The Fey (9 page)

“
Here they come,” John
said. He nodded his head in the direction of the
anesthesiologist.

With a quick kiss, he went to make the
introductions. Alex waiting in the hall until Matthew came from the
ICU. Holding hands, they walked to her Jeep.

F

CHAPTER SIX

Nine hours later

February 9 – 3:25 P.M.
Fort Logan National Cemetery, Colorado

Alex’s Jeep crept past a large funeral
party. Standing in the cold February morning, a family said their
final good-bye to a son or daughter. She had been to so many of
these funerals that she could almost hear the minister’s words in
her head: “ashes to ashes,” “gone to a better place,” “it’s the
very best of us that die young.”

Words.

Nothing eased the pain or the loss. As she
watched, a pregnant woman collapsed onto the casket only to be
pulled off by a brother or friend. The honor guard raised their
rifles and twenty-one shots echoed through Fort Logan National
Cemetery. Another soldier was finally home.

Alex drove to a small cul-de-sac where she
parked the Jeep. Using two crutches against the uneven ground, she
worked her way over to a memorial twenty feet away.

Eleven black granite stones placed in an
arch and a black granite obelisk created a monument to the soldiers
that died October eighth on a hilltop in Afghanistan. She closed
her eyes. Somewhere inside, she remembered what happened. Her only
true memory was of the ragged breath and the devastating knowledge
that the breathing would end.

Eleazar gave her graphic details about what
happened, who was killed first, how they screamed and begged for
their lives. The Army told her that they died within minutes of
each other and that no one suffered. Ben just shook his head, lit a
cigarette, and said that she would remember when she was ready.

Looking at the memorial, she read the
polite, sanitized version scratched into the granite obelisk. Alex
covered the words with her mittened hand.

Would she ever know the truth?

Taking a package of incense from her pocket,
she placed a stick at each stone. She stopped, as she always did,
at the last marker. Under the twelve pedaled sunflower, which
graced every grave, the stone read: “Alexander Hargreaves, Beloved
Brother and Son.” They placed this stone, over the grave that
should be her own, in the hope that the people who wished her dead
would believe they had succeeded.

It was smart espionage.

But Eleazar knew she survived the assault.
And, now, he knew where she lived. Alex bent to touch Alexander’s
stone. What he didn’t know, and couldn’t conceive, was how many
times she longed to be in this grave. They asked to be buried
together, spend eternity together, and she belonged with them. No
amount of antidepressant pills or counseling changed that
reality.

Starting at one end, she clicked her Zippo
lighter. Charlie O’Brien, their Commanding Officer, purchased these
Zippos to commemorate the medals they won for rescuing five
journalists from Central Mexico.

Their first assignment as a team.

Alex looked at the lighter. In the jumble of
death and destruction, somehow she wound up with Jesse’s lighter in
her pocket. Her lighter was lost somewhere in Afghanistan. Maria
insisted that Alex keep Jesse’s lighter. She flicked the lighter
again and went down the row lighting the incense.

She promised herself that she would be
strong today. She would light the incense, say a few words of
thanks for Jesse’s help then go home.

But the tears came. Standing back to
evaluate her work, she watched the fragrant smoke blow on the wind.
Then, as if yanked by a rope through her abdomen, she fell forward
onto Jesse’s grave and wept.

Racked with sobs, she lay against the
granite markings in a heap. Her heart opened and her grief poured
out onto the stone.

FF

“
Maxie, I have a friend,”
she glowed to Max in their weekly phone call.

“
A friend?” Max asked.
“You’ve never had a friend before.”

“
I know. His name is
Jesse. I told you about him before. I met him in basic and now
we’re assigned to the same unit in Bosnia. Oh Maxie you would like
him so much.”

“
He wants to get in your
pants.”

“
Max! He’s married to his
soulmate Maria,” she said. “You’re just jealous ‘cuz I have a
friend.”

“
I have a friend,” Max
said. “I’m friends with my roommate, John Drayson.”

“
Now we both have
friends,” Alex said.

“
You’re still my best
friend.”

“
You’re better than my
best friend. You’re my twin.”

FF

“
I’m still your
friend.”

Alex heard Jesse’s voice speaking Spanish.
Gasping, she wiped her face with her mittens and looked around the
monument. She saw no one. She blinked, then rested her head against
the granite. Her fingers traced the familiar sunflower carved into
the granite. She lay staring straight ahead until she heard the
cars moving from the funeral. Gathering her strength, she moved to
get up.

“
Pumpkin, let me help.” A
male voice came from behind her.

Alex turned her head to see her father move
across the grass to her. He lifted her from the ground then helped
her with her crutches.

“
What are you doing
here?”

“
I try to make it to the
funerals for the soldiers from Colorado,” he said. “More than fifty
so far. It’s the least I can do.”

He put his right arm around her as they
faced the memorial. He was tall enough to play college basketball
and trim from a lifetime in the US Army. When Patrick Hargreaves
stood with his favorite child in front of the grave that should be
her own, he was all father.

“
We aren’t supposed to be
seen together,” Alex said.

“
I asked the press for
some time alone at my son’s grave,” he said. “I came over after
they left. How are you feeling?”

“
I’m all right,” she said.
“I over did it last night.”

He laughed. “Most father’s worry about their
thirty-year-old daughters over doing it on a Friday night.”

“
Simulation,” she
said.

“
I heard. I also heard
about Erin. How is she?”

“
They removed her spleen
and a part of her liver,” Alex said. “She should be out of surgery
in a couple hours. Ben?”

“
He called.”

“
Does Mom
know?”

“
No. I thought that Erin
would tell her when she wanted her to know. Was it …”

“
Awful. I should have
killed him.”

“
One death a night is
probably a good number for a cartographer.”

“
There’s no flies on you,”
Alex said.

“
Two men, M-16s with two
loaded clips, live ammo. They hiked ten rugged miles into the range
through the adjacent National grasslands. No one saw them in the
dark. Alexandra, someone wants you dead.”

“
You think?”

Despite himself, he laughed. She laughed in
response.

“
I received three phone
calls and two email informing me that the Fey has returned,” he
said.

“
It’s not like you to
believe the press,” she said.

He laughed.

“
It’s more like make way
for the gimp,” she added.

“
It’s difficult to
survive. Have you considered joining another team?”

“
I like being a
cartographer. It’s interesting and creative. I’m good at it. I get
to come home every night.”

Patrick looked at Alex’s blonde head and
wondered if she believed what she said.

“
Yes, the risk of living
again,” he said.

She looked up at him. When their eyes
caught, she looked away. How did he always know the truth?

“
I come here every time
I’m at Fort Logan. I stand right here and watch Alexander’s stone.”
He paused for a moment. His baby blue eyes searched her face. “I
know that a part of you is buried here.”

She nodded.

“
Sir,” a male voice said
from the road. “We are running short on time.”

“
Thank you Justin,”
Patrick said to his intern. “I need a few more minutes.”

“
Intern?” Alex
asked.

Patrick nodded.

“
He looks like he’s twelve
years old.”

“
I think he is twelve
years old,” Patrick laughed.

“
Did you ever think that
you saw or heard any of your friends, you know, after they
died?”

“
Never,” he said.
“Why?”

“
Oh nothing,” she
said

“
When’s your next
surgery?”

“
It’s scheduled for this
week but I want to make sure Erin’s all right first. I mean who
would have thought that Erin would be in a relationship like that?
Erin? I’ve been so focused on my own crap that I haven’t even
considered her or really anyone in a long time.”

“
You are the very heart of
everyone who knows you, Alex. You’ll sort it out.”

Patrick leaned to kiss her cheek then walked
across the grass without saying another word. Alex turned back to
the monument while his limousine passed behind her. With a sigh,
she made her way across the uneven grass.

F

CHAPTER SEVEN

Four weeks later

March 8 – 6:35 A.M.
Denver, Colorado

Three weeks after a full hip replacement,
Alex was running on a treadmill between Max and Erin. They made a
pact to workout every morning at six-thirty. So far, despite
injuries, they had been successful.

And they had fun. Erin was treated to an
inside view of the delightful insanity of the twins. In their
funny, friendly company, she began growing into herself again.
Right now, she was making faces at Alex while Alex told her about
peeing from a helicopter. Max laughed so hard that he had to turn
his treadmill off.

“
Hey you have a text,” Max
said pointing to Alex’s fanny pack.

“
You’re the only one who
texts me, Text Boy.”

Max snatched her fanny pack from the floor
then pulled out the phone.

“
Ten bucks it’s an ad,”
Alex said.

Max opened the phone then puzzled at the
message.

“
Well?” Alex asked. She
turned off her treadmill to see what was going on.

“
It says, ‘You have six
hours before they die.’”

“
It does not say
that.”

Alex grabbed the phone from him. Staring at
the phone, Alex’s heart sank inside her chest. As if responding to
her stare, her phone rang. Walking away from her siblings, she
answered the phone to her Sergeant.

“
Fey,” she said. “Hey I
just…”

“
You have to wait,” her
Sergeant said. “Okay, go ahead.”

“
I just received a text
message that says…”

“
You have six hours before
they die. That’s 1230 hours our time.”

“
Right,” Alex
said.

“
At approximately 1230
hours, Afghanistan, three soldiers disappeared.”

“
That’s…”

“
Four hours ago. We were
notified about a potential map issue because the soldiers walked
into a GPS dead zone. Then…”

“
What is today’s
date?”

“
It’s March
eighth.”

“
I’ll call you
back.”

Alex jogged to the bathroom. She just made
the handicap toilet before throwing up. Wiping her mouth with the
back of her hand, she focused on tile in an effort to stay present.
Four blue tiles. Six green tiles. She threw up again. The walls are
made of white tile with blue and green tiles in a diagonal
line.

“
Alex?” Erin
asked.

“
I’m here,” she
said.

Erin rattled the door to the handicap stall
where Alex was standing. Alex flipped open the lock. Erin looked at
Alex’s white face and the toilet. Reaching past Alex, she flushed
the toilet.

“
I didn’t know you still
did this,” Erin said. “I thought that being a Green
Beret…”

“
Some habits die hard,”
Alex said. “I usually don’t eat when I’m working. It’s why I get so
thin.”

“
What happened?” Erin
asked.

Matthew and Troy are in Afghanistan. Ah
fuck. Alex raised her finger to Erin. She dialed her Sergeant.

“
Who is lost? Who is
it?”

“
You have to go through
voice security.”

“
Fuck security. Sergeant
who is it?”

“
Sergeant First Class Fred
Rhine, Sergeant First Class Stuart Quinn, Sergeant First Class
Kenneth Boransky.”

“
Thank God.”

Alex snapped her phone closed. Pressing her
phone against her forehead, she squeezed her eyes against the panic
and despair.

“
Alex, what happened?”
Erin asked.

“
Some soldiers are missing
in Afghanistan,” she said.

“
So what?”

“
I have six hours to find
them,” Alex said.

“
Or what?”

“
Or they die.”

“
Matt’s in Afghanistan,”
Erin said.