Chapter Forty-Nine
The Secret Service people were the advance guard into the ICU waiting room. As yet, only DeCarlos, Robin, and Maiara were seated on the comfortable couches waiting to be admitted back in to see Lakan. They looked up at the four sober, clean-cut agents and then in shock as Senator Lourdes entered behind them. He nodded and told the men to guard the door. Approaching DeCarlos, he held out his hand and instinctively, DeCarlos shook it.
“Senator,” he managed.
“Mr. DeCarlos. Mr. Kitwillie, Ms. Kitwillie. I wanted to say thank you for saving Lake’s, Marshal Muir, Sami Halpern’s lives.”
“You know Lakan?” Leon asked.
Lourdes had the grace to flush. “I admit, I met him under questionable circumstances but I owe him my life. Whatever it takes, whatever he needs, I’ll give it to him.” He went on to explain those circumstances and all three were furious.
“Albans has disappeared, we suspect that the NSA found him and…disposed of him. His bank balance had quadrupled in the last seven months. I suspect that I wasn’t the only recipient of Lake’s…talents.”
“How do we know that you won’t do to him what this other doctor did? Or what Chase wants to do with him?”
Lourdes shrugged. “You don’t. But as the future President of the United States, wouldn’t you rather have me on your home court?”
They had no other answer but to agree with him. He nodded and took out his cell phone ordering both armed police and military personnel to the hospital. The first thing he did was establish armed guards around Lakan’s room and at every possible entry into the ICU and the floor he was on.
He called a meeting and issued orders to all the assembled agents; stating that Lakan Strongbow was under Secret Service protection by order of both the outgoing and incoming President. He stared at Chase who stared back, neither one admitting defeat. Dismissing all but the FBI, he handed the kidnapping case over to them and took possession of everything else.
Chase, Cameron, Aiken and the teams stalked out followed by the other Intelligence operatives. “This isn’t over, Senator,” Chase murmured. Lourdes held himself still and chose his words carefully. He knew all too well the ease of an assassin’s bullet, the close brush of death’s finger.
“The NSA is a valuable asset to this country, Director Chase. No matter who runs it.” The President Elect, his Secret Service agents and Lakan’s friends watched them all depart.
*****
It was pain that woke me this time. Pain that told me that I was alive and with healing fractures. Pain that radiated from my chest to every cell in my body; all of them firing off as if they were superheating arc furnaces. I expected to see myself in flames from the inside out; like one of those unfortunate victims of so-called spontaneous combustion.
The machine next to my bed was shrieking an alarm and bringing medical personnel into gape. The LED display hit highs so great that the machine blew, my temp registered at over 125° before the readout died.
I groaned and lowered my body heat to a more comfortable 98°as the lead nurse replaced the BP cuff with another.
“Lake?” the doctor asked. It was the one called Ross, I thought. I could see his concerns, his fears and almost his life story in the emotions that ran across his face. My throat had eased up and I could speak. I asked first about Sami, the Marshal, and his dog.
“All three are fine, Lake,” Dr. Ross smiled. “Thanks to you. You okay with visitors?”
I nodded and took a look around the room. I recognized an ICU unit open on three sides so I was under constant supervision by the nurses. I was wearing a hospital gown that covered all the important parts and was tucked under both blankets and sheets. I had an IV in one hand dispensing fluids, antibiotics and an O2 nasal cannula in my nose.
“You don’t need the O2 anymore,” he said. “Your SAT levels are good. We took out the chest tubes yesterday.”
“Who wants to see me?” I whispered.
“Who doesn’t? Somehow, someone talked to the media and you’re on the way to becoming an international icon.”
I shuddered. “The whole idea was to disappear.”
“Look on the bright side. No one can kidnap you and get away with it. You’re instantly recognizable.”
“Dream on,” I retorted. “I’ve just become the new Holy Grail.” I looked up as a man, one I knew well entered my room surrounded by his Secret Service agents. He looked vibrant and healthy, his eyes twinkling like chips of chocolate diamonds.
“Senator,” I greeted. “Thanks for coming.”
“Like I could stay away,” he joked. “After all, you saved my life, too. Even if it was unwillingly.”
“Where does it end?” I despaired. “Not until I’m dead?”
“We won’t let that happen, Lakan. That’s why I’m here, to give you the chance to grow up without interference from the government, agencies, or even individuals who would use you for personal gain.”
“Chase and Cameron? Mrs. Hamilton?” I asked studying his face.
“Have been warned and sent off. Mrs. Hamilton suffered a stroke and passed away a month ago.”
“That’s where I come in,” Lourdes said. “I have enough power to make this all disappear, to make Lakan disappear. First, I have to know if he’s ready to move without endangering his health.”
“As long as he doesn’t tear open the wound, he should be okay with restricted activity,” Ross said.
“He may need to do more,” the Senator warned. “Physical action may be required.”
“Unless he’s trying out for the Iron Man, he should be fine. How are you going to get him past the people camped out downstairs? The NSA, NIA, HS, Marshals, etc.? Not to mention the media?”
“Simple,” Lourdes said. “You’re going to tell them he died from his wounds.”
“They won’t believe it,” I added. “We fooled them once that way. Nor can I sneak out dressed as a girl, I already tried that, too.”
“So, what’s your idea?” Leon demanded.
Dr. Ross smiled. “I can get you out of this room and off this floor. Can you handle it from there?” He looked at the rest of them but especially Maiara. He lifted her hair. “You think you can make yourself up to look like a sick teenage boy?”
“Easy peasy,” she grinned. “With scissors and some hair dye.” She rattled off what she needed using what was available in the hospital and sent one of the nurses off to retrieve the items. Leon and Robin helped me over to the closest armchair next to her as they studied both of our faces. “He’ll need a toner to make his skin fairer but the blood loss helped. He’s paler than I saw him earlier. I need a blonde wig, too.” Dr. Ross called another of the nurses in, whispered in her ear and sent her back out with a grin on her face.
Twenty minutes later, I whispered goodbye to everyone in the room and walked out holding Robin’s hand.
We were met in the waiting room by several agents and police who wanted to speak to Robin, Leon, and Maiara regarding the manslaughter of Morris. The detective in charge was named Gibril Chenang and he offered to take all of us to the precinct to finish his investigation. He asked how Lakan was doing and just about that time, Senator Lourdes exited my room into the hallway.
“He’s recovering,” he answered easily. “Some infection but the doctors are handling it. These people are under my protection, Detective.”
“I’m sorry, Senator but they have answers to some questions I haven’t asked yet. I promise to expedite the session and take them home when we’re done.”
“Home is a helicopter ride of twenty minutes,” Robin added. “We’re staying at the Motel 6 on Claremont.”
“Let me put you up at the Watergate,” the Senator suggested. “It’s the least I can do.”
Leon accepted and the detective agreed to bring us there when he was done. We followed the police down to the elevator where we parted ways with the Senator and his escort. Leon kept his hand under my elbow and bore quite a bit of my weight. A few times, he encouraged me in Abenaki when my legs trembled and my head lightened.
I could feel Detective Chenang’s eyes on me and when I looked up, he gave me a smile that was both sweet and appraising.
“It won’t be that bad, Ms. Kitwillie,” he said. “You saved a child from a murdering molester. No one will blame you or your brother for killing him.”
Robin’s brow glowered. “My sister had nothing to do with that…creep’s death. I shot him, not her.”
Chenang pointed to Robin’s wrist and fingers; even I saw the callouses caused from repeated exposure to the bow strings even though he wore guards. “Your fingers are calloused and your right arm is considerably more developed than your left,” the detective noted. “Your sister’s hands are much softer.”
I curled my fingers into my palms. His blue eyes were sharper than his bland good looks suggested. “What kind of name is Kitwillie?” he continued.
“It’s a town in Wales. Named after the castle and the family that built it,” I answered. I kept my voice low but pitched it higher than normal.
The elevator doors opened on the lobby and I was blinded by the sudden flash of photographers’ lights as the media fell on us like a pack of hyenas. Many of them shouted to the detectives and he stopped to announce that the Captain would give a Press Conference later that afternoon after he had talked to the police chief in Titusville with the FBI agents in charge of the kidnapping.
Once we were out of the hospital, we were rapidly separated into three different cars with three different detectives. I gave both Robin and Leon a despairing glance, I knew that this was standard procedure to ensure that we had no time to consolidate our stories. I was carefully placed into the back seat of an unmarked car. It had no cage between me and the driver up front but it also had no handles in the back where I could open the doors and escape.
I watched the scenery pass by my window. It was almost as if Detective Chenang took me on a scenic tour because he pointed out the sights like any proud resident showing off his city’s attractions. Washington had many that I’d never seen and would have loved to be able to take them all in.
I saw the signs for Quantico and felt my body relax when we passed it and the next exit for the J. Edgar Hoover building. I knew the route to his precinct and his driver did not vary one street from that route. Strangely enough, all three cars pulled up at the same time in front of the modern D.C. police headquarters with its Forensic Labs and jail in the same block but separate buildings. The cruisers weren’t parked in a yard next door but underground in a seven-tiered parking garage. We went underneath and pulled up in space marked by name. The driver came around and opened the door for me, giving me a hand when I stumbled. My body was tense and I was afraid. Afraid that I would blow my role as a girl.
Leon and Robin called over to me as we entered by key-card, through a door that was held open by both uniformed officers and plainclothes detectives. From their comments, I knew Robin had nothing to worry about.
I was escorted down a long hallway done in industrial white with gray tiled floors and bright fluorescent lights overhead. From there, we went into individual carrels and a room much the same as any interrogation room I’d ever seen or been inside. A table with several chairs, an iron ring through which handcuffs could be threaded and walls padded with foam that someone had picked at with nervous fingers.
“Have a seat,” Chenang smiled. “Can I get you something to drink? Water, soda?”
“Coffee, please. Cream, no sugar.” My stomach growled, too and he heard it.
“Something to eat? We have a vendor who brings really good sandwiches, not that sh - crap that’s in the machines.”
“Sure. Anything but liverwurst.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Yuck. I don’t like that either. Or salami.” He left me alone, I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes. It seemed only a few minutes later that he gently touched my shoulder and I snapped upright, grimacing as the sudden movement made my chest wound ache. He grabbed me and held me in the chair.
“You okay, Mairy? You looked white as a codfish.”
“Yeah. It’s been a stressful couple of days. First, Lake took off and we couldn’t find him. Then, we heard about the kidnapping, him being shot, dying and everything else.”
To my surprise, I started crying and he awkwardly patted my back. He smelled spicy and like strawberries. He was clean-shaven with hair not quite military short but close.
“You sure you’re old enough to know your mind about your engagement?” he asked. “It’s not an arranged marriage or anything?”
I hiccoughed and shook my head. “Lakan’s parents were killed. He had no other relatives and rather than let the state take him, my father took him in. He told the DFS people that Lake was engaged to me or they wouldn’t let him stay with us. My father helped him become an emancipated minor.”
“Do you love him?”
I hesitated. I wasn’t really sure what I felt for Mairy, my heart still mourned for Rachel.