Pursuit (10 page)

Someone ran a hand along the inside of her right armpit. “Can you feel that? Does it hurt?”

Several voices went back and forth in the room. “She's in what we call a fugue state—not conscious but not in a coma.”

“When will she recover; come out of it?”

Julie knew that voice, someone close, a person she loved. She wanted to respond.

“Mom? Ma, open your eyes. It's Cheryl.”

“In school. Why aren't you—”

“Mrs. Worth, I'm Dr. Jacob. How are you feeling?”

“Cheryl?”

“She's right here.”

Julie felt her daughter's arms around her neck.

“I love you, Mom, you okay?”

Julie wanted to see her daughter. She forced her eyes open and tried to smile. Cheryl's face was close to hers. She saw a hand caressing her daughter's cheek. A faraway voice echoed as if coming from a cavern.

“She'll be fine. It will take time and rest.”

That seemed like a good idea to Julie. She slipped away, feeling only a slight dampness on her hand that held her daughter's cheek.

“Mrs. Worth. Wake up.”

“What?”

“You were having a bad dream. Heard you all the way down at the nurse's station. Do you need anything? Something for pain?”

“Okay, but no, I mean I'm not in pain. It was just a—”

“I'll change that damp pillowcase. You're perspiring a great deal.”

“Maybe a glass of water. How long have I been sleeping? Have I been here awhile?”

The woman checked the chart at the end of the bed. “Says here you were admitted day before yesterday, so about thirty-six hours, give or take a few.”

“Thank you. What's your name again, please?”

The nurse came closer to the bed and pushed her badge pinned to her chest. “Mary Ann. If you need anything, buzz me.” She waited while Julie drank her water and then slipped out of the private room.

On her nightstand, the clock flashed three thirty. She dreamt of loud noises pounding in her ear, a dizzy roller-coaster ride, and a sharp pain under her ribs. A man with
wet pants and a grin. Julie pulled her legs to the edge of the bed and tried to stand, her left leg bandaged in the same place where she had been sprayed with a shotgun. No real pain, just a dull ache. Her left arm and shoulder similarly swathed in white dressing.

A little rocky, she made her way to the bathroom. When she turned on the light, the image in the mirror above the sink startled her. A welt on her left cheekbone darkened her eye and the bridge of her nose. A bandage around her head kept a bulging compress above her ear in place. She was alive, if nothing else. Shuffling back to bed, she stopped at the window. Her room seemed to be at least five stories up. A bright neon hotel sign was to the east. Beyond, blinking lights of an all-night Walgreens.

Again, the image of a man came to her, defying a reaction. “Shoot me,” he said. Her days had been so affected by guns, living each day strapped to a three-pound metal death piece. It had become her ambivalent life.

H
ey, Sarge. Did
I wake you?” Todd looked freshly scrubbed, his white shirt set off by a slim reddish tie. His hair, a modified brush cut.

“Nah, I've been awake off and on since three. What's up, Mr. Military?”

“Military? Please, those days are over. How you feeling?”

“Pretty good. Slept a lot in the last few days. In and out.”
Mostly out.
Julie used the remote control to raise herself to a seated position. “Thanks for coming by. What you been doing?”

“Checking on that pickup truck.” Todd pulled a chair up close to the bed.

Julie wracked her brain for a connection.

“We recovered it parked behind an all-night gas station on Central. All messed up on the right side, with paint from your Charger.”

She tried faking it until she could catch up. “Was it—”

“Yeah, stolen. No prints. Belonged to a kid who worked in a body shop.”

“Did he check out?”

“You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?” Todd walked over to the window.

Julie tried to put things together. A sketchy recollection of a truck, a guy.

“You were forced off the road and—”

“Wait, wait. I got it.” She sat up in her bed as Todd came back to the chair. “Some clown followed me, then pushed and forced me into a ditch or something, right?”

Todd seemed amused. “Yeah, go on.”

“You're a prick, you know that? We were going on a case, in separate cars.”

Todd held up his hand. “We were going to lunch, in separate cars.”

Now she had it. The guy in the pickup followed her.

“The kid who owned the truck had a perfect alibi.” Todd's voice soothed her. “He was on a flight from Chicago, parked in the airport lot, it all checked out. He put his parking stub in his overhead visor, typical—”

“The guy tried to kill me, Todd.”

“How do you figure?”

“He came up too close behind me. When I signaled him by, he dropped back instead.”

“Wonder why?”

“That bastard, 'cause we were coming up on that little farming burg. Ah, what the heck's the name.” She'd gone blank again. “He waited until I sped up. I drifted off, thinking about lunch or something.”

“Did you recognize him? Maybe some guy we busted holding a grudge, disgruntled con, anything?”

Julie's memory played tricks on her. She didn't know if she should mention the face in the window. And was there a gun? “Who was the first one there?”

“People were standing around looking at your car.
There was an EMT guy, but I would say I was the first one down next to you in your vehicle.”

Julie thought about the man with the baseball cap. “You see anything around the car, like wet footprints?”

“Nah, it was all torn up. Mud, glass.”

She still saw his image in her rearview mirror. “He came down and looked into, I think, the side window. That water from the ditch soaked his trousers. Did you hold my head out of the water?”

Todd nodded. “Yes.”

“I was somewhat cockheaded trying to keep my nose above water, but he looked at me and grinned.” She sighed, looking at all the dressings on her. “We need a good sketch artist.”

“How much longer are you going to be in here?”

“Not long, I hope.”

“I'm going to bring that fellow—you know, the fat one that works for the county. You guys see if you can come up with an image. You sure about this being deliberate?”

“Positive.”

“I'll be back with him later today.” Todd got up to leave. “Glad you're back among the living.” He shuffled out as if there were more he wanted to say.

Todd was a good man. Too young for serious consideration, but still a heck of a guy.

A
day nurse
stage whispered from the door. “You have a visitor. It's after hours, but I'll bend the rules. Plus, he looks important. Keep it short, okay?”

Captain Walker appeared in the doorway. “How's our budding race car driver doing?”

“I'll let you know in a week or so,” Julie said, smiling. “No broken bones, slight concussion, a few scrapes. Aggravated my leg again. Nothing too serious. Thanks for dropping by, Captain.”

“Can't stay long, I came up yesterday morning, but you were out cold.” He removed his hat. “I've got a couple people checking your past cases. Devlin told me both of you discussed whether this scumbag driver might have been a guy you had arrested. Did the sketch artist come up with anything?”

Julie shrugged. “We got an image of a guy in a cap and dark glasses with a shit-eating grin. Looks like a couple dozen guys I see every day.”

Walker took a couple paces across the room and then back. “We find this guy, there's gonna be some serious ass
kicking. You need anything? Magazines, books, chocolates?”

“Thank you. No, sir.” The man's caring touched Julie. “The doctor says I'll be going home day after tomorrow. Maybe take a couple days, if that's all right?”

He settled in closer to the bed and put his hand on her shoulder. “Take whatever you need.” He paused. “Damn, girl. What am I going to have to do, put a chain on you?” Walker smiled. “I've got a trooper sitting outside your door until we can get clear on all this BS.”

“Do you think that's necessary?”

“I think that I'm not going to have my people threatened or run off the road while doing their jobs, is what I think. His name is Davis. He'll be replaced at 0600, and so forth and so on, until you're discharged. We'll see how it goes after that.” He then left, pulling his hat down hard across his forehead.

Julie made her way to the window. A minute later, Captain Walker emerged from beneath the overhang at the hospital entrance. He looked distracted as he crossed the parking lot. At one point, he stopped as if he'd forgotten something but then continued on to his car. A big, tough guy; bright and sensitive but always the solid policeman. Her dad had been a similar man, having died way too soon.

She slept well, awakening only once in the night. A brief flash about something to do with the evidence room bothered her. She dismissed it and went back to sleep, thinking that her life as a cop had recently become more exciting than she would have wished for.

After lunch, Cheryl and Julie's friend Billie came to visit. Her daughter brought news of school, boys, bullies, and a recruiting drive for cheerleaders. “Wearing scanty pants
and tight stuff on top is so much crap. I'd much rather just wear a sign saying ‘Available for sex. Apply within.' ”

Julie tut-tutted a few times over Cheryl's free speech, but her daughter's indomitable free spirit always buoyed her.

Cheryl had been staying with Billie since the accident. Billie, an accountant, helped navigate the intricacies of Julie's divorce and became good buddies when they discovered they'd dated some of the same losers in high school. Billie went through a similar manner of uncoupling. Still annoyed with her own ex, she relished helping Julie and her attorney map out her divorce settlement.