Patterson, was a gourmet cook, just one of her many talents that Tully appreciated. They'd sort of been seeing each other officially for several months. Though he wasn't quite sure if she'd agree their relationship was 'official.' They hadn't really declared it as such and he had no idea what criteria had to be met to make it official. Maybe it was just in his own mind. He hadn't been with another woman since his divorce from Caroline. Gwen thought he was doing her a favor by letting them take things slow. Tully let her believe the favor was one-sided. It seemed like the gentlemanly thing to do. Fact was, anything more serious scared the hell out of him.
'He's hungry.' Emma came racing in with Harvey wagging behind her. She didn't wait for Tully. She grabbed the bowl off the counter and presented the food to Harvey, making him go to his designated eating place, telling him to sit and then setting the bowl down.
Yes, she sure did remind him of when she was little, bright eyes and lopsided grin, sitting on the floor next to the dog with knees up, one pink scar showing through the threadbare denim. She looked…happy. Amazing that a dog could do what a father couldn't.
'Is Maggie okay?' she asked.
The question surprised Tully. For one thing it was a grown-up question and he was reminiscing about his little girl. Also Emma rarely asked about anyone unless it somehow concerned her. She wasn't rude, she was just a teenager. That stage where everything and everyone in the world either didn't exist or existed only to revolve around them.
'She'll be okay,' he said. And he knew that was true, despite her panic. Actually Maggie had been good at hiding her panic. No one else probably saw it. He almost wished he hadn't. It didn't seem natural to see Maggie vulnerable.
'So what's up with the special delivery?'
Emma pointed to the bouquet of flowers they had found wrapped neatly in tissue and left at Maggie's front door. It looked to Tully that the local florist knew exactly where to tuck them on the portico, safe from the wind and drive-by viewers, as if the florist was used to delivering to this address. Tully knew Maggie had been getting flowers at Quantico, too. And although she didn't explain or comment, he gathered that she wasn't too happy about the deliveries, but at the same time she didn't seem distressed.
'A secret admirer,' Tully told Emma.
'Oh, so she's not, like, sick and dying or something?'
'No. God no,' Tully said before he caught himself. Then he smiled, trying to defuse any indication in his voice that might have said otherwise. He hoped that wasn't the case, that she was seriously sick. Of course that wasn't the case.
'You said she'd be gone overnight?' Emma wanted to know.
'Yeah, she'll be back tomorrow.' He hoped that was true.
'We're not going to leave Harvey here by himself all night, are we?'
'He'll be okay, sweet pea. He's stayed here by himself before.' But she didn't look convinced. She was petting him as he licked up the last remnants, orange bits of carrot stuck to the black part of his nose.
'If we take him with us it'll save us a trip in the morning to feed him.'
She gave him that look, that 'pretty-please' look.
'And tomorrow's Saturday,' she said.'I'll stay home and watch him.'
'What if your friends call?' He knew she hadn't thought this out. Emma? Home all day on a Saturday? Tully was sure it'd take more than a dog, even a dog she adored, to keep her from hanging out at the mall or going to a movie on a precious Saturday.
'I'll just tell them I can't. That we're doing a favor for a friend. They'll understand. That's what you do for friends, right?' She gave Harvey's neck a hug and the dog's tail thumped against the wall. 'And Harvey and I are buds, right, Harvey? Besides, I don't have school on Monday either. Fall break, remember?'
He liked the idea of having Emma home, though he'd have to see her actually stay home for three days in order to believe it. Next weekend was the wedding and she'd be distracted and gone. But she was right. If they needed to come back it was a forty-minute drive from here to their home in Reston. Tully was pretty sure Maggie would not be released tomorrow, probably not all weekend. He only hoped she didn't realize that.
'That's kinda cool,' Emma said and Tully had no idea what she was talking about until she pointed to the flowers again. 'It's sweet, you know, to have someone send you flowers.' Then she sideswiped him with her follow-up, 'Did you ever send flowers to Mom?'
Tully's cell phone interrupted before he could answer.
He shrugged an apology as he glanced at the phone number but it wasn't one he recognized.
'Agent Tully.'
'So what do you have for me?' a man's voice bellowed.
'Excuse me?'
There was dead air for a few seconds then, 'This is Sloane, for Christ's sake.You called me, remember?'
Tully had left a message for George Sloane earlier in the day. He hadn't worked with Sloane for a while and had almost forgotten about his brusque, rude 'why are you bothering the mighty Oz?' manner.
'And I appreciate the quick call back,' Tully said, getting in his own dig, although he already knew Sloane wouldn't catch it or acknowledge it. Actually it was a cheap dig, really sort of beneath Tully, but something about George Sloane always brought out the worst in Tully. 'Assistant Director Cunningham would like your expert opinion on a special delivery we had this morning.'
'So why isn't Cunningham calling?'
Tully suppressed a sigh and shook his head. It wasn't about protocol with Sloane. It was about entitlement. If prodded he would insist he was important enough to be asked by the top-level people, not a 'grunt like Tully.'
'He's a bit tied up right now,' Tully said and was reminded that he hadn't been able to talk with his boss since morning. He had tried to see Cunningham at USAMRIID. They wouldn't allow it. Seeing Maggie was grudgingly allowed and even then as a sort of consolation prize. He hadn't been able to reach Cunningham by phone, either.
'How soon could you take a look?' Tully asked.
'I've got time right now.'
'Tonight?' Tully saw Emma flinch at the word and wondered how many times he had left her to make her involuntarily flinch at the interruption. 'Where are you?'
'Here at the university.'
Tully watched Emma shove dog food into a plastic container. She was pretending to not listen in. 'He'll need more than that, Em,' he told her. She nodded and started searching the kitchen pantry.
'Oh, I see,' Sloane said and Tully could hear the smirk. 'You have a hot date. I understand.'
'Emma is my daughter, George.'
'Of course, your daughter, Emma. How old is she now? She must be in high school.'
'This is her last year,' Tully said and caught Emma rolling her eyes at him. She hated when he talked about her.
'I have a class at Quantico tomorrow morning at nine. My forensic documents for dummies in law enforcement. I can take a look at Cunningham's stuff before class while the retards are finding their seats.'
Though Sloane was being his snide self Tully was surprised to have him compromising without a challenge. The two of them went back a lot of years and Tully could count on one hand the times George Sloane had cut him some slack. It felt like this time might be because of Emma.
'That'd work great. Thanks, George.'
'I'll see you in the morning.'
Tully closed his cell phone and turned to find Emma staring at him, waiting.
'I'm not going anywhere tonight except home with you, sweet pea,' he told her.
She rolled her eyes like it didn't matter, but the smile was genuine. Harvey, however, was the one who got the hug.
'Help me shut off some of these lights.'
Tully flipped the backyard switch and headed to the entryway to reset the complicated alarm system. He passed a side window and noticed a car parked up the street. He shut off the nearest light and backed up enough to
