CHAPTER 22  
       

There were no hospital beds like the one that Carol had awaken in but, that did not mean she could not recognize it as one. After the shoot out that erupted around her, she had found herself unable to move and given the fact that her vehicle had flipped over on it's side and skidded for a good twenty meters, she was lucky that was all that was wrong with her. How many people could say that they  had survived in a vehicle that took a hit from a rocket propelled grenade? When you added in the drugs that the medics gave her, it had left Carol unconscious for some time and, even now, she was not really sure how long that had been, although, she did have an idea. It had been long enough to fly her across the Atlantic. She knew what facility she was at no sooner than she had awakened and was thrilled to be here. Carol hid it anyway.
The reason she kept her emotions under the surface was mostly due to the first face she had expected to see walking in the room, however, that person did not show. An elf did. That was not as much of a surprise as it was a disappointment, of sorts, and like most of their doctors, this elf had less than a pleasant bedside manner. He was a little rough when checking her vitals but, otherwise, Carol knew there was no reason to complain about their professional competence. Of course, she had to ask him in his own language, “I take it I am not going to die?”
The elf was rather unemotional and quite blunt sounding when signed off on his chart and told her, “if you were going to die, you would have already, and would not be asking me stupid questions.” He left without another word.
The conversation left the other person, that came in, not long after the doctor, both surprised and alarmed.  Jeannette Snow even looked somewhat angered when, from her little seat in the corner, she asked in an accusing tone, “you can even speak their language?”
Carol was too groggy right now. She did not really care for having a conversation about her heritage and, besides that, Carol was not entirely sure how much John had told his mother. The less she knew, the safer she would be and, even if John understood that, Carol was all too familiar with Jeannette's ability to pry information out of her son. That was why Carol got up and slid her feet off the bed. Naturally, Jeannette protested but Carol waived that off and then asked the question that was really on her mind, “this is Rosefort, right? Amanda is here?”
“Yes,” Jeannette seemed a little uneasy with her answer and, wasted no time stating why, “she's been in bed a few times herself. She's a tough little girl though. I'm sure...”
“Yes,” Carol said, cutting the woman off. The fact was that if Barnabas had brought Jeannette here then there had to be problems. Carol demanded updates all of the time but, this did not mean that Barnabas or Arthur were inclined to tell her everything. They certainly had failed to mention bringing Jeannette here. They did not even bother asking permission to bring Carol, so, anything was possible. Carol was supposed to be a full member of the board but, with those two old bats, they never seemed to think that anyone's opinions mattered but their own. “I want to see her, now.”
The face that Carol had been expecting showed up. She was not surprised that his timing was impeccable. There is very little doubt that he had been listening to everything in the room. As usual, Barnabas Reilly was smiling and pleasant as he gave Jeannette an excuse to leave. He kept the same expression when he looked at Carol, sitting on the side of her bed, and looking like a complete wreck, “you really should not be getting out of bed this quickly my dear. Your injuries were minor but....”
“If the Americans had not been there, I'm afraid they would have been far more severe,” Carol cut him off with. It led her to another question lingering in the back of her mind, “where is my detail? What happened to my men?”
Reilly paused, and then he carefully stated, “they did their duty.”
That hit Carol in the gut and, for more than one reason. Carol's security were hand picked. It took time to find men that, you were sure, had no allegiances to anyone else. Most of those men were friends of John and, in fact, finding such men were how she had met him in the first place. The simple fact was, there were no more in that category. It would leave Carol handicapped when dealing with others, particularly the man standing in her room, right now. It made her wonder if her detail had been the true target of the attack.
The thought of the target made her ask, “do we know?”
Reilly remained vague, “we know some things.”
“Damn it Barnabas!” Carol snapped. “I was almost killed so don't play this spy master crap with me today! Who was the target?”
Reilly remained his usual passive self and he simply shrugged, “one can never be one hundred percent sure in such matters but, we believe, right now, that you were.” Why would anyone want to kill her? Then, Carol thought about it again, and realized the only people who would were, unfortunately, her own. Barnabas must of have picked those thoughts out of her mind because he quickly changed the subject, “what did Alicia Devon want with you?”
Carol decided to let the other matter go, for the moment, and waived off the man's question, “you should know better than her. The Americans think they have a leak and they were fishing, at least, that was my sense of it. What happened to Alicia?”
“She's fine,” Reilly replied almost as if it were unimportant, “she was injured  more than you. Apparently, from what I have been told, she was on the wrong side of the automobile and was thrown further. The Americans do have impeccable security measures. They got her to serious medical care within minutes of the attack. The last report we received was that she will be back in the White House shortly. I'm not sure her father will let her out of it anytime soon but...”
“But nothing,” Carol had her own agenda, “I want the bastards who did this.”
This did not surprise Barnabas in the least, “naturally.”
Carol finally looked him in the eye and with a grim determination, “you don't get it. I'm not looking for revenge Barnabas. I want them alive.”
That actually seemed to surprise the man, if only a little. It was actually something of a victory for Carol because, in all her life, she had rarely seen him that way. Reilly gave the matter some thought and then politely replied, “you think this has something to do with your father, don't you?”
Since the matter was in the open, Carol put it to him, “you don't think his death was an accident, either, do you?”
That actually drew a short laugh, “I'm surprised you are not accusing me.”
“Who says I'm not,” Carol shot back with no hesitation.
Again, Reilly politely chuckled, “there is much you still have to learn, my dear.”
Carol gave him the same level of indignation in return, “then why not educate me. All my life, I've been told there are not supposed to be any secrets between those of us who sit on the board. I am quickly finding out that this is anything but the case. I know that everyone has their suspicions about my father's death. I know that no one will talk about it but, I also know that it has drawn the attention of outsiders. If it's that obvious then what am I to think?”
Now, it was Reilly's turn to surprise her by saying, “you've been talking to John, haven't you?”
It did not disable Carol as quickly as Reilly had hoped, “that's none of your damn business.”
Reilly was very serious when he replied, “I am afraid it is Carol. Like it or not, John is a security issue and it makes it my business. I did my part in our little arrangement. His family is safe but, you still have to hold up your end.”
Carol did not shrink from that, “this isn't the old days Barnabas. John is no security threat when the secret you are trying to keep is a daily headline on cable news.” After a huff and still with no small amount of red in her cheeks, Carol added, “or is this some arrangement between you and David?”
“Major Cross is an entirely different matter,” Reilly replied with frustration in his voice. He became uncharacteristically loud when he said, “and you are correct in your assertion that this is not the old days. I'm afraid my dear, that the situation is infinitely more complicated now, and far more dangerous than you seem to realize.”
Barnabas had calmed down by the time he reached his study. He had dangled the carrot of Amanda in front of Carol and, as he had hoped, it was enough to ease the tensions. He still had a serious tone when he sat down at his desk and had the communications center place a scrambled call to New York. When Arthur's face popped up on the laptop screen, the man had only one word to say, “well?”
Reilly let out the breath he was holding in, “she doesn't suspect.”
Arthur considered that and then replied, “good, keep it that way.”