Chapter 9_ Peace and Quite
"SAM, SAM" Michael yelled as he woke, realizing that it was not a good idea to move as much as he did and as quickly.
Hands above him had the same thought as they pushed him down when he started to rise. The voice jumbled around Micheal's head as he worked through the first few moments of being awake again.
The voice was surprisingly familiar as he opened his eyes to see a face he recognized but could not place.
"Sam is fine." the face said back to him, as he understood more words. "He is on his way to Jackson Memorial's ER, but they said he would be fine."
Still slightly panicked Michael pulled the mask from his mouth and tried to focus on the face in front of him as he pulled himself to a sitting position.
She continued to talk to him, her brown hair falling softly over her shoulder.
"Michael Weston, why am I not surprised to see you here." as she returned the mask to his face. "You need to keep that on, you've inhaled a lot of smoke. Give yourself a few minutes."
Suddenly he knew her and knew what she was.
"Detective Paxton, nice to see you again." Michael smiled through the mask as he breathed the fresh air into his burning lungs and then coughed deeply.
"Now let me guess, you and Sam Axe were just walking by and the room just exploded, sending thousands of shards of bomb debris and glass raining down over the pool area below and into the hall way. Is that right?"
Michael swallowed hard as his memory cleared slightly. "Something like that." he answered.
"Michael, this place is about 10 minutes away from swimming in alphabet soup and I need a little more than that, or I will hand you over to the first agency that arrives. I am sure they won't be as nice as I am. At least for the moment." she emphasized. "Now what is the real story."
Mike hesitated. "Sam."
"He's fine, he was knocked into the same wall as you. He has a few injured ribs and a hell of a lot of shards that need to be removed. You were lucky he landed on you. He blocked most of the debris. That makes me think he was behind you when it all went down."
"Or next to me." Michael added.
"Don't push me. I am giving you one last opportunity because I owe you.. a little. I seriously doubt you tried to blow yourself up so I won't hold you as a suspect, but I do want information. You know who was in that room. Were you the intended target?"
Nothing from Mike.
"The best and the brightest will be here soon, but I think you will have answers long before them. I believe you will find this bomber or you already know who this is. Now, the truth."
Michael sat up a little straighter and breathed in a little deeper. He hated not having a choice. The agencies she spoke of would tie him up for days, or longer. Time lost that might save a life or two.
"There is a man in Miami," he began, "He wants information from my past that I can not give him."
"Do you have a name?" She asked, watching two men approach from down the hall.
"If I tell you and you post it, he will run and I will lose an opportunity."
"To kill him?"
"Do you really want to know the answer to that? I told you once that we are on the same side. That is still true. Just imagine if it were hours from now and that pool area below was covered in tourists when this bomb blew. Can you imagine the injuries? He doesn't care, he just kills for money."
Detective Paxton looked up again. The men stood down the hall, in front of the room still billowing smoke. One man in a black suit, the other in a charcoal gray. Michael noticed them too.
"Stay here." she said firmly and stood from her crouch.
Michael grabbed her hand, "They are FBI, they are the easy ones. I can get him, but not from inside a jail cell."
"I will be right back. No promises" she said as she stood again.
"Hello, I'm Detective Paxton. Miami PD. Are you... FBI?" she asked holding out her hand. The man in the black suit reaching out his hand to return the shake "Ruiz. This is Thompson out of the Miami office. What have you got?"
"An explosive device, that is for sure. The Fire Department is still trying to put out the rest of the fire so we can get in there. It shouldn't be much longer." looking over at the man in front of her. " Is there someone in Miami we should be looking at? Does the FBI have any info?"
"Not yet." Said Thompson, too quickly. "What about him?" Pointing down the hall towards Michael.
"Him?" thinking quickly. "An unlucky tourist going out to watch the sunrise. His buddy is already on the way to Jackson, and he is going soon."
"We are just going to ask him a few questions." Said Ruiz pushing past her with Thompson right behind. "What is his name?"
"Mike." She answered.
Detective Paxton looked at Michael. She could see the look on his face, like he had been betrayed. Quickly she made a face at him. Tilted her head to the side, crossed her eyes and hung her tongue out slightly.
Mike recognized the signal and played along.
"Hello Mike." Ruiz began. "I'm special agent Ruiz and this is my partner Thompson."
"YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO SPEAK UP. I CAN'T HEAR YOU." Michael said as loud as he could and pointing to his ears as he breathed heavily into the oxygen mask.
"WE NEED TO ASK YOU A FEW QUESTIONS." Ruiz yelled back.
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, I WAS WALKING DOWN THE HALL." Michael looked down the hall at Paxton who was pretending to snap photos from an imaginary camera. "GOING OUT TO TAKE A FEW PHOTOS AND POW. I GET BLOWN UP. THINGS LIKE THIS DON'T HAPPEN IN OHIO."
"DID YOU SEE ANYONE?" Ruiz yelled back.
"YEAH, MY EYES ARE A LITTLE FUZZY, THEY CAN FIX THAT AT THE HOSPITAL, RIGHT."
"I SAID, DID YOU SEE ANYONE." he repeated.
"I CAN SEE BETTER NOW THAN A LITTLE WHILE AGO, THANKS FOR ASKIN'. MY WIFE IS GOIN' TO KILL ME FOR BEING GONE SO LONG. HOW LONG WAS I OUT?"
Thompson looked at Ruiz, asking questions was useless. They would have to try later. They could visit him at the hospital.
"THANKS." They yelled at him. Turning, they returned to Paxton. "Get what you can from him and we will see him later at the hospital."
"No problem. I will forward you a copy of my report as soon as I am done."
"Great, we're just going to check out the room for now. Any other injuries?"
"They are pulling one dead body from the room, they are unsure if there are more, and a maintenance man below was hit by some falling debris."
" It could have been a lot worse. Thanks again." Ruiz said as the two headed back down the hall towards the room.
Paxton knelt at Michael s side.
"Thanks" he said.
"Don't make me regret my decision."
He smiled at her as she helped him stand and walk to the elevator. " Catch the bomber, I don't know how long before the alphabet soup boils."