Loves Redemption (37 page)

hurt woman in his arms. Maya was placed on the stretcher with an oxygen mask over her nose

and mouth, “We’ll come back for him.” The paramedic said, referring to Lieutenant Hernandez.

“He’s dead.” Nicolai turned toward Mark, “You go ahead and I’ll meet up with you at the

hospital.”

Nicolai watched them leave, before turning his attention to the man who lay dead on the

floor, tissue and gray matter on the carpet beside his bloodied head.

“How’re you doing?” Nicolai asked Maya, as he walked into her hospital room with a

box of chocolates tucked under his arm.

When he reached her bedside, he placed the candy on the table. “I thought you would

prefer chocolate to flowers.”

“Thank you. I’m doing fine Agent Montgomery. I’m sure I look a lot worse than I feel.”

She laughed hoarsely. “And chocolate is always preferable over flowers. At least they are to me,” she smiled.

“You look wonderful. I don’t think it’s possible for you to look anything else but

beautiful,” he complimented her.

“Thank you, and please sit down Agent Montgomery.” She invited, motioning for him to

sit in one of the small chairs near her bed.

“I can’t stay long,” he said, turning down the offer to sit. “I wanted to come by and say

good-bye before I leave tomorrow morning.”

“So soon?”

“Yes. I need to return to base now that the case is over. My team is waiting for me. I

admire who you are, and what you do Dr. Richardson. It takes someone very special to work

with those who are overlooked by ‘polite’ society.”

“Thank you, Agent Montgomery. I used to believe the reason I worked with the women

and men of Imani House was because of Allison. But now I know what keeps me going is how

Imani House changes lives. In Swahili, Imani means faith or belief. I want the residents of Imani House to have faith that they can overcome any obstacle life places before them.”

She thought of Lieutenant Hernandez, and how his lack of power from childhood shaped

him into the man he eventually became; unable to overcome the injustices perpetrated against him, and therefore sought revenge against those he saw as users.

“Those of us who know what it was like to have control taken away, understand the

feeling of hopelessness,” Nicolai spoke in his quiet manner.

In the depths of his slashing gray eyes, Maya saw a look of overwhelming sadness that

made her breath hitch, before he turned his face away, and broke their eye contact. When he turned his head back in her direction, his austere face was once again serene, his mercury colored eyes bland, as though the cheerless expression of moments ago had not been.

“Yes we do don’t we?” Maya said and reached her hand out to cover his.

* * * *

“Detective Halstan?”

Mark turned away from the door at the doctor’s approach and held out his hand in

greeting. “Yes, hello Dr. Mayes,” he addressed Maya’s attending physician. “I was going in to see Maya, is everything okay?”

Mark couldn’t quell the anxiety that still rode him, the vision of her laying in a pool of

blood still lingering in his mind.

“Yes everything is okay. In fact I informed Dr. Richardson she’s cleared to check out

tomorrow morning.” The doctor reassured him. “I wanted to make sure she had someone to look after her when she goes home.”

“She’s coming with me, or I’ll go home with her. Either way, she’ll be taken care of.”

During the three days she’d been in the hospital he’d worked hard with Jordan to clean up

the loose ends and had given all the statements necessary regarding Lieutenant Hernandez. Now, he could take the next couple of weeks off, and take care of Maya.

“Great. The nurse will give the two of you her discharge papers tomorrow morning with

full instructions for her care. And of course, if you have any questions feel free to call me.”

Mark thanked him, and knocked lightly on the hospital door. Opening the door he peeked

inside with a wide smile on his face before walking in. He wasn’t surprised to see Montgomery inside, and after he walked over to place a kiss on her forehead softly, he turned and greeted him.

“I’m leaving, but before I go I want you to take this.” The agent handed a card to Maya.

“If you ever need to reach me for anything you can call this number and I’ll be contacted.” As he handed her the card, Mark raised his eyebrows.

“Of course the number is for the both of you. Don’t share it with anyone. If I’m

unavailable then, ask for Dafina.” He picked up her hand and gave it a small kiss.

“Thank you for all your help Montgomery.” Although the agent had helped him and

Jordan tie up loose ends, he hadn’t had the opportunity to thank him for his help.

Maya too said good-bye, and they watched him walked out the door. Left alone, Maya

turned loving eyes in Mark’s direction, and patted the bed for him to sit next to her.

Maya and the lieutenant had struggled over the gun, and it had gone off hitting her high

on the right side of her chest. After the lieutenant had seen what he’d done, he had pointed the gun at his head and fired the shot that ended his life. Maya had passed out from the utter shock and terror of the situation and the loss of blood.

Mark carefully looked her over. The blue hospital gown covered the bandage on her chest

, which kept the chest tube in place in her body.

The bullet had entered into her right chest and made a clean exit out of her armpit. The

doctors had inserted a chest tube because the bullet had punctured the right middle lobe of her lung.

The doctor explained to Mark that the chest tube, along with the three-chambered

drainage device, would remove the air and fluid that had escaped from her collapsed lung.

When he’d first seen her after surgery, he’d been filled with terror at the sight of her with so many tubes running from her body, even though they’d assured him she hadn’t been severely wounded.

Words like collapsed lung, chest tubes, and draining devices, scared the hell out of him.

He didn’t have the same casual attitude of the doctors and nurses, who on a daily basis saw far more brutal cases than Maya’s.

“How’re you feeling sweetheart?” He asked her after he pressed soft kisses on the palm

of her hand.

“I feel fine. I’ll be glad when I can leave. Dr. Mayes says I can go home tomorrow,” she

said with a tired smile.

“He said the same to me, before I came inside. I was able to finish up the case so I can

stay home with you.”

“I imagine there was a lot to do, a lot of explanations. How is everyone handling it?”

Mark had been at her bedside as long as he could, only leaving when she was asleep to go

to the precinct. Today was first day they’d spoken about the case.

She’d wondered what happened to the guards that night, why no one was around. Mark

told her how the lieutenant had distracted the two guards outside before knocking them

unconscious.

Her personal guard he’d relieved of duty, telling the man he would take care of Maya,

and as soon as he’d turned away, he’d knocked him out and moved his body into one of the

closets.

“To say everyone is surprised; shocked, is putting it
way
too mildly. No one understands why, there are a lot of unanswered questions. Once you’re feeling better you’ll be able to help them understand the lieutenant’s motives.”

Unable to stop the detectives assigned to the case from questioning her, Mark insisted on

being in the room when they came by to take her statement. Maya was the last one Lieutenant Hernandez had spoken with and she had been the one to whom he’d confessed his crimes. The

interview had been brief due to her injury, however, when she was feeling better it was

understood she would need to give a more formal statement.

What she’d been able to tell them explained how the lieutenant was able to work

effectively as an officer of the law, and how he was able to effectively slip into the female persona of ‘Jaime,’ and commit the murders. And how, in the end, when he had spoken to her, the two personas finally, fatally, collided.

“I know what he did was awful, killing those men. And he took my sister from me. But

there’s a part of me that feels nothing but sadness for him, and others just like him. He and I, our lives, at least our childhoods, were so similar.” She mused, carefully weighing her words.

“Neither one of us was wanted, neither one of us had a decent childhood, and yet mercifully, my upbringing didn’t tarnish my psyche in the same way it did Jaime’s.”

“No it didn’t. You’re a strong person, Maya. I know you don’t want to hear that, but it’s

true. You’ve dealt with adversity and overcome it. You didn’t allow it to become a part of who you are. To dictate who you’d become.”

“Thank you. I know you love me and you believe only the best about me. But Jaime

suffered from a mental illness that was brought on by his childhood traumas. I don’t suffer from some of his psychological issues, but that doesn’t mean I don’t
have
issues,” she admitted with a small laugh.

“I try not to wonder too deeply how I keep it together and enjoy life, I just do. And I

thank God I’m able to do so, without allowing the past to continually dictate my present; my future.” She thought of Jaime’s last words to her.

They were both momentarily silent, their thoughts on the man who brought them

together, who now lay dead from his own hand.

Wanting to alleviate the sadness that clung to her like a dismal cloak, he tilted her face

toward him. “You know as I recall before this last bout of insanity, you and I were having a very serious discussion,” he said around the small hand he was delivering soft kisses to.

The bright overhead light, caught the reflection of the new thick gold chain he wore

around his neck, and attached pendant, which matched the one he had placed around hers as soon as she’d gotten out of surgery.

A smile blossomed on her face. “Oh yes, I think I recall something about a baby?” She

squint her eyes, as though she couldn’t recall the exact topic.

“Yeah. A baby. But you know I think I jumped the gun a bit.”

“Oh? And how did you do that?” Her confusion quickly turned to surprise, and finally

joy, as he reached into his pocket to pull out a small black velvet box.

Going down on the proverbial one knee, he opened the box and took out a beautiful

princess cut flawless emerald and took her left hand in his.

“I know this is probably not the best of timing, but I’ve learned life is too short and too uncertain to wait,” he began. “Maya you are an amazing woman, so full of life and love and

compassion. I could not, nor would I want to, imagine my life without you. Would you do me the honor of being my wife?” Mark’s voice had grown rough with emotion, toward the end.

“Yes. Yes, of course I’ll marry you.” Maya hugged him as tightly as her restrictions

allowed.

She allowed the tears to run down her cheeks, as she marveled at the way life and

coincidence had brought the two of them together under the worst possible circumstances, and love had forged a bond between them that broken down all other barriers.

Jerked awake, sweat poured down his face as he picked up the ringing phone and

answered in a voice deepened further with sleep, “
As-salamu-alaykum
. Princess, did I wake you?”

Nicolai knew who was on the other end without hearing her voice, and therefore greeted

her in
one
of her languages. Even though she’d been the one to call him, he knew it was he, who’d called out to her in his distress as he’d dreamed, who had awakened her.

Her soft, trickling, laugh cascaded over him like a lover’s sweet caress, as she answered,

in her deceptively mild voice, “
Alaykum s-salam
. Now you know I do not
really
sleep, Chief.

Kayf haluk
? The case is settled then,” she more stated then asked as she in turned asked him how he was.

“
Shukran. Al-hamdu li-lah
,” he gave the obligatory answer before continuing. “Yeah. It’s settled. It could have ended a lot differently ’Fina,” he told her as they both settled into their respective beds.

Dafina was one of the few people Nicolai allowed anywhere close to his heart. He had

never expressed his feelings to her verbally, and doubted he ever would. Nicolai trusted his teammates; yet it was Dafina he shared his deepest thoughts with. It was Dafina he showed
some
of his vulnerabilities.

“I missed easy clues ’Fina. I don’t know the last time I couldn’t tell a male from a female voice, even disguised. The headaches are getting worse; they’re interfering with my ability.

Thanks to you I could ‘hear’ more clearly. But it was nearly too late, and my mistake could have cost another innocent woman her life,” he said, anguish filling his gut as he remembered.

“We will find out how to ease these headaches. You know we have at our disposal the

best doctors money can buy,” she reminded him with a sardonic laugh.

“And besides you do not simply listen to the voice, you hear what they project. Jaime

projected as a female, and not as a male. In that persona, he connected too strongly with the feminine facet of his personality for you to pick up anything else. And as you know, the feminine is the true strength,” she subtly reminded him of her Amazon culture’s belief.

“Come back home, Chief, we are waiting for you. The twins are out of control. You are

the only one they will listen to.”

At her mention of the ‘twins,’ an involuntary chuckle escaped from Nicolai. She was

referring to two of the teammates who were about as different as two men could be, yet were inseparable. “There’s not a man alive you couldn’t handle ’Fina. Even those two.”