“So do I, doctor. So do I.”
Marco was sorry to see him go. But he was getting texts already from his team with information on Shannon and other things concerning the bombing. He hoped he had time to talk to the doctor at length about his life, what he’d lived through, and how he came to be such an incredible human being.
Marco stuffed the room with nearly twenty people. He was grateful, even though there were a couple of them with patches and splints, that everyone who could come did. For most, it was the first time they’d been in contact with each other.
“First, we want to remember our teammates who did not survive. Jennifer, Connie, Celia, and Maggie. Celia was doing a great job with the new hires, and many of you have your jobs because of her.”
Someone sniffled. Half the group watched Marco, and the other half looked down, fidgeting with their shoes.
“Nobody comes to work and expects to die. Unfortunately, I’ve seen too much of it. It’s especially heinous when innocents are caught in the fray. Death is indiscriminate, can happen at any time, and it devastates those who are left behind. What I’m asking of you, and you’re all civilians, is that you reach inside your heart and make what you do from now on count. Let’s find out what happened and make sure we can bring them to justice. Nobody is to go streaking out on their own. We’re a team. Lone wolfs die in the wild. The ones who survive stay with the pack, blend in, and find a place there. It’s a crazy, fucked up world out there. But we’re in this together. We’re building a project I’ve wanted to do since I first got out of service. I bought the property on an option before I had any idea how I was going to pay for it. But we’re the kid who throws his hat over the fence, which means that now somehow, he must get over that fence or his mother will kill him if he comes home without his only hat. He tosses it because it kills off his options.”
He tried to make eye contact with every person in the room. Marco knew some would have to let the events percolate before they could come out of their shell. For others, it would spur them to action. Many, it would add to their fear of living every day. Some would help others on the team deal with it. Others would become the comic relief, and even make fun of the leadership from time to time. They were a ragtag squad of mostly kids who could have made more money packing books at Amazon, but they were there to help him bring his idea into fruition. They were one unit. One powerful force for good.
“I’m proud of you all. Hang in there. It’s not going to be easy, but we’re going to get this project built, and we’re going to bring the evil to justice. We rely on each other, help each other, hold up each other, just like we did on the Teams. This isn’t just one of those incidents that will languish on for years and no one ever finds out what or why it happened.”
He sat back because his back was hurting him now. He reached for a pair of readers he’d had brought up from the hospital store and read over some notes he’d made.
“We’re going to replace those we’ve lost. I need a good HR person, and I need them pronto.”
“I got that covered, Boss. We know a lady who is out of work because her contractor retired. She’s terrific. I’ve tried to hire her for years.”
“Okay, you and Dax go after her. Offer her what’s a little above good. And, by the way, all of you get a ten percent raise for staying on board. If you must leave, go with my blessing. Anyone in that category?”
He looked over the little crowd, and nobody raised a hand.
“Okay, that’s taken care of. Rhea, did you find out anything about this boyfriend of Rebecca’s?”
“Working on it, Boss. He’s all bark, no bite. Knows zip about construction. She got to someone on the Planning Commission. I’m heading that one off at the pass.”
“Are we going to have to go through a third re-design?”
“Not if you can get your senator to help out.”
“I’ll call him next.” Marco checked off a couple of items and crossed out something he changed his mind on.
“Karin, I need you to see if there is any chatter in the sultan’s orbit. Reach out to him and reassure him that we have support in Washington and that his sons will be safe on my life.”
“Absolutely. I also am putting out feelers to see how deep Rebecca, or whomever is responsible for this, got, whether there is a faction that is resistant to the project for some reason.”
“Excellent idea.”
“Kevin, you’re on surveillance. Any idea where Shannon went off to?”
“She’s not at your house, Boss. I asked at the station, but everyone is in limbo, scattered and covering stories, helping affiliates get information. But Jared left early, about four o’clock. He usually waits until the ten o’clock news is over before he leaves. No one seems to know where he is, so I’m guessing she might have reached out to him.”
“I think that’s a good assumption. Keep working on that. She has a friend named Judie who works there too. See what she has to say, or see if she’s perhaps covering something up, lying.”
“There’s also some tension with Shannon and this Bunny evening anchor person. But she doesn’t look the type.”
“Hard to see Dolly Parton become a Unabomber,” said Dax.
Everyone laughed.
“Find Judie. Find Jared too.”
“Art, you’re former FBI. What are they looking at now? And do we know where Rebecca is?”
Art had been standing in the back row and made his way up front. “She was going to be detained, but she got that Criminal Defense attorney, Hernandez, who got her released. He’s agreed to bring her in for questioning tomorrow.”
He stumbled on his words a bit, then stopped, and scratched his head.
“What’s going on, Art?”
“Well, in my line of work, you get a pretty good read on people very quickly. And I’m not feeling it for Rebecca. I just don’t get that she’d want to murder innocent people. I don’t see the bomb as being her idea. I just don’t see how she would get access to a pro like the person who planted it. If I may say so myself, I think you should have Forest look into it. I think that bomber had military background, from the placement of the bomb to making one strong enough to collapse the building but not blow up everyone. That takes skill.”
“I thought the same thing,” said Forest. “To me, it looked like you and Shannon, or maybe just Shannon, was the target.”
Marco added his opinion. “Because I wasn’t killed, I’m thinking I wasn’t the target. That’s why it pointed me to Rebecca. She hates Shannon, she clearly is angry, but in our private conversation, she practically begged me to come back.”
“You want me and Art to work together, go over what the police have as far as evidence?” asked Forest. “I think both of us have some skills in getting some things out that aren’t released to the public.”
“Yes. Excellent. And see if you can get a freelance profiler. We need a read on who Rebecca has been spending time with. Maybe she’s being coerced.”
Marco went over other job assignments, putting people in charge of finding another location to set up the offices. A team volunteered to help with cleanup after the police were done with their investigations.