Chapter 24

The next time I opened my eyes everything was hazy.

Or maybe I just thought I opened my eyes. I don't know. This morphine is pretty potent stuff. Taking a chance that I was awake, I shifted my gaze around, since my eyes seemed to be the only thing I could move, and noticed two things.

It was still dark outside the window and what I thought was an angel was sitting next to me.

After blinking a couple of times, my vision seemed to focus and I saw that it was DeeDee. And so I figured out that I was dreaming. Which actually works out pretty good for me, because not only do I get to see her, but here in dreamland, there is no pain and I feel like I'm floating on a cloud. A wondrous, narcotic cloud.

Going off on a tangent, I briefly wondered if that meant I was dead – but quickly dismissed that notion when I saw that I was still bandaged with a chest tube and two IV's. Probably wouldn't need this stuff if I was dead and I had already figured out that the afterlife wasn't going to look like a hospital room.

Returning my drug-addled attention to my dream angel, I blinked again and saw that she was asleep. I managed the smallest of movements with my left hand and only then realized that she had been holding it and I never even felt it. It made me sad – like I'd missed out on a great opportunity.

She shifted slightly in her chair and then opened her dark eyes. For a moment I was rendered speechless as I watched her eyes come into focus, filled with fear and then concern as her gaze settled on me. And then she smiled in relief. She looked so beautiful, almost as beautiful as she did after giving birth to Olivia. Glowing.

She didn't say a word and as I was unabashedly staring at her ethereal beauty, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a rush of emotion and a desperate need to tell her everything. In this dream state there were no barriers, no inhibitions, and no doubts. It was as if a dam had broken open at the sight of her and everything I felt tumbled out. I cried.

Even in my dream, my voice sounded hoarse as I let out the anguish and anger at Steve's untimely death. I poured out all the guilt and remorse that I felt for letting it happen, for not being a better partner and friend. I had to let him go and I felt a little piece of me go with him.

Through it all, DeeDee, the angel, didn't look at me. She just sat silently in a chair at my side, bent over with her head on the top of my thigh. I couldn't see her face, but at least she kept hold of my hand and I felt her tears on my palm and saw her shoulders shaking slightly.

It was a pain that no drug could touch, but it was a cleansing pain. It was cathartic; a complete release and I wished that every dream could make me feel so free. Free to tell her everything. In this nexus I felt compelled to tell her that I had fallen in love with Olivia and with her.

"I do love you," I whispered brokenly, "please forgive me. Steve was my best friend. And my partner. But with everything we've been through, the thought of going on without you is unimaginable. I don't think I could bear not being with you and Olivia."

The angel before me finally looked up, her face so pale, but her eyes bright and shining with the tears she'd shed and smiled.

That was all I needed, and as I was still unable to move with the oppressive narcotic coursing through me, I let myself sink down into an empty blackness but with the image of DeeDee as a beautiful angel, I didn't feel completely alone anymore.

Chapter 25

"Sgt. Hunter."

An unfamiliar voice penetrated the fog I was in and I reluctantly pulled myself awake to see who it was. Two men in suits standing on either side of my bed. I sighed. (Not a dream. No angels this time).

Internal Affairs. (Had to know this was coming), I thought with a disgruntled huff.

"Guess this isn't a social call, huh guys?" I said.

The two men exchanged glances. The taller one, with a pencil thin mustache introduced himself as Anders and his partner Robbins. "We're sorry to have to do this now, and no, this isn't a social call, Sgt."

"I will be more than happy to answer each and every question you have, but you're going to have to go first. I want to know what happened to my cousin Linda Walsh, DeeDee McCall and her baby Olivia."

Anders and Robbins blinked at my unexpected demand but remained silent. I glared back; the menace in my voice should be obvious no matter how many drugs they'd had me on since being hospitalized. Actually, I felt pretty lucid right now, and really uncomfortable, so I'm figuring that the morphine had been turned off so I could give an accurate account. "Look guys, I'm not kidding – you tell me how they are and I mean now."

"Sgt Hunter, please," Anders said with a pained expression. "We will have to have your statement untainted by –"

"Dead or alive?" I barked with as much ferocity and strength as I could muster, painfully pulling myself to an almost sitting position, ignoring the blinding pain the movement caused.

They exchanged glances. Anders shrugged and deferred to Robbins. Robbins nodded and turned back to me. "They're all three alive."

Weakly I sank back against the pillows with an agonized sigh, yet nearly overcome with relief. (Oh God – I hadn't dared to hope. . . I thought Linda was dead for sure. . . DeeDee probably. . . Olivia. . .)

Working to get my racing heart and ragged breathing under control and a handle on the blazing fire in my chest without benefit of morphine was as hard as trying to wrap my brain around the fact that they were all three alive. They're okay. (Unbelievable – but how - ?)

"Your turn, Sgt Hunter," Anders said firmly, the tone of his voice brooked no argument and let me know that no further information was coming until I was done. Fine.

"Start at the beginning," said Robbins, as he placed a tape recorder on the over-bed table. After he pushed the buttons, we all introduced ourselves, and Anders stated the date and the nature of my statement.

So, with nothing to hide now, I went through it all; I left absolutely nothing out. The questions didn't start until I got to Cain's involvement.

"He volunteered his house?" Anders asked, with a hint of disbelief in his voice. "Why not a police safe house?"

"There wasn't time," I countered. 'We couldn't risk it. Perry was out there, and every available officer was looking for him. We figured the fewer people that knew where we were - the better." I hoped I made them understand. Cain was dead and didn't deserve a black mark on his service record for trying to protect us.

"Please continue, Sgt," Anders said, startling me out of my reverie.

"Yeah, sure," I said and managed to bring myself back to the present and I wasn't interrupted again until I told them about arriving at Cain's house.

"So you hadn't spoken to Capt Cain since the night before?" Robbins asked.

I shook my head and admitted that I didn't think about it until we were back on the road. "I just blew it off, figuring we were so close anyway. That and I was simply exhausted. So much had happened in such a short period of time, I think I was just running on fumes at that point."

"Would you have done anything differently if you had called but hadn't gotten an answer?"

I thought about it for a minute then shook my head again. "Probably not. I'd have assumed that he got called in or something job related and since he had no way to contact me he couldn't let me know."

"The time of Capt Cain's death would be very close to your call to him." Robbins told me.

"Perry had him all along? I can't believe it. I won't believe it. The Capt wouldn't have lured us back to let Perry have us and there was nothing in our conversation to make me think that. And he had no idea that I would call to ask for help." I was indignant at the thought that Cain was dirty.

Robbins nodded his understanding. "We know. We have a timeline for Cain up until your call that night. He stopped for dinner at a place on Riverdale Road. There's evidence that Cain's trunk was jimmied open and we think that's where Perry broke into Cain's trunk and hitched a ride to his house. Cain drove into his garage and Perry waited for his chance."

I shook my head. "I called Cain – Perry is there to overhear that I'm coming in so he kills Cain and we walk into his trap. Does that about cover it?" I asked, unable to hide my anger, but relieved that it looked like Cain's record was clean.

"Looks that way," Anders said. "Perry knew he was a marked man and he thought he'd found the perfect hiding place with a chance to eliminate you and Mrs. McCall as well."

I looked away, my breathing shallow, white hot fury raging through my veins.

"Did Capt Cain know about your cousin being with you?" Robbins asked after several minutes of silence.

"Yeah – I told him."

"Did he acknowledge her out loud?" Robbins pressed on.

At my puzzled look, he clarified the question. "Would Perry have known that Mrs. Walsh was coming with you?"

It took me a few minutes to try and replay our conversation in my mind before shaking my head. "No – Cain never said Linda's name or anything like it."

"Okay, Sgt, let's move on," Anders stated. "Who was driving when you arrived at Cain's house?"

"I was," I told them, my voice losing strength rapidly. I was really getting tired, but I knew that I had to finish this up – I had to find out what happened after I lost consciousness, so I made myself go on. "Everything was quiet when we pulled up, but I was still on edge. Before I knew it, Linda was out of the car and at the front door – I was on the sidewalk and DeeDee was still in the car with Olivia." I stopped and took several sips of water. "All of a sudden the front door opened and Linda was jerked inside and I heard a gunshot." This was getting hard. I had thought that they were dead. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to talk. After a couple more breaths; trying to keep my emotions under some semblance of control, I went on.

"Before I knew it, I had been shot twice – Perry was standing over me and - and then I heard DeeDee – she was screaming. All I could think - this was – oh God – I wanted her to run – to hide – but she – " I had to stop. Gasping painfully, I struggled to get finished. "Perry heard her – heard Olivia. He was going over there – I – I tried to stop him – but I couldn't."

My breath was hitching in my chest, the pain was intense, and reliving the account was like pouring acid on an open wound. (Just a little more,) I told myself. "I heard the sirens, but all I could think was that it was too late. They were too late."

Exhausted, I closed my eyes. Vaguely I heard the tape recorder switched off.

"Sgt Hunter, thank you. I know how difficult this has been for you."

(No, you don't Robbins,) I thought but didn't say. (You have no idea what I've been feeling while I've been lying here thinking that I'd lost a woman I just realized I was falling in love with, her beautiful new baby girl and gotten my own cousin killed.)

"Why don't you press the button on the pain medication pump," I heard a new voice say. I looked up to see my nurse, Janine, standing next to me. I hadn't even heard her come in.

"Tell me about Linda and DeeDee," I said, turning back to Anders.

He nodded. "Mrs. Walsh was apparently thrown to the ground and shot one time in the abdomen. We've been told she'll make a full recovery. The baby was unharmed. Because no one had heard from Capt Cain, they had already dispatched an officer in an unmarked car. He was the one that summoned the ambulance and other squad cars you heard. He saw Perry aiming at the car and was able to get a shot off from his own car and his shot prevented Perry from finishing his dirty work."

"DeeDee's all right?" I whispered, hardly daring to believe.

"Perry was still able to fire, but it went wild." Anders told me. "The bullet hit her left leg and she's got some stitches. It tore through some muscle, but no bones were broken. Like your cousin, if there's no infection, she's expected to be just fine."

I closed my eyes and was finally able to banish the blackness that I felt I'd awakened in, thinking that I'd lost them. They were all right. They were going to be just fine. It was as if a huge load had been lifted and I was overwhelmed but then the pain of my own injuries reintroduced itself and again Janine urged me to restart the morphine.

I hesitated then looked at Anders and Robbins. "Are we done guys?"

"Yes, Sgt, thank you," Robbins replied and both Internal Affairs officers stood and left. God, I was glad that was over. I turned back to Janine. "When can I see them?"

"In the morning," she answered with a smile. "It's almost 7pm, so just press the button and try to get a good night's sleep. Call if you need anything else."

As badly as I wanted to see them, I knew I just wasn't in any shape right now and they probably needed their rest too. I took comfort in knowing that they were all right and finally activated the morphine attached to my IV. Within minutes all my pain faded away and I willingly followed it into a dreamless sleep.