Las Vegas Savior
Chapter 24

They sat down and ate the delicious breakfast that had been delivered on heated plates. Afterwards, John called down and let the manager know that they were ready to check out and he directed them to take the elevator to parking level 2. Their car would be waiting for them.

John was especially thankful for the tinted windows on the SUV as they pulled away from the hotel. There had to be every news service in town camped out in front of the hotel but John knew they would not be able to tell who was in the car so he pulled out and headed straight for the local FBI office.

They walked inside, hand in hand and Commander Standish saw them coming. He smiled as he watched them walk up the sidewalk. “Looks like they finally figured it out.”

John led Emily to a room and waited until Agent Harris came to take her statement. “Well you certainly look a lot better this morning. I take it you got a good nights’ sleep?” Commander Standish smiled at her.

“Oh yes. The Hilton’s beds are so comfortable. Nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in.”

“I’m going to go file my report. Wait here and I’ll be back.” John said.

Commander Standish told her “Come with me and I’ll have someone take your official statement.”

“Okay.” Emily said. For the next hour, Emily related everything that had happened that night three years ago in as much detail as she could remember as well as what had happened since she had arrived in Las Vegas.

John didn’t take long to file his report and he even called Commander Jim Foster and asked him how much leave time he had left.

“Well, we owed you 7 weeks and you took 2 over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays so I would say 5 weeks. Are you thinking about a honeymoon?” Jim Foster teased.

“Not yet. There’s got to be a wedding first and I want her to have whatever kind of wedding she wants whenever she wants it. I just need to get her settled in somewhere first. My apartment is definitely too small for two people and I can’t afford to pay rent on two but she’s out of work right now.

I am going to try to convince her to move to Sacramento because I definitely don’t want to live in Seattle. Too rainy there for me.” John seemed to be thinking out loud and hadn’t realized it until Jim laughed in his ear. Then John realized he was still on the phone with his boss, who also happened to be one of his best friends. “Will you stand up with me when we do?”

“Proud to, John.” Jim said. “I’m looking forward to meeting her. Are you going to come back here or stay in Vegas for a while?”

“I’m not sure. As soon as we are done here, we’ve got some talking to do but I’ll definitely let you know.” John said and then hung up.

As he put down the phone, Jim had a sinking feeling that he was going to lose one of his best agents. He knew that the FBI had not been John’s first pick of careers and he wondered if he would choose to stay or go on to do something safer now that this new woman was in his life. He would just have to wait and see but wished his friend all the best no matter what he chose to do.

John walked back down the hall to where Agent Harris was taking Emily’s statement and found Commander Standish standing outside the room, watching through a two way mirror. “She’s been through an awful lot, hasn’t she?” Commander Standish said when John came to stand next to him. “Does she know that Grier was the one who killed her father?”

“Yeah, she knows.” John told him.

“I looked into her records. Looks like Grier wasn’t the only one that made her life hell. Her schools reported to CPS many times on her and her family’s behalf but their mother never would press charges so there was nothing they could do. I wonder who it was that ended that hell for her or did she just get old enough to get out of the house?”

“From what she told me, it was her brother, Jake. He finally got old enough and big enough to give the old man back some of what he had been dishing out.” John told him.

“Where’s her brother now? Why didn’t she go to him when all this started?”

“He’s in the Navy and is overseas. Emily hasn’t had any contact with him since she went on the run. I don’t even think she knows where he is or how to get in touch with him.”

“Oh and by the way, we found out who the leak was from the Seattle PD. It was Sergeant Sanderson. He was the desk Sergeant that was on duty the night she ran to report what Grier had done. Simpson kept her whereabouts secret for weeks but Sanderson finally found out. Sanderson had been the duty officer the night Grier found out where she was and when he scheduled the officer to cover her. Sanderson has been arrested since he basically got that young officer killed.”

“Well, I’ve talked to my commander and he’s agreed to let me take some more of my leave. I’m hoping to talk Emily into moving to Sacramento because I really don’t want to move to Seattle.”

“Do you have family in Sacramento?” Aaron asked.

“No, sir. Just my job but to be really honest with you, I’m thinking about changing careers.” John admitted and saw Aaron’s eyes get wide. “Or at the very least, giving up being an agent and going back to what I did when I first got involved with the FBI.”

“Which was?” Aaron asked.

“I taught the defensive driving course for new agents and worked as a mechanic keeping their cars running.” John admitted.

“No kidding?” Aaron asked. “How would you feel about living in Vegas?”

“Haven’t ever considered it. Why? Do you need a mechanic?” John chuckled, thinking that Aaron was joking.

Just then they saw Agent Harris stand up and shake hands with Emily and turn towards the door. He opened it to replace them standing on the other side. “All done. I’ll just get this typed up and will turn it in to you, Commander. Good luck, John. You’ve got yourself one very special and brave lady there.”

“I know.” John said as he shook hands with Agent Harris.

“Think about it, John and give me a call when you two decide.” Aaron said and left them alone.

“Can we go now?” Emily asked.

“Sure. Where would you like to go?” John asked.

“To get my car, first of all. Then you did say this is a fun city. How about we go and have some fun?” Emily asked.

“Sure!” John said.

“Can I use the bathroom first?” Emily said.

“Sure. Do you remember where it is?” John grinned. “I’ve got a phone call to make too so I’ll wait for you here.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.” Emily said and walked down the hall.

John pulled out his cell phone and found his parents number in his contacts list and hit the call button. His mother answered on the 2nd ring. “Hello?”

“Hi mom. Are you guys going to be home today?” John asked.

“Yes. Your dad doesn’t have therapy until tomorrow afternoon. Why? What’s up?” His mother, Peggy, asked.

“I want to bring someone to meet you.” John answered.

“You’re still in Vegas? I thought you were due to go back to work a couple of days ago?”

“Well, I’ve been working but here in Vegas. I’ll explain it all later and I’m not sure what time we will get there but we’ll be stopping in later.” John said.

“Okay, son. We’ll be home but I don’t understand what all the mystery is about.” His mother said.

“Look, I’ve got to run but I’ll see you soon.” John said and then hung up just as Emily came back down the hall.

“So where to, handsome?” Emily asked with a quick kiss on his cheek.

“Well, first we need to go shopping and then I thought we’d take a ride out and see the Hoover Dam and then we’d go see my folks. I’d like for them to meet you and you to meet them.” John said, hoping it wasn’t too soon to be introducing her to his parents.

“Oh then we definitely need to go shopping because I don’t have nice enough clothes to be meeting your parents in. Oh, I wish I had my clothes from my closet in Seattle. I just hope the storage company packed stuff properly. None of it will fit for a while, unless I alter them. I’ve lost so much weight in the past three years.”

“Well, I think the dress I bought for you would be just fine but we can get you something new if you want.” John said.

“Okay. But you have to promise to come with me to Portland to meet my sister. Oh I wish I knew how to get in touch with Jake.”

Aaron came out of his office just then and quickly walked down the hall towards them. “Oh, I’m glad I caught you before you left.” He said and handed Emily a piece of paper. “I found out where your brother, Jake, is currently stationed. Here’s the address where you can write him and the phone number. But I warn you, the connection is not the best and they are on a different time. You’ll have to call the operator to put you through and she can tell you what time it is there.”

“Oh, thank you, Commander!” Emily said and went up on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek which caused him to blush bright red.

“Glad I could help. Family is important.” Commander Standish said, not knowing what else to say.

Emily had a huge smile on her face as she waved to him then she and John walked down the hall to the garage area. They got all of their things out of the SUV and put it back in Emily’s car. She tucked her weapons away and then handed John the keys with a smile. “You know where we are going.”

John drove them to the mall and they walked through, mostly window shopping but John enjoyed watching her. She was a different person when she didn’t have to hide and she was even more delightful.

He sat and waited as she tried on several outfits, coming out to model each one for him. He liked them all but the last one she came out in was a simple sleeveless, black dress with a V neckline in a kind of velvety material that showed her legs off from the mid thigh to the ankle that he liked best. It was fitted to show her figure off to its best. John had to lift his ankle onto his other knee and put a package on his lap to hide the hard-on that appeared in the front of his pants almost instantly.

“Well, that’s kind of dressy for going to meet my folks in but it sure does look good on you. I also liked the blue one that you tried on a couple of outfits before this one.” John said as he stood up to walk around her and then put his hands on her hips and pulled her close for a kiss.

Emily couldn’t believe how fast things had changed overnight but she was loving it!

She ended up with two new outfits with shoes to match the black evening dress. Her sandals would look good with the blue outfit that John liked.

They wandered through the mall and John couldn’t remember ever having enjoyed shopping more. Seeing her happy and carefree made him happy.

“Come on, lets’ get some hotdogs and then go see the Dam.” John said. They walked down to the food court and had a quick lunch and then drove out to the Hoover Dam. They walked along, playing tourist. John bought Emily a dream catcher and convinced her to try on some of the turquoise rings and while she didn’t replace one that she liked, he did get her ring size, which had been his goal all along.

Before they left the dam, Emily went into the ladies room and changed into the blue outfit they had bought at the mall. John complimented her as he took her pack and carried it back to the car. “You look very pretty but then like I said before, you would look good in a gunny sack.” He said as he put her pack in the trunk of her car.

“Oh, honey, flattery will get you a long way!” Emily said as she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. They were standing in the parking lot and Emily didn’t give a rats’ ass about who might see them as she pressed herself up against John. “Thank you for one of the best days I’ve had in a very long time!”

“Good lord woman. You are going to make me embarrass myself right here where everyone can see if you keep that up.” John said and pulled her hips closer so that she could feel his desire for her.

Emily grinned up at him. “Now, we can’t have you going to visit your parents like that.” She said as she pulled away and let him turn away. She giggled and ran to get in the car and he did the same.