Chapter 47

Jamie King slowly swam back to consciousness, looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings that clearly indicated he was in a hospital bed somewhere, and remembered the searing pain of being shot twice. They'd breached the compound run by Paul Sacher the night before – at least he thought it was the night before – and in the melee, he'd gotten shot. "And of course it would have to be my right shoulder," he thought grumpily. "Why couldn't it have been the left arm and the left leg? Now they'll put me in wheelchair because I can't walk on the left leg and I can't use the right arm to walk on crutches. Better yet, why did I let him get the jump on me at all? I'm supposed to be one step ahead of people like that."

He hurt all over, he was hooked up to so many wires he felt like a cross between a crash test dummy and Frankenstein's monster, he was hungry, and he was worried about Abby. How much did she know? How was she taking the news if she did know? When would he be able to see her again? Would this put an end to their relationship? He knew other agents who had lost what could have been lasting relationships because of the dangers inherent in the job.

The door opened and a woman in pale blue scrubs came into the room. "Hello, Agent King," she said. "I'm your nurse this shift, Hannah St. Vincent. What's your pain level, on a scale of one to ten?"

"I'm pushing damn close to eight, Ms. St. Vincent. Can you help?"

"Of course. Your NEST surgeon, Dr. Spearman, ordered pain medication; I'll go get it."

She came back a few minutes later with the medication, which she administered intravenously so it would take effect more quickly. As the analgesic numbed the pain, Jamie drifted off to sleep.

Abby's flight to Billings landed at two o'clock on Friday afternoon, although her body, still on eastern time, thought it was two hours later. She'd been up for nearly twelve hours, and although she'd dozed on the flight from Chicago to Denver, she hadn't really rested. She came off the plane and saw the now-familiar sign with her name on it, this time held by a woman in her early thirties. She raised a hand and the woman stepped forward.

"Ms. Kozal, I'm Elise Donaldson, out of the Denver office. I'm one of the team that went into the Sacher compound with the Iceman. I'm happy to report that he's doing as well as can be expected, although his condition is still listed as 'serious'. That's standard for anyone with his sort of wounds, though. Big Sky Medical Center is only about fifteen minutes away, so once we get your luggage, we can go over there. We have a room for you at the Big Sky Lodge, but the hospital is also fine with your staying in the room with him if you prefer that."

"I'll need someplace to shower, so I'll take the hotel room, but I'll stay with him as much as I can. And please, call me Abby."

"A good solution. Shall we go? Baggage claim is this way."

Abby had only packed one bag, and only with casual clothes, since Lee and Amanda would be bringing the rest of her things out when they came to Nebraska at the end of the month. She collected her suitcase and followed Elise out to the car, looking around at her surroundings as she walked. "I can see why they call this Big Sky Country," she said. "It's beautiful."

"Yes, it is."

They got into the car and drove off the airport.

"If you were on the team that went into Sacher's compound, you haven't gotten much sleep in the last twenty-four hours. Are you all right?" Abby asked.

"I'll be fine; you get used to long hours in this job."

"How long have you been with the Agency?"

"Five years; I'm thirty-three, and when I was twenty-eight, I was working as a buyer for Hemphill's Department Stores in Denver."

"There's a Hemphill's in Scottsbluff, which is the nearest 'big' town to where I live. Not that anything west of Lincoln is all that big, but it's bigger than Alliance."

"Yes, I visited that store a few times. I was the children's clothing buyer, married, looking forward to starting a family… the whole bit, and then my husband – ex-husband, now – told me that he'd fallen in love with his secretary and he wanted a divorce. He worked for a big financial planning firm there in Denver."

"I'm so sorry. Had you been married long?"

"Six years. We met at Colorado State and dated all through our last two years there, got married in the big wedding right after graduation, and six years later, it all went to hell. I decided that with no husband and no kids, I could do any job I wanted, so I applied for the Agency, was accepted, and here I am."

"I have a friend that's training to be an agent right now. She's dating Jamie's brother Phillip."

"It's hard to balance a family and this job if you're a woman; I wish her all the best of luck."

"You've been an agent for five years, yet Jamie was the lead on this operation?"

"It wasn't because I'm a woman; we all agreed that the Iceman would take point on this one. He'd spent weeks investigating the Sacher operation, you see, and he knew just where they were vulnerable. He was wearing a bulletproof vest, of course, but it only protects the vital organs; the first round caught him in the thigh and the second one got him in the upper arm, at the shoulder."

"The last time he called me was the 4th of July, early in the morning. I had no idea where he was calling from and I knew better than to ask, since he couldn't have told me anyway. Then, about two this morning, your time, I woke up suddenly and couldn't get back to sleep, and not long after that, Amanda told me that Jamie had been shot."

"But you knew it anyway, didn't you? You knew he was in danger."

"Yes."

"He's very blessed to have you, Abigail. I'm not particularly religious, any more than Jamie is, but he's talked a lot about how strong your faith is. He said, 'Whatever happens, Abby will pray me through it.' We're almost there. Hospital first or hotel first?"

"It's not three o'clock yet; can I even check in this early?"

"Oh, sure; you're Agency now, honey."

"Oh, well, I'll go to the hospital anyway. Even if he's heavily sedated, I want to see him."

"I thought you'd say that. I can check you in if you like; I'm staying there too."

"Don't they need my credit card number?"

"Honey, the Agency is picking up the tab for all of this, so no, they don't."

"Oh, wow. I didn't think…. Lee?"

"You're family now, Abigail, and yes, Scarecrow gave orders that you're to be according every consideration and assistance, with Director Wilson's full consent, of course."

"I've never met Director Wilson."

"You'd like him. He's a retired one-star admiral, his dad was Chief of Naval Operations back in the mid-seventies, and his grandfather fought in World War I and World War II. I'm going to let you off here and go check you into the lodge. Here's your VIP pass, Agency issue. This is your passport to wherever you need to go in the hospital or the lodge."

"My goodness, it has my picture on it and everything! How did Lee manage it so quickly?"

"We have our ways."

Abby laughed, as she was meant to do, and Elise grinned at her.

"Like I said, you're family now, honey, and the Agency takes care of its own," she said.