Background
When the McClellan brothers stumble upon the assassination of a state senator while camping, the lives of both men and their families are turned upside-down. Danger follows them home. They struggle
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"I remember ..." Cody studied the ceiling, as if the answers might lie above his head. "Breakfast. That waitress. She was ... a little friendly."
"Yep."
"I went hiking after we got there ..." Cody inhaled sharply. His eyes widened, then studied Jack's face. "I got shot?"
"Yeah."
Leaning into the pillows, Cody blew slowly through his mouth, cheeks puffing slightly as he processed and remembered. "And then we walked. For days, right?" He looked at Rudy, who was pretending not to listen, then back to his brother. "Did we walk to the hospital?"
"No."
Shaking his head slowly, Cody murmured, "No, that doesn't make sense."
"I bet it felt like days, Mac," Rudy said when Jack didn't answer.
Cody ignored him, instead looking steadily at Jack. "Thanks for not leaving me."
"Anything else?" Jack asked the question casually. He wasn't sure how much Cody even needed to remember about the last week. Things had gotten too weird lately.
Cody started to shake his head but stopped. "Was there an FBI guy?"
Jack nodded.
Cody tried to sit up,but Jack put a hand on his forehead and shoved him backwards. "Stay."
Cody blinked. "Then this is bad. This is really, really bad."
Concentrating on keeping his voice calm and his expression level, Jack tried to figure out how to move forward with the conversation. "We're okay."
"Sure, Jack. 'Cause any time the FBI gets involved in your life, it's an indicator that everything's okay." Cody shut his eyes. "I don't think I could've sat up, Jack. If you hadn't stopped me, I probably would've fallen flat on my face.. Did the old guy make it?" He opened his eyes and looked at Jack, surprise on his face. "There was an old guy, right?"
Rudy caught Jack's eyes. "You gotta tell him something," he said in the loudest whisper either brother had ever heard.
Jack slowly picked up the television remote and muted Rod Sterling's monologue. "There was an old guy. Do you remember that news report you were so hot on listening to at the diner?"
Cody hesitated. "Maybe ... Yeah ..."
"The man you saw in the park was Richard Arriaga."
Cody's eyes widened and he sucked in air, stunned. "Senator Arriaga?" He thought for a minute. "It sure was." He frowned and looked at his brother.
Jack tried to smile, to alleviate his concerns, but couldn't. Cody knew him too well. "Aulers--he's the FBI agent dealing with all this mess--he has a pretty tight net around all of us. He really wants to catch these guys."
Cody stared past Jack, remembering a tall man, taking notes on a small, hand-held device. I want these guys caught,' the man had told him. 'Badly. He tried to remember more, but the scene was as illusive as the threads of a dream.
The ache in his shoulder and chest began to clamor, and he closed his eyes for a minute. With the prattle of the TV gone, he realized that, from near his bed, a music player quietly streamed Christian music. Cody breathed in the words and promises of the tune.
Not too many weeks ago, he'd found himself at Michael's door as this song screamed from inside the room. When his son didn't answer a simple rap on the door, he'd pounded on the hardwood and called, "You'll be deaf before you graduate if you don't turn that down!" He'd never imagined he'd sound so much like his own father.
A smile began to pull at the corners of his lips when another scene erupted in his mind. His son in this room, crashing to the floor, the blond-haired man's silenced revolver spitting its death in Michael's direction.
He jerked upward. "Michael!" he cried in an anguished voice. "Oh, God, Jack! He shot Michael!"
Jack grabbed him, held him for a second to make eye contact. "He's alright, Cody. Lehmann missed. Mike's okay."
"He couldn't have missed!"
"He did."
Heart pounding, near tears, Cody looked for signs of a lie in his brother's face. Jack met his gaze. When Cody didn't speak Jack helped him lay back onto the pillows. "He's okay, Code. I swear. He's at my house, probably playing some stupid game, or sending email to that kid he likes up in Oregon, or England, or wherever."
Cody sank back onto the bed, shaking. He raised a hand to run it through his hair and saw the IV line. He frowned. "Take that out," he ordered his brother.
"I can't do that, Code."
Cody felt fear twist his stomach. "I want it out," he said flatly.
"Why?"
Cody hesitated. "I want it out of my hand, Jack. Rudy," he raised his voice. "Take this damn thing out of my hand."
"You know I can't do that, Mac." Rudy had risen to his feet and stepped toward the bed.
"You get it out of me or I will." Cody's voice twisted with an edge of fear.
"Hey," Jack laid a hand on Cody's arm. "Look at me. You're safe, Code." He gently pushed Cody's left hand away from the IV in his right. "A lot has happened in the past few days. Half the orderlies on this floor are FBI. They have an agent undercover as a patient. This guy looks like a truck hit him--"
"A big truck," Rudy interjected.
Jack glanced at him and then back to Cody. "He's just waiting, Code. They even have a MD assigned to the hospital. He's FBI, but he's also a doctor. They have it covered. There's no way the Lehmanns can get at you again."
At the mention of the name Cody felt cold fingers clutch the nape of his neck. "Lehmann," he whispered.
Author Notes
Thanks for reading, especially to my fiathful reviewers; your help has been invaluable. Please leave a comment--positive or negative.
Synopsis: Two years after the murder of Cody's wife, Jack and Cody McClellan go camping 'to get away' for a long weekend. While Jack naps at the campsite, Cody takes a camera and goes in search of interesting shots. Instead, he interrupts the assassination attempt of a state senator. He is shot and left for dead. Jack hears the shots and finds him, dragging him out of the woods and to safety, with the help of other campers. The hitmen follow, and an attempt is made on Cody at the hospital. In a desperate attempt to save him, he's placed in a chemically induced coma. Jack struggles to understand how a loving God could not only allow these events, but allow the murder of Cody's wife, Pam. As he vents to the doctor he finds help in her faith. Last chapter, Cody woke from the coma, still confused about the events that led him to the hospital.
Characters in this segment:
Jack McClellan--mid-30s, husband and father, police detective. A devout family man, he struggles with his faith since the death of his sister-in-law.
Cody McClellan--early 30s, Widowed and raising two children, he left the police force to become an investor and a PI. Loves his kids and family, loves God.
Rudy Sotello--family friend, Cody's ex-partner
Michael McClellan--Cody's 12-year-old son
Special Agent Frank Aulers--agent assigned to murders of prominent minorities.
the Lehmann brothers--four brothers. White extremists responsible for the deaths of several prominent minorities.
Senator Richard Arriaga--kidnaped and killed by the Lehmann brothers. Cody briefly interrupted the attempt, but didn't stop it.
And I THINK that's all! Did I miss anyone? Thanks again, and blessings, Deb
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