Flashpoint: Reed Series

by M. C. Cerny

  “And all of his limbs are intact?”

  “Yes. Although, Hauk would have preferred a little snack before we left him.” Jacob finally looked at her and sighed deeply before telling her more. “He was in a gang, Katie. He was found shot a few hours later. I tried, but sometimes you can’t save everyone.”

  “That poor kid.” Katie sighed and looked away, thinking about another life impacted and lost, knowing she made the right decision to meet with Dr. Lane to get this crazy shit out of her head, whatever it was.

  “That ‘poor kid’ mugged you and could have seriously hurt you. We are trying to determine if he was hired to target you, but we don’t have much to go on right now, except that the wounds and bullet casings look professional. I’m worried that whatever and whoever this is, they’re targeting you because of what I do.”

  “Okay,” Katie whispered.

  “Okay, what?” Jacob asked.

  “I said okay. I’ll leave it at that for now.”

  “You’re tougher than you look.”

  “And you don’t like it?” Katie stood close to Jacob and put her arms around his neck. He held her close, drawing her in. He nuzzled her neck.

  “I never said that I didn’t like it, but it’s going to be…” Jacob hesitated before finishing his answer, “…a challenge.” Jacob breathed in Katie’s scent and held her for a minute longer.

  “I would like to watch the video alone, please.” Katie waited in silence and Jacob groaned. “Please, I’m the only one here who knew Tully personally and I need to do this my way. I need to grieve in my own way.” Jacob stood back and held Katie at arm’s length, looking into her eyes.

  “Alright, but I’ll wait for you in the hall. The video is about two minutes long. It’s not pretty to see and there’s a lot. It’s graphic.” Jacob struggled to describe the video to her, to prepare her, protect her as best he could.

  “Thank-you.”

  Jacob handed her the tablet, showed her how to turn the video on, and which monitor it would appear on. He left, gently closing the double doors. Katie took a deep breath to steady herself. She wasn’t sure what to expect. She hit “play”.

  The scene that unfolded was vaguely and hauntingly familiar. The dark warehouse, crates piled up, heavy chains used to lift the cargo crates dangling in the grainy picture. The camera had indeed fallen onto its side. Katie was transfixed by the dark shadowy images, but the voice was so familiar. It was Tully and he was telling her to run. She heard her initial refusal at being ordered out. The succinct pops of gunfire surprised her, and the body that she knew was his was falling to the floor. The way the camera had fallen, she could see Tully’s body and the blood pooling under him. He was choking on the blood in his mouth. Jacob had rushed over to him, checking his vitals, yelling into his earpiece that there was a civilian down. She watched as Tully grabbed Jacob’s arm and struggled to get out the words. “Please, take care of her. Katie didn’t know anything. They’ll find her and Petra’s baby, too. Please.” He began the choking sounds of blood filling his lungs, and died right after that. The video feed became fuzzy and cut out after that point.

  Katie wiped her face, not really feeling the tears that poured from her eyes. She had a million questions running through her head. Poor Tully. What had he gotten himself into? Who were Petra and the baby? What did Katie know now that she didn’t remember? Who would be looking for her? Katie felt a deep sadness for her friend, the loss and hurt. She cried silently for several minutes, the quiet sobs racking her body. She watched the video three more times. New questions emerged, along with feelings of unfairness and anger. Katie was determined to find Tully’s murderers.

  KATIE LEFT THE LIBRARY, AND Jacob stood up from where he was sitting on the staircase in the front hallway. She looked withdrawn and pale so he went over and hugged her tightly, embracing her fully. She leaned into him and kissed him, deepening the kiss of her own accord. Jacob took her hand and led her up the stairs to his bedroom. He shut the door and brought her over to the bed. “Do you want to be alone, sweetheart?”

  Katie shook her head and pulled him down on the bed with her. She didn’t want to be alone, couldn’t imagine being alone right now. With everything that had happened, she still felt safe with Jacob. Tully had asked him to protect her and he did. It may not have been what Katie would have wanted in the form of protection, but it was still genuine protection.

  Katie shucked her robe off, revealing the thin short cotton nightgown. Seeing death had a way of making one need to feel alive. Silently, she crawled over Jacob, straddling him and pulling his t-shirt off. “Sweetheart, are you sure?” Jacob put his hand over Katie’s heart. He could feel it beating at an accelerated pace. She nodded her head and bent over Jacob to tentatively kiss his lips. He returned the kiss and let Katie continue to lead. He helped her get the rest of his clothes off and, together, they rocked back and forth, moaning and grunting their mutual release. Naked and spent, they lay there, sweat glistening over their glowing bodies. Katie closed her eyes and, for a short period, fell asleep.

  Jacob wrestled with these new emotions because guilt wasn’t something he did well, although he’d been simmering in it since the warehouse. Not wanting to disturb her, he got up and gently covered her with the coverlet. He went into the adjoining bathroom to jump under the hot spray of water. He stood there with his head resting against the cool tiles until the water chilled. Hurting Katie again was the last thing he had wanted to do. Dressing quietly, he left her to sleep for as long as she needed.

  Katie woke up a few hours later, groggy and with a headache. Her heart still hurt when she thought about her friend, but she felt as though some things were finally starting to make sense. Her puzzle of that night was slowly coming together. Her body was still humming and hungry from her lovemaking with Jacob. It was a soothing balm that calmed her. She still had to deal with Dr. Lane and the hypnosis session but, with Jacob, she would get through it. She would remember whatever it was that happened that night and deal with it. If it brought justice to Tully and those poor young girls then Katie could deal with what she had to do.

  She dressed in loose-fitting pants and a grey sweater jacket that belted at her waist. She left her feet bare and the cool wood floor chilled her to wakefulness. Jacob must have gone downstairs so Katie followed the aroma of good food and sound of raucous voices. Hauk had been sleeping outside the bedroom door. He lifted his head up and woofed at her. His dark brown eyes watched her. Katie knelt down by him and rubbed his head and ears. “You’re a good boy, Hauk, to sleep outside the door like that but, next time, let’s make sure daddy lets you in, okay?” Hauk woofed again and followed her.

  Katie went downstairs, Hauk on her heels, and entered the kitchen. Marta stopped stirring her soup to put her arms gently around her. “There’s my sweet girl. You sit here at the table, and I will get you some soup and warm bread. Jacob said not to give you anything too heavy because of later.” Marta hummed to herself, ignoring the other men in the room, and gathered a plate of food. Marta seemed to know things around here and went with the flow.

  “Thank-you, Marta.” Katie sat down, Jacob sitting next to her and reaching for her hand. She smiled at him

  “You don’t have to do this, sweetheart.”

  “I know.” Katie tasted the chicken noodle soup, enjoying its comforting warmth.

  “It’s going to be okay, Katie.” Jacob tried to be reassuring.

  “Then why do you look so worried?”

  “I can’t help it, I guess. Blame my caveman genetics?” Jacob leaned his head against her shoulder.

  “You get all caveman later.” She gently pushed him off and took a spoon of Marta’s delicious soup.

  “Yeah?” Jacob seemed to perk up and Katie rolled her eyes at him.

  “I’ll be fine, then we can start to put this behind us. I still have a lot questions about Petra, the woman Tully mentioned, and whoever broke into my apartment.” Katie tore off a piece of warm bread and dipped it into her s
oup. When Jacob tried to protest again, she popped a small piece into his mouth. “Not another word. I made my decision. Let’s just get it over with.” Katie watched the other people in the group tease each other and, despite the danger of their missions, they seemed like an awfully close group. The only two people missing were Lulu and Julian, which suited Katie just fine.

  The rustic dining room table comfortably sat the large group. Marta served food family-style, and everyone talked over each other. Rush and Mason were teased for leaving behind broken hearts from their last mission in South America, and Clint chided them for tomcatting. Eli was on the phone with Becky, asking her how her nursing school classes were going. Even though he was the older brother, Katie thought Eli seemed too young to have a daughter already starting college. More details that she supposed she’d work out later.

  Tyler was on the phone with his family in Montana. Katie gleaned that his mother was a veterinarian had an ornery bull that needed stitches, and his father was thinking of enlarging the cattle herd. All these people were certainly interesting. Katie continued to eat her meal, absorbing all the information. Jacob seemed distracted, but gently held Katie’s hand. Eli and Clint left the kitchen to print out some digital topography maps they were expecting a contact to email.

  Lulu and Julian returned, and were much more subdued. Lulu was flushed, and Katie thought Julian looked less tense. If she didn’t know better, she’d say that they just had some wild lovemaking to calm their tempers. Nick ignored them and continued reading a local paper, eating by himself at the opposite end of the table. Lulu sat down next to Nick and put her head on his shoulder, obviously much more contrite than before, and seemed to whisper something to him. Nick straightened up and straightened his paper out. Katie wished she could have heard what the fiery redhead had said to him. Nick look annoyed, but didn’t reply to whatever Lulu had said, which made her seem young and pouty.

  “Ty, how are your mom and Sophia?” Lulu asked the cowboy as she wrapped her arm around Nick’s middle, forcing him to put his paper down and awkwardly hold his arms out unsure what to do.

  “Mom is great. Still working at her Vet practice. Sophia is finishing up some online classes. She wants to transfer to a bigger college, possibly out of state…” Tyler didn’t seem happy about that.

  “You should let her go. It might be good for her.” Lulu reached across the table to put some food on a plate for Nick, and made one up for herself. Tyler was shaking his head.

  Julian sat at the other end of the table, typing away on his IPad tablet. “After what she’d been through, I would think she’d want to stay on the ranch with you, your mom, and dad.” Julian bit into a fresh apple.

  “God, Jules, some women don’t want to be a victim the rest of their lives, or trapped in a gilded cage.” Lulu huffed her disgust and then looked back at Tyler, questioning him.

  Katie’s curiosity got the better of her and she turned to Jacob, whispering,

  “Who’s Sophia?”

  “Ah, that would be young Ty’s wife.” She was stumped after hearing that because Tyler looked younger than Katie.

  He must have heard their conversation and offered an explanation. “It’s alright to ask, Katie. I met Sophia a few years ago during a mission that we had in the Middle East. Sometimes we do work over there. You know, covert rescue and intelligence stuff. Anyway, when we found her, she’d been hurt really bad after being kidnapped and held captive. She was trying to escape from a slave camp that we found her in. Her family would have killed her because she was assaulted and that tarnished the family honor. So I married her and brought her here.” Tyler nodded and ate some food from his plate as if that simple explanation answered all her questions. Katie did the math in her head and swore that would have made Sophia quite young and possibly underage.

  “Don’t think too hard about the math. Ty saved her and the only way to get her out of the country was to marry her. It was a legal nightmare at the time.” Jacob told Katie, who nodded.

  “Uh, yeah. We don’t live together, though. She lives with my parents until she decides what she wants to do next. She was pretty young when everything happened and I think now that we’re both older, it’s more complicated.” Tyler rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little embarrassed for some reason.

  “I hope things work out for you both. She sounds very courageous and lovely.” Tyler nodded at Katie’s accepting statement. The younger man looked torn between wanting to keep Sophia safe with his parents, and letting her go to pursue her dreams. Katie admired the young man, but before she could give the discussion much more thought, Eli and Clint returned.

  “Nancy’s here. She’s waiting upstairs.” Eli looked at Jacob, and Katie solemnly nodded.

  She stood up and put her hand on Jacob’s shoulder. “I’ll be fine.”

  She kissed Jacob lightly on the mouth, and followed Eli and Clint upstairs to a spare bedroom. Julian followed behind Katie, who took a seat on a lounge chair in the room. Julian prepared the sodium pentothal and saline solution. “The more relaxed you are, the better your memory recall will be when Nancy asks you questions about that night.”

  “A little hard for me to do when one, I barely trust any of you and two, it was a pretty damn emotionally charged evening, considering.”

  “I can understand your reticence, Katie, and I appreciate you doing this. However, I do have to wonder how hard you hit your head if you’re attracted to my brother,” Eli said.

  Katie laughed lightly. “Who knew Eli Bennett had a sense of humor?”

  “I know. Jacob makes me out to be some ogre,” Eli replied, smiling.

  “Well, it’s all a little complicated, isn’t it?” Katie stated. She let Julian listen to her heartbeat and jot down notes. He rubbed her arm with antiseptic and put the IV port in. He placed electrodes on her temple to monitor her brainwave activity.

  “All this is necessary?” Katie asked a little nervously, looking around. Taking a deep breath to relax, she wondered if they kept things like this regularly around their bat lairs.

  “Just for this procedure, I want to monitor your vitals to keep you comfortable,” Julian told her. “The whole thing should last about an hour, depending on the information revealed. Keep breathing deeply and evenly.”

  Nancy then took over from Julian and adjusted the flow of drugs into Katie’s system. “Okay, Katie. I want you to count backwards from twenty to one.” Katie counted slowly, the drugs beginning to take some effect over her.

  Julian continued to monitor her heart and brainwave function. When he thought she was ready, he nodded. Nancy said, “Katie, you are sitting in your office and it’s the night of the Correspondent’s Award Dinner. Tell me, what are you doing before you go?”

  “I’m speaking with Trevor. He got me a dress and shoes, and I’m hugging him. He’s telling me not to be late. I’m always late.

  “Are you usually late, Katie?” Dr. Lane asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Can you tell me why you’re late?”

  “Because I’m working, checking my sources,” Katie said quietly.

  “What are you checking on this evening, before the dinner?”

  “I’m checking email.” She seemed to spike slightly when Nancy asked her questions. Eli watched and shook his head, knowing they were going to need Jacob to help her successfully recall the events of that night. He sent Clint to get his brother.

  Jacob entered the room to see Katie hooked up to a few machines and with some wires connected to her. It gutted him to see her helpless and doing it willingly.

  “Sweetheart, it’s me, Jacob. I need you to tell me what you remember from the night of the Correspondent’s Dinner.” He sat down next to her and held her hand.

  “I’m fixing my hair and looking for Tully. He’s my camera guy. Bad drinker since his wife left him,” Katie mumbled.

  “Why do you need Tully, sweetheart? I need you to go back to the beginning.” Jacob gently brushed hair off Katie’s forehead.r />
  “Okay.” Katie’s heart rate slowed at Jacob’s voice and her vitals maintained strong rates.

  “How did you find out about going to the warehouse?”

  “It was my idea to go there,” Katie stated.

  Jacob looked at the others and continued, “Why do you say that, sweetheart? How would you know something was going on there?”

  “There was a letter telling me to access an email account. Our mailperson delivered it to me like she does all the mail in the office.”

  “Different from your work address and your personal account?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you remember the name of the account?”

  “Goldilocks2255 at Gmail. I forwarded a copy to my personal account, but I couldn’t open the email again. My computer had some virus, maybe from the email. I don’t really know.”

  Eli nodded to Jacob. The computer virus was their doing to protect her, but they might have inadvertently erased their own lead. “You’re doing great, sweetheart. Now tell me about the warehouse. How did you get there?”

  “I asked Tully to bring me. He drove. I didn’t know he had a gun.”

  “Why did Tully bring a gun?”

  “He said for trouble. I thought we were checking a lead.”

  “I know, Katie. What did you see once you were inside?” Jacob rubbed a hand over his face, frustrated. Obviously, Tully knew something if he was bringing a gun.

  “Tully was telling me to be quiet and messing around with his video camera. It was dark, so dark that I could barely see my hand in front of my face, and the swinging ceiling lights didn’t help.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “There was yelling, and I think Tully dropped the camera. It was loud and I think they heard us. The men were yelling and coming up the stairs towards us.”

  “What did they say?”

  “Not English, maybe something else, European? One of the men shot someone. It was loud and the gun flashed in the darkness. Tully yelled at me. I didn’t want to leave him.”

  “What did you do?”