Page 33

I don’t get to say another word as the call ends. Driving through town, perhaps driving is the wrong word. Driving suggests a sedate speed, following all the rules of the road. That is definitely not what I am doing. Speaking to the SUV's Bluetooth, I place a call to Whack.

“Pres I just had a call from Mateo. He’s at Jamie’s house by the practice. Some motherfucker just threw a bomb at them. They are okay and at the practice. That’s all I know at this point. Can you get someone over there to check out the place and maybe find out something about the bomb they used?”

“I’m on it. Where were you when all this went down?”

“I went out to call Shawn to see if he had any new info for me.”

“Did he?” Pres growls.

“Yes. I’ll fill you and Bull in when I see you next.” The phone goes dead, but I heard Whack shout for Cannon and Breaker as it did so.

Abandoning the SUV by the practice doors, I rush inside. Barbara is on reception and just points to Molly’s office saying, “Jamie is fine, and the prospect is in the nurse’s office, on the left.”

Why isn't the prospect with her? Have I made the wrong call thinking that Mateo was up for this task?

Bursting through the door to Molly’s office, I see Jamie flinch as she jumps to her feet, grabbing at her waistline as she does. Glancing at Molly, I see her raising something from an open drawer on her desk. When I look back at Jamie, I’m staring down the barrel of her SIG.

“What the heck, Fury? Don’t come barging in like that. You’ll get yourself killed by friendly fire you moron,” Jamie screams at me, while thankfully lowering her weapon.

I check that Molly isn’t going to pull her trigger and see her dropping something back into the drawer that looks suspiciously like a .45 of some description.

“I got here as quickly as I could. What the hell happened? I’ve only been gone a short while.” I look Jamie over, and when I see blood on her, I ask again, “Are you okay? Where’s the blood from? Did you get caught in the blast?” I’m firing questions at her so fast that I don’t realize she can’t possibly get a word in.

“I’m fine. Mateo told you I was fine…”

“Yeah, where is the little asshole? He was supposed to be taking care of you. I’ll…”

“If you say you’re going to kill him, or do him any physical harm whatsoever, I’ll shoot you myself. Why is it that you want to kill everyone who saves my life? If you can’t cope with it, you need to be there yourself, instead of popping out on mysterious errands. Come with me.”

Jamie takes my arm and drags me out of the office. When we get to the nurse practitioner's office that Barbara had referred to, she knocks and then walks in, still dragging me.

Mateo is lying on a bed with Dr. Tom leaning over him. At first, I can’t see what was happening, but then as I take a step to one side, I see Mateo getting stitches in his cheek.

“What are you doing, Tom? He needs to go to the hospital for that. They’ll do a job on him that won’t leave a scar anywhere near as visible as that’s going to be.” Jamie looks furious as she speaks.

“Jamie, I know all that, but he insisted that I do this here. He won’t go to the hospital,” Tom sounds frustrated, but it is focused on Mateo, no one else.

“It’s okay, Doc. I don’t want to spend hours, or maybe days, in a hospital. I can’t protect you from there, or learn from Fury, can I?”

“You dumb shit. I know what your game is, Mateo.” It’s a light bulb moment as I see why he wants stitches. “You’re going to suggest your own name as a brother, aren’t you?”

“You got me all figured out haven’t you, Fury?” Mateo grins at me and I give him a nod of my head.

“Looks like you did good today, bro. I thank you for that.”

“I wasn’t fast enough to realize what was happening. I saw a shadow pass by the kitchen window heading towards the back door. I wasn’t expecting our assassin to be so quick on another attempt, especially not as brazen as to throw a freaking bomb through a door.” Mateo shuts up while Tom finishes up the artwork that is Mateo’s cheek.

“I don’t think anyone was expecting something as brutal as a bomb, kiddo. You still did good,” I state.

“Try not to use those cheek muscles too much, or you’ll likely tear the stitches. Watch for infection as well. I’ll give you some broad-spectrum antibiotics, just in case, but you should be fine.” Tom goes to the sink and starts to get cleaned up, while Jamie takes a closer look at Tom’s handiwork.

“There was no need for this, Mateo. The hospital could have had you looking as good as new.” Jamie shakes her head at him, and I think she’s got some guilt going on, too.

“Hey, Doc. You got this all wrong. I don’t want to be as good as new. Can you imagine how women will swoon at my feet when I tell them I got this scar protecting a beautiful doctor from an explosion? Hell, I’ll be falling over the women throwing themselves at my feet.” Mateo starts to laugh, winces, and then tries to keep his face straight. “I get a cool road name out of it, too, don’t forget.”

Hearing some commotion outside, I recognized Whack's voice, “Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, I do, and I don’t give a hoot if you’re the President of the United States. You are still not going back there. I have other patients to consider, not just your prospect, you know!” Barbara is giving him hell, and both Jamie and I smirk as we listen.