Flashpoint: Reed Series

by M. C. Cerny

  Jacob opened the file and read through the fake accident report and medical records already printed up. Michael Tully was Katie’s friend and co-worker. According to the file, he also had a drinking problem and AA meetings he regularly attended, none of which was a lie because it was documented in his divorce documents. A recent “fall off the wagon” before the Correspondents’ Dinner led him to consuming a massive quantity of alcohol, after which he drove his car into a telephone pole, his injuries making him virtually unrecognizable. A Good Samaritan barely got Katie Wilson out of the car before it caught fire and exploded. She was in the passenger seat, also with high blood alcohol content, presumably from celebrating her award, which she was unable to collect due to the accident. She will be at Mercy General Hospital after a Good Samaritan drops her off and then disappears. She is then on her own, pending her memory status.

  “Who is the Good Samaritan going to be?” Jacob asked dryly.

  “I’ll let you handle tying up those loose ends. I have a team including Lulu, Mason, and Nick who will be taking the car out shortly,” Eli replied.

  “That was Julian on your phone, wasn’t it? Damn it, Eli. I don’t understand what this rift is between us, but don’t take it out on an innocent woman. You want to make me suffer for our family shit? Fine, but this is beyond unacceptable.” Jacob pounded the table with his fist and Hauk jumped up to bark, growling at Eli.

  “Down, Hauk!” Eli commanded, pointing to the floor. Hauk whimpered and belly-crawled to where Jacob was standing with his fists clenched, shaking his head in disagreement. Had Eli been anyone else, Jacob would have let his companion rip off his face.

  “This finishes things between us,” Jacob snarled.

  “Don’t be dramatic, Jacob. This has nothing to do with our disagreements currently or prior. For Christ’s sake, Jacob. Try and have more sense than that. We’re doing a job, a fucking job, and if Agent Chambers finds out who your skirt is, he’ll remove her from the picture permanently if he finds our work to be sub-par. You know what that means.”

  “You’re un-fucking-believable. You’re going to let some pansy CIA agent dick you around? That’s priceless. And her memory? What will she remember from tonight?” Jacob closed the file carefully, already fearing what was in the process of being done to her to “help” her forget.

  “Nothing, except what has been altered for her to remember. She was never in a warehouse, and she’ll be convinced it was an accident fueled by consuming too much alcohol. Jacob, you know it has to be this way. I don’t want you seeking contact with her beyond tonight when you drop her off at a local ER. That could affect the memory conditioning. She will be very fragile the first twelve hours, and subsequent contact is dangerous for her, you, and the team.”

  “Julian has already started the IV drugs, hasn’t he?”

  “Yes.”

  “Dammit, Eli! I’m done doing other people’s dirty work! Your dirty work! We discussed this already! We were only supposed to be doing surveillance work and rescue operations! All this other shit is destroying us!” Jacob slammed his fist again on the table and got up, pacing the office. Hauk got up when Jacob did and followed him.

  “Did we? Because, as far as I recall, you may be the globetrotting CEO playboy face, but I’m still running the Security Task Force end of this business arrangement. So, while you might partially finance this operation when you’re working the sidelines, my sidelines, I’m still your fucking boss!” Eli stared at his brother, angry at watching him walk out, throwing his hands up in the air and ignoring him.

  Jacob went straight to the Medical Station. Julian had been quick, having given Katie the drugs already. He gently held her small hand in his larger, rougher one. He rubbed his thumb over her soft palm. Her head was bandaged, and goggles covered her eyes, presumably with prerecorded visions of what she was supposed to remember transplanted as new memories. It was probably bar scenes and car accidents from downloaded movies. Her body seemed limp and heavily drugged. The heart rate monitor accelerated wildly, beeping at an elevated rate before slowing back down again, only to start all over.

  “The conditioning itself will take another thirty-five minutes, then you can drop her off at the hospital. She won’t remember anything specific and most everything is suggested. She woke up once and thinks she’s in a hospital right now, getting stitches for a fall that she had at the bar. When news of the accident report comes in, it will mostly be what the police officers and doctors suggest to her. She’ll be fine, medically anyway.” Julian added another syringe of medication to the IV.

  “And then what? We just drop her off without so much as a follow-up?”

  “I can call in a favor and have a psychiatrist friend who rotates regularly at the hospital look in on her. Maybe see her for a few weeks and report back on her condition, should one develop. She’s not a part of our…world. What we do, and her life as it is currently, would put her at great danger to be a target for men like Cosovo or Agent Chambers, who seems to have an end game of some kind. You know all this. This is why we don’t have personal lives and limited contact with the families that we do have. It’s for their protection. This is why Rebecca attends a private boarding school, away from all of this.” Julian reminded him of his niece and his gut clenched.

  “I’m done, Julian. When I drop her off, I’m done.” Jacob took in Katie’s helpless body, badly bruised and hooked up to monitors. Anger seethed inside him. He thought about his niece, whom he rarely got to see because of the work he and Eli were involved in.

  “That’s a decision only you can make, my friend. She’s a reporter on television, for god’s sake.” Julian rolled his eyes and rubbed the back of his head with his hand. Jacob continued to ignore him. He felt betrayed by his own team, although he knew the reasons and knew he was being unreasonable. Jacob left the Medical Station and waited for Clint and Rush to report back from Katie’s apartment. Their job would be to wipe her computer clean, and get rid of anything else that might trace her back to tonight.

  “YOU FIND ANYTHING AT HER apartment?” His voice was clipped, unemotional. He felt like a caged animal, barely able to control himself.

  “Sorry, Jacob. Her apartment is clean. Clint and Rush checked everything out and used the portable scan chip so I could try to scan her computer remotely, but I only found a few random emails from her personal account. One mentioned the dockyard and tonight, but it was from a blocked sender and might be hard to ID at this point. It looks like she sent it to herself from her office so it could have been rerouted from there. I won’t know without getting inside the news building, which might be more trouble than it’s worth right now. I was able to delete the message so it will look like nothing was ever sent to her files. I also enabled a second encrypted virus email which will obliterate her work files once she tries to access her emails from her office.” Jacob listened to Nick’s explanation and tapped the leg of his pants, agitated and angry. This wasn’t diverting his focus.

  “Hey, boys, we should probably get going. We have a time crunch to make this look real. Nick can drive. I think I gave him a few grey hairs on our way in before.”

  Lulu tossed the SUV keys to Nick, who caught them in one hand. She grabbed wire cutters and carried a secure box, which held the needed explosives to blow up Tully’s car. The three of them got into the vehicle, Hauk laying down on the floor in the back. Jacob held Katie, resting her bandaged head in his lap, careful not to jostle her arm. Mason followed them in Tully’s car, parking it next to a telephone pole. Grunting, Mason got out of the compact car, his large frame unfolding from the bucket seat. Getting the body from the back of the SUV, he sat Tully up in the driver seat, slumped over the wheel. Julian had removed any bullets from his body and stitched up the wounds quickly, even though it wouldn’t matter once the authorities got to the scene.

  Mason stepped aside, gallantly putting his arm out towards Lulu. “My Lady,” he quipped, bowing, as she quickly rigged Tully’s car. From the SUV, they could hear Ja
cob cursing at them. They turned away, unsmiling at their inappropriate joke.

  “I’m pretty sure we’re breaking a few rules about blowing shit up and desecrating dead bodies tonight,” Lulu said, detonating the car on cue. The damage took out the pole and electricity for the surrounding block. “Oops!” Lulu murmured, shrugging casually at her handiwork.

  Mason nodded in agreement. “Well, nobody said the cleanup work was fun…or clean,” he stated sarcastically as they walked back to the vehicle. Several alarms went off and they both got inside the SUV, Lulu up front and Mason in the back behind Jacob and Katie, sitting cross-legged on a black tarp they had laid out in the back for Tully.

  Katie remained unconscious, barely stirring when the car began moving away from the area. They could hear sirens in the distance. Nick listened to the emergency dispatch scanner and took Lulu’s directions to take them to Mercy General Hospital, who just reported a serious car accident. The chaos currently in the emergency room would be an added cover for Jacob dropping off Katie. They drove in silence, the tension thick.

  Nick turned around from the driver’s seat. “Eli asked us to wait for you in the hospital parking lot. You okay, Jacob? I could take her in if you want.” Jacob removed the bulky bandage from around her head so the hospital personal could “officially” attend her wounds; although, once he got her in there, the fabricated medical chart should clear her from any additional stitches. Hopefully, she would be just one more patient in their triage.

  “Yeah, I’m all good. This is just another damn assignment. I’ll drop Miss Wilson off in the ER and make sure they take her to a room. In and out like instructed. Watch Hauk for me.” Jacob slid out of the car and walked into the ER with Katie in his arms, bundled in a blanket. Other occupants sitting in the waiting room barely looked at him, so caught up in their own personal emergencies.

  Katie stirred slightly and Jacob hushed her to calm her down. “Shh, easy sweetheart. You’ll be in safe hands soon enough.”

  The drugs that Julian had given her would set off a biochemical reaction which would induce a nightmarish subconscious dream for the next few hours…the suggested images would fight within her mind and make her heart race and fall sharply, her temperature would spike and fall back down. All was supposedly normal, according to the medical jargon Julian used, but completely unnatural and unfair to Jacob. It wasn’t like she would be at the warehouse under their supervision. Who knew how everything would scare her mentally? Jacob could think of no reason that justified mentally assaulting someone, which is what he reasoned Eli let Julian do. Now she would wake up alone with no one there to gently explain what the hell happened.

  Jacob walked into the brightly lit emergency department of Mercy General. Nurses and doctors rushed around. Two car accident victims had been found, along with the one they had just staged. He was almost pushed aside by eager EMT’s, who were pushing a gurney holding a man half-covered by a sheet. His body was unrecognizable, but Jacob knew it was only a matter of time before they identified the body of Michael Tully. Doctor’s in scrub uniforms were yelling for assistance.

  He pushed past a few people who looked like ER regulars and got up to the desk. Katie remained limp in his arms, breathing deeply. “Excuse me. I was driving through and saw this woman. She’s been in a car accident. She’s unconscious now, but was alert on scene. Her heartbeat’s strong. She was involved with your other accident patient. When I got to the scene, they didn’t have room in the ambulance for her. Since she was coherent at the time, I offered to bring her in.” Jacob was talking to a young nurse and flashed a fake ID at her, identifying him as an off-duty paramedic responder. The older nurse that was there looked like a shift commander who totally wouldn’t buy his bullshit story without a million questions.

  “Oh, my goodness. Bring her over here and we’ll get her looked at. You’re name, sir?” The nurse brought Jacob over to a curtained area. He ignored her question and laid Katie down on the bed, gently unwrapping her.

  “Her name is Katie Wilson.”

  Cries came from the next bed over and doctors rushed in.

  “I’ll be right back, sir. Hang on. It’s been a crazy night.” The nurse left to assist the doctors.

  Jacob held Katie’s hand. “I have to go, sweetheart, but you’re safe now. They’ll take good care of you here. I’m so sorry about your friend Tully. I’ll be watching over you now and you’ll be safe. I promise.” She stirred slightly and Jacob brushed back the dark hair from her face, kissing her lightly on her bruised forehead. He attached the fake medical chart to the one that the nurse had barely started filling out for her, and hooked it to the bed.

  He left through a different exit of the ER and slid into the waiting car. Jacob nodded at Nick to tell him that the subject was closed. He did what he was ordered to do and that would be that for the time being. Eli would probably try sending him out of the country on another mission but, after tonight, he could go fuck himself.

  KATIE WOKE UP WITH A pounding headache, her vision was slightly blurred, her throat coarse and dry. Her body hurt everywhere under the seemingly heavy, restricting bed sheet. She realized she was lying in a hospital bed, but was confused at how she got there. The bed felt too hard on her bruised back, the pillows behind her were making her neck muscles pinch. She saw a nurse walk in, bringing a tray of unfamiliar foods and another bouquet of flowers. “Wonderful, you’re awake. I’m Nurse Robins. I’ll let your parents know that they can call your room now, and your brother is on his way. Your boss and a few co-workers stopped by before visiting hours, but you were still out of it. Can I get you anything?” the nurse asked kindly.

  Katie, who was usually even tempered, was annoyed and irritated because the nurse spoke as if she had a freaking clue how she ended up there. “Where? What? Water. Can I have some water?” Saying she was disorientated was an understatement. Katie tried to sit up, frustrated by her weakness, and Nurse Robins helped her by plumping her pillows and moving the bed into a sitting position before handing her a cup of ice chips. Katie felt achy and sweaty; her hand shook just holding the paper cup. Her left arm felt like it was on fire and like something was pulling it apart. She looked and saw a clean bandage over it. With the pain she was experiencing, she swore that it should have been bloody through whatever bandage was covering it up. She was afraid she might vomit all over herself because of the overwhelming nausea.

  “My friend Tully, Michael Tully. Where is he?” Gingerly, she touched the back of her head and winced from the pressure at the base of her skull, which was covered by a thick bandage. Tape stuck and matted in her hair. That was just ducky.

  “Easy, miss. You have a number of stitches in the back of your head, and you’re still being evaluated for a severe concussion. I’ll go and call the doctor in and your friend, Trevor, is waiting, too. He seems like such a nice young man and is very concerned about you, my dear. You’re a lucky girl.” The nurse patted her hand, which only irritated her further. Trevor was her co-worker. She knew Trevor and, of course, he was nice. She felt like the nurse was patronizing her.

  “What…what day is it?” Katie looked around her at the plain, private hospital room.

  “It’s Saturday. I’ll be right back with your friend and the doctor.” The nurse left quickly and Katie felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. Her brain felt fuzzy, but something had definitely happened. Nobody ended up in a hospital for no reason, having nurses avoid their questions. The last thought she had was at the office sometime around 5pm yesterday and sitting at her desk, but the jumble of thoughts didn’t make any sense to her. She was upset and tried to get out of bed, struggling with the bed sheets tangled around her legs. The pain in her head wacked her like a jackhammer, making her freeze. She used her arm to grab the bed rail to steady herself. Her vision blurred and darkened for a moment, then cleared up again. She tried focusing on the old wall clock: 2pm. Huh, she had some 20 missing hours in her life, and she didn’t even know if this was Saturday of the same week.


  Trevor rushed in. “Katie, love! Oh, my god! You look horrible. Don’t move. They told me not to let you get up at all. I’ve been keeping everyone at bay out there.” He helped her lay back down again, easing her onto her uninjured side, tucking sheets and blankets gently around her. Trevor was worse than a mother hen.

  “Trevor, what on earth has happened? Why wouldn’t the nurse tell me about Tully? Where is he? Is he alright?”

  Trevor sat down on the bed next to her, taking her hand in his. He rubbed his thumb gently over her hand before looking up, tears in his eyes. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, gathering his strength to tell her the details. “He’s gone, Katie. It happened in the accident you were in.” Trevor waited for her reaction.

  “What? What accident? When? Oh, crap. The Correspondent’s Dinner. It was after the dinner?” Katie looked blankly at Trevor, who was shaking his head.

  “No, Katie. Tully’s dead. He died in a drunk driving accident. We almost lost you, too. They said you might have been thrown from the car when he hit the telephone pole, but nobody’s really sure. It was next to a transformer box. The car exploded and he never got out.” Trevor looked Katie in the eyes and saw when the words finally registered. He wiped at his own tears and kept holding her hand.

  “Oh no! Not Tully! No! No! No!” Katie grabbed Trevor and he hugged her tight, crying for their friend. Her head throbbed as she took the information in. She was overwhelmed with the physical and emotional pain of the loss. Trevor tried to soothe her as they both cried. After a few minutes, he handed Katie some tissues and she wiped the tears from her face.

  “I spoke with your parents earlier. They’re trying to get a flight from Missouri as soon as possible, and Sam is driving up from Maryland. Do you want me to call them back or wait?” Trevor, always the good friend, was taking care of her again.