Chapter 8: Fighting for Truth
"I'll have vodka on the rocks and a cosmopolitan for the lady."
"You remembered."
David turned around and rested his elbows on the bar while he waited for their drinks. "I remember a lot of things about you."
It was Tuesday night. He and Katie had gone back to Kilmartin Enterprises after their lunchtime meeting with her friends. As he was finishing his work that evening, Katie had stopped by to give him a ride. While they were in the car, she had asked if he wanted to get a drink first. The events of the day must have worn him down, because he had said yes
"Oh really? Like what."
"I remember that your favorite study snack food was baby carrots. I remember that you prefer hot apple cider to coffee. And I remember when you put up so many Christmas lights that you blew the all the circuits and fuses in the entire apartment building."
She laughed as they both turned to accept their drinks from the bartender. "I remember that. The neighbors were so upset." She ran her finger along the rim of her glass. "I remember we used to be a lot closer back then.
Silence hung between them for a few moments. He smiled, soft and ruefully, as he took a sip from his drink. "I remember that, too. But that was before we had jobs, responsibilities."
She snorted. "That's a load of bull. We may have our hands full with K.E. right now, but we had a ton of work at Harvard. I bet you had just as much work at Duke, and I know law clerks don't get paid all that much for the kind of work they do."
David chugged the rest of his drink and then slammed the glass on the bar. "What are you trying to say, Katie?"
She looked at her drink before looking back up at him. "I'm just saying you've been using that same excuse for years to avoid personal relationships."
"Well, I've realized over the years that I have a lot to deal with, and I don't want other people to get hurt because of it!"
"You're still making excuses!"
David opened his mouth to shout back at her, but then seemed to think better of it. He took her half-finished drink from her hand. "Come on. We don't need to draw attention like this in public. Why don't we go back to my place?"
Katie heard the frost in his voice that hadn't been there a moment before. So she answered back just as coldly, "Fine. That will give you a chance to pick up a few things before we go back to the mansion."
They said nothing more to each other as they got into Katie's car and drove to David's apartment. She took the back roads, purposefully avoiding the area where the events of Saturday night had occurred. They trudged up the two flights of stairs to his room. He opened the door, and they both stepped inside.
"Thank you for the ride," he said, tossing his keys onto a table in the entryway.
Katie paused. "Wait a minute. Aren't you going to go pack a bag?"
"Nope. I'm going to take a shower, and then I'm going to bed so I can get a decent amount of sleep tonight." He didn't add that he'd probably need a couple more drinks before he could do that.
"David, you can't be serious. You heard what Lexa said. Until we have a chance to figure out what the hell is going on, you'll be safer at the mansion!"
"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm going to stay here for the time being."
"David! What if someone tries to kill you again? You don't have any kind of alarm system here. And you have flimsy locks on your doors!"
"Did it ever occur to you that it's not me they're after? They might just be after you!"
She crossed her arms over her chest. "We both know that's not true."
He froze. "What do you mean?"
"A bird, David? Did you think I would fall for that? I've had birds fly into windows before, and they don't do damage like that. And those two little holes in the door? I know bullet holes when I see them."
"You saw them. Fine, so maybe someone is trying to kill me. That's all the more reason for me not to be near you or anyone else. In fact, I probably shouldn't go to work for the next few days. I don't want anyone hurt because of me."
"No one will be. The mansion has security you couldn't even dream of. In the past few months alone, measures were installed that 99 of the world doesn't even know exist."
"It doesn't matter, Katie," he said, ushering her back toward and through the door. His hand reached up, as if he were going to touch her face, but hovered just above her skin. It was close enough, though, that she could feel the heat from his palm. "I can't risk seeing someone I love get hurt."
She felt her jaw drop. Then the door shut in her face.
The moment he shut the door, David leaned his head against it. Damn, he thought. I didn't mean to say that. He went through the living room and onto the balcony, hoping the cool night air would help him coalesce his thoughts. Even before the incident on Saturday night, he had found Katie in his thoughts again and again. In fact, he suspected that his feelings for her had started years ago, when they had first become friends. He had managed to keep his emotions in check then. In the years since he had graduated, he thought she had faded, just like the few other friends he had made. But then when she had called, and asked him to help her revamp K.E. legal affairs the emotions had come flooding back, stronger than ever. He had been blindsided, and had resorted to avoiding contact with her in an effort to control it. With his life, he couldn't afford to have anyone close. But it seemed as if the emotional dams he had constructed had finally broken. And now that he had slipped, there was no way to rebuild them. The only option now was to leave.
David became aware of aching fingers and looked down. He had been clutching the railing so tightly that he had cut off circulation to his fingers. He flexed his fingers to get the circulation going again. Then he pushed himself off the railing, intent on going back to the kitchen. He needed a drink.
Katie stood there, stunned into immobility, for several moments after David shut the door in her face. 'I can't risk seeing someone I love get hurt.' She'd known for years that she felt something more than friendship for David, and though she'd made it clear to him that the next step was up to him. But this was the first time he had given any indication that he felt the same way towards her. Well, damn him for thinking she'd give up so easily. She was going to go in there and give him a piece of her mind.
Reaching down, she turned the doorknob. As she suspected, he hadn't locked it. How the hell did he think he was going to protect himself if he didn't even lock his doors? She found her temper rising again. She stormed into the apartment.
"David, that's no excuse! I'm well able to protect myself. Besides, I'm not the one who doesn't have any security," she said, rounding a corner and finding him in the kitchen pouring a drink.
"Leave, Katie," he said, replacing the cap on the bottle of scotch.
"I'm not leaving unless you come with me."
He ignored her, brushing past her as he walked back to the balcony, drink in hand.
"Damn it, David! You do this every time!" she shouted at his back as he stood at the railing. "Every time I've tried to get close to you in the past you just push me away. I'll tell you right now: I was and am well aware of the risks involved. I want to be more than just a friend, David. God knows I've tried to be subtle about it, tried to let you know I was willing and the next step was up to you. I tried to be subtle and not push you. But that doesn't seem to be working. Do I have to hit you over the head with it? I care about you too, and don't want to see you hurt either."
She felt her body relax, her frustration vented. She waited for David to say something. She waited. And waited. Waiting…
Finally, he turned around. "Katie, I…" He paused she could see his broad shoulders move as he took a deep breath. "You don't know how many times I wanted to say something. There were times it was all I could do to keep myself from asking you out or just sweeping you into my arms."
"Why did you do any of those things?"
"It was too dangerous. If they had ever found me… It looks like they have now. The best thing is for me to leave and for you to just forget all about me."
"What are you talking about? David, please, talk to me."
"Just forget everything, Katie." He put the glass down on the rail.
The glass never had a chance to balance properly. There was silence as it missed the rail. The bottom-heavy glass, still half full of amber liquid, fell to the ground and shattered.
Katie jumped at the sound. She looked up from the shards of glass into his face. "David? Are you okay?"
He said nothing, merely stood there. Then he fell to his knees.
Fear rushed through Katie; all other emotions fled. She rushed to his side, kneeling down so she could see his face. "David? David!" She cradled his face in her hands and he looked down. She followed his gaze. There was nothing on his chest, but when she looked on his back… There, in the middle of the left side of his chest was a small red disc…which was quickly blossoming into a telltale scarlet flower.
"Oh God, David!" His body sagged in her arms, and she managed not to fall under his sudden weight. As gently as she could she lowered him onto his side and ripped open his shirt. There was no large ragged hole, just a small dot where the bullet had entered. Frantically, she tore off her sweater and balled it against the wound, hoping to staunch the flow of blood and bubbles from the wound. For only a fraction of a second, her mind panicked as she wondered what to do next. But the moment passed and, holding onto the sweater with her left hand, she thumbed the ring on her right hand, a ring given to her just weeks before. "Jesse?! Lexa?! Anyone?!"
For a second there was no answer, but then she heard Lexa's voice over the comring. "Katie? What's wrong?"
"It's David. He's been shot."
"All right, just stay calm. It'll be okay. Where are you?"
"David's apartment." She practically shouted the address at Lexa.
"I'm sending Shalimar and Brennan. They'll be there in five minutes. I'll get Jesse and get the medbay ready."
Katie nodded, though she knew Lexa couldn't see her. She could feel the tears threatening as she cradled David's head and listened to his ragged breathing. "It'll be okay, love. Just hang on. It'll be okay."
