by Robin Mahle
Then there was Eva. She was 38 but didn’t look a day over 30 in his eyes. Her caramel hair looked as though it had just caught the sun. Her olive skin was still smooth and soft. And her lips…her lips were full and beckoned him at his very moment. It was a shame there was a side of him that prevented him from letting go and loving her the way she deserved to be loved. He always held back, yet she never did. Until now. He sensed words were resting at the tip of her tongue that begged to be freed.
“Please tell me what you’re thinking,” he finally said. “We knew this was coming. Now it’s here and we can’t ignore it.”
Eva turned her sights to him. The recessed lighting above cast a shadow on her head, giving her features a halo-like glow that made him want her even more.
“I don’t think we have a choice, Cam. I think we have to end this.” She turned back to face the television.
“We just need to talk to HR. This doesn’t have to change anything. It could be considered a pre-existing condition.”
She chuckled under her breath before returning her gaze to him. “I didn’t realize our relationship was a condition.”
“You know what I mean,” he pleaded. “We should be grandfathered in. Do you think Scarborough and Reid are breaking up anytime soon?”
“Who knows right now,” she replied. “I mean, their situation was different. Reid was hired on with the knowledge that they were already in a serious relationship.”
“Exactly. They were grandfathered in and we should be too,” he replied.
“Honestly, none of us should be dating. I mean, seriously, Levi is the only one who isn’t sleeping with a member of the team.”
“That is good to know,” Fisher added. “All kidding aside, I don’t want to end this. And I don’t think you do either.”
“I don’t.” She studied him. “But all of this has gotten so out of hand. So complicated. You and me. Scarborough and Reid. Quinn’s gone for God’s sake. It’s all different now. Did you tell Kate her case was going before the board soon?”
“Cole was supposed to mention it, but I think he’d prefer it come from me since I’m…”
“The boss,” she said. “He’s right. It should come from you. It’ll shape the rest of her career.”
“It doesn’t have to. Scarborough was censured a few years ago and look at him now?”
“Right. He’s been demoted,” she replied. “Look, can we just put a pin in this for a little while? We both need time to process everything and figure out where we stand and where we want to be.”
Fisher nodded. “I can agree to that. Does that mean we can’t have sex?” He smiled.
She laughed again. “Really?”
He turned up the palms of his hands. “What? What’d I say?”
3
The front passenger tire of the ambulance truck plunged into a pothole as it drove along a crowded Baltimore road, jarring the occupants inside.
Pete Fryer was driving and quickly swerved to the left to avoid the rear tire suffering the same fate. Medical supplies rattled in their cabinets. He looked to his partner. “Oh man, sorry about that. Thing came out of nowhere.”
Dr. Theodore Bishop grabbed the bar above the window. “I didn’t see it either. Don’t worry about it.”
Pete nodded. “You know, it was a good thing what you did for those people in Texas. Taking your vacation days to go there and help out.”
“I hope I didn’t leave anyone here in a lurch,” Bishop replied. “They needed a lot more help than what I alone could offer. It looked like a third-world country. But there were a lot of good people doing their best.”
“Your being gone was no skin off my teeth,” Pete added. “It’s good to see someone with your skills putting them to good use. I would’ve gone if it hadn’t been for my family.”
Bishop looked through the passenger window and rolled his eyes. “Sure, man. You have to be there for your own family. I get that.”
“This is it.” Pete gazed through the windshield. “The brownstone up here on the left. Third one in.”
“The seizure?” Bishop asked.
“Yep. 55-year-old female. Her son made the call.” Pete pulled the keys from the ignition and jumped out of the truck. “Let’s get the bags and see what we’re up against.”
Bishop jumped out of his side and jogged around to the back where Pete had already grabbed his kit. Bishop reached for his and followed his partner to the door.
A young man stood in the doorway wearing a look of panic. “Thank God you’re here. Come in. Mom’s in the kitchen.”
“Has her condition worsened?” Pete asked.
“I don’t think so.”
Pete waved Bishop to follow into the kitchen and spotted the 55-year-old slouched in a dining chair. “Ma’am, how are you feeling? Are you experiencing any chest pains?”
She appeared weak and only nodded. Her skin was ashen and her curly blonde hair with streaks of grey was disheveled.
Pete checked her pulse and turned to Bishop. “It’s weak. Let’s get her into the truck.” He looked to her son. “What happened when she started to have the seizure?”
“I don’t know. I was in my room. I heard a crash and ran downstairs. That’s when I saw her on the floor. I rolled up the dish towel and put it in her mouth. You know, like they say you should put something in their mouths?”
“Well, that’s um… it doesn’t matter. You called us,” Pete added.
Bishop ran outside to retrieve the stretcher. On his return to the kitchen, Pete had prepared the woman. “Sir, can you give us a hand?”
The woman’s son, a kid not more than 25, trembled and his eyes watered.
“Hey, it’s okay. We’re going to take care of your mom, but we could use an extra hand to get her onto the stretcher.”
“Yeah, okay.” He approached them. “They’re going to take care of you, Ma.”
She smiled faintly.
“On the count of three,” Pete said. “One, two, three.”
The men carefully placed her onto the board.
“We can take it from here. Do you want to ride in the truck with her?” Pete asked him.
“I’ll follow so I can have a car.”
“Okay. We’re going to take her to St. Michael’s. Stay behind us and we’ll run the sirens.”
“Thank you.” The son grabbed his coat and his keys and followed them outside.
Pete and Bishop loaded up the woman in the back before Pete jumped into the driver’s seat once again. “Theo, keep a close eye. We’ll be there in 7 minutes.” He fired up the truck and switched on the sirens.
Bishop monitored the woman’s vital signs. “It’s okay, ma’am. Your son is right behind us and he’ll see you at the hospital. Has this happened to you before?”
She shook her head.
“Okay. The doctors at St. Michael’s are excellent and will take great care of you.” He reached inside his medical bag.
“How she doing back there, Bishop?” Pete asked, still driving full-bore.
“Stable for the moment.” He held a needle and pushed the plunger to clear out any air trapped inside. “I’m going to put this into your IV, okay?” Bishop glanced to Pete before injecting the needle into the woman’s IV line. He held her gaze with a tender smile.
Her eyes widened and she gasped for breath while wearing an oxygen mask.
Bishop’s brow creased for a moment before he peered at her vital signs and noticed the spike in her heart rate. “How much longer, Pete? She’s in distress.”
“Shit. Three minutes. Don’t let her go, man.” Pete pressed harder on the gas pedal and a noticeable lurch in the truck propelled them.
The woman tried to claw at her chest and her eyes remained fixed on Bishop. She tried to speak under the oxygen mask, but only muffled words emerged.
“We’re almost there, ma’am.” Bishop’s tone was remarkably cool. He reached for the defibrillator behind him and readied it for use. “You’ll be fine.” He looked back to
Pete. “Gotta use the paddles. We’re losing her.” This time, his tone was imbued with urgency.
“Shit. Hang on, ma’am. We’re almost there.” Pete gripped onto the steering wheel and weaved in and out of traffic as best he could in the bulky truck. “Come on. Come on. Get out the way!” he shouted.
“She’s going into cardiac arrest.” Bishop stared at her while she expressed panic and fear. He turned on the machine and opened her blouse, placing the pads on her chest. “Clear.”
Her chest heaved as if someone reached a hand into it and yanked on her heart. Bishop peered at the monitor. The brief shock appeared to stabilize her. He continued to observe the monitor when her pulse grew erratic once again. “I’m going again.”
Pete glanced back. “Come on, man. Don’t let her go. Don’t let her go, Theo.” He returned his eyes to the road. “We’re almost there.”
Bishop readied the paddles again. “Clear.”
The woman, who continued to gasp, looked at him with confusion and worry. Her head shook wildly. “Help me.” Her words were barely audible beneath the mask.
“It’s not working.” Bishop looked at the machine. The light was on, but nothing happened.
Pete roared into the emergency entrance of the hospital where nurses and doctors were standing at the ready. The call of their arrival was made as soon as Pete started the truck. He cut the engine and crawled into the back. His eyes darted between Bishop and the woman. Then he gazed at the monitor. “What the hell?”
“I’m sorry,” Bishop dropped his head. “I tried. She wasn’t responding. She’s gone, man. She’s gone.”
“Fuck!” Pete slammed the cabinet mounted on the side.
The back doors swung open to reveal two nurses and a doctor standing outside.
“She didn’t make it.” Bishop looked at them. “I did what I could.”
Senior Supervisory Agent Nick Scarborough had everything he’d ever wanted. The transfer to Quantico. The promotion to Senior Unit Agent. Kate. Yet he’d let it slip through his fingers. His grasp on Kate was tenuous as well. How much longer he could hang onto her was up to her. Nick had risked it all and for what? Something he thought he had a handle on. After all, he’d struggled with alcohol before and came out on top. But it seemed this might have been one time too many. One risk too great.
Unit Chief Cole had ordered Nick to talk to the Bureau’s psychiatrist. His AA meetings, which he had been attending, were still a requirement. Now, Nick sat on the modular cream-colored sofa in the shrink’s office while the doctor jotted down notes from her chair across from him. He rested his right leg over his left with his hand on his ankle and twitched his foot.
“I know you think this is a waste of your time, Agent Scarborough, but trust me when I say that it isn’t,” the doctor said. “You and I have been at this for a couple of months now and frankly, I still believe you’re holding back.”
He scoffed. “I’m not holding anything back. Look, I’m here because Cole ordered me to be. I don’t know what you want from me. I’m going to my AA meetings. I haven’t had a drink since Rio.”
“That’s all well and good, Nick, but you also haven’t come to terms with the idea that you, the head of your team, put your own people in potential danger as a result of your actions.”
“So that’s what this is about?” He peered at her. Her brown eyes judged him and her downturned lips with the lines of a smoker pursed. “You think I don’t feel remorse over what I’ve done?” Nick looked away. “You have no idea how I feel, Doc.”
“You’re right. That’s why it’s time you tell me because you’re not getting out of here until you do. We can keep meeting twice a week for the next year for all I care. Somehow, I don’t think that’s what you want. So why don’t you share what it is you’re going through. Then we can both move on.”
“It was a weak moment for me, okay? I slipped up. I did what I had to do to get close to the man who could tell me what I needed to know. Oh, and by the way, that man happened to be the head of a ruthless gang. It wasn’t like I had a choice.”
“I know you didn’t.” The doctor tucked her blonde hair behind her left ear. “In that moment, you faced an impossible situation. But that’s not the moment in question, is it? It’s what happened after that when you did have a choice. That’s the heart of the problem.”
Fisher had requested a meeting with Kate and as she started into the hall, heading for his office, she was stopped by Eva Duncan. “Morning.”
“Morning,” Duncan said. “I was hoping you had a minute to talk?”
“I’m supposed to meet with Fisher now. But after?” Kate asked.
“Sure. I’ll be in my office.”
Kate noticed the mild disappointment at the delay. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Of course. Go on. I wouldn’t want you to be late. We’ll catch up later.” Duncan continued along.
Kate peered back at her with an unsettled feeling. There had been a lot of unsettled feelings lately and she looked forward to moving on from these troubles.
She stood in Fisher’s doorway of the office that used to be Nick’s. “Hey, there. You wanted to see me?”
“Yes, come on in. Close the door behind you, would you?”
Kate closed the door and walked inside, taking a seat across from Fisher’s desk.
“Listen, I know we haven’t had a chance to talk much since all this became official. I guess I wanted to take your temperature, so to speak.”
“I’m good. Really. Look, just because Nick and I are in a relationship doesn’t mean I can’t be objective when it comes to our team.”
“Are you sure about that?” He asked. “It would be tough for anyone; I can promise you.”
“I just want to move forward. I’m here on my own now and I refuse to let you or any member of this team down.”
“I’m sure that would never happen,” Fisher added. “But there was something else I needed to mention and that is, well, I am looking to bring in a senior profiler.”
“Another Quinn,” Kate said.
“Yes.” He held up his hands. “Please don’t take this as a slight on you. It’s just that you simply don’t have enough…”
“Experience. I know that. I can accept that. Can you tell me who’s at the top of your list?”
“I don’t have a list yet. That’s something I’m working on, but I thought it only fair to bring you into the fold, so you aren’t caught blindsided like we were.”
Kate nodded. “Ah. I see. This goes back to when I was brought in.”
“That’s not what I meant. Well, I guess it is, but I don’t hold anything against you,” Fisher said. “Hell, I don’t hold anything against Scarborough or Cole either. I just handle things differently. And believe me, I know what Quinn was. I also know he was damn good at his job. Now I need to find someone who can fill his shoes and continue to mentor you until the time comes for you to take the lead.”
“And you expect that to happen?” Kate asked.
“Of course I do. I’ve worked with you long enough to see what an incredible talent you are, Reid. No doubt about that. But this is BAU. This is Quantico. There are a whole lot of agents who would kill to be in your shoes right now.”
“Agents with a lot more experience than me.”
“Yes. So, I need to do what’s best for this team, and I hope you can accept that.”
Kate nodded. “I can. I do. For now, will I be able to run consults on my own?”
“Absolutely. Until I find a suitable candidate, it’s your show. I know you can handle it.” He inhaled a breath. “That’s all I’ve got for now. Unless there’s something else you’d like to talk about?”
“I’m good.” Kate pushed up from the chair. “I’d better clear my boxes from Quinn’s office.” She smiled. “I like mine better anyway.”
“If I thought you were serious, I might take offense that you decided to move in,” Fisher added. “There is something else, your hearing. It’s in three wee
ks.”
Kate stopped and turned back. “Okay. I’ll be ready. By the way, I’m glad it’s you here, Fisher.”
“Thank you.”
Theo Bishop stood before his boss with his hands clasped at his front. “I realize I asked this very thing just a few weeks ago, but I feel compelled to help. It’ll just be a few days; a week tops.”
The Maryland EMS system was an independently run state operation. Bishop was employed at the city center location in Baltimore. It was one of the busiest operations in the state. He knew this was a big favor to ask and especially considering he’d only just asked this very question a short while ago. How far he could push his boss’s generosity remained to be seen.
“I’ll tell you, Bishop, things have been brutal around here lately. We’re short staffed as it is.”
“I know, sir, and I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t believe they truly needed the help. It could make for a nice news story. Maybe give the department some good PR,” Bishop added.
“I suppose it could. I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you three days. Mind you, it’ll come from your sick pay and/or vacation. Whatever you have left at this point. You understand?”
“I do, sir. Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me and the people of Riverside.”
“Go on then. See what you can do to help those people. God knows how many more will be evacuated before it’s all said and done. The whole damn state is ablaze.”
“California’s suffered a lot of wildfires, no doubt. Thank you, sir, and I’ll keep in close contact.” Bishop turned away with a smile.
The triage clinic was one of three stationed at the perimeter of the fire. Hundreds of people had already been evacuated but some chose to remain to protect their homes. However, garden hoses weren’t going to do much to contain this beast. It had been burning for a week and the Santa Ana winds combined with the parched lands made for near-impossible conditions.
“We have another one, Doctor.” Bishop pushed a gurney toward the doctor in charge of the station. “Looks like 3rd degree burns on the hands and lower arms.”
