Cam awoke and looked around. She was still on the couch in Maurice’s office. The shades were turned to block the sun but she could see around their edges that it was light outside. No one else was there. She could hear noises from the kitchen just outside the office. The cooking staff was busy getting ready for the day.
Slowly she stretched. The couch was not the most comfortable place to sleep. Her neck was stiff so she rotated her head from side to side. Eventually she got the energy to go out into the kitchen.
Wes was busy chopping vegetables for salads.
“Good morning,” he greeted her. “Ms. Sonya left you a note; it’s on the desk in there,” he said, gesturing his lips back toward the office.
“Where is everyone else?” Cam asked.
Wes shrugged. “Maurice is at the hospital with Nick. I don’t know about anyone else.”
Cam nodded, then retraced her steps to go find Sonya’s note.
Didn’t wake you. Maurice is at the hospital. I’ve gone home to sleep. Nick is still in a coma. I’ll come by this afternoon. Wait for me. That was all the note said. It was signed with a scrolled S and two Xs.
Cam looked at the clock on the desk. It was already 11:30. She went back into the kitchen.
“What time did everyone leave?” she asked Wes.
“The only one here when I got here was Max. I don’t know who else was here before. Max just said to let you sleep and to tell you about the note.” Wes went back to chopping his salad.
“Is there a newspaper around?” Cam asked. She was imagining what the papers would say about last night.
“There’s one under my coat on that chair,” Wes answered.
Cam went over and picked it up. She scanned the front page. Nothing about Steve or Will. On the second page, however, there was a small item near the bottom of the page: “Police investigate murder of Baltimore police detective.” She read on: “Police are investigating the shooting deaths of a Baltimore police detective and another man at the detective’s home in the Rosedale section. The shootings occurred early last evening. Neighbors say they heard the shots, then saw two people leaving in a late-model, dark-colored sedan. No other witnesses have come forward. Identities of the victims are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.”
That’s all? Cam thought. Another cover-up? She had thought it would have made the front page or that at least Steve’s name would be mentioned. There had to be a reason why more wasn’t printed about it. What wasn’t she seeing?
Cam walked around the kitchen, peering into cooking pots.
“Can I get you something to eat?” Wes asked.
“Sure, as long as it’s not a bagel. I’ve had too many of those in the last few days. Got something hot?”
“There’s soup that’s ready. Sit down in Maurice’s office and I’ll bring you some. Do you want a salad, too?”
Cam shook her head and went into the office and raised the blinds. The sun was much too bright. It was going to be a hot day for autumn. She sank down into Maurice’s desk chair as Wes brought her a bowl of minestrone soup and a basket of crackers. As she slowly sipped the soup, she thought back through the past forty-eight hours and reviewed Charlie’s rules. Number one, had she trusted anyone? No, not really. Number two, was she alert? Except for the tiredness that came over her last night, she was very alert. Number three, did she owe anyone? Not that she could see. And she hadn’t divulged information that wasn’t asked for; that she was sure of. She’d also kept her ears open and stayed in control, except for last night. She’d tried, but Will’s actions had taken the control out of her hands. Now…was she detached? Was she showing emotion? Those were the questions. Perhaps she should call Maggie and run some of this by her. Or Pauly, wherever he had disappeared to.
Cam put the spoon down. She wasn’t getting anywhere. Was she too focused on finding what she’d missed? Or was she just not prepared?
Voices in the kitchen shook her from her thoughts. There was a knock on the door and Ralphie peeked into the office.
“Hi!” he said as he opened the door. “Well, the warehouse is cleaned up. You guys did a job on that coffee! We saved about half of it.”
Cam stood and stretched as he asked, “How are you feeling today? You were out cold last night; no one could wake you.”
Cam shook her head. “I don’t even remember what we were talking about,” she admitted. “I must have been too stressed to even care.”
“Well, last night wasn’t the calmest night we’ve had,” Ralphie admitted.
“Tell me something, Ralphie,” she began. “What was your take on Will’s reaction to Steve?”
Ralphie took a deep breath, then walked into the office and sat down on one of the high-backed chairs. “I’ve never seen him like that. I mean, I knew he had a temper and he liked to get things handled right away, but just shooting that poor guy like that? I’m glad you were faster than him or you and me probably wouldn’t be here today.”
“Yes,” Cam said as she sat back down in Maurice’s chair. “He took it too far, too fast. Do you think he was worried that Krakowski was going to tell us something he didn’t want us to know? Did you hear what he said when he shot him? “This guy talks too much.” What do you think he meant by that?”
“Yeah.” Ralphie’s eyebrows sank toward his nose. “There was something else about that. Will never got that out of control. I mean, he got pissed a lot, but he never lost control of things. He’d been like that for the past week or two. I know he didn’t like you taking over his job with Nick, but he knew why it had to be. I know he hated working for Sonya, but that whole thing was way out of proportion.”
“Did he ever say anything to you?” Cam asked.
“Nah.” Ralphie shook his head, “I was too far down the food chain for him to talk to me. He only talked to Max and Al. I also think he was upset that Sonya sent me with you two.”
“I felt that, too.” Cam nodded. “Do you think he was more involved than he let on?”
“I wouldn’t doubt it. You know, he came into the restaurant just a few minutes before you called about Nick being shot and he acted kind of funny, like he wasn’t surprised or upset. But then, he had the same kind of poker face that you do. Maybe that’s what makes you such good bodyguards.”
“Well, I can’t be that good a bodyguard if I let Nick get shot.” Cam turned to look out the window.
“You can’t blame yourself for that. The shot would have come whether or not you were there. You didn’t have time to stop it.”
Cam nodded in thanks for Ralphie’s support.
“And, hey, you got us out of that situation last night. Don’t think I don’t know I owe my life to you.”
“Well, that was just a gut reaction.”
“Yeah.” Ralphie chuckled. “But you got more guts to react with than most people I know.”
“Yes, she has.”
Cam looked up to see Sonya standing in the doorway. She looked rested. Her makeup was fresh and her clothes clean. She’d obviously had sleep and a shower.
“I brought you a change of clothes,” she said, placing an overnight bag on the desk. “There’s a shower in Maurice’s bathroom. There should be clean towels on the shelf.”
“Thanks.” Cam’s spirit seemed to change. “I’ve been in these clothes much too long. I feel like I’ve been going since I left Nick’s house two days ago.” Was that just two days ago? It seems like a lifetime.
“A shower will do you a world of good.” Sonya smiled. “How does your wrist feel?”
Cam looked down at the bruise that showed above the bandage on her left wrist. “I haven’t even thought about it,” she said, flexing her hand, “It must not have been that bad…relatively speaking.” Her mind immediately flashed to something Michael had once told her bruises will fade, death will not. She picked up the clothing and went into the bathroom.
Sonya turned to Ralphie. “Did the warehouse get cleaned?” she asked.
“Clean as a bar glass.” He grinned at her.
“Good. I’ve got another job for you.” She handed him keys to Nick’s house. “Go to Nick’s and look around in Will’s room. Look all through the basement. See if you see something that looks out of place.”
“What am I looking for?” he asked.
Sonya shook her head. “I don’t know. There’s just something fishy about all this. Maybe if you see something that looks out of place, we can get a handle on what’s happening here.”
“You know,” Ralphie said, fingering the keys, “Cameron thought that everything that happened last night was funny. Will never gets…never got…that jumpy. It wasn’t like him.”
“Yes, I know.” Sonya sat down in Maurice’s chair. “I wish Nick were here. This is something he’d be able to handle. He’d know right away what was wrong.” She turned and looked out the window.
“Well, you’ve still got Cam and me and the others. We’ll be okay until Nick gets back on his feet.” With that, Ralphie quietly left for Nick’s house.