In the Grey (62 page)

F

Monday, midday

December 20 – 12:34 p.m.
CST

Federal Medical Center,
Carswell, Texas

“
What’s wrong with her?”
Jack asked as he stepped out of the rental car.

“
We’re not sure,” MJ
said.

Jack looked at MJ and
nodded.

“
So she’s locked up in
this prison because . . . ?” Jack looked at
Troy.

Troy laughed. Jack looked
at White Boy.

“
Do you ever say
anything?” Jack asked White Boy.

“
Can’t get a word in
edgewise,” White Boy said.

Jack tipped his head back
and laughed.

“
Tell me, Mr. White Boy,”
Jack said. “Are you going to protect me from
this . . . what’s her name?”

“
Neev,” Troy
said.

“
Are you going to protect
me from this Neev?” Jack asked.

“
I promise to keep you
from bodily harm,” White Boy smiled.

“
Bodily harm?” Jack
chuckled. “Well, I’ve been in some pretty tight spots. With you
mates around me, what could happen?”

“
This way,” MJ
said.

He gestured to the pathway
toward the main building. At the entrance, Troy and MJ showed their
identification.

“
I’m with this one,” White
Boy gave the guard his identification. The guard raised an eyebrow
and nodded.

“
Ho ho!” Jack laughed.
“Silent man is king at the quare prison.”

White Boy
grinned.

“
They’re waiting for you,
sir,” the guard said. “I need to check your weapons.”

White Boy and Troy handed
over their handguns and Troy gave the guard his Leatherman
mini-tool.

“
You don’t carry one of
those?” Jack asked MJ.

“
These guys will protect
me,” MJ smiled. “Won’t you?”

Troy laughed.

“
I’ll get someone to take
you, sir,” the guard said.

They waited only a few
minutes before a thick-set orderly came. He looked Troy up and
down, raised an eyebrow at White Boy, and grinned at MJ.

“
They’re finally admitting
you, Scully?” the orderly asked.

MJ laughed.

“
Come on,” the orderly
said.

MJ and the orderly started
down the hall. Troy walked beside Jack and White Boy took the rear.
They were on edge and watchful. There was no way to know if they
were taking a man to his wife or they were lured to this facility
for some other purpose.

“
I heard you’re a Marine
now,” the orderly said.

“
It’s a long story,” MJ
said.

“
How’s
the . . . ?” the orderly gestured to MJ’s
head.

“
Good as long as I’m not
under pressure,” MJ smiled. “Thanks to you.”

The orderly grinned. The
Mister stepped into the hallway.

“
That guy makes my skin
crawl,” the orderly said under his breath. “Calm and deadly, you
can see it in his eyes.”

MJ gave him a
nod.

“
You’re going through here
and out onto the patio,” the orderly said. “Don’t worry. It’s
secure. We did a sweep five minutes ago.”

MJ stopped walking to let
Troy and Jack catch up. White Boy went around them. He nodded to
the Mister and went to check the patio.

“
Why am I here?” Jack
whispered to Troy.

“
You said you liked to
help people,” Troy said.

“
And you think I can help
this Neev?” Jack asked.

“
Might just help you,”
Troy patted his shoulder.

White Boy stuck his head
out of the door and gave a nod.

“
Come on,” Troy
said.

“
Hate this place,” Jack
wiped his brow. “Good thing I’ve never been to prison. I can’t
handle tight places.”

They walked down a tight
hallway and past a small sitting area. Troy glanced at MJ and he
nodded. MJ opened the patio door. Jack looked at him and stepped
out. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the daylight.
Someone, a woman, was standing at the end of the patio. He glanced
at Troy and took a step forward. White Boy touched the woman’s arm.
She looked up at him and turned around.

Jack fell to his knees in
front of her.

“
Jackie?” Neev walked to
him.

“
I’ve waited my whole life
for you,” he whispered.

She dropped down to
him.

“
Where have you been my
whole life?” Jack asked.

Neev hugged
him.

“
Ah Jackie, I’ve been your
wife most of your life,” Neev said.

“
Whatever you say,” Jack
said.

Neev laughed. She bent her
head down and they spoke to each other for a moment. Jack’s big
arms went around her.

“
I am truly sorry to
interrupt,” the Mister said. “We need to talk.”

“
I came to help,” Jack
nodded.

He got up and helped Neev
to her feet. She took his hand. He flushed and looked at her. She
smiled.

“
Jack, according to
everything we can find, you are Jack Mac Kinney married to
Neev,” Troy said.

“
I am?” Jack shrugged. “I
think I would remember something like that.”

“
There is nothing
medically wrong with you,” MJ said.

“
Good to know,” Jack
squinted. “What happened to me that I don’t remember a life with
this lovely woman?”

“
We believe what’s
happened to you has to do with what happened to Neev,” the Mister
said. “We’d like to show you some photos to see if we can’t jog
your memory a little bit.”

Jack nodded. Troy gestured
to a chair where they’d set up a laptop. Jack pulled out a chair
for Neev and sat next to her.

“
This is your life,” the
Mister said.

Starting with his driver’s
license, they went from picture to picture. They revealed pictures
of him holding each of his children when they were born, weddings,
anniversaries, and sorrow – the death of his parents, his favorite
dog. They showed him a video of their home. He asked to go through
everything again.

He stared at the photo of
the entire family last Christmas for a moment and put his head in
his hands. He shrugged his shoulders and got up from his
seat.

“
Sorry I can’t help you
boys,” Jack said. “This is a good con job. And I’m sure you’re an
amazing woman, but it’s not me or my life.”

Neev looked perplexed. He
walked toward the door and she nodded.

“
Jackie Mac Kinney,
you’re not running out on me now,” Neev said. Her voice was
artificially harsh. Troy looked at Jack and then back at
Neev.

Hearing her words, he
stopped at the door.

“
Your hair is nasty.
You’ve let your beard go,” Neev’s voice was harsh. “You’re clothes
are filthy. You’re not wearing your glasses. You’ve lost at least a
stone. You can’t even take care of yourself for a few months. How’d
you get to be a grandfather all by yourself?”

He turned around. His face
was still. He stared at Neev.

“
Who’s milking my cows?”
Jack’s voice was flat and toneless.

“
The kids,” Neev said. “I
told them to leave your chair alone.”

“
My . . .
chair . . . .” He stared at Neev for a long
moment. He blinked and then whispered, “Niamh?”

She nodded.

“
Is it over?” Jack asked.
“Can we go home now?”

Neev jumped from her
chair. He caught her in an embrace. Together, they wept and
laughed. Neev turned away and looked at the Mister.

“
I did this,” she
said.

“
I thought as much,” the
Mister said.

FFFFFF
Two days later

Wednesday
evening

December 22 – 6:26 p.m.
MST

Between Afghanistan and
Denver

“
What?” Patrick laughed.
“Neev did it?”

Patrick and Alex were
sitting around a small table near the windows of the jet. Alex’s
right arm rested in a sling. The babies were asleep on biliblankets
in their crib near the wall. Max was sleeping on the couch near the
bedroom. John and Colin were playing video games. Wyatt and Joseph
were reading novels in a sitting area near the front. Leena and
Margaret were watching a romantic comedy with Rebecca. Matthew was
napping on a couch mid-plane while Trece, Zack, and Cliff were
playing poker nearby. Raz was asleep in the bedroom in the tail of
the plane.

“
They threatened Jack,”
Alex lifted her shoulders in a painful shrug. “Rather than risk
losing him, she programmed him to forget his life and shipped him
off with his coats and blankets to Afghanistan. All he had to do
was keep himself alive. She implanted a trigger for him to wake
up.”

“
Jackie Mac Kinney,
you’re not running out on me now,” Patrick nodded.

“
Right,” Alex said.
“Unfortunately, once he was gone, they told her they’d thwarted her
plan and taken him anyway. The finger and ear cemented the deal. To
make matters worse, they snatched her.”

“
What?” Patrick asked.
“How?”

“
Right,” Alex said. “Her
scans show that she was subjected to long bouts of electric
shock.”

“
To forget,” Patrick
said.

“
Exactly,” Alex said. “We
think that in her mind, she was protecting him. She probably
thought that her skills and training would help her withstand the
treatment.”

“
No one can,” Patrick
said. “Look at poor Steve.”

“
Exactly,” Alex said.
“What happens to him? Neev? For that matter, Sami and
Wyatt?”

“
The question is one of
who is pressing charges. Raz refused to name the person who hit
him; he said he might have very easily slipped on the ice. Max told
the Denver Police that he’d had a heart attack on the toilet just
like Elvis. There’s enough evidence to show that Max has needed a
new valve for a while, and the pacemaker for at least ten years.
That leaves only you, Alex. The last story I heard was that you had
been drinking all night when you decided to practice throwing
knives. Awfully clumsy of you.”

“
I suck,” Alex
nodded.

“
Are you going to press
charges against Steve?” Patrick asked.

“
Never,” Alex said. “I’m
going to exact my revenge on the mat.”

Patrick laughed at her use
of one of Steve’s favorite sayings. She smiled.

“
As for
Neev . . . ,” Patrick shrugged. “Technically,
she didn’t cause anyone physical harm. The Mister doesn’t exist, so
he doesn’t count. There’s a record of a woman at the Federal
Medical Center at Carswell, but . . .”

Patrick
shrugged.

“
She’s going to be your
house guest this Christmas,” Patrick said. “Along with all of their
children, grandchildren, and everything else.”

“
It’s going to be a full
house,” Alex said. “The Fey wives and their kids are coming
again.”

“
Your mother’s planning to
have everyone over for Christmas Eve,” Patrick said.

“
Where will Neev go after
Christmas?” Alex asked.

“
Wherever she can get the
best treatment,” Patrick said.

“
You mean she’s staying at
our house,” Alex said.

“
Most likely,” Patrick
smiled.

“
The more, the merrier,”
Alex said. “I think Steve is staying with us. Fong and Ji are
coming after the new year.”

“
Is that all right with
you?” Patrick asked.

“
We’re talking about the
man who took me to the hospital when Max had his first surgery,”
Alex said. “He was tortured for God knows how long and somehow
managed not to kill me. As far as I’m concerned, he can do whatever
he wants.”

Patrick smiled at
her.

“
Before you ask, Felicia
is staying in Nazo and Farooq’s apartment in Kabul until she can
wrap up her life there,” Alex said.

“
She needs to immigrate
through the right channels,” Patrick said.

“
Or get on the watch
list,” Alex said. “Right.”

“
Will she stay with you,
too?” Patrick asked.

“
I think we’ll cross that
bridge when we get there,” Alex said. “Right now, she needs time to
sort out her life, grieve, and start to move on. Although, knowing
Felicia, she may make it to Christmas at our house.”

Patrick laughed. Alex
smiled.

“
And the knife?” Patrick
asked.

“
The tip was made out of
lead,” Alex said. “John was right. It was causing my
anemia.”

“
You seem stronger,”
Patrick said. “They got it out?”