Chapter Fourteen
When I woke, it was almost eleven in the morning and I thought I was having a little déjà vu. Everyone that was in the room when I woke yesterday was back in session, including the doctors. “Okay, you guys, you’re freaking me out a little.”
Mac’s doctor started, “His numbers are looking better this morning, so we thought we would try and ease off the meds and see if he wakes up. I thought you should be there when we do.”
“Great. Thanks, doc. Let me know when and I’ll be there,” I said.
“I’ll have someone come get you in about an hour or so. Give you time to eat and talk to everyone.”
“Okay.”
I turned to my doctor, “And what say you, sir?”
“Mr. Dawson.”
I interrupted,“Raph, please.”
“Sure. I am thinking of letting you go home in a few days, but it’s going to depend mostly on you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I understand some people do not like medicine and then there those who really like it. However, while you are here, please take what I ask. You gave the nurse a hard time last night and although she said nothing, I still found out.”
“Doc, she ambushed me. I don’t remember being mean. I am just not a fan of meds. Is she here, I would like to apologize if I could,” I said.
The doctor said, “She is not hurt. I just want to be clear that I need you to do what is asked, so you can get out of here and back to your good work as soon as possible.” Then he walked over the put his hand out. I took it and he said. “I want to thank you for everything you did for those girls.” He nodded and walked out the door.
I turned to James and he said, “I just wanted to check on Mac and thought I would stop in and see how you are.”
“Thanks, feeling pretty good, even though my leg looks like hell,” I said.
“Good thing, I’ll be in ICU.” Then he left.
Agent Munoz watched him walk out the door and turned to me, “Wow, lots of love between you two. I almost got misty eyed.”
“He and Mac are the friends, but I think he’s warming up to me,” I said. “What have you got?”
“The guy driving the truck is Howard Lyle. Minor stuff on his record. He’s no one special. Nevertheless, as soon as he noticed what kind of a spot he was in, he asked for a lawyer and a deal. I am willing to give it to him, but I wanted to check with you first,” Agent Munoz said.
“If you think you can get useful information from him, I don’t care and I know Mac wouldn’t care either. Do it!”
“I will be back and let you know what we get,” he said as he reached for his phone and walked out the door.
I guess the orderlies were waiting for him to leave, because they walked in as soon as he cleared the door. It took a few minutes for them to disembark me from the bed and we were off to see Mac.
In Mac’s room, we were all waiting for him to wake up after the doctor gave him something. He passed by me, telling me it would only be a minute or so. I nodded at him. Tony was on his left and I moved to his right. He started groaning and I could tell he was in pain. Then he looked over at me, “What the hell happened?” I nodded toward Toni and he looked over at her. “Hey baby, I’m glad to see you.” He looked back at me.
“You took a gut shot yesterday on our way out of the hospital. Pretty lucky, I think, since we were already here,” I said.
“Yeah, I’m feeling lucky right now. Did you get the guys?” Then he noticed I was sitting in a wheelchair. He looked at my leg. “Hell, did you kick the hell out of the guys?”
“I wish, it might make me feel better. I was shot in the leg and the bullet shattered my bone. Probably have a nice scar though,” I grinned.
“I bet mine will be better,” he said as he tried to sit up better. He moaned, “Damn, that hurts.”
I pointed to the button next to him, “You can help, and they gave you a morphine button if you like.” I knew the answer.
He picked up the little handle the button was on and tossed it over his bed rail. “There’s nothing wrong with some pain.”
“I know, but sometimes even you might need something,” I said.
He looked at me, “Okay, go away so I can talk to Toni.”
“Sure, I’ll be in my room if you need me.” I wheeled myself out of the room and saw James standing there like a Secret Service agent. I looked up at him, “Give him a few and then go in, he’ll be glad to see you.”
“Okay, thanks.”
My favorite nurse was waiting for me when I got down the hall. “You know, all you have to do is ask for help?” he said.
“Yes, but then who will feel sorry for me?” I said.
“Oh, honey, the way you look no one will feel sorry for you. Most of them will probably be kind of scared.”
I looked back at him, “Scared? What are you talking about?”
“You’re kind of scary looking, Mr. Dawson.” His tone switched to a little playful. “But the kind of scary that I like.” Then he gave me the Magnum PI double eyebrow raise.
“Nice,” I said.
Annabel was waiting for me with steak and potatoes when we got back. I just smiled.
The nurse said, “Damn, who can compete with that.”
I turned to him, “I never got your name, only your number,” I grinned.
He smiled, showing all his teeth. “Nick Moore.”
I introduced him to Annabel, she smiled and looked at me. “If you like, I can come back later and give you guys some time together.”
Nick said, a little too cheery, “Really?”
I said, “Um, no.”
Annabel giggled a little. Nick was a lot stronger than he looked. He almost picked me up and tossed me in the bed. He got my leg back in the crane and left us to it. We started eating.
“Don’t you work?” I asked.
“Yes, well most days, I own a dog grooming business. I have some good people working for me, so I don’t go in most days,” she said.
“Nice. So on the ‘most days’ what do you do?”
“I have an EBay store where I sell just about anything, so I spend a lot of time shopping.”
“Wow, that sounds like hard work,” I smiled.
“Well, I spend all day walking around stores, yard sales, and anywhere I can find something of value to sell. So although I like the shopping part, it is work.”
“Yeah, sorry. I guess you’re right,” I said. “So you sell anything?”
“Yes, if I think it will make me a profit, I will sell it.”
“So you are pretty industrious, and you like money,” I said.
“Well sure, who doesn’t like money? But more, I like the work. It would be nice to leave something for my kids one day.”
“Kids, what do you have?” I asked.
“I have a son who is living south of here with his longtime girlfriend; he’s twenty-three. Then I have my sixteen-year-old daughter who is with me. Is that a problem?” she asked.
“Absolutely not, I have two girls of my own. Then my ex and I raised my niece, so I basically have three girls. My niece is in her mid-twenties, then my oldest is twenty-two, and my youngest is twenty. She is still living with me, but she’s pretty autonomous,” I said.
“Ex? How much of an Ex?” she asked.
“Oh, no contact at all. It’s been almost two years since I have even seen her. What about you?”
“Been divorced for a long time and no one special since. Mostly been working on raising a good teenage daughter.”
We sat in silence while we finished our food. I found this woman interesting. Besides being very good looking, she seemed very intelligent, she was well dressed, and she was made up as well. She looked like a woman who knew how to put things together as well as herself.
She must have known I was thinking about her, she asked, “Are you sizing me up?”
“I guess I am. But you know you’re doing the same thing,” I grinned.
&nb
sp; “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.”
“So what do you think?” I asked.
“Well, I’d like to go on a real date sometime, but so far so good.”
“Okay. So as soon as I get out of here, we’ll go out for some dinner, but we’ll have to skip the dancing part.”
She chuckled, “That’s okay, I don’t really dance.”
“Good, me either,” I said.
We talked for another couple of hours, just getting to know each other. It turns out we have a lot in common, which is much better than I would have thought. It was the best afternoon I have had in some time.
“Okay,” she said. “I’m going to take off and check on everything. Would it be alright if I came back for dinner?”
“I really wish you would.”
She bent down and gave me another great kiss. By the time she was done, I didn’t want her to leave. I felt like a teenager. It was amazing. We broke from the kiss, I looked up, and Sam was turning around. “Sam, what are you doing?” I said.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he said.
“You’re not, I was just leaving,” Annabel said as she walked out.
Sam was embarrassed, “I’m so sorry Raph, I hope she didn’t leave because of me.”
“Not at all, Sam, she was just really leaving,” I said.
“Okay, well, I heard what happened and wanted to check on you and Mac.” He looked over my leg and cringed. “Damn, man, what the hell. Are you going to be okay?”
“Sure, not for a while, but not to worry. I’ll get it back.”
“I’m so sorry, this has to do with Alison’s case doesn’t it?” he asked.
I wasn’t comfortable making him feel guilty, but I also could not lie to him. “I’m sure it is. But right now we’re not sure.”
“Well, Dad says he is paying for all of yours and Mac’s medical expenses.”
“I can’t let him do that,” I said.
“Pretty sure it’s too late; he was at the administrator’s office this morning. He gives this place money so they listen to him,” he said.
I started to say something else but from the look on his face, I knew it was a waste of time.
“Is there anything we can do for you guys?” he asked.
I asked him to sit while I thought about it. “Well, we will probably want to get out of here as soon as possible, since you asked.”
“Okay, I will let him know,” he said.
“Thanks,” I said. “How is Alison? And the others if you know.”
“They are all pretty good considering. They are going home today. Alison asked if it would be okay if she stopped by to see you, so I thought I would ask.”
“Of course,” I said.
Sam left with a promise he’d be back with his sister, but not until later. I didn’t think about it, but with all the activity today, I guess I was beat. About five minutes after he left, I fell asleep. I was brought awake to Annabel kissing me again.
“Wow, that’s like a piece of heaven if I ever felt it,” I said.
She smiled, but pulled away somewhat fast. “Wow is right.” She walked toward the bathroom and brought me back a toothbrush and one of those pans you throw up in and some water. “Here, do something about that, please.”
“Oh, sorry.” I took everything and went to work on my teeth.
When I got finished, I thanked her and she bent down to make sure I did the job right. I said, “Well, how’d I do?”
“Much better.”
As she was headed back to the bathroom, Sam came in again. However, this time he had company. Alison was with him and she quietly peaked around the door like a little girl and then when she saw me, she started crying almost uncontrollably.
She shocked me a little. “What? Is my hair in bad shape too?” I smiled at her.
She calmed down a little, “I’m so sorry, this is my fault.”
“Now wait just a minute there, Missy. I don’t ever want to hear that again. None of this is your fault, not one damn bit of it. You understand me?!”
I think I shocked her right back, she just nodded her head. I waved her over and put my arms out for a hug. She moved slowly to me and gave me a hug. She gave great hugs. She looked so young and tired to me.
“So I understand you are going home. That has to feel good?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “I just want to crawl in bed and forget about the whole thing.”
I said, “It might be a good idea for a couple of days, but you are going to need help. I think Mac called someone to help. Did they get in touch with you yet?”
“She came to see me first thing this morning,” she said.
“You going to keep seeing her?” I asked.
“Yeah, I know I will need some help with this.” She grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you again.”
“You’re very welcome.” I turned to Sam, “Have you seen Mac? I can only go once a day.”
“Yeah, says they are moving him tonight. He’s doing well.”
“Good, he’ll probably get better before I do,” I said.
Then something unexpected happened, all the other girls that were in the van started to walk in and one by one they all walked over to me to thank me. I got a hug from each of them and from some of the mothers, also. The last mom asked if there was anything I needed.
“Yeah, for you all to take care of each other.” I looked at each of the girls, one at a time. “When you are ready, tell your story. You never know who it will help.”
As they were getting ready to leave, Agent Munoz walked in. “I’m glad everyone is here. We understand everyone is going home. However, I want to assign an agent to each of you for a day or so. The person that shot these two was connected to those who kidnapped you all. I don’t think you are in danger, but we just want to be sure. I think we can have this wrapped up in a day or two.”
They all rather huddled a little closer together. I said, “I wouldn’t worry too much about it everyone. They are more upset at Mac and myself, as you can tell, for costing them money. I wouldn’t think you are in any danger, but I would do what Agent Munoz says just to be safe.”
I think they felt a little better. They all started leaving my room and as they walked out the door, an agent followed each of them. Agent Munoz stayed behind. “I’m also going to leave a couple of agents behind for you and Mac. Howard Lyle did some talking once his lawyer was in the room.”
“Howard Lyle?” I asked.
“The driver.” I nodded. “Turns out the guys that contacted him was part of the Mexican drug cartel. They figured they might hire some local guys. They told them you guys were here and gave them a pretty good retainer to get you two dead.”
“Okay, so you have the guys that hired Mr. Lyle? They should probably get their money back.”
Agent Munoz gave a small chuckle. “No, but we are tracking them down and just to be safe, we want to watch everyone.”
“The girls should be fine,” I said. “Once they lose them, they don’t usually try to get them back. Nevertheless, you are right, Mac and I might be in some trouble with them. And if not for us being here, I would turn down the agents.”
“So you have done some research on this type of thing?” Agent Munoz asked.
“Yeah, we don’t just jump into something without looking where we are going.”
“So you knew you might be in trouble from the start.”
“Agent Munoz, every case we work could come back to bite us. You do the same kind of work. Is it something you concern yourself with when you go to work every day?” I asked.
“You are right, but that’s what I took an oath to do,” he said.
“I took one also, Agent Munoz, when I joined the Navy and again when I was with the cops. However, this one was more important than those were. A friend asked for help. What would you do for a friend?” I asked.
He nodded his head at me, turned, and walked out.
Later that eve
ning after Mac was moved to the room next to me, all four of us had dinner together in my room so they wouldn’t have to take me apart again. Poor Mac had to eat hospital food because of his wounds. Other than that, it was a good night. We laughed a lot and had a good time together. As the night ended, Mac finally decided to say what needed to be said.
“Ladies you have sort of seen what we do for work, and you should know that being with us means a lot of different things. First, you need to know that our job sometimes put our lives in danger and, as a byproduct, sometimes the people we care about. You should really think about it before we really move forward.”
No one said anything. The only noise was from the monitor above me. It seemed to get louder the longer the silence lasted. After about thirty seconds, I had had enough. “Mac you’re such a buzz kill.” They all laughed a little.
Toni got up and walked over to Mac, bent down to give him a kiss. She put her hand on his face, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Buzz.” She told Annabel and I goodnight, also, and left.
Then Annabel got up and did the same, except my kiss was much better than Mac’s. “What’s for breakfast?” she asked.
“Whatever you like; I love breakfast. I’ll eat just about anything,” I said. Then she smiled at me and left.
Mac got up so slowly from his chair that I thought I heard the music from Jeopardy. “Dude, could you take a little longer getting up?”
“Shut up and race me down the hall and we’ll see who can talk then.” He smiled and walked out of the room.
The next morning, while the four of us were eating, Agent Munoz came back and told us they had caught up with Hector Matias, who seemed to be in charge of the U.S. side of the cartel that was handling the sex trafficking. He was taking his agents back from everyone and that we all should be safe.
“Good,” I said. “There has to be something for those guys to do besides stay here all day doing nothing, just because we got a little busted up.”
“Hmm, I got a little busted up. You won’t be walking right for a year or better.
Agent Munoz chuckled on his way out the door, his agent fell in step with him on his left.
I looked over at Mac, “I don’t miss those days.”
He just shook his head.