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Meanwhile, the only reason the team had backed off from full steam ahead… it so happened the next day was Saturday. The schools were all closed. They had about forty-eight hours to catch this bastard before another incident could take place… that’s if he stuck to his usual routine of school attacks.
Shaking off his gloomy thoughts, Beau drove to the hospital and stopped in to see Jessica who refused to talk with him, turned her head away, and kept her eyes closed. What he’d told Lori earlier happened to be true. He often did have a way with females to get them to open up to him. In fact, it was kind of legend around the Bureau.
“Honey, I know you feel like the world is against you, I get it.”
She flipped over and gave him her back. So he just sat in the chair and reminisced. “You don’t want to talk, that’s fine. I’ll just tell you a little story about life for those of us who had it all and still messed up. There was a college student who felt like the world revolved around him. Life had always been easy, with parents who spoiled him, made him think he was special. And good friends who made him believe the sun revolved around him.
“Growing up came easy for this idiot, the girls flung themselves at him and he’d begun to believe everything they said… that he mattered more than even his friends. In fact, when his very best buddy had a blowup with his long-time girlfriend, and she got high one night and came onto him, he knew it was wrong. Knew he should pull away. But hell, he’d always gotten whatever he wanted, and this girl had everything he wished for himself. So he had his way with her. Not only did he screw her… but he put the screws to his best friend in the world who believed in him, relied on him… loved him.
“Now, this stupid idiot knew he’d done wrong as did his best friend’s girl, but they determined what Buddy didn’t know couldn’t hurt him, and feeling lower than scum, they’d agreed to put it behind them like it never happened. She crawled back to her true love, begged him to stay with her, and made up from their silly fight, took all the blame and started loving him like she always had, only more.
“Not so easy for our sick hero. You see, his conscience ate away at his pride, and it made him see himself for the spoilt, selfish creep he really was. Turned his life around because of the one-night fling, he did, and that was a good thing.”
Silence lasted for seconds until she flipped over to stare at him, her poor, beaten face confused. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I wanted you to know that it doesn’t matter what a life is like, how a person lives, or how smart they are, shit happens. It’s how you deal with it that counts.”
“What happened to your… ahh, friend?”
“Yeah, well, it didn’t go quite the way they planned. The girl got pregnant.”
“And told him the kid was his.”
“Yep. But that’s when the shit hit the fan. Turns out the reason he’d picked the fight in the first place, Buddy had found out he couldn’t have children, that the infection in his… ahh, lowers parts when he’d been a kid had killed his chances to ever father a baby.”
“They were caught.”
“Right. It all came out. Lots of tears and regrets and apologies from all three.”
“What happened?”
“Guess Buddy did love his friend and his girl because he decided he could forgive them both, bring up his best friend’s baby like his own, as long as the truth never came out. Now drowning in a pool of shit of his own making, the idiot either had to give up their friendship to claim his baby or allow these rules. He decided that as long as they let him be the godfather to the child, one who’d step in if for any reason they needed a guardian, he would abide by the guidelines. After the little girl was born, everything settled down and things became good again. Really good. She brought them closer, all of them.”
“What happened to the idiot?”
“He grew up.”
“Did he marry and have more kids?”
“No. But he made something of his life helping others. Turns out he can look at himself in the mirror again without hating the image staring back at him.”
“So you’re saying that life goes on, and one day, I’ll be able to look at myself too.”
“That’s what I’m saying. And you have friends now. Ones to help you. I’ll be around and so will Agent Lori.”
Before she could answer, the guard hustled into the room and whispered his instructions to Beau. He nodded and turned to the surprised girl. “They think you might be in danger and want to move you.”
“How am I in danger?”
“Someone sent you flowers, had them directed to this room. Whoever did that knew exactly where he could find you.” Beau wished they’d have been able to get prints off the card Lori had delivered to the lab earlier, but it came back negative for anything. Another dead end. “Do as the officers say, Jessi. They’ll take care of you. Please.”
“Fine. And Agent Walker, thanks for telling me your story. You’ll never know how much it meant to me.”
Beau stood and went closer to the bed. He reached his hand out, and she slid her fingers into his. Clutching, she pulled him closer and leaned up to whisper in his ear. “Watch over Lori. I’m scared for her.”
Beau stiffened, drew back, and looked deeply into her eyes. Eyes that beseeched him to listen to her pleas.
“I will, honey. You be safe.” He gave her hair a tug of affection and sped out of the room to his vehicle, flipped on the siren, and turned in the direction he knew by heart.
