Chapter 41 It's only Words
The sound of someone calling his name made Jesse look up from the work he was doing on the index finger of a very green looking fisherman. The hook, which had imbedded itself and then protruded out of the other side of that finger, was now lying in a metal dish and Jesse was carefully stitching up the two wounds.
"I'm in here, Mark." He looked up for a second and saw his friend moving towards the sound of his voice and, with a smile, carried on with what he was doing. "I won't be a minute, I'm almost finished." The tousled blonde head was lowered over his work and Mark stood in the doorway watching the total concentration his young friend exuded as he carefully, and neatly, tied off the thread and then relaxed. "Ok, just a tetanus shot and we're done."
"Jesse, I think I'll get someone else to take care of that for you." Mark knew that the news he had to impart needed to be given right away. He had been worried by what Steve had told him, and the time, which seemed to pass so quickly, worried him even more.
"Oh, right." Jesse was troubled now, he didn't like the tone of Mark's voice and he looked around for another doctor to come and take over from him. "Wil, could you help?" The sight of his friend and colleague, as he crossed the main reception area of the ER, was a welcome one and Jesse breathed a sigh of relief, even though he had no idea yet what was wrong.
"Sure, no problem, I didn't want a coffee and donut anyway, they're bad for you."
"I owe you one. There's just a tetanus shot to give here and then sign this gentleman out." Jesse didn't even wait to hear Wil's reply, he could tell that Mark was very worried about something and he knew that he was going to feel that way himself very soon.
ooo
The sound of sirens gradually intruded into the silence of the kitchen at Callum Edwards' home. No words had been spoken since the improvised treatment for Rae had finished, now though, Steve crouched down and gently laid his hand against her neck, feeling for, and finding, a pulse, faint but there and then he took the gun from her holster and pushed it into his belt on the back of his pants.
The movement seemed to spur Callum into action and he began to speak. "She shot your partner, I … I can't believe it, I'm sorry, Lieutenant." He had moved over to stand next to the still form of his wife, not really wanting to, but feeling that he should. She had drifted off into unconsciousness while they had been treating Rae but Steve hadn't really taken the fact in. The shock in Callum's voice was evident and Steve realised that he believed the young man.
"I'm sure you are." Steve answered the man, but he had no interest in the conversation, nor did he want to extend it. Rae was, quite probably, dying in front of him, right now nothing else mattered.
"You … you knew we'd been away, you were checking on us, it never occurred to me that … that we would be … watched."
"Of course we checked, it's what we do." Steve didn't even turn his head, keeping his eyes on his partner the entire time, trying not to listen to the raggedness of her breathing.
"I guess it is. I've never been involved with the police before. Well, apart from a couple of parking tickets and wondering whether to join them when I left college." Callum paused to think for a moment, he knew he was babbling, but he was scared, this was his home, things like this didn't happen in your own home. "What happens now? To Lina I mean. You arrested her, but she can still go to the hospital can't she?"
"Yes, she'll go in a separate ambulance, and have a guard on her door. Once she's well enough she'll be taken down town, arraigned and jailed. Mr. Edwards, she tried to murder a police officer, which is a federal offence." Steve closed his eyes for a moment, he knew that Melina Edwards might yet have succeeded and killed his partner.
There was a loud banging on the door at that moment, and Steve, his gun back in his hand, made his way towards it.
"Police, open up!"
"This is Lieutenant Sloan, LAPD, lower your weapon."
"Let me see some ID." The voice was closer now and Steve re-holstered his weapon before taking his wallet out of his pocket and moving nearer to the front door.
"I'm gonna open the door, just a little and pass you my wallet." He did just that and there was a pause, which, Steve knew, was the checking process and then the voice spoke again.
"Ok, you can open the door all the way now, Sir."
Steve did as he was told, making sure that both his holstered gun and his badge were in plain view of the very young man standing with his own weapon now trained into the house. "Officer, the scene is secure, but I need medical assistance. I've called for ambulances; you need to make sure they're let straight through."
"Yes, Lieutenant."
"I'll need an escort for a prisoner to the hospital and then guard duty round the clock. I'll go with my partner."
"Your partner is injured, Sir?"
"Yes, my partner is injured, which is why I called officer down!" Steve could hear the anger in his voice and tried to push it away.
"I'm sorry, Sir." The young man touched his cap, but Steve just glared at him, he didn't have time for small talk.
"Don't worry about it." The sound of further sirens caught Steve's attention and he moved outside the door, nodding to the other cop standing on the driveway, listening and scanning the area at the same time.
"Lieutenant, the ambulances just arrived."
Resisting the urge to say he could actually see that for himself Steve breathed a sigh of relief and watched as the first gurney was pulled from the back of one of the vehicles.
ooo
Jesse sat in traffic and tried, unsuccessfully, to reduce his panic to bearable levels. He knew that he had worried Mark, had caused him concern, when he was already trying not to over-react himself. As the vehicle in front of him inched forwards, maybe twelve to eighteen inches, Jesse found himself back in the doctors' lounge, trying not to yell at his friend to get him to tell him what the matter was before he closed the door.
"Jesse, Steve just called me from Santa Barbara."
He had known instantly who he needed to worry about. "Rae … Rae went to Santa Barbara with him today, Mark, what's happened?" He could hear the hysterical edge to his voice, but could do nothing to reduce it.
"I don't know, not exactly, but Rae has been shot."
The room had seemed to move away from Jesse as he registered what his friend said to him. "No … no, not again … it can't happen … it was just words, she said it … was … only words." Jesse had backed away from Mark, as far as he could until the outside wall of the building had stopped his momentum.
"Jess?" The puzzlement had been apparent in Mark's voice but Jesse had ignored him.
"My fault … the words, they make it my fault … why, Mark? I believed her, I … almost believed her, and I told her … everything and now this … Oh, God, now this." He had slid down the wall, having to move, having to do something, and when he reached the floor Jesse had wrapped his arms around his head, wanting the feelings, the worries, everything to go away and leave him alone, but knowing that they wouldn't.
"Jesse!" The voice had shocked him because it was one he hadn't expected to hear and he wondered briefly how long he had been sitting there.
"I hope you don't mind, but I called Lauren, I figured she could help you if you would let her." Mark hadn't known how Jesse would react to the news he had to give him, Jesse had seen that in his eyes, but to have invited his counsellor was the best thing he could have done, because she understood, he had told her things he couldn't tell even Mark, and after the elder man had quietly left the room Lauren had crouched down in front of Jesse and taken him into her arms.
"This isn't your fault … I know …" She had changed her tone of voice, and instead of interrupting as he had wanted, Jesse had remained silent, "you told Rae, and now she's hurt, but the two are not connected. This morning you would have known that, right now you have to believe it, believe it, get in your car and go to her, because there isn't anyone else in the world that she needs as much as you. Even the surgeons can't give her what you can, do you understand that?"
Jesse had looked up, he felt as if he was trying to battle his way out of a thick fog and he remembered the relief he had felt when Rae had found him in the ruins of the garage and as he did so he realised that what he could give her was similar to what she gave him and he nodded.
"I know, I really do know, but … but."
"There are no buts, Jesse, Mark told me what happened, I know it's serious, and you need to be on your way. If you want I can drive you up there myself, I happen to have some free time today to try and cope with my paperwork, but I would happily put that aside if you think you can't manage on your own or I know that Mark or Amanda would offer too."
He had smiled, the idea of travelling with someone else was a welcome one, "I'll ask them, if you don't mind, it'll … it'll help Steve too."
Lauren had joined him in the smile, carefully let go of him, and stood up. "That's fine, but you tell Rae I'm pulling for her, ok?"
"Jesse, do you want me to take the next exit and go another way?" Amanda's voice was soft and gentle and Jesse turned towards it.
"Yes, yes, that would be good, I … I don't want to be too late. I can't be … mustn't be … we need … I …" He knew that he was jabbering, making no sense, but the words had kept coming and he had begun to look around for a map, not stopping until Amanda placed her hand on his arm.
"Shhh, I know the way, I've driven to Santa Barbara lots of times, you close your eyes, there are about ten, fifteen cars to the next turnoff, and once we get there I'll cut across country. It's a little longer, but I don't think it will take any more time than sitting in this.
"Thank you, and you're sure that Ron is ok to have the boys?"
"Jesse, we're getting married in three weeks, if he can't cope with them alone by now then he's not the man I think he is." She smiled, even in this tense situation, the prospect of her wedding filled her heart with happiness.
"We have a dress fitting at the end of the week."
"Good grief, however do you know that?" Amanda was amazed and she knew she sounded it.
"Rae wrote it on the calendar and I saw it there this morning."
"Ah, I knew it wouldn't be something you remembered all by yourself." Amanda chuckled, she wanted to keep the conversation light, the hold up in their journey was both annoying and frustrating, but it could be worse than that. Mark had told her how Rae had been shot in the chest and the procedure that had been done as he relayed it to Steve down the phone. She knew that any delay could be deadly and had been praying silently, since she heard the news, that her friend would cheat death once again.
Two cars in front of her suddenly pulled onto the hard shoulder and sped for the exit ramp and, mentally crossing her fingers, Amanda followed them. She knew that if she were stopped she could explain her actions away, but nothing happened, no sirens suddenly split the air, and, letting go a huge sigh, she turned onto the road for Santa Barbara and pushed her car to the maximum speed allowed.
ooo
The waiting room in the Santa Barbara Citizens Hospital was neither as friendly nor as comfortable as the doctor's lounge at Community General. Steve had been sitting on a very hard chair for over an hour and he wished with all his heart that he was anywhere but where he actually was.
He had called Jo and she was going to pick the girls up from Sally, wondering as he did so whether Daniel was behaving himself at school. Jo hadn't said anything so he guessed that so far the boy must have been feeling better about things. Steve purposely hadn't mentioned Debbie, knowing that whatever she had spent her time doing that Monday, Jo wouldn't have liked it and he didn't think he could cope with hearing about it at the moment.
Steve let his mind go back over the weekend that had just passed. The way that Rae and Jesse had been together, almost like old times. He knew that Jess had been struggling for a long while, but seeing him laugh and joke and enjoy the company of his friends again had made him realise just how much he missed the old Jesse. They didn't seem to do very many things together any more, even their shifts at Bob's never matched. He would change that, as soon as Rae was out of danger, he and Jesse could get together and just enjoy each other's company again.
For a minute Steve thought about Rae, he had stood helplessly by as she had been checked over rapidly and then very carefully and gently placed on a backboard, her neck and spine immobilized until the full extent of her injuries were known. The journey following the ambulance had been almost surreal and part of him had expected the trip to end in the familiar bay at Community General, which it obviously hadn't. But the strangest part was being an outsider in a hospital, no one knew either himself or his partner, she was just a number, and he wasn't even that. He realised how lucky he had been over the years to not only have had a dad who was a doctor but also a hospital to go to where he was known and liked. The thought made Steve smile, he didn't usually wonder or worry whether people liked him or not, but he realised that the vulnerability of being injured was helped immeasurably by knowing that those around you had some sort of connection to you.
"Excuse me, Sir, are you Lieutenant Steve Stone?" A voice startled Steve and he looked up sharply, noticing as he did so the eight or ten other people in the room who had all looked up as well.
"Sloan, Lieutenant Sloan."
"Oh, sorry, they must have misheard you; you're here with Reagan Yeager?"
"Yes, how is she?" Steve was on his feet now, and he crossed the small room in two strides."
"She's going into recovery, it will be about an hour or two before you can see her, she still needs x-rays and tests, but Doctor Perry wanted to know whether there would be anyone staying with her." The nurse wasn't sure how much more to say and so she paused.
"Her husband is driving up from LA, but I'll stay, I'll stay until I know she won't be by herself … Nurse, if Doctor Perry doesn't want her to be alone, well, it's not good, is it?" Steve swallowed his fear, the job was dangerous, but they both knew that, right now though, the thought of his partner being so ill without Jesse near her was what frightened him the most.
"No, Sir, but I can't say anything more, not unless you're her next of kin."
"I'm her partner, her husband is my best friend, but no, I'm not her next of kin." Steve sat heavily into the, thankfully empty, chair nearest to him as the realisation that however close he and Rae were there was nothing he could do, other than just be there for her.
"Sir, as soon as she's settled into ICU I'll come and find you myself, but if her husband is here by then, well, you may not both be allowed in." The young nurse had watched the handsome man in front of her as he seemed to wilt. She was worried about him, but she had a feeling that any show of concern would only make matters worse.
"Thank you, I understand that, but thank you anyway. I'm going to go outside, just for a while, I have calls I need to make, but I'll come back here, ok?" Steve tried a smile, wasn't very successful and gave up.
"Yes, Sir, that's fine." The young woman smiled herself and left the room, and Steve, not really knowing what else to do, let his eyes follow her until she turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
ooo
Dominic sat on his bed and smiled. He couldn't believe his good fortune. The second interview he had attended had been for a holiday courier to travel across the country taking parties of middle-aged couples to the main tourist attractions of America. He wasn't a fool, and he knew that a job where there wouldn't be any beautiful blonde- haired women around would be a definite bonus for a while. And there were always women in every town and city in the world that would fall for his charms, would want a date with him, and he would have little trouble keeping himself amused in his off hours.
The first tour, which had been due to start with a young man called Justin working on it, began in two days time. Dominic had no idea what had happened to Justin, and he really didn't care, but the short notice which the man had given to the company had also given him his new job and so he silently thanked the now ex-employee of Aztec Tours and Excursions.
He wouldn't give up the apartment, each trip only lasted about a month, and then he would be back in LA. He would, however, pack up all the things in the other room, taking just a few items with him, and leave the rest neatly hidden away so that no one would know they were there. If he was given a rest period of a week or so then he could bring them back out to enjoy, otherwise he would just have to content himself with whatever he could carry on his person or find while he was working.
Matthew would deal with the janitor, Albert liked him, felt sorry for him, Dominic knew, and he would arrange for the rent money to be paid monthly just as it had always been. Pay on time, just the correct amount; don't draw attention to yourself in any way. For a moment Matthew came to the fore, and the fear and uncertainty rushed there with him, Dominic resolutely pushed him away, he couldn't allow himself to be deterred from his course of action. LA was a dangerous place, he had been here too long, and if Matt had his way they would stay, and if they stayed they would be caught.
For a moment Dominic paused and then he opened the drawer to his nightstand and pulled out a pile of pictures. The two cops who were in charge of his case stared up at him and he smiled. He wondered what they would make of the lull in victims, what they would do to find out why he had stopped killing. The man, the Lieutenant, he was a challenge, and Dominic loved a challenge. He had seen him give the news conference after they had found Mary Sue, seen the way that he had almost taunted him into coming out and owning up, well it hadn't worked then, and it wasn't going to work now. "I'll be your undoing, Lieutenant, the failure that stays with you your whole life, because you will never catch me!" With a laugh Dominic put the picture down on the bed, the next one showed that woman better, English, pretty in a brown-haired sort of way, and definitely not as good as her publicity had tried to make everyone believe when she first arrived from London. He'd looked her up, there were pages of stuff on her, she obviously had trouble keeping herself out of the papers, and again he knew that her failure to catch him would be an annoyance to her, that she would think a little less of herself because of his continued freedom. "You don't stand a chance, no one does, they either die or fail, and I will make sure that you are no different."
Dominic dropped the pictures back into the drawer and then slammed it shut. He didn't need to worry about them any more, not for a while at least. But the others, he needed to say goodbye, to relish one more time his success, his power, and so, grabbing his jacket, Dominic set off on a trip that he knew would never make it onto the itinerary of an Aztec Tour or excursion.
ooo
"Steve?" The voice was soft, warm and very welcome and he looked up into the beautiful face of his anxious friend.
"Amanda, what are you doing here?"
"I brought Jesse; he wasn't in a fit state to drive all this way." She was even gladder now that she had been available to help him. The traffic had been heavy on all the roads, the radio finally telling them of a burst water main on the expressway, and of traffic being diverted to all other routes. "Do you know how she is?"
"No, they told me it would be about two hours before I could see her, that she would be in recovery, but nothing, not since then … where's Jesse?" Steve suddenly realised that his friend was conspicuous by his absence.
"He went to recovery, I think he was hoping that maybe they would let him in, as he's a doctor." Amanda sat down in the seat next to her old friend and took his hand into her own.
"They won't will they?" Steve looked startled.
"No, I shouldn't think so for a minute, but I couldn't stop him, and I didn't want to make a scene."
Steve could feel Amanda's fingers as they gently traced across the back of his hand, and he was glad that the occupants of the room had reduced to just himself and one other couple, because he didn't want her to stop, the touch was a reassuring presence in his strange world right now.
At just the right time to confirm what she was saying Jesse arrived in the doorway, he looked extremely worried, but also a little crestfallen, and both Steve and Amanda knew that he had been gently but firmly put off.
"Jess, Honey, come and sit down, there is nothing you can do until they come and get you." Amanda let go of Steve's hand and moved over to put her arm around her other friend. He seemed to sag against her and then let himself be led to an empty chair. As he did so a nurse appeared in the doorway and Amanda felt him tense up.
"Mr and Mrs Sorensen?" The two other occupants of the room nodded their heads and then rose from their seats. Steve watched them go and a heaviness enveloped him. They had talked together as the room had gradually emptied, and he had heard how they were waiting to find out whether their only daughter had survived open-heart surgery. She had been on the operating table when Steve had arrived, and he had been waiting over three hours himself now. The world seemed to hold its breath; Jesse was still leaning against Amanda, although he had relaxed a little, but Steve wanted to go out into the hallway, wanted to find out whether the couple, who had been so worried but had listened to him tell them about Rae, and had shared his wait with him, still had the chance to hope for a normal life for their child.
Just at that moment Mrs Sorensen came back to the doorway, Steve stood up but he didn't need to move, the joy emanating from the woman's eyes was enough, and he smiled at her and watched her leave, sitting back down as he did so, hoping that their day would end positively too.
ooo
Mallard and Fox was a well-known firm, apparently, although Cheryl had to admit not to her. They didn't actually advertise themselves as accountants to the stars, but there were photos of celebrities in the lobby and she had a feeling that they were all happy clients. The whole office gave a feel of light and airiness; probably partly due to the fact that all the walls were glass. There was a large sweeping staircase that started out in the reception area but arrived on the other side of the building on the second floor, although it looked more for decoration than use, especially as there was a bank of elevators just inside the main doors.
"Yes, Ma'am, can I help you?" The receptionist seemed impossibly young, and Cheryl smiled at her, wondering whether she seemed impossibly old.
"Detective Banks, LAPD, I'm here to see Mr. Mallard."
"Oh, yes." The young woman's expression became one of extreme sorrow, and Cheryl wondered for a moment whether she had been practicing it in the bathroom mirror. "If you would like to take the elevator to the third floor, I'll let his secretary know that you are on your way up."
"I'd also like to speak with Mr Fox's secretary."
"She's not in today; I can give you her home address though."
"Thank you, I'll collect it on my way out."
Cheryl moved across to the elevators, smiled at a young man of about thirty who held the doors for her and then leant against the back wall and waited for them to shut.
When they opened again the corridor was strangely enclosed. There were doorways all the way down either side of a straight hallway, and Cheryl guessed that the windows were hidden behind them. Most modern offices seemed to be open plan and the layout of this one momentarily caught her off balance.
"Detective Banks?" the voice was tightly controlled, obviously efficient and well groomed, and fitted the woman it came from exactly.
"Yes, Ma'am." She immediately handed over her ID, knowing that it would be closely scrutinised. Once the lady in front of her had checked the picture, and then looked at Cheryl and also read the information on the photo card she handed it back without a smile.
"If you would like to follow me, Mr. Mallard is waiting for you." There was no chance for Cheryl to reply as her escort turned on her heels and began to walk the length of the hallway.
Mr Mallard appeared to be a man with either a keen sense of humour or so devoid of one that he didn't see the joke. His room was furnished in dark green leather, and the pictures on the walls were all hunting scenes, usually with the victim a duck or ducks. He had various ordinary everyday items on his large desk turned into the extra ordinary because they were fashioned in a duck shape. The tray for his pencils was a duck, there was a stand, which held four pipes, that was a hunter holding up four dead ducks, and each one had a pipe slid down an indentation in its back. Each pencil had a duck eraser on the end of it, and the note pad by the phone was covered in ducks. Cheryl could see that the man even had the birds on his tie.
"Mr Mallard?"
"That's me, but call me Canny, everyone does."
"Excuse me? Canny?" Cheryl was once again a little wrong footed.
"Canny, canard, French for duck."
"Oh, I see, well, Mr. Mallard, I need to speak to you about the death of your partner, Mr. Fox." Cheryl wondered what the French for fox was, and whether she would have to fight her way through fur lined drawers when she searched his offices a little later in the day.
"Sad, very sad, we'd been together since college, y'know. I called him Renny, renard, French for fox. When we found out that we both wanted to be accountants, well with names like ours we just had to go into partnership together. I wanted to call us Canard and Renard, but Renny, he wouldn't have it … whatever will I do without him next door?" The man's eyes filled with tears and Cheryl felt for him. For all his verbosity and strange sense of humour he was still suffering, maybe even more because of it.
"I really am sorry for your loss, and I know that everything is still very fresh and raw, but I need to go through Mr. Fox's office, and I'll need a list of his clients, anyone who would consider him a threat or enemy. I have a search warrant."
Mr. Mallard waved her words away with his hand, he had pulled a large white handkerchief out of his pocket and he blew his nose loudly before speaking again. Cheryl absently noted a little duck shaped silhouette in one corner. "He wasn't the kind of man to have enemies; we're accountants for goodness sake, boring, steady, reliable types. I'm sorry; I don't know what else to say."
"Had he confided any worries to you lately? Financial, marital, anything that might have concerned him?" The autopsy report wasn't back yet, and it was still a possibility that the man had killed himself.
"No, nothing … he wasn't married, but I do his accounts, I know he was fine financially … no, you think? No, you're wrong."
Cheryl could see that Mr. Mallard was getting quite agitated and anxious and she knew that she would need to get as much information from him as possible. "Sir, if you could let me have the list of Mr. Fox's clients I will go and look in his office."
"Yes, of course, I'll … I'll get a key."
"There is no need for that, Sir, I have one already." The office had been sealed as soon as Mr. Fox's death had been reported and a patrol vehicle had arrived. As far as Cheryl knew no one had entered it since the victim had left the previous day. She stood up and made her way back out into the hallway. The next door along, one Cheryl had already passed once, had the name Marmaduke Fox on it. Carefully pulling on a pair of gloves Cheryl took the key from her pocket and unlocked the mahogany double doors.
ooo
The ICU was quiet and still and Jesse found himself lagging behind the nurse who had come to take him to his wife. She had explained to him, in layman's terms, what had happened to Rae, and the treatment she had received so far. He hadn't had the energy or inclination to let the woman know that he knew exactly what would have taken place, he just nodded in all the right spots and let most of the conversation float over him. Finally the words finished, and he followed the young woman as she took him to room 2937, where Doctor Perry would be waiting to speak with him.
"Mr. Yeager?"
"What? Oh, no, sorry, my name is Travis, Jesse Travis."
"Mr. Travis, I'm sorry, has the nurse explained a little of what has happened to your wife?"
Jesse nodded his head, he didn't want to listen, he wanted to take her up into his arms, take her, machines and all, back to Community General, where he felt safe, where Mark and Alex could save her. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" Jesse realised that the doctor was talking, and with a blush he made eye contact with him.
"I was saying that we are going to keep your wife on the ventilator until morning at the earliest, the trauma caused to the lung area is extensive, and although I have repaired it, I would rather that she was ventilated until she has been on the vacuum pump for at least twelve if not twenty-four hours."
"Did you get the bullet out?" Jesse knew that they probably had, but he didn't know what else to ask.
"Yes, we did, and it has gone to the police lab to be tested. Sir, your wife's partner saved her life, her condition was such that she would have succumbed to the shock and low blood pressure before the ambulance arrived, she should have died of her injuries."
"Oh." Jesse realised that he hadn't even spoken to Steve in the waiting room, had just held on to Amanda and ignored everything else that was going on around him. "I guess I'll thank him later."
Doctor Perry regarded him closely for a moment before continuing to talk. "The ventilator is over there, Detective Yeager has a mask because the oxygen is delivered better that way. The drain you can see in her side is where we are gradually re-expanding her lung. Has she had surgery on that side before? Emergency surgery?"
"Yes, yes she has." For a moment Jesse was back in the hospital room at Community General when Rae had been attacked and Eliana taken.
"She seems to be a lucky lady." Doctor Perry smiled.
"I guess that she is." This time Jesse smiled too, Rae was lucky, she had cheated death any number of times, and this time, thanks to Steve, she had done it again.
"Mr. Travis, I will leave you to sit with your wife for a while. The nurses will be checking on her periodically, if you have any questions, please ask them, and if they feel it necessary they will contact me."
"Thank you, I'll do that." Jesse sat in the chair next to the bed and watched as Rae's chest rose and fell, courtesy of the ventilator doing all the work for her. He could see the IV that was pumping in the nutrients and minerals she needed to keep her body functioning, as well as the antibiotics to hopefully keep any infection at bay. Her face was pale and expressionless underneath the mask and, as Jesse took her hand into his own, he tried, again, to convince himself that this wasn't his fault.
ooo
Cheryl heard a throat being cleared and looked up from the drawer she was checking in Mr. Fox's desk.
"Detective, I have Renny's client list."
"Oh, thank you, could you just leave it on the blotter?" She watched as Mr Mallard walked across the room, did as she asked and then returned the way he came. He seemed to be a little more in control of himself and Cheryl knew that his interview ought to be the next thing that she did.
There was an address book in the drawer and Cheryl picked it up and plonked it down on the desk, and the gust of air it produced sent the papers onto the floor. With a silent curse Cheryl crouched back down and began picking them up, but what she saw on the third sheet stopped her in her tracks.
The list of clients, in alphabetical order, had scattered, and so a page that Cheryl probably wouldn't have seen for about another half hour was now on the top, and the third and fourth names there were Josephine and Steven Sloan.