Chapter 13
Gunner was in the hospital elevator on his way to the Critical Care Unit to visit his lieutenant. It was just shy of eleven o’clock, so unless there were others waiting to visit, he wouldn’t have to wait long.
When he got to the CCU waiting room, he scanned the faces but didn’t see anyone from their precinct or anyone else he recognized. And when the clock ticked over, he got in line with other visitors, flashed his badge and ID at the door, and stated his name and who he was visiting.
“He’s my lieutenant,” Gunner added.
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you,” he said and entered critical care, then went straight to Andy Samuels’s room.
Samuels appeared to be sleeping, but his eyes opened as Gunner neared his bed.
“How’s it going, Boss?” Gunner said and pulled up a chair by the bed.
“I’ve been better. But I’m stable and will be out of here soon. What’s going on out there? What about you?” Samuels asked.
“Mostly staying holed up. Without proof, I don’t really know if all the hit men are gone.”
Samuels frowned. “I was told they were.”
Gunner’s heart skipped. “Right… I remember the text. So, someone told you that?”
“Yeah, Rowdy stuck his head in the office that day and said the hit had been called off and everybody on the street knew it.”
Gunner nodded. “Ah… Yeah… Rowdy always has his ear to the ground, right? Is there anything you need, sir?”
“I don’t need anything but to get well, but thanks for asking,” Samuels said. “And my daughter is on the way. I think her plane lands sometime late this afternoon.”
Gunner stood. “I don’t want to outstay my welcome. Get well. Talk to you soon.”
“Thanks for coming,” Samuels said. “You’re the first, by the way.”
Gunner frowned. “You mean, you’ve been in here by yourself since they brought you in?”
“I don’t remember being brought in. They may all have been there then, but I don’t need a babysitter. I’ve got pretty nurses for that. The team needs to be out there doing their jobs.”
Gunner shook his head and gave Samuels’s leg a quick pat. “Get some sleep,” he said and left.
He got all the way to the elevator before he let himself be indignant on his boss’s behalf.
A whole freaking department full of cops and not one showed up?
Even if they were there when he was brought in, no one has followed up?
Do you have to get shot to be worthy of a visit?
Unless a crime wave has suddenly hit, they have a lot to answer for.
But there was one positive thing about his visit.
Finding out that Samuels was just repeating what Rowdy told him.
For Gunner, that eliminated his boss from suspicion.
But while he was driving home, he remembered something from the day Yankee Dan had been brought in to give a statement and how pissed off Gunner had been to find the old man still handcuffed with no food and nobody to see to his foot.
That day, Yankee Dan mentioned something about talking to Rowdy, and the detective had not mistreated him, but seemed curious about him.
Now Gunner wondered if Rowdy had actually questioned Dan about everything he’d seen and done before Gunner’s arrival and read between the lines and told Dixon.
That was two black marks against Rowdy now.
Something to dig into when he got home. But thinking of home brought him back to the robbery in his neighborhood and the two elderly people who’d been beaten and tied up while they were being robbed.
If the Robbery division was able to identify the bastard from the still shot Nora sent, then they had the opportunity to find him and get him off the streets.
He wanted to call Holly. He wanted to hear her voice. God, he was sick of this cat and mouse shit. He wanted it to be over and wanted her in his arms, but not yet… Not quite yet. He had some digging to do on Tom Rowdy.
He exited the Loop and was driving into his neighborhood when he noticed a For Sale sign in a yard down the street.
It was the house that had just been robbed. The one belonging to the retired postman and his wife. That was fast! Bless their hearts. He didn’t blame them for not wanting to come back.
* * *
Hours later, Gunner was still on the computer when his phone rang. It was Asher, and his first words were, “Are you okay?”
Gunner frowned. “Yes, why? What do you know that I don’t?”
“Wondered if you’d heard Burgess Dixon is dead.
It appears to be a suicide, but the only note on his desk was a list of informants.
I know the Feds demanded a copy of the list, on the grounds that whoever gave away the location of their safe house abetted in the ensuing murder of their agents and the loss of a witness.
They couldn’t nail Dixon, but they’re all fired up about the informant. ”
“My God…and no, I didn’t know. We had a neighborhood robbery down the street this morning, and I went to the hospital to see my lieutenant after that. He had a heart attack at work.”
“Do you still have reason to suspect him?” Asher asked.
“No, but a homicide detective named Tom Rowdy is the one who told him the hit was off and it was safe for me to come home. And Rowdy also talked to our homeless guy who was later killed by a hit and run. If Rowdy’s name is on that list…
” His voice trailed off, but Asher wasn’t through delivering news.
“Then I may have one more nail to put in Rowdy’s coffin. Nora has been researching all the names, remember?”
“Yeah, so what did she find?” Gunner asked.
“She mentioned it in passing this morning and wasn’t sure it would mean anything to the big picture, but it was a rather shocking connection.
One of the special agents murdered at the safe house was Tom Rowdy’s brother-in-law.
That could have given Rowdy inside knowledge of the location of the safe house, too, but that only matters if his name is on the list.”
Gunner stilled. “You’re right. I’ll just have to wait and see how this all plays out, but it’s now out of my hands. I suppose the Feds are all over it.”
“I would assume,” Asher said.
“Right… Anyway… Thank you for the info,” Gunner said.
“Any time, brother,” Asher said and hung up.
Gunner leaned back, absorbing the new information. With Dixon dead, and Samuels and Cliff no longer under his suspicion, and the Feds all over the list, it felt like the skies were clearing faster than he’d hoped.
He glanced at the clock. Nearly 5:00 p.m. If Holly wasn’t working late, she’d be getting ready to head home.
The usual suspects were either dead or cleared of his suspicions.
And with Dixon dead, there would be no automatic guilty party for someone else to blame if they wanted to take a potshot at him.
The storm in his life was passing. He was ready for blue skies.
The phone was still in his hands, and the thought of Holly in his arms was too strong to deny.
She answered on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey, darlin’. How’s your day been?”
Hearing his voice became the best part of her day. “Crazy busy, but winding down. How about you?”
“I could say productive and not tell you a lie. Do you have plans for tonight?”
Her heart skipped. “No.”
He shifted from one foot to the other. “I would love to have dinner with you and stuff.” Her laugh sent shivers up his spine.
“Fabulous idea. What’s your plan?”
“If you’re too tired to go out, I can bring dinner to you,” he said.
“I’d love that,” she said. “I had peanut butter crackers and a Pepsi at my desk. I’m starving, and I don’t care what we eat.”
Now he was beaming. “Great. Is seven o’clock a good time?”
“The best. Do you have plans tomorrow?” she asked.
“I’m not on any schedule, if that’s what you mean,” he said.
“Then feel free to bring your toothbrush and a change of clothes. We live too far apart for all this driving,” she said.
“That’s the best invitation I’ve ever had. I won’t have to sleep with my teddy bear tonight.”
She laughed out loud. “You do not sleep with a teddy bear.”
“Well, maybe not anymore… But only because it finally fell apart. I can’t wait to see you again. I have a small confession to make. It’s not bad, but it’s something you sure need to know, okay?”
“You’re always okay, with me. See you soon. Love you, Gunner.”
“Love you more,” he said, and the call ended. He was smiling the whole time he was packing. Choosing food to order was a whole other thing, but he knew he could do better than peanut butter crackers.
A few minutes later, he was calling in an order to pick up and driving the Mustang. No more hide-and-seek.
* * *
Holly shut down her computer, gave her roses a quick sniff, and then headed out the door.
“See you guys tomorrow,” she said.
“What’s the rush?” her boss asked.
“I worked through my lunch hour, remember? My tummy has been complaining about not being fed. Going home to eat and relax. See you all tomorrow.”
Then when she left work, she decided to take the old way home and skip the Loop. Five o’clock traffic on it was the fifth circle of hell, and she had yet to get home without seeing at least one wreck.
She’d never slept all night with a man before. But she’d also never been so certain of a forever love. She didn’t want to take a chance on being delayed due to traffic, and as she drove through the city streets, she was remembering the quiet on the ranch and lack of traffic jams on the highway.
Coming to terms with her mother’s death now had nothing to do with a traffic or a collision. She’d grown up hearing her mother say over and over, “When it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go, and any other decision is not ours to make.”
The last time Holly called home, Travis answered. When she asked him how things were going, his only comment was that they were burying Lee Peters in Tulsa today, and the family was already gone.
All she’d said was, “I love you.”
There was nothing to be said in defense of that death. It was a tragedy, and life was full of them.