[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter 7 The Press Conference.

Ryan stood waiting for all of the press to settle down so he could make his announcement. Once the room was quiet he spoke loudly.
“As of 9:45 this evening Special Agent Meranda Cross was pronounced dead.”
“How did she die?”
“Agent Cross died from injuries sustained after being shot outside the federal building two days ago. We are still investigating the reason she was shot and once the person is found they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I will now take questions.” Ryan said looking out at the group.
“Director, did Agent Cross know her shooter?”
“Agent Cross never regained consciousness before she died, we are never going to know if she knew her killer.”
“Will there be a full funeral?”
“Agent Cross will be given a full military funeral with honors. There will be an announcement of the funeral.”
“Will there be an on going investigation?”
“Yes, with this being the third death within the ranks and within the city we are now taking matters into searching for a serial killer. Someone that is seeking out FBI agents and killing them.”
“Is there a reason for the people of Boston to panic?”
“No, at this time we are telling the public not to panic, that this has been centered around our agents and we are taking care of it. With the help of the Boston PD we are working together to find this person and bring him or her to justice.”
“Director, with the loss of Agent Brian, and now Agent Cross, will the cases they were working on be placed in another agents hands?”
“Not at the moment. We are centering all of our efforts on finding the person or persons that are doing this and end it.”
“Then at this time there are no suspects in the killing of the two agents?”
“We have two suspects we are still investigating but until we are certain we are unable to give out anymore information.” Ryan finished this and started out of the room.
“That will be all, if we receive any further information we will let you know.” Colette said as she and James followed Ryan from the room. All three slowly walked down the long white hallway and into the secure part of the hospital. They looked into the room and sighed. Meranda lay in the center of the bed, a tube running from her mouth helping her breath, several tubes running from her arms, one to give her antibiotics to counter act the poison she was given. Another tube was giving her nutrients that were needed. The sound of the heart monitor and breathing machine could be heard through the closed door.
“She will wake up.”
“I hope so. The doctors have been running a lot of tests and are unsure if the poison she was given has caused any damage.”
“What kind of damage?” James asked, fear now apparent in his dark eyes.
“Brain damage, liver and kidney damage, damage to her heart and lungs. Basically damage to just about anything. If you hadn’t noticed that person in the room, who knows what would have happened.” Ryan said looking at them both. Colette looked at Meranda again through the door.
“I’ve been friends with Meranda since we were kids.” She said absently.
“Really?” Ryan replied. Colette nodded and turned and walked down the hallway out of the secure area. James and Ryan stood there for a moment before they too followed and left the area.

Colette stood outside and looked at the rain as it fell. She could hear the thunder in the distance as she moved under the over hang. She listened as the cars in the distance drove through the puddles that had already formed from the sudden down pour.
“What did you mean that you and Meranda were friends when you were kids?”
“Just what I said.” Colette said looking toward the two men that now stood behind her.
“That isn’t in your profile.”
“Meranda never wanted to have anyone know that we were friends. I guess she felt that I’d get places faster that way. Being that her father was an agent she felt that things had been handed to her as it was. But she wanted me to get through the academy on my own.”
“Meranda was never given any special treatment.”
“I know.” Colette replied as she looked back toward the sky.” Meranda has always been a good friend and with that friendship came hard times. I lost track of her for a while after her dad died.”
“They said that her stepmother became mean with her and she had to be removed from the home rather quickly.”
“Yeah.” James answered. He had read in Meranda’s file all of her life’s changes and the things she had gone through It was no secret that she had had a troubled life, losing her mother when she was young to losing her father in her teens, to her stepmother nearly beating her to death because her father had died. Most would never gotten as far as Meranda had, but something inside of her told her she must prove that no matter what she could go on.
“Meranda has a journal that she keeps in her desk. She told me once that if anything was to happen to her, I was to take it out.”
“And do what with it?”
“Read it I guess. She said there would be a note attached telling me what to do. I wont do anything with it until something worse happens. We haven’t lost her yet.” Colette said heading into the rain. Ryan and James watched her climb into her car and sit there.
“I am going to go home.” Ryan said. He knew that there was nothing he could do there and he really wasn’t needed.
“Tell Colette to go home. I’ll stay here with Meranda.” James replied walking back into the hospital. Ryan waited a moment before he too hurried to his car, but not before he stopped at Colette’s car and tapped on the window. Rolling it down Colette looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“Go home, get some rest.”
“I can’t.”
“Please do it. I really don’t want to order you to.”
“All right. I’ll come back in the morning.”
“Thank you.” Ryan said as he headed away from the car.

James walked down the long hallway, stopping at the large door and typing in several numbers and listened to hear the door unlock. Turning the knob he walked through the doorway. He waited for the door to close and relock before he started down the long lonely corridor. As he walked down the hallway, he noticed the picture less walls and the sounds of machines. He noticed nurses and a few doctors that walked the hallways. He saw people laying unmoving in most of the rooms. As he passed the rooms, they had numbers but no names like you’d see on normal rooms. He stopped in front of Meranda’s room. He could hear the machine beeping that was keeping rhythm with her heartbeat and the soft sound of the machine that was helping her breath. Slowly walking threw the partially open door he stopped and stared at her. Her long dark hair hung around her face like a halo. Her normally peach colored skin was pale, her eyes closed and nearly black and blue. Her arms lay at her sides and the slow rise and fall of her chest told him she was alive. He walked further into the room and pulled a chair up next to the bed. He took her hand in his own and looked at her face.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered as he moved a stray hair from her face. He really didn’t know why he had said he was sorry but he felt he needed to. Something inside of him told him he really needed to tell her he was sorry. As he touched her hand he wanted so much for her to be awake, to talk to him. There were so many things he needed to say to her. So many things that were running through his mind and heart that he wanted her to hear.