PDPDPDPDPDPDPD
"Are you sure that Mr. Mason and Della won't join us tonight?" Lydia questioned as Paul steered the car expertly through traffic.
"I don't think so... Perry just got back into town and Della said they were going to spend the night in since his mom is still here." Paul didn't want to tell Lydia that he hadn't actually spoken to Perry since his return... that the last words the friends had shared had been angry ones.
"But we had such a good time at the Christmas dance... at least until the 'incident'. I'd love to spend more time with them."
"I... there is a lot going on there, Lydia. Perry and Della..."
"It's okay, Paul. I'm not asking you to betray any confidences... I just enjoyed spending time with them."
Paul quickly made a decision and turned left at the next intersection. Perry's apartment was only a few minutes away and with the women present... maybe he could test Perry's mood without getting into another fight.
Wheeling into the parking lot, Paul slammed on the brakes when he was confronted with a sea of flashing lights.
"I wonder what is going on." Lydia queried, not really expecting an answer. But Paul had squealed to a stop by the curb and was already halfway out of the still running car, racing into the building.
Several policemen were milling about the lobby; one of them halted Paul's forward progress.
"Sorry, sir. If you could wait a few moments? There's been an accident and the medics are..."
"WHO?" Paul interrupted, demanding an answer. At that moment a familiar face emerged from the stairwell. "Brice! What's going on?"
"Drake... I'm sorry... it's Miss Street... she's fallen down the stairs..." Sargent Brice made a half-hearted gesture to stop Paul but the brawny detective shoved him to the side and took off up the stairs, taking three at a time. Lydia arrived just in time to hear Brice's words but stayed on the ground floor, a worried look on her face.
"DRAKE!" Arthur Tragg's voice rang out, echoing in the stairwell. The homicide detective moved to stop Paul, both hands gripped solidly on the opposing stair rails. "You can't..."
"Della..."
"Paul," Tragg's voice was softer now. "You've got to let the medics work. Space is at a premium and Della has to be stabilized and moved as quickly as possible."
"She's alive?" Paul breathed a sigh of relief.
"She is... but she's unconscious. It looks like she hit her head very hard... and there is blood... so much blood..."
"Where is Perry?"
"I don't know but Mrs. Mason is on the stairs up there." For the first time Paul noticed Perry's mother weeping above him.
"We're ready to move her, Lieutenant!"
Tragg and Drake flattened their bodies against the wall as two hefty medics maneuvered the stretcher down the stairs, Mina close behind. Paul was stunned at how pale Della was and more than a little angry that Perry wasn't there. He wrapped his arm around Mina's back and she sobbed into his shoulder.
"What happened? Do you know?" He prompted. Mina tried to get control of her emotions as they continued to move but Della was being loaded into the ambulance before she could finally answer.
"I heard a scream. I found her lying there. She has to be okay, Paul."
Lydia moved to embrace the older woman. "She will be, Mrs. Mason. I know she will be." Paul quickly made introductions.
"Perry... we have to find him! He needs to be there."
"Do you have any idea where he was going?"
"He said he had an appointment... He was meeting someone in a quiet bar for a drink and then he would be home."
"Quiet... I know a couple of places he usually goes... I'll get Tragg to take you to the hospital and I'll meet you there as soon as I find Perry." Drake promised the distraught woman.
"Tragg? Are you sure?"
"He's a good cop. Perry respects him... and I think he's half in love with Della..."
"Oh, so that's why he threatened to kill my son."
PDPDPDPDPDPD
Lorenzo's was the third lounge on Paul's mental list and he breathed a deep sigh of relief when he pulled into the parking lot and saw Perry's black Cadillac parked there. Lydia had gone to the hospital with Mina so she wouldn't be alone but Paul couldn't stand not knowing how Della was.
He hurried into the bar, eyes searching, but he couldn't find Perry sitting anywhere. He was headed to check the men's room when he heard the laugh... that fake, affected laugh that made him cringe. Where that laugh was, Laura was. He couldn't believe that Perry was with Laura while Della was...
Following the sound of the laughter, he spotted the couple on the dance floor, Laura pressed indecently against the large attorney. The sight made Paul's blood boil. He stalked purposefully toward them, other couples recognizing his determination and moving out of his way. Placing a hand on Perry's shoulder, Paul whirled him around.
This time the power of surprise was with Paul. "You stupid son of a bitch!" He spat as his fist caught Perry's chin, knocking him to the floor. Laura screamed as Paul turned and stalked out of the bar.
He made it to his car before he heard Perry's voice behind him. "Look, Paul. It isn't what you think. And where the hell do you get off..."
"ME! Where the hell do YOU get off?" Paul was in full attack mode. "How could you ever chose that BITCH over Della? Especially with her lying in the hospital unconscious, maybe dead! Go! Just go back to your girlfriend. I'll take care of Della."
"Hospital? What happened? Paul!" Perry yelled, pounding on the door of the car that Paul had just slammed shut. Gunning the motor, Paul made an obscene gesture at his friend and flew out of the parking lot.
PDPDPDPDPDPDPD
Mina leapt to her feet, disappointment clouding her face when she realized that Paul was walking into the waiting area alone.
"I'm sorry," Paul surprised himself by lying but he couldn't bring himself to hurt Mina, not right now. "I've got all my men out, but I had to check on Beautiful..."
"They haven't told us much." Lydia moved to Paul's side as Mina sank back down in her chair and buried her face in her hands. "They called in her doctor and moved her to obstetrics but they haven't come out to speak to us yet. The nurse said Dr. Cooper and Dr. Harris would be out to talk to us as soon as they could.'
"You know then?"
"Mina told me on the way to the hospital. She had to... she needed someone to talk to. I won't tell anyone."
"I trust you, Lydia. And I can't thank you enough for coming here... for being with Mina. She shouldn't be alone. That jackass of a son should be here..."
Paul... what's wrong?" Lydia could feel the tension in Paul through her palm which lay on his forearm. "You... you did find him, didn't you?"
"I... not here, okay?" He muttered, his eyes still on Mina.
Paul had paced for several minutes before he noticed Arthur Tragg sitting quietly in a chair in the corner, his face set in stone. He raised a questioning eyebrow which Tragg simply returned.
"Mrs. Mason," Paul settled down beside her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. "I know that everything is a jumble but I really need to understand what happened. Can you go through it again? Slowly... try to remember everything... even the smallest little detail. Nothing is unimportant."
Mina lowered her forehead onto her palm. "I heard... I thought I heard someone trying to get in to the apartment. I knew that Della was due there and she would probably have her hands full so I called out to her that I was coming. I walked to the door... but the noise had stopped. Just as I got there and pulled the door open I heard a scream. I knew it was Della."
"So you opened the door?"
"I ran outside. At first I didn't see anything... but I ran down the hall. I saw something... movement at the elevator... a blur of red. I called out but the doors shut. The door next to me was open. It was the stairwell. I heard a moan and looked... Della was on the landing... "
"Okay... that's good. Go back to the elevator. Did you hear the doors open?"
"No... I'm sure I didn't."
"So they were open already. Della had her hands full... she would have ridden up in the elevator. So the blur of red... somebody wearing red probably... they would have had to have seen her fall... or at least heard her scream?"
"Yes... they must have... but no one would do that would they? Who could leave her like that?"
"You saw the person..."
"No, just a flash of red... "
"Clothing?"
"Yes..." Mina's forehead furrowed in concentration. "Red... it was in motion... the hem of a dress maybe... and something metallic... a shoe? Red with a silver heel, possibly. I wish I could remember more. Paul, ignoring Della wasn't a nice thing to do but are you thinking you are going to find this person?"
Paul patted Mina's hand. "I don't know what I'm thinking... I just want to understand what happened. Have you called Mae?"
Mina hurried to the phone booth to do just that, giving Paul a moment to think, that is until Tragg slipped into the chair beside him. "You don't think that person ignored Della, do you? You think that person deliberately pushed Della."
Paul glared at the detective. "Get out of my head, Tragg."
"And you think you know who that person is?"
Paul shook his head but Tragg was dogged. "You tell me or I swear I'll have your license revoked. Have you considered that Della might still be in danger?"
"How did you happen to be at Perry's apartment building and why did you threaten to kill him?"
Tragg harrumphed. "I was on a ride along with Brice when the call came over the radio. I recognized the address. We arrived just in time to hear Mrs. Mason tell the medics that Della was... is... in a delicate condition... The bastard... He took advantage of her."
"They are married."
The detective shook his head. "Before or after?"
Paul gave up. "I found him."
"Then where the hell is he?"
"Nursing an ice pack would be my guess. I decked him."
"Why the hell did you do that?"
"Because I found him dancing with his apparently not so ex-girlfriend."
"Laura... what's her name?"
"Laura what's her name... Laura wearing a red cocktail dress... Laura wearing shiny red shoes with a silver heel..."
Tragg jumped to his feet. "Where were they?"
"Lorenzo's. But it's just a hunch and odds are they have left by now. There's no proof... not until Della wakes up and tells us."
A heavy hand came down on Paul's shoulder. "She WILL wake up, Paul. I'll call HQ and get some uniforms down to put on the door."
The sound of a Bull Moose charging through hallway brought them all to their feet. Perry Mason came bursting into the room. "Where is she?!"
Paul and Tragg turned away but Mina went to her son's side. "She's through there. They will be out soon to tell us something..." Mina was talking to empty space because as soon as she had gestured to the double doors Perry had taken off through them.
PDPDPDPDPD
