She was angry… furious actually. On the surface fear showed in every line of Elizabeth's face as she negotiated her way through the capital's traffic… fear bordering on desperation… but deep in her heart she was angry… Diana's call four hours ago had shaken her world. Peter was missing… the details were lacking, someone named Clarence Walker had taken him as a hostage outside Neal's hospital room she said… Elizabeth sighed… the anger seeping to the surface… That's what it boiled down too… Neal… she knew he didn't mean for it to happen but Peter was once again in trouble because of his friendship with Neal…
For the last year he had come home more or less on time… he hadn't brought work home… for the last year she hadn't held her breath in fear like this… for the last year Peter had been a stable husband… a devoted father…It had been such a relief after everything they had been through in the years previously…
Then Neal hadn't been back a week before all of that had changed…now her husband left them for 3 and ½ weeks and then is kidnapped… all to protect the young con artist…
She sighed again, deeply. It wasn't that she wasn't glad Neal was alive… she had been thrilled in fact to see him a few weeks ago, but now she wondered why he couldn't have just stayed in Paris…why couldn't Peter just trust this agent Reynolds to take care of him… but one call and he had run out of the house in the middle of the night… in a near panic…throwing her a breathless half explanation. He called the next morning telling her Neal was hurt again and he was staying until he was sure he would be ok… Peter hadn't gone into a lot of detail … just that he was hurt, his voice said it was probably pretty bad…she'd been concerned but she hadn't pushed for details… she agreed to stay where she was… her husband said he didn't want her involved in this mess… well … she didn't want him involved either but he refused to come home… pleading with her to understand… his friend needed him… he had to protect him he said… he hung up without explaining exactly what happened … promising he would be safe.
Except he wasn't safe… he was missing because of Neal. Elizabeth brushed a stray tear away as she pulled into the parking structure… she unstrapped her son and headed into the hospital… She was a little surprised he was still here…it must have been really bad if they hadn't released him after 3 and ½ weeks…
She needed to talk to Neal… needed to ask how this happened… ask him to help bring Peter home…she was sure he had some ideas… that he could find a way if anyone could… she sighed …she hated to do it but after he did, she intended ask him to go back to France as soon as he could and stay there. She promised herself she would suggest it gently but… she was just so angry… and terrified. Surely he would understand that she couldn't keep doing this. How had Neal just let this man take her husband?
She searched for the room on autopilot… not paying that much attention to the path her feet took…didn't notice when she passed the sign for the ICU…
It really wasn't that hard to find the room. It was the only one with two FBI agents standing stiffly outside the door. They actually stopped her, demanded she show her ID… her name raised eyebrows but they must have decided she wasn't a threat… because they let her in… there were two more agents inside the room… and Neal…
Elizabeth froze… her anger shriveling in her throat along with all the words she meant to say…the demands she planned to make… turning to shock … horror and understanding… of course Peter couldn't leave him like this… It had been three weeks and he still looked…so fragile… she shuddered trying not to imagine the condition he had been in at the beginning…
"Neal…?" Suddenly she wasn't sure that broken figure in the bed was the man she knew… maybe this was the wrong room…maybe… she tentatively stepped closer to the bed…dull blue eyes stared up at the ceiling…vacant and lifeless… she swallowed convulsively "Neal… hey?" no response… she took his hand gently, the last of her anger at him dissolving… still no response. Elizabeth suddenly wondered if he had been this way the whole time... No Peter mentioned Neal giving him a clue just a couple of days ago… she looked up as one of the agents shook his head
"Good luck…" the man said. "He's not very talkative since he stopped fighting to go find his friend" She found that didn't surprise her…. Of course Neal wanted to help… he had a good heart. A twinge of guilt hit her.
"Neal… look at me..." his eyes turned toward her unfocused… looking through her… "Do you know who I am?" The tiniest nod before turning his gaze back to the ceiling… "Are you ok…?" no response… she glanced back at the agent just inside the door… "He was fighting?" Did he hurt himself?"
"No… just shut down when he couldn't get up… don't know what possessed him to even try… he just kept begging for them to let him help… when they wouldn't let him he just…" he gestured to the quiet young man…
"Neal… this isn't your fault …" she was shocked to hear herself say. It really wasn't she admitted…how could it be…after all he came home to do the right thing…how could she have faulted him for that… besides he looked barely alive and obviously he was already tearing himself apart. She reached out and brushed the hair back from his face… he turned his head away, denying himself the comfort, tears filling his eyes… spilling down his cheeks…Elizabeth realized she had never actually seen him cry…the tears didn't stop … but he didn't make a sound…
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Reynolds paced the office… watching the room outside swarm with activity… he wasn't in charge of the search but every available agent was involved. He massaged his temple…gingerly touched the angry bruise on his cheek…Caffrey made contact pretty good this morning….he sighed… he wished there was some way he could have let the man help…he couldn't imagine how helpless he must feel. Stuck in that bed… waiting for news on his friend…. Maybe he should have brought him some files on Walker to go through… maybe he still should… give the poor kid someway to help.
All the evidence suggested Walker was headed north… a man meeting his description, using a debit card under one of his aliases certainly was but Thomas had a bad feeling it was a false lead… a man didn't rise as far as Walker had in the ranks of the NSA without being smart and using a known alias right now was patently stupid. Thomas groaned… maybe he was just hoping they were wrong, because this man headed north didn't have anyone in the car with him… the witnesses were all sure that he was alone. Which meant if it was Walker he had either, killed Peter and dumped him somewhere… or he was crammed into the trunk…and the pictures they had of the car… that trunk was a tight fit at best… Thomas swore softly.
A light tap on the door he looked up… Berrigan and Jones. They looked at him evenly.
"Walker's not heading north." Jones said quietly
"I tend to agree but they have to follow the evidence…" the other man sat his laptop on Reynolds desk… pulling up two images… the first was a picture of dark blue sedan pulling out of the hospital parking structure, two men clearly visible in the front seat "we've seen this shot before."
"Yes we have… and that is not the car they are tracking"
"The assumption is he traded cars."
"He didn't." he brought up the second image, a dark blue sedan… two men in the front seat… entering a highway.
"Where is this?"
"Taken 10 hours ago … entering highway 70 outside of Baltimore… headed west"
"Do you have anything else… anything after that?"
"No"
"They could have turned north after that."
"That's what they said" he jerked his head toward the outer office
"But they didn't" Berrigan broke in… "This guy is no idiot… he's not using a name he knows we have a record of… it's a decoy."
"I agree… let's keep looking west… there has to be some evidence if they are headed that way."
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Flannery watched him closely as he stepped into the interrogation room, her green eyes held a new expression. Fear. Reynolds smiled
"What do you want Flannery?"
"I want to cut a deal."
"For what…?"
"Protection… they said Walker is cleaning house."
"He is trying."
"If I tell you everything I know, will you protect me?"
"we already have enough to put him away for good."
"If I can fill in some of the details, will you protect me?"
"Depends on what you know" the fear in her eyes floated closer to the surface. She gulped
"Walker called the shots from the beginning…"
"Who arranged the deaths of Martin, Davis and Mendez?"
"Who?"
"Three boys who were killed March 14th of 2000."
"Ahh yes I do remember…" she smiled coldly "I got a call from Walker… said Nolen's files had been compromised…that certain things might come to light."
"The contracts?" Flannery smiled stiffly
"What do you know about that?"
"we have them in our possession." Her eyebrows arched nervously "What did he want from you when he called?"
"He wanted me to send one of my… associates to Nolen's house."
"And you sent…?"
"Ryan Mathews"
"I see." Reynolds raised an eye brow "no one else?"
"No one else. I heard he had a similar… arrangement with Tomas Martinez"
"What about the recent attacks on Mr. Collins and my daughter?"
"Walker told us to take care of it"
"So you sent a sniper after him first?"
"No…though I've heard Walker was quite the sniper himself… in his day."
"But Wilson was you?"
"He may have been…"she shook her head sighing in resignation "He was my lover. He was there when Walker called telling me the witness was in DC… to take care of him. Wilson promised me he could handle it."
"But he botched the job…?"
"Badly." She glanced around anxiously "Walker was not happy… he said he was going to kill him… I warned Wilson, figured I owed him that much."
"I see" Thomas looked at her "What can you tell me about Walker himself?"
"Not much… we were never what you would call… friends. I'll give you what I can though."
"Do you have any idea where he might go to lay low?" she frowned thoughtfully
"No I don't…" her eyes flickered "wait… maybe I do… no promises but…"
"Give me something useful and I promise the best protection we can offer."
"There's this place… we met there once… in Kansas… an underground bunker if you can believe that."
"Clarence Walker has a bunker in Kansas?" Thomas confirmed
"Yeah…. Ugly little place." He smiled
"I'll need an address…" she scribbled it on the note pad in front of her and pushed it silently across to him.
"That just might be worth your safety." Reynolds stood up to leave, he hesitated at the door
"Why sign physical contracts with Walker"
"It was to keep both sides honest… mutually assured destruction"
"Either side betrays the other… the contract comes to light… both of you go down. Harsh" She gave him an icy smile.
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The world spun wildly as he tumbled down a steep embankment…bouncing roughly…something struck his shoulder… his knee hit with agonizing force… pain shot through his head. He was still then… though the world tilted and continued to spin wildly for a moment… he hurriedly took stock of his condition… his shoulder throbbed, every heartbeat a hammer blow… someone was using his temple as a drum, his ribs ached and his knee… he risked a glance at it, and flinched… the darkness made it hard to see but the blood stained rip in his pants worried him… the leg bent though… moved, painfully but it moved… he ached everywhere but nothing felt broken…
"Get up and run!" his brain screamed at him… Peter staggered to his feet, his knee shrieked at him but it held his weight… glancing over his shoulder at the passing traffic… no sign of Walker… fingers fumbled for his phone before he remembered the old man taking it in the parking garage and smashing it… "Ok…"he told himself "ok…find a phone… find a public place and a phone…" Walker wasn't right on his heals but… he had a feeling he would be back… letting Peter go had never been part of the plan, not after what he'd told him, he knew that.
The lights of the truck stop beckoned in the distance… probably a couple of miles, he guessed… "Better get moving then" he thought. His knee twinged angrily with every step as he broke into a trot… His chest and shoulder throbbed, his head pounded … a chill lingered in the air making him shiver… but he could push it away… could focus on putting one foot in front the other. The dark roadside was rough… he stumbled over rocks and roots… looking over his shoulder every few steps… Still no sign of Walker, or anyone else… he kept running…
Slowly but steadily the lights came closer… the place looked almost deserted when he reached it… all the lights were on but not a soul in sight. Glancing at his watch... 10:28…he pushed the door open and stumbled into the warm interior... a single attendant, a dark skinned young man, behind the counter looked up and paled noticeably at the sight of a bloody disheveled man staggering toward him… Peter drew a ragged breath… he hated to pull the frightened kid into this but he needed the phone.
"I'm not going to hurt you…I'm with the FBI." he leaned on the counter tried to catch his breath, flashing his ID, glancing at the boy's name tag "I need to make a call, Bryan" the young man nodded wordlessly. Handing him the phone, the kid… no more than 17 or 18, Peter guessed…. never took his eyes off him.
Headlights outside made Peter bring his eyes up from the phone he was dialing … Walker?! He pushed the panic down, slipping around behind the counter beside the startled attendant. He slid down to the floor, tucking himself under the edge of the cashiers' stand. Bending his knee sent almost blinding pain up his body as he pulled the appendage out of sight. He motioned for the kid not to mention him, with a finger to his lips… the boy nodded… The phone in his hand was ringing through…
"Berrigan"
"Diana?"
"Boss!" Her relief was tangible "Are you ok?" he gingerly took stock again. He hurt…everywhere.
"Been better … getting away from Walker was a little… bumpy" Above him Bryan's eyes got bigger
"You got away?"
"For the moment… hope you are tracing this… I'm going to need some local back up… he's going to be looking for me and I'm not entirely sure where I am." He heard the door… someone stepping through, the kid made a terrified noise in his throat…
"We are… just a few more seconds" he took a breath… waiting… footsteps moving closer… "Got it… stay where you are, Peter… back up is on the way."
"Thanks" he whispered and disconnected…
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"How is he?" the young woman asked Dr. Cole, her blue eyes wide with concern… Lindsey kept her eyes on her patient… he didn't look at her when she lifted his hand to check his pulse… she frowned… forty seven beats per minute…down again…steadily down for the last 12 hours… she looked into his eyes… staring up at the ceiling they were almost vacant…the spark that resided there from his first conscious moment was… just gone… if eyes are the windows to the soul…the shutters were drawn… and locked. He was quiet…this man who found a way to talk … to communicate effectively… to get her phone number while intubated was silent… his face passive… unexpressive…his bright smile extinguished… she looked at the young lady who sat beside his bed with a look of deep concern.
"He's very weak… but if you had asked me yesterday… I would have told you, barring any unforeseen complications… he was going to make it…"
"Not today?"
"Unfortunately no…" she shook her head sadly… the man had made an impression on all of the staff…even on her, Dr. Cole admitted… his smile and humor, despite his pain… his determination to survive… to recover, was unbelievable. It was hard not to like the man. It broke her heart to see him like this…
"Why not? When he was fighting to get up, was he injured?"
"No… we were able to prevent that"
"Then what's wrong with him?"
"He's just stopped fighting…It's like he lost his will to live…"
"You mean he might… hurt himself" Dr. Cole shook her head
"You don't understand…" she sighed running fingers through her long greyish hair… "He doesn't have to…" she met the lady's eyes… "he needs to fight for his life right now, but he has given up… his heart rate is slowing, blood pressure falling and his breathing is getting shallow… if he doesn't snap out of this… there is nothing I can do for him…"
"Nothing?"
"Nothing… live or die… it's out of my hands now…."
"Can I help him?" her voice shook slightly tears glittering in her eyes.
"If you can get him talking…"she gave the woman a cautious smile… "Engage him… somehow…" Dr. Cole shook her head again "he was so determined to go find his friend… if had been at all possible I would have let him."
"But it wasn't possible…?" her voice said she knew that was obvious
"No it wasn't… and we were forced to restrain him" Dr. Cole sighed… "Something in him broke when we did."
"You restrained him?" her voice cracked just a bit…
"It was necessary… he pulled the IVs out… the respirator off… tried to get out of bed… he was going to hurt himself…" the dark head nodded understanding…