Agent for a Cause (The Agents for Good) (21 page)

I got to my feet with some difficulty as the armor layers had soaked up the water and now I felt like I had gained a couple more of me in weight. I threw the coat off, which helped and stumbled toward the doors to either side of the busted open aquarium wall.

“Yikes!” I exclaimed narrowly sidestepping past a flopping sea snake.

They’d had those in the water too!

One nip from that baby and I’d be staying here for forever! No thanks! I busted through the door and immediately a hot weight hit me in the chest taking my breath along with its impact.

I reached back reflexively and pulled a machine pistol free from the gun harness on my back and hammered away with it as I took the guard out. He fell and as he did I fell against a filing cabinet as stars flashed before my eyes. Air made its way back in and I heaved it in with desperate gulps of urgency. I didn’t have long before others might appear! I pushed forward even though I needed more time.

I shouldn’t have taken the coat off! That bullet had penetrated me some. I didn’t have a bloody froth in my mouth so a lung wasn’t penetrated, but I think the force of the bullet had collapsed one lung for a moment. I fell into another room and brought my gun up as I took in the man, who held a gun to Kevin’s head.

Gasping for breath to say what needed to be said I rasped out, “If you think shooting that kid is an option let me tell you right now it isn’t! You hurt him and I swear I’ll drag you out of here and feed you to a shark face first! Don’t think I won’t!”

The man’s face blanched white and in that moment Kevin started screaming and flailing. The man wasn’t ready for it and Kevin slipped away and I filled the man full of lead, but Kevin went screaming down the hall.

“No Kevin! Come back!” I started after him, but fell as a stabbing pain radiated throughout me.

“Oh God something’s not right inside!” I moaned out against the floor.

I started dragging myself down the hall after Kevin. My head sank toward the floor, “No!”

I slammed my fist down and picked my head back up as I inched down the hall some more. The pain in my body was a living thing, but I shook it off as best as I could.

“Must get Kevin!” I gritted out feeling shaken inside by how slurred and far away my words sounded to me.

“No! God no! Must find Kevin!”

I brought one elbow forward, “Anna!” I brought the other elbow forward pulling myself along, “Kevin!”

I repeated the one two mantra over, but it only got me another couple of feet before I felt myself slipping from my hard won control. This was as far as I went.

I sank my head onto my clasped together hands and on a sob I begged, “God please no! I don’t care if I die, but Anna and Kevin need to be together! Please!”

My head sank forward onto the floor and I felt unconsciousness start to close in on me.

I heard something!

My head came up. The noise was coming from the room beside me on my right. It had to be Kevin!

New strength surged up in me from I’m not sure where and I grasped the base of the door lintel and half pulled myself into the room still on my belly.

“Kevin?”

I didn’t hear anything, but then I caught a brief glimpse of him. He was in the room.

I laboriously pulled myself in far enough to swing the door closed with my left foot. I kept going forward to a counter which I pulled myself up against to sit.

I bit my lip savagely more than anything to keep from crying out in pain, because I didn’t want to scare Kevin anymore than he already was. Something was definitely wrong with my back!

I could do this! I pulled the machine pistol up to my lap from my waistband. I’d wait here until rescue came and plug anyone who wasn’t part of the rescue effort with lead as they came through the door. The door would keep Kevin in here with me. It was the best that I could do for right now.

“Kevin? Come here Kevin. You can trust me I promise!”

I held my hand out to where I thought he was and slowly he came forward as I cajoled him soothingly. I thought he was going to take my hand, but he bypassed it and fell to his knees hugging me, which was his expression for love.

I felt tears spill down my cheeks as I closed my arm tight around him despite the pain it brought me. “I love you too buddy!”

“I want my mommy!”

“What!” I asked stunned pulling Kevin’s face back from me.

There was real expression on his face and he was talking! “You’re talking!”

“I want my mommy!”

I pulled him back to me closing my eyes. This was a miracle! There was simply no other way about it! What a blessing!

“Mommy will be here before you know it Kevin! Mommy is going to be so excited! When did you start talking Kevin?”

“Just now.” He mumbled softly against me.

I nodded; everything was going to be all right.

The door started to open and I lifted my pistol up. With a sigh of relief I saw that it was Flint as the door fully opened.

“You’re late.” I whispered out just before I passed out.

Anna stood at the back of the van wringing her hands in anxiety. The teams had radioed in that they had Kevin and that Tyre was hurt. She saw a boy and her breathing seized up.

The boy was running to her and it was Kevin! Why was he running? He never ran to someone!

“Mommy!”

Her heart stopped, “Kevin?”

Her son slammed into her outstretched arms and started babbling a million words a minute! It was too much to take in.

“Are you all right honey? You’re talking! Why are you talking?”

Kevin just shrugged, but Anna knew. She squeezed him to her pressing kisses to his head completely overwhelmed by the feeling of his little arms hugging her back fiercely as they once had years before.

She had her boy back! She had a living miracle in her arms! Anna through her tears saw two men carrying a stretcher with Tyre on it.

He looked unconscious and with an anguished cry she scooped up Kevin and hurried toward Tyre. Flint stepped in grasping her arm as the two men slid the stretcher into the back of another van.

“As best as I can tell Anna he’s stable, but it is serious. He could be bleeding inside somewhere, but we don’t know yet for sure.”

“Was he shot?” Anna asked on a moan.

“Yes a bunch of times, but only one penetrated and it didn’t go far. In addition to the bullet shock his organs suffered I think he has a slipped disc in his back as well. Do you want to ride along with him?” Flint asked.

“Yes!” Anna responded and one of the men who had carried the stretcher helped her up into the van as she held onto Kevin.

She sat down beside Tyre keeping Kevin close against her. Tears dripped off her face. She didn’t like seeing him like this, but he was alive!

She was grateful for that, but it hurt to see the cost of what it had taken to rescue Kevin. Tyre’s eyes flickered open and they found her.

In a whisper he said, “He talks!”

Anna reached for his hand and clasped it tightly as she nodded vigorously, “I know!”

His eyes closed and she felt a moment of alarm and quickly felt for his pulse, but it was there and going steady and she let herself relax again. She held onto him with one hand and onto Kevin with the other. They were a family again.

Chapter Fourteen

Matinee

After three days in the hospital one thing became clear to both Anna and the staff, Tyre was a healthy animal that healed up fast. Kevin had been like a new discovery every moment that she was with him. He remembered and yet he didn’t.

He remembered her and their times together. He could talk without any hesitation even though it was the first time since his first few words as a toddler, but he didn’t seem to remember any of his geniuses with technology. In a way that was yet another blessing.

Like Chantry had said Kevin had made another module of his amazing breakthrough. The Agency for Good had seized it and all the data that came with it and with Anna’s permission they would look out for it while Anna decided what was to be done with it. The Iron Wills society had paid a heavy price globally for their treachery and were no more in terms of a functioning body.

Their demise had only added to the agency’s reputation as an organization not to be trifled with. Anna stopped for a moment outside of the beast’s lair. It was time to go in and be his sacrificial victim, she thought with a smirk.

She opened the door and instantly his eyes were on her. He didn’t see her lock the door behind her back though. His features were caught up in an aggravated tension and she knew what was behind it. The poor baby wanted free of this place with a passion.

Anna was a welcome sight, but I couldn’t help the tension I felt that being cooped up in this unsanitary place of sickness had put me under, “When can I leave?”

She had a mysterious smile on her face. “Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow!” I stormed out enraged.

“I’m ready to leave right now!” I gritted out.

“Doctors orders I’m afraid. He did say though that you should be able to start resuming normal activities.”

There was something about the way her lips formed ‘normal activity’ that had me sitting up straighter in the bed.

“He did, did he?”

“Oh yes he even assigned me to take care of you for the rest of the day as your personal nurse.”

My eyebrows rose. Now this was getting interesting! Before I could say anything she waved her hand in front of her face, “It sure is hot in here isn’t it?”

Her words were immediately followed by her unbuttoning five buttons of her shirt.

I swallowed.

She stepped closer to the bed. “You look a bit feverish. Should I take your temperature?” She asked in a professional tone.

“I think you should focus on getting more cooled off yourself before you continue your treatment.”

Her smile was coy as her fingers undid the remaining buttons of her shirt.

“You’re not going to be a difficult patient are you?” She asked.

“Let me think about it for a moment…….no I don’t think so, but you still look hot.”

Being married to her was so fun! And sexy! Make that very sexy!

Anna stood in line at the concessions booth waiting patiently. Goodness knew she had time to wait. Nikolai always insisted on being anywhere they went at least twenty minutes early. She usually cut his twenty minute window down to ten or five minutes most of the time by doing her makeup or something else, but not today.

Her hands rubbed out over her belly, as she felt a kick that took her breath away. She smiled even though the kick had brought her pain and shortened her breathing up some.

“Not yet baby. Two more months, honey.”

It was her turn at the counter and she ordered.

It was a bit of a juggling act to carry everything back to their seats, but she managed. Nikolai popped out of his seat when his concerned eyes found her coming down the darkened theater isle.

“I didn’t know you were getting stuff! I thought you were just going to the restroom. You should’ve let me get this!”

“I can manage it honey and besides you can’t see a movie without popcorn. It just simply isn’t done old boy!”

He shook his head as a brief smile lit up his features and he sat back down after taking the drinks from her. Anna passed Kevin his tray of goodies and he thanked her and gave her a look of appreciation that said he thought she was the best mom ever.

In a way that simple glance made her day more so than any number of movie shows could ever have done. She settled down in her seat and started in on her popcorn, feeling completely content sitting in between her two men. She glanced at Nikolai’s pretzel bites and had to admit that at least for today they did look really good, especially the cheese!

He must’ve seen her covetous glance because he took her popcorn and set his pretzel bites down onto the shelf that her big belly made.

She smiled with real appreciation and kissed him on the cheek, “Thanks you’re the best!”

He just smiled and started eating her popcorn. She started eating the bites and as she did so she reflected on what had occurred in her life in the past months that had led her up to this blessed moment with her family.

She had gone before the Senate hearing and given her speech and received a standing ovation. There had been talk in the press and on Capitol Hill for up to three months later about the importance of big changes needing to be made, but nothing ever came of it. Apparently money does talk louder than seeing that the right thing gets done. At least that was the case in Washington DC.

The Agency released a soft version of the technology that Kevin had developed, but it didn’t sell it to any government instead it made the upgrade affordable at a ridiculously low price and put it on the open market for everyone to share.

Even at the low price set for it, the system software had already generated billions of dollars, as it represented a quantum shift in technology. To a dime the agency had sunk the money into her autism awareness and treatment foundation and others like it. Autism not only had a voice now, but now it had the money to back it up.

Strange the way God could use a little boy and a grown-up Renaissance man from Russia to effect such changes that were even now positively influencing the lives of so many throughout the world and those yet unborn. Anna had gotten her wish for warmth too. Nikolai had set up a gorgeous house for them just outside Melbourne in Australia and they had been here for several months already and soon their little family would increase by one.

Life had been so hard for so long, but knowing now what she did she would gladly suffer all through it again just to be here in this moment and the many that she’d already had just like it. The show was about to start and she felt her husband’s warm arm settle across her shoulders as his fingers began the play with her hair.

He had kind of half turned to her in his seat and his other hand was now splayed out fingers wide on her belly. His complete focus was on her and not on the show that had started. She felt tears slide down her cheeks as she glanced into his eyes in the darkened theater.