Mark Hammon and his assistant shared a brief look with one another before settling their gazes on Sean.
“Why did you bring me here Mark? You know I’m no good with cases like this… I gather intelligence, not hunting serial killers”, Sean reminded the man. “You drafted me off from the anti-terrorist watch team remember?”
“Yes Sean… I did that and for good reason but something else is at play here”, Mark Hammon sighed. “The bodies… the police over at NYPD ran some of the prints and they came back”.
He could feel the bombshell about dropping and it wasn’t going to be easy to take, considering Mark couldn’t even seem good enough to air it immediately.
“Give it to me straight Mark! Don’t hold back on me know!” Sean demanded.
Martha cut right in. “Susan was one of the victims”.
He paused, stared at the lady and nodded as though he had heard but it didn’t mean anything to him. The name definitely made his eyes widened and his lips curl into one of discomfort but he wasn’t about showing it; he wasn’t going to get all soft now because he had heard his ex-wife who left him and ran off got killed.
“Let the police handle it… but thanks for the information though”, Sean upped himself, neglected the file and began walking to the door.
He had barely reached within touching distance of the door knob when the loud bang into the table startled him.
“For Christ’s sakes, Sean, show some respect to the woman!” Mark Hammon yelled. “She was one of us darn it and also your wife!”
Sean flipped around, red faced and barely able to tuck his emotions away. “She was! Was, as in left me and ran away without any explanation or reason as to why she would dent out relationship!”
Martha upped herself from her seat and soon came close within touching distance of the distraught man.
“She ruined my life! She ruined my bloody life and made my career what it is!” Sean raged on. “So, don’t fucking expect me to give a rat’s ass that she got herself clipped by some killer”.
He could hear the harshness in his own tone but considering what he had to go through ten years back, he was far from feeling sorry for her or showing his hurt that something terrible happened to her.
“You cannot keep blaming Susan for your own mishaps son!” Mark Hammon shot back from where he sat. “You started using and you spiraled out of control by yourself after you never even tried contacting or looking for her”.
Martha stepped in between the pair immediately. “No need for heightened tension between you two… you used to be friends… best friends and now, things shouldn’t be any different”.
Sean Stein scoffed, tendered his head towards the ground and toyed with his fists. He couldn’t recall the last time he and Mark had seen themselves as friends. The years had blurred out since his used-to-be best friend became the Director of the CIA and suddenly decided to cut all friendly ties they once shared. It was partly why he had descended into using drugs in the first place too.
“I want nothing to do with her”, Sean closed his eyes, pictured the day she threatened to leave him and how it was the last time they ever spoke again.
His fury raged on and his disgust had no tempering, while he craved and cached to get out of the office as soon as possible.
“She was murdered, Sean”, Martha reached for his face with her hand. “Your wife was murdered and we believe it happened because she might have caught up on something”.
The all-too-certain expression on Martha’s face almost made Sean burst into laughter. He knew she was good at bearing the best emotional expression for the occasion but even he was left baffled about how good she was.
“You two can concoct whatever you want but I’m leaving”, Sean mused and headed for the door, yanking it open and feeling the fresh air of freedom slap him in the face.
Mark Hammon had gotten up from his seat now, fuming and clench fisted as he yelled, “She was with child when she left! She was with your child!”
Sean froze and felt his hand tighten around the door knob before his knees felt weakened and his stomach sunk farther down. Mark Hammon could be a trickster to get whatever he wanted from people when he found bluntness not working but this was another level.
“You lying piece of shit!” Sean Stein turned back around, lunged towards Mark Hammon with clenched fists but found Martha interceding as she stood in between them both.
“He is telling the truth! He speaks the truth! she reiterated his words “Susan was with child but she didn’t want us telling you until you got your drug addiction shit together… we assumed she left the agency because she needed the fresh start, which was her wish”.
He could barely believe his ears and his widened eyes told just that.
“She worked for you and you’re telling me you never even bothered to know what happened to her when she left?” Sean looked perplexed. “You two knew about the baby and never told me?”
He couldn’t tell just how betrayed he felt but something within him had sapped and he wished he could vent his frustrations out somehow.
“Susan made us promise to leave her alone and for a while she responded to our messages before she stopped and we assumed she left the country which was what she intended doing in the first place”, Martha explained. “This comes as a shock to us and it is why we brought you in”.
Sean continued to gawk at them both with utmost discomfort. His pale face, absent of strength and words to spill only showed just how much he felt for the woman and how he still
