“Ten minutes. If you would like to change, I brought clothing. It’s in the back,” she answered, already dialing.

She had standby clothes?

Mel nodded, taking off her seatbelt as she climbed into trunk of the car.

“Seriously? How un-first-lady-like?” I grinned, looking back at her.

“Shut the fuck up, you Irish asshole and keep your eyes forward.”

“Why? I’ve seen it all before?” She smirked. “We wouldn’t want our driver peeking, would we?” My eyes narrowed at the man behind the steering wheel. At her words, he visibly tensed. She knew I would watch him like a hawk, which would stop me from staring at her.

I would have to make her pay later on tonight.

MELODY

“The Chicago Police Department is important to the wellbeing of this city. My husband and I do not want our men and women in uniform to worry about the medical bills or their livelihoods after protecting us. It is my great honor to present this check for nineteen million dollars to our commissioner and superintendent, Officer Patterson.” I smiled into the cameras that stood in the ER wing of St. John’s Hospital. Officer Patterson glared at me with a mixture of hate, anger, and disgust. But he took the money anyway.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Callahan,” he said, practically sneering through his teeth. “I’m sure this will help the families who lost love ones and those injured, overwhelmingly so.”

Liam smirked beside me. “It was such a tragedy. Those old factories should be checked. Aren’t they also known for their crime? Are the police looking into this?”

Commissioner Patterson opened his mouth, but the reporters heard Liam’s questions and jumped on him.

“Commissioner Patterson, is this going to be one of the things you plan on fixing in Chicago?”

“Commissioner, is there going to be an investigation?”

“Is it true your house was also destroyed?”

“Rumor has it that this was a terrorist attack?”

“Did this have anything to do with your investigation of Flight 735?” That caught my attention, and Liam’s apparently because his jaw tightened.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a hospital, and we do not want to bother any of the patients that are here in need of medical attention,” Commissioner Patterson told them all as politely as he could.

A doctor stepped forward as the reporters fanned out. She looked almost star struck as she stared into Liam’s eyes.

Could she still be a doctor if I cut off her hands?

“Mr. Callahan, I’m Dr. Amy Lewis, thank you so much for the donation. Your family has been so kind to the patients of this hospital as well as the staff. It would be our honor to show you around. I’m sure the victims of this accident would love to meet you,” she gushed, while I tried not to vomit in my mouth.

“I don’t believe that would be a good idea,” Commissioner Patterson stated, causing the whole staff to look at him like he was crazy . . . most likely because he was.

“It’s been a difficult couple of days. They may need their rest.”

“I assure you, we are doing or best for every patient her,” Dr. Lewis replied, but only because she wanted to spend more time with my husband.

Stepping in front of Liam, I smiled like I was in a fucking Crest commercial. “Of course, I would love to meet them. Sweetheart, do you have time?”

Liam raised an eyebrow at me. “Anything you wish, my love.”

Dr. Amy Lewis looked like she came in her scrubs at the sound of his voice. I wonder if I can smash her head in?

“Where are we going first?”

She seemed startled by my voice, as if she had forgotten I was still here. I felt my hand slide to the back of my pants toward my knife when Liam grabbed me, pulling me into his arms.

“Control yourself, love,” he hissed into my ear.

Taking a deep breath, we followed the stupid bitch as she led us toward another part of the hospital.

“This is our burn unit where many of the officers are being treated,” she replied, moving down the hall as if she were putting the men on display.

I wasn’t sure what it was that made me stop in front of one of the officer’s rooms. Maybe it was all the flowers, cards, and balloons. Or maybe it was the small girl who sat in her mother’s lap, laughing with her burned father that did it. The side of his face was wrapped in bandages along with both of his arms, but he was still alert.

Stepping in, the family froze and looked to us.

“Officer Pope, this is Mr. and Mrs. Callahan. As of a few moments ago, they have paid off all your bills,” Dr. Amy-what’s-her-face stated, joyfully.

The woman in the chair broke out into sobs before running up and giving me a hug. I was not a hugger. However, I couldn’t be myself.

“Thank you so very much. You have no idea how much this means to my family,” she cried, stepping back to adjust herself and pick up her daughter.

“Anything to help. I can’t imagine the life you live,” I said softly. “Always worrying if your husband will get wounded, or even worse. It’s the least we can do.”

“Thank you. Really, thank you.” She wiped her face, turning to her daughter. “Tell Mrs. Callahan, thank you, sweetheart.”

The small girl hid behind her hair. “Thanks.”

“Let’s go tell Grandpapa the good news,” she replied, looking back to her husband for a moment, who nodded slowly.

“There’s that first lady,” Liam whispered, kissing the back of my head and handing me a cup of coffee.

“Mr. and Mrs. Callahan,” Dr. Amy, the whore, called out.

“Liam, I will stay,” I told him. He gave me an odd look before exiting with the rest of them.

Officer Pope simply glared at me, and I knew he had an idea of who we really were underneath the public mask.

“I have no idea why people choose to become police officers.” I frowned, looking over his burnt skin, half of his face was basically melted off.

“Someone has to put people like you away,” he struggled to say.

Raising an eyebrow, I smiled. “That’s never going to happen, and if it were, it wouldn’t be you. I’ve seen better looking beef jerky.”

“I could have a wire,” he hissed out, and I rolled my eyes while reaching over to push on his wrapped skin. He cried out softly.

“You don’t have a wire, and even if you did, I have a frequency jammer. If that didn’t work, then I would kidnap your family until you confess to tampering evidence to falsely arrest me.” I wasn’t an idiot, and after all, we were in a hospital full of cops.

His eyes narrowed. “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? Don’t you have guilt? Or are you all just heartless, cold-blooded snakes? Your drugs kill dozens of people in this city alone, just in one week. God knows how many people die in this country just so you can make a buck. You all are sick. How the hell do you sleep at night?”

“Who did you lose?” I asked him, taking a sip of my coffee. His words didn’t bother me.

“You don’t give a damn.”

“Nope, not at all.” I smiled. “You see, you’re blaming me for something that isn’t my fault. Do you blame a bartender for giving someone a drink? No, because he is supplying a demand. No one is forcing anyone to do or take anything. Whoever died, it was on them and their family. They should have gotten their shit together. Their family should have stood by them. Instead, you look for someone to blame.”

“You must be fucked up in the head to think like that. There ain’t any justification for what you people do,” he snapped, looking away. “You insult us more by pretending you’re good Catholic folk. You don’t care about God. I don’t think you even believe in Him.”

“I do. I care about God, and I do believe in Him.” I really did. “However, I know why I was created. God needs me. What would happen if there weren’t people like me? If the world were perfect, if everything was the way you wished it to be, then why would you pray? God needs me, because without us, you forget about Him. He is on my side, not yours.”