Burning Down the House
1010 Words
“Just come. Your crew is on their way to the hospital."
Q's crew? He'd left them at the restaurant. Right, they'd called a cab, like he was supposed to. “I'll be there in twenty minutes."
He pressed end.
“Problem?" Madison asked, standing in the doorway. She held a paper in her hand.
He'd almost forgotten about the case at hand. “Uh, yeah. I need to go."
“What happened?"
She didn't need to know. He knew that, but he needed to speak the words out loud to wrap his brain around the idea. “The building where the agency is was destroyed."
She put a hand to her mouth. “I'm sorry."
“It isn't your fault."
“But it might be, Q. It might be this case or those people after me." She moved closer to him as she spoke. He could smell her. Her scent clouded his brain.
“Is there more you're not telling me?"
She didn't shake her head right away, but the delay was faster than a New York minute. She was lying and he didn't want her to. He didn't want her to be a like all the other beautiful women he'd dealt with in life. He wanted her to be different.
His heart sank.
In college, she'd never promised him anything and that made her marrying Charlie more acceptable. They'd had a night together and Q would always remember it.
Now she was lying to him and that didn't sit right with him.
Of course he wasn't telling her the whole truth either so maybe he shouldn't judge.
“I'll have to get back to you with more questions," he said.
“I'll go with you. I need to turn off the oven."
Her doorbell rang. The cleaning crew. She left them with instructions then climbed into his already running van.
***
A whole, two-story building blown up. She couldn't believe the c*****e. And no one had been killed.
Every fiber of her being knew this was her fault. If she'd knocked on another door for help, that place would now be in rubble. But she couldn't have knocked on another door. Q was who she was looking for.
Q remained silent, stoic. What must he be feeling? She put a hand on his arm. He flinched as if he'd forgotten she was there. “I'm sorry," she said.
“For what?"
“This is my fault."
“In for a penny, in for a pound," he said. “I need to get to the hospital. Can I get you a taxi?'
“I'm not leaving you."
“Do you think you're in danger?"
“Yes, but that's not the reason. I'm the catalyst for this and we need to find out why."
He turned his gaze to her as if he was seeing her for the first time. He blinked then set his jaw. “Probably, then let's go."
“Are you close with your co-workers?" she said on the way to the hospital.
“Several of them are my real brothers. The rest might as well be family."
Being an only child, she often wondered what it would be like to have siblings. To share childhood memories with another person. Her vestiges of childhood were an independent streak and a desire to help other people as she hoped she was doing now.
After driving for a block, Q said, “We have a tail."
She craned to look over her shoulder at a car behind them. How could he tell? She was the one in danger. She should've sensed someone was behind them because, she was trained for this.
“Hold on," he said as he pressed the accelerator.
“Do what you have to do," she said.
She strained against the seatbelt as once again, he made turn after sharp turn to elude their pursuers. His gaze bounced between the road in front of him and the rear-view mirror.
The car stayed right with him no matter what direction he went.
“They're tenacious."
“At least they haven't shot at us," he said.
A bullet whizzed past the passenger door.
“Get down," Q shouted.
She slumped over in the seat as much as the belt would allow. He made a quick left then a right. Only the strap across her held her in place. She took deep breaths to calm down. Q didn't need a hysterical female on his hands.
He finally let out a noisy breath. “I lost them."
She righted herself in her seat. “Whew."
Q stayed silent until they pulled into the hospital parking lot.
He shut off the engine then turned his laser point gaze to her. “What the hell are you involved in?"
***
Madison didn't lie to him. This time. Instead, she stammered out some words as he stared at her. “Uh, I don't know."
She was beautiful. Like a prom queen so it wasn't hard to look at her. Unfortunately, doors were always been opened for her. Someone always took care of her, he supposed. She clearly didn't understand the seriousness of her predicament. She hadn't changed.
And now her actions put his brother in the hospital.
“Stop," he said. He didn't want to hear any excuses. “I want to see how my brothers are first. If they are in any condition to listen to your story, I want them to hear it. And hopefully you'll let us in on all the details."
“I'm not sure I have all the details."
“Figure them out," he said and left her in the van.
She hurried to catch up with him. “I haven't lied to you."
“You've omitted some things, I'm sure. I remember that about you."
That stopped her. “Okay."
“Well those things have almost killed my family."
The anger threatened to bubble out. And he was always the stoic one. Irritated, he raked fingers through his hair.
“I'm sorry."
“Yes, you've said that."
- Writer
