AN: I don't own any rights to the movie Safe House
VIII. Delayed Symptoms
Edward watched as they left the diner when he saw the man's smug face he activated the signal and armed the bomb he'd placed under the black Town Car. When he looked up his heart dropped to his feet as he watched Joss follow the man towards his car.
Edward cursed under his breath. He'd already activated the bomb! Once it was armed, he couldn't deactivate it; if he didn't manually detonate it, the bomb would eventually go off on its own once the under belly of the car was hot enough.
Edward ducked back into the alley and frantically hit the detonate button multiple times. As he looked up, he began to panic as Joss got closer to the car and the bomb hadn't detonated. Making his decision, Edward tossed the detonator down and made his way over to the car to stop Joss. Just as he was crossing the street toward her, the car exploded and knocked him to the ground.
Joss's ears rung as she coughed. She opened her eyes to look around but her vision was blocked by John's chest. She tried to move but a throbbing pain in the back of her head caused her to close her eyes and wince.
After a few seconds, John looked over his shoulder at what was left of Finch's car. Then he looked back at Joss who was still tucked underneath him. He saw the expression of pain on her face and slowly lifted himself off of her to check her for injuries. Once he was confident that she wasn't seriously hurt, he helped her to her feet.
Joss grasped John's forearms as he helped her stand up. Once her head stopped spinning, she looked at the car John drove. Once the ringing in her ears slowed to a dull hum Joss turned around to look at John.
John looked around the ground trying to locate his phone, when he couldn't find it he turned to Joss and out stretched his hand, "Joss, I need your phone real quick?"
Joss dug into her front coat pocket and handed John her phone. She watched as he dialed Harold's number. As she waited for him to finish talking she looked around the crime scene. There were about thirty people standing around looking at the burning car. Before she could take in the scene any further she heard police and fire sirens.
"John, the police are on their way; you need to go before they get here," Joss stated.
"I'm not going anywhere," John said firmly as he looked into her eyes.
"Someone just blew up 'The man in the Suits' car, if they find out who you are they'll arrest you," Joss frantically whispered.
"No, someone just blew up an unregistered car," John replied.
Joss nervously looked backwards as the police approached. "And if they peg you as the man in the suit?"
"That would be impossible. After all, I'm just an average looking male in a suit that lives and works in New York," John said with a smirk.
Average looking my ass Joss thought as she rolled her eyes. She saw the police start blocking off the sidewalks and trying to get statements from people. She put herself on high alert as two officers made their way over to her and John. It was too late for John to leave the scene now, without looking suspicious
"So, what are we telling them?" Joss asked.
"Well Joss, you finally accepted John Warren's invitation to have coffee with him. After all you did save me from the FBI."
Joss turned her head and stared at John wide eyed. Out of all the damn covers he had, he picked the one that had a link to the Man in the Suit.
John looked at the look on Joss's face "Joss it's the only cover I have that's fully developed and explains how we know one another."
John watched as she unclenched her jaw and turned towards the cops that were quickly approaching them, he could barely contain the small twitch in his lips as he tried not to smile, well he could use another cover John thought as he opened his mouth and addressed the officers in front of them.
"Excuse me officers but I think my girlfriend needs to see a paramedic, I think she hit her head when that car exploded."
Fusco pulled up to the crime scene and looked at the torched remains of a car. As soon as Glasses had called telling him about the situation, he'd rushed to the scene to make sure Carter and Wonderboy were all right.
Fusco flagged down a uniform. "What happened here?"
"A car bomb went off sir. Luckily, no one was seriously injured. Detective Carter and her boyfriend were the closest to the explosion when it occurred, but they said they didn't see anything before it happened."
Fusco stood dead still and stopped listening when the uniform said 'Detective Carter and her boyfriend'.
"Detective Carter and her boyfriend?" Fusco questioned.
"Yeah, they were getting coffee together and they passed by the car before the explosion, Her boyfriend insisted that she see a paramedic; they're both by the bus getting checked out," the uniformed officer replied as he pointed towards the ambulance.
Fusco thanked him and walked towards the ambulance. He tried to control the laugh that was about to erupt. Judging by the scowl on Carter's face, Wonderboy was more than likely responsible for some, if not all of the fiasco.
"I'm a little offended Carter; I'm your partner, how come you didn't tell me you and Wonderboy were an item?"
"Shut it Fusco; I'm already not in the mood," Joss growled as she moved away from the ambulance to the cleared sidewalk.
Fusco chuckled and held his hands up. "So, what happened?"
"Someone tried to kill John," Joss replied, as she looked around to make sure no other cops were listening.
Fusco raised his eyebrow and looked at John. "Since when is that something new? So where do we go from here?"
John looked down at his watch; It was almost five in the afternoon. "You investigate Fusco, and see who planted that bomb. In the meantime, I'm taking Joss someplace safe."
"What! John I don't need..."
"Joss, you gave me your word to let me help you. Until we figure out who did this, I need to keep you safe."
"But..," Joss trailed off as she looked into John's pleading eyes and she sighed and conceded.
John let out a relieved breath when Joss didn't put up a fight. He nodded at Fusco and ushered Joss away from the crime scene. Joss's phone vibrated, John reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone noting it was a message from Harold. He smiled as he read the text.
"I hate to point out the obvious John, but I hope you don't plan on us walking to wherever were going?" Joss asked as John slowed their walk to a stop.
"We're going to one of Harold's safe houses, but first we're going to your place so you can pack whatever you need," John replied.
"Okay, but how are we getting there? Your car just blew up," Joss stated as she gestured backwards towards the crime scene.
"Harold already took care of it; he's sending a backup car," John replied, as he handed back her phone.
Before she could ask what he meant by backup car, a black Audi R8 v10 Coupe pulled up to the curb of the sidewalk. Joss stood with her mouth agape as she watched the driver get out of the car and walk towards them and hand John the keys.
"Here's your vehicle Mr. Warren. Claymont Private Car Services would like to thank for your continued business."
Joss watched as the driver got into a cab and left then turned her eyes back to the expensive car.
John smirked as he opened the door for Joss and guided her into the car. He shut the door and walked to the driver's side and got in. As he adjusted the seat and mirrors, he glanced over at Joss who was still taking in the car.
"So, this is what Harold considers a backup car?" Joss turned and smiled at John.
"Harold does have eccentric taste."
"This isn't eccentric John, it's artful," Joss replied as she slowly ran her hand over the dashboard.
"Artful?"
"Five hundred and twenty five horsepower at eight thousand revolutions per minute and three hundred and ninety one pounds of torque per foot, zero to sixty miles per hour in three point four seconds, isn't eccentric… it's an engineering masterpiece on four wheels." Joss replied as she caressed the dashboard.
John shook his head and almost let out a groan; guns, cars and sass. Definitely a woman after his own heart.
Harold re-watched the footage of the sidewalk where John and Jocelyn had been walking before the car exploded. Although, he was thankful that the machine had intervened and saved both John and the Detective's lives, he was becoming quite unsettled with the machine's growing ability to contact a person directly and converse.
Harold was brought out of his thoughts as he felt a presence behind him.
"That was a close call."
"Indeed, Ms. Shaw. What did Detective Fusco tell you about the attack?"
"Not much. Apparently the bomb was handmade and had a trigger on it, so whoever set it off was watching," Shaw replied.
"So, someone indeed is trying to kill Mr. Reese."
"Maybe, but I think there's something more to it," Shaw stated.
"Do tell, Ms. Shaw."
"Well, the way the bomb was improvised, the killer had two options; wait till they got into the car and set it off, or let it go off by itself. Once the bottom of the car got hot enough, it would have denoted on its own."
Harold nodded his head as Shaw spoke. "Then why detonate it before Mr. Reese was in the car?"
"Either the bomber messed up or the person needed to detonate the bomb early," Shaw stated.
"Why would someone who's trying to kill Mr. Reese detonate it early, knowing that the explosion wouldn't kill him?"
"If it's not an amateur, I can only think of one reason as to why I would detonate a bomb before my target was in range," Shaw replied.
"And why's that Ms. Shaw?"Harold asked.
"Someone I'm not supposed to kill got in the way."
Harold looked back at the video feed from the beginning. Harold was frustrated with to the lack of camera coverage. The poor placement of the security cameras left a blind spot and he couldn't see the other side of the street or the other side of the car. Harold pulled up the photos of the crime scene that Shaw had taken. As he looked at the pictures, an epiphany hit him as he saw a lone machine sitting on the corner in the perfect angle to capture the other side of the street. If they were lucky the machine had surveillance built in it.
Harold turned around and looked at Shaw, "Ms. Shaw how comfortable are you with stealing an ATM?"
Joss put her phone down and rubbed her temples. It was almost eight at night. After John took her home so she could pack a bag of clothes, he'd brought her to a ridiculous by expensive looking apartment in Manhattan, and then he'd left to go help Shaw steal an ATM. She didn't even want to ask him why.
As soon as she'd gotten settled, she'd called Taylor to check up on him, he'd had rushed her off the phone because he was kicking his father's butt in some basketball video game. Afterwards, Fusco called and updated her on the car bomb and then he told her that Mary's sister was coming into the station in the morning to talk to them.
Joss plopped down on the couch and tried to relax her nerves. Now that everything had settled down she was feeling the effects of everything that was happening. She hadn't said it out loud to anyone but she was on edge. So much so that she couldn't sleep more than thirty to forty- five minutes at a time without waking up thinking someone was watching her.
Her thoughts were interrupted as her phone rang as she looked down she saw Jaz's number.
"Hey, Jaz," Joss sighed heavily.
"Don't hey Jaz me, JoJo. Are you okay? I heard about the car bomb."
Joss rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. Don't you have better things to do than nose around an investigation that has nothing to do with me? Don't you have court cases to be working on?"
"Screw court. Besides Joss, we have some serious business to talk about. I'm looking at your bodyguards and their resumes and I want to know, what the hell s wrong with you?"
Joss scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion and worry, pondering if Jaz found out that Sam and John weren't really bodyguards. "Jaz, what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about this fine piece of ass that you have following you around. He is absolutely sinful to look at."
Joss slumped into the couch and slapped her hand against her forehead. "Really Jaz?"
"Yes, really, girl! I bet he has a sexy deep voice too and those baby blues just won't quit…aww your babies are going to be adorable.''
"Our babies! Jaz I'm forty one…and I'm not pregnant!" Joss exclaimed into the phone.
"Please forty's the new thirty…so what are you doing?" Jaz asked.
Joss stood up and walked towards the kitchen, opened the fridge and pulled a beer out of it, "Right now I'm listening to you talk about my bodyguard getting me pregnant."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Joss heard keys clatter to the floor. As she whipped her head around, she saw John looking at her like she'd grown two heads.
"Jaz I have to go, I'll talk to you later." Joss rushed Jasmine off the phone as she looked at John who was now staring at her stomach.
"John, you walked in on the wrong part of that conversation...my friend was being ridiculous besides….uhm…so, what's for dinner?" Joss asked as she hastily changed the subject.
"Uhm..Chinese food," John stated slowly as he pointed to the bag of take out on the counter.
They pulled out the kitchen stools and sat down.
"So how was your moonlighting activity as a ATM robber?" Joss asked with pursued lips.
"It went well. Finch is removing the camera and trying to see if he can find out who put that bomb under the car," John replied between forkfuls of fried rice.
"That's good. Fusco said they were able to pull a partial print from the bomb. Hopefully they will be able to run it and find a match," Joss stated.
"So, what did you do while I was gone…other than talk to your friend about your bodyguard induced pregnancy?" John asked with a smirk.
"HaHaHa…. your face was priceless, though, when you thought I was pregnant…" Joss replied with a grin as she grabbed one of John's steamed dumplings with her chopsticks.
"Hey…that was mine," John groused with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Well, as your pretend girlfriend I reserve the right to eat your food, wear your clothes, and make you watch sappy romantic movies," Joss laughed as she stole another dumpling from him.
John smiled as he thought about how nice it would be to come home to her wearing his clothes. He tried to stifle the somber feeling he felt as he thought about how beautiful Joss would look carrying his child.
Harold stared at his computer screen as he ran a program to help enhance the picture of the man he suspected was involved in the attempt on John's life.
Harold watched as the man walked into an alley then, after twenty minutes, returned. The man walk towards John's car, kneeled down, and pretended to tie his shoe as he quickly placed the bomb under the car, and walked back across the street.
The next frame showed the man frantically pressing what Harold assumed to be, the detonator as John and Joss approached the car. When it appeared that the detonator wasn't working, the man began to cross the street headed towards the car, but his focus wasn't on John but on Detective Carter.
Harold's eyes widened as he realized one possible reason for the attempt on John's life. Before he divulged his findings he needed to check some more footage, starting at the beginning of Detective Carter's day.
John sat quietly on the couch with the TV on low volume as it played the movie they'd been watching before Joss fell asleep. John looked down and gazed at Joss's face as she lay asleep in his lap. His silent introspection interrupted as he heard a buzzing in his ear.
John answered Harold in a hushed voice and listened as he explained his theory as to who tried to kill him and why.
After Finch had bid him goodnight, John sat in silence as he tried to control his anger. He wasn't pissed that Joss's stalker had tried to kill him, he was livid because the man could have hurt or killed Joss.
John took a few breaths and calmed himself as he looked back down at Joss's face. He needed to make sure Fusco kept a lid on the fact that Joss's stalker tried to kill him. If Joss knew that his life was in danger because of her stalker, she would completely shut him and everyone around her out to try and protect them. John moved a piece of her hair out of her face and rested his hand on her shoulder.
As he was watching her sleep the words coming from the movie drew his attention and he looked up and listened as the characters talked to one another.
'You can't expect to have a real relationship in our line of work, Don't worry. She's not going to leave you. See, what happens is, you try to protect her with lies, and then it starts to add up. After a while, even the truth...starts to sound like a lie. You'll keep covering your tracks, she'll keep believing. Because she wants to, because she needs to. That's why we exist, you and me, that's our job. To take advantage of that. People's desire to believe. To trust. She's not going to leave you, Matthew. You're going to leave her.'
John turned the TV off and looked down at Joss. A sickening feeling rose from the pit of his stomach and lodged itself in his throat as he thought about the decision he'd made with Jessica. John felt tears well up in his eyes as he looked at Joss's sleeping face.
History always had a bleak way of repeating itself and he began to wonder if he would end up making the same decision again.
