“I’m sorry about that-”
“I don’t want to hear it,” Ben yelled, walking past DeRosa. Holding his shoulder, he headed up the hallway.
Ben approached Lisa and Claremont. “Thanks for the save,” Claremont said.
“Fuck you,” Ben said, pushing Claremont aside to get to Lisa, who was collapsed against the wall. He grabbed her bloodied hand and looked at her battered face. “How’re you doing?” he asked.
“I’ve had better days,” she said.
“Did you get pushed through the window?”
“No way,” Lisa said with a pained smile. “This was by choice. Great idea, huh?”
“One of your best,” Ben said.
“Let’s get them both to a hospital,” one of the marshals said. “They’re pretty banged up.”
“Did you really get shot?” Lisa asked, looking at Ben’s shoulder.
“No way,” Ben smiled back. “This was by choice.”
Chapter 19
HOLDING A BAG OF ICE TO HIS EYE, NATHAN waited inside a small room that connected to DeRosa’s office. For two hours, Nathan hadn’t moved, sitting in the same hard chair and leaning on the same small conference table. Throughout the ride to DeRosa’s office, the marshals wouldn’t say a word to him. When Nathan asked questions, they wouldn’t respond. When he threatened them, they weren’t fazed. All they would tell him was that Ben and Lisa were safe.
Finally the door to DeRosa’s office opened. Taking his bag of ice with him, Nathan walked inside. Ben sat in one of two chairs that faced DeRosa. A sling held Ben’s left arm in place. Nathan pulled the bag of ice from his eye and scowled at his roommate. “This’s why I’ve been locked up for two hours?” Nathan asked. “So you could interrogate Prince Charming over here?”
“Take a seat,” DeRosa said, pointing to the chair next to Ben.
“I’d rather stand,” Nathan replied shortly.
“Whatever you want,” DeRosa said.
“How are you doing?” Ben asked.
“How am I doing?” Nathan asked sarcastically. “Let’s see, my eye is a melon, my head is ringing, and no one’s told me a damn thing. Other than that, I’m superb.”
“What was the last thing you saw at the hotel?” DeRosa asked.
“The last thing I saw was a dozen marshals busting into the room. They confiscated all of Rick’s equipment, shouted about tracing Rick’s cellular phone, and then they unlocked me-obviously their lowest priority. Then you come over, introduce yourself, and disappear. A medic checks me out and gives me some ice and some aspirin, and the next thing I know, two of your Secret Service wannabes drive me here and lock me in that little room.”
“I’m sorry I had to leave,” DeRosa explained, scribbling notes as he spoke. “Now what happened before that?”
Before Nathan could respond, the door to DeRosa’s office opened and Claremont walked into the room. Carrying a cup of coffee, he sat in an empty chair near the window. Staring at his former captor, Nathan was enraged. “Who’s he, and what the hell is he doing here?” Nathan asked.
“That’s Michael Burke,” DeRosa said, pointing to Claremont. “He’s a U.S. marshal.”
“You’re a cop?” Nathan asked.
“I’m a marshal,” Burke said.
“You’re a marshal, but you let Rick beat the shit out of us?”
“Sorry about that,” Burke said. “We wanted to wait until Rick bought the stock before we did anything.”
“Then where were you after he bought the stock?” Nathan asked, his voice growing louder.
“Don’t blame me for that,” Burke said. “That was your fault. We were ready to storm in, but Lisa bolted out the door.”
“Oh, and that’s my fault?” Nathan laughed. He walked to the empty chair next to Ben and sat down. “How the hell were we supposed to know you guys were out there?”
“Ben and Lisa knew,” Burke said.
“You knew?” Nathan turned to Ben.
“I swear I didn’t know,” Ben insisted. “I thought they gave up on me.”
“Hold on a second,” Nathan said. “I thought I was about to die a few hours ago! Now what the hell is going on?”
“Here’s what-” Ben began.
“I want the full story,” Nathan demanded. “From the beginning.”
“Drop that tone and shut up,” DeRosa ordered. Nathan put his ice back on his eye. Ben then took a deep breath and explained how he’d initially approached DeRosa and how he’d thought he’d been abandoned by the Marshals Office.
“Are you telling me they could’ve grabbed Rick weeks ago?” Nathan asked in disbelief. He looked back at DeRosa. “Why did you wait until now?”
“We wanted to get everyone Rick was involved with,” DeRosa explained. “From his broker to everyone else on his payroll.”
“And we wanted to catch Carl Lungen,” Burke added.
Nathan stared coldly at Burke. He then turned back to Ben. “Did you know he was a marshal?”
“Not at all,” Ben explained. “That’s why I smashed him in the face. I didn’t know he was on our side until he saved Lisa.”
“What about Ober getting fired?” Nathan asked. “Did anyone know-”
“We didn’t know Rick was going to get Ober fired,” DeRosa said.
“And if it makes you feel any better,” Burke added, “I didn’t know Rick was going to kidnap you. He decided that at the last minute when he thought Ben was turning himself in. Remember, we were counting on Ben handing over the decision early yesterday morning.”
“The kidnapping thing really messed us up,” DeRosa said. “We didn’t think-”
“No, you didn’t think,” Nathan interrupted. “The moment Rick grabbed us, you should’ve blown the whistle. Instead I got my face kicked in for no reason.”
“There was nothing I could do,” Burke said.
“That’s bullshit,” Nathan said. “You could’ve revealed who you were. That would’ve forced everyone to rush in the room and save us all.”
“I couldn’t do that,” Burke said. “It would’ve jeopardized all of our lives. I didn’t know where the backup was hiding. I just knew they would be there if things got out of control.”
“You don’t call this out of control?” Nathan yelled, pointing to his black eye. “And what about when Rick put a gun in Lisa’s mouth? That wasn’t out of control enough for you?”
Ben put his hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Nathan, calm down,” he said. “If everyone came charging in at that moment Rick would’ve blown Lisa’s head off. As it is, we should consider ourselves lucky nothing else happened.”
Nathan pulled away from Ben and stood up. “What else could possibly happen? This was the worst weekend of my life!” Ben reached over to calm him, but Nathan continued to pull away. Eventually, Nathan was standing in the middle of DeRosa’s office. “When Ober lost his job, they already had Rick in their hands! And you didn’t say a word! You could’ve blown the whistle on all of this! You could’ve-”
“I did what I thought was best for everyone,” Ben said. “If I had blown the whistle early, Rick would’ve disappeared. The only way to deal with Rick permanently was to catch him.”
As his fists tightened, Nathan could no longer contain his rage. “YOU SELF-CENTERED SON OF A BITCH! THE ONLY THING YOU DEALT WITH PERMANENTLY WAS OBER! BY KEEPING YOUR MOUTH SHUT, YOU KILLED HIM!” Blindly, Nathan threw his ice pack across the room, sending it flying toward DeRosa’s neatly organized desk. As it landed on the desk, the ice bag sent a stack of papers crashing to the floor.
“I understand you’re upset,” Burke said, “but you have to look at the big picture-”
“Screw the big picture,” Nathan yelled. “My life isn’t there for you guys to play with! You used us! And Ober paid the price for it!”
“That’s enough,” DeRosa interrupted, his voice booming through the office. “Ober acted on his own. And if suicide was his best solution, he had more problems than the ones Ben gave him. As for you, you should be thrilled you’re alive. If you’re not, you can drop a note in the suggestion box on your way out.”