Fifty Shades of Fatherhood

Chapter 22

Ryan removed a piece of paper from his small stack and got up to move behind me. He set the paper down in front of me while he stood over my shoulder. "I received the lab results from the pill, IV, and hair strand Ana had given us from her accident. Taylor and I received the results late last night.

He pointed to a line on the sheet of paper. "Someone most definitely tried to kill Ana. The pill contained ricin, which is a toxic protein found in castor beans. A few granules can kill someone quickly. He did not wait for my response. Instead, he sifted through the stack of papers on my desk and pulled another from the pile. He pointed at two words on the paper potassium chloride. "High doses of potassium chloride will stop the heart from beating."

He pulled out another sheet of paper. For the hair sample, the lab was able to sequence the DNA partially, and Ryan ran it through the FBI database but did not get a hit. The severely damaged hair caused by over-processing did not contain enough DNA. The strand belongs to someone who uses a lot of chemicals on their hair. The damage is so severe that with only the one strand, we were not able to get the full sequence.

Ana, being exposed to two toxins designed to kill, was not a coincidence. Someone intentionally tried to kill her. No fingerprints other than Ana's were found on the tubing. We have increased security for Ana and Teddy.

I was extremely frustrated. Someone had tried to kill Ana, I could not find her, but they had. No doubt, this was somehow linked to GEH, Ryan, Zach, Taylor, and I just could not figure out how. Until we could, Ana's life was in danger. I had not told Ana security had been compromised to the extent it had. I did not want to worry about her. Now I regretted that decision and leaving her alone after what I had just heard. I wanted Ana and Teddy by my side sooner rather than later. I wanted all the agents Ryan had watching Escala to escort Ana to my office.

I had phoned Ana, asking her to hurry. I now seemed unsettled, not knowing where exactly she was and relying on someone else to protect her. Not to worry her, I had spun my tone that I was missing her already and wanted her near. Not a complete lie. I lightened the mood, taunting that I had a surprise for her and Teddy.

I was relieved when an anxious Sawyer and another agent I did not know came in through the elevator. Teddy ran to me arms wide, "me a surprise?" he asked. Ana must have shared I had a surprise for him. I chuckled while I carried Teddy down the hall to Taylor's office. My mood immediately lifted knowing the two were with me and both safe.

Teddy's eyes went wide as he squirmed so he could greet his uncles. Zach grabbed Teddy up, flipping him up on his shoulder and spinning around a couple of times. Teddy was giggling as Zach dropped him in his arms and nuzzled his neck. Teddy tightened his hold and murmured something unintelligible but happy to see Zach. While Zach was still holding Teddy, Ryan bumped his fist. Then Teddy put out his arms to go to Ryan. Ryan wrapped him tightly. "I missed you, bud." Ana walked in, grinning and flung her arms around her brothers. "What a wonderful surprise." I was happy momentarily we could all be happy.

We had told Ana that we had some fraud, and her brothers were helping with leads. Until I had more information, I did not want to scare her completely. Ryan, Zach, Taylor and I discussed increasing security for my family.

I had to work as did Ana but I enjoyed having Ana work out of my office. Teddy sat on the floor playing with some cars. Ana had taken masking tape to create a road system. He had action figures and stuffed animals that he would drive to see. He seemed to be content playing by himself.

She curled up on my couch reading manuscripts with her red pen scribbling comments in the margins. When I had asked if Ana read electronic versions, she said there was just something about curling up with a book, not a hard device. She sat with her legs tucked under and focused on every word she was reading. I loved having her here.