“You shouldn’t have been there to begin with,” Wallace sighed. “This was too personal. It still is too personal. And I’m already doing damage control over what happened with Davis in Bermuda. I understand why it happened, but I need to smooth things over with the top brass. Listen, Charlie. Right now, I need you to go home and be with your family.”
“Alright,” I nodded slowly. “You’re right. That’s where I need to be right now.”
“Take as much time as you need,” Wallace clapped me on the shoulder.
“Charlie!” Miranda’s voice called from the door as it swung open. “You’re back. How did everything go?”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Fiona sighed as she stepped into the room. She was looking past me toward the bullpen where Amber was sitting at one of the desks drawing something with Eliza.
“You found her,” Miranda smiled. “I’m so glad.”
She pulled me into a hug, and I could feel some tension in my shoulders slipping away as she did.
“We were just about to go,” I said as she pulled away. “Wallace is booting me off the case.”
“Good,” Miranda smirked. “Go take a break.”
“We’ll handle everything from here,” Fiona smiled warmly.
“Glad to hear it,” I replied.
“Oh, one more thing,” Miranda called as I turned to walk away. “We’re going out partying. Junior and I talked about it earlier. Once everything is wrapped up, we’re hitting Vegas for a night out. I’ll call you when we sort out the details.”
“Okay,” I answered blankly as she flounced away.
“Get some rest, Charlie,” Fiona called as she followed after Miranda.
I smiled as I walked up to Eliza and Amber.
“Hey, are you two ready to head home?” I asked as I looked down at what Amber was drawing. I looked a little like a dog.
“Not yet,” Eliza replied softly. “I think we should head to the hospital to see Harry.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. I would have thought that Eliza would want to rush straight home and never let Amber out of her sight again after what had just happened.
“Yes,” she nodded. “I overheard Junior talking. Dad’s apparently beating himself up with guilt over what happened. I want him to see that Amber’s okay.”
“Alright,” I nodded. Honestly, I felt a little nervous. I still wasn’t sure if Harry blamed me for what had happened to Amber, but I couldn’t avoid facing him forever.
Amber chattered happily all the way to the hospital. It wasn’t until we were standing outside the door to Harry’s room that she suddenly fell quiet and stopped moving.
“Honey?” Eliza looked at her with concern. “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to see grandpa?”
Amber clutched the front of her shirt with her hands and slowly shook her head.
I knelt down to look her in the eye.
“Why don’t you want to see him?” I asked.
“Grandpa got hurt by that man,” she sniffled. It suddenly clicked into place. All this time, I’d been in awe at how well Amber seemed to be handling everything. It had never occurred to me that she was just trying to avoid thinking about what had happened.
“It’s okay,” I assured her. “Grandpa’s right inside, and he’s doing a lot better.”
“Okay,” she nodded confidently.
I smiled at her before pushing the door open. Harry, who’d been watching a football game on the hospital television mounted in the corner of the room, turned at the sound of the door opening.
“Amber!” he gasped.
“Hey, Grandpa,” Amber smiled as she raced toward Harry.
“Oh, be careful, honey,” Eliza scolded gently as Amber attempted to climb onto the bed to give Harry a hug.
“It’s okay,” Harry responded gruffly as he pulled Amber up to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Dad!” Eliza admonished. “You just had surgery. Don’t lift her like that.”
“Oh, stop fussing,” Harry grumbled. “Everyone’s acting as if this is the first time I’ve ever been shot. I was on the force for over thirty years, remember? I’ve had worse injuries than this.”
I was about to comment something about Harry being old, but the quip died on my tongue. I still couldn’t brush away the fear that Harry might be angry with me. He turned to look at me as though he’d sensed I was about to say something.
“What?” he smirked. “No snarky remark about how I look like I’ve been on the force for way longer than that or how my memory is starting to go cause I’m so old? What’s gotten into you?”
“Um, nothing,” I responded dumbly. He’d never scolded me for not being rude to him, so this was entirely new territory for me.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” he sighed. “Will the two of you stop treating me with kid gloves? I’m a grown man. I don’t need my own kids acting like I’m some kind of invalid.”
“Grandpa’s funny when he’s mad,” Amber giggled, breaking the tense atmosphere in the room. “Your nostrils get all wide, and your mouth goes like this.” Amber scrunched up her face in an imitation of Harry’s expression.
“Careful, rugrat,” Harry chided. “Your face is gonna get stuck that way.”
Amber just grinned.
“How are you feeling, Dad?” Eliza prompted.
“Fit as a fiddle,” Harry replied. “I’m ready to get the heck out of here, I’ll tell you that much. What about you?” He eyed Eliza warily, and I wondered how much about her breakdown Junior and Miranda had told him.
“I’m okay,” she smiled sadly. “Or I will be, at least, once I get my little girl back home where she belongs.”
“Well then, what are you doing hanging around here?” Harry huffed. “Get going. Nothing to do here but watch the game on that tiny TV.”
“Are you sure, Dad?” Eliza asked. “We can keep you company for a little longer.”
“I said get outta here,” he shook his head. “You’ve been through a lot. Go home and get some rest.”
“Okay, Dad,” Eliza smiled before leaning over to kiss Harry on the cheek. “Come on, honey, let’s let Grandpa have some rest.”
“Okay,” Amber nodded as she hopped off the bed. “Bye, Grandpa.”
“Bye, Amber,” he smiled at her. “Can I talk
