"Miguel told me what happened," Willis said as he opened the door. Mendez worked for Willis as a file clerk and assistant. "Have a seat." Teddy gestured to the flowered sofa.
Adam sat on the edge of the couch, not allowing himself to get comfortable, still shaken by Grady's cry for help at the hospital. "He's in septic shock because bacteria entered his blood stream. They are pumping him full of drugs." Adam had kept his head bowed and then looked up to Willis, who was handing him a cup of coffee. "I don't know what I'll do if I lose him."
Teddy placed a hand on Adam's shoulder. "I know Grady, Adam. He's gonna be fine. Just fine," Willis added as he squeezed his friend's shoulder.
The detective leaned back on the couch letting himself momentarily relax. "He was there on my floor for God knows how long." Beaudreaux let his guilt wash over him, the 'if only' statements came to mind. Willis was the person he could share these thoughts with. The man already knew most of Adam's deep dark secrets from veteran's group. Beaudreaux only hoped Teddy could ease his conscience.
Willis shook his head, placing his mug on the coffee table. "Now Adam, you're not superman."
"But I'm a cop, and I am supposed to protect people." Beaudreaux was frustrated he hadn't been there for Grady. Adam was always trying to make up for not finding the younger man sooner. If only he had thought about checking the orphanages in Da Nang instead of limiting his search to the military camp.
"Protect them, not be their savior." Teddy cupped his coffee in both hands. "You're the best detective I know. You'll catch the people who did this."
Adam put his cup down; he wasn't interested in coffee at this moment. "That's why I'm here. I need to know if you've heard about any Vietnamese refugees coming from Lan Duc prison." Jamieson had been an inmate there. It was in prison where he had learned most of the martial arts that helped him to survive. "Anyone that might have a motive to hurt Grady."
Willis stood up, taking both cups into the kitchen. "I'll do what I can Adam, you know I will."
The detective stood up to leave. Willis opened the door and put his hand out. Adam clenched his friend's outstretched hand. Beaudreaux paused for a moment. At the hospital he had willed strength into Grady. He hoped Willis's presence and friendship would be there to do the same for him.
Grady gulped a few times to moisten his dry throat. His eyes felt heavy, and although he felt more of a sense of awareness, he was not ready to become fully awake. The martial artist felt overly warm and tugged weakly on the edge of the blanket covering him. Jamieson was unable to exert the effort to make the covering move very far to alleviate the heat. He squeezed his eyes, hoping to clear the confusion in his mind; questions began to creep into his mind. Where was he? What happened? Jumbled images flittered and weaved in his head confusing him. Finally, Grady decided to open his eyes if only for a moment. Malloy was sitting by the edge of his bed. Jamieson's eyes traveled along the room. He wasn't at the bar. "Hey," he gritted out, his voice gravely from disuse.
"Grady!" The blonde exclaimed softly. She caressed his face, staring at him as if he were a ghost.
Jamieson closed his eyes for a moment as shadows began to descend on him. Suddenly, he felt cold and shivered. Grady rubbed his hand under his nose, feeling something foreign there.
The martial artist felt a sense of dread stemming from a lack of awareness and control. Malloy grabbed his hand. Her hand felt strangely grounding and comforting against his clammy skin.
"What happened?" Grady took in a deep breath hoping to clear his mind, stay with his friends instead of slipping into his seemingly all too real nightmares. Jamieson forced himself to think. He focused on an anchor. "B all right?"
"You were shot," she said in a low voice.
Grady nodded, not fully comprehending, believing the pain was from something else. Was he still in prison? Maybe he was hiding on the streets? He struggled to rise off the bed with the notion he needed to leave and find the truth.
Another set of hands grabbed his arm. Grady flinched at the contact, trying to remember what he had done to land back in Hell. The hand was cooling, not sweaty and dirty. "Gary?" Jamieson thought his old friend, who had helped him when he first got back to North America, was assisting him again.
Miguel's image swam before him. "It's Miguel." Mendez repeated over and over again.
Grady closed his eyes for a moment. Exhaustion began to envelop him, as he tried to accept he was momentarily safe. Miguel seemed insistent in keeping him from sleep's call.
"Is someone after you?" The former gangbanger said as he shook Jamieson's arm.
"Me?" Grady opened his eyes to narrow slits. "Don't think so. Maybe," he said as he tried to bury himself deeper into the mattress as images of being chased began to torment him. "No questions," he said panting as if he had been running for his life-so many people were after him.
"It's okay," Malloy began to stroke his hair.
This seemed to hold the paranoid images at bay, softening them like Lisa used to do when they lived together. Grady opened his eyes and gave the blonde a wan smile believing it was his former girlfriend and not Malloy.
He was still so confused by the images happening in this room before his eyes. He wanted to reach out to see if they were real, but he was too scared to find out. It was so hard to think. "Am tired," Grady uttered, sharing his weakness, feeling ashamed he was unable to be stronger.
Adam stormed into Pine's office as soon as he got to the bullpen. Eric must have seen him come in and followed close behind. "I know what you're going to say," Beaudreaux started as Charlie looked up at him, placing his pen back on the desk. "Rothman has volunteered for the Lipton case." Adam pointed at the young detective by his side, who nodded in agreement. "I know it's against procedure, but I am going to find Grady's shooter with or without your blessing."
"No problem," the Lieutenant said. He picked up his pen and resumed writing. "The Lipton case is closed."
Adam felt momentarily deflated. The detective had prepared himself for an argument; even to turn in his badge, but not Charlie giving him permission. "He came back?"
"Don't know." Pine shrugged, leaning back in his office chair, his face showing a demeanor of calmness. "NSA came in and said they're handling it. In light of what happened to Grady I didn't think I should protest."
"No Such Agency?" Rothman said interrupting from the doorway he stood in during the whole proceedings.
Pine lifted an eyebrow, giving the younger man a questioning look
"Sorry," Eric smiled. "But for a bunch of code breakers they are very cloak and dagger."
Adam shook his head; glad he did not have to concentrate on more than one case. "Whatever, I don't care." He looked at Rothman. "What do the forensics reports say?"
Eric removed the perennial grin from his face. "Prints were found at your apartment other than Grady's."
"And?" Adam said exasperated with Rothman's dramatic pause. Beaudreaux wanted answers not a hard time. Eric was a good up and coming detective with great instincts, but some days Adam wanted to kill him. Now was one of those days, when the young man was standing between him and finding the truth to Grady's shooter.
"That's it, Sarge." Rothman seemed to shrink back from Beaudreaux's tone of voice.
"We can't find out whom they belong to," Pine interrupted so that Adam would calm down his wrath and divert it to someone other than Rothman, who was just the deliverer of bad news, not the actual shooter. "They come up classified."
Adam realized his emotions were running rampant. He gave a quick nod of apology to Eric before sliding into the guest chair across from Charlie. "Is that too coincidental? NSA and the mystery prints?"
"I think not, Sarge." Eric replied flippantly, already recuperated from Adam's stinging voice moments ago.
Beaudreaux looked up to the ceiling. "I was hoping you weren't going to agree with me, Rothman." The older detective rose and headed for the office door.
"Don't go stepping on any federal agent's toes, Adam," Pine said loudly to the sergeant as he walked out of the bullpen.
Rothman caught up in a few steps, Adam gave him a nod, appreciating the company and the friendship of the younger man. Without Grady around it was nice to know someone was watching his back.
As they drove to CGX's building Eric used the silent time to gather his thoughts. Adam was gripping the steering wheel, lost in one single moment. Rothman knew he had to be a good friend, and make sure Beaudreaux did not go over the deep end.
The young detective had to put a hand on the dash as Adam abruptly shifted the sedan into park. Eric didn't have time to make any remarks. The Sergeant slammed the door to the car and with determined steps was walking towards the entry of the office building.
The receptionist was silenced by the scowl on Beaudreaux's face. She was still cowering when Eric came in; he raised his badge and gave a lopsided grin. Rothman finally caught up to the Sarge, as he was about to barge in on human resources.
"Sarge, let me handle this." Rothman said as he placed his hand over Adam's on the doorknob. Adam paused for moment, then finally relaxed his hand by his side.
Eric grinned, "Charm always wins out over brute force." The young detective was trying hard to bring some levity to the situation.
Adam raised an eyebrow skeptically before shaking his head as they entered.
Rothman spied the nameplate of the woman as the desk. It was the same woman who had contacted the police when Lipton did not report to work. "Mary, my name is Detective Rothman and I work with Sergeant Beaudreaux." Eric introduced himself, leaning against the guest chair in the office. "I'm following up on Gary Lipton."
"So you found him?" Mary asked as she pulled off her reading glasses. "Is he all right?"
"No, there is still an open investigation," the Sergeant said as he stood in the middle of the small office. His arms were crossed; he still looked formidable and daunting.
Eric gestured for Adam to take a seat, somewhere far away from Mary, so he wouldn't scare the woman. "What was Mister Lipton working on here at CGX?"
The young detective watched as Mary appraised him, taking in his finely cut sport jacket and tailored pants. She placed her glasses back on and went over to a file cabinet. "Let me check his job description. With over 250 employees, I am not familiar with all positions."
"Thank you, it's important." Rothman leaned against the human resource rep's desk and picked up a picture on her desk. There were two children waving at the camera. Eric smiled at the twosome, returned the photo to its spot.
"He was an electrical engineer, specializing in creating computer chips," Mary said clutching the folder to her.
"Anything special about this chip?" Eric raised his eyebrows, and gave the woman a bashful grin trying to flirt with her.
She looked down for a moment, before saying under her breath. "This company does have federal contracts so I really can't say."
"Thank you, Mary." Eric gave a nod to Adam who had crossed his legs and was nervously jangling his foot. "You have a lovely day." He winked to the woman.
She smiled, her cheeks pinked. "If I can be of any further assistance . . ."
"See, Sarge, A little sugar goes a long way." Rothman commented to Beaudreaux after they left the office.
Adam just rolled his eyes, but Eric could swear he heard a mumbled, "Thanks."
Nothing was making sense yet everything was coming together. Adam stretched out his legs. The hospital chair wasn't comfortable for his large frame, but he was glad the night nurse had shown him the kindness and allowed him to stay. Grady's monitors beeped incessantly, and Beaudreaux watched the young man sleep through the cacophony. The doctor had told them that peritonitis was very painful and taxing on the body so Jamieson's deep slumber was actually the best thing for him. He had awoken sporadically, but soon was exhausted.
Adam contemplated as Grady slept. Somehow Lipton and his work were linked to the NSA and his bedridden friend. The detective rubbed his face.
"Sorry Sergeant, but you look like someone burning the candle at both ends."
Adam was startled and opened his eyes wide. He had not noticed that the nurse had come in to check on Grady's vitals.
"I'll keep an eye on your friend." She patted Jamieson affectionately on the arm. "You should get some rest." The woman gave him a stern look when he did not leave the chair right away.
Not wanting to stray from her good graces, he agreed. "I am a bit tired."
She snorted and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Malloy was surprised to see Adam at the bar so early in the morning. She had figured she would work on the books before heading to the hospital for visiting hours. Today she had a feeling Grady would be better. She hoped it wasn't wishful thinking. Malloy knew she couldn't deal with another person in her life dying. The blonde woman tried not to seem shocked at seeing her partner there. "Did you stay here all night?" She tossed her keys on the bar and went around joining Adam.
"My home is a crime scene," Beaudreaux replied as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
Malloy held out a mug to her friend. "Oh, there has to be more to it." She sniffed the dark brew.
Adam put down his mug without taking a sip. "He shouldn't have been there, and this shouldn't have happened," he replied vehemently.
"Could of, would of, should of-know what they have in common?" Malloy placed both hands around her steaming cup of coffee. "They can drive you crazy." She was going to continue and try to ease her friend's fabricated guilt when two men entering the bar interrupted her. "I'm sorry. We're closed." Malloy told the two suited men.
They nodded to her and stepped into the bar. "Sergeant Beaudreaux, I'm Agent Ferrin and this is Agent Luster of the National Security Agency." The larger of the men made the introductions as they pulled out their badges.
Malloy stepped forward to examine the pictures closely. "Gentlemen, the bar is not open but I can offer you a cup of coffee." She pulled out two cups.
Agent Luster waved her off. "No, thank you, ma'am."
Agent Ferrin sat down on an available bar stool. "Sergeant, we came to speak to you about a case that as you know is closed."
Adam leaned forward, planting his hands on the firm wood bar top. "Well evidence says otherwise. . ."
Agent Luster sat next to Agent Ferrin. "This is a matter of National Security, Sergeant." The Agent narrowed his dark eyes menacingly.
Ferrin picked at a spot on the bar's counter top, before looking up. "And we would rather not contact your superior officer about this matter."
Malloy placed a hand on Adam's bicep. She saw how Beaudreux's temper was growing, she didn't want him to say anything that could jeopardize his position as a detective. "My friend is laying there fighting for his life." Adam spat.
The two agents stood up, their stools grated against the floor. "Sometimes accidents happen. As you know there are risks involved in law enforcement."
Malloy squeezed the bicep harder than she intended as her anger was piqued. "Grady is not a police officer."
"Whatever the case may be, we understand that Grady Jameison will make a full recovery." Luster said and Ferrin nodded in agreement.
Malloy let go of his arm, and Adam slapped his palm on the bar. "You hope."
Ferrin shifted nervously. "Be that as it may we want to make sure our position on the Lipton matter is FULLY understood." Agent Luster gestured towards the door.
"Was that a threat?" Adam began to walk around the bar.
"The NSA does not make threats." Luster stopped as he reached the door, and turned. "We protect the public, and hope you can accept that. . ."
"I can, and that's all I intend to do too." The detective stood in the middle of the bar.
Malloy watched as the two agents left the bar. Adam's back was to Malloy. She stepped from behind the bar. "Adam, what's going on? The NSA is involved? What does this have to do with Grady?"
Adam stayed in the same spot and shook his head. "I don't know. I just don't know."