Chapter Thirteen
"It's been ten hours," Sam announced quietly, "she's probably exhausted, hungry, and scared."
Ed sighed quietly as he stood up and walked up behind her, his hands running up and down her arms, "Sam," he whispered, "come sit down, sweetie."
The woman shook her head as she kept her eyes fixed on the photo of her daughter that was on the mantle. "I can't sit down, Ed, if I sit down than I'll just go over everything in my head."
"Honey," he said, turning her around to face him, "You need some rest."
"So do you," she pointed out. "I'll sleep when you sleep, Ed."
Ed sighed deeply as he rested his hands on her shoulders, "Come on," he said, taking her hand.
"Where are we going?" Sam asked.
"To sleep," he answered, "I want you to get some rest, you are refusing to do so unless I do it too and so I'm going to go lie down with you and hopefully both of us will get what we want."
She nodded as her hand tightened around his and together they walked upstairs.
"Alright, that's it."
Mike watched as Danny rose to his feet, "Where are you going?"
"To Ed's house. Nobody's heard from him, Sam, or Delinda all day and I can't even get in touch with Nessa."
The African American man watched his friend as he collected his things, "Hold up," he said, standing up, "I'm going with you." Mike looked around at the guys assembled in the room, "Hey, Danny and I need to check on something, if you need us, get us on our phones." Once the guys nodded in comprehension the two men walked out of the surveillance area and out into the main area of the hotel.
"I just hope that things are okay and Ed just needed to get away for a few hours." Danny said to his friend.
"Yeah, but if that were the case, where would Delinda and Sam be?" The other man wondered.
"Good question."
The men walked out into the employee parking garage and got into Danny's black and yellow Camaro and soon they were off to the home of Ed Deline.
Jack Keller pulled over on the side of the road. He had been driving for hours and was half way to Barstow. Sighing deeply, he ran a hand over his face and looked out the window. "Why the hell am I doing this?" He asked himself. "Ed's a good guy, a good friend... he doesn't deserve this."
Sighing again, Keller thought back to a different time, a different place, and a very different Ed Deline.
Langley, Virginia : 1992-
Jack Keller walked into the headquarters for the Central Intelligence Agency. He listened to the sounds of his dress shoes echo through the tiled hallways and then immediately soften as he stepped onto some low pile carpet.
Running a hand over his face in sheer exhaustion, he was hoping to catch a few days to recover after just returning back from Colombia with his partner, Ed Deline. Both he and Deline managed to bust a long time drug distributor, Manuel Garcia.
Done in an unorthodox way, mostly attributed to Jack's unwillingness to abide by the books, they managed to take down Garcia and his crew. Jack knew it was only a matter of time when he would be hauled into the office of Nathan Bettina, the current head of the CIA.
"Keller."
Jack stopped in his tracks and turned and looked behind him to see who said his name. Seeing one of the women that they work with quickly approaching him, he took a few steps back so she could catch up. Smiling at her, he said, "Hey, Renee, what's going on?"
"Your ass is being hand delivered on a platter," she responded.
Jack glanced at his watch, "Wow, and it's only seven, that must be a new record."
The woman looked at her coworker, "Jack, this is serious."
Keller rolled his eyes, "Bettina is already on the war path?"
"Yeah, but it's a lot different now," Agent Renee Waverly responded.
"Different how?"
"Jack," she sighed.
"Hey," Jack said softly, his eyes focused on her, "Different how?"
"Deline is in there. He's telling Bettina that you are basically a loose cannon, that you have no business being a security guard, much less an agent."
Keller looked at her as he felt his stomach beginning to rumble, "No," he said, not wanting to believe it, "Eddie wouldn't hang me out like that."
"I'm telling you, you need to get in there," Agent Waverly instructed, "Bettina's pissed and so is Deline."
Jack sighed as he nodded, "Yeah, okay, I'll head over there now, thanks for the tip."
The female agent nodded as she watched her co-worker head for Bettina's office. Once he got there, he noticed Bettina's secretary, Margaret, working busily at her desk. "Hey, Maggie, can I go in there?"
The middle aged redheaded woman looked up at him with weary emerald eyes. "I'm not responsible if you come out in a body bag, Agent Keller."
Jack rolled his eyes, "I don't intend on that happening. I know what's going on in there and I know who is in there, I want to go in and save my ass if I can."
Margaret's eyes traveled up and down the length of Jack's body, "Alright," she conceded, "but don't come screaming to me when you turn into the headless agent."
"Your compassion is overwhelming," he remarked as he walked into the office.
As soon as he entered, the talking stopped and Ed Deline and Nathan Bettina looked at Keller. "This is a private meeting, Agent Keller," Bettina snapped.
Jack sighed as he rolled his eyes, "Well, seeing as how you are holed up here with my partner discussing, what I presume to be, was the case we just got back from," he paused to glance at his watch, "a mere sixteen hours ago, I'd have to disagree with you on that, Nate, and say that it isn't a private meeting." Jack paused as he looked at Bettina and then Ed. His eyes traveling back to his boss, Keller sat down on the couch and rested his left leg on his right knee. "So come on, let me have it," he invited. His gaze turning back to his partner, Jack continued, "You got pissed at me down there and instead of saying something to me about it, like a man, you go crying to our employer."
"First of all," Ed said quietly, "I don't go crying to my employer. Secondly, I don't have a lot to say to a guy who nearly gets me killed."
"Nearly gets you killed?" Keller repeated with a hearty laugh, "Oh, Eddie, come on! It wasn't nearly as bad as you are making it out to be!"
"Take a good look at Agent Deline, Jack," Nathan Bettina instructed. "Look at the cane he's having to use, get a glance of his right foot that is casted because of a bullet he took when you antagonized Garcia's clan."
"Hold up," Jack said, rising to his feet. Quickly looking at his partner, Agent Keller turned his attention back to his boss, "I didn't say or do zip shit to Garcia's clan to provoke the attack on Ed."
"You threatened to run away with his seventeen year old daughter!" Ed fired back.
"It was a language barrier, Ed!" Jack yelled.
"Language barrier my ass!" Deline made his way over to Jack and looked at him, "You are a mess, you are so damn unpredictable, you are like a friggen loose cannon. This is the second time I've been shot at because of your mouth, only this time I wasn't quick enough to dodge the bullet!" Ed shook his head as he looked at Nathan Bettina, "I want a change of partner."
"Eddie, come on," Jack pleaded softly, "we can work this out, okay? You and me, we've got a lot of history together."
"Jack, I'm fifty years old," Ed sighed, "I got five more years left before I can retire. I want to be able to actually live those five years and more. I want to see my wife and watch my daughter. Delinda's fifteen years old," he paused, "she's still got a lot of growing up to do and I want to watch her do it. I want to teach her to drive, teach her to dance, and I can't get up in the morning and go on an assignment with you and be confident that I'll be able to do those things."
Agent Keller sighed as he looked away, "I'll do better, I promise."
"Said the child to the parent," Bettina remarked quietly, causing an icy glare to be shot his way by Jack. Ignoring the look, Nathan looked at his out of control employee, "I'm sorry, Jack, but this is the straw that broke the camel's back. We appreciate the work you've done for us, but you've been relieved of your duties."
Jack looked at his employer, stunned, "Y-you're firing me? I didn't think that that was possible... to be fired in the CIA."
"Oh it's possible," Bettina assured him, "rare, but possible. You'll need to relinquish your weapons and badges before you leave headquarters. As for your final paycheck, we'll see that it is sent to your apartment."
Jack looked at Bettina and then at Ed. Feeling the anger rise in him, he bit his tongue as he silently vowed to repay his partner.
Three years after being fired from the Central Intelligence Agency, Jack Keller learned from a friend of a friend that Ed Deline put in for early retirement and moved his young family to an undisclosed location. It took Jack eight years to track down his former partner in, of all places, Las Vegas, Nevada.