Distressed: Enemy Of The State- Book 1 (14 page)

Dylan awoke with a stiff soreness in his leg that seemed to quickly spread to the rest of his body. He looked down at the tubes and wires attached to him and the thin hospital gown that covered him. When he moved his left arm, it was suddenly pulled back, and he noticed the cuffs around his wrist.

The heart monitor beeped faster as Dylan looked around the room. Another empty bed was to his left along with a curtain and a window that had its blinds drawn. Through the window in the door, he saw the shoulder of a police officer. “Hey.” His voice cracked and barely left as a whisper. He cleared it then tried again. “Hey!” He jangled the cuffs around his wrist, and the officer turned to look back then motioned for someone to enter.

It was Cooper. “Good to see you awake.”

“Sean. Where’s—”

Cooper held up her hand. “He’s fine. He’s down the hall, with Mary and Peter.”

Dylan rested his head back onto the pillow, the pain in his body numbing. “Do they… Have they watched the news?”

“They don’t know your involvement other than you helped save Sean,” Cooper answered.

But it wouldn’t be like that for much longer. Once the charges were filed and he was thrown behind bars, his children wouldn’t be hidden from those truths forever. “I want to see them.”

“You will, but the attorney general wants to change a few items on your deal. There’s been a few developments.”

“I don’t care. I’ll sign whatever he wants. Just let me see my kids.”

Cooper nodded then unlocked the cuffs around his wrist. “I’ll bring them in.”

Dylan sat up and tried to get out of bed, but his leg wouldn’t have it. He fidgeted anxiously, and when the door opened and both Sean and Mary stepped in, his eyes itched, reddened, and his throat caught. They sprinted to him on the bed and jumped up and wrapped their arms around him. It felt like his leg was going to explode, but the pain was worth it. “Are you guys okay?”

Mary pulled her head back and smiled, but Sean kept his face buried in Dylan’s chest. He kissed the top of his son’s head, and he felt the boy start to weep. His small body vibrated against Dylan’s chest. Dylan squeezed him tighter. “It’s okay, son. You’re safe now. I promise.”

Dylan looked over to Cooper, who gave a smile then disappeared, leaving him alone with his children. He wasn’t sure how much longer he had with them, but he was going to savor every second of it.

***

Cooper made her way into the makeshift conference room where Moringer, the director of Homeland, and the director of the FBI waited for her. She closed the door behind her and tossed the folder onto the table. “He’ll do whatever we need him to. He’s just happy the kids are safe.”

“Good,” Moringer replied.

The Homeland director knocked the folder off the desk in a fit of anger. “How did this happen? Did he even know what he had? Did he even realize what it was?” He jumped up from his chair and stormed over to the window.

“No one knew what we had,” Moringer said.

The table was scattered with papers stamped Confidential and Prototype. Cooper picked up some that had fallen and restacked them. “How much time do we have?”

“There’s no way to know,” the Homeland director said. “The Navy said that the prototype is functional but hasn’t been fully tested.”

“So it may not even work?” Moringer asked.

“No, it’ll work.” The Homeland director turned from the window, hands on his hips and his body sagging in defeat. “Perry now has the ability to control every nuclear arsenal in the continental United States. And god knows what he’ll do with his finger on the trigger.”

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