The Post …
Hana walked into the Inspector's office, tears still threatening to fall from her obsidian eyes. Behind the desk sat the woman she'd first met fourteen years ago as a little girl.
"Hana, is that you, oh, you look so much like Amina." Meg met her halfway across the room, her arms open.
"Ms. Meg," Hana embraced her warmly. It felt good to see someone from her old life.
"I've never heard you speak until now." Meg held her at arm's length to look at her better.
"A lot has changed, the whole world has changed." Hana took one of the seats in front of Meg's desk while Meg took the other.
"I never thought I'd see you again, I saw them shoot you." Meg spoke with a shuttering breath.
"One of the guards took me to a nearby village, he saved my life." Hana answered, searching Meg's pained face. She saw the old ghosts behind the Mountie's dark eyes.
"I'm so sorry, can you ever forgive me?" Meg's voice broke. She'd longed to say those words to Amina, Syed, Omar and Hana for so long.
"I forgive you, I know you were trying to help save the world." Hana smiled, fresh tears streaming.
"I didn't do anything to save the world, Hana, I cost you your family." Meg shrugged, taking a deep breath, trying not to cry again.
"My mother had great faith in you, Ms. Meg, she admired you for your courage. She wanted me to grow up to be like you, strong and confident. I'm a nurse now, I want to help people like you helped my mother. I got to realize her dream for me, because of you. It may not have happened the way she planned it but it happened just the same." Hana held Meg's hands as they shook.
"You and your husband have helped so many people." Hana turned to Fraser, who blushed to match his uniform.
"Oh, he's not my husband," Meg turned to look at him as he stood silently watching. "He's my best friend." She smiled, hope rising within her. Fraser had been right, Amina would be proud of her.
"I'm sorry, I saw the way you look at each other and I assumed." Hana looked from Meg to Fraser and back again. She'd assumed they were in love and she'd been right.
"It's alright, it's a long and complicated story for another time." Meg turned back to Hana. "Right now you and I have a lot of catching up to do."
"Omar." Hana said the one word sadly.
"Yes, Omar." Meg nodded, taking the Kleenex box off her desk and handing it to the young woman.
"I don't know anything about Omar, I only found out he was in Canada three months ago. I've been trying to track him down for the last two years. It wasn't until Constable Fraser mentioned him that I knew he was in Spencer Falls." Hana's dark eyes pleaded with Meg to believe her.
"Do you know where he might be now?" Fraser asked, speaking for the first time.
"I heard that he was working for a mining company in the area, that's all." Hana turned to him. "What has my brother done that you are looking for him?" She feared the bitterness in his heart she'd seen as a little girl had consumed him.
"All we know for certain is that he's responsible for the theft of catalytic converters from McConaughey Mining Company trucks." Fraser answered. He didn't want Meg to be the one to tell the young woman her brother was a thief.
"There's more, isn't there, your haven't told me the whole story." Hana pushed, wanting to understand what was happening.
"I have reason to believe someone is trying to kill me, I was ran off the road by a large truck, my food was poisoned and my brake lines were cut. Earlier this week someone tried to ambush Constable Fraser and me on our way back from Camp Cumberbatch." Meg shuttered to think of that day. "I've seen the kind of tactics used to ambush us before." The Mountie met Hana's eyes. They had both seen those kind of tactics before.
"They used the same methods as the men who killed my father; a spike strip and a long range rifle?" Hana's eyes widened, she'd been in the vehicle the day her father had been killed, she'd hidden under his dead body until her mother had found them.
"Yes, exactly." Meg shook her head.
A tap on the door brought the reunion to a halt. Meg and Fraser exchanged meaningful glances.
"Enter!" Meg called, gathering herself back into Inspector Thatcher. Constable Wilder peeped his head into the office.
"Sir, there's been a sighting of the suspect." He knew he needed say no more from the look on his boss' face.
"Thank you, Constable Wilder." Meg stood up, straightening her jacket around her hips.
"You should stay here at the post, Miss Zaman, until this is resolved." Fraser recommended. She simply nodded.
In the post's main room, Meg had taken the report of Omar's appearance. He'd been spotted by Doug Ward, McConaughey Mining's foremen. Mr. Ward had been on a surveying trip with another employee when he saw Omar's camp and evidence of bomb making in the camp. He'd called it in immediately.
Meg assembled her troops in the main room. Evidence of bomb making gave her the leeway she needed to tell them what had been happening and that Omar Zaman was a dangerous young man who would not be apprehended without a fight. The seven officers in the main room geared up with bullet proof vests, helmets and assault rifles.
"Omar Zaman is traveling on a dirt bike, which means he is highly mobile and agile. Be extremely careful, he's motivated as well as extremely intelligent." Meg warned her officers. "I and Constable Kowalski will be here at the post to coordinate efforts." Meg sent her officers on their way into the community.
"Meg hasn't arrived yet for her shift." Fraser reminded Meg.
"I know, I'm getting ready to call her right now, do you know where she would be just now?" She picked up the phone and began dialing Maggie's number.
"She and Ray were going to take Ben back to camp this morning after breakfast at the dinner." Fraser hated to think that Ben was anywhere near such a dangerous criminal, but he knew he couldn't be in better hands than Ray and Maggie's. Aurora would lay down her life for the boy as well.
"I'll call Dinah's and see if she's still there." Meg dialed the familiar number after leaving a voice mail for Maggie.
"Hey, Sabrina, is one of my officers there with a blonde American guy and a boy?" Meg asked, realizing how silly the question sounded over the phone.
"Yes, do you want to talk to her, Meg?" Sabrina, the waitress who'd eyed Fraser asked.
"Thank you, yes." Meg waited until Sabrina put Maggie on the phone.
"Constable Kowalski, there's been a sighting of Omar Zaman, I need you to report to the post immediately." Meg put her hand over the phone receiver, "Fraser, Ray and Ben can stay in my apartment until this is over if you'd like." She offered. Benton nodded, relieved to know that his son would be watched after somewhere so close.
"Yes, Inspector, I'll be right there." Maggie answered.
"Oh, Constable, Fraser and I agree, Ben and Ray should stay at my apartment until further notice, my security code is Fraser's birthday," Meg gave him an embarrassed smile, "and Sabrina has a spare key to the top door."
"I'll tell them, Inspector Thatcher." Maggie felt relieved to know her nephew would be safe as well.
"Thank you, Constable Kowalski." Meg's voice took on a softer note.
"You're welcome, Inspector." Maggie responded.
Meg turned to Fraser, she hated to but she had to send him into the field.
"Fraser, you and Wilder should get out there. I gave them the authorization to take a lethal shot if provoked, but I don't want Omar dead. He's as much a victim here as I am, or Hana." Meg confided in Fraser. "You have to find him first."
"I'll try, Inspector, I want you to stay here at the post." Fraser leaned closer, "I want you to be safe."
Meg smiled, "I will be." She watched as Fraser left the post. He turned to look back at her as she stood on the front stoop. Meg saw Fraser's quirky smile pull at the corner of his mouth. She smiled back, allowing herself to wave at him, watching the vehicle until it drove out of sight.
Omar had been watching the post since just after dawn; the comings and the goings. He'd seen Meg Thatcher walk into her office, he saw the young woman walk into the office after her, and the Mountie that had engineered their escape from his ambush. Omar knew that if he was patient, he would catch Meg Thatcher alone, then he would seize his chance at retribution. When the RCMP Jeep with the smart Mountie pulled out after all the other, Omar began moving in closer to the post. It was just Meg Thatcher and the young woman in the office now. The thoughts of seeing Meg dead moved him onward.
"Ray, why did Dad and Inspector Thatcher want us to stay here?" Ben asked as he sat down on Meg's couch. It seemed strange to be in her apartment without her being there.
"They don't want this psycho coming after you, that's all." Ray answered, rummaging through Meg's kitchen cabinets.
"I don't think the Inspector would want you going through her spatula drawer, Uncle Ray." Ben said as he sat on the couch, his fingers laced behind his head.
"Ah, I'm nosy, old habits die hard." Ray closed the drawer with her extra batteries and random recipe index cards.
"Does Dad love Inspector Thatcher, Uncle Ray?" Ben sighed, wondering what would happen in his life next. He wondered if his dad married Meg Thatcher if they'd have another child.
"Yeah, he loves her, why, does it bother you?" Ray left his snooping to talk to Ben.
"No, it doesn't bother me, I like Inspector Thatcher. He's just so quiet and private about that kind of stuff. He doesn't talk about my mom much. They must have had something good together, I'm here." The boy shrugged. He wondered what his parents were like face to face once upon a time.
"I know Fraser loved her in his way, he wanted to help Victoria." Ray didn't know what to say about those days, they'd been before his time.
"I know, that's just what he does. I can't imagine Dad and Mom going on a date, like you and Aunt Maggie."
"Benny'd be all stiff and proper, six forks on the table and he knows how to use every one of 'em." Ray snickered.
"Yeah, how does he know all that stuff?" Ben shook his head. Fraser knew more about American History than his teacher in school, even if he did tell it from a slightly biased, Canadian point of view.
"Beats me, Fraser's the smartest guy I know, next to Maggie." Ray gave a megawatt smile. Ben let it go, of course he'd think Maggie was the smartest.
"Dad reads like you play video games, he can finish a book in two days." Ben thought back to the first time he and his dad had gone to the library. Fraser had assisted four people with their questions at the desk and told the librarian her Dewey Decimal System was off in the Sociology section. The librarian had nearly swooned when Fraser had checked out Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
"Yeah, I know, you'll never have to worry about him goin' forgetful, slippin' and stuff, Fraser's as sharp as they come." Ray chuckled.
The pair talked for a while longer, trading stories and comparing notes on their favorite Mounties. Ben felt lucky to have his family, such as it was.