New York Minute

Somebody going to emergency
Somebody's going to jail
If you find somebody to love in this world
You better hang on tooth and nail

In a New York Minute
Everything can change

 

“Jim,” Dan snapped into the phone. “Where the hell are you? You have no idea what's going on down here. The police -- ”

He stopped. “There's an ambulance here already. We're outside the cloakroom waiting for –” He stopped and listened. “Listen to me. Did you call 9-1-1? Brian can't come. He's working on Ben. He's been shot.”

“They're on the way.”

Dan turned and looked at the people surrounding him. Brian was the only one completely focused on an unconscious Ben Riker working hand in hand with the paramedics to try and revive his breathing and circulation. “We have more gunshot victims,” he informed the officer in charge. “Upstairs, in the Reading room. We need another ...”

“I'll go.” The lead paramedic stood. “Which way?”

A security guard motioned for the medic to follow him, and Honey, already rocking back and forth on her heels with her arms tightly wound around her midsection looked even more concerned. “Who is it?” she whispered. “Is it ...” she found she couldn't form the words.

“He didn't say, Honey,” he answered approaching and wrapping his arms around her slender frame. “He didn't say. All I know is it's not Jim.”

 

 

Brian Belden was a rule-follower. Breaking the rules was something he never considered. In fact, he abhorred doctors who thought that certain protocols and professional courtesies didn’t apply to them. But this time, he found himself solidly in the rule-breaker role. There were now ten people crowded into the tiny emergency room cubicle. If he hadn’t made nice with the doctor on duty, they’d probably all have been thrown out an hour ago. Dan’s badge had helped, but fortunately, he’d found a connection that somehow enabled all of them to stay, or at least not be thrown out.

“Okay, I think I finally understand,” Dan said for the last time. “But there’s one thing I don’t know. How did David know that little thing that looked like a lipstick tube was a gun?”

“Oh!” David fluttered his hands. “That’s easy. Earlier in the evening Beatrix needed to touch up her lips and I grabbed her purse because I knew she’d have her lipstick in it. Unfortunately, I quickly realized that what I pulled out was not the Guerlain Granade pearly Raspberry number 65 I’d selected earlier in the week.” He shot a sympathetic glance at Trixie. Her injuries were minor, and a broken high-heeled shoe had caused her more concern than the bullet that had grazed her arm. “I hope I'm forgiven, but I did play with it a bit. It was fascinating. Then Jim caught me playing with it and well … I'm so thankful that it actually worked.” His hands fluttered to cross over his heart in a gesture of gratitude.

Trixie nodded. “Of course you're forgiven.” She looked at Brian yet again. “You're sure he's going to be okay?” She looked down at Mart, who had his eyes closed. She knew it was only the lights bothering him, combined with the meds running into his arm through an I.V. He was awake and listening. He didn't fool her. Diana was on the other side, alternating between stroking his head and patting his arm, while dropping an occasional kiss on his forehead.

“It's just a flesh wound,” Brian repeated. “A through and through.” He didn't want to think how many times he'd made that same statement that evening. “He'll milk his wounded warrior status for all it's worth but he's fine.” He looked over his shoulder. “I wish we could say the same about Ben.”

Honey and Jim exchanged concerned looks. “When will we know?”

“He's in surgery,” Brian answered. “To be honest, the longer he's there the better the chance he’s fighting and alive.”

“Are you sure that Kitty's ...” Diana looked up, worried.

“I'm positive, Diana,” Brian said. He crossed to his sister-in-law and gave her a reassuring hug.

A mumbling sound came from the bed.

“What did he say?”

The group exchanged bewildered looks.

“Where'd you get that purse?” Mart mumbled the words again.

“Her purse?” Sean asked. Of all the people crowded in the tiny cubicle, Sean Barnes actually looked the worst. He had an ice bag that he would hold against his face and head for as long he could stand it, but other than simple pain medicine and aspirin to reduce the swelling, he would have to let nature run its course. “Why do you want to know about the purse?”

“Mart, sweetie, why do you want to know about her purse?” Diana asked soothingly.

Mart's eyes opened. “Did the gun come with the purse, or did the purse come with the gun? Steward said it was vintage. I wasn't sure.”

“You idiot,” Trixie attempted a smile but didn’t quite pull it off. “They didn't come together.”

“Did Jim really write that software?” Mart asked next.

“Parts of it,” Jim admitted. “But the hard part, the random encryption that makes it critical to national security, that's the part that Mike wrote, or finished writing. I just helped. Speaking of which, has anyone seen Mike?”

Everyone shook their head. Trixie shot a glance towards Sean and Amy. They both received the message and slipped out. Mike and Buffy’s status hadn’t been confirmed yet.

“Did you hear from Mother and Daddy?” Honey asked Jim.

“They're with Aunt Caroline and Uncle Sir.”

It was a testament to Honey's shock that she didn't chastise Jim for publicly using her private nickname for Ben's father.

“What about Moms and Dad?” Trixie asked Brian. It was not the first time he’d been asked that question, either.

“They’re on their way. In fact, when they get here …” He gave a pointed look around the room encompassing the large group.

“Oh, right.” Trixie nodded and squeezed Mart’s hand before slipping off the stool. “There are some things I need to check on. I’ll be around.”

No one said a word when Jim followed her out.

 

 

“Chief,” Trixie said quietly. “I thought you might show up. Did the local law enforcement brief you on the situation?”

He nodded. “Have you heard from Mr. King or Ms. Patterson?” he asked.

“Barnes and Freeman are running it down now,” she replied.

“The technology. Did they get it?”

Trixie shook her head. “No, it’s safe, although I can’t promise you that I have every copy of the code, you’re going to have to coordinate with Mr. King and Mr. Frayne for that. They’ve already indicated their willingness to cooperate with the Government, although they have representation.”

“Oh? I take it Ms. Wheeler is representing them?”

“No, sir. That could eventually present a bit of a conflict of interest. Besides it’s not her area of expertise. Charlie Prescott is handling their interests in the matter.”

Walker grimaced at this news.

“What about Somer? Did he ever show up?”

Trixie shook her head.

Walker’s eyes narrowed. “So we have loose ends. We’re going to need to find him, it’s possible he could have a copy. The rest of the group, as well. It’s going to be a serious blow to IRMA if we’ve managed to dismantle their entire front end operations, but we need Somer, Patterson and King.”

Trixie remained silent. She had no intention of relaying what she knew about Jared Somer, besides there was absolutely no proof of what had happened. Not to mention, at this point in the case there was no way she was telling her boss anything else. In fact, she firmly believed he was kidding himself if he thought losing a few people would stop a terrorist organization like IRMA. They would simply regroup and find another way, another path to accomplish their mission.

“Boss,” she hesitated. “We have a bigger problem that rounding up what's left of IRMAs organization. My mission was to find the technology and find the leaks. I found the technology, but not the leak.”

“What do you mean?” he blustered. “Allison Beckhart. She was the leak.”

Trixie shook her head. “No, she wasn’t,” she said. “She was part of it, but she didn’t give Ben Riker the code phrase and encourage him to play at being a secret agent man. My contact wasn’t compromised like she thought either. There’s only one place Ben could have gotten the code and we both know who gave it to him.”

“We do?” he asked in surprise.

“Yes, sir. It was you.”

Jim stood quietly to one side, observing the situation while saying nothing. His flared nostrils and clenched fists were enough to convey his increasing level of tension to Trixie. This was her boss. A man she had respected and was now accusing of aiding and abetting terrorists.

Chief Walker laughed and reached out and put a hand on Trixie’s shoulder. She shrugged it off and stepped back.

“Your name and number was in Riker’s phone. There was no reason for it to be there unless you two were in contact with each other. You set me up, sir. You compromised the entire case, from the beginning. What I don’t understand, Sir, is why.”

Chief Walker squirmed and she knew. She had him. “I imagine his contact gave him my information,” he said lightly.

Trixie shook her head. “I know everything, Chief. You never expected me to connect with Agent Patterson. The only reason this mission is a success is because you realized your mistake with Ben. Your boss knew my contact was a female and so did you. You let it slide the first time I told you about Ben, but you realized if you didn’t correct me the second time you’d be caught. You just thought Kitty was close enough to the software for neither of you to get caught. Riker was a ruse you used to try and get the technology to IRMA. How much were they paying you for it, Sir?”

His eyes narrowed. “That’s enough, Agent Belden!” he spoke sharply. “This is just some cock and bull story that you’ve made up to cover your ass over the lapses and breaches that have occurred throughout the case. We’ll continue this down at headquarters.”

“If you think she’s going anywhere with you, you’ve got another think coming.” Jim bristled.

His threatening tone was enough to trigger a reaction from the older man. Chief Walker made his last mistake and reached for his gun. He’d barely touched the shoulder holster when a familiar click penetrated his anger. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Chief.”

Sean Barnes stood behind him, one hand on his gun and the other on Walker’s shoulder. Agent Amy Freeman stood next to him, her gun drawn and pointed at the branch chief. Chief Walker held up his hands, his eyes burning with hatred for the young agent standing in front of him, her face impassive. She stepped back and motioned to the team of agents standing around the corner. Special Agent Leroy Tibbs stepped forward, pulling the Chief’s hands behind him and using his cuffs. “Did you really think she was that stupid?” he said quietly into the man’s ear. “You have the right to remain silent …”

He and his team escorted the man out and Trixie looked at Sean. “We were right,” she said quietly.

He shrugged. “You were right. You figured it out.”

She shook her head. “We figured it out. The three of us. It was a team effort, with a little help from Beth Patterson and Agent Tibbs.”

“Right boss, about that …”

“You found her?”

Sean and Amy exchanged looks. “Yes and no.”

A sigh and a questioning brow prodded them to explain.

“We didn’t find her but we know where she is.”

“And …” Trixie felt like the time should have passed when she was needed to pull information from her team.

“She’s gone to Connecticut,” Sean answered.

“Connecticut? Why has she gone to Connecticut?”

“Apparently, she and Mike King have left for Mystic, Connecticut to elope.”