CHAPTER 7

Tess only stayed for a few more minutes, giving Andrew what little information she had gathered from Monica, and what she knew of David herself. The picture she painted in no way reassured the blond angel that this was the right assignment to get Monica back on her feet. He kept himself from saying any more about it though, knowing that Tess would only argue with him. The facts were the facts. They had been given a job to do and they had no choice but to do it.

After she bid him goodnight he briefly considered going to his own little apartment on the first floor. Monica had rather plainly stated that she thought she needed to start doing things without him, but despite her words he had a difficult time convincing himself that she really wanted him to leave. He sprawled on the sofa and let out a disgusted sigh; he wasn’t kidding himself. He wasn’t staying because he didn’t believe her, he was staying because he wanted to keep her close. He wanted to shield her from everything that could possibly hurt her. Swiping a hand across his tired eyes, he tried to force his restless mind from spinning.

As much as he wanted to deny it, he was trapped in the past almost as much as she was. Not a day went by that he didn’t close his eyes and see her pale face, gun to the temple, McArthur sneering at them both. He didn’t want to think about what would have happened if Paul hadn’t shown up. Would he have really killed the man? Could he have done it? He knew in his heart that he had wanted to, and that knowledge was extremely hard to live with.

He was pulled from his thoughts by a thump and a small cry from the other room. It only took him seconds to rush into the bedroom and turn on the light. Monica was on the floor, tangled in the sheets, while Lucy stood on the bed, looking down at her and blinking her large green eyes.

“Monica, what happened?” He knelt beside her and pulled the fabric away.

“You’re still here?” Her voice held surprise along with gratitude.

“I couldn’t drag myself away,” he joked. “What can I say… I got pretty used to having you sleep in the next room. Did you have another nightmare?”

She shook her head, slightly confused. “I must have. I don’t really remember. I just remember waking up and feeling like I needed to get away. I couldn’t move… I guess I panicked,” she said sheepishly.

“Well let’s get you back in bed. You’re going to need your sleep to keep working those late hours at the bar.”

It was an invitation for her to comment on the situation, to tell him what had happened, but she lowered her eyes and didn’t say anything. Andrew let his own head drop and stood up, moving to straighten out the sheets and pick her pillow off the floor.

“All set,” he said, reaching down to help her to her feet. He took hold of her hands and then immediately dropped the one that was wrapped in gauze. “What happened here?” he asked, his eyes searching her face.

He was still holding her other hand and she pulled herself up and then sat down on the bed and swung her legs under the covers. “Just an accident,” she muttered.

“An accident?” He looked at her doubtfully as he sat down at the edge of the bed. “Monica, you always tell me if you’re hurt. Now how did this happen? Something at the bar?”

“It was just some spilled coffee. It splashed on my hand. It’ll be fine by tomorrow.”

Andrew stared at the hand and then reached over to stroke Monica’s cheek. “Angel, what aren’t you telling me? Why are you shutting me out? Don’t you trust me?” He knew that trust wasn’t the issue, but he also knew that mentioning it was a sure way to get her to deny it and hopefully tell him the whole story.

“Of course I trust you!” she said, just has he had known she would. “It just… it shouldn’t have happened.”

“Why? You said it was just an accident… sometimes those things just happen.”

“It was David… my assignment.”

Andrew’s eyes narrowed. “What? What did he do?”

“He didn’t mean to do it… not really. I was trying to talk to him, Andrew. I really was. But he wouldn’t listen to me. He…” she didn’t want to tell him what the man had said. “He got angry and pushed away his cup as he left. He was still angry about Paul.”

“Paul?” Andrew was now thoroughly confused. “Paul was there?”

Monica’s eyes took on a bit more life as she replied. “He was there waiting for someone and he saw David grab me. He didn’t know it was me, but he made David back off.”

Andrew was still trying to catch up with everything she was saying. David had grabbed her. Paul had stopped him. David wouldn’t listen to her. He was finally beginning to piece together everything that had happened during her first night of work, and it wasn’t making him feel any better about her assignment.

“Did you get to talk to Paul?” he asked, making an attempt to keep the conversation moving and his own feelings in check. He was extremely grateful that the agent had been around. For some reason he had a feeling that Paul had been more tactful with David then he would have been. The idea of anyone so much as laying a finger on Monica was enough to bring all of his anger to the surface.

“We talked,” Monica said. “I was so glad to see him. I still felt badly about the way I left,” she admitted.

“I told you that he understood,” Andrew reassured her.

“Yes, but it was just nice to see him and be able to be completely honest with him.”

Andrew nodded. For an angel of truth to have held onto such an enormous secret for so long had been one of the hardest parts of their last assignment. He pulled the sheets up and scooted closer to her on the bed, picking up her hand and squeezing it gently.

“Why didn’t you tell me all of this before? Why didn’t you tell Tess?” he asked. “No wonder you had a nightmare with all of this on your mind.”

She shrugged and said nothing for a moment. “I don’t know why. I just… you both know that I don’t want to be here… I guess I thought you might think that things went badly because I wasn’t trying,” she said very slowly, struggling with each word.

“Monica, you can’t possibly believe that. I would never think that. I know how hard this is for you, and I know how hard you’re trying.”

“Tess…”

“You know how Tess can be, Angel. She can be gruff and stern, but she loves you too, more than just about anything. She’s just trying to help you,” Andrew said quickly, not surprised that his suspicions about their conversation were correct. “Did you even tell her everything that happened?”

She shook her head.

“Well I have a feeling that if you had, she might not have been quite so ‘Tess-like’”, he said with a little grin. “In fact, I have a feeling she would have been marching down to the bar to try to get David’s address so she could pay him a little visit.”

She finally smiled, eyes brightening just a fraction although he could still see the weariness in them. “I can almost picture that.”

“I thought you might be able to,” he chuckled before scanning her face again, wishing that one smile could erase the weeks of worry from her face. “Do you think you can sleep now?” He paused for just a moment. “Do you want me to stay in here with you?”

Monica didn’t reply right away, but then she remembered all the times he had told her that their need for each other was mutual. She knew that she would sleep much more soundly in his arms, and she was ready to believe that the same held true for him. “Yes… to both… if you don’t mind.”

He felt the smile spread across his own face. “Not at all.”

She waited until he had situated himself in beside her before she moved into his arms and felt them enclose her. She sighed softly, fully aware of the fact that she felt safe no place else on this earth other than where she was right now and yet she had tried to jeopardize that safety by shutting him out. She wanted to be able to be strong without him, but she was also beginning to accept the fact that right now she just wasn’t.

The older angel stroked her hair tenderly, thinking she had already drifted off to sleep when her soft voice told him otherwise.

“Andrew?”

“What is it, Angel?” He asked quietly.

She was silent for a moment, almost making him wonder if she had changed her mind about voicing whatever it was that she was thinking

“Are you disappointed in me?” The question was spoken softly and was filled with trepidation and he felt his heart lurch that she had even felt the need to ask.

“Never,” Andrew replied firmly, tightening his hold on her little body as with the single word, he felt some of the tension leave her, “You could never disappointment me, baby. Why would you even ask such a question?”

“Because I could have tried harder tonight with David, because I’m still so afraid, because I tried to shut you out despite how much I need you,” Her words were filled with such regret, as she thought of one more, “And because I was so relieved to see Paul at that moment, even though I am an angel and he isn’t. Paul was the one possibly putting himself in harm’s way for me tonight…”

“Something tells me, Monica, that whenever Paul is around, I will forever have competition in looking out for you, regardless of that fact that he knows who and what you are. Not only is it in his nature to protect, but you touched his life in those weeks we spent with him and I know first hand what that can do to someone, angel or otherwise,” He smiled, knowing it was true of both he and Paul; if either of them could avoid harm coming to Monica, they would do all they could, “As for the other things you mentioned, I know you are doing the best that you can right now and I know how hard it is for you. I also think that God understands as well as He knows your heart even better than I do. But with that being said, I must admit that I don’t enjoy you closing yourself off to me as there are times I think I need to know how you are feeling more than you need for me to know.”

“I was afraid of letting you down.”

“That could never happen, Angel, so don’t even think that way, all right?” He felt her nod her head as she snuggled closer, “Now get some sleep. I’m here, the Father is here and you are safe.”

“I love you both,” Monica whispered just as her eyes slid shut, knowing she was safe in her cocoon though her last waking thought was why would butterflies would ever want to emerge into a world that was tainted with evil.

The agent walked purposefully down the hallway within FBI headquarters early the following morning. Things seemed more than slightly quiet and the sound of his sneakers on the tiled flood echoed all around him as he walked. Paul knew that within an hour, the halls would be buzzing with employees as shifts would change and for several minutes, the building would be at full capacity. But for now, it was quiet, and he knew that his friend and colleague treasured the early morning silence to catch up on paperwork.

Paul was still annoyed with Mike for not showing up last night and after running into Monica, the agent was more determined than ever to get to the bottom of what had gone so horribly wrong on her case. He had seen the fear flash across her face when her assignment had grabbed hold of her, and had not missed the anxious look she wore as she had contemplated walking home and these were reminders that much of her residual fear could have been avoided if things had gone as they should have. McArthur never should have found her one time, yet alone three times.

Approaching Mike’s office, Paul was all set to knock when the door swung open and his long time friend nearly collided with him.

“Paul!” Mike grinned, clasping his friend’s shoulder warmly, “It’s great to see you, buddy!”

Unable to help but smile, the agent nodded his head, “It’s good to see you too, Mike, though I was expecting to see you a bit sooner. Last night at O’Reilly’s perhaps?”

“I know, Gatlin, I know,” He held up his hand in defense, “Something came up; a break in a case and I didn’t even have time to call you. I wasn’t even sure of where you were staying…”

“You have my cell number, Mike. Even if you had called after the fact, that would have been fine…”

“Actually, I had a note to call you today, though now I can disregard it,” He grinned, clearly unconcerned with the meeting that had not taken place last night, “Listen buddy, can we chat later? I have a 7:30 that I really need to get to.”

“That’s why I’m here, Mike,” Paul persisted, as Mike indicated for him to walk along and he fell in step beside of his friend, “When are you free?”

Mike paged through the legal pad he was carrying, his eyes scanning his schedule for the day, “I’m pretty booked all day…”

“Tonight then.” He interrupted firmly. Difficulty pinning down a time with Mike was par for the course, but he was not going to be put off this time.

Paul watched as his friend made a note on the legal pad and nodded his head, “Still want to shoot for O’Reilly’s?” Mike asked hurriedly.

“That would be fine,” The agent replied, actually feeling very pleased with the arrangements. Despite someone’s angelic status, her assignment seemed like trouble and he was quite content to be at hand if she needed some help, “What time works for you? I’m on vacation so I’m game for anything.”

“How about ten? That gives me time to wrap up any loose ends that may need tending to,” Mike stopped walking at the conference room and gripped Paul’s arm, “Sorry about last night. The first round or two is on me tonight.”

“You have yourself a deal,” He grinned, knowing that though Mike was more of a drinker than he was, a cold draft on a Friday night would even hit the spot for him, “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Later, Paul,” Mike called after him, before he shook his head thoughtfully and walked through the conference room door.

Andrew had been up and had already taken care of a few phone calls from tenants needing things fixed, by the time the Irish angel awoke late the following morning. She felt groggy and she was greeted by the smell of stale smoke, which she surmised had to be coming from her hair and she knew that a shower was the first order of business.

Climbing out of bed, a smirk crossed her face as she considered the fact that at least this time, she had gotten out of bed more gracefully than last night. Grabbing her robe, she was just headed to the bathroom, when the sound of voices from downstairs caused her to come to an abrupt halt.

“I’m warning you, Kristin, leave me alone!” The voice was unmistakably David’s and Monica assumed Kristin had to be his unfortunate wife as she felt her heartbeat quicken at the anger in her assignment’s voice.

“You’re never going to find work if you stay in that bar till all hours of the morning, Dave,” Her voice was pleading and laced with tears and the little angel felt her heart clench.

“No, I’m never going to find work with you constantly nagging me!”

“I don’t want to nag... I don’t… but you’re starting to worry me! You could have been dead in a ditch last night for all I knew. It didn’t used to be like this. Please! Talk to me.”

“I’m not in the mood for talking, and I’m definitely not in the mood to hear your whining. Now get outta my way.”

“No!” Kristin’s voice took on a firmer tone. “You’re not leaving until we talk!”

“I said, get out of my way!”

Monica was terrified, and nearly frozen in place, but she heard a slight change in David’s voice that scared her even more. She didn’t want to hear what was going to happen next. She couldn’t let it happen. She ran back into her bedroom, snatched the lamp from the dresser and smashed it to the floor. Then she ran back into the hall and slammed first the bedroom door and then the bathroom door. She paused to listen, her heart pounding, breath coming in short gasps. She was praying that the racket she had made had been enough to make her two neighbors stop fighting long enough for the situation to defuse.

“Hear that, Kris? Sounds like someone has even bigger problems than us. Why don’t you go and try to solve them?” David’s sarcastic words were followed by a slamming door, and the angel let out a sigh of relief as she sank to the floor and sat there, knees pulled tightly to her chest.

Her relief was soon followed by sorrow, however, as she picked up the very faint sounds of Kristin sobbing. For a moment the angel thought that she could only imagine how badly Kristin felt, but then she realized that she knew almost exactly how she felt… scared and betrayed. Why was she assigned to David? It was obvious to her that he was just one more evil person in the world, and there wasn’t anything she was going to be able to do to change him. His wife, on the other hand, was someone she still had a chance to help.

She glanced down the hall at the clock in the living room. Eleven o’clock. She had plenty of time. Maybe she hadn’t been assigned to Kristin, but there was nothing that said she couldn’t do a little freelance work on the side.