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“I told him I’d give you a ride whenever we were free to go. He told me to just call him and wake him up when we’re on the way,” BT said.
“Oh, I didn’t know you’d talked to him,” she said, a bit surprised.
“It’s not what you’re probably thinking,” BT said. “Dupont’s a friend. I know you were pissed at me for outing your relationship with him to the team, and I was sure you’d tell him. I wanted to be sure he knew my motives and that I’m happy for the two of you. That’s when I offered to give you a ride to his place.”
“What were your motives for doing outing us?”
“Honestly, Laura, I was just trying to help you get it out there so you wouldn’t feel like you had to keep it hidden from the team. I know you didn’t want any more secrets that you had to keep.”
“No, I didn’t, and I guess, in a way, I am happy that it’s out. I can just go to his place, and no one will be asking where I’m staying or anything.”
“No one’s judging you or thinking anything about it, you know,” BT said. “If anything, the guys are thinking way to go, Dupont!” He laughed.
She doubted that. But she liked that he’d said it. “If he’s really okay with us waking him up, then yes, I would like that ride. It would make things easier for me.”
“Meet me down in the garage in five,” BT said.
The elevator descended. Laura Lee exited into the Shepherd Security parking area to find BT and Garcia standing near their cars talking. “I thought Shepherd ordered you to go home,” she said to Garcia.
Garcia chuckled. “On my way. And he didn’t need to order me to go. I planned on it.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure you did,” BT said.
“Fuck you,” Garcia joked. “See you both tomorrow. Zero seven hundred.”
“I’ll be back at zero eight hundred,” BT said, playfully flipping him off.
They cleared the garage and BT pointed his car towards Dupont’s condo complex.
“Have you told Evie yet that you took a round in your vest?”
“No, and Garcia hasn’t told Sienna yet, either. That kind of thing is best done in person. That’s what we were just talking about.”
“Yeah, I guess it would be better to do it in person when she can see that you’re okay. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” BT answered, but he was pretty sure he knew what her question would be.
“What went through your mind when you knew you were hit?”
That wasn’t what he thought she’d ask. “Well, I was conscious, and I knew I had my vest on, so I was reasonably sure it stopped whatever hit me. I felt like a horse kicked me and although it hurt like hell, it wasn’t the same kind of pain as a bullet going in. I guess my thoughts then settled on the rest of the team, hoping none of them or the FBI Agents were hit.”
“Does it make you think that next time your vest might not be where you’re hit and that you might not make it?”
That was the question he’d expected. “Laura, you can’t afford to let yourself think that way. You have to go out and do your job and have faith in your medics that if you get hit, they’ll save your life. Plus, I accepted that I may die doing my job a long time ago, when I was over in the Sandbox. And ultimately, it’s out of my hands, anyway. I believe in God and that he has a plan for me. I do this job because I can, and others can’t.”
“And Evie?”
“She thanks God this team and I do this job, or she wouldn’t be here now. She knows firsthand the evil out there, as does Sienna.”
“That’s not what I meant. Does having Evie in your life give you pause? You have more to lose now.”
“No, I have more to protect now. And I know that’s how Garcia and Jackson feel, too. They have kids and know the threats out there that they need to protect their families from.”
“I guess I never thought about it that way,” she said.
“West threatened your family. You knew you had to do something about him, to protect your family. Did you even think for a minute about taking your family away and hiding from him?”
“No,” Laura Lee said. “And when you put it that way, I get it.”