A sound in the hotel room stirred Raleigh awake, and he leaned over to Samantha, who was still asleep. “Did you hear that?” he asked.
Samantha’s eyes peeked open, and she smiled when she was finally able to focus and see Raleigh’s face. “What going on?” she replied.
“Did you hear that?” he questioned again.
“I don’t hear anything, babe. Lie back down and go to sleep. It’s probably outside in the hallway. You are too paranoid, Raleigh.” As she spoke the words, she finally heard it—someone was in the hotel suite.
“Okay, I heard that.” She sat up and fumbled on the side of the bed for her Glock. Raleigh was already on his knees in the bed with his sidearm poised and ready.
“There’s someone in the living room.” Raleigh got up quietly. He was completely naked, but so was Samantha, who was also already standing on the side of the bed, her Glock pointed toward the ceiling as they both moved toward the doorway into the living room. It was pitch black in the suite, and Samantha struggled to get her bearings as Raleigh was already in the living room.
Samantha made her way into the kitchenette area, and as she rounded the corner, Kristen lunged at her with a butcher’s knife, missing Samantha and embedding it into the wall behind her. As Samantha struggled again with Kristen, Raleigh came toward them and ordered Kristen to stop. Kristen pushed Samantha against the wall, grabbed her pistol, and headed toward Raleigh, the gun pointed at him.
Raleigh then fired at Kristen, making sure to only wing the pregnant woman. He grabbed her wrists and held them behind her as Samantha searched for her cuffs in her bag on the couch.
Handcuffing Kristen to her chair at the small dining table, Raleigh and Samantha got dressed, and Samantha called the police. Kristen fought at the cuffs, screaming and threatening Raleigh and Samantha, vowing to kill them both. Raleigh sat down across from Kristen as Samantha stood at the door, waiting for the police to arrive.
Raleigh’s face turned soft, and an air of caring was expressed in his voice as he asked, “Kristen, honey, I don’t understand what is going on with you. Can you please try to explain to me why you’re doing this?”
Samantha could tell by the expressions on Raleigh’s face that it genuinely did hurt him to see another person suffer, even if she had mistreated him when they were together. Kristen’s demeanor seemed to change as Raleigh placed his hand on her thigh.
When he did, she said calmly, softly, and with love in her voice, “Because we belong together, Raleigh. We can raise our child together as a family.”
He thought for a moment on how exactly he should handle the situation. He didn’t want to get her riled up again and didn’t want to lie, either. “Kristen, you need to get some help. If not for yourself, do it for the baby. Will you do that, darlin’? Once you do that, then we can discuss what will happen next.” Raleigh waited for her reply.
“All right. I will do it for our baby and for us,” she replied.
Samantha made herself scarce and went out into the hallway to head off the police before they broke down the door. As the officers approached, she recognized Raleigh’s friend Roberts, who in turn recognized Samantha immediately.
“Seems you’re making a habit of getting into life-threatening situations,” Roberts exclaimed as he walked closer to Samantha.
“Yeah, I suppose it sure does seem like it.” She smiled then explained the situation. “Well right now, Raleigh has his ex-girlfriend Kristen handcuffed to a chair. She broke into the room and tried to kill me. Raleigh has her calm now, but you need to get her to a psych evaluation. So can you call an ambulance to transport her?”
“Of course. I would have to agree with you. I’ve known Kristen about as long as I have known Chief, and she may be a lot of things, but this isn’t like her. She’s definitely off the rails.” Roberts grabbed his radio and asked dispatch to send an ambulance then softly knocked on the door of the hotel room. Raleigh stood and opened the door.
“Glad it’s you, man. At least seeing you instead of uniformed officers won’t freak her out too much.”
“I had them stay downstairs, and I have an ambulance on its way. Your companion told me what’s going on, so we can make this as smooth as possible,” Roberts replied as he walked over to Kristen, who was still cuffed to the chair but now seemed calmer than what he had expected.
Roberts sat down in the chair in front of her and asked, “Kristen, do you remember me?”
“Oh yes, I remember you!” she acknowledged then asked, “Why are you here? Are you taking me to the hospital? I won’t go without Raleigh. He promised he wouldn’t leave me.”
Roberts looked Raleigh’s way, and Raleigh replied with a shake of his head, answering in the negative that he didn’t agree to that, but then walked over to Kristen, placing his hand on her shoulder. “Kristen, I’ll go downstairs with you, and I’ll see you at the hospital. It is important that you go with Roberts for now. Okay?”
She groaned in agreement then Roberts uncuffed her and helped her stand, then helped her out the door of the hotel room and to the waiting ambulance. Raleigh, good to his word, accompanied them. “Kristen, honey, you need to do what the doctors tell you, and I will see you at the hospital.” The paramedic closed the door, and Raleigh turned to Roberts, who waited for him a few feet away.
“I have to fly out in the morning to Alabama to meet with Jared’s parents. His daddy is in the hospital, and it doesn’t sound good. I don’t know how I am gonna tell them their only child is dead. I can get you my statement once I get back. Is that okay?”
“Oh yeah, it’s cool, Chief. Safe travels, and I will see you when you return,” Roberts replied.
“I have to get ahold of the guys to let them know they won’t need to watch the hotel since Kristen is on her way to the hospital. But can you do me a favor and keep an eye on Samantha? I would have the guys do it, but they are getting ready to deploy again, and I know they got things to do,” Raleigh asked.
“Of course, Chief. I will have a squad car keep an eye out. I gotta head back to the station, but call me when you get back, and I will get your statement. Can you ask your girl to come by tomorrow and I’ll get hers then?”
“Yep, Samantha is gonna drop me off at the airport in the morning; she can stop by on the way back. Well, I best go back and try and get some sleep before the trip, but keep me informed if you find out anything on Kristen. I feel bad for her, not sure why.”
“Well, Chief, dare I say you just got a good heart and a soft spot for strays?” Roberts laughed as he held his hand out to shake. “I best get back myself. I got a ton of paperwork to get done before my shift ends. I’ll see ya when you get back.”
“All right brother. Be safe out there.”
***
It was eight a.m. when Raleigh and Samantha arrived at the airport, pulling into the departures terminal drop-off and parking. Raleigh got out, pulled the tail gate down, and lifted his bag from the bed of the truck before quickly closing the gate as Samantha reached her arm around his waist and pulled him close to her.
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her closer and kissed her. When their lips parted, he looked at Samantha. “Shouldn’t be gone but a day or so. Jared’s daddy is in intensive care, but I don’t have a choice. I have to tell them about Jared. Once I break the news, I will see if Macalister or Bryant can come and help with the planning. I don’t just wanna break the news and leave, but they will understand. I want you to stay safe and don’t get into trouble while I am gone,” he said, winking at her.
Samantha grinned and shrugged her shoulders. “Now what kinda trouble can I possibly get into in just a day or so?”
“I don’t know, darlin’, but I know you well enough to know that trouble finds you,” he said, smiling with a half laugh. “But I know you can take care of yourself. Just know the guys will be checking up on you. Just giving you a warno.”
“I figured you would have them do that. I will behave. I just wish I could go with you, but I know this is something you should do alone,” she replied as she kissed him on the cheek and gave him a swat on the ass. “Now get before I change my mind and stowaway in your carry on.” She grinned as he picked up his bag and headed to the curb side baggage handler.
***
Raleigh looked down at his boarding pass as he scanned the overheads for his seat number. 21A, aisle seat, right near the escape hatch. Perfect. Sammie, you are definitely a keeper. He finally found his seat and got comfortable, which meant dipping his hat over his eyes and waiting until the pilot gave the all clear to push the seat back and doze for the ninety-minute flight to Birmingham. When he arrived, he needed to quickly retrieve his rental vehicle and drive to the University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital and check on Jared’s daddy. He was dreading this flight and everything that came after it.
He was close to Jared’s family; they were like a second family to him. His heart ached at the thought of breaking theirs. As he laid back in the seat, a million words and phrases seemed to jumble in his head; Raleigh had always been a man with a way with words, but this trip and what lay ahead was emerging as his kryptonite.
Breaking people’s hearts was not something Raleigh Fitzgerald was good at, and these people were family. Finding the right words just wasn’t coming as easily as he thought they would, and neither was the nap he had so desperately wanted before he landed. The jolt of the plane indicated he had arrived in Birmingham. He would have to search his heart for the right words quickly and pray that they gave Jared’s parents some comfort.
He had already planned to keep the information about Jared’s involvement with the terrorists to himself. It would just cause them more pain, and they didn’t deserve that. They had always been so great to Raleigh, and he wanted to protect them at least until the time came that he had no choice but to tell them. Raleigh hoped that day would never come.
As he prepared to deplane, he grabbed his bag and waited as the other passengers did the same. Once off the plane, Raleigh slung the bag over his shoulder and made his way to baggage claim where the rental car counter was to pick up his car and drive to the hospital. Once Raleigh got into his vehicle, the grumbling of his stomach told him it was time to eat. It was eleven o’clock, close enough to lunchtime for him, so when he spotted a Chick-fil-A food was goal number one.
Maybe stopping to grab a bite first will clear my mind.
Pulling into the drive-thru of the restaurant, he ordered his food then parked. As he ate his sandwich, he tried to think of the right words to say to Jared’s parents that might bring them some sort of comfort. Raleigh didn’t want to lie to them, but he also didn’t want to tell them the complete truth. Finally devising a story that wouldn’t cause them more pain than they deserved, he quickly finished his sandwich.
His plan was to tell them Jared died serving his country and the circumstances of his death were still being investigated. This way Raleigh would not have to lie to them and they would also have the knowledge that their son was no longer with them.
The sight of Jared hanging in his jail cell still haunted Raleigh’s dreams. He never imagined it would all end this way. Sure, his best friend had betrayed him and others, but he didn’t deserve to die the way he did.
Thinking back to the good times they had together as brothers and brothers in arms was all he could do to keep the bad from overtaking the good, and there had been a lot of good. Although Raleigh hated that Jared had turned his back on all of them, he had found it in his heart to forgive him, too. It wasn’t his way to hold a grudge, and he sure wouldn’t start now.
Jumping into his rental and heading to UAB Hospital was what he needed to do now before the press got hold of the story that Jared and Semeana were dead. It would be devastating to the Thompsons if they saw the report on the news and not from Raleigh. The drive would be short; he was just down the road from the hospital, and now that he had a plan and the right words, he needed to get there as quickly as possible. The roads weren’t as busy as he thought they might be. There was still the usual construction, but he hit the interstate just at the right time. The usual stop and go was light, so he got lucky and had successfully avoided rush hour traffic. Coming off the interstate and navigating through the streets, he finally turned the corner into the parking garage of UAB Hospital then pulled into the first parking spot he found.
***
The hospital was quiet as he pushed the button for the tenth floor. Leaning into the elevator wall, he looked around; seeing his reflection in the mirrored back wall, Raleigh smoothed down his uniform and ran his hand over his hair, then wiped his face of any bread crumbs from the chicken sandwich he had just consumed. As the elevator pinged for the tenth floor, Raleigh took a deep breath then the door opened. He stepped out toward the nurse’s station. When he approached, he noticed a young, dark-haired woman, her hair pulled tightly against her head as she sat typing on the laptop in front of her. When Raleigh placed his hand on the counter, the young woman looked up.
“May I help you, sir?”
“Yes, ma’am, you just might. I am looking for Jerold Thompson’s room. Would you be able to point me in the right direction?” he asked, leaning over the counter as he turned on the charm with his deep gravelly southern twang.
The nurse smiled a hello then seemed to stare at Raleigh until she finally blinked, almost forgetting to ask one important question. “Are you a family member?” she asked once she got her wits about her. Raleigh could tell by the young nurse’s reaction that she was attracted to him, but he smiled back, and his first thought was of Samantha as he replied, “Well no, ma’am, not in the Biblical sense, but they did pretty much raise me, and I call Jerold ‘Daddy,’ so does that count?”
The nurse looked down at her notes then back up to Raleigh. “Are you Raleigh Fitzgerald? I am assuming so since your uniform says Fitzgerald.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“All right, Mrs. Thompson has you down on the visitor list. Mr. Thompson is in room ten-twelve. You can go down this hallway to your right, and his room is on the right side of the hall. I will call down to let Mrs. Thompson know you are on your way.”
“Thank you, ma’am. You have a fine day now.” Raleigh was making his way down the hallway when he saw Nancy Thompson peek out the doorway and in his direction. When she saw Raleigh, she walked to him and met him just in front of the door to Jerold’s room.
“Oh, Raleigh, I am so glad you came. Jerold has been asking for you. Where’s Jared? Where’s my son, Raleigh? I thought Jared was coming with you.”
Raleigh’s face turned almost pale as he placed his hand on her shoulder. It was then that Nancy Thompson realized that Jared wasn’t coming. “What happened, Raleigh? What happened to my son?”
“Ms. Nancy, is there someplace else we can talk?”
“Yes, of course, Raleigh. There is a waiting room just over here.”
Raleigh placed his hand on Nancy’s shoulder and guided her into the waiting room. As they sat down, Nancy’s eyes filled with tears.
Raleigh’s heart broke as he watched the woman with whom he had spent so much of his young life weeping. It was that weeping and her questions that told him that Nancy Thompson knew her son was dead.
“How did it happen, Raleigh?” she asked. Not sure she wanted to know the real answer, Raleigh went with his gut and told her what he had planned to tell her.
“Ms. Nancy, he died on a mission. The Army is still investigating, and that’s all I know. When I found out, I asked that I be the one to come tell you. I am so sorry, Ms. Nancy. I should’ve been with him.”
“Oh, now, Raleigh, it’s not your fault. Jared was doing what he loved with people he loved. He loved you, son, like his own brother. There is no way you could’ve known.” She placed her hand on Raleigh’s shoulder and pulled him in for a hug. “Now boy, we can’t tell Jerold. He is already in such a weakened state this might kill him. I can’t go out and make plans for the funeral. Would you be able to assist me?”
“Ms. Nancy, I will do all I can. I have to go back to Bragg in the morning, but I will send out Macalister to help until I can get back over here. He and I will work both ends and make it a beautiful ceremony. I will have my assistant Samantha O’Hara help also, if that is okay with you?”
“Oh, that is fine, son, just fine.”
“Ms. Nancy, I am truly sorry you have to go through all this,” he replied, looking down at his feet. He could barely look her in the eye for fear she could tell he wasn’t telling her the entire truth.
“Oh sweetheart, when you’re the wife and mother to soldiers, you pray every day that the next knock on the door will never come, but you always mentally prepare for the day just the same. Now why don’t we go see Jerold and we can discuss the funeral arrangements later. I am gonna go freshen up. I don’t want Jerold to see that I have been crying.”
“Yes, ma’am, I’ll be right here, and Ms. Nancy, I really am sorry I couldn’t be there for Jared.”
“I know you are, honey. Now just wait here and we will walk in the room together.”
Raleigh’s heart raced and ached at the same time, wishing he could turn back the clock and get Jared and Semeana the protection they needed, but as he thought about how it happened and when it happened, he wasn’t at all sure getting them extra security or even moving them would’ve stopped whoever murdered the couple.
Raleigh just needed to wrap things up here and get back to Bragg; he still had a lot of work to do. Not that helping Ms. Nancy with arrangements wasn’t work, but he had to find out who was responsible for Jared’s murder as well as find out who all was involved with the thefts as well as figure out how Senator Warren fit into all of it. As he went through the whole scenario, a thought came to him. Closed circuit cameras. The jail has closed circuit cameras. He needed to call Samantha ASAP and have her get to those cameras and see if she could get Maxwell to get search warrants for the news crews’ footage. Why I hadn’t thought of it before now is beyond me. Maybe it was getting shot at and keeping Kristen at bay that had my mind a mess.
Grabbing his cell phone, he quickly dialed Samantha and asked her to follow up with the closed-circuit cameras and to get with Chance Maxwell about a search warrant for the television stations. “Maybe we got our perp on video, Sammie. Check it out and let me know. I am heading into Jerold’s room with Ms. Nancy in a couple. She is in the bathroom getting freshened up.”
“Yeah, no problem. I am heading into the office in a few so I will start working on it as soon as we get off the phone. Raleigh, baby, are you okay?”
“I’m okay, Sammie. Don’t worry about me. I will call you when I head over to the hotel. I miss you.”
“I miss you too, Raleigh. Talk to you later. I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
Raleigh clicked the phone off just as Nancy walked out of the bathroom. “Did I just hear you say, ‘I love you baby’?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am, you heard right.”
“And who, may I ask, has my Fitz’s heart?”
“Well, ma’am, she’s an amazing woman. She has fire, and she’s strong and intelligent. You will love her. She is a lot like you, Ms. Nancy.”
“Well, Raleigh, if she is half what you say she is, then I know I will love her. When do we get to meet this young lady?”
“Soon. I promise. We are working on something big right now, but we will be coming home to visit soon. You will meet her at Jared’s funeral. I am also moving back to Bragg.”
“All right, Raleigh Fitzgerald, I am gonna hold you to that promise. Let’s keep Jared’s funeral from Jerold right now. I don’t want to lose him, too. Once he is doing a bit better, I will tell him.”
“All right, Ms. Nancy.”
Nancy placed her hand in Raleigh’s, and she pulled him out the door to Jerold’s hospital room door. “Now, Raleigh, be prepared. Jerold has lost a lot of weight, and he sees and says things that don’t make much sense so just nod your head. I know he will be happy to see you. Are you ready?”
Taking a deep breath, he answered, “Yes, ma’am.” As he grabbed the handle and pushed on the door, the light from the hallway illuminated their backs as they started to step through. Jerold made a sound and spoke. “Are you an angel?” He struggled to see them standing by the door. Raleigh stepped through with Nancy behind him.
Raleigh smiled and with a half laugh said, “No sir, it’s Fitz. I came to get you up outta this bed and back to work. You been lettin’ your meat loaf too long.”
The old man’s eyes lit up as Raleigh walked closer and seemed to perk up as he attempted to fumble for the remote to move the bed up so that he could see Raleigh better. “Fitz, how are you, son?”
“Well, sir, better than you it seems.” Sitting down in the chair next to Jerold’s bed, he reached to pat the old man on the shoulder.
“What brings you way back home?”
“Well, sir, I found out you were down and that you won’t leave the nurses alone, so I thought I best come save them.”
Jerold laughed as the two men bantered back and forth until a nurse walked in to change Jerold’s IV bag, administer meds, and take his vitals. As the nurse worked, Raleigh sat and chatted with Nancy.
“What are the doctors saying, Ms. Nancy?”
Nancy’s face turned visibly worried as she explained to Raleigh that Jerold was set for quadruple bypass surgery in the morning.
“What is the prognosis?” Raleigh leaned in closer to Nancy so that Jerold couldn’t hear just in case the news wasn’t good.
“Right now, the doctors say it’s fifty-fifty, so we are just praying for a good outcome. Jerold will have a long road ahead of him. It won’t be good for him right now to know about Jared. So if he asks, just tell him he’s on a mission. Jerold won’t press then.”
“All right, Ms. Nancy.”
As they chatted, the nurse squeezed between them and Jerold was right back to Raleigh. “Now Fitz, where’s that damn son of mine?”
Raleigh’s heart fell into his feet, and he tried to keep his wits about him as he quickly looked down at his watch to hide his face. “Sir, I was told on my way out here that he’s on a mission and can’t be contacted, but as soon as there is clearance, I will let him know what’s going on.”
“Oh well, if that’s the case, leave him be. No need to worry him on a mission, that’s for sure. Besides, I got you here, and I know Jared would be happy for that.”
“Yes, sir, he sure would. I best let you get some rest before Ms. Nancy puts a boot in my backside.”
That was Nancy’s cue to step in. “Yes. Yes, Raleigh, you have been traveling all day, and I know you have some things to set up at your house for your move back to Bragg. And this rascal needs to get some sleep for tomorrow’s surgery.”
“Yes, ma’am. I will stop by in the morning to check on you.” Raleigh stood up and leaned over the bed railing to give Jerold Thompson a hug. When he turned, Nancy was already standing, her arms open.
“Now don’t you worry, Raleigh, I have everything under control here. If you want to stop by in the morning, I will be here, but don’t go out of your way. You just get done what you gotta get done and I will call you when this ol’ fart is out of surgery.”
Raleigh hugged the woman and whispered in her ear, “If you need me, just yell. I will be here till two o’clock, then I gotta catch my plane back. I will be here in the morning. You couldn’t keep me away.”
Nancy kissed Raleigh on the cheek then swatted him on the back as he headed out the door of the hospital room.
“Take care of yourself, old man. I will see you when you are outta surgery if I am still in town. If not, you will see me next week.”
***
When Raleigh arrived at his apartment, it had felt like a lifetime since he had stepped in the home he and Kristen had once shared. So much had happened, and he had been traveling so much the last six months or so that Nancy and Jerold had been checking the apartment every few days, watering plants and turning lights on and off. When he sat down in his chair, he dug into his pants pocket and pulled out his cell phone to call Samantha. The phone rang six times then went to voice mail. Strange, not like Sammie not to pick up or at least push the button to send to voice mail immediately if she was busy doing something. Raleigh pushed the thought to the back of his mind, pulled off his boots, and yanked the bedding off his bed.
He tossed the laundry into the washing machine then grabbed the remote and clicked on the television. Leaning back into his favorite chair again, he began flipping through the channels until landing on ESPN and the college football report. Grabbing the pad from his breast pocket and a pen from his sleeve, he began writing down all the things he planned to move with and those items he would donate to Goodwill, all the while wondering where Samantha was and why she hadn’t answered her phone.