I stood outside of one the massive tents the feds had erected on the tarmac of Drisking's small airport. It was old, crumbling, and abandoned - but they were sure as hell landing shit here now. Grant had promised Kimber to me within the hour and I nervously smoked a cigarette in the cold while waiting outside the giant tent. They told me they'd needed to hold her longer than me because Kimber had admitted to killing a Law Enforcement Officer. Grant said the prosecutor would almost certainly decline to press charges due to the circumstances rapidly coming to light. But still, it was early days and the waters were murky. We'd no longer be in custody but we weren't allowed to leave town, either.
I pulled my jacket tighter as the wind cut down the thoroughfares and alleyways of the sprawling tent city or, as Grant referred to it, Central Ops. Special Agent Trippine had given me the thick, brown duster I was currently wearing since my own jacket had been taken in as evidence - which didn't bother me because this coat was warmer, anyway.
"Sam!" I turned around just as Kimber jumped on me, wrapping her arms around my back and squeezing tightly. I buckled, grunting in pain and trying not to drop her. Kimber released me immediately. "I'm sorry! I forgot you got shot!"
"Well, you sure fucking reminded me," I winced. Trippine walked up from behind Kimber and nodded at me. "You can go. There's a Ford Explorer you can use parked off of Draper across from the Mobile Command Unit. Here are the keys. Don't leave town and don't talk to the media. Or the locals. In fact, don't talk to anybody."
We found the car right where'd he said and climbed in, slamming the doors on the biting wind. "You're going to have to drive." I said. "I don't think I can manage it."
"Don't they have you on any painkillers?" Kimber asked.
"Prescription Tylenol."
"Oh my God, I want to cry for you. But still, good for you, Sam." She smiled at me and pulled out onto the road. "Honestly I can't believe they discharged you from the hospital after only a few days. You got shot in the chest."
"I'm well aware," I laughed. "But they had to - the hospitals are full. Every hospital within fifty miles and a mobile one for the least severe cases is what I was told."
"Holy shit." Kimber breathed. "How many women were there at Borrasca?"
"You don't know?" I asked.
"No. They wouldn't tell me anything. They even took the TV out of the hotel room they held me in."
"132."
Kimber gasped. That had been my reaction, too. "But...there were never that many when I was there. Maybe 60 at most."
"I guess he wasn't lying; the sheriff really was a business man." I said sarcastically. "Turn here."
"Emphasis on the 'was'." Kimber smiled. I couldn't fault her for being happy he was dead. And even though he was my father I was, too.
"So they didn't tell you anything, huh?"
"The only thing they would tell me is that you were alive and that's only because I started throwing cutlery at them."
I laughed. "Well, I guess I'll give you the news then. Every major news outlet got a copy of the Borrasca records on Friday. And the files were apparently very detailed. Open investigations were triggered across the map."
