The holiday season has been crazy! I've been so busy shopping, decorating, baking cookies, for my kids' classes, and attending parties that I haven't had time to update! But today has been snowy and quiet, so here goes...
Chapter Twenty - Some Answers Lead to More Questions
F.B.I. Headquarters: Missing Persons Division
Angie sat rooted to her seat at the sight of her brother, alive and in the flesh, standing in the doorway.
"Hey, kiddo." Eddie said quietly, not moving from the spot where he stood either.
Angie looked from Eddie to Danny to Agents Malone and Mackenzie, then back to Danny with a look of shock on her face. Danny nodded slowly, trying to hide his grin with a mask of professionalism.
Somehow, as if she were having an out of body experience, Angie managed to lift herself out of her seat and launch herself into her brother's waiting arms. He wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace and they held on to each other with all they had. Burying her face in his neck, Angie whispered, "I thought I had lost you. I thought they had..."
"I know." Eddie whispered, pulling her even closer. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the Hell that you must have gone through. I'm sorry for leaving you alone to deal with everything that's gone on. I'm sorry for all of this. I'm so sorry."
Angie closed her eyes and breathed in the familiar scent of him. She was afraid to let him go. Afraid that if she unwrapped her arms from around him that he would disappear again. And this time she would never get him back. "Eddie." She whispered. "I love you so much. Don't ever die on me again, OK?"
Eddie chuckled at her comment and it was so good to hear him laugh. Finally Angie found the will to remove her arms from around his neck, but she did not move away from him. Clasping his handsome face between her trembling hands, Angie looked up at him. She ran her hands through his hair, over his face and down his neck to his shoulders. "What are you doing?" He asked, amused by her explorations.
"Making sure you are really here. And this is not a dream." She explained. "My life has been a little surreal lately and I have been running on caffeine and no sleep. So you could very easily be a figment of my overactive imagination." Seemingly convinced that he was real, Angie's hands came to a stop on Eddie's arms. Punching him in the arm, she said, "Now, would you like to tell me what the Hell is going on?"
Danny smirked as Eddie rubbed the spot where her fist had made contact. "Oww. Be careful with the goods, brat. I've been considered dead for almost a week now. You're a doctor, so you know the recovery period from that condition is very delicate. You should not be abusing me."
"Let's talk about that, shall we?" Angie said, her relief turning very quickly into anger. "The 'being considered dead' part? The part that has been freaking me out from the moment they told me you were missing? The part that almost caused me to start a mob war?"
Danny practically winced when she said that and looked over at Jack and Agent Mackenzie, who were going over some paperwork and pretending not to be interested in the reunion happening only a few feet away from where they were sitting.
"You almost started a mob war?" Eddie asked and Danny thought he detected a bit of pride in the elder Caruso's voice. "How did...?" He began to ask, but caught Danny shaking his head at him from the corner of his eye and stopped. "Never mind. I have a feeling I don't want to know." Looking around the room, Eddie put his hand on Angie's back and led her over to a couple of chairs in the far corner of the room. They weren't going to get much privacy, but at least they could feel like they weren't being monitored. "Sit with me."
Once they were seated, Angie asked, "How long have you been an F.B.I. rat?"
Raising his eyebrow at her choice of words, Eddie said, "I have been an informant for about five years..."
"Five years?" She interrupted, shaking her head in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because we don't talk about my work, remember?" He said, smirking. But his tone turned serious when he said, "I would never have done anything to put you in danger. Ever." He lifted his hand to touch her cheek and she covered his hand with her own.
Kissing his palm, she felt the tears well up in her eyes. "I know." Glancing over to where Danny was now leaning down to talk with the other two agents, Angie said, "I told them. I told them about mom."
Eddie nodded his head. "They told me."
"I told King Benny, too." She whispered.
Surprise registered in his eyes and she watched as the realization about the night's events hit him. He knew immediately that King Benny had been responsible for what happened to their family. And, in a round about way, Angie was responsible too. "That may not have been your smartest move."
"Well, I've been a little off my game this week." She said, looking at him pointedly. "I went a little nuts while believing you were dead. I did a few things that weren't too smart."
"Like hopping into bed with the Feds?" Eddie smirked, following her gaze over to where Danny stood. "Literally."
"What are you talking about..."
Eddie grinned at her. "I know you better than anyone, remember? Did you really think you could keep the news about your new boyfriend from me? From the moment I met him, Special Agent Taylor has been especially concerned about how all of this is going to affect you."
Angie tore her eyes away from Danny and changed the subject. "You were just going to tell me why you have been dead all week?" she asked, redirecting his attention back to their conversation.
Eddie took a deep breath and began his story. "You know that I never wanted to be part of this life." Angie nodded her head and her guilt was written all over her face. Eddie quickly took her face in his hands and said, "I don't blame you, OK. I have never blamed you. I made this choice on my own and I lived with it. To keep you safe. But when Theresa found out that she was pregnant, I knew that I couldn't pass on to my kids what had been passed on to us. So during one of the Feds' investigations into the Caruso family finances, I struck up a deal with Agent Mackenzie over there. I would become a prize gangster working hand-in-hand with a tight-knit group of FBI agents, ratting out my Mob brethren in exchange for protection from arrest and prosecution."
"What did you give them?"
"Wiretap evidence from bugs within the Caruso mansion. I tapped everything...the house, the offices...even the cars. Wherever Uncle Tony and Joey did business."
"That's how we knew the Caruso's were meeting with King Benny tonight." Agent Mackenzie piped up from across the room, reminding the brother and sister that they weren't completely alone.
"So what happened last week?" Angie wanted to know. "Why did they pull you out?"
"I asked them, too." Eddie said gently. "I wanted out. To sever all ties. We were going into Witness Protection..."
"Theresa!" Angie said suddenly, almost leaping out of her chair. "They got to Theresa, Eddie. She's in the hospital with a bullet in her belly..."
"She's been transferred." Jack said quietly, his soft eyes calming Angie's nerves. "To another location, protected by Federal Guards."
"Why didn't you take her and the kids with you?" Angie demanded of Eddie. "How could you do that to her? She was out of her mind with grief, not knowing if you were alive or dead!"
"They said it was safer that way. If we disappeared together, then the family would know that we went into Witness Protection and continue hunting for us for the rest of our lives." Eddie shook his head, saying, "And if she knew that they were pulling me out, they could force her to talk and..."
"So instead she got a bullet for her trouble." Angie finished for him. "Whose bright idea was that?" she asked, looking pointedly over at the agents.
Agent Mackenzie avoided her question and her stare, saying, "Theresa will make a full recovery. We have seen to that."
"Are Little Eddie and Rose at Uncle Frank and Aunt Mary's?" Eddie asked, eager to see his children.
"We sent some agents over to the pub to get them." Danny said, finally joining the conversation. "They should be here within the hour. Along with your aunt, uncle, and cousin."
"Uncle Frank is coming here? And Mikey?" Eddie asked, exchanging glances with Angie. She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder as he took a deep breath and said, "I'm not sure I'm ready for that."
"You'd better get ready." Danny said pointedly. "This isn't over yet. And we need everyone's help to pull it off."