Prior Rings

Chapter 19: Anna - Security

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I appreciate your support so much. Thank you also to Rosalie and BarbaraK2U, who both reviewed this chapter at different points in time. Your feedback really helps!

Chapter 19: Anna – Security

I have to keep reminding myself of what Lauren said – that Tris and Caleb are safe now – to keep myself sane through the long drive. There's nothing like six hours in a car to make one imagine all the worst-case scenarios.

For the first two hours, Peter tries to reassure me, repeating his proposed changes to Tris' security over and over in answer to my increasingly belligerent questions. Eventually, we reach the point where we can't deal with each other anymore, and we sit in agitated silence for the rest of the way. It seems a miserable eternity.

We're both glad when he gets out at Greensburg. He'll supervise the rest of the cleanup while I continue on to Pittsburgh with Tris' new security contingent. I'm not sure how she'll react to having four full-time bodyguards from now on, but at the moment, that number seems far too small to me.

The hospital is relatively quiet. A nurse leads us through the tiled hallways to where she says Tris and Caleb are sleeping. She isn't part of their medical team, so she isn't any help with my questions, but at least she seems to know where she's going. She stops outside a door when a young man with a gun blocks our way.

"Who are you?" he demands, looking between us distrustfully as his index finger hovers over the trigger of his weapon. The guards I brought with me immediately reach for their own guns, but I wave them down. It's clear from his protective posture and rumpled police uniform that this man is here to defend my grandchildren. I certainly don't want him to be shot for that.

"I'm Anna," I tell him. "Tris' grandmother."

He narrows his eyes at me suspiciously, and I carefully extend my identification card, holding it out so he'll have time to examine it thoroughly. But his gaze only flicks to it briefly before returning to us. He's obviously not willing to trust us based just on uniforms and cards. Given what Lauren said about how the abductors disguised themselves in Greensburg, I can't blame him.

"You must be Micky," I continue, keeping my voice calm. "Lauren said she sent you here with Tris and Caleb."

That appears to help, because he relaxes very slightly. His gaze moves over me again, focusing for a moment on my left hand.

"Where's your ring?" he asks abruptly. The question takes me aback.

"The one Tobias retrieved for you," he adds in the same sharp voice.

For a long moment, all I can do is stare. How could he possibly know about that? But nevertheless, it's a form of identification I can provide.

Very slowly, I reach for the chain around my neck, pulling it out and extending the rings for Micky to see.

He takes in the sight for a couple of long seconds before he nods. "Sorry," he says as he lowers his gun. "I just had to be sure."

"Understandable." The side of my mouth quirks upward. "Though I would like an explanation of this a little later," I add as I lift the rings toward him before tucking them back in place against my heart. "After I see my grandchildren."

A small smile shapes his lips as he nods again. "Yeah, that would be fair." He steps out of the way, the light shadowing his face with the movement, and for the first time I realize just how tired he looks. He's probably been guarding the room all night.