Chapter 7

?

Amber settled down after that last minor dispute about who would stay and who would be allowed to go back to work, unclear at this point. She hadn't thought through the consequences of going back to work, and Jasper knew for a fact that no way she was capable for a few days. She'd taken a hard hit, and her body would be very sore and stiff for several days.

At the very least, she needed to spend the next two days and the weekend looking after herself. Jasper would arrange somebody else to come and relieve him, so he could carry on the battle he was waging to figure all this out.

He picked up the phone, while she was sipping tea, and called the hospital. As soon as he got through, he asked for an update on Mason's condition. With that relayed to him, he hung up and smiled with satisfaction. "Mason is still holding his own."

"I wouldn't be at all surprised if he comes out of this in great condition," she shared. When Jasper frowned at her, she shrugged. "He's young. He's strong. He has everything to live for."

He contemplated that for a long moment and agreed with her on every point. "That he does."

"I still don't understand why you're so worked up about it though," she began. "I get that you are part of the investigation team, but—"

"No but about it. He's also family."

She stared at him skeptically. "Seriously?"

He nodded. "Why does that surprise you?"

"I don't know. I guess Telsa mentioned that you are family, but I put it down to… I don't know, in my line of work, lots of people claim family relationships that turn out to be more sentimental than blood based. I guess I hadn't thought it through, and, if you did tell me, I don't remember," she admitted, with a headshake. "Some days at work are just like that."

"Some days are like that. Plus things don't always need to be separated by work."

"No, that's true too," she admitted, with half a smile. "It always seems so much is going on in life that it's hard to keep track of people's relationships."

He nodded and didn't say anything more and kept clicking away on the keyboard.

"How come you didn't phone Tesla?"

"I did earlier, but it went to voice mail. I don't want to wake her if she's sleeping." Almost as if on cue, his phone rang. He smiled as he looked at the number and said in a proud tone, "That's her now. Hey, Tesla. How are you doing, sweetie?"

"I'm doing better," she replied, her voice low and dragging. "Exhausted, but Mason is holding on, so I can't ask for anything more than that, right?"

"Sure, you can," he replied. "You can ask for the world, and you know that I'll do everything I can to give it to you. And, in this case, we've also got the whole base wanting to help."

He heard the smile in her voice when she said, "You've always been like that, haven't you?"

"If there's anything I could have done to prevent this, I would have done it. However, for the moment, we're stuck in whatever nightmare this is."

"And that's why I'm calling," she stated. "Is there any update? Do you have any news?"

"No, I don't, and now we have a different development we're sorting out." Then he quickly explained about Amber's hit-and-run.

"Oh my God," Tesla cried out. "Is she okay?"

"She is. In fact, I'm at her apartment, keeping an eye on her, and she is glaring at me right now because she doesn't want to believe any of this is connected or that she is in any trouble."

Tesla went quiet for a moment. "But how could we not think it's connected?" she asked in a businesslike tone. "She was there when Mason came in and took such good care of me and was back and forth, checking up on me and Mason.… It has to be connected."

"Exactly. So, you stay put. If you need anything, let me know, and I'll run by the house and get it for you—unless you want to go get it yourself."

"One thing I was wondering about," she said, "is my father is taking care of Sebastian. They might need some support, and I'm not sure they can get through this without me."

"Well, they will," he said, "and eventually we can bring Sebastian in to see you and his dad, but I think it's better if we wait a little bit longer, just from a security point of view. Also, it would probably be best if we waited, you know, with Mason in his condition.… Let's have him wake up first before Sebastian sees his dad."

"Oh, absolutely," she said quietly, "I would love to see him though."

"Do you want to visit Sebastian and leave Mason?"

"Leave Mason? No," she snapped. "That's not an option."

"Then the status quo holds," he confirmed. "I can go visit with him, if you want, and maybe give your dad an update."

"Yes, please do. And if you would do that maybe in person…" She let it trail off because she knew that was asking a lot of him.

"Yeah, I'm working on that. I've spoken to them a couple times already."

"Oh good," she said. "I never know what everybody else is doing. My world is narrowed down to Mason's recovery, and that's it."

"That is your world right now," Jasper agreed. "Mason's recovery is everything. So just hold tight, and let's keep everything focused, so we don't have anything go haywire at this point. I will let you know if anything develops. I also still need that list of suspects from you."

"I've thought about it over and over," she explained, "and I'm not at all sure anybody would know anything.… You would have to talk to his team."

"I've got members of the investigative team on base talking with his team right now, seeing if anything new came up, but we have nothing for now."

"Check his emails," she suggested suddenly.

"I'll check on it," Jasper said because something rang true. "Did he tell you anything about a problem while he was up north?"

"There were lots of problems while he was up north," she stated. "He went up there himself because some of the issues just needed an extra set of eyes and a fresh perspective. He couldn't do that while he was down here. He was there for a few weeks, but I know he figured that everything was solved. He was sad too because he knew a bunch of the people involved."

"It's always sad when we know the people involved," Jasper concurred.

"You know about that too, don't you?" she asked, with a groan. "Sometimes, the world, well,… you know, people suck." Having just heard that from Amber, his gaze flicked over in her direction to see her smiling.

"That is quite right. Amber just mentioned something very similar," he shared, with a gentle chuckle. "All you need to focus on right now is Mason and you and that baby," Jasper reiterated. "I'll handle the rest. Now, go take a nap."

"Yes, sir," Tesla replied, and then she laughed. "I am tired, so maybe that is what I need. I might need some clothes at some point too."

"Tell me what you need," he said. "I told you that I'll get it."

"I'll text you a list, after my nap." And, with that, she was gone.

He looked over at Amber. "Tesla appears to be holding up okay."

"She's good people," she noted, "and she's been to hell and back already."

"Isn't that the truth, but she is very good at sorting through the priorities. I've known her through thick and thin. Our families were estranged for a while, but we kept in touch. When she married Mason, we got a whole lot closer."

"Sounds like you and Mason had more in common than you had with your family."

"Yeah, well, that is an understatement. It's one of the reasons that I was coming here to work with Mason. I was about to walk away from the work completely," he admitted, shaking his head. "I was sick to the soul, but they convinced me to go back, which is why I was just starting again at this location."

"I'm sorry. I can't imagine the work you do."

"It can be stressful," he said, keeping his gaze steady. "It can be debilitating mentally and emotionally. Then, when you discover good friends are involved in the crimes you've been investigating," he shared, his lips twitching, "it can be beyond debilitating."

"That sounds awful," Amber muttered, with a sad smile. "The worst thing I ever had along that line, and it certainly hurt,… but I came into the ER, started my shift, and an ambulance rolled in with my best friend." She looked directly at him.

As her head twisted away, he saw the glint of tears. "What happened?"

"We did everything we could, and we couldn't save her," she whispered. "There's nothing, nothing like finding out somebody you cared about, somebody you deal with,… day in, day out, is…"

"Was it an accident?"

She looked over at him and shook her head. "She committed suicide, and everybody at the ER knew her. We were absolutely horrified, and the fact that we couldn't do anything for her just made it that much worse."

He winced. "Of course then I would guess the next level is wondering how it got to that point, and why you couldn't have saved her before it even came to being in the ER."

She nodded. "That's the next thing that happened. You question how is it that you didn't know she was so troubled, how is it that you didn't know that she needed you, if you were such good friends." She took a moment to hold back the tears. "The guilt is crippling, and yet that's not why the person does it, of course. It's not why they're in the situation, but it doesn't help you to stop feeling as if you could have and should have done more," she murmured.

"Yes," he noted in a calm tone. "In my situation, I was on a case, looking for somebody running a lot of drugs through the military." He shook his head, and, when she gasped in shock, he nodded. "Whenever you get people together, people have a way of being people, no matter where they end up."

"So, what happened?"

"It just got out of control and wasn't what I thought. I got chumped in a big way, but it doesn't matter. It's just that, after something like that, I don't even want to deal with people anymore."

"Sounds horrible," she muttered, not fully understanding, but, since he was skirting around the edges, she knew there must have been a lot more to it.

"What a mess," he said, "but that's life."

She nodded. "I can't say I've been through anything quite like that."

"It doesn't matter," he replied, with a wave of his hand. "It's not a contest. It's just one of those things that you realize is part of it all. We all have histories. We all have relationships that go bad. We all have childhoods that had trauma. We all have these things that we should deal with but haven't yet, and they come back and hit you in the face, time and time again. You hope that you can deal with them. You hope that you can get out of them, but there's no guarantee, even if you do, that life will be any better."

"That's a pessimistic view."

"Not at all," he argued, shaking his head. As he opened his mouth to speak again, the doorbell rang.

She jolted, looking over at him.

"Are you expecting anybody?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. Not only that,… I never get people here. I deliberately keep this address private."

He frowned. "No deliveries? Particularly after COVID and all?… So many people went for online ordering."

"I haven't ordered anything in a very long time," she shared.

He nodded. "Stay there."

"As if I'll move much anyway," she muttered, as he got up. She watched as he silently moved to the front door. She had no little window in the door or even a peephole to look out. The only way to look outside and see who was at her door was through the nearby window.

*

Jasper shifted thecurtains slightly, just in time to see a vehicle pulling away. Frowning, he opened the curtain wider to take a better look to see if somebody was still at the door. Seeing nothing, he stepped forward and opened the door just a hair and looked around. Still nothing he could see. As he pulled open the door wider, he found a piece of paper on the ground.

He picked it up, took one look, and read the message. His jaw firmed up, as he stared down at the warning message, before he stepped out into the hallway and looked around.

Amber shrunk into the couch, as he walked back into the living room and handed her the note. "Just in case you have any more doubts," he stated.

She looked at the warning note and read it out loud. "Keep your nose out of other people's business, bitch."

"Says something, huh?"

"And yet," she replied, staring at it in shock, "it still doesn't confirm anything."

"No, it doesn't confirm anything," he agreed calmly, "but it doesn't exactly give us clarity either."

She stared at him and shrugged. "Maybe my instincts picked up on how they were up to something, and now they want to ensure I don't say anything," she suggested, raising both hands. "The more disconcerting thought for me is how did they know where I live?"

"Knowing where you live could simply involve following us, hacking into computer systems, or just asking people where you work," he said. "It isn't all that hard, if you have any skills, and, in this case, we have people with skills."

She cried out in exasperation, "But sniper skills are a long way from hunting down people, by hacking and finding addresses."

He gave her a wry look. "They have your name, and they know what vehicle you drive, and the DMV would most likely give them an address."

She swallowed. "But—"

He shook his head. "No buts," he said, raising his voice. "This is no longer an accident. You've already been attacked, now threatened, and you need to accept that. Obviously we have a bigger problem than we were hoping, and, while it would be nice to think it's not connected to the shooting of Mason, I have to assume that it is."

She sat here and glared at him, clearly disgruntled.

His lips quirked at the pouty little child in front of him. "I get it," he said, with a chuckle. "You don't want it to be connected. You don't want anything to do with any of this."

"No, I don't," she exclaimed, "and I thought I was in the clear."

"I know you did, but, once you got run over, all bets were off." When she winced at that, he nodded. "No other way to put it," he declared. "Obviously somebody was out to get you, and they made their first attempt with a car, and now they know where you live."

Her face paled at that, and she looked around the room. "I must admit how that part concerns me. I'm nobody, but they have my address. That scares me."

"It should," he agreed, "because we don't want anybody coming back here, thinking that you live alone."

"Would they have stayed around?"

"Maybe not with me here, but thinking you have a boyfriend still doesn't fully protect you.… I can't be here all the time, and they may very well have somebody outside, who saw me pick up the note. You don't know who these people are or what they're up to."

"I don't want to either," she declared, glaring at him.

He loved the fact that she had shifted from angry to scared and was back to angry again. "Keep up the anger," he stated. "It's a whole lot better than the fear of being a victim."

"Yet, that's what I am, isn't it?" she asked, staring at him, her eyes widening at the thought.

"No, I won't say that," he clarified. "It's not healthy to be a victim, so let's not go that route. You need to think this through for now. Stay angry, stay in control, and realize that somebody is pushing your buttons and is scaring you into doing something. The trouble is, that note doesn't tell us what they want you to do."

"He wants my nose out apparently," she stated, with a snort. "Like what the hell do they think I even did?"

"I suspect they know you took that video. They just don't know what you captured on that video. And they are obviously worried about something captured on film."

"But people take videos all the time," she said impatiently. "If they didn't want people to know what they were up to, they shouldn't have been talking in that location." He shot her a sideways glance, and she flushed. "Fine, all right, so it wasn't the smartest idea, and I get it. At the same time, I don't want it thrown in my face until I'm old and gray."

"Wasn't planning on it," he replied cheerfully. "I just want to know what this is about. If it has nothing to do with the assassination attempt on Mason, then the last thing I want to do is waste time investigating the wrong matter."

"Then go investigate Mason," she exclaimed, glaring at him. "I'm not here to take you away from that."

"You aren't making me do anything," he admitted, staring at her. "As a matter of fact, if you had your druthers, you would have forced me out of here a long time ago."

She flushed. "I wouldn't be that rude," she said stiffly.

He burst into laughter. "Oh, you would so."

She flushed a brighter red and then came back with another retort. "Honestly, I just want this all to go away."

"Okay, so if you were alone, and you had answered that doorbell, particularly if you'd answered it right away," he began, "what would your reaction have been?" She stared at him, nonplussed. He nodded. "Your reaction would be to turn around and phone somebody. So now you've got somebody here, who'll be looking for a bigger explanation as to what's going on."

"Maybe I wouldn't have called anybody," she replied. "Maybe I would have just kept it to myself. How can you be sure of that?"

"It crossed my mind, but then, when your dead body shows up in a few days in some alleyway, or if somebody comes to check on why you didn't show up at work, and they find you dead on your couch, is that any better?" He watched as the color drained rapidly from her face.

"Exactly," he stated. "I'm not trying to scare you, but to warn you. Also I'm not here to create a villain where there isn't one or to make a bigger deal out of this than it already is. That is not my intention either. We have more than enough problems without creating something out of nothing," he declared, shaking his head, "but regardless if this is related to Mason or not, it's obviously a problem for you, and one we have to solve before you are free to move around again."

He sighed. "In fact, as it is right now, you're also incapable of moving around because of that hit-and-run. Maybe that was something they wanted too. Maybe they wanted you injured, incapacitated, maybe at home instead of the hospital, so they could come here and get the information they wanted from you, or maybe they were looking for that video."

She stared at him. "Are you talking from experience?"

"Yes. However, I don't know what their threat entails, what they plan to do next," he conceded, "but that is a threat against you. And that's just making me incredibly frustrated. Have you reviewed the tape further? Maybe you missed something earlier?"

She sighed. "I can look at it again, but I really don't see what is so all important about this one off-the-cuff video." With a growl, she reached for her cup of tea, stared down at the empty cup, then slammed it on the coffee table, perhaps a little too hard.

He nodded because he understood what that was about. "I know exactly how you feel," he muttered, and then he laughed. "But I can still get a cup of tea for you."

"No,… forget it, and, if you weren't here, I would probably go for something a hell of a lot stronger." He stared at her with interest, and she shrugged. "Just kidding, but maybe coffee would be better."

"Good," he said, with a nod. "I can do coffee, and, if you're fussy about the way you like it, you can just sit there and tell me how you want it."

"I'm not fussy," she replied. "Right now I'm just sad. I hadn't expected this turn of events."

"No, I'm sure you didn't," he agreed. "I don't think any of us did, but it's one thing to get run down and have it be an accident. It's an entirely different thing to now have somebody come to your house and threaten you with violence if you don't keep your mouth shut."

"Yet they didn't say what they would do," she pointed out, "so it's hardly a threat of violence."

He sat down hard on the couch beside her, jostling her leg. When she winced, he reached out, patting her hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No, you didn't want to hurt me, but you do want to shake some sense into me."

He opened his eyes wide and then nodded. "I would like to do that, and it would be a hell of a lot easier if you would listen. This note probably came from the same people who ran you down. Since that wasn't enough, prompting this threatening note, do you think the next thing they have planned for you is nonviolent? I suspect it will be more violent than the hit-and-run."

"I'm listening," she stated, "but there's a limit to what I can do. Obviously right now I'm injured, and I'm not going anywhere."

"That's fine.… I get it, but neither one of us can stay here indefinitely, and if this isn't connected to Mason,… it's still something worrisome."

"Either way, something is simmering under the surface," she agreed.

"True, and we still have to solve it, if you plan to have a life again."

She winced. "So, will we wait to solve it?" She was exasperated and totally exhausted too by the looks of it. "This is your investigation, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's my investigation," he confirmed, looking at her, "but I have to delve into your background a whole lot deeper, and I'm pretty sure that's not something you want." She stared at him, and he watched as the last of the color drained away. He didn't think her face could get any paler. He nodded when he saw the shocked look on her face.

"Why is that?" she asked.

"Because, if this is something I'm investigating, then I have to know absolutely everything about why it's happening. So, I'll have to narrow down the facts and see what I can find for other reasons—not Mason-related—that you may not realize where somebody would hurt you, would retaliate."

"Nobody'll hurt me," she said stiffly.

He frowned. "You keep saying things like that, and yet—"

"Yet what?" she asked.

"Yet I don't believe you. It seems to me that we have a bigger mystery here than maybe you've let on."

"I don't have any secrets, if that's what you mean. I don't have any murdered family members who have come back to haunt me. I don't have any of that stuff," she said, her voice rising an octave higher. "I've been a nurse, working at this hospital for a very long time, and I'm hardly someone who anybody gives a crap about."

"And yet somebody does give a crap about something here," Jasper declared, as he tossed the note back down on the coffee table in front of her. "Somebody cares a hell of a lot, and forgetting about that fact," he snapped, taking a moment, while she waited and seemed to be listening, "forgetting will get you killed."

*

Tesla shifted inher seat, reminded that the cramping was horrific today. She'd tried to hide it from anybody around her because she didn't want to listen to any more comments about what she should and should not do, especially the people who told her to go home. As for the baby, well,… the baby was definitely not impressed today.

Whether the hospital food, the stress, or the sleeplessness, Tesla didn't know, but she was getting a good workout from the inside out, and it was a little bit too much today.

She got up and slowly paced the small hospital room. Her world had shrunk down to just this, to her beloved husband, waiting for him to wake up, waiting for him to show signs of anything. Doctors and nurses came and went, muttered, and nodded, gave her half smiles, then quickly disappeared, knowing that she would ask questions. So far, it appeared that nobody had any answers. The hospital, the baby, and hope were the only constants in this equation for the last few days, and that was that.

That was the worst part—the waiting, the not knowing what was going on, not understanding how something like this could continue to be a mystery in this world. Surely they could do more for her husband than to keep him in this coma.

And they used all kinds of medical words that Tesla had been busy looking up, but nothing that told her anything, as if they didn't know themselves. Most of them basically just told her too early to say anything definitive, to give him time, that he was working on his healing, he was alive, and his body was working on coming back to her. She wanted to believe them; she had to because the other option was out of the question.

When a knock came on the door to Mason's hospital room, she turned to see it burst open, and her little boy raced to her. He cried out, "Mommy," and threw himself into her arms. She held him tightly against her and just rocked him on the edge of the cot. It was so damn good to see him, but, at the same time, it was also damn scary to even begin to think that he was here. He was only three years old, and so much of this was scary for him.

Was it even safe for Sebastian to be here?

Well, that was a question she would love to have an answer for, and quick. She didn't know anything about it. She looked over to see Markus standing there, his arms crossed, as Sebastian babbled away.

"Uncle Markus brought me. He said Grandad needed a break." Sebastian gave her a big, fat grin.

"Oh, did he now?" Tesla asked.

Sebastian nodded.

"I can't imagine why," Tesla said in a dry tone.

Sebastian looked over and said in a coo, "Daddy is sleeping?" Such a wealth of disappointment filled his tone that it made her smile.

"Yes, honey. Daddy got hurt, so now he's sleeping,… so he can heal."

"Good," he said, "I want him to come play ball with me."

"When he feels better and when he's back home again, then we'll line that up," she said, chuckling. She let Sebastian ramble on, answering his questions, just enjoying holding the squirmy little three-year-old whom she loved with all her heart.

When she looked up at Markus, his gaze narrowed on her face. She glared at him. "I'm fine." He just raised an eyebrow and didn't say a word, as she groaned. "So, today might not be the greatest day as a pregnant woman," she admitted, with a shrug, as she shifted Sebastian around.

"Huh."

"Yeah, and that … doesn't mean anything." He didn't respond, which was in some ways even worse. "Honest, Markus, I'm fine."

"I'm glad to hear that," he said quietly, "because you know, when Mason gets out of this, if anything happened to you in the meantime,… he'll have every one of our heads."

She winced and then chuckled. "That is something to keep you guys in line at least."

"It'll keep us in line," he said, with a warning look in her direction, "by keeping you in line."

She didn't like that at all, but she understood it. "I'm fine. Baby's just extra-active today."

At that, Sebastian patted her belly several times and said, "When is baby coming?" He cried out loud enough for people to hear him loud and clear, making her blush. "I want baby."

"Baby's coming soon enough," she said. "Baby's not fully cooked yet."

Sebastian looked at her and then giggled. "Like cookies?"

"Something like that," she said, with half a laugh. The absolute innocence in his face and his tone of voice always put a smile on hers. She looked over at Markus and whispered, "Thank you."

He nodded. "We can't stay too long. After this, we're going bowling."

"Bowling?" she repeated.

At that, Sebastian went off in squeals of delight, hearing the word from her. "They're really big balls," he said excitedly. "Uncle Markus has to take them off the rack, but I'm really good at rolling them down the runway."

She blinked at the thought, her mind kicking in at seeing her little toddler, with Markus standing behind him, helping him push. She slid a glance over at Markus, who had a big grin on his face. "What about Bree?" she asked of his wife.

"She's thrilled. If you ask me, she would keep this guy forever."

"Well, she can't have him," Tesla declared and then chuckled. "However, I really do appreciate that everybody is pitching in to keep him company."

"Of course they're pitching in," he said, with a grin. "You know we all love this guy," Markus said, as he pointed to the bed where Mason was crashed. "He just needs to wake up."

"He does, indeed," she said, glaring over at the bed where her husband was snuggled in. "The sooner, the better."

He laughed. "You know him. He's always got to do a job the right way," he said. "He'll come out when he's darn good and ready and not before."

She laughed. "Isn't that the truth," she murmured affectionately.

Just then Markus turned to Sebastian and said, "Come on, buddy. Time to go push those bowling balls."

"Yeah!" He raced to the door and then stopped and ran back to Tesla and threw his arms around her and gave her a big, sloppy kiss. "Bye, Mommy." And, with that, he was gone.

She sighed, wondering where the world just went, as it seemed to have come and gone in her life with the aplomb of a very confident and happy little boy. One thing she had done well in this world was her little guy. Sebastian was her one true success in this world. He was a very well-adjusted and happy little boy, and, although she didn't want to think of a life without his daddy, she knew that they would get through it one way or another, if they had to.

She was so damn grateful that she had Sebastian right now, a light in her life. Given the circumstances, she was also damn grateful for all his well-respected uncles because they made her bedside vigil, watching over Mason, a hell of a lot easier right now.

With that thought, she shifted back onto the cot, closed her eyes, and curled up for yet another nap.