Straight Flushed (Hot Pursuit #1)(85)
“You were supposed to wait for me outside,” Vance said.
“People saw me sitting in my car and it made me feel weird. Besides, you know I’m impatient.”
“Yes, I know. So, you doing okay with all this?”
“I’m fine,” I said, looking at the bandage above his eye. “How’s your head?”
Vance had a cut above his eye from the accident we’d been in on the way FBI headquarters. I can still hear the glass hitting the asphalt and the headlights reflecting off the wet windshield. I’d panicked when he got out of the car; I thought I might never see him again. The fear of that moment continued to resonate.
Based on the previous twenty-four hours, we had assumed the worst and suspected our fates were still undecided. Imagine our relief, when we found out the person who’d hit us was simply texting and driving and not part of some elaborate scheme to control the U.S. energy market. It was amazing no one had been killed. The crash had given us one more reminder of our own mortality, as if we had forgotten. I’d felt painfully alive.
“It’s good. Nothing compared to being shot.” Vance laughed and shrugged his injured shoulder at me. “Next time I’ll let you wait for a cab to take you home from the hospital.” He winked.
“I’m sure you will.” I chuckled and shook my head.
I’d walked away from our latest crash unscathed, which was a miracle, considering the car had been reduced to a mangled pile of crumpled steel. One of the police officers who’d arrived on the scene first took me the rest of the way to the FBI headquarters; a good friend of Cavanaugh’s who’d been aware of everything that had happened that day. I’d called the FBI from the cruiser and had told them I was coming. I’d wanted that flash drive out of my hands as soon as possible.
When I arrived at the FBI building, I met with one of the Federal Agents who’d been working on the security breach at the NBC. He’d greeted me enthusiastically and took the flash drive then told me Charlie had been taken into custody already and was waiting to be questioned downtown. Catching the real mastermind was up to them, and I returned to my simple life of protecting people again.
“How much time did Cavanaugh make you take?” Vance asked.
“Two weeks. And a few mandatory meetings with a shrink. I don’t need it, but he wouldn’t listen.” I shrugged.
“Yeah, me too. They do the same thing on the force if an officer kills someone. It’ll be good. I think a break will do us both some good.” He nodded. “What do you say after this we throw down some cards? Some five card or hold ‘em?”
“You sure you want more of this?” I smirked.
“Woman, I want everything you’ve got.” He put his arm around my shoulder and squeezed me gently. “You look pretty, by the way. How’s the nose?”
“Oh, shut up. I feel like a monster. At least some of the swelling has gone down, but the purple and green really add that special je ne sais quoi to my look.”
“I don’t think anyone will notice.” He put his hand on my back and rubbed it in soft circles.
Capinski, his wife, Miss Red, and her son all walked into the vestibule. Their eyes caught mine for a moment before they looked away. I took a small step back, deeper into the corner in which I hid.
“Everyone is staring at me. Did you see that?” I sighed. “God, I know what they’re all thinking.”
“Di, I’m not going to justify that with a response, except to say, no one is thinking anything other than we’ve been through a war. Do you hear me?” I remained silent. “I said the war we’ve been through. We’re a team. This didn’t just happen to you. It happened to us and it was no one person’s fault.” His tone announced slight irritation, and he shook his head then sighed. “So cards? You down?”
I grinned. “Yeah, sounds good. But first let’s get through this.” My voice cracked despite trying to be strong. I didn’t want to cry and was surprised I even could; I thought I’d been emptied of all my tears. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”
“Andrews was a good man. I’m gonna miss him,” Vance said. Andrews was the first member of B&B to have been killed in the line of duty and hopefully the last. “Cavanaugh told me Avery flew in the Archbishop from Andrews’s church back home in Philly.”
“Really? Wow. That was really generous of him. Is he supposed to come today?” I looked around the room expecting Avery to hop out from a corner but I didn’t see him.
“Not sure, maybe. He might feel uncomfortable.”
Then, a man dressed in a long white robe tied closed with a dangling golden rope stepped forward and stood at the foot of Andrews’s casket next to the fountain. The Archbishop had entered the room, and I hadn’t noticed. He stood back, ancient and noble in his pointed mitre perched high upon his head as the resident priest opened his good book and began his introductory prayer in song. Everyone bowed their heads. I crossed my hands in front of my body and listened as the melodic psalm began.
. . .
After the ceremony, I offered my condolences to Andrews’s wife then walked to my car with Vance, clutching a loaf of Miss Red’s pumpkin bread at my side. She’d snuck up to me before I could get out of the doors and said the nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove would help me heal and put meat on my bones. My clothes were hanging a little bit looser. I’d dropped a few pounds on my already petite frame by skipping meals and drinking my misery. It smelled just as good as I remembered though.