

  Jeremiah never even flinched. Instead he smiled. “I don’t have to, because, you see, I have brothers, too.”

  Jeremiah fired a second before the other man. The Iranian fell, a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. His shot grazed Jeremiah’s arm.

  And just like that it was all over.

  Cindy gasped, clutching at her chest as she watched the tableau before her.

  “I told you I wanted someone to take in alive,” Martin growled.

  Jeremiah turned to look at him. “And I told you that was never going to happen.”

  Suddenly, Jeremiah collapsed on the ground. Cindy jumped to her feet and ran over to him as Martin dropped next to him and put his fingers against Jeremiah’s throat.

  A second later Martin ripped open Jeremiah’s shirt and started doing chest compressions.

  “What’s happening?” Cindy cried.

  “He’s gone into cardiac arrest,” he said, his face grim.

  “What?”

  “No pulse. Someone get me an ambulance!” Martin barked.

  Cindy dropped to her knees and just started to scream.

  19

  Wednesday dawned, and Cindy was still tired, but so much better than she had been. Everything since going to the emergency room late Monday night was a blur. Jeremiah had spent hours in surgery. After that everyone else had transitioned back to Joseph and Geanie’s house and been thoroughly debriefed by Martin.

  She had slept most of Tuesday but she knew that Mark had spent a lot of time on the phone with Liam sorting everything out. She had been only a little surprised to hear that they had figured out that Nita was behind framing Jeremiah. Her ill-placed love for Cartwright was going to result in her going to jail as well as him.

  The doctors were planning to lift Jeremiah’s medically induced coma later that night. She couldn’t wait to see him and talk to him.

  In the meantime, her friends had convinced her that the trip she’d originally planned to take her parents on to The Zone was a good idea. A theme park was just what the doctor had ordered for the rest of them. It was disappointing that Jeremiah wasn’t there. At least Geanie, Joseph, Traci, Mark, and the kids were joining her, her parents and Kyle. She was incredibly grateful for the buffer.

  Since it was Rachel, Ryan, and Kyle’s first times to the park they managed to get them Rookie buttons that they could wear which let the Referees who worked there know that they were first-time visitors. They got MVP buttons for Carol and Traci since they were celebrating Mother’s Day a couple of days early.

  Once inside the park Traci and Mark made a beeline toward the Kids Zone to take Ryan and Rachel on some of the fairy tale inspired rides there. Kyle, as Cindy had predicted, headed straight for the Extreme Zone where they had bungee jumping, zip lining, and other high adrenaline activities.

  Just as she was starting to panic Geanie squeezed her shoulder and whispered, “We’re sticking with you.”

  Cindy gave her a grateful smile.

  “So, where to?” Don asked with a grin. “The Thrill Zone, History Zone, Splash Zone, Exploration Zone?”

  “We’re all meeting up in the History Zone for dinner, so I suggest we do that one a little closer to then,” Joseph said. “Otherwise I say we let Carol decide.”

  “Exploration Zone I guess,” she said with a shrug.

  As they explored the park Cindy noticed that while all the rest of them were doing their best to have a good time that her mom just refused to crack a smile. It was starting to grate on her nerves, but she was doing her best to keep cheerful anyway. Her parents would be flying home in a couple of days and at least she was getting to spend time with her dad who genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself.

  After going on several attractions, they found themselves in the Muffin Mansion whose claim to fame was selling the largest selection of muffins anyone had ever seen. The Referee who was helping them was a tiny, blonde dynamo. Her nametag said Becca.

  Cindy couldn’t help but notice that Becca was hopping from foot to foot like she just couldn’t keep still.

  “Hmmm, I think I’d like to try the rum raisin,” Don said.

  “They’re gone,” Becca said.

  “Why are the rum raisin always gone?” Geanie wailed.

  Becca looked left and right then leaned forward. “Pirates,” she whispered confidentially and then nodded as if to say it was all true.

  “Okay,” Don said. “I’ll try a Peanut Butter muffin.”

  “Oooh, good choice,” Becca said.

  Joseph chose a carrot muffin while Geanie had a mixed berry.

  “What on earth is a zucchini muffin?” Carol asked.

  “It’s like zucchini bread. It’s a lot better than it sounds,” Becca assured her.

  Ultimately Cindy’s mom opted for an orange muffin while Cindy ordered a chocolate chocolate chip muffin. Becca looked at all their muffins in such a longing way it was almost downright creepy.

  At last they exited with their muffins and ate them as they strolled around. Her father in particular seemed to be really enjoying his. Even her mom, though, seemed to be pleased with her choice.

  “Peanut butter muffin, who would have thought?” he asked as he finished his off.

  “I’m going to have to try making these orange ones at home,” Carol said.

  “Sounds like a win for me,” Don said.

  She smiled at that which made Cindy start to relax more.

  The rest of the day went well, and they were all starved by the time they made it to Aphrodite’s, a beautiful restaurant in the Ancient Greece section of the History Zone.

  The inside of the restaurant was beautiful and elegant with white marble and friezes all over the walls. They were quickly escorted to a large table in a private room. Once everyone had a chance to order and say what they had seen and done throughout the day Cindy nervously raised her glass of soda.

  “I’d like to propose a toast.”

  “To another adventure survived?” Mark quipped.

  Cindy laughed despite her sudden nervousness. “That, too. No, seriously, I’d like to propose a toast to two fantastic mothers. I know Mother’s Day is still a couple of days away, but Mom, Traci, thank you for everything that you do.”

  There was a round of cheers as everyone clinked glasses. Once everyone had set them back down Cindy pulled a small jewelry box out of her purse. She glanced at Geanie who nodded encouragingly.

  “Mom, I found something for you that you haven’t seen in a long time. I thought you’d like to have it,” Cindy said, handing her mother the box.

  A look of panic flashed over Kyle’s face and she realized that he had forgotten about a present. She wanted to smirk, to lord it over him as the better kid, but she couldn’t. Especially not given what the nature of the gift was. Before she could think she said, “It’s from both of us, Kyle and me.”

  Her brother flashed her a look of surprised gratitude and she smiled at him. This moment was, after all, about their mother and it didn’t seem like the time to play one-upmanship with him.

  “Happy Mother’s Day, Mom,” he said hastily.

  Carol beamed and looked genuinely happy as she held the box in her hands. “I wonder what it could be,” she said.

  “Open it and find out,” Don urged.

  Carol opened the box. Inside was the locket that Geanie had helped Cindy find while going through the box of jewelry she had rescued from Lisa’s room w
hen she was a kid. The gold locket had a picture of Lisa and another one of Kyle.

  Carol picked it up and her face turned ashen. “What is this?” she asked.

  “It’s the locket you gave Lisa on her tenth birthday. The one you glued Kyle’s picture in, so she couldn’t look at any other boys, remember?” Cindy said with a smile.

  The locket war had lasted nearly a year and had been funny to watch. Cindy was hoping it would bring as many good memories to her mom as seeing it had to her.

  “Wow, I remember…” Kyle started. “That is, it was all pretty funny. She loved that locket,” he said, backpedaling so as not to seem like he hadn’t known that was what was in the box.

  Carol turned to Kyle. “You knew about this?” she asked.

  He hesitated for a moment and then nodded. As she continued to stare at him his smile started to fade. Finally, Carol turned to Cindy. She narrowed her eyes.

  “How dare you?” she hissed.

  “Excuse me?” Cindy asked, taken aback.

  “You kept this behind my back?” Carol demanded, shaking her fist with the locket dangling from it. “I ordered all of her junk destroyed.”

  “Carol, it’s a thoughtful gesture,” Don said.

  “Right up there with burying a dagger in my heart,” Carol said.

  She threw the locket at Cindy. “Treacherous traitor. I always knew you had it in for me, but I would have thought this was beyond even you.”

  Cindy stared, gaping, as she tried to comprehend how this had gone so badly.

  “Mom-” Kyle tried to intervene.

  “Shut up. Don’t try and take the blame for your sister. I know you weren’t stupid enough to know what was in that box.”

  Kyle went completely pale at that.

  “Carol, it’s time you let it go,” Don said, his voice firm.

  “Let it go?” she raged. “Our baby girl died, and it was all Cindy’s fault, and you want me to let it go?”

  Cindy felt like she’d been slapped in the face. “How dare you blame me for what happened to Lisa? It was her fault. She was the one who forced Kyle and me up there with her taunting and bullying. There is no one to blame for Lisa’s death but Lisa. And after all these years I’m trying to remember the good parts of her life, the times we had fun together. Which isn’t always easy given that you don’t want to even acknowledge that she existed most of the time!”