Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 132962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
“You’re crying,” Cody barely whispered. The sound of his voice must have alarmed him because he closed his eyes and blinked. Cody tried to move, but the bed just jerked a little.
“Be still. You just came out of surgery; they removed a bullet from your shoulder,” Mitch said, staying as close to Cody as he possibly could, assessing everything he knew to look at. Cody’s eyes were focusing, and the color to his skin was coming back. His voice was weak.
“Why are you crying?”
“I’m relieved, that’s all.” Emotion crossed over Cody’s face and then something changed.
“He’s CIA. The badge was real. He’s tall, lean…”
“The surgeon told me. I’m going after him now. I was just telling you goodbye.”
“He’s part of a hate crime group,” Cody replied.
“I know. I was on the phone still. I heard him, I heard everything.” Mitch slid his hand in Cody’s.
“The phone saved me.” Cody smiled.
“I know. I’ll be thanking Apple soon enough. Your whole family’s out there,” Mitch nodded toward the door and squeezed Cody’s hand.
“When are you coming back?”
“As soon as I can. My dad’s coming here. He’s on his way. He’s a doctor, but he knows his shit and everybody to call. He’s gonna watch out for you while I’m gone. You don’t have to make this decision now, but I’m gonna want you to go back home with him. Get you outta here.”
Cody stayed quiet, just staring up at him then closed his eyes again. Mitch could tell he tried to fight to stay awake, but lost the battle and kept his eyes closed.
“You need to sleep. I love you,” Mitch whispered quietly and kissed Cody’s hand and then his lips before he rose. He took some paper towels from a drawer dispenser and rubbed them across his eyes and nose before discarding them in the trash. He stepped out from behind the curtain. Cody’s family was all right there, but so was Kreed.
“He woke up, but he’s back asleep.” Mitch smiled at Cody’s parents as he walked to Kreed and stuck out his hand. “Thank you for coming.”
“I’m heading back with you,” Kreed informed him, very no-nonsense.
“I got this—” Mitch started, but Kreed stopped him.
“He attacked you. Enough said.” All of a sudden he felt like such a girl. He had to fight to keep the emotion of his partner’s words at bay.
“I need to get security in there with him. Hang on.” Mitch went to the FBI agent guarding the door and brought him inside Cody’s room.
“Stay here. You go where he goes. Got it?” Mitch waited for the yes sir from the kid before he continued on. “And get someone else on the door. Your replacement stays with him too, twenty-four seven. Got it?” he asked the suit that he’d placed in the corner of Cody’s little room.
“Got it,” the guy said. This time, Cody’s mom was back in place beside the bed. Probably a sister was in the room. Cody was awake, his eyes following Mitch, actually all eyes were on Mitch but Cody’s were the only ones that mattered.
“I’ll call you tonight.” Mitch struggled right then, but fought it and leaned in to kiss Cody’s lips again. “You promised to do everything they asked of you.”
Cody nodded and whispered softly to him, “Be safe.”
“You worry about getting your strength back. Nothing else.” Mitch squeezed his hand, then forced himself from the bed. He didn’t acknowledge anyone but Cody’s father and motioned for him to follow him out.
“Mr. Turner, I’ve arranged federal security for Cody and your family. You need to call my director. Here’s his number.” Mitch stood to the side of the elevator, scribbling Skinner’s number on his business card. “My father’s a world-renowned surgeon, and he’s on his way. Not to take over anything, but to be a second set of eyes. He’ll be looking for you to go over things and give his thoughts. He’ll give a good opinion on things for you.”
“Thank you,” Mr. Turner said.
“I’m very sorry this happened. I should’ve been more prepared.”
“Come on, man. The elevator’s here,” Kreed said, holding the door.
“I’ll be back in touch tonight.” Mitch was on the elevator, his eyes on Mr. Turner as the doors closed.
“It’s not hard to see what Cody’s gonna look like when he gets older,” Kreed smiled.
“Yeah, he looks just like his dad,” Mitch agreed.
“Did the cell phone really stop the bullet?” Kreed asked, sounding amazed.
“Yeah, that’s what they’re saying. I haven’t seen it for myself yet,” Mitch answered.
“Holy fuck, he sure must have an angel watching over him.”
“Fucking A,” Mitch mumbled and gave a halfhearted fist bump to Kreed’s raised hand. Things were just too close to home on this one. If everything went okay from Connors’s end, he had approximately six hours until he was face to face with the fucker who shot Cody. Just the thought had him chomping at the bit. He had to get some sort of confession out of the guy. Something to tie him to the others before morning. Before the politics of DC took over.
Chapter 48
Cody rested with his eyes closed, wishing everyone inside his room would leave. His entire family packed into the hospital room, making the large area seem much smaller. He slowly and carefully breathed in and out through his nose, ignoring the throbbing in his shoulder as well as the discomfort from his chest. His cell phone had done a bang up job at stopping the bullet by lodging bits of the protective case and phone cover into his skin. The impact had his chest so sore, he could barely breathe without wincing. He should be thankful for the pain, it meant he was alive, but right now his mood was deteriorating by the second.
Another couple of minutes passed before the general sounds in the room began to quiet. Cody hoped they’d gotten the hint that he needed peace. Right when he truly thought the whispered voices were preparing to leave, the door to his room opened. Things got too quiet too quickly for his loud family to have left the room so fast. Surely his sisters would be over here kissing his cheeks like they had done about a million times since he’d been assigned a room.