Chapter 1 #2
“Okay, you got it. Let’s see if you can make heads or tails of any of it,” Levi said. “I just sent it over in an attachment.”
“And what is it we’re looking for?”
“Anything,” Levi replied. “Any connection to Timothy, Alice Quinn, Talia, law enforcement, … any connection to anybody. … I’m still a little concerned as to why they targeted Talia.”
“Because Timothy was happy to have her be the target. He needed to get away from the babies.”
“Sure, that looks simple enough, but why was he even involved?”
“Because of his line of business,” Burton stated.
“Tim supposedly runs a company, and they move a lot of goods back-and-forth across the California-Mexico border. Yet there are other ways to do that without getting involved with people like Dingo. I mean, Dingo’s operation must have their own system so they aren’t entirely dependent on some loser slimeball like Tim, who’s mucking up their whole business. ”
“So, are you thinking their system is bigger than what you’re seeing?”
“I think there’s more to it. I could be totally wrong,” Levi admitted, “which is why this research hasn’t been prioritized highly enough for us to have a chance to dig into this organization at all. So, if you’re asking for something to do, I’m more than happy to have you take a look.”
“Yeah, absolutely. Let me check it out,” he agreed. “And it is interesting that the only person saying why he got into this mess in the first place is the same guy whom we already know we can’t trust. I heard this morning that it’s possible he came to the hospital again.”
“Why would he do that? I thought he was in jail.”
“Me too, so I don’t know,” he shared, “but we have to figure it out. He doesn’t have siblings, right?”
“Oh, now that’s a hell of a good question. Particularly if somebody is looking to pretend to be him. Let me see if I can track that down too.” Levi was clearly scratching something down. “Anderson know anything?”
“Anderson hasn’t mentioned siblings, and he may not even know.
It’s not as if he had a whole lot to do with his brother-in-law.
He checked out Tim when he and Talia first got together, but Talia was adamant that everything was fine.
Mostly because, in her previous relationship, Anderson had, according to her, crossed all boundaries, and, therefore, was no longer allowed to check up on her potential partners. ”
Levi snorted at that. “Doesn’t that sound typical?” he muttered. “I wonder how she feels about it now.”
“I’m pretty sure she would likely retract anything of the sort right about now.”
“Agreed, but first let’s figure out what Tim’s up to because I really don’t trust him. And you have the means, so find out if he’s even in jail. That’s part of the issue we’ve got right now.”
“Let’s say he is in jail. How do we have the same person in two places?”
“A brother,” he suggested.
“That would make the most sense.”
“So, let’s get on that too,” Levi muttered, his tone already distracted. “I can run some of this through our databases.”
“Let me focus on the organization chart because that’s something you don’t really have time for.
And you track down any siblings Timothy might have running around the block.
Plus, I can send a quick text to Anderson and see if he has any idea.
So, what about the safety of other people in this mess? ”
“Like who?” Levi asked, distracted.
“Pamela for one. She was looking after the babies. She was the one at the house when Tim broke in.”
“What do you mean, was?” Levi asked.
“She had to go back to work. She had taken a week off to help out, but now she’s back at work. And the question is, will she be safe? That’s the biggest part we’re concerned about. Also you should probably know that they’re a couple.”
“Who’s a couple?” Levi asked.
“Anderson and Pamela, who else? They already had a history, and I guess that connection kicked in again. Anyway, now he’s got five ladies to worry about.”
“Of course he does,” Levi quipped, his voice calm but reassuring. “When there’s love, there’s lots of love,” he added. “And it’s not uncommon for it to keep spreading around the world.”
“You say that, but I’m not sure that’s my world,” Burton replied, with a laugh.
“Ah, you’ll get touched by it as well,” he proclaimed, a smirk in his tone. “You just wait.”
“No, I’m good,” he argued. “I don’t need to be dealing with any of that right now.”
“Course not. Still, don’t be surprised if it happens despite you fighting it.” And, with that, Levi was gone.
Sitting in the hallway on a lone chair, Burton didn’t have any table space or even a place to write notes.
While using his laptop on his lap and trying to write notes could be done, that wasn’t the easiest. So he headed back into Talia’s room and sat down at a chair with a small writing desk.
Checking out where he was located, he decided to move all the furniture around so he was half behind the door, which would give him a little bit more space and keep him out of view at the same time.
Talia was in a ward, but, so far, she was the only one in here.
Burton had to wonder if that wasn’t deliberate too.
Yet behind the door, the way this was designed, the hallway was such that the wall was right there, so it didn’t give him enough room either.
Changing yet again, he moved over to an empty bed across from her and gently closed the curtains.
He could see her just out of the corner, but anybody coming in would not know whether he was there or not.
Satisfied that he was still in the best position to safeguard Talia—and yet capable of stopping anybody coming in, if need be—Burton sat down with his laptop and got to work.
Sammy walked through the halls, going about her day. She was delivering medications and checking in on a few people who, as they were short on staff, needed a little extra boost. Still, her mind kept returning to Burton and the scenario with Talia.
It was upsetting to think that Talia had just been at home, looking after her babies, when she’d gotten beaten up so badly.
Sammy didn’t even know the whole story, but, because Burton was there watching over Talia constantly, obviously an awful lot more was to this than anybody was really saying, and that revealed something too.
When it was time to head back up to the fourth floor where Burton was, she automatically picked up a cup of coffee and brought it with her.
He wasn’t out in the hallway, which made her frown, especially considering that she was pretty sure she’d seen Talia’s husband right here in the hospital this morning.
Thinking Burton may be with Talia, she walked into the ward, but there was still no sign of him. With a snort out loud, she muttered, “Damn, where the hell are you?”
“I’m right here,” he replied, from behind one of the curtains.
She stepped around to the other side to see him sitting right there. She nodded. “That makes more sense. I couldn’t figure out why you would have left,” she admitted, smiling at him.
“I needed to get some work done, so figured this was probably as good a spot as any.”
“It is a good spot,” she agreed, “and you’re tucked in quite nicely here.” She glanced around.
“Well, you didn’t know I was here, so I’ll take that as a good sign.”
She laughed. “If that’s a good sign—”
“It is because I want to shock anybody who finds me here.”
“Right,” she muttered. “Element of surprise. I get it.” She handed him the coffee and added, “I’m not sure why this has become a bloody habit, but apparently it has.”
“Well, I like it and appreciate it,” he told her, with a big grin, “so thank you.”
She nodded. “Will you literally stay here until she’s healed?”
He looked over at Talia. “I’m not sure how that works, but I will tell you that we’re not leaving her here in a defenseless state until we know she’s safe. Hopefully we can get her case solved, and she can go home around the same time because those babies need her.”
“I actually wondered whether you should bring them in for a visit because that might do her a lot of good.”
He looked at her with interest and nodded. “That could be arranged if you think it will help her.”
“We do see that in some cases. I mean, obviously the doctors are keeping her sedated. They lightened the dosage, but she’s still under and not coming back out of it anytime soon. And that’s more so we move the healing a little further along.”
“Right,” he replied.
“After that, if her progress is still slow—which I’ll tell you honestly is quite likely, based on what we’ve seen so far—then bringing the babies in might help.”
“It would be pretty chaotic with the babies around,” he pointed out, “because they’ll be all over the bed. They’ll want Mom, and she can’t respond.”
“No, she can’t, but it would also help stir her out of the slumber that she’s in right now and might help her fight a little stronger.”
He pondered that and nodded. “I’ll mention it to Anderson.”
“He’s the brother?”
“He’s the brother. He’s home with the babies right now.”
Her lips twitched. “I guess that’s kind of a shock for all you guys, isn’t it?”
“It sure is,” he agreed, “but there’s something special about those little girls. They sure tug at your heartstrings. I’m already a big fan.”
Her smile gentled, and she nodded. “That’s a good thing. Those little girls have been through a lot already. They need a champion on their side. I still think you should find out their names though.”
“We know what their names are,” he clarified, with a helpless shrug. “But, when I say they’re identical, I mean they’re identical. We can’t really tell them apart. Even if we could, we still don’t know who is who. We’re just hoping that, when Talia wakes up, she does.”
Sammy laughed. “I know that was mentioned before,” she noted, “but I just think it’s way too funny.”
“Maybe,” he muttered, “yet it’s also the reality of being there with three little girls whom we didn’t know very well at first, but we are getting to know very quickly.”