Title: Boundaries
author: Cindy Ryan
notes and summary: See part one
Dwayne Pride took a deep breath and mentally counted to ten. He was standing in the sit room in the middle of a video call with Vance. Dwayne had maybe three hours of sleep after making sure Merri was settled in the safe house. He'd been back at the office when Vance's call had come in at 0600.
"No one saw who threw the explosive?"The director asked as he leaned forward."Nobody on that block saw a strange car?"
"NOPD is still canvasing."Pride explained feeling like he was repeating himself."The yard was empty by the time I reached it."
"And you're certain that this is connected to the attempt on Pack's life?"Vance inquired.
"One hundred percent certain? No."Pride admitted."But you have to see that the timing is suspicious to say the least."
"Agree."Vance replied quietly. "I'll have the JAG liaison coordinate with you."
"Does that mean we're on the task force?"Pride asked careful to keep the hope out of his voice.
"Unofficially."Vance stated grimly. "Don't make me regret it."
The video screen winked out before Dwayne could reply. He sighed and pulled out his phone. At least he had a bit of good news to tell Chris.
Merri hated everything about her situation. Being shot was bad enough but not being able to recuperate in her own home made her miserable and angry. Worst of all she felt helpless to fix it. She was stuck and physically she wouldn't be able to help Pride or Chris for several weeks.
The townhouse in the city center under other circumstances would be a nice place to stay. Modern, updated and with a nice skyline view. To Merri it felt like a jail cell. She wanted to be in her own home; to have her life back. There was only one way to do that and it was for the sniper to be caught. With nothing else to do Merri pulled out a legal pad and a pen and began to sketch out what they knew about the case. If she couldn't physically work it she'd help however she could.
Chris arrived at the restaurant in the Quarter ten minutes late. Traffic had been hell and wasn't helping his mood. This unusual work meeting had better contain some form of good news or this day was turning into a loss. All of the sources he had worked that day unofficially had struck out. As high profile as the shooting was in Chris's world it wasn't doing so well in the streets. He had feelers out but if today was any indication he wasn't holding out much hope. But for Merri's sake something had to turn around.
With property being at a premium in the Quarter real estate had been booming. Especially old buildings being used for new purposes. This three story brick had once been a small factory. Now in it's new life it housed a restaurant on the first floor, business offices on the second and apartments on the third. Chris entered and spotted Pride at a table near the right back corner. Sebastian, Loretta and Patton Plame were already gathered. Chris sat next to Sebastian and glanced at pride apologetically.
"Sorry I'm late, King. Traffic sucked."Chris explained as a waitress handed him a menu.
"It's alright."Pride replied as the waitress left. "I asked everybody here because there's finally been some good news on the sniper case."
"They gave it back to us."Sebastian exclaimed nearly knocking over his glass of water with his right elbow.
"Unofficially. JAG still has the lead."Pride continued. "But the director has untied our hands a bit."
"So unofficial how are we approaching this?"Chris asked.
."Like any other case. Merri sent over some notes she's been workin' on."Pride stated. "We regroup and then go learn things."
The waitress took their orders and returned with drinks.
"So are we doing top secret on the dl meetings for the rest of this?"Sebastian asked in a whisper.
Patton raised an eyebrow and frowned. "On the DL? Really?"
Dwayne held up a hand to stop further banter.
"No secret meetings but we do have to still be cautious. They haven't found a suspect in the attack at Merri's."Pride stated.
"Probably won't."Chris muttered. "They would've claimed responsibility by now if they wanted to brag about it."
"I think we need to look at this not from the Admiral standpoint."Loretta interjected. "I think this may be more about the protests and less about the military."
"They were protesting the job cuts."Chris added with a nod. "Lots of people out of work make for angry people with time on their hands."
Pride nodded. "Good Chris work that. Patton I want you to dig into Agent Hatchett. Merri said he was from the area."
"Old enemies. Got it."Plame acknowledged.
"We need to solve this one before anybody else gets hurt."Dwayne ordered solemnly.
Murmurs of agreement circled the table. The rest of the meal passed quickly. Chris didn't take part much in the light conversation. His thoughts elsewhere. He wanted to talk to Merri but didn't want to compromise her location by payin' a visit. The wait would drive Chris crazy but it'd give him more of a chance to come up with a better plan. He needed the right words to convince Merri to take a chance on them. Chris had never been good at flowery words before but he knew this time counted more than all the others. This might be the forever one and Chris had to make it work.
The rest of the week passed slowly for Chris. It was late friday before he finally got a lead on one of the feelers he'd put out. A source of a source of a source wasn't usually how he operated. Too many chances of somebody not tellin' the truth. Too much risk of that far removed source being loyal to only him or herself and not to the original lead. But for Merri it was something Chris had to risk. Any small clue could lead to much bigger things and close the case and get his partner her life back.
The meet was taking place in a sports bar near a strip of hotels on the interstate on the outskirts of New Orleans. Not the best place but not the worst either. Chris had been in shadier places. He got out of his truck locked it and headed into the sports bar. Instead of going to the bar Chris stood and scanned the restaurant. There were about twenty patrons not bad considering the early hour. He found the person he was meeting and went towards the back and slid into the booth three from the front. The person across from him was a young Hispanic late twenties with a bald head and mustache. Numerous tattoos dotted the youth's forearms and Chris spotted the start of one on the back of the kid's neck.
"Ten Rounds sends his regards."Chris began giving the code phrase.
The youth nodded sharply as the waitress appeared. Both ordered beers and the young woman left.
"Ten Rounds owes me dough so unless you can pay his tab this is a short conversation."The informant commented with a smile as he leaned forward.
"Can't make any promises till all the cards are on the table."Chris replied with a shrug.
The informant glanced around before speaking.
"Shooter's local."The young man stated.
"Not exactly a news flash."Chris replied grimly. "None of this smelled like a terrorism attack."
"Maybe but I heard the admiral dude wasn't the target."The informant finshed with a smile as he took a sip of beer.
Chris nodded and pulled out an envelope from his inside jacket pocket. He placed it on the table and slid it across.
"That should make Ten Rounds even and then some."LaSalle said.
The younger man picked up the envelope and peeked inside. He counted a few of the bills before nodding. He stood and placed on sunglasses.
"Pleasure, man."The informant replied as he left.
Chris stared at his beer bottle not really seeing it. A chill swept through him as the new information sank in. If this was true and Pack wasn't the target and the protest had just been a cover that meant the security detail had been the shooter's focus. Once more images of finding Merri still and bloodied on the stairs merged with Chris's thoughts and he closed his eyes briefly to force them away. Anger coiled once more...somebody had planned and purposefully put his partner and other agents in danger. He'd find them no matter what.
Merri was going stir crazy. Despite the comfy town house, supply of books, and stack of movies she had her full. Her bullet wound twinged painfully every time she moved reminding her why she was in her current situation. As if Merri needed the reminder she thought grumpily.
Half a dozen times Merri had picked up her phone to call her partner. For some reason she'd needed to hear his voice. To know things were going okay. But in the end she'd put the phone down. The last thing Chris needed was her bugging him. Merri knew how busy it got during a case. She just wasn't used to being the case. She didn't like being idle. But for now she'd have to concentrate on healing so she could get back to her team.
Chris didn't notice the SUV tailing him until he was two blocks from the office. He did a detour and went the opposite direction heading across town. Sure enough the SUV stayed with him. With a weary sigh Chris debated about calling it in. It was procedure but surely he could handle some two-bit in an SUV? Remembering the bomb at Merri's place Chris listened to his inner reason and pulled out his cell phone. He hit Pride's speed dial and held the phone to his right ear as he made a sharp left turn.
"Pride."Dwayne answered on the third ring.
"Picked up a tail on the way back to the office."Chris reported. "Dark gray SUV few years old. No front plate windows are tinted."
"Where are you? I'll get NOPD to your location."Dwayne offered.
"Heading south on Lewiston about to turn onto Pickett."Chris replied as he moved around slower traffic the SUV stayed with him. "They're not easy to shake."
"NOPD's rolling. ETA four minutes."Dwayne stated quietly. "No heroics, Christopher."
"I'll do my best, King. Really want to know who these guys are."LaSalle commented as he made a turn.
"So do I but there are other ways to do it."Dwayne ordered.
"Understood."Chris affirmed. "I'll report in once this is done. Hopefully the NOPD will be able to get some answers."
The call ended Chris tossed the phone on the passenger seat and headed onto an interstate on ramp. The SUV picked up speed and Chris switched lanes. The SUV stayed along side and Chris had a good idea what they were planning. Before Chris could speed up the SUV hit the truck's back end. Cursing Chris kept the truck in his lane. He pressed the accelerator just as the SUV rammed him again. A direct hit that caused the truck to fishtail.
By some miracle Chris managed to avoid any oncoming traffic as his truck sped across the highway and hit the ditch. It bounced and the airbag deployed before the truck crashed into a group of trees and flipped onto the passenger side. Chris heard faint sirens approaching before the world went dark and he slumped unconscious.