Chapter One
Sam sneaked a furtive look at his wristwatch then scratched his nose and hoped the action would hide the yawn that had been threatening to claim him ever since the President had said, "Believe me Sam there are many things you don't know about Yellowstone National Park."
Sam just wanted to go home. He had been covering for Toby who had been ill for the past few days and Leo had told him that as Toby was due back the next day he could come in later in the morning. His thoughts about how he would spend the extra time were interrupted by the President's voice, "…over one hundred tremors a day, Sam, under the park. They're using a sound meter to measure waves. They can tell if the waves pass through solid or molten rock. The possibility of a volcano erupting under Yellowstone is not as ridiculous as it sounds."
Sam uncrossed his legs and leant forward in his seat, "Do you think we will be able to get Yogi out in time sir?"
It was at this point that Leo entered and told Sam to head off home and make the most of his 'extra' time. Sam was glad for a reason to leave as his deadpan response to the President had not gone down at all well.
Sam glanced at the clock and lay back on his pillow. He wished he was at work now so he could tell Josh what he had said to the President when bombarded by his facts about Yellowstone. He realised that showing even a hint of boredom or sarcasm was not a wise move but desperate times called for desperate measures. Sam started to drift off back to sleep thinking strange thoughts about Yogi Bear and volcanoes.
When he awoke he had a leisurely breakfast watched a little morning TV and spent a little more time than usual choosing his wardrobe. Apart from that he couldn't think of anything productive he could do in a couple of hours and was secretly thinking he would really rather be at work. It felt very weird to still be at home at ten o'clock in the morning. The past few days hadn't been particularly exhausting but Sam knew what Toby was like when he missed work. He would be playing catch up and taking out his frustration on everyone and in that respect Sam was glad that he had the first few hours away from the Bullpen.
After sorting through some laundry and undertaking another fruitless search of the TV stations, he decided he would head in a little earlier than he was expected to and go to the gym. It would be good to be able to take his time there as well, instead of trying to fit a visit into a lunch hour.
He couldn't find his sneakers at the back of his wardrobe and tried to think when he had last used them. His head was covered with the bottom of his tuxedo that trailed above him so he didn't hear the glass in the bathroom window break. He didn't hear the gentle thud of two feet landing on the carpeted floor and he didn't even hear the bottle of pills fall into the sink as the intruder took a perfunctory swipe at the contents of the medicine cabinet.
Sam sat by his wardrobe. One hand was on his hip the other was supporting his chin. He looked like a carbon copy of The Thinker except all he was thinking about was where he had last seen his sneakers. Then he heard it. A crash followed by a curse. Sam froze. His mind raced through the possibilities for the noise. Was the television on? Did the landlord come up and check out his apartment when he wasn't there? He tried to make sense of the noise in a rational way but the sick feeling in his stomach told him that something was very wrong.
The intruder cursed again as he tripped over the edge of a rug. Then he saw Sam's keys and mobile phone. He experienced the same sick feeling that Sam had when he had realised he wasn't alone in the apartment. The intruder moved quickly and in doing so headed for what he thought was the door that would lead him back to the bathroom. He barged through it aware that he had already made enough noise to alert the owner to his presence. As he entered the room, Sam was walking out and they almost collided in the middle of the open door. They stood staring at each other.
"Shit," the intruder hissed.
Sam thought the man in front of him seemed just as afraid as he was.
"Stay away from me," he warned as Sam took a step towards him.
"Look…" Sam began. He had no idea what he was going to say but he knew his only option was to try to calm him down. Sam raised his hand trying to pacify the now distressed man.
"Let's just…" before he could say another word the intruder took a hurried step towards him. He swiped at Sam's outstretched arm knocking him backwards onto his bed. Before Sam could react he felt the man's hand pushing him down. The next thing he felt was a sharp sudden pain in his chest. He tried to stand but only managed to slide onto the floor. He had only been punched a few times before but he remembered the pain that comes after it and the feeling of all the air being pushed out at once. He was breathing rapidly and couldn't seem to focus on anything. The intruder stood over him for a few seconds, Sam wasn't sure if it was his harsh breathing he could hear or the intruder's. When he next looked up the man had fled, leaving the bathroom window banging on its hinges behind him.
The digits on the clock in Toby's office switched to 11:30 at exactly the same time as he bellowed for Ginger. She peered around Toby's door. She too knew how Toby was when he had been away from his office for more than a few days.
"Phone Sam, I need to know where my thing is."
"You're sure you want me to do that?" Ginger replied.
"Well, yes, Ginger. When I asked you to phone Sam that's what I was hoping you would do."
"I mean you're sure you want me to phone Sam and ask him if he knows where your thing is?"
Toby ignored her. "Somebody has been in this office. They have been in this office and they have touched my desk," Toby explained.
"Toby, I can stand here with my hand on my heart and say that no one has touched your desk, they…"
Toby's voice cut across Ginger's, "If this is going to be one those things where you say that people touched things on my desk but nobody actually touched my desk, I think you should know that they never amuse me."
Ginger smiled at him, "I'm not going to phone Sam. He will be in within the hour and then you can ask him if he knows where your thing is. You never know he might even help you look for it."
"Go now, please."
Ginger headed back to her desk. Toby knew she would be smiling, in fact the way his day was going so far he could guarantee she would be smirking. He continued to carry out a mental inventory of all the items that had been moved or were missing from his desk. And when Sam got in he was going to make him sit there and find, or explain the absence of, every one.
Sam couldn't get his breath back. He was still sitting where he had fallen at the foot of his bed. Slowly he got to his feet and started to walk to the phone. He knew he wouldn't be up to going in and thought he better phone Toby…no, Ginger…she could tell Toby that he wouldn't be in. As Sam reached the phone a shot of pain forced him to double over. He went to where he always went when he felt ill; the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Sam couldn't understand why the bathroom window was open. His unfocused eyes didn't take in the smashed glass on the windowsill and floor. He thought he was carefully browsing through the contents of the cupboard. In fact he was now groggily groping for and dropping pill bottles and other items. He thought he had been punched but he had been stabbed and the hand that clutched his chest was now covered in blood. He leant heavily against the sink.
Toby was now in a meeting. He had told Ginger to give Sam another hour and then start phoning him. He hated to admit it but he really did need Sam here. He didn't know the full background to the discussion he was currently involved in and he knew Sam had spent a great deal of time talking to at least two of the people who were at the moment doing a very good job of opposing his argument. He wiped his hand over his forehead, when he looked up he noticed the time. Sam knew that Toby would have wanted to talk to him before he went into the meeting.
"Toby? Well, can you seriously sit there and tell me you agree with that?"
Toby realised he had obviously already been asked a question and not answered it. He also realised he did not have the faintest clue what had been said in the room for the past few minutes.
"Let's call it for lunch. Meet back in an hour. Then I can tell you whether I agree with you or not. I wouldn't hold out too much hope for the serious bit if I were you." The meeting adjourned and Toby headed back to the bullpen.
Sam let go of his stomach and held onto the sink with both hands. He placed his bloodied hand down and it slipped causing him to lurch forward. As he lifted his head he finally managed to focus on the reflection that greeted him. Sam stared at the deathly pale, shaking, blood covered reflection that greeted his eyes. He placed his hand on his chest again and this time his brain recognised the warm, sticky substance that oozed through his fingers. The sight and feel of the blood broke through to his numb mind and he slowly began to make his way to his phone.
Ginger was on the phone when Toby got to her desk. She saw Toby arrive and put the receiver down. "He's not answering, Toby, that's the fourth time I've called his home and cell."
"Keep trying…no, call Josh he's due back from the Hill but see if you can catch him before he leaves. Put him straight through if you get him."
"Do you want me to keep trying Sam after that?"
"Oh yes, Ginger, keep trying Sam. You may want to leave a few warning messages too."
"Warning him about what?" Ginger called as Toby turned to leave.
"Me, Ginger, me."
Sam was panicking now that his senses had returned enough to let him register both pain and fear. The journey from his bathroom to the phone seemed to be taking forever. He gasped as a shiver racked his body and the pain that followed it caused him to fall to the ground. As he fell the first shrill tone of his phone rang out.
"Sam, it's Ginger. You better get in here, Toby is not happy, well, more unhappy than usual. He's going back to his meeting in a while and I think he wants you here before he does so get a move on! And I think he knows about the stapler!" Sam could only listen to Ginger's voice and the bleep that followed. He pulled his legs in and wrapped his arms round his waist.
Josh threw his backpack over his shoulder and started making his way back to the White House. His phone rang as he reached the bottom of the steps and Ginger's voice sounded before he could say hello. "I'm putting you through to Toby."
There was only a short pause before he heard Toby's voice, "Josh, I need you to go by Sam's on your way here."
"I'm not going to Sam's. He's having the morning off to escape your Daddy Bear 'who's been sitting at my desk' routine. Anyway if you need something picked up I'm pretty sure there's a few reliable courier services in Washington."
"Humour me, Josh. Go to Sam's and get him in here now."
"You're taking a beatin' in a meetin!"
"I may be having some…problems finding a point that I can…you know…argue logically…"
"Well that's never stopped you before," Josh interrupted. "I'm not going to Sam's, Toby. He'll be in soon. Just dazzle them with your natural charm and wit…man are you beat."
Toby didn't rise to Josh's bait. The older man hung up and Josh smiled as he snapped his phone shut.
Sam drifted in and out of the blackness that had been threatening to claim him since the intruder had struck. His mind filled with jumbled images of Yogi Bear, trainers and staplers. After a few failed attempts he no longer had the strength or the wherewithal to try to get to his feet. Sounds floated into his apartment. The traffic was proving to be quite a soothing sound and in the gaps between Sam could hear bird song. The noises were occasionally interrupted by the sound of the bathroom window banging open and shut. Startled, Sam's eyes snapped open. He groped to switch off his alarm clock and then realised that he was not in bed he was laying on the floor and it was not the alarm it was the phone.
"Sam…buddy…I think you better head in. Toby is really pissed. He's struggling in that meeting…Cruft and Callaghan are making him look like an idiot…on second thoughts take your time. Come and hide in my office when you get in. And another thing, I think he knows about the stapler. I gave it to Donna but I don't think she put it back…or she may have put hers back instead…anyway we need to come up with a plan…blaming Donna's looking good to me. See ya."
Josh held onto the phone before he put it down. Sam was pushing it if he was much longer coming in. He figured that he must be driving in and that's why he didn't answer his cell. He went out to Donna's desk and started rifling through the contents.
"What are you doing?"
"Donna! Sneak up on a guy why don't you."
"You're doing the sneaking."
His plan to blame Donna for the missing stapler was becoming more appealing. "When I gave you that stapler you put it back where I told you to right?"
"Would this be the stapler that Ginger is frantically searching for?"
"Ah, yeah, so did you?"
"Yes I put it back where you told me to…but I don't think you told me to put it on Toby's desk."
"Donna! I told you. I was very clear. It's my job to give you important instructions and it's your job to listen attentively and carry them out."
"Well you might need to be more explicit because I didn't think a stapler was as important as, oh I don't know, contacting a congressman or…"
"Stop talking. Now think; on whose desk do you think you might have put it?"
"Well not Ginger's that for sure."
Josh was losing the little patience he possessed. "I don't think you realise the seriousness of this…"
"Stapler situation."
"Yes, this stapler situation. Sam stole Toby's stapler at my request. I lost it. Toby is looking for it. How serious do you want this to get?"
"Ok, Josh, here's what we're going to do. We're going to surreptitiously and calmly look for the stapler. If we can't find it I can casually mention in front of Toby that I was surprised to see that he had let Sam borrow his stapler and then…"
"That's very good."
"Thank you.I have a good teacher."
"No really 'cos my plan was to blame you."
"Well then obviously I prefer this plan."
"Yeah." Josh shepherded Donna away from her desk and towards Toby's office.
Sam felt thirsty but there was very little he could do about it. He was restless but was unable to stand or move a great deal. His breathing, which had been becoming more difficult, now consisted of shallow raspy breaths and when he breathed in he could hear a sucking noise. He listened to the sounds of each breath as he stared at the flashing light of the answer phone.
Ginger looked a little pale, Josh thought, as he passed her desk. She mimed a cut-throat action to Donna but was unable to elaborate as Toby came rushing towards them.
"Page Sam now." Toby was furious and the stack of papers in his hand fell to the floor as he smacked his hand on the desk on the word 'now'.
"These will be all messed up. You should have put them in a file or something," Josh said as he bent to pick them up. "Toby?"
"Yes, Josh?"
"Do you want to borrow my stapler?"
Ginger winced at the onslaught she knew was coming. "Page him, Ginger. Put, 'Phone office-urgent'.
Toby calmed himself down as he reordered the papers. Josh stood with his hands in his pockets watching Ginger do as Toby had requested. Sam could be forgiven for not answering his phones but a pager was different especially with the message Ginger had sent. He couldn't wait to see what Toby was going to say when he answered. The silence was broken by Ginger mumbling and paging again. Toby put the papers down on the desk and looked at Josh. Josh returned the gaze with an equally puzzled expression.
"Page him again, Ginger," Josh said quietly.
Again Ginger paged Sam and again there was no response.
After Toby's rage of a few moments ago the quiet that had now descended upon the group of four was palpable. "How many times did you try phoning this morning?"
"I don't know. I thought he was lying low because of…" Ginger didn't finish the sentence. All thoughts of hiding from irate bosses were now irrelevant. To not answer a page especially an urgent one was not Sam at all.
"You know what, I'm going to head over there," Josh said.
"OK. It's probably nothing, pager's broken or the battery's flat," Toby replied but he sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
Josh stared at Toby, "Are you worried?"
"Not yet. But I'm getting there." He scratched his forehead and sighed, "It's probably…"
"Nothing, yeah, I know." Josh went back to his office, quickly collected his keys and headed off to Sam's.
Sam's pager was clipped to his belt. He tried to pull it off. The sound had irritated him and the agitation it had caused had increased the pain in his chest. He couldn't get his hand to do what he wanted and gave up trying. The phone continued to ring every so often but whoever was dialling hung up when the answer machine started. Sam wrapped his arms tighter round his waist and brought his knees towards his stomach until he was curled up into a ball. He stared fixedly at the answer machine's flashing light and tried not to believe the terrified voice in his head telling him that no one was coming to help him.