Land of Entrapment (35 page)

“We’re fine. Mark’s hurt.”

“We’re getting him help.”

“Can I get out and help her?” I asked, gesturing at Megan.

“Sure.”

I left the keys in the ignition and exited the SUV. I opened the passenger door behind the driver’s seat and got in so that I could pull Megan gently up onto the seat, making sure no glass was in her way. I hugged her and she started crying again. I felt numb, watching officers milling around, guns and rifles ready. A half-block up and to my right, I knew, was the house. I heard more sirens and a couple of ambulances pulled up on Partridge. Please, Chris. Be okay. An EMT approached. She was about my age though sort of matronly in her demeanor.

“How’s it going? Detective Aragon wanted us to check you over.”

I managed a smile. “Nothing physical. But we’ve got a lot of emotional.” I carefully released Megan.

The EMT wore blue gloves. I held my arms out for her. She inspected them, then went around to Megan’s side and opened the door. She gently looked Megan over. “I’m going to recommend a full medical examination tonight. I think we should take her in.

Just to make sure.”

Megan looked at me, scared.

“Can I come with her?”

“Absolutely,” the EMT said.

I got out of the car just as a tall figure approached at a fast clip. In the near-dark I barely recognized Chris. Thank God.

“Are you okay?” She strode over to me, half cop, half best friend.

“Yeah. Megan’s a little fucked up. They want to take her to the hospital for a complete check-up. I’m going with her.”

Chris looked at the EMT. She pulled out her badge. “Can I take them?”

The EMT nodded when she saw Chris’s ID. “Sure.

I’ll call ahead and make sure everything’s set up.

Take her to Presbyterian. Go in through the emergency entrance and ask at the desk for Jenny Holcomb. She’s the PA I’m going to contact.”

“Thanks.” To me, Chris said, “Hold on a minute.

I’m going to clear this with Mark. Eventually, you’re both going to have to come in for statements. But let’s do this exam first.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll be right back. And we need to get out of here.

The media’s arriving. But don’t move until I get back,” she said in her cop voice.

“No, ma’am.” I watched her stride back into the group of cops. Automatically, I reached for my phone and dialed Melissa’s number.

“Hello? K.C.? What’s going on?”

“Hey. We’re okay. Megan’s here. The EMT is checking her over but we’re going to go to Presbyterian for a complete workover.”

“Oh, my God. She’s there? With you?”

“Yeah. You want to talk to her?”

“No, not yet. There’s too much I want to say. I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

“Okay. We’ll be going into the emergency room.

Ask for Jenny Holcomb, the PA.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I lied. “We’ll see you at the hospital.” We hung up. I returned to Mark’s Blazer. Megan was leaning against the back seat, a strange little smile on her face. The EMT waved at me and walked toward the house. Chris returned about five minutes later.

Without a word, Megan and I followed her, my arm around her shoulders. Chris had parked her car down the block behind us. Without a word, we all got in.

Megan stretched out on the back seat, drained, like she’d been running on nothing but adrenaline for months and now she could relax. I buckled up, grunting because of the vest. Chris started the engine and did a U-turn. I had never been so scared in my life. All I could do right now was try to keep breathing.

Once on the freeway, Chris took my hand and held it all the way to the hospital.

Chapter Twenty

I SAT STARING at the television in the corner of the waiting room on the fifth floor of Presbyterian Hospital. I didn’t know what was showing because it wasn’t registering. Three other people occupied various chairs in the same room, which was that basic modern hospital lobby-type. Bland blue industrial carpet. Generic art on the walls. Pastels. One of the other people was a Hispanic woman with someone who was probably her son and the other was an older white guy. Chris was in with Melissa, Megan, and a couple of detectives I didn’t know.

Megan was, as I suspected, malnourished and dehydrated. The docs wanted to keep her overnight for observation while they IV’d fluids into her. Megan had relaxed considerably after we arrived at the hospital. I called Melissa and stayed with Megan until Melissa arrived, on the verge of relief and freak-out. I didn’t tell her anything about what had happened.

She already looked a bit high-strung. She hugged me for a long time before she went to sit with Megan.

I was tired and hungry but I didn’t feel like eating. I kept hearing an explosion of glass and the thud of bullets into metal. I called Sage when we got to the hospital around nine-thirty and left a message, explaining what we were doing. I figured she’d be busy in Santa Fe until late. So I sat waiting for Melissa to dismiss me. Or Chris to do it. Or something. It occurred to me that my car was still at APD.

“Ms. Fontero?”

I looked up. One of the detectives. Trim, wiry, bespectacled. He was about my height and probably a few years older than I was. “I’m Troy Bedford, with APD. This is Gus Clayton, with the FBI.” I looked at the second man. This pair was like Mutt and Jeff. Gus was tall and solid. He probably stood six-four. “We’d like to get a statement from you, if you’re amenable.”

Troy was soft-spoken and I greatly appreciated his gentle demeanor.

“Sure.” I stood and followed them into an unoccupied office left open for the occasion. I sat in yet another hospital chair and for the next thirty minutes told them what had happened in Edgewood.

Troy asked a few questions that helped flesh out some details. When they finished, Gus gave me his card.

“Give me a call in the next couple of days so that I can get the big picture.”

I knew what he meant. I took the card and put it in the front pocket of my jeans. “Can I see Megan?”

“Sure,” Gus said. He had a surprisingly light voice for such a big man.

“Ms. Fontero—” Troy started.

I waited.

“You’re not leaving town any time soon, are you?”

“As much as I would love to get in my car and drive back to Austin at this very second, no. I’ll be here as long as necessary, I guess.”

Troy smiled but he didn’t look like he was sure whether I was joking or not. I left and headed down the hall to Megan’s room. Chris was just exiting.

“Hey,” she said. “How are you?”

“Fucked up.”

She stood looking at me. “Where do you want to go tonight?”

“Honestly, Chris, I don’t know.”

“I have to debrief so I’ll be tied up for a bit at the station.”

“My car’s there,” I said.

“It’ll be fine.” She gave me a once-over. “I’ll take you back to Megan’s. At least Sage and Jeff are right there if you need anything.”

I wasn’t sure what she said was getting through. I wanted to cry. Or yell. Maybe kick something. I buried all of it. “Let me check on Megan and Melissa.”

“I’ll be right here.” Chris squeezed my arm as I brushed past her.

Melissa looked up at me when I came in. Megan was lying in bed, a drip attached to her left arm. She looked much better than earlier but her eyes...I had a friend who was a Vietnam War veteran. He’d get that same expression sometimes. Wary and old beyond his years. Melissa stood up and pulled me into another long hug.

“I never expected you to pull a SWAT imitation,”

she said, sounding worried, angry, and relieved all at the same time. She started to cry, not for the first time that night.

“Me, either. And I will never do that shit ever again. Count on it.” I held on to her.

“Thank you,” Melissa said through her tears.

“K.C.” Megan’s voice sounded weak.

Melissa released me and I leaned over the bed. I took Megan’s proffered right hand. “You look much better. Please tell me you’ll eat from now on.”

She laughed. The effort seemed to wear her out. “I want to talk to you later, okay?”

“I’ll be around. I can’t leave ’til they’re done with me. Just let me know when you’re ready.”

“You need some sleep,” Melissa said softly. “Do—

”

“Nah, I’m okay. Chris is going to take me back to Megan’s. I’ll deal with my car later. Sage and Jeff are right there. What about you?”

“I’m staying here.”

“Good. If you need anything, call me.”

“Chris gave me her number, too. She seems to think you might be kind of tired for the next couple of days.”

At first I was confused until I remembered what she’d told me in the past about post-adrenaline recovery. “She’s probably right. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow, probably.” I leaned down and kissed Megan on the forehead. “It is so good to have you back.”

A tear slid down her cheek.

I hugged Melissa again and left. Chris stood out in the hall talking to Troy and Gus. “All right,” she said to me. “Let’s go.” She cut her conversation short with them and walked me to the elevator. We didn’t talk on the way down and I followed her silently out of the hospital to the parking lot. She unlocked and opened the passenger door of her car for me. I got in and buckled up, on autopilot as Chris settled herself in the driver’s seat, buckled up, and turned the key.

“Chris, I am majorly fucked up,” I announced.

She turned the car off and gave me her full attention.

“That was beyond scary. I feel pissed off, scared, freaked-out—shit, I don’t know what I feel.”

She kept quiet, letting me vent.

“I mean, what the fuck? Those assholes were fucking shooting at us! What the hell? What is wrong with people?”

“They got lost somewhere along the way,” she said quietly. She reached over and took my hand.

“You were really brave today. You scared the living shit out of me, but given what happened, you did what you had to do.”

“I wish I had just gotten on the main road and kept going.”

“But then Mark might’ve been worse off than he was. Nobody predicted that shit at Allsup’s and we sure as hell didn’t think there’d be so many of them at that meeting. That’s police work for you. You plan and plan but there could be contingencies.”

“I’m sorry, Chris. I am so sorry for all of this.

You’re right. The reality is a lot different than the research. I will never put you in a position like that again.”

She unbuckled and leaned over to awkwardly hug me. “Hey, it all worked out. Mark’s okay. It was a cut from flying glass. Nobody else got seriously hurt, with the exception of a couple of the bad guys.” She leaned back.

“Speaking of which,” I said softly.

“Later. I’ll tell you what’s going on later. But we did get Cody and Watkins is on the run. Right now, you need to get some sleep.” She buckled up again and started the engine. By the time she pulled up in front of Sage and Jeff’s, we were bantering back and forth about who kicked the most ass. I felt a little better as I got out, partially because venting with Chris had helped and also because we had stopped at a Wendy’s and Chris had bought me a burger. I noticed that neither Sage nor Jeff was home, as their cars were both gone though the porch light was on.

Chris noticed, too. “You all right until they get back?”

I knew Chris felt badly about not being able to stay with me. I tried to put her at ease. “Fine. Sage gave me a key to the big house. I think I’ll just hang out there ’til one of them gets home.” I wasn’t worried about Ray coming around again. The heat was on his ass, and he wouldn’t risk it.

“Okay.” She held my gaze for a long moment. “I’ll check in tomorrow. There’s a lot of shit that needs to get sorted out, so I hope you can stick around. Te amo, esa.”“I’m planning on it. And I love you back, Detective Wonder Woman.” I showed Chris that I had my keys and waved. Still, she waited until I was at the front door of the big house and had opened it. She then pulled away from the curb. I went in and stood looking around, not really sure what I felt like doing.

My phone rang, surprising me. I pulled it off the waistband of my jeans and looked at it. Sage.

“Hi,” I answered. “How’d it go?”

“Where are you?” She sounded concerned.

“Actually, I’m at your house. Jeff’s not here and I really didn’t want to be alone at Megan’s. I hope that’s okay.”

“That is more than okay,” she said, relief in her voice. “I’m just leaving Santa Fe. I’ll be there in about an hour.”

“Well, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good. I’ll see you in a few. Bye.” She hung up and I exhaled, feeling really drained. If I could just lie down for a couple of months and not think about anything, my life would be complete. I locked the front door and flipped the swamp cooler on before heading left through the archway into the hallway that connected the bedrooms. Jeff’s was to the left and Sage’s to the right. The bathroom was located between the two rooms. A spacious linen closet marked the wall between the bathroom and Jeff’s room. I had never actually been in Sage’s room.

Maybe I should just sleep on the couch until she got home. No, I really wanted to be in a bed.

The door to her bedroom stood half-open. I entered and immediately thought, oh, my God. Sage is really a gay man. Her furniture looked like Ikea or some other Swedish designer who wore elegant black trousers and tailored shirts. Everything in her room broadcast smooth, clean lines with hints of industrial post-modern, expressed through things like the handles on her armoire and the wavy vertical bars of her bed’s headboard and footboard. The bed itself was positioned at an angle in the corner of the room, opposite the door. A tan comforter, accented with blue and gold medallion-looking designs, decorated the mattress. She had hung several photographs around the room. Turkey, Italy, Greece. She had chosen rich earth tones for her color scheme and accented them with splashes of maroon, yellow, and blue. A large area rug that looked Turkish decorated the floor. It reached almost to the door and halfway under the bed. Six elegant candle stands stood around the room, each graced with a beeswax pillar candle.

All had been used.

I found a book of matches on one of the bedside tables and fired up the candles. When I turned off the overhead light the effect was magical. “Wow,” I breathed. A haven. That’s what this room was. Hell, that’s what Sage is for me. I left the candles burning, since Sage would be home soon. I took my shoes and socks off and placed them on the floor near the armoire, then slipped out of my jeans, folded them, and placed them on my shoes. I took my shirt off and removed my bra and then put my shirt back on.