CHAPTER 13

Friday 10:12pm

“Paul?” her voice was slightly hoarse but he heard her even from the next room.

She was propping herself up when he entered and he was bold enough to rush over and help her.  Something had changed between them and now he didn’t think she’d mind.

“Are you feeling sick?” he asked quietly.  Monica was curled into a ball on the other sofa and he didn’t want to wake her.

“No… I feel… well, not better… but I won’t ruin that nice shirt of yours anyway,” she said with a wink.

He stared at her, mind spinning at the fact that she could sit up and smile and joke with him.  “Something to drink then?  The doctor left some special cans of something… supposed to have all the nutrients you need or something like that,” he said, glancing towards the kitchen.

Alex closed her eyes for a second to push back the pain and then shook her head lightly.  It seemed incredibly stupid now.  She had woken up and he hadn’t been there, and for some reason she had just needed to see him.  His name had been out of her mouth before she had time to think about it.  Damn him for having such a short name… it rolled right off her tongue!

“Alex, what is it?” 

He felt her forehead and then grabbed her wrist, looking for her pulse the way the doctor had shown him.  Very gently, she pulled her hand back, and he looked up at her questioningly.  A little shrug was her only response.

“If you need something we can get it here,” he insisted.  “Just name it.”

Clearly she wasn’t going to get out of this without telling him.  She rolled her eyes slightly and a sarcastic smile played over her lips.

“I called because I wanted to see you,” she admitted finally.

Paul remained clueless.  “I know, Alex, that’s why I came… just tell me what’s wrong.”

She let out a sigh and grabbed onto his hand, pulling him to sit on the edge of the sofa.  “Nothing’s wrong,” she said with a touch of exasperation.  He certainly wasn’t making this any easier to admit.  “I wanted you.  That’s all.  Just you.”

Finally realization crept into Paul’s expression.  His eyes opened wider and he looked a trifle dumbstruck.  Inwardly Alex chuckled, comparing him to a deer caught in headlights.  He was awfully cute when he was surprised.  She didn't have long to gloat however, because her heart started pounding when he picked up her other hand and held it tightly.

“I’m not going anywhere, Alex.  Not now, and not for the foreseeable future.”  He grinned.  “Well, until you order me out, anyway.”

She blushed when he dropped her hand and briefly touched her cheek.  This was so strange and so completely unexpected.  Such horrific circumstances had pushed them closer together but at the moment she was finding it difficult to regret them if this was the outcome.

He saw that now she was the speechless one, and took pity on her.  “If you’re feeling up to it we could use your help in the other room,” he told her.  “You worked VCS a lot longer than I did.  I may know Devin Jackson, but you know his mindset.”

“I’ll do anything I can,” she replied, holding out her hand to let him help her to her feet. 

She looked briefly at Monica.  The smaller woman seemed to be faring even worse than she was.  The whole situation was so damn unfair.  Jackson had already killed too many people.  She tightened her free hand into a fist.  He wasn’t going to claim two more victims.

*****

Monica opened her eyes not long after Alex and Paul left.  She looked around the empty room and felt tears welling up in her eyes.  She knew that everyone was no more than a room away and yet she felt very alone.   She had been doing a relatively good job of ignoring what she knew to be the facts, but her bout of nausea, and her pounding headache had plowed through her defenses.

“No I’m not… and neither are you…” Alex’s words echoed in her head.

She hadn’t lost her belief that they would be cured, but the question now was when?  How long would they have to endure, and would the man who had ruined so many lives be brought to justice?  Paul had been very stoic, holding in whatever emotions he was feeling regarding Jackson, but she knew him.  He was holding onto his patience with his fingernails, and she wondered what would happen when Jackson was eventually found.  She knew that she was supposed to hope that Paul would control himself, and Jackson would repent.  She was going to need a lot more help from God before she could bring herself to hope that.

“Angel Girl?”  Tess walked in carrying a cup of tea.  “Why didn’t you call us when you woke up?” she asked, seeing the tearful look in the young angel’s eyes.

“I was all right.  Just thinking,” she answered as she pushed herself up.  Everything ached.

“Well here, baby.  Try to drink this.  I know that medicine only keeps you from actually throwing up.  This may help to settle your stomach.

Monica smiled gratefully.  No matter how hopeless things seemed, she was eternally thankful that God had allowed Tess and Andrew to be with her.  He had spoken to her in her dreams again, and she knew that she was finally helping Alex.  Hearing God’s praise spoken to her had actually lifted her out of her weakened body and made her feel like an angel again.  He never failed to give her exactly what she needed.

“Thank you, Tess… it is feeling a little wobbly,” she admitted as she took the cup.

“I know, and I wish there was more I could do.  I keep puttering around back there and making phone calls for the agents here, but it doesn’t feel like enough.  I sent you out on this assignment alone, and I had no idea what would happen… but I never imagined…”

“You didn’t send me, Tess.  God did.  I know that you wouldn’t send me into danger if you could help it.  Maybe that’s why God made that call.  I’m helping Alex, Tess.  I’m making a difference.  Right now, that’s enough for me.”

Tess pressed her lips together and swallowed hard.  It wasn’t often that she felt tears in her old eyes, but Monica’s words touched a deep part of her heart.  “Of course you’re making a difference, Miss Wings,” she said a moment later, voice strong and decisive again.  “You make a difference on all your assignments.”

Monica smiled and brought the cup of tea to her mouth.  It was extra sweet, just the way she liked it, and she took a small sip to test its heat.  She was about to take another drink when her fingertips began to tingle.  Her eyes went wide at the feeling, the sensation of weakness that radiated through her hand.  It shook for an instant and then the cup was falling, spilling tea all over the Oriental rug.  She stared at her hand and then raised her eyes helplessly to Tess.

“Andrew!  We need you in here!”

A moment later Andrew, with Paul on his heels appeared, Tess’ call terrifying them. The blond angel looked from the spilt tea to the look of horror on his best friend’s face and he was at her side an instant later, “Angel?”

Her hand was shaking and no amount of will would cause it to stop. Whatever he had given her was effecting her nervous system and frightened tears filled her eyes, “Andrew. Get me upstairs. I don’t want Alex to see…”

He wanted to argue, but he understood. The poison was working faster on her angelic system and she wanted to spare the other agent the preview of what was to come if she could. Wordlessly, he scooped her into his arms, cradling her close to his chest and honored her request. He only had to hear the footsteps behind them to know that Paul was following and he could hear the curses on the agent’s breath.

Andrew laid her gently on the bed while Paul busied himself adjusting her blankets, neither agent nor angel wanting to state what they knew was happening to her. The little angel bit her lip, trying to bring her hand to wipe at her eyes, but her body would no longer follow the most simple of orders. It was Paul who reached up and swiped away her tears and she managed a trembling smile of thanks.

Her dark eyes turned to Andrew then, seeing the pain in his expression, “I won’t be able to talk to you too much longer.” The words held great sadness, even more so than fear and he was quick in reaching for her hand.

“You know you will always be able to talk to me,” He replied softly as he laid their joined hands against his heart.

“I’ll go and check on Alex,” Paul offered, sensing that his two angelic friends needed to be alone for a few moments. Leaning down, he gently kissed the little angel’s cheek, “Thank you for the things you have said to her, honey. They are working and if you lose your ability to speak to her anymore, I will be your voice.”

Fresh tears welled up in her eyes at his words as she pressed her forehead against his, “I love you, Paul,” She whispered, wanting him to be reminded of that fact while she was still able to say it.

“Ditto, little angel. You let me know if you need anything.”

“I will,” She promised, her eyes following him as he left the room and softly closed the door behind him. She then looked over to Andrew, noticing he still had his fingers laced through her own, “Thank you for being here.”

“You know that there is no place else I’d want to be, angel,” He replied, steadily meeting her eyes.

“I don’t want you worrying, all right? Please Andrew, you know I’ll be fine,” She knew she had told him that before, but she had a feeling that soon she would not be able to remind him. Other parts of her body were becoming weakened already and she could feel tingling in her legs. It was only a matter of time.

Andrew was quiet for a moment as he nodded his head as with his other hand, he reached up to smooth her bangs back away from her face, “Do you know what I would give to be able to do this for you?” The words were so soft she had to strain to hear them.

“But you can’t,” Monica replied firmly, “Nor would I want you to. I would never want to trade my pain for yours,” A shaky grin crossed her face as she struggled to squeeze his hand, “Besides, Paul needs you. I don’t know anything about this agent stuff.”

He chuckled softly, “I’d imagine, angel, that you could learn anything if you set your mind to it, with or without God’s help. It’s that stubborn streak of yours, but I wouldn’t trade that streak for anything in the world,” He saw her blinking back tears and he softly kissed her hand, “I love you, angel. God loves you. Now rest in knowing those two things are true and will never be traded.”

*****

“What’s wrong with her?”

Paul sighed. Alex was demanding answers. Tess’ call for help had not gone unnoticed and he was trying to abide by Monica’s wishes to spare her the truth, “She doesn’t have the strength training you have, Alex. This is affecting her much quicker…”

Frustration shone in the blue eyes, but then they turned pleading, “Paul, I need to know what I am up against. The fact that it is hitting her faster is not going to stop it from hitting me and I don’t want any surprises if I can avoid them. I need to know. Please.”

He knew he had no choice but to grant her request when she put it like that. Reaching for her hand, he explained, “It’s hitting her nervous system. She couldn’t manage to hold onto a cup full of tea. She didn’t want you to know, Alex. She didn’t want to frighten you.”

She lowered her eyes, wondering how much time she had before she would be completely incapacitated. She would lose her ability to use her arms and to walk and she would be forced to be bedridden until the end came or the antidote was found. She would lose her ability to speak, “Paul.” His name hung in the air as she met her eyes once again with his.

“What is it, honey?” He could tell that there was something she needed to say and she looked more than slightly uncomfortable.

”I…I just wanted you to know…well,” Oh, damn it all to hell! A moment later, she had brought her hands to his face and her lips touched his in a tender but meaningful kiss that left him breathless.

Paul was more than slightly flustered for a moment as their lips parted, before a quirky grin crossed his face, “Well, I’d say that there are no signs of weakness in your lips as of yet.”

She laughed and the sound filled the air, breaking through the tension that had been lingering for hours, but he silenced her as he kissed her once more, “What’s happening here, Gatlin?” She whispered, once he had pulled back once more, though his hands were still cupping her face.

He pondered her question for a moment and then answered her honestly, “I’d say what is happening is that if I’m not extremely careful, you are going to steal my heart, Bennett.”

His truthfulness surprised her and a second later, he had wrapped her up in his strong embrace, “Good,” She whispered into his shoulder.

“I’m not about to lose you, Alex,” Paul replied, his voice laden with emotion, “Not now.”

“That’s also good to know, Gatlin.”

*****

Paul was dozing in the easy chair early the following morning, scattered notes lying in his lap and around his feet. He, Alex and Andrew had worked late into the night, in constant communication with the other agents in the field. The angel had been back and forth between their established headquarters and checking on Monica, but the little angel had slept most of the night. She had woken up once, the pain in her head had intensified and had caused her to cry out in her sleep. But with Andrew’s presence and more medication, she had fallen asleep once again.

The ringing of the doorbell caused Paul to awaken with a groan, as he ran a tired hand over his face. He got up, his body stiff after sleeping in the chair and made his way to the door. It was a flower delivery truck and he checked the gun in his holster, just in case he was being set up. Opening the door, he looked suspiciously at the delivery man, but everything seemed to be on the up and up.

“Paul Gatlin?” Seeing him nod, the young man handed him a large flower arrangement, “Special delivery.”

“Thank you,” Paul’s voice was tight as he closed the door, already not having a good feeling about this unless for some reason Alex had ordered him flowers and he really didn’t think that was high on her priority list at the moment. Holding the vase of flowers in one hand, he opened the card with his other one and anger began to surge through his body. The top of the card, as offered by florists across the United States, read “In deepest sympathy” while the message that followed read “Remembering you on the death of your partner. DJ”.

“Son of a-“ He hurled the vase across the room, feeling the smallest satisfaction as it shattered against the wall.

He pounded his fist against the wall, surprised that didn’t go all the way through.  He didn’t think he had ever been angrier in his life than he was at that moment.  The man who had already taken everything from him once, and was now threatening to do it all over again, was taunting him.  Taunting him, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

“What happened?  What’s wrong?”  Alex’s footsteps on the stairs were followed quickly by Andrew’s

Paul looked at the spot on the wall where the water was slowly dripping down to form a puddle on the parquet floor.  “Little accident,” he said tightly.  “I’ll take care of it.”

“That doesn’t look like an accident,” Alex replied, hands on her hips.

“He’s playing us, Alex.  He’s playing us all.  To him this is a game and he’s off laughing his ass of somewhere while I’m sitting here watching you and Monica suffer.”  The sound in his voice was as close to defeated as she had ever heard.

“He’s not going to win,” she said, and when he looked up at her there was a strength in her eyes that he envied.

He climbed the stairs to where she was standing and took her hand in his.  “No.  Of course he’s not.”

“Monica’s still asleep, so I’m going to join the guys in the dining room and see what I can do to help,” Andrew said.

“Are you sure?” Paul asked, knowing how he felt about being away from the little angel.

“Yes, I’m sure.”  He looked at Paul as he passed and the agent saw the well-hidden frustration peek out from his eyes.  “You’re not the only one who feels like he’s just sitting around watching.”

Paul watched him go and then put his arm around Alex’s waist to guide her the rest of the way down the stairs.  She had shown no signs of weakness so far, but he knew that it was coming and he worried that as much as she pushed herself it wouldn’t be long.

“I was thinking of something,” she said as he led her to the kitchen where Tess had already laid out breakfast.  “The van he was using… they found it abandoned, right?”

“Yeah, out by the Amtrak station.  Looked like he probably stole another car from the station there, but that’s all long-term parking so the people probably haven’t even reported it missing,” he answered, wondering where she was going with this.

“There have been parking bans all over the city because of the snow, and if he was parking it anywhere in the city over the last few days, what do you think the chances are that he was ticketed?”

Paul shrugged.  “Pretty good, I suppose.”

“And what are the chances that he would have shoved those tickets into the glove box?”

“Again, pretty good, but the guys were all over that thing and I don’t remember them mentioning tickets in any of their reports.”

“Well, of course not.  They were looking for fingerprints or something like that.  Everyone shoves tickets in the glovebox.  They probably just filed them to check later, but Paul… the address of where he was tagged would be on those tickets.”

His heartbeat seemed to echo in his ears as he thought about what she was saying.  They could have his address and they didn’t even know it.  He was shouting out orders before he even made his way out of the kitchen.  Alex was running behind him, still not willing to be left on the sidelines.  Naturally no one knew exactly what had become of the contents of the van, and the next thirty minutes were spent on the phone talking to everyone who had touched it.  Fifteen minutes after that, a box containing everything from the glovebox was special delivered by an agent.

“Here it is!  Here it is!” Paul shouted as he pulled up a handful of tickets and started flipping through them.  A second later he let all but one drop to the floor.  “You were right, Alex,” he said as he put the ticket down on the table.  “There.  That’s where he is.”  He pointed to the street printed on the ticket.  It was less than twenty minutes away.

*****

“Monica?”  Andrew’s voice was low and gentle as he lightly shook her.  Paul and Alex and a whole crew of other agents were almost ready to leave, but he couldn’t go with them without talking to her first.  “Angel, wake up.”

With agonizing slowness her eyes finally opened partway and she turned her head towards him.  “Andrew, what’s wrong?” she whispered, forcing the words out.

“We’ve found him, Monica.  I’m leaving with Alex and Paul right now.”

“You found him?”  she could hardly believe that it had finally happened.

“We think so, and I’ll be back before you know it and then you’ll start feeling better as soon as we get that antidote into you.”  He stroked her forehead, stomach turning at the heat he felt radiating off of her.  “Hold on for me, angel.  Just hold on a little while longer.”

“I will, Andrew,” she said, her eyes tired and already beginning to drift closed.

“Everything’s going to be all right,” he said as he kissed her hair.  “God’s holding you, angel,” he whispered, in a voice that was barely audible, “and I’ll be back soon to hold you too.”