5

 

Reginald Biesel the third was a short stocky man with graying hair and a mid section that protruded over his belt buckle. He grew up in Texas but had a stuffy Worcester name, from his daddy’s side of the family. He paced the plush office, which was as soft and inviting as he was. He used to work for the CIA and then branched out and formed his own agency, he banged his fist on his desk then shook it to subside the stinging. He took in Tripp when he was a young boy and trained him to one-day take over the agency; he was not going to lose the boy who was like his own son. He wouldn’t lose Lena either, she was a case that actually piqued his interest because she went after a large gang on her own without the back up of Baltimore Police. She had what they would call moxy. He nursed her and brought her back from the brink of death, her circumstances were more delicate than Tripp’s. Biesel told Tripp that his parents were dead and that he didn’t know them, in reality though if Tripp found out whom his parents were he would surely go over the edge. He hoped that by pairing Lena with Tripp the boy would forget his quest to figure out who his parents were. Lena was a welcome distraction and Tripp took his duty seriously but he did complain about having to be her baby sitter. The old man chuckled, as he looked a photo taken at the last picnic they had. There was something brewing under that animosity and he was hoping that it would get Tripp to settle down and have a family of his own. Unfortunately Biesel’s matchmaking efforts were put to a dead halt as the two continued to bicker and argue. It has even come to the point where Vivian and Sumyi have had to step in so that it didn’t come to blows between the two youngsters. Biesel put the picture back on the mahogany expanse of his desk and sank down into the chair. Now he needed to figure out where to put his two troublemakers where the Van Bastian’s won’t find them. He needed to bring the family down and do it soon. Biesel was waiting for a report from George to figure out what happened with the sting tonight and why his hired snipers decided to go against orders and shoot one of the people they were supposed to be protecting. He cursed under his breath and was startled when the intercom buzzed.

            “Yes George please tell me that you have the answers I’m looking for.”

            “Well boss what I can tell you is that they were paid a s**t load of money, we still can’t figure out who tipped them off to the Van Bastian’s, Sumyi is working on that.” There were papers rattling on the other end. “We only managed to capture one of the snipers and it shouldn’t be long to break him, but that isn’t what we should be worrying about right now.” There was a pause on the other end and Biesel didn’t like where this was going.

            “Go on George I’m a big boy and my heart isn’t that fragile, so I won’t have a heart attack if you tell me anything bad.” He lied, of course he felt like he was going to have a heart attack right now.

            “Well umm how do I say this, we need to move Tripp and Lena ASAP.”

            “Why George? What are you not telling me?”

            “We found out that Tracy Van Bastian called in the cleaners and umm well…” Biesel felt pain radiating down his arm now and gritted his teeth, it was an anxiety attack nothing more. There was a sigh and George mumbling something on the other end.

            “What did you say George? Speak up I hate it when you mumble because I can’t understand you.”

            “I said that Vincent has been dispatched by Tracy and he was last seen heading towards Baltimore.” Biesel sucked in his breath and started cursing loudly and he can just see the other man cringing as the string of obscenities came from Biesel’s mouth.

            “Get them out of the hospital NOW! Have them on a plane to Canada, I haven’t set up anything over seas yet for them but I’m going to have to now. You know where to stick them. As soon as Tripp wakes up tell him what is going on.”

            “What about Lena?”

            “If she wakes up brief her on the new assignment but don’t tell her about Vincent yet, the less she knows about him the less inclined she will be to go after him herself.”

            “Gotcha boss over and out.” There was static on the other end and Biesel pressed the end button. He grabbed the phone and dialed Vivian’s cell phone, she needed to go with them and keep and eye on the two. He sighed as the voice mail picked up.

            “Vivian, its Biesel, when you get this call me back. You’re going to need to come back to headquarters and grab passports and some money. Vincent was dispatched and you know what that means.” He hung up the phone and started making the necessary arrangements.

            Tripp blinked his eyes and tried to talk but his throat was sore and it felt like something was shoved down his throat then yanked out. He tried sitting up but pain radiated from his stomach and shoulder. The room was blurry and he smelled antiseptic, and machines beeped. 

            “If you promise not to thrash about and just lay there until the morphine fully works I’ll remove the restraints young man.” Tripp blinked and tried to focus on the person speaking to him and he nodded, his head felt like it was full of cotton but weighed like a ton. The blur in front of him made a gesture and another blur loosened his hands. He raised his hands and moved them around experimentally. They were stiff and heavy as well, what the hell happened to him? He had several thoughts running through his head and none of them were rational. He thought about getting up and getting the hell out of there but decided against it. Something was pressed to his lips and he opened up to allow water to be poured down his throat and he started choking and glared at the blurs which were becoming clearer.

            “Sorry about that, we had to tube you because you stopped breathing on us. You lost a lot of blood and your abdominal wound could have been severe if you weren’t wearing a vest. It’s bad enough that the bullet entered here.” A lighted film of Tripp’s abdomen was in front of him but it wasn’t clear and he shook his head.

            “I don’t care, is there permanent damage?” Tripp’s voice croaked between his lips, he ran his tongue over them and they felt like sandpaper.

            “No but you need to take it easy for awhile the bullet clipped your liver then ricocheted off your ribs and then clipped your spleen. We were able to patch it up and stop the bleeding and remove the bullet before it could travel, you are a very lucky young man.” The doctor was an older man that looked like he should be fishing in Mayberry instead of practicing medicine.

            “Why can’t I see all that well?” Tripp’s vision became blurry again and he lay back down and closed his eyes. If he was going to be blind then he would have to give up working for the agency.

            “You suffered a bit of a concussion and that rattled things around in your head, also it’s a side effect of the drugs. In a few days your vision will be normal, there was a bit of swelling but that was due to the trauma you suffered to the head. We’ll take an MRI in a few days to make sure there isn’t any hemorrhaging and to make sure the swelling goes down.” The doctor spoke to the nurse and she mumbled something back. He nodded and then looked over to the corner of the room; Tripp turned his head to see what they were looking at but became dizzy and closed his eyes.

            “Where’s Lee? Is she ok or did she…” Tripp let the thought linger as he became choked up. He didn’t hate her he just didn’t understand why he had to be the only one responsible for her.  The doctor asked the nurse something and she mumbled something in response, he was feeling a bit uneasy about the nurse. Something about her and the way she acted set alarms off in his head. He tried to get a glimpse of her but she always remained out of his line of vision. He sighed and let it go; it was probably just the drugs making him paranoid.

            “The young lady was pretty bad and it was touch and go. She is still in a coma and her vitals are erratic. I’m sorry I can’t tell you anymore young man but I have to see other patients.” He patted Tripp’s hand and then walked out with the nurse tagging along behind him.

            “Well I’m glad to see you’re not struggling anymore, and if you’re a good boy I can bribe one of the nurses to wheel you into Lena’s room to see her.” He turned toward the voice and smiled to see the impish face of Ally smiling at him. Her eyes were red and puffy and her nose was red as well. He laughed and then winced and she looked at him strangely.

            “Sorry Ally your nose, and eyes are as red as your hair it was just funny.” She smiled at him and he smiled back. The drugs were kicking in and the burning was becoming less intense. “So what do I have to do in order to go see her?” Ally’s eyes softened and she bent to pinch his cheek.

            “Aww you’re so cute you pretend to not care, but deep down I knew you liked her you big marshmallow. Wait here and I’ll go see if I can bully someone into wheeling you down the hall.” She kissed his cheek and he reached for her hand.

            “Yeah she’s ok but I have a reputation to uphold so let’s just keep these warm fuzzy feelings between you and I ok?” she squeezed his hand then winked.

            “You’re secret is safe with me but you know what, try to be a little nicer to her. You’re a hero and she is going to want to thank you.” He watched as Ally walked out the room. He stared at the ceiling tiles. He watched as the black dots swarmed in his vision and he smiled to himself. He heard a sound and smiled even broader.

            “Back so soon Ally I didn’t think you would have a problem so when do we roll?” No one answered him and he turned to see the nurse standing there by his IV line. He narrowed his eyes and stared at her. She was pretty forgettable, plain brown hair pulled back into a stern bun, eyes that looked vacant and pasty skin. She smiled and held up a needle and started to inject it into his IV line.                               

            “So sorry but we can’t have you coming to so soon to ruin our plans.” She was starting to push the plunger on the syringe when the door burst open and the doctor came in with Ally right behind him. She pushed past the doctor and slapped the needle away from the nurse.

            “What do you think you’re doing Nurse Reynolds? This patient is to receive no more drugs.” The doctor confronted the nurse but she streaked past him dropping a vial in her haste. The doctor screamed for security but she was down the hall before anyone could stop her. He picked up the vial and inhaled sharply. “She was going to inject him with Fentanyl, with the amount of morphine in his system; the amount she drew up would have killed him. We have a serious problem here.” He looked at Ally and she was gnawing on her lower lip and hugging her stomach. “Excuse me I will send the orderlies in to take him to Miss Caine’s room, I would go with you but I need to address this issue.” Two security guards came to the door and he walked out with them. Tripp heard them mention locking down the hospital and checking on Lena’s room. He felt his blood boil and started to get up but Ally pushed him back down.

            “Sit boy, she won’t get near Lee, Vivian is in there with her. We know that even though Vivian looks like a Park Avenue debutante she isn’t a match for miss pasty face.” Ally smiled and patted Tripp’s hand.

Reviews

[Marie]

I almost skipped this, chapter. Thought I'd already reviewed. My blond is showing. LOL. Nice chapter, sis.