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“Where are you hit?” Caden asked. He guided Beeker to an overturned bucket and helped him sit. “Talk to me, Beeker. Where are you hit?”
Beeker sucked in a wheezing breath. “Shoulder. I’ll be fine. They got the bastard. That’s all that matters.” His breaths were coming out shallow and rapid now.
“Danfield, call for an ambulance,” Caden barked. “Any other shooters inside?” Caden asked Beeker, trying to keep talking. He had a pregnant wife at home. No way was Caden letting this man die on his watch.
Beeker shook his head. “Bastard wasn’t supposed to be there. We cleared the damn place. He was in a hidey-hole under the…'' He coughed, spewing blood, then passed out. Caden caught him and lowered him to the ground. He pressed his fingers to Beeker’s neck, checking for a pulse. “Beeker? Hey, come on man, stay with me! Beeker!” Caden didn’t feel a pulse. He started chest compressions and kept calling Beeker’s name, hoping for a response.
Ten minutes later, an ambulance arrived. Caden hadn’t stopped chest compressions, but he didn’t need a damn heart monitor to tell him what he already knew. Beeker was gone.
Agents started filing out of the autobody shop, along with the asshole who’d just killed a federal agent. The rage coursing through Caden’s body was toxic, so he stayed clear of the piece of trash and let the others shove him into another waiting vehicle.
There were hours of paperwork left to do, but Caden was in no condition to return to the office. Losing a fellow agent was the worst, and Beeker had died in his arms. The man had a wife and a baby girl on the way. Fuck!
He drove around Dallas aimlessly, not really paying attention where he was going. His only goal was to not run into anything or anyone, and to somehow calm down.
His phone rang and he threw it to the backseat, not even looking to see who it was. Talking to anyone right now wasn’t a good idea. He pulled over a few minutes later and just watched cars pass by. Then he put his head down, resting his forehead on the steering wheel and just sat there, trying to get a grip.
Someone had to tell Beeker’s wife. Caden had met her a few times over the years at Christmas parties and other events. Lori Beeker was a devoted pediatric nurse, who had a smile for everyone she met. He unbuckled his seat belt and reached for his phone. He dialed Avery.
“Did you hear?” Caden asked as soon as the other man answered.
“Where the hell have you been?” Avery demanded.
“I needed to clear my head. Beeker was killed.”.
There was a long pause. “I know.” Avery often came off uncaring, but even he couldn’t hide the sadness in his voice over losing a fellow agent.
Caden sighed. “I’d like to make the notification if that’s all right.”
“I doubt anyone will fight you for it.”
“Thanks.” Caden looked down at himself for the first time since leaving the scene. There was blood on his sleeves and a few spots on his white shirt near his tie. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Caden said, brooking no argument.
“I want your report on my desk first thing in the morning, Dobbs.”
“And you’ll have it.” Caden ended the call. He made an illegal U-turn and drove home to shower and change. The idea of telling a pregnant woman her husband had just been killed made Caden recoil and almost regret volunteering for the task. But Beeker was a good man. A good husband. A good agent. At the very least, Caden owed him this one final act.
An hour later, he was riding the elevator up to the pediatrics floor. He couldn’t stop thinking about how it could’ve been him who’d gotten shot. It could’ve been him on the way to the morgue. When they first arrived at that auto body shop, right before they went inside, Beeker told him to stand guard and went in through that door following the others. Beeker had been on the case for weeks, so Caden didn’t question his lead. Now, his wife was left without a husband, and their little girl would never know her father.
Caden approached the nursing station where a blonde woman wearing light blue scrubssat by the phone. “Are you looking for a patient room, Sir?”
“FBI Special Agent Caden Dobbs,” he said, flashing his badge. She sat back in her chair, creating more space between them. “I’m here for Lori Beeker.”
She gave a quick nod and dialed a number then spoke quietly into the receiver. When she hung up the phone, she looked back up at Caden. “Lori’s with a patient, but she’ll be right out.”
“Thanks.” Caden stepped back, his heart pounding in his chest. He’d done plenty of notifications in his career, but this one felt different. More personal. A woman walked by carrying a toddler and pushing an IV pole. The little boy gifted Caden a smile that damn near melted him. Caden smiled back, then caught sight of Lori coming out of a patient’s room. “Excuse me,” he said.
Lori wore brightly colored scrubs that easily showed her swollen belly, and a pink stethoscope hung from her neck. Her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a few loose tendrils around her face. She looked a bit tired, but still smiled as she approached. “Agent Dobbs, what brings you to pediatrics today?”
Caden swallowed. She was smiling at him. These were going to be her last moments before this day became the worst day of her life. For the second time in the past hour, he almost regretted volunteering to do this. Making the notification was the worst part of the job. What the hell was he thinking? But Caden knew exactly what he was thinking. His colleague had died in his arms. “Is there somewhere we can talkprivately?”
Lori’s smile faded and she turned to the receptionist. “Please tell Hillary I’m taking my break now. The patient in room 756 needs her pain medicine, and the mom in room 749 was asking for another blanket.”
The receptionist nodded and lifted the phone to make a call. Lori turned to Caden. “Follow me. We can use the break room. Almost no one goes in there, even on their breaks.” She gave a small chuckle and led him into a small room with a mini fridge and a long table with six chairs around it. As soon as they were inside, she closed the door and turned to him. “Okay. Just tell me Steve is all right, and then we can talk about anything you want.”
Caden pulled out a chair for her. “Let’s sit,” he offered. He’d done this before, and the moments right before telling someone their loved one had been killed was almost as bad as the moments after, when they cried and screamed and begged for it to not be true. Lori’s eyes swam with tears as she sat. Caden lowered himself into the chair next to her, positioning himself so he was facing her. “Lori Beeker, I regret to inform you - “
“Please, stop,” she interrupted him. “I’m sorry. I just - I’ve heard the beginning of that speech so many times on television and in movies. I - I don’t think I can hear it. Not now. We had a stupid argument this morning over who should take the trash out. He wore a tie I hated because I won the argument, and I told him he was a stubborn fool. I yelled I love you as he was going out the door, but it was too late. He’d already shut the door. So, please, don’t finish that sentence. Not now. Not today.”
