Undercover
20 - Amy Asks Questions
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Part 20 – Amy Asks Questions
Colby was halfway through the ‘Sports Illustrated’ and Don
was tossing a wadded-up ball of paper into the air when the door opened to let
in Will’s youngest sister. She was the
smallest sister as well, almost as short as her mother, but she fairly radiated
confidence and energy.
Amy stopped two steps into the room and the light vanished
from her face. She stared at Will, her
hands flying to her mouth. After a
moment, she moved forward again. Don
slid his chair aside so she could stand next to the bed.
“I thought I had prepared myself,” she murmured.
Tears spilled down her face as she gazed at Will.
soggy chuckle. Then she turned, stumbled
across the room to Cindi, and collapsed in her arms.
“Amy’s here,” Don said unnecessarily to Will to cover the
sound of Amy’s sobbing. “That makes your
whole family except Jennifer, who isn’t coming.
We’re all here too, except for Charlie and Nena.
this place? We should sneak him in.
bottles under the bed. Probably pulling
strings that keep important things attached, too.”
Will to hear Amy crying.
Amy finally stopped sobbing and accepted tissues from
Alan. She blew her nose and wiped her
eyes. “Sorry about that,” she said to
the room at large. “I’m not usually one
for waterworks.”
“Oh, yeah?” Cindi teased.
“I remember you would cry if an ant stubbed its toe.”
Sniffling, Amy protested, “I was never that bad.”
“Wanna bet?” Cindi said.
Amy gave Cindi a watery smile.
take his chair next to Will. Colby went
and sat on the empty bed.
double room.
Amy blew her nose again and took a deep breath then exhaled
noisily.
“So,” she said, leaning forward and looking at Don.
“It’s a long story,” Don said.
25 College Sports Programs’ for a while.”
“What?” Amy said in confusion and Colby waved the ‘Sports
Illustrated’ with his finger marking a page.
“That’s right,” Don said to Min and Edward.
because you didn’t seem to care.
Well, to be fair, Edward looked quite interested.
that, when Min wasn’t around, Edward would tell people about how proud he was
of his son who catches bad guys.
Don rubbed his cheek and began, “So, there was this new drug
that was killing people, called Cloud Ten.
It was a designer drug, created
locally out of legal chemicals.” He
smiled at Amy. “I can tell you more
about the chemistry of it, if you want to know.
The scientific types always do.”
He continued, “The DEA’s best lead on this drug was a
couples retreat in the mountains. The
DEA sent two pairs of agents in, but they both got ‘made’ somehow.
second had a hiking accident. Sanchez –
Jan Sanchez is Will’s boss if you haven’t met her – thought the reason why the
agents were discovered was because they weren’t a ‘real’ couple.
“Will was furious when Sanchez ignored his reservations and
got me a temporary transfer to the DEA.
Will was worried that he couldn’t do a good job undercover if I was
there.” He gave a bitter smile.
we did a good job, and still got caught.
“I went to Will’s office and took four days of intensive
training on how to recognize and deal with designer drugs.
cover, and went to work. We tracked down
the drugs to the house of the owners of the retreat, right nearby.”
Don ran his finger down Will’s arm, his smile distant.
studded with motion detectors and not set off one.
“We broke into the house, went downstairs and found the lab,
almost wrapped up in a bow. Then one of
the bad guys appeared from a hidden door and told us he was waiting for
us. The DEA has a goddamned
Don clenched Will’s arm, remembering the moment of sickening
realization. That everything they’d done
was in vain. All their preparation,
care, everything.
“He shot Will?” Amy
asked when the silence got too long.
“In the shoulder,” Don said.
“It was his brother that shot Will in the head.
“Why didn’t he shoot you?” Amy asked.
“Will took the first guy down, even after he shot him.
appears and shot Will, who was right by his hiding place.
“Oh,” Amy said, her eyes wide.
Don gave a harsh snort.
“For once in my life, I’m not.”
Closing his eyes, he shook his head slowly.
didn’t do that well at.”
“Apparently not,” said Min coolly.
Don’s eyes snapped open and he stared at her, his heart
pounding. What the hell did she know
about anything?
“That’s unfair,” Alan said.
“They were ambushed.”
Min shrugged. That
smug look had returned to her face. “I’ve
been expecting this day ever since Will insisted on joining the DEA.
gone into medical school and gotten a more … suitable job.”
Don made a strangled sound.
Will was one of the DEA’s finest and the job suited him perfectly.
nerve-wracking for his loved ones, but Will loved it.
FBI, but somewhere safe and pointless.
“Will does what few can,” Alan said, his voice
strained. “He might not be in the
medical field, but he saves lives just the same.”
“Only by throwing away his own,” Min said.
The words, as if you
ever cared, were on the tip of Don’s tongue when Colby loudly cleared his
throat. “Shall we go back to the
article? I think we were on school
number 12.” He shielded his face with
the magazine from Min and mouthed to Don, ‘Ignore her.’
Don nodded, feeling like his neck would crack from the
effort. Through gritted teeth, he said,
“Yes, please read more.”
Everyone but Min and Don turned to look at Colby and pretended
they were interested in the article. Min
sat back, a small smile playing around her lips.
listened to Colby like Will’s life depended on it.