Parkers Island Ch. 02

Hannah was instantly suspicious and wanted to know why, although Susan found her reluctance odd she explained that she needed to know who he was for the reception and handshakes. The curtain was parted just enough to allow an eye to peek out and Hannah gave Susan a description of him and what the blonde sat next to him was wearing. When Susan looked out and found the blonde her knees almost gave out when she found the brother.

Quickly thanking Hannah, Susan rushed to find her own brother; she barged into the room allocated to the groom and his merry men.

"Everybody get out."

More shocked by her entrance and command all everyone in that room could do was stand and stare.

"NOW."

Some looked towards Matt others knew Susan better than to argue with her, they were the wise ones and dragged the more intellectually slower ones out with them.

"Matt, he's a spook. Does Abby know? Tell me now, does she know?"

Brother met sister in the middle of the room, arms wrapped around her holding her tight to him, gentle shushing noises came from his lips as Matt tried so desperately hard to find reason for his sister's behavior.

"He's here Matt, he should be dead but he's here."

It took Matt some time to ease his sister over to a chair and then get her some water, he watched as she took a sip and then had to take the glass from her because her hands were shaking so much.

Matt yelled a name at the closed door, seconds later his best man stuck his head around the door, not feeling brave enough to stick anything else in.

"How long do we have?"

The head ducked away to look at his watch and then re-appeared with the words, 'eleven minutes' Matt nodded and the head disappeared once again pulling the door closed when it had.

"Susan, you have ten minutes to tell me what is scaring you so much because if I don't get a good enough answer by then I'm putting the wedding on hold."

It still took Susan another minute to even acknowledge her brother had spoken to her; she sipped from the glass again and handed it back to Matt.

"To us it was a slow day at the office, all we had were walk-ins up until the admin officer came charging into the room and told us that we had two casualties arriving within minutes. I watched from the window as the two Apache helicopters accompanied another helicopter right up to the heli-pad. They still hovered while the Marines took both stretchers off and into the hospital, one was clearly dead the other was a man that two Marines had to hold down he was screaming so much."

Susan grasped her brother's arm so tight, even he was surprised at her strength.

"He kept screaming that we needed to look after Carol first, Matt he was covered in blood, had a lump of metal sticking out of his abdomen and all he cared about was the woman on the stretcher next to him."

Matt tried hard to keep his own emotions in check, he had never asked and thankfully Susan had never gone into too much detail of her time as a surgeon in Afghanistan. Now those same feelings and nightmares seeped from every pore.

"Suddenly he rolled off of the gurney and pulled a gun, it shocked everyone. Even the Marine's didn't realize he had a back-up, he was leaning up against the wall and pointed his gun at me and told me to look after Carol first."

Susan's eyes seemed to stare over his shoulder as the scene in her head seemed to project like a film on the wall behind Matt, he knelt next to his sister trying so hard to share what his sister described as the man pointed a gun at her.

Two of the Marine rescue team moved to act as a shield for Susan but she instantly dismissed them, the man watched as she walked over to the dead Marine and checked for a pulse.

She even took out a stethoscope and finally gave up trying to hear anything with the background noise in the room, calling for 'Quick Look' paddles. Within seconds a nurse pushed a trolley next to her and Susan went looking for any cardiac rhythm at all.

"I put the defibrillator paddles on her chest and looked at the monitor Matt. The screen showed a straight line - no electrical activity from the heart. She was dead and he could see it."

When none could be found she looked once again at the man standing in his own blood and put into words what his own eyes could clearly see, she was dead. The willpower that was holding him up escaped him and he dropped to the floor, one Marine took his gun away and two others put him back on the gurney. Medical training took over from then on and the man was taken into surgery. Within the hour the marine team was dismissed and two armed men in mismatch uniform stood by the doors to the operating theatre.

"Sis, you said he was a spook? How do you know?"

"When the Marine's tried to calm him down they kept calling him Sir. We're familiar in all regimental insignia and ranks and he wore none of them. Even the Lieutenant in charge of the Rescue Team called him Sir. He is a spook Matt."

"Susan why did you think he was dead?"

"He was in the operating theater for close to three hours, I've never seen anything like it Matt, this man is drugged up to the eyeballs and his pulse rate and blood pressure signs are showing us he's in his own private hell and that was one party I was sure glad I didn't get an invite to."

Susan once again reached for her glass of water and this time gulped a mouthful down.

"He lost so much blood Matt; we had to call on reserves just to keep up on what was leaking out of him. By the time I had found all the holes in him he had gone through five units of blood and two of fresh frozen plasma in addition to what we recovered in the cell-saver. We stabilized him and I rotated back here two days later."

Matt was feeling both sick from the description his sister had just given him and curiousness about the man she had just described. Abby had always talked with fondness about her big brother and had waited anxiously for days for the acknowledgment of the wedding invitation. Yet the words and anxiety from his own sister seemed to challenge most of what Abby had said of him. A man willing to point a gun at the very people trying to save his life yet insisting that those same people save the Marine first.

The timid knock came first before the head of the best man re-appeared once again his unasked question hovered between them. Matt loved his sister unconditionally; his proudest moment was the day before her reporting for deployment he cancelled all appointments at the office and helped his folks attach a flag to their home. Susan wanted to go and none of her family stood in her way.

Now and unbeknown to Abby, her own brother was involved in the war. As badly wounded as he was he stood to one side and insisted that his Marine companion be treated first. His own grief blinding him to the facts that she herself was dead, Matt nodded to his friend and looked once again to his sister.

"Abby never talked about what her brother does in the army and I'm left to believe she knows nothing, I can't say with any degree of certainty that he's a spook as you claim but in all honesty Susan you can't either. The wedding is in a few minutes Susan, do you want me to get someone to take you back inside the church?"

As if on cue the church music changed, letting those inside know that the wedding was but moments away, Susan calmly told her brother that he had to go and she would be fine in a moment. She hugged him, thanked him and took a moment to calm herself before leaving the room and once again joining her folks.

Even at the reception as she calmly introduced Mr. Aiden Thompson and his guest to the line Aiden acted as though he had never met her. Not a flicker of recognition crossed his face and Susan looked real closely, she knew it was him and as the evening moved on she also noticed that his blonde companion watched her just as closely.

*******

"So you see Aiden, I've known for some time what you are, but I'm a patriot Aiden and yes I may be a lawyer but I love this country. I know you were there because I know my sister, you have never told your sisters what you do and I know that because I know my wife."

The hotel came into view and I could see Amelia get out of the cab, Matt watched her pay the cab and then honked the car horn.

"Aiden, will a Gulfstream get you to where you need to go?"

As Amelia approached I was left to mentally do the calculations and finally I nodded my head.

"Get your things I will make a couple of calls."

"Just to put your mind at ease, I'm not a spook Matt. I'm just a geek."

Even watching him for a moment it was obvious that he didn't believe me. I did thank him for the offer of the jet though. We shook on it and I went to meet Amelia before entering the hotel. Trying to forestall the million and one questions she must have had in her head I recounted all I knew and what I believed would happen if we didn't get back to the island quickly.

Maybe it was paranoia on my part but when Matt pulled away from the hotel an official looking SUV pulled up and two men in black suits got out. I made Matt pull into a Wal-Mart on the way to the airport; I gave Amelia the job of getting the phone I just bought up and running. When she went to dial I placed my hand on hers and shook my head, Matt noticed but said nothing.

"Who does the plane belong to Matt?"

"Our family."

Now I looked at him real close. He just smiled.

"Remember Aiden, big society wedding, large church, a few hundred guests. Our family is loaded and one of the elite in Houston."

As we pulled into the area of the airport for private jets Matt parked against a building that was just as none descript as the next one. With the engine off he turned and placed his arm on the passenger seat so he could look at both of us.

"Make whatever calls you need to make, I'm going to help the pilot log a flight plan. We should be ready in twenty minutes."

Amelia was already punching numbers into the phone by the time he had got out of his seat. Matt was back in twenty minutes and gave me the thumbs up. The doors to the hanger opened and half an hour later the wheels were up on the Gulfstream.

*******

The sheriff's car pulled up alongside the jet when it came to a stop, knowing Martha a lot better now I knew she and the sheriff were pulling in favors for that car to be there and way out of its jurisdiction. With us inside the lights went on and the driver pushed his speed close to a hundred on the highway. We passed a highway patrol vehicle and it just sat watching us and then ignored us. The ferry should have left forty minutes ago, that too was waiting for us as the car drove up the ramp and came to a halt the ferries horn sounded and the ropes were pulled in.

We had no sooner cleared the slip when the car door in front of us opened and Mr. Burnett stood and waved us over, even with all that was going on I still managed to remember the luggage. Amelia wanted to ask me questions but was clearly scared of the answers; it sure made for a quiet journey on the ferry. When the ramp went down the cars in front moved off and we followed, the sheriff's car simply turned around in the space we vacated and waited for the return journey.

Martha Burnett was waiting at my house. I may as well leave the door wide open for all the good a lock does on this island, Tessa sat at the kitchen table clearly worried, overriding my first instinct to shout at her I simply sat across from her, reached out and held her hands.

"Tessa, this is real important, have you been using codes on anyone else?"

She frantically shook her head, "No I swear, I wanted you to see how much I had learned. I didn't mean anything by it."

Martha's cell beeped and the look on her face when she read it stopped me from asking Tessa anything else.

"A boat has just come into Clearwater Cove, it's not a local."

Amelia dashed up stairs and into our room less than a minute later she came out again holding her service firearm. The glare I got from her almost daring me to speak, I didn't get a chance to because Martha Burnett got there first.

"Take that back upstairs Em."

"No, I'm not letting them take her. She's done nothing wrong."

The shadow moved from its hiding place along the wall of the passageway leading to the back door. The gun came first and stopped at the back of Amelia's head, the gloved hand holding it simply pushed the gun slightly so that Amelia became aware of it.

"Put the gun down on the counter girlfriend and then go join your friends."

Faced with little choice she complied, her arm came next and then Madison came into the room, her blonde hair tied into a pony-tail and out of the adjuster of the baseball cap she was wearing.

"Hey Aiden, how was the trip to meet the family?"

"It was going so well Madison, Donny's hooked up with Hannah now; I swear that girl won't realize what he's up to until it's too late, but as they say, love is blind."

Madison nodded yet her gaze never left the group in front of her.

"I feel your pain, want me to take care of it after this is all done and the dust has settled?"

"Much appreciated but I figure she has to learn the hard way."

Martha just stood still; it was Amelia's head that moved between us both as we spoke. In the end her own temper got the better of her.

"She's got a fucking gun and pointing it at us Aiden and all you're doing is having a Sunday school chat."

Madison didn't take it personal, neither did I for that matter. It did cause her to take another step towards Amelia though.

"You're a loose cannon girlfriend, so I need you on your knees with your hands behind the back of your neck."

Tessa went to stand and I held onto her hands forcing her to stay seated, when she looked at me I simply shook my head. Having been around both girls I knew what to expect.

Martha's voice carried like a command towards Amelia. "Do it Em."

Amelia's temper was clearly getting the better of her and she chose then to challenge the one person she had spent a lifetime with. The anger blazed in her eyes as she looked towards Martha Burnett and then pointed towards Madison.

"She has no right to be here, she won't kill us she wouldn't dare."

Judging by the way we both looked at each other, Martha and I thought it best to defuse the situation, Madison got in first.

"You are right girlfriend, I'm only here to make sure you don't hide Tessa. But you are a loose cannon and since you won't calm down, I have to make you. So which shoulder do you want the bullet in or of course I could always blow your knee out and you will spend the rest of your life with a limp."

Just looking at Madison made her pause, the situation continued until Madison's gun lowered to Amelia's left knee. The sigh escaped her lips a second before her hands went behind her neck and she knelt on the floor both watching and hating Madison at the same time.

Madison stepped back and rested her arm on the counter her gun now by her side and at ease, for her part she had done enough to defuse the situation between her and Amelia and yet still kept out of Amelia's reach. The one thing I did notice and still felt it odd was that Martha could have calmed Amelia a lot sooner yet chose not to, she would also take sideways glances at the clock on the wall and to the right of Madison.

Shelby came in and took a quick look around. She then walked over to Martha.

"Tessa knew the rules, I agreed she could stay until the wedding but that was before the NSA and Homeland started crawling up my ass. She comes with me now for her own protection."

Martha Burnett's head tilted slightly and a second later I could hear a small aircraft engine getting louder, it passed overhead and disappeared. I swear if I wasn't watching Martha closely just then I would have missed the smile.

"Tessa made a mistake she knows that now."

Her arm swept the room to emphasize her point.

"She understands that what she did has ramifications."

Martha didn't get a chance to continue.

"I don't like surprises and getting calls from Homeland wanting to know why my people are encrypting messages on home soil and not having a clue what they are talking about."

Moving my head towards Madison caused her to both tighten her grip on her gun and nod her own head in return. She knew I was going to stand; being around this girl before I knew her thought processes.

"Shelby. A word."

The glaring match between Martha and Shelby still continued for a moment, Shelby blinked first, but only because she acknowledged my request. Leaving Tessa to sit at the table we walked to the far end of the kitchen.

I explained to Shelby the incident at the dress shop and the picture I sent to Martha of a very naked Amelia, of the reply from Tessa and later the encrypted code.

"Shelby we both know she did wrong but standing over her and shouting wont change the fact that what's happening here right now is scaring the girl to death. She knows she did wrong and that it won't happen again."

I was still struggling to bring Shelby back from making her decision.

"We both know the real reason you're here. Shelby, Tessa used the term 'dead man walking' as a reference to me when Amelia got her hands on me for sending out that naked picture of her. She doesn't know that it was the prefix of a dead operation, she barely has a security clearance Shelby so she's not going to know about that."

For a moment I saw a flicker of reason before she shook her head and chased it away.

"No Aiden, she text you an encrypted code for God sake and until I'm satisfied she knows nothing of the 'dead man' operation then she comes with us and that's final."

The knock on the door caused Madison to point her gun directly at Amelia. Shelby looked towards Martha who was also slowly walking towards the door. As the door opened Madison's gun slipped behind her back.

"Steven. Thank you for coming so promptly."

Martha stood to one side as Senator Steven Chadwick walked into the room, a low groan escaped Shelby's lips as Senator Chadwick surveyed the scene.

"Em get up, you look stupid down there, go sit on the couch and behave." His gaze traveled to Madison, "I know what you are, and do you know who I am?"

Madison for her part simply nodded but said nothing.

Although he was talking to Madison he pointed to Martha and Shelby when he told her to put her gun away and go sit on the couch, he needed to speak to these two in private.

"She has spirit so if you have to use hand to hand to subdue her then do so, just make sure that the bruises can't be seen on the wedding photos."

That alone got a giggle out of Madison. His gaze then went to Tessa who then burst into tears and rushed into the arms of Senator Steven Chadwick. Martha walked over to stand by us to allow them a private moment, we heard whispers but nothing we could attach words too. Eventually even she went and sat on the couch but still making sure she had Amelia between her and Madison.

"Aiden... It is Aiden isn't it?" I nodded first before I remembered who was standing in front of me, "Yes Sir."

Steven Chadwick just nodded and then told me to unlock my office, I stood to one side as all three went in; he then grabbed me by the collar and pulled me inside as well before closing the door behind him. He pointed to the only two seats in the room and both women sat in them.

"God, what a fucking mess this is."

He let out a breath as we all waited, this was Senator Chadwick and no one and I mean no one was going to talk first.

"Martha I need Matriarch from now until we leave this room, your oath as Matriarch will bind you and short of having that young lady outside shoot you when we're done then you have to know just how serous this is. Tessa blundered into something she has no knowledge about and Shelby is within her right to incarcerate her until she's old and grey."