Second That Emotion
by
Latikia
Copyright © 2006
Chapter 29
I knocked on the door before entering. “Anya, it’s me and I’m alone.” I called out then turned the knob and walked in.
I waved back in the direction I’d come from.
“Someone might want to go give his bodyguard a hand. He’s somewhat confused and hasn’t called the paramedics yet.”
“One down, three to go.” I said.
“Three? Who’s the third?” the new acting DCI asked me.
“The person at Walter Reed who admitted our two assassins.”
“When do you want to take care of that?” Dr. Wills asked.
“Now would be fine with me. Get it over with quickly. No killing this time though. A permanent mental breakdown should be more than sufficient. If you could have Mr. Jones drive Anya and I over there, I should be able to clean that up in less than twenty minutes and we can head right back.”
Dr. Wills said he’d let Mr. Jones know and he’d be waiting for Anya and I in front of the building. I got up and held my hands out to the blond woman. She handed me the M-16. I pulled the clip, jacked back the charging handle, expelled the round, reinserted the clip and flipped the switch to the safety position and set it down next to the door.
I opened the door and Anya walked thru ahead of me. “I’ll hang on to the pistols for the time being. I’ll leave them with Mr. Jones once we’re in the vehicle.” I said over my shoulder and pulled the door shut.
Anya and I walked out into the reception area where paramedics were loading the body of the Director onto a gurney. The bodyguard and the young administrator stood side by side watching. Their eyes turned to Anya and I as we walked past, heading towards the elevator. The bodyguard began reaching under his jacket for his concealed pistol. The young man put his hand on the man’s very large arm and whispered quickly. I smiled at them as we moved past, the smile on my face never reaching my eyes which were locked on the bodyguard. He stopped reaching and let his arm fall to his side.
We waited for the elevator car.
“Anya, are you hungry or thirsty?” I asked the blond in the orange jumpsuit.
“Yes sir.” she replied.
I frowned to myself. “Do you need to use the bathroom?”
“Yes sir.”
She had turned and was watching behind us, keeping an eye on the paramedics and the two CIA men next to them.
Jeezus…how badly had I screwed this woman up?
“Anya, listen to me very carefully. Your job is to protect me. To do that properly you have to take care of your body. If you’re hungry or thirsty, tell me. If you have to use the restroom, tell me. If you’re hurt, tell me. I don’t want you to kill yourself or damage yourself unnecessarily. Understand me?”
She was silent for a few seconds. “I understand you sir…I think.”
“Anya, your life has meaning to me. You are not just a weapon to be used and discarded. Not by me or anyone else.”
The elevator opened and we got on. As the doors closed, she looked up at me.
“I need to use the restroom very badly sir.” she said.
“Okay. We’ll find one for you when we get off on the first floor. And when we get to the hospital, we’ll stop and get you something to eat and drink.”
“Thank you.”
“And my name is Ike. You don’t have to keep calling me ‘sir’.”
She thought about that for a few more seconds. “Thank you…Ike.”
“You’re welcome, Anya.”
When we stepped off the elevator I looked around and saw a set of doors marked as restrooms and we headed towards them. I leaned against the wall.
“Go ahead, I’ll wait right here for you.” I said.
She seemed anxious. “I can’t protect you if I’m in there and you’re out here.”
I smiled and linked with the woman. I fed her a stream of reassurance and relaxation.
“I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself for a few minutes. If anything happens I’ll come inside and get you.”
She nodded and went inside.
‘Looks like you’re
going to spend more time taking care of her than the other way around.’
“So it would seem.”
‘I wonder what your ladies are going to think when they meet her.’
“That makes two of us. Izzy and Peggy will probably enjoy learning what she can teach them. Lilly’s going to be harder to convince.”
‘That isn’t what I meant.’
“I know.”
‘She’ll have to move
in with you.’
“Yeah…I really didn’t think this thru too well.”
‘Face facts…you fucked
up by the numbers.’
“Yeah. And if I could undo what I’ve done, would it make things worse?”
‘She would have killed
you. She wanted to kill you. It’s what she was trained for.’
“Maybe, if I’d taken more time…been less angry, less vindictive…”
‘Sometimes there
aren’t any good choices.’
“I guess.” It still didn’t make me feel any better about what I’d done. Or less guilty.
I looked around and saw Anya standing next to me, watching carefully.
“You were talking to yourself. In two different voices.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I do that sometimes.”
“It’s…interesting.”
“It’s annoying is what it is. All set?”
“Yes.”
“Good, let’s go find our ride then.”
We walked out into the main lobby, past the unmanned metal detectors and outside, where Mr. Jones was waiting for us in the SUV. Anya climbed into the seat next to Mr. Jones and I got into the back.
“Dr. Wills said you wanted to go to Walter Reed. Looking for your other mole?”
“Yeah. I want to end this part quickly so we can concentrate on our congressional problems. Oh, I promised Dr. Wills and the acting DCI that I’d turn these over to you.” I said, handing him the pair of pistols I’d been carrying.
“Acting DCI? Ahhhh...I see. Was it fast?”
“Faster than he deserved. The medical examiner will probably call it a stroke.”
“Good riddance. The
man was a political hack; didn’t know a damn thing about how to run an
operation like this.
“Well, with a little luck we can influence their next choice. Hell, my Colonel in Saudi could run this place better.”
Mr. Jones put the pistols away in the hollowed out center armrest between himself and Anya, shifted into drive and pulled away from the curb.
“If he has any kind of practical Intelligence experience there isn’t much chance Congress would ever approve him to be DCI. They might let him be Ambassador to some rinky-dink third world country though.”
I grinned slightly. “Just imagine how happy they’re gonna be when they find out about me.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing it. I’ll be straight with you…I thought the Doc was nuts offering you his job. At first anyway. But the men I sent along with you when you went home had nothing but praise for the way you handled yourself and the situatition. Everything I’ve seen with my own eyes confirms what they told me, and then some. You may be young, and you undoubtedly still have a lot to learn, but I think you’ll do well when the time comes.”
“Thank you, Mr. Jones. But let’s hope that time comes many years from now.”
We arrived at Walter Reed and Mr. Jones parked the SUV in the back lot. We entered thru the basement and stopped off in the small cafeteria to get Anya something to eat and drink. While she gobbled down sandwiches and soda, we drank coffee.
“Who do you think your mole is?” he asked me, between sips from the styrofoam cup in his hand.
“I honestly don’t know for sure. I know who I hope it isn’t, but I won’t let that stop me from finding who it is.”
“I didn’t figure it would. You have a rather strong sense of purpose. Once you get going and it’s like trying to stop a snow plow with streamers of crepe paper.”
I smiled slightly. “No one’s ever put it quite that way, but I wouldn’t say you were wrong.”
By the time Anya had eaten her fill it was nearly
“Mr. Jones, would you keep an eye one the elevators? Do you know Captain Rossi by sight?” He said he did. “Right, don’t let him or Colonel DeBerg leave. Anya and I are going to see if we can find them.”
The two of us went around the corner to the row of offices and I knocked on Colonel DeBerg’s door.
“Come in!” a muffled voice called out.
I opened the door and Anya followed me in. I shut the door and Anya stood in front of it while I took a seat in front of the Colonel’s desk.
He’d been reading the contents of a manila file and hadn’t looked up when we came in. I linked with him and paid close attention to his heart rate.
“Yes? What is it?” he muttered absently, leafing thru the pages in the folder.
“Good afternoon, Colonel. How’ve you been?”
His emotions reeked of puzzlement and minor irritation. He lifted his eyes from the folder and peering over his reading glassed, saw me sitting there in front of him.
He was happy to see me. Relieved, concerned, pleased and very happy. His heart rate increased slightly, but my own was pounding. What a load off my mind. I really did not want it to be him.
“Ike, how are you? Where the hell have you been? I heard you were injured downtown and were in the ICU and then later I was told you’d disappeared, along with Lilly and Peg.”
I grinned. “I’m fine. Yes, I was hit by a car and in the ICU. The CIA was going to move me to a safe house, but I got...re-directed, along with my sister, Lilly and Peggy. The girls are good; they are in protective custody right now. In fact, we’d like to invite you out to the house where we’re staying so you can see for yourself how they are.”
Colonel DeBerg looked over and saw Anya standing in front of the door.
“Don’t I know you, young lady? You are one of our newer patients, aren’t you?”
Anya looked at me for guidance.
“Colonel, this is Anya. She was, or rather is, a CIA field agent. She, along with a man who was ex-CIA, were put on the ward in the guise of patients. They were here to kill me.”
Colonel DeBerg’s mouth dropped open for a brief moment. He regained his composure and shut it with a snap.
“Someone on my staff falsified their files and records. There’s a spy here?”
“You’re quicker than I was. It took me a couple of days and a long talk with Anya to figure that out. Yes, you have a spy on your staff. That’s why we’re here. We’re going to find who it is and shut them up.”
He sat back and removed his glasses. “You said Anya here was sent to kill you? Who sent her, and why isn’t she trying to kill you now? I’m afraid I’m more than a little confused.”
I nodded. “It’s very
confusing. The semi-short version is
like this: The Director of the CIA
loaned Anya and a man named MacGruder to a U.S. Senator, who is also in league
with a Congressman. The Senator and
Congressman sit on sub-committees that have oversight of Dr. Wills’
department. Neither of them wants me to
become his deputy. The Congressman is
the one who arranged to have me taken from the ICU and the girls snatched from
CIA custody. The Senator had her spy on
your staff play fast and loose with the records so Anya and MacGruder could be
put on the Ward as patients and be in position to kill me. Their plans must have been thrown off
somewhat by my trip home, so the first shot they had was the weekend trip
downtown with the rest of the patients.
MacGruder is the one who hit me with the car. I realized before we left that something
wasn’t right with the pair of them, but I assumed that they were Dr. Wills’
people keeping an eye on me. While I was
in the ICU it occurred to me that I might lose Anya and any chance of finding
out who had sent her, so I came up here, captured her and turned her over to
Mr. Jones for safe keeping. That night I
was taken out of the ICU by the Congressman’s people who were masquerading as
Dr. Wills’ people and taken to a farm house down around
“Son, how can you be in ‘protective custody’ of the CIA if the Director wants you dead?”
“Well, that was going to be a problem. So about an hour ago I killed the Director. The Deputy Director now knows what’s been going on and will be the acting Director until the politicians get around to approving a new one.”
“Holy shit.” he hissed.
“Yeah…it’s been a busy morning. One thing left to do today though. Would you do me a big favor and ask Captain Rossi to come in here? I’d like a word with him.”
Colonel DeBerg nodded and picked up his phone.
“Coporal, is Captain Rossi around? Tell him I’d like to see him in my office right away. Thank you.” He put the phone back down and stared at me.
“If it’s him…if…I won’t kill him. I’ve had my fill for the week. But if it is him, you’re going to have a long term patient on your hands who’ll never recover.”
He shivered slightly at the thought.
“Anya, please step to the side. When Captain Rossi comes in, make sure he doesn’t try to leave. And don’t kill him. Anything else is okay.”
“Yes Ike.”
“How did you make her your bodyguard? Why did you make her your bodyguard?” the Colonel asked me.
“Who better to protect me than someone who was supposed to kill me? It’s the ultimate in irony. It was the best form of justice I could think of. I didn’t want to kill her, which was my second option, or turn her into a vegetable.”
There was a loud knock on the door. Anya side stepped quietly and quickly, her face calm and composed. I shifted my chair so it was angled more towards the door.
“Come in.!” the Colonel called out. The door opened and Captain Rossi walked in. Anya slipped behind him so quickly and quietly that I hardly saw a thing. I linked with the man as soon as I caught sight of him.
“Captain, come in, come in. Have a seat. We were just talking about a subject that I think you might be able to shed some light on for us. You remember Sergeant Blacktower, don’t you?”
The Captain stumbled briefly, turned his head and saw me sitting against the wall.
“Come in Captain. Don’t be shy.” I said.
He started to turn back towards the door and saw Anya standing there. He stopped, turned and slumped into the chair next to mine.
Guilt, anger, remorse, resentment and dying ambition rolled from him in waves.
“I see you recognize Anya. Would you mind telling me who paid you to falsify their records and files?”
He kept his mouth tightly shut.
“That’s quite alright. You don’t have to tell me. I already know about Senator Mortenson. And her deal with the CIA Director.”
I felt his heart jump, but deep inside there was a faint glimmer of hope.
“And Congressman Bustamante. I know you alerted them to the plans to take me from the ICU, I know you allowed two assassins on the ward to kill me, I know about the secretary in Dr. Wills’ office.”
Hope flickered and died in the man.
“If you have something else to confess, I’m willing to listen. Extenuating circumstances of some sort, sick mother, little brother needs an operation…political aspirations?”
Captain Rossi grimaced slightly. “Just arrest me and get it over with.”
“Rossi, you aren’t going to jail. There won’t be a court-martial, no Letter of Reprimand, no Article 15. You’ll be staying right here. Or in a V.A. lockup somewhere near your home of record. You willingly went along with a plan to kill me, you stupid fuck! I don’t like it when people try to kill me.”
I ripped out his anger, drained his remorse, resentment and guilt, mixed them with intense levels of pain and anguish and impending death, amplified them all, locked the loop and burned the ring into his body so it would never fade, being constantly feed by his own shattered emotions.
I cut the link and Captain Rossi bellowed hoarsely, leapt out of the chair and clawed at his head, tearing at his eyes and cheeks with short fingernails. He bounced off the right wall, slamming into the coat rack that stood in the corner. He charged at Anya, who pivoted swiftly and planted her foot in his belly and dropped him like a pole-axed steer.
“I think you might want to call some techs and have the man put into restraints, before he injures himself further.” I said coldly.
I stood up and gestured to Anya, who opened the door.
“Dr. Wills will get in touch with you later about coming out to visit us. I really would like you to see how they’re doing and I know they’d like to see you.”
Colonel DeBerg looked down at his head nurse and back up at me.
“You weren’t sure it was him, were you? You thought it might have been me?”
“It was a possibility. I didn’t want it to be you. You have no idea how much I didn’t want it to be you.”
“You would have done this to me?”
I looked the man in the eye. “If you’d been the one, yes I would.”
He nodded. He was reaching for the phone as Anya and I walked out. We met Mr. Jones by the elevators and rode down to the basement. We walked out to the parking lot, climbed into the SUV and rode back to headquarters in silence.
I was feeling very tired and alone right then. I wanted to see my girls, feel their love for me and feel that same love burning in me again. I felt a hundred years old.
We got back to CIA headquarters a little before
Neither Anya or I were currently carrying any ID that would allow us access to the building, so I showed the guard my military ID card and told him to call either Dr. Wills or acting Director Davenport and get us cleared thru. I wasn’t feeling too patient or friendly and Anya picked up on my mood and was getting wound up a bit herself.
Mr. Jones came in behind us, spoke with the guard then hustled us thru the detectors and up to the rooftop level. I saw my duffel bag and Izzy’s carry-alls being loaded into the helicopter along with several boxes of stuff I assumed were from my shopping list. Once the stuff was all loaded, Mr. Jones had Anya and I climb in and took his usual seat next to the pilot.
We were airborne in moments and zipping over the
I watched without interest as mile after mile passed below. It seemed to take forever, but eventually we circled the familiar building and landscape of the ranch and set down on the front lawn. We climbed out and Mr. Jones and I unloaded the boxes and bags, setting them out on the grass, while Anya looked around.
“Do you need any help getting this stuff inside!” he shouted over the noise of the rotors.
“No thanks…we can take it from here.” I shouted back.
“See you in a couple of days then!” he said and got back
in. Anya and I crouched down as the
copter took off and made a beeline back in the direction of
I stood up and looked at the house. It was nearly full dark, but I didn’t see any lights on.
“Don’t move, Anya.” I said softly and started broadcasting love and happiness.
Lights started coming on. The front door swung open and three figures came pouring out and ran towards us.
Peggy, as usual was fastest and first and leapt up into my arms, hugging and kissing me.
“Hello, squirt. Did you miss me?”
“Nah.” she said, giggled and hugged me harder.
Lilly and Izzy finally reached us and I scooped them all up in a big group hug, broadcasting my delight at seeing them for all the world to feel.
I finally set them down and turned to Anya.
“Anya, these are my girls. This is Izzy, this is Lilly and this is Peggy. They mean more to me than anything in the world. While we are here at the ranch, your first priority is to protect them, not me. Understand?”
Anya stood looking at the three women around me. Then she nodded her head.
“Yes sir…Ike.”
“Girls, this is Anya Rasmussen. You might remember her from our last day at the hospital. She is a CIA agent. She works for me now. I’ll explain it all over dinner. But first things first; these bags and boxes have to be taken inside. Our clothes and things from the shopping list.”
I moved towards the bags and was filling my arms when I noticed that I was the only one moving. Izzy, Lilly and Peggy were standing across from Anya and they didn’t look any too happy. Anya stood staring back at them.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“You go away in the morning and come back with another woman and you want to know what’s up?” Izzy growled at me.
I dropped the bags in my arms and stood up.
“Izzy, Anya is the woman I went to interview this morning. The one who tried to kill me? I decided she was too useful to kill and made her my bodyguard. She is going to protect you girls and teach you how to protect yourselves. That is all she is here for.”
The girls gave me the hairy eyeball and I threw my hands up in surrender.
“Do what you like. I give up. Anya, grab a box and follow me.”
I picked up the bags I’d dropped and started towards the house. Anya bent down and picked up a large box and followed me.
I didn’t look to see if the other three were coming or not. And I stopped broadcasting…I wasn’t feeling too happy any longer, just tired and very old.