83. Could, Should, Will, Maybe
Chapter 6
The loud ring of the phone invaded the upstairs bedrooms in the middle of the silent night. It woke the three Garrisons who came to their doors in confusion, the Warden in his pants, Terry in her nightgown and Will in pajamas.
"I'll get it," said Craig as he headed for the stairs.
"What do they want, to send the three of us on a mission?" said the girl with a touch of exasperation. She went back in her bedroom to get a robe.
"Terry!"
It was unusual for the Lieutenant to yell that loudly for her. Terry ran out the door of her bedroom, robe on one arm and the rest flying out behind her. Will followed a tad slower to stop at the turn of the stairs.
Craig held the receiver to her over the bannister, hand covering the mouthpiece. "I think it's the other operator at the Fox."
Terry snatched the phone from him. "Malinda, what's wrong?" There was a long pause. The girl's face lost some color. "What? Who? Did he say how bad?" She listened some more. "Where are they?" she asked again. "Okay, I got it. I'll get a plane in the air. Did he say I needed to go?" There was short pause. "Didn't sound right how?" She listened some more. "I would bet the bad one is him. Okay, thanks. If you hear anything else call me. Can you get hold of him when I have an ETA? They're going to sit at the airport all night? Never mind. I'm sure that's what they'll do. Okay, I'll call you when I know something in case somebody calls back."
Terry reached over the bannister and hung the phone up. She jumped the last three steps of the stairs and scooted around Craig, not stopping on her way in the dark to Garrison's office.
"What's going on?" demanded Will.
"Trouble," replied his daughter.
The two men followed her as she turned the desk lamp on, sat in Craig's chair and picked up his phone. They watched her dial a number from memory.
"The guys," said Craig with certainty and dread.
Terry nodded. The other end of the line was picked up. "Kevin, sorry to get you up. I need a Dakota to go to the airport in Zurich. I have two wounded. I don't know how bad." She listened. "I don't know," she said. "The girl who received the call thought it might be Actor. He used the right code."
"Actor called the Fox?" asked Garrison in confusion. "Why didn't he call here?"
"No, the resistance called the Fox and put him on." She turned her attention back to the phone. "Sorry, Kevin. Can we get a Dakota? Bless Cairo! Okay, I don't know the extent of the injuries or which ones are injured, so can we bring them in to Archbury? How long to get to Zurich? Three hours. Then straight back here? Okay. Thank you, Kevin."
She hung up the phone and immediately picked it up again, dialing a different number.
"Hey, Malinda. Can you get hold of the resistance man? Oh, figures. Okay, if somehow you get contacted again, tell them the plane will be there around 0330 their time. Private hangers. It's a Dakota. No, coming from Cairo. We were in luck. They will be flown into Archbury." She paused. "No, I'll probably be up."
Terry hung up and sat back in the chair.
"Actor is Aigle?" asked Will.
"Of course," said Terry. "Craig got the best for his second, so I got him too."
Craig said down in the chair in front of his desk. "Actor's running Jaguar too?"
Terry laughed. "No, he hasn't 'run' it yet. He helps me out like he helps you." She looked at the clock that said 2400. "Do I make coffee or are you going back to bed?"
Will shook his head. "I'm going back to bed."
"I suggest we all do that." Craig looked at his sister. "If we have wounded, you're going to have your hands full tomorrow."
Terry nodded. "I have one more phone call to make and I'll be up."
She waited until the Garrison men had gone upstairs before she called the Army air force base private number. To her surprise, Col. Gallagher answered.
"Hi Joe. It's Terry. You answering your own phone now?" she asked.
"No, I have birds out," replied the Colonel.
"Well, I have one coming in hopefully between 0630 and 0700. Our four men, two wounded. I don't know who, what or how bad. You think you might ask Major Kaiser to take a look?"
"Yes, I'll ask him," said Gallagher. "They need transport?"
"If you have it, I won't turn it down."
"Is Craig with them?"
Terry chuckled. "No, us three Garrison's are here at the house."
"Three?" asked Joe. "You, Craig and . . ."
"Dad."
"He's over here again?"
"Any excuse to get away from his desk and out of Washington."
"Aren't you lucky. Yes, I'll take care of injuries and transport."
"Thanks, Joe," said Terry. "See you later."
She decided to take Craig's advice and go back to bed. If the phone rang again, one of them would hear it. And then there was nothing. After a lot of tossing and turning, Terry gave it up and got dressed at 0530. She went downstairs to start the coffee going. 0630 came and went. Craig was up and dressed. Will was up at 0700. That came and went and still nothing. Terry called the Fox at 0800. There had been no contact. Having to do something to keep herself busy, the girl started cutting up vegetables for stew.
A half hour later, the telephone rang. Craig answered it from his office. After listening for a minute, he went to his door and gave the second uncharacteristic yell.
"Terry!"
The girl came running. "Now what?"
Garrison pointed to his phone. "Major Kaiser is asking for you. The nurse."
"That's not good," she muttered as she went to her brother's desk.
Craig took a seat in front of his desk. Will stood in the doorway, watching. Terry took a seat on the desk chair and picked up this phone.
"This is Terry," she said worriedly.
"Your men are on their way back to you. The blond one, Goniff I think his name is, was creased in the right upper arm and that was stitched somewhere. No drainage on the dressing. Actor is the worst. Bullet went in the front and out the back."
"The back where?" interrupted Terry. "I didn't know who or what."
"He was hit in the left shoulder," said Kaiser.
"Again?"
"What is this on him? The third or fourth time?" asked the gruff man.
"I lost count," said Terry. "How bad"
The Major did not sound in the least happy. "He said it is sutured in the front, a bleeder was tied off and the back wound is slightly open to drain. Says the clavicle is cracked. He would not let me see the wound, or the dressing. He's pale, exhausted, and in pain. Said he's fine and he just wanted to get back to the mansion and sleep. I'd say he needs a transfusion. We both know I don't have his type and negative. Do you think you can get him to let you see the dressing at least? If you need anything let me know and I will send it out. There is penicillin going out there with them. And see if you can talk him into another person-to-person transfusion."
"We'll try," said Terry. "Is tomorrow too late? No use dragging him around again today if we don't have to."
"He's been worse, as you well know," said Kaiser. "Tomorrow will be fine."
"Okay," said Terry, "We'll see what we can do with him. Thanks, Doc."
"I have to go. I have patients to see."
Terry grinned at the grumpy voice. She was about to say good-bye, but he hung up.
"All right," said Craig. "Who? And how bad?"
"Goniff is the least injured. Arm and stitched. Actor was hit in the left shoulder."
"That's the 'again'?" asked Craig in confirmation.
Terry nodded. "Went through this time and cracked the collar bone. Also hit a bleeder. I assume that doctor that took care of you in Zurich took care of him. Actor wouldn't let Kaiser look at it. Doc says he needs a transfusion, maybe tomorrow if we can talk him into it."
Craig was concerned. "Did the Major say why Actor wouldn't let him examine him?"
Terry shook her head in frustration. "Actor said he just wanted to come here and sleep."
"That's not like him," said Garrison. "He usually cooperates with the medical people. Something else is wrong."
"Yeah," agreed Terry, "but what?"
Knowing she had twenty minutes tops, Terry bounded up the stairs and began opening beds and building fires in fireplaces to relieve the dampness. She tretrieved the aid kit from hers and Craig's rooms and took them downstairs.
She had just reached the game table in the common room when an unfamiliar horn sounded the pattern for wounded. Will came from the kitchen with another cup of coffee and took a seat in Actor's chair to watch from a distance. The Garrison siblings waited next to the table.
The sound of the truck came closer and stopped in the car park. It took a minute or two before the front door opened and Goniff came in, right arm in a sling. Terry pulled a chair at the table out.
"You okay?" she asked him.
"'Course I am, Love," he said before spotting the girl's father sitting. "uh, I mean Terry."
Terry walked around and gave him a careful hug. She whispered in his ear, "No worries, Mate. His bark is worse than his bite." She stepped back and motioned to the chair. "Have a seat. We'll check your dressing before you go to bed."
Goniff didn't need to be told that twice. He sank into the chair and watched the open door.
When the rest of the men didn't immediately enter, the Lieutenant went to the door, looked out and shook his head. It caused his sister to step back around the table and watch worriedly.
"I do not need help!" came the Italian accented voice irritably.
"Yeah, we heard that one before," countered Casino.
Craig said nothing but stepped back enough to let the tall confidence man come in. Casino's familiar leather bomber jacket was draped around his back and over his shoulders. The left arm was in a sling. As Major Kaiser had mentioned to Terry, Actor looked worn, haggard and in need of some blood.
"Did it up right this time, didn't you?"
"I suppose I can't allow you to have all the fun," said the con man without a smile.
"Go have a seat at the table with Goniff and we'll take a look at your shoulder," said Craig.
"My shoulder does not need attention," objected Actor firmly. "I am tired and I am going to my room."
He turned away from the Lieutenant and walked with his head up to the stairs.
Garrison glanced at his sister whose face showed concern.
"Actor, let us check that wound," ordered the Lieutenant.
"The wound is fine," barked back the con man, and continued up the stairs.
"Forget it, Warden," said Casino with disgust. "He's been like this since he got shot."
Chief was standing behind the safecracker and remained silent. All three men watched the Italian disappear up to the second floor.
"Okay, Goniff," said Terry. "Let's have a look at you."
"Terry . . ."
The girl looked at her brother. Craig jerked his head toward the stairs and shot a glance up to the landing.
"He won't let me, he might let you," said Craig.
"I wouldn't make a bet on that," muttered Terry, secretly happy her brother was on the same page she really was. "Be back in a minute, Goniff," she told the blond man.
Picking up one of the aid kits, she headed up the stairs.
The girl entered the bedroom and closed the door. Actor was sitting on the side of the bed, fully clothed. Casino's jacket was laying across the foot of it, the lining covered in blood in varying degrees of dryness. Terry walked up quietly with the aid kit and got her first look at the once white shirt he had on. The whole left side of the back was various shades of dried blood.
"Oh, my God," breathed Terry. "You really did do it good this time."
There was no response from the tall man. He remained slightly hunched forward looking at his hands crossed on his lap. Terry was quite worried by his withdrawn behavior.
"Straighten up," she said softly.
He sat straighter but seemed lost in thought inside himself. Terry slowly reached for the top button of the shirt. He made no objection when she unbuttoned it. The rest of the buttons were opened quickly, and she carefully tugged the tails from his pants. Nothing. She worked to get his right arm out of the shirt, and while cooperative, there was still no spoken response from the man. Terry even more carefully eased the left sleeve off his arm and dropped the filthy garment on the floor behind her. The dressing on his back was covered with blood, but most seemed dry. She couldn't tell how much was from the shirt or from him.
"I'm going to take that off," she said. "It's dirty and needs changing. Doc Kaiser wanted me to look at the wound. Okay?"
He shrugged his right shoulder.
Terry opened the aid kit, got scissors out and cut the roller bandage off, dropping it into the waste can. The back gauze was bloody, but that in front was pretty clean. She removed all the gauze for good measure and dropped it in the waste can too.
Terry stood next to Actor's shoulder and inspected the wound, shaking her head. The entrance wound on the front had been sutured shut. The larger exit wound on the back had been loosely sutured so it could continue to drain. The skin around it was covered in dried and fresh blood, so she got a warm moist cloth from the bathroom and gently cleansed the skin. She sprinkled the wound with sulfa powder and bunched some gauze together over the it, covered it with more flat gauze and began wrapping the shoulder and around his chest to anchor it with roller gauze.
"Hey, caro, are you going to talk to me today?" she coaxed.
Now Actor looked up at her and gave a small, tired smile. "Of course, cara," he said quietly.
"I know you work with the weights and you exercise, but I wonder if I shouldn't be working that shoulder like I do Casino's back. There has to be scar tissue building up in there," she said just as quietly.
"You just like to have your hands on me," Actor murmured in Italian.
"You are objecting?" she asked in the same language.
"Not in the least, amora," he denied. "With a tired half grin, he added, "I would like your hands on me. Preferably after my shoulder heals."
Terry gave a soft chuckle. "You look exhausted. When was the last time you slept more than a minute or two?"
He frowned and shook his head. "I don't remember."
"Didn't think so."
Terry tied the last knot in the gauze band and leaned down to kiss his temple. This earned her a full smile.
She ran the back of her forefinger down his cheek. "Why don't you lay down and get some sleep? I'm not going to wake you for supper. I'll put a plate up for you and when you wake up and want it, I will heat it up for you."
"You're mothering me," he accused without rancor.
"Yup," she smiled. "Sometimes you just need it."
Terry tied the sling at the back of his neck with the arm supported inside of it. He stood up and allowed her to unbuckle his belt, unbutton his pants and slide them down to his ankles. He sat back down on the edge of the bed and watched her remove his boots, socks and trousers. With her arm supporting his shoulders in back, Actor swung his long legs up and got situated in the bed that felt so comfortable right now. The girl pulled the covers up over him and walked around the foot of the bed to sit beside him on the uninjured side.
"I can't sit with you," she whispered. "The General has a habit of entering people's rooms without knocking."
"I'm afraid I would not be able to defend your honor, cara," he said.
Terry smiled with affection at him. "Oh, I'm getting pretty good at defending my own with him."
"Reminds me of my father," muttered the Italian.
The girl brushed fingers through his hair. A soft snore came in response to that. Getting up very carefully so not to awaken him, Terry leaned over and brushed her lips lightly on his forehead before gathering the aid kit and the bloody clothing, leaving the room and shutting the door silently behind her.
Casino was just coming off the stairs and around the corner into the hall when she turned. He eyed his jacket in her hand.
"You might as well trash that," he said.
Terry sighed. "Let me take a stab at getting the blood out of the lining. I can clean the leather."
The safecracker stopped right in front of her. "I liked that jacket."
Terry smiled and leaned in to whisper, "Then why did you give it to him to get full of blood, Charlie?"
"We had to dump the tunic and I covered him with the jacket to get us through the roadblocks."
Terry smiled. He wasn't about to admit he had also done it to help Actor. No, that would ruin his tough guy image.
"I'd hug you," she said quietly, "but then I'd have more bloody clothes to clean."
"Rain check," he said just as quietly with a tired grin.
"Rain check." She looked at him. "Is Goniff still downstairs?"
"Naw, Warden took care uh him. He went to his room."
Terry nodded. "Get some sleep. I'll feed you guys when you wake up."
Not needing any further urging the safecracker went into his room and closed the door. Terry went back downstairs and to the room off the back door that held the washing machine. She lay the jacket across the top of the machine and stuffed the shirt into the garbage can. Getting the stew ready could wait a little bit longer. Right now, Terry needed to talk to her brother.