Chapter 5
Sam answered the door with a warm grin and a handshake. "Hi, Campbell! Long time no see! Thanks for coming." He ushered the younger man inside. "You want something to drink? Maddie's got some ice tea, lemonade..."
"No thank you, Sam. Where's Fiona?"
"She's in here with our...patient." Sam led him into the bedroom. "She's been unconscious for about three hours now, and sometimes she stirs like she's coming out of it, but she doesn't quite do it. Her temp's up to 102. As you can see, we did what we could for her."
"What's her name?"
"Uh...we don't know."
Campbell glanced at Sam and gave him a look that said he doubted his answer. "Really?"
"Really. It's a long story. Just trust us here, okay?"
"Yeah, right." He let out a huff. "Whatever. I'm just here to do a job, but I'll need to know something about her. Do you know if she has any allergies?"
Sam shook his head. "She barely spoke a dozen words to me before she lost consciousness. Allergies, blood type, none of that came up in the conversation." He sat in the chair to her left and kept his eye on Campbell. The paramedic's words made him second guess himself, wondering if they should have just taken her to the hospital, but part of him knew it was best to follow his instincts.
"Okay, well, I'll just have to work blind then." He wrapped a blood pressure cuff around her arm and plugged the stethoscope into his ears. "But my advice would be to call an ambulance. I'm off the clock here, so I don't have proper transport for her."
"Let's take it one step at a time, okay?"
Campbell shook his head and went to work. In the meantime, Fiona and Maddie waited in the dining room, and Sam kept watch beside the bed. As the minutes passed and Campbell continued to examine the woman, Sam's foot began to jiggle nervously.
"Well?"
"This leg is infected, and I'll do what I can to clean it up, but it looks like you've already done a pretty good job. So the only thing left is to get her to a doctor..." He glanced up at Sam. "And he can prescribe some antibiotics."
"Campbell...I don't think taking her to the hospital is the best plan here," Sam responded, his voice low. "I think someone was trying to kill her, and whether they threw her into the ocean or she jumped off a boat, she was nearly drowned when I found her. She was in danger wherever she was, and I don't want to accidentally put her in more danger. Understand?"
"She can go in as a Jane Doe. No one will ever know."
Sam shook his head. "I wouldn't count on that."
"You're too paranoid. I think you've been spending too much time with Michael Westen and Fiona."
"Maybe, but they're my best friends, and they've never been wrong. Fi's agreed with me that this is our safest bet to keep her here."
Sam knew that Campbell still had feelings for Fiona, no matter what happened between them. He knew it the moment the younger man asked where Fiona was, and now, as he sat across from Sam, his determination was crumbling.
"If she's got a serious concussion..." He tried one last protest.
"We'll take responsibility for whatever happens to her. You know that."
Campbell nodded and sighed in reluctance. "Okay. I'll leave some supplies here, but I'm also giving you the number of a friend of mine." He scribbled on a page in a small notebook, ripped it out, and handed it to Sam. "He's a doctor, and at one time he had something to do with the government. It's all pretty hush hush. I'm sure he'd keep quiet if you ask him to."
"So he makes house calls?"
"Yeah." Campbell nodded. "It'll cost you, though."
"No problem."
Campbell stood, collected his things, and turned to leave. "Be careful, Sam. And watch Fiona for me, okay?"
The corner of Sam's mouth tipped up into a smile as he stood and shook his hand. "Sure thing, Campbell. Thanks for coming."
After Campbell left, they debated the wisdom of calling the doctor. Fiona was adamant that the risk was too great, even if Campbell recommended the man.
"I say we wait a little longer and if she gets worse, then we call," Sam threw in his opinion.
"I'm worried about her," Maddie replied and stubbed out her cigarette. "Waiting could make things worse. If she has any bleeding on the brain, it would build up pressure and cause damage. Not to mention that leg. Campbell said it's infected." She pierced Sam with her gaze. "Do you really want to be responsible for that?"
Sam shifted in his chair and broke away from Maddie's stare, then glanced at Fiona. "She's got a point, Fi."
Fiona looked deep in thought. "I still don't like it. I say we wait another couple of hours, and if she doesn't come to by then, we call."
"Two hours, Maddie."
"Sam..." Maddie shook her head. "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."
Maddie made baloney sandwiches for lunch, but Sam barely touched his. He kept vigil beside the woman's bed, talking to her, begging her at times to wake up. Fiona left to check on the lead with the dry cleaner. If the mystery woman was a customer at the boutique, and Mia recommended all her clients go to Ricardo, chances were good that the employees at the dry cleaner would know who she was.
The bell on the door jingled as she entered the small shop in South Beach. She glanced around, surprised at the chic stuffed chairs in the waiting area and the tasteful colors decorating the walls. A short man with a well-trimmed goatee and cropped black hair that stood up in spikes smiled at her. He was dressed in designer clothes that normally would look out of place in a dry cleaner's shop, but this place was obviously not your common dry cleaners. They catered to the well-to-do.
"Good afternoon, my name is Ricardo." His smile widened. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure of you visiting my shop before."
"No, you haven't," Fiona smiled and approached the counter. "I'm dropping something off for a friend. She said that I should bring it here and that you would know what to do with it."
"And who is your friend, Miss..."
Fiona pulled the dress from her bag and laid it on the counter, watching his reaction as it spilled across the marble surface. He looked quite stunned to see it.
"Ms. Romana's dress. I would recognize it anywhere! Such an exquisite piece!"
"Yes, she...um...had an accident, and it was exposed to salt water."
"Oh dear! Please, let me take this in back and assign someone to clean it immediately! Otherwise, it will be ruined!" Ricardo draped it carefully over his forearm and hustled through the swinging doors. While she waited, Fiona spied someone watching her from an office off to the side. She decided to approach her.
"Hello. I wonder if you could help me."
"I will do my best, Miss. What is it?"
"Do you by any chance know this woman? Is this Ms. Romana?" She held up a picture of the mystery woman that she snapped on her phone before leaving Maddie's.
The clerk squinted at it for a moment, shook her head, and then squinted again. "I...I'm sorry, Miss. That isn't Ms. Romana. That's her personal assistant."
"Her personal assistant? Are you sure?"
The woman nodded. "I would know her anywhere."
"What is her name?"
"Yvette...that's all I know, just Yvette." She heard a sound and suddenly her eyes widened. "Miss, if I were you I would get out of here. Now."
Fiona glanced toward the back of the office where a door was partially opened to the dry cleaning processing area. She saw Ricardo speaking with another man, and it didn't look as if their conversation was a friendly one. The taller man had a Sig Sauer tucked into the waistband of his designer trousers.
Turning a friendly grin on her informant, Fiona replied. "Why yes, I do have other places to be. Thank you very much for the information."
She turned on her wedge sandal and hurried out of the building. As she got into her car, she heard voices raised in anger. With no time to lose, she started the car, jammed it into reverse, and pealed out of the parking lot before Ricardo and his friend tumbled out of the front door with guns raised toward her. Just then Fiona passed a police car, and she watched in her rearview mirror to see them tuck the weapons away before the cop spied them. It wasn't every day that she got help from Miami's finest, and she couldn't help but grin.