Chapter 6

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Jack stood up and walked down the corridor towards the disembodied voices. When he turned the corner he spotted Victor walking with a younger man in suit. Jack could only assume he was the agent Van Doren sent to pick up the Deputy Director.

"I think the nurse said the waiting room was down this way," the younger agent said.

When Jack got closer he recognized the agent speaking to Victor as Paul Turner from VCU. Turner was tall, black and a former quarterback for Norte Dame. The kind of guy you want on your side.

As soon as Victor spotted Jack, his pace increased as he walked determinedly towards him. "Jack, what do we know? How's my son?"

"Martin's still in surgery. We haven't heard anything yet."

Without missing a beat Victor continued, "How about the other agent, Agent Taylor? How is he?"

"He's going to be okay, wound to the shoulder but he should make a fast recovery."

"Good, good," Victor replied looking visibly relieved. He started walking to the waiting room and said, "Let's hope we can say the same for Martin."

Jack wasn't sure if he should tell Victor what the EMT's were saying when Martin came into the ER or wait for the doctor. While he was weighing the decision something occurred to him, "Did Katherine come with you?"

"She was at a judicial conference in San Francisco. She should be arriving in a few hours. Van Doren briefed me on the plane. She said you have a suspect." Jack wasn't surprised that Victor could switch gears so easily and jump right back into his role as Deputy Director.

"Emil Dornvald. He is, was, the security attaché for General Gamba. He's also a former mercenary from South Africa who has done work for the CIA. My guess is he thought Teno was directly responsible for General Gamba's assassination and this was his retaliation," he replied before adding, "Paige Hobson was Adisa Teno's girlfriend."

Victor took a moment to digest the information. "But why here? Why do something as risky as attacking federal agents? It was highly probable that Teno would have been sent back to his country to face trial there."

"Well, since Makeba is in the midst of a civil war, he probably wasn't sure who would be in power by the time Teno was returned. He didn't want to take the chance that Adisa would return a hero not a criminal."

Victor's voice was filled with restrained anger when he said, "Tell me what you need to get this guy."

"Can you keep JTTF off the case for awhile? I really think we should be the ones to get this guy." Jack knew having direct access to the Deputy Director was a gift horse and he was not about to look it in the mouth.

"I'll do anything I can but they won't hold off for long."

"Then we'll just have to find him quickly," Jack replied. "In the meantime, let's just focus on Martin pulling through."

Victor was about to ask him what he meant by that cryptic comment when they noticed Sam stand up with her eyes focused on the doctor who had just exited the ER bay.

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Sam almost couldn't breath as a tall Indian doctor walked towards Victor and Jack. "Excuse me, are you with Martin Fitzgerald?"

Victor took a few steps forward to meet the doctor halfway. "I'm his father. How is he?"

"I'm Dr. Nagra. Sir, perhaps we could go sit down." The doctor had a compassionate look on his face that filled Sam with dread.

"Just tell me how my son is." Victor raised his tone but Sam couldn't help but notice that the imposing Victor Fitzgerald's hands were shaking.

"Please sir." Dr. Nagra waved his hand in the direction of the waiting area. Victor took in the look on the doctor's face and to Sam's surprise he relented and walked over to the waiting area and sat down next to her. Jack followed his lead while Turner remained standing. Dr. Nagra sat on the coffee table across from the row of seats now occupied by Victor, Sam, and Jack.

"Okay, I'm sitting. Give it to me straight." Sam was thankful that it was Victor who spoke first, the suspense was killing her.

Dr. Nagra, in a calm, professional tone began to explain the extent of Martin's injuries: damage to his right lung; some internal bleeding; muscle damage to his right shoulder; his left leg was broken; a bullet braised his right temporal lobe and that has caused some pressure to build but they were unsure if it was going to cause any permanent damage because the final bomb he dropped was that Martin was in a coma - indefinitely.