FOREVER MINE (31 page)

Chris and Patrick are still at the prison.  When they arrived here last night, it was total chaos.  The guards were trying to regain control of all the inmates.  They had to pepper spray everyone.  Then put them in their cells.  Finally once all the doors were closed and a head count was done, they knew that there were only a couple casualties.

They interviewed everyone involved; the guards, the inmates, the cook, and even the doctor who took care of all the injuries.  No one knew anything.  Just as they were getting ready to leave, Patrick noticed a piece of paper on the floor in front of one of the cells.  He casually walks over and picks it up.

The only thing written on the paper was a name: Officer Ford.  Patrick looks at the name.  He walks over to where Fitz is talking to another Corrections officer.  “Hey, Chris, did we speak with
a
Officer Ford?”

Looking at his notes, he says, “nope.  I don’t have a record of anyone with that name.”

The other officer answers, “That’s because he left right before you guys got here.  He wasn’t supposed to work today.  He filled in for someone, and we told him to leave when the shift was over.  We have his statement of what happened. The local police were here and everything was taken care of by the book.  Why do you ask?”

“I found a piece of paper with his name on it.”

“Can we have his address and personal information?  We need to pay him a visit.”  Fitz asks.

“Sure, sure.
  Just give me a minute to get it for you.”  He walks away and leaves them in the hallway.

“What do you think it means?  Do you think he was involved more than he claimed?”  Patrick asks.

“I don’t know.  No one here is going to fess up to writing the name either, so we start with the officer, then we may have to come back and start asking inmates what they know about him.”

“It’s in the middle of the night; do you think he is going to be awake?”

“No, but we’ll have agents French and Keller wake him, then we’ll disappoint him with our ugly mugs and hit him with the hard questioning.”  He smiles and wiggles his eyebrows.

“Where are the ladies?  Are they still interviewing the doctor?”

Fitz smiles, “I think the doctor wanted to give French a physical, if you know what I mean.”

“Keller wouldn’t let her even think about going there, would she?”

He looks very serious, “You know, we have really shitty hours, we can’t see our families if we have one, forget dating, so we are it for each other.  If something comes up like a little harmless flirting with a doctor no less, we will put up with it for the sake of our partner.”  His serious face melts into a devilish smirk, “and if the flirting leads into a one night stand, we put a sock on the door as we leave for the all night diner down the road, ya know what I mean?”

Laughing Patrick answers, “Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t judge Keller too harshly, I don’t know her well at all.”

“No you don’t.  That’s why she so abrasive with you.  She is really a lot of fun once you get her to trust you.”

“I will work harder not to be a douche around her.”

Fitz is still laughing when the officer returns with Fords info.  “Well here you go.  I tried to call him to wake him up, but his phone went to voicemail.”

“That’s fine.  I like to surprise people.”

The corridor of prisoners’ breaks into hoots and hollers, as the two female agents walk into the area.   They stroll down the walkway heads held high not making eye contact.  The fowl and crude things being said
are
ignored, as well as the men grabbing and foundling themselves, giving step by step instructions on what they can do with their manhood.  It is really pathetic how men act when sex starved.

“It should be a court appointed punishment for a woman who gets arrested for prostitution multiple times to have conjugal visits with inmates.  It would stop prostitution, a little, and help settle the inmates.”  French says.

They all stare at her.  “What?”

“Nothing, let’s go get Ford out of bed.”

As the leave the prison, Keller looks at French and shakes her head, “You know with that statement you set women back 50 years.”

“Oh, come on, I wasn’t totally serious.”  She is grinning like the Cheshire cat; big and toothy.

When they arrive on the scene, there are fire trucks everywhere.  Police have set up crime tape and reporters are trying to talk over and tackle each other to get the best pictures and sound bites for the early morning news stories.

Fitz gets out of the car, “stay here, I’ll find out what happened.”  He walks away and shows his badge to the man in charge.  They talk for what feels like hours.  It has been so long since Patrick has had any sleep.  He isn’t alone, he is just the only one not used to it. 

Keller walks over with a little paper cup full of coffee, and hands it to him.  “You look like you could use this.  I carry around a thermos full of coffee all the time.  We don’t sleep much when we are on a case like this.”

“Thanks. I was just thinking about how long it’s been since I have had a full night’s sleep.”

“Yeah it takes some time to get used to, but you’re hangin’ in there.” She is smiling as she says it. 

“I think you’re just trying to be nice.”

She nudges him gently in his ribs with her elbow, “Na, I don’t know how to be nice.  If I wanted to be nice I would just throw you a compliment.  Like I think your slight Boston accent is absolutely adorable.”

Patrick chokes a little on his coffee, “Really.  Well, thanks, I think.  I really don’t think anyone has ever called anything about me adorable.”

Keller looks at him and touches his cheek, “That’s a shame, Officer O’Connor.”  She rubs her thumb across his bottom lip, winks and walks away.

“Wow, I think I do like her.”  He laughs to himself.  He finishes his coffee and wonders how he could have read her so wrong.

When Fitz comes back he fills everyone in on what has happened.  “Apparently, when Ford finished his shift he didn’t come right home.  They are looking into where he went, so far nothing.  He entered his house and turned on the light switch, there was an explosive device wired to go off when the lights were turned on.  They are looking into the device that was used.  Ford was killed instantly.  There was a note on the table that said: O’Rourke was ours.  We protect and defend our own.  Ford killed him, we killed Ford.

They are looking into who the “we” is.  We are not here to help them, but if anything from our case is related we will let them know, and they will do the same.  What we need to do is question the guards at the prison again.  They know something about Ford they’re not telling us.

Patrick, you go get some shut eye.  Keller you drive him, French you’re with me.  We are going to see if you can sweet talk answers out of anyone.”

“Aye, aye captain.”
  French salutes him.

They go to their separate cars and drive away.  Patrick is so tired when they pull up to Brody’s house he walks up the stairs and into Brody’s room.  He still hasn’t heard from him.  He texts him quick and while he waits he looks for blankets in the closet.  The moving company came with the rest of Charlie’s things today.  He told them to put the bed in here, hoping Brody didn’t mind when he returned from where ever he disappeared to.

He makes the bed turns out the light and lies down.  The sky is starting to lighten with dawn just a few short hours away.  He closes his eyes and is sleeping in minutes.  When the sun wakes him up a couple hours later he cracks his lids and realizes he isn’t alone.  He rolls to his side and comes face to face with Keller.  She is smiling at him.

“Good morning.” She whispers.

“Keller, what are you doing here?”

She touches his arm “Do you want me to go?”

He grabs her and rolls her on top of him, “No.”

She giggles at his face when she is straddling his hips the sheet falls away to reveal her naked body to him.  “Wow,” He is staring.  It’s been awhile since he has seen a woman naked.  Keller is spectacular.  She takes really good care of herself.  “What if someone comes upstairs?”

“Call me Sarah.”  She grinds herself against him. “Don’t worry I put a sock on the door.”

Brody is watching Charlie sleep.  She is crying and talking; she clutches her pillow and sobs.  When Michael comes in and climbs into bed with her he can’t take it anymore.  He stands up and goes out into the hall.  He paces around.

In two days Charlie will have been gone for a week.  Brody has been avoiding calls and texts from Patrick, Fritz, and the other FBI agents.  He can’t let them know where he is or what he is doing.  If anyone showed up here looking for him it would put Charlie in danger and the chances of him ever finding her; without Michael telling him where they are, is close to zero.

He has been adding to the sheet of paper in his pocket.  Writing down what he sees, things he hears when Michael calls, anything to help the team find them when Michael calls; and he will call.  That is the only thing Brody is sure of anymore.  He is also sure that he will not make it back alive.  Michael has hated him since they all met the first time at the diner after a football game.  Brody was late to the party, he was busy in the back seat of his car with some girl he can’t even remember the name of now, while Michael made his move on Charlie. 

He saw thru him even then.  He called him on every lie he breathed into the air.  Charlie on the other hand, was star struck.  She was all starry eyed and hung onto his every word.  Brody tried to get her attention many times that night and even offered to drive her home.  She refused and got mad at
him
. 
Typical.
 

Leaving old memories lay; Brody walks back into the apartment.  He sits back down in front of the screen and tries to calm his nerves.  He thinks about everything that he will never get to do with Charlie.  He thinks about her, like he has so many other times, sitting on the porch of his house, their house, rocking in the chair.  He will never have the family he dreamed about with her.

His mind wanders to a time after college when Charlie came to him asking what he thought about kids.

                **********

“Brody what do you think about having kids and starting a family?”  Charlie is lying on the floor on her stomach feet in the air crossed at the ankles.  She is looking through an OK magazine.

“Um, kids are alright, I guess.  I mean it’s not like I’ve had any younger siblings or anything, but until we put mom in the hospital she was a child.”  He mutes the TV and sits up straighter.  “Why do you ask?  You’re not knocked up are you?”

“No.”  She answers matter of fact. “But that is kind of why I brought it up.  I need a favor and you can’t get mad or ever tell.”

“Oh, God, what did you do?”  The pounding in my chest tells me I am more nervous than I should be.

“Nothing, yet.”
  Charlie stands and walks over to the chair I’m in and sits on my lap.  “I need you to take me to the doctor so I can be put on the pill.”

“Why don’t you ask Michael?  He is your fiancé.”  I say it as snotty as I can.  I hate him and the fact she is marrying him in a couple years.

She looks down at her hand and spins her ring around on her finger.  She looks up at me with tears in her eyes.  “I can’t.  He wants to start trying for a baby
now
.  I am so not ready for a baby.  I barely graduated.  I am still trying to get my career going.  He said not to worry about money; he can take care of everything”

I wipe the silent tears falling from her eyes.  “I will take you where ever you want me to, you know I will, but what else is going on in that head of yours?”

“I never want to have kids with him.”  Her lips trembles, and she speaks only a little above a whisper. 
“Ever.”

“One day you might.  You never know, maybe he will be a successful doctor in no time.”  I try to be positive for her but silently I am ecstatic she is feeling this way.  I hate him, and I know he has hit her more than once, I never can catch him, but when I do I plan on letting him know the difference between hitting a woman and hitting a man.  I dream about how good it will feel when my fist connects with his smug face.

“No.  I would never be so selfish to bring a child into this world with him as its father.”  She stands and goes back to the floor.  “I have an appointment later today.”

“Oh, that soon?”
  I rub my head and quirk an eye at her, “Why are you rushing this?  If you are marring him he is going to expect kids with you.  What if he gets suspicious?  He is a doctor.”

“He isn’t a doctor yet.  He is still a med student.”  She flips a page in the magazine.  “I don’t even know if we will follow through with the wedding.  I mean, its years away, anything can happen between now and then.  What if someone else wants to marry me, they are secretly in love with me and can’t take it anymore.” She laughs at her joke, batting her eyes and puts her hands under her chin, trying to lighten the mood not knowing how close to the truth she is.  The only difference, I won’t be confessing anything for her.  She is too important to me to ruin it on something as stupid and undependable as love.

“I don’t understand you, you are in this relationship and you sound like you don’t want to be, why stay?”

“Oh, come on Brody, don’t be so dumb.  I don’t have men throwing themselves at me.  I am not the girl everyone looks at and says wow she’s hot.  I am the friend.  I am the girl all the guys talk to about their girls.  I’m not beautiful; I don’t even qualify as pretty.  Look at me; I am an average looking girl who is too tall for half the population of men our age.”

“Why do you do that?  You always sell yourself short.  You are pretty.  You are a beautiful girl, you have a great personality.  Guys ask you about their girls because you don’t pull any bullshit.  You tell it how it is.”

“Yeah, well whatever.  I am just being realistic, this is as good as it gets for me, and I would be stupid to turn Michael down.”  She goes back to her magazine, this conversation is over.

                **********

Brody watches Michael sleep with Charlie with the fresh memory in his head.  He could have stopped this from happening if he was only brave enough all those years ago.  If he could have told her then that he loved her, Michael would never have gotten to her.  He could have protected her then.  Well, he will protect her now, no matter what.