Up in Flames (8 page)

*****

While the men were busy trying to come up with information on Eddie McDaniels’ workplace, Meredith spent her time chatting with Walter’s wife, Sissy, and her sister, Betty. Both had welcomed Meredith with open arms. Although they had never met, Sissy was aware of the situation with Meredith. Her husband had asked for her help in shopping for Meredith, since it was impossible for Meredith to go out and take care of things that she needed until Eddie was apprehended. Then, hopefully Meredith would feel comfortable and safe enough to get out and enjoy life. So when Walter had phoned his wife earlier that morning to ask if she would mind Meredith camping out there while he and Lucas did recon, she readily said yes. Of course, she had no idea her husband would come hurrying into their front door that afternoon along with another Ranger, telling both ladies to grab what they needed, they were leaving immediately. On the way out to the safe house, the Rangers filled the ladies in on what happened at headquarters.

Now, the three ladies sat in the living room of the safe house chatting away as if they had been friends for years. And Meredith suddenly realized how much of life she was missing. While she was hiding away from everything and everybody, life was marching on without her. She missed chatting with a friend or two. She missed shopping. She missed going to the occasional movie or show.

Sissy had excused herself to go make some tea in the kitchen for the ladies. The conversation quieted down for a moment, and it was then Meredith was struck by everything she was missing in life. Tears sprang to her eyes without warning. She was sick of living her life this way, but what other choice did she have while Eddie was still on the loose?

“Hey, hon, what’s the matter? Have we said something to offend you?” Betty was by her side in a heartbeat, gently holding her hand.

“No, no, it’s nothing you two have done or said. It just hit me how much I am missing out on in my life. I haven’t been able to do anything in eighteen months. No shopping, friends, shows, movies, dinners, nothing. It’s just not fair. Eddie continues to go free and live his life the way he wants, while I have to suffer because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Well, I agree with you, it is not fair at all. But look at it this way. Eddie’s days are numbered. And once he’s caught, he won’t be around on this earth any longer to cause trouble. Meanwhile, you will have the rest of your life to make up for this time. And, you’ll have a mate to share it all with. Just think of how much fun that will be!” Betty encouraged her.

“You’re right, and you know what? I am sick of that bastard stealing my life. I have had enough. I want to start enjoying life, not spend the rest of my days looking over my shoulder. I just wish I had the strength and courage to stand up to him.” Now that she’d had time to think about it, she was mad, not just scared like she had been. It wasn’t fair, and she’d had enough. Eddie needed to be caught, because she had a mate now, and she had a life to live.

“Are you aware of how I came to be a vampire?” Betty inquired.

With a final sniff, Meredith shook her head. “No, I haven’t heard anything about your past.”

“My son and I were living with my alcoholic boyfriend a few years ago. He had a horrible temper. Demanded the house be just so when he arrived home from work. Dinner had to be on the table at a certain time, and not two minutes late. I tried keeping his temper away from my son, but sometimes after he was finished beating on me, he would go after Timmy.

“One evening, I was just a few minutes late getting dinner on the table. I ended up putting it on the table about five minutes past his set dinnertime. He blew up, took the casserole I had worked hard all afternoon putting together, and threw the hot dish in my face. The burned flesh was bad enough, but then he started beating on me. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was already weak from prior beatings. Timmy heard the commotion going on downstairs and came down to see what was going on. As soon as he saw Gregory beating on me, he jumped in, trying to get him to stop. Gregory had been drinking that afternoon, and when Timmy jumped in the middle to save me, he turned on my little boy.

“There was no way I could stop him. I couldn’t even move myself, let alone help my son. Gregory dragged Timmy back upstairs and I could hear him hitting Timmy with his belt. I must have blacked out, because the next thing I know this beautiful young woman is standing over me telling me help is on the way. I don’t remember too much after that, I know I was taken to the hospital, and because I was in such bad shape, they were frantically trying to find next of kin to help Timmy. My father and sister both got called.

“Unbeknownst to me at the time, Walter had changed my sister into a vampire a few years back. Once they arrived and consulted with the doctors, they made the decision the only way I would heal a hundred percent was for them to turn me also. So that is what happened. I was taken to a vampire underground hospital and changed over in order to save my life.” By the time she finished, Sissy had returned, carrying a tray with tea. Betty paused and looked over to her sister, a loving smile on her face. “Best damn thing that has ever happened to me!”

*****

Two days later, Lucas had just walked out of a planning session with Walter when two of his coworkers, Adam and Donte, walked past him heading for the door. “Hey, man, I’m impressed. Never figured you for a flowers kind of guy. So, who’s the chick you are trying to impress? Is she a new nurse upstairs?” Adam questioned over his shoulder, as Lucas watched him and Donte snicker. Suddenly, he felt like someone was squeezing the very life out of his chest. He reached behind him and threw open Walter’s door at the same time yelling, “Stop!” to his two coworkers.

Both men stopped in their tracks as they watched their boss come flying out of his office to see what was going on. One look at Lucas’s face told them something was definitely wrong.

Donte put his hands up in defense. “Hey, man, no need to get upset. We were just teasing you.”

Lucas shook his head, while trying to get the vise grips to loosen around his chest. Finally, he felt like he could speak. “When and where?”

Both Donte and Adam watched him for a moment, trying to figure out what he was asking. They then looked to their boss for help.

“Tell me what was said right before I came out.” Walter put a calming hand on Lucas’s shoulder.

“We just said we had never figured him for a flowers kind of guy. A dozen roses arrived about ten minutes ago for some chick named Meredith from him. We figured she was a new nurse, so we sent them upstairs.”

Walter immediately took off at a dead run, yelling for a couple of Rangers to follow him. He bypassed the elevator and took the stairs, knowing his vampire speed would put him upstairs much quicker. He heard footsteps behind him, so he knew he had backup. The problem was he still wasn’t sure who was leaking information out. He hit the top of the stairs and flung the door open. Just as he stepped around the corner, he spotted the roses sitting at the front desk. And then all hell broke loose.

The roses and glass vase exploded, sending shards of glass everywhere. He and whoever was behind him hit the floor, knocked backward by the force of the blast and all bleeding from glass fragments embedded in their skin. This had been exactly what he was afraid of.

He had an awful ringing in his ears, but he could still hear Lucas bellowing Meredith’s name. She suddenly appeared out of nowhere, seemingly unharmed, of which he was very thankful. Evidently she hadn’t been around the flowers when they exploded.

He sat in the middle of the floor for a minute or two, trying to regain his equilibrium. He looked over and watched as Meredith and then Dr. Weathers started attending to his men. After they had moved a few to exam rooms far enough away from the blast that they hadn’t received much damage, Dr. Weathers came over to him.

“Hey, buddy, how are you feeling?” the kind doctor inquired as he started checking him over.

Walter looked over at the doc and frowned. “Man, I’m not sure. I don’t feel right.”

“Hmm, that might have something to do with a nasty piece of glass that is embedded in your skull right now. We are going to get you to an exam room so I can remove it. Can you walk, or do I need a gurney?”

Walter shook his head, and then was immediately sorry that he did. Even that little bit of movement had his stomach pitching. Something he had never experienced since becoming a vampire. “I can walk, just help me up.”

Dr. Weathers bent and offered his arm, then helped get him up and into an exam room. “Sorry, we are doubling up. The nurse’s station is completely wiped out, and we sustained heavy damage to the three exam rooms across the hall. There are other rooms that received some damage, but the three straight across from the nurse’s station are a total loss.”

Walter looked up and saw Lucas sitting on the exam table. “Hey, can you call downstairs and make sure they have everything on lockdown? I don’t want anyone entering or leaving this building.”

“Sure, no problem. Here, you need to be seen first. Change places with me,” Lucas informed him as he hopped down off the exam table and grabbed his phone with one hand, while holding out the other to help steady his boss.

“Who all was behind me?” Walter inquired, as he made it to the exam table and felt like collapsing on it.

“Other than myself there was Adam, Donte, and Ethan.”

Walter closed his eyes for just a moment. Four Rangers down, including himself. “How bad?”

“Nobody serious. You are probably in the worse shape; you were closest and took the brunt of the blast. I am just thankful Meredith was in the studio when the blast occurred. I hate to think what would have happened if she had been carrying those damn flowers.”

“Still, this is an insult that he was able to get through everyone. And I want our leak found and dealt with. I fucking hate walking around questioning my trust in people I’ve worked with and trusted for years.” Walter shook his head as he sighed deeply, then glanced over to Lucas. “This stops today. Hell, maybe I’ve been too lax, but not anymore. This situation has just escalated to our top priority.” Two nights ago, they had discovered the bug that had been planted in his office. Walter and Lucas had then gone through the entire downstairs area, doing a thorough sweep, to check for any more. They found a total of three that night: one in Walter’s office, one at the reception desk, and one in the conference room.

“Tell me what you want done, Walter. I am none too happy knowing that it is pure luck that I still have my mate. If she had been holding those roses, or even close to the vase, she would have been seriously injured at least.”

“I am holding a meeting just as soon as we can get everyone patched up and back downstairs. Help me keep a close watch for anyone looking away, or shifting from foot to foot, increase in heart rhythm, or anything else we might label as suspicious behavior. I seriously doubt we will get that lucky, but we’ve got to start somewhere. We don’t stand a chance of truly shutting down McDaniels until we find our own damn leak!”

Dr. Weathers came in and the discussion was dropped.

Chapter Five

It took Dr. Weathers several hours to get everyone patched up and sent back downstairs. Lucas held Meredith’s hand tightly as they took the stairs down to the meeting. Walter planned on opening up and informing the Rangers who were present about the situation, then see if they could get a read on anyone who might be suspicious.

Lucas knew they had a mole, there simply wasn’t any other explanation. What ate at his gut was he had worked with each of these guys for several years now. He had trusted each one of them to have his back at one time or another, as he had theirs. To know someone wasn’t who they were supposed to be left a sour taste in his mouth.

He and Meredith were the last two to show up for the meeting in the large conference room downstairs. The room was eerily quiet when they walked in, with Lucas continuing to hold Meredith’s hand as he led the way over to a couple of empty seats. He had come too close to losing her today, and he had no intention of letting her go anytime soon.

“Okay, I think everyone knows we had an explosion upstairs this afternoon in medical. What you don’t know is why. The young lady sitting with Lucas came to me about ten months ago. She had been on the run for a year at that point. She was in the wrong place, wrong time, and witnessed Eddie McDaniels killing one of the victims. He has been after her ever since. I have given Meredith sanctuary upstairs since she came to me, hiding her from Eddie and his goons. And I’ve been able to keep it quiet, with only one or two other people knowing that she has been living upstairs all of this time. Unfortunately, when Lucas was injured, it seemed to be the beginning of this mess. We now know Eddie was tipped off to Lucas’s visit due to the fact three bugs have been found in this station, one of which was in my own office. Then, the day after he recovered from his injuries, Meredith received a call on her personal cell phone stating he should have killed Lucas, and he knew where she was hiding.” Walter stopped and gave a quick glance at each one of his men. “Boys, we have a problem. We have a mole within our unit.”

Lucas heard every word Walter was saying, but his attention was focused on his coworkers. If one of them was responsible for this afternoon’s attack, he was determined to find him and eliminate him. It was like cutting out a bad spot on an apple. Vampires couldn’t afford to have a loose cannon running amok. But as he watched each individual’s face, all he saw was the same quiet anger he felt every time he thought about the situation. Some registered surprise also, which he wanted to chuckle over.
Yeah, boys, bossman has been hiding someone right under our noses for almost a year now. And they call us the best of the best!

By the end of the meeting, Lucas wasn’t so sure about there being a mole in the group anymore. If there was, the person was doing a damn fine job of hiding it. There wasn’t one Ranger that didn’t immediately jump on board with Walter’s plans, and many even came over to speak with Meredith afterwards. No, Lucas was convinced whoever was leaking information to Eddie was not in the room tonight.