'Take it slow now' Mark cautioned, as he and Amanda assisted Steve in his transfer from the gurney to his newly acquired hospital bed.
'Dad, I'm okay, I'll be alright' Steve mumbled, although even he appreciated that his current physical state belied those words. Lying here now, with his father tucking the blankets in carefully around his injured ribs, it was hard to believe that only an hour ago he'd been lying unconscious on the second storey of the multi-storey car park. The crunching headache, bruised ribs and stiff arm went some way towards convincing him, but the whole encounter was beginning to take on a rather dreamlike quality.
The last hour had passed in a blur and although he wouldn't admit it, Steve wasn't sure he could account for all of the past 60 minutes. He remembered voices and sensations as opposed to actual events – the damp, coldness of the second storey landing, the sharp spikes of pain in his side and the throbbing in his head. After that, the wail of police sirens, voices, footsteps running and then nothing until the strong antiseptic smell of the hospital and the touch of his father's hand on his bare shoulder.
The door to the private room swung open, interrupting his confused thought process. He was half expecting it to be Jesse, but the visitor was actually Ron Wagnor. Ron looked worried, which was something Steve couldn't remember seeing before. He smiled ruefully to himself, thinking that he must look particularly bad to have broken through Ron's laidback veneer. Then another thought struck him - had something else happened, and Ron was just about to break the bad news?
That thought alarmed him and he shifted to try and sit up in order to observe Ron more closely. His father's hands restrained him.
'Steve lie still' Mark urged 'You're in no condition to be jumping around. If Ron has something to tell us, you can listen just as well lying down'.
Realising he was being observed, and quite closely at that, Ron attempted a smile.
'You know Steve, people are gonna start thinking you like the way you look in a hospital gown' he said 'I'm not sure you have the legs for it myself'.
Steve raised a tired smile 'You're a little late to assist with the arrest' he said dryly 'don't tell me you were stuck at a red light.'
'Glad to see you still have your sense of humour' Ron shot back, then his face turned grave again 'You know you gave me quite a scare when I found you up there. I had to do CPR, you weren't breathing.'
Mark gripped Steve's shoulder 'You gave me a scare too'.
Steve nodded 'I know and I'm sorry, things didn't quite pan out the way I planned'.
'Oh so you actually had a plan when you ran off to hunt down an armed and dangerous killer single handed?' Amanda said. She'd been unusually quiet up til now, but when Steve looked at her he noticed that her arms were folded across her chest and her was expression stern. He'd seen this before and knew immediately that he was in trouble.
He winced – obviously he'd scared Amanda too. Ron stepped forward and placed comforting hands on Amanda's shoulders.
'Give the guy a break Amanda; he was just doing his job' Ron said on Steve's behalf. Steve nodded gratefully at Ron – at least one person in the room understood.
'Oh that's right' Amanda said turning to look at Ron, her eyes accusing 'I knew you two would stick together on this'. She frowned at him 'Don't think I don't know that you would have done exactly the same thing in his position'.
Ron's silence and sheepish smile gave her, her answer and she shrugged away from his grasp, shaking her head.
'Amanda, come on?' Ron pleaded, but she wasn't having any of it.
Steve sighed, he wasn't sure he could cope with a full-scale domestic right now, especially one that was partly his fault.
'Look guys' he said 'I know I took a risk but I wasn't expecting to come up against a ninja tonight'.
'A ninja?' Ron said, his face contorting into a frown as he struggled to make sense of what Steve had just said.
The surprise in his colleague's voice caused Steve to roll his eyes.
'You're not gonna tell me I was hallucinating as well are you?' he said, looking meaningfully at his father who was hovering by the side of the bed, pretending to read Steve's chart.
'Hey' Mark said shrugging his shoulders in his defence 'I never said you didn't see a ninja, I just said you'd lost a lot of blood, it was dark …'
'Yeah, and I suppose I just imagined the karate chop to my arm huh?' Steve asked dryly 'And the follow-up to my ribs?'
'Here let me take another look at that arm' Mark said, immediately putting down the chart and reaching for Steve's left arm. 'I was so busy dealing with your more life threatening injuries I didn't get a chance to really look at that'.
Mark's expert fingers probed gently and he frowned as Steve winced. 'What did he hit you with a lead pipe or something?'
'No Dad, that's what I've been trying to tell you' Steve said irritably 'I had him, I was reading him his rights and then he went all Jackie Chan on me'.
Having said his piece he subsided grumpily. This circular conversation was draining his energy and he longed to close his eyes and sleep for about a week.
Mark eyed his son, noting the lines of exhaustion. As much as he longed to discuss the case, it was time to leave Steve to get some rest. He smiled, seeking to restore peace between them
'Well ninja or not, he's done a good job on your ribs, those stitches I did had to be completely redone.'
Steve offered a tired smile 'Maybe you should let Jesse try next time, see if his needlework holds up any better?'
Mark frowned 'I was rather hoping there wouldn't be a next time' he said, looking at Steve, his blue eyes serious. As their eyes met, Steve could see the toll the evening's events had taken on his father. It couldn't have been easy waiting in the hospital cafeteria with no idea what was going on. Surreptitiously he squeezed his father's hand.
'I'm hoping there won't be a next time too' he said 'but I'm beginning to think that I'm either in the wrong place at the wrong time, or somebody doesn't like me very much'
'You think you're the target?' Amanda asked; her brown eyes wide with concern.
Steve sighed 'It's beginning to look that way'.
He sneaked a glance at his father, worried at how he would take the news, but his father was staring off into space, strangely distracted.
'The two murders have to be connected in some way' Steve said 'And the only connection I can think of is me'.
Amanda let out a breath 'I guess you're right, but are we sure that the two are connected?' She looked at Steve and then Ron 'they were so different, one a bombing, the other a shooting, isn't that kind of unusual?'
'Well we know someone was recruiting …' Steve began, but Ron cut him off.
'They're connected' Ron said 'And that's definite'.
Snapping out of his trance, Mark turned towards Ron 'How can you be so sure?' he asked.
Ron reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an evidence bag 'because of this' he said flipping the bag over to Mark 'We found it on the ground right next to where Steve was lying'.
Mark caught it 'Oh my' he said, stroking his moustache thoughtfully. Amanda gasped.
'What is it Dad' Steve asked impatiently. From his position prone on the bed it was hard to see.
Holding the packet in front of his son, Mark sighed, 'Another white chess piece' he said 'this one's the Queen'.
And then Steve remembered. Right before he lost consciousness, the killer had thrown something at him. It was the chess piece, the calling card. Somebody wanted them to know that the two incidents were connected. Somebody was playing games with them. Steve's mind was working slower than usual tonight, but even so, he could see that the symbolism of the Queen didn't quite fit in with their vigilante theory. What was it that the killer (or killers) was trying to tell them?
'Well at least we know they're connected' Mark said thoughtfully 'So now we just have to figure out what that connection is'.
Steve sighed 'I've told you Dad, I think the connection is me. I think Cainen killed Sam Wallis as some kind of vigilante pay back. Tonight he meant to kill me, because I was getting too close to the truth, but he accidentally got Ernie Evans instead'.
'But Steve' Mark protested 'You weren't sitting anywhere close to Ernie. I just don't think that a professional sharp shooter would be that careless'. He paused thinking hard 'And what dose the queen have to do with it? The Queen indicates an important female, why would the killer use the Queen to signify you?'
'Well what does the Queen have to do with Ernie Evans?' Amanda pointed out reasonably.
Mark sighed 'I don't know' he admitted 'but we need to figure it out. We've had two murders already and we've got to stop this before there are any more …'
'Too late' a solemn voice said from the door.
They looked round to see Tanis Archer hovering awkwardly. She was dripping wet and her face was pale 'I'm sorry to barge in like this' she said 'but I've got some really bad news'.
TO BE CONTINUED …..