CHAPTER 17
The following Monday morning, Sam exited the elevator on his office floor and greeted several co-workers as he walked down the brightly lit carpeted hallway. He felt energized and glad to be back in his routine. After his morning run and a hearty breakfast, he was wide awake and ready to go. The previous morning, he had attended church, then spent the afternoon relaxing at his apartment as he enjoyed a much earned day of rest.
Now it felt good to be back to work. He was still haunted by the previous mission, but had decided to place the feelings and everything about it in a compartment deep in his heart. He couldn’t afford to dwell on it if he was going to stay alive in this job. He had to move on. There was no other choice.
Sam tugged a little at the tie around his neck to loosen it a bit as he walked toward the squad room. He detested ties, and having to dress in a suit coat and tie was one reason he disliked having to spend time in the office, but it went with the territory.
The squad room was a large open room with several partitioned areas which housed his team and several other field teams. His team was located near the back of the room; three desks, computers, a television and a few filing cabinets in their own small area with portable walls surrounding them. It was where Bill, Jess, and he worked on current cases, hashing out evidence until they caught the bad guys and brought them to justice.
It was what they did.
He walked directly to his desk, sat down and opened the top right desk drawer. Taking his gun from its holster, he placed it in the drawer.
“Hey, Sam. Mornin’,” Bill called from his desk. He and Jess, who Sam thought looked tired, walked over to stand in front of Sam’s desk.
“How was the flight back?” Sam asked as he looked up at his team members.
Jess frowned and glanced over at Bill. “Some of us got sleep. Some of us didn’t.”
Bill grinned. “I can sleep anywhere, anytime, sweetheart. Comes from being a former Marine. You learn to sleep when you get the chance.” He wiped the smile off his face as Sam looked up at him. “Uh, bodies were delivered to the M.E., Sam. He buzzed me a little bit ago to say he’s done with the autopsies. The reports are written up if you wanted to go down and see him. I know he’s anxious to release the bodies.”
Sam nodded. “Okay. I’ll head down there now. Anything else I need to know about?” He stood to leave.
They both shook their heads and he headed toward the elevator that would take him to the basement autopsy room. He wasn’t a fan of Autopsy, but the Medical Examiner, Dr. Murray, a man in his mid-fifties, was a personal friend. He’d been the M.E. for years and was every bit a professional that took his job seriously. No evidence ever got past him and the Bureau’s lab’s forensic scientists. Sam didn’t even want to think about how the Bureau managed to solve crimes before forensics came into being.
“Good morning, Doc,” he said as he entered through the sliding doors.
The tall thin gray haired man dressed in green scrubs turned from where he was standing at his desk to greet him.
“Good morning yourself, Agent Morgan. You’ve kept me quite busy the last few hours, I must say.”
Sam smiled a half-hearted smile at him. “Sorry. Call it job protection.”
Dr. Murray smiled back. “Well, as we expected, my autopsy shows Senor Manaquez died of a .338 Lapua gunshot wound to the head. A long distance shot, it seems.”
Sam nodded in agreement. “Bill is one of the best snipers I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with.”
“Yes. Well, no surprises there then. The bullet I extracted from him matches Bill’s rifle. I’ve completed my report and notified the proper federal authorities. The body is to be shipped to the Mexican authorities tomorrow.”
Sam nodded, glancing over at the other closed body bag lying on a nearby gurney. “And Ms. Masters?”
“I just finished writing up the report on her autopsy a few minutes ago. The ‘remains’ will be shipped back to her hometown to be buried next to her parents, as you requested. I’ve already made arrangements for a closed and locked casket to be shipped tomorrow to...” He glanced down at the chart in his hands. “…I believe the place is called, Herbert. Is that correct?”
Sam nodded. “Thanks, Doc. Anything else I need to know about?”
The older man shook his head. “We verified that the bullet that was dug out of the cab of the pickup truck matched the one that Manaquez was carrying, so ballistics matches. And the record shows that was the bullet that took Ms. Master’s life.”
Sam nodded again, his mind drifting back to that sunny sweltering day, and the gun shot that changed everything for him.
Sam felt the older man’s eyes on him, probing for more answers than Sam was willing to give.
“You okay, Sam?”
He nodded. “Just thinking that one of these days I’m going to retire, Doc, and get away from all this. Maybe I’ll go out to my dad’s and uncle’s cattle ranch in Montana. They’ve been bugging me for years to go join them in the family business. Never could see myself as a rancher though.” He grinned. “Just dreaming, I guess….”
Sam knew he wasn’t old enough to actually retire from the Bureau as he wasn’t anywhere near fifty five years old. Neither did he have his twenty five years in yet, but some days he really didn’t care; and that might be a sign it was getting close to the time for him to move on. He knew that if he did arrive at a point where he lost his focus – his edge – he would need to leave the field, or someday he would be ‘retired’ by one of the bad guys.
Dr. Murray smiled back at him. “Ah yes, retirement. I may try that one of these days too.”
He reached out and shook the older man’s hand before he turned to leave.
“Thanks, Doc.”
Sam was in the elevator heading back up to the squad room, when his cell phone chirped.
“Morgan here.”
It was Bill. “The big man wants to see you in his office when you’re done in autopsy.”
“Got it. I’m headed back up right now.”
The ‘big man’, as Bill had referred to him, was Director Mark Roberts, a veteran of the Army and a long time employee of the Bureau. Sam couldn’t help but wonder for what purposes he was being summoned to his office. He’d just arrived back at Washington. Was there something he’d missed in the Masters case, or was he being called in for something else? Even though Director Roberts and he were on friendly terms, he never thought it a good thing to be called to the Director’s office. Kind of reminded him of being called to the principal’s office when he was in grade school, and he hadn’t liked that either.
With that thought in his head he had a grin on his face as the Director’s secretary waved him through. He lightly tapped on Mr. Roberts’ door before opening it when he heard “come in” from the other side.
“Sam,” the older man stood and greeted him with a firm handshake. “Glad to have you back. Heard your last experience ended well.”
Sam automatically nodded. As well as could be expected, he guessed. It could have ended a lot worse.
The Director pointed him toward a chair. “Have a seat for a moment, Sam. I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done. Obviously, we wish we could have taken Manaquez alive, but even then there was no guarantee we would have been able to get much information from him. As it is, the mission ended well and we’re pleased.”
Sam took the offered seat, glanced around the paneled office decorated with photos of the Director and the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense, and felt his suspicions growing. He was sure he hadn’t been called up here for a pat on the back. He hadn’t been in this office much in the past few months, but obviously there was a reason he had been summoned here now.
“What’s up, sir?”
“Always to the point, aren’t you, Agent Morgan? Never one to mince words. I’ve always liked that about you.” The older man chuckled. “Well
, as a matter of fact, I have another assignment for you, Sam. A money laundering scheme that needs to be addressed.”
Sam sat straighter, getting interested. Another case was just what he needed to get his mind off a certain someone. And the best part was, it would get him out from behind his desk again.
“When do we get started?”
Director Roberts shook his head. “Not ‘we’. Just you, this time. I’m sending you to Arizona to work with a task force already in place out there.” He sighed and tapped his pencil on the paperwork in front of him. “I need your other team members here to finalize the Masters case paperwork and finish up a couple of other outstanding cases. I’m sure you understand.”
Sam nodded. “Yes, sir.” He hated to leave his team behind, but then he wasn’t in charge. If the boss said he was going alone, that’s what he was doing.
“When do I leave?”
The older gentleman handed him a folder. “Your flight leaves at seven o’clock tonight. This will catch you up on what we’ve got so far so when you get out there you can hit the pavement running. They have a good team out there, Sam. I’m sure you’ll enjoy working with them.”
Sam stood up and readied to leave.
“Oh, one other thing, Sam.”
Sam turned back from the door, his hand still resting on the handle.
“I had the pleasure of meeting a certain young woman this morning. She had nothing but good things to say about you and your team; and I have to say, I was quite impressed with her as well. She is a sharp one and I think she’ll do well in the Program.”
Sam smiled as he realized who the Director was talking about. He couldn’t help feeling a little pride at his words. The Director had no idea how impressive she really was.
“Yes, sir. That she is.”
“She specifically wanted to tell me how impressed she was with you.” Sam didn’t miss the glint in his friend’s eyes as the Director paused as if for effect. “As an agent, of course.” He smiled and surprised Sam even more by giving him a quick wink.
“When I asked her how she thought she was going to handle the changes in her life, she quoted some scripture to me from The Bible; something about becoming “a new creature, old things passing away”, and then something else like “behold, I will do a new thing”. Not really sure what all she was talking about, but she seems to have embraced the idea of starting over.”
Sam felt his face grinning. He could see her in his mind’s eye, talking to the Director in this very office. And he knew the verses she had quoted by heart.
Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
And: Behold, I will do a do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?
“Second Corinthians 5, verse 17 and Isaiah 43, verse 19. Great references for starting a new life, sir; both of them.”
“Yes, well I thought you’d appreciate hearing that about her. I think by the sounds of things, she’ll do just fine.” He stood and saw Sam to the door where they shook hands again.
As Sam headed back downstairs and went to work finishing his report on the Masters case, he couldn’t help thinking about what the Director had said about her. Sam was so happy to hear she was accepting the changes her new life was going to bring about. Knowing she would be safe made all the sacrifices worth it.
Waiting for the elevator to reach his floor, his thoughts also turned to his own future plans. In the past, he’d never even considered leaving the Bureau – at least not since he lost his agent, Hank. Ever since then he had dedicated himself to doing the best job he could to protect his fellow Americans and had never even been tempted to leave the job.
But now, the job didn’t seem to have the same appeal for him anymore. Maybe it really was time for him to hang up his shield and do something else. He wasn’t getting any younger, and helping his dad and uncle on that ranch in Montana was looking better every day.