Chapter 22
CHAPTER 22
E lliot drew a deep breath and waited for Maya to slip into a deeper sleep. “I think I love you, too,” he whispered as he brushed her hair from her cheek and studied the beautiful woman. The pallor of her face made her lashes and freckles stand out. He couldn’t explain why he felt the way he did. There wasn’t a logical reason in sight. But he knew what he knew, and yeah, it was too fast. Love at first sight didn’t happen. But damn it, he’d never felt the emotions he felt for her. He weighed it against any savior complex information he’d ever read. That wasn’t what he felt. There was no rush from being the one to save her. Only thankfulness filled his heart when he looked back at the day's events. Thankful for her warning. Thankful for Rob and Silas arriving when they did. Thankful for the NYPD cop who told him where to fucking go. Thankful that whoever took that shot hadn’t aimed any farther into the building. No, he wasn’t her savior. He was part of a confluence of events that ultimately resulted in him not mourning a love that had just started.
The nurse he’d come to know as the shift supervisor came in. “I’ve got some pain relief for her,” she whispered and injected the medicine into her IV. “She should rest easier now.”
“Thank you.” Elliot watched as the creases in her face relaxed. Her sleep eased, and he felt a sense of relief. He could tell she was hurting but trying to be brave.
“You’ve got a crowd of people waiting for you in the waiting room,” the nurse said, smoothing Maya’s blanket. “We’ll keep a good eye on her for you.”
Elliot stood up, leaned over the rail, and kissed her forehead. As he pulled back, he whispered, “I’ll make it stop. I promise.”
The light in the hall was brilliant compared to Maya’s darkened room. He walked out and found his way to the waiting room. Rob and Silas stood up immediately. There were several NYPD uniforms with them. “How is she?”
“She’ll be okay.”
Rob nodded to the uniformed officers. “They’ve been assigned to her. I wanted them to meet you and be briefed by you.”
Elliot shook each of their hands. “No one except the three of us or the medical staff goes in her room for any reason.”
“Is she a flight risk?” one of the uniformed officers asked.
“No. She’s the victim, and she’s to be protected at all costs.”
“Sorry, the reason I asked was these two were discussing how she got out of the area without them knowing.” The cop shrugged.
Elliot looked at Rob and Silas. “As we know, Jessica had a gun, and she threatened Maya’s employees, and probably you guys, too, if I had to bet. She wouldn’t allow anyone to get hurt. That’s why she didn’t alert the guard.”
“We’ve got her, sir. We’re here in shifts around the clock until you don’t need us anymore.” They left the room, discussing schedules and how to get a roster of on-duty medical staff on the floor.
“We figured you might need some help. If you’d rather we stay on the door, we’ll do it.”
“Let me find out where we are first.” Elliot put his hand in his pocket, put his comms device back in his ear, and activated it. “Con, what have you got?”
“A bunch of stuff. How’s Maya?”
“A bad concussion. She’ll be okay. We have NYPD here to watch the door.” Elliot walked out into the hall and watched as one guard took up position at the door and the other went to the nurses’ station. The third, probably the night guard, lifted a hand and headed out.
“Yep, I’ve run the men they assigned. All are good men; nothing in their jackets would make me question their ability.”
He looked at Rob and Silas. “You’re with me on this.” They both nodded. He walked back into the waiting room for some semblance of privacy and switched back to his conversation with Con. “What else do you have?”
“Let’s start at the beginning. Jessica purchased the silicone on the floor that night you showed up at Maya’s office. I cross-referenced her financials, and she bought it the day before. It’s an exact match for the substance on the floor. I finally got a facial match on the messenger. He was one of the guys who ended up DOA at the construction site today.
“He had no record, yet he was carrying a weapon that had been stolen and used in a murder in Florida. There was a huge breach of an evidence locker in Miami, and it was one of the items taken. Along with about a million dollars worth of meth that was awaiting destruction.”
Elliot lodged that bit of information. “All right. What else?”
“The shooter who clipped your wing was on the rooftop where the weather cam was located. I could only get a partial view of him.”
“Him?”
“Definitely a him. Big guy. I’ll send the video to your phone, but, man, I swear he was upset at his shot. He watched until you got Maya back into the building before picking up his casing and left.”
Elliot crossed his arms. “Any chance of prints?”
“Gloves. But, dude, when you got her in, he pumped his fist, not like I’ll get you, but in yay, score, victory! I had my Shadow intel officer look at the video, and she agreed he was happy you got her back in.”
Elliot frowned. “Could he have been shooting at Jessica?”
“That’s what my intel thinks. She’s lined up the angle based on what we have. The computer program shows if Jessica hadn’t moved, the shot would have gone straight through her heart.”
“And when I leaped forward, it caught me.”
“You got it, boss,” Con acknowledged.
“Has Asher reported in?”
“On that dipshit Dillon Ulman? Yeah, and, dude, tell me I’m a genius.”
“All right, you’re a genius. Tell me why.” Elliot rolled his eyes, and Rob and Silas chuckled.
“I thought you’d never ask. I was able to patch into a daisy chain of cameras that showed portions of that side of the building. Each had only a slice of the area we needed, but I was able to patch together a full view. Guess who had a gun and who Dillon fought with?”
“Jessica Hall.”
“Fuck, man, way to take the wind out of my sails,” Con grumbled.
“And where’s Dillon now?”
“That’s one of the big question marks. He walked out of the hospital and got into a rented vehicle, which was, of course, reported stolen that morning. I followed the vehicle until it went into a parking garage. There are no cameras, and tracking them outbound hasn’t happened. My guess is they transferred vehicles, but I’m working on it.”
“Residences?”
“One. Sent the address to your phone.”
“Wait. What’s Jessica’s address?”
“You think he’d hang out there?”
Elliot nodded his head even though Con couldn’t see him. “It seems to me she did things by her own schedule, not Dillon’s. Maybe he didn’t know what she was up to. Can you access her phone?”
“Nah, dude, that phone shattered into a million pieces. The SIM card wasn’t found by the crime scene peeps. The last ping I got was right before she tumbled off that building.”
“Keep looking for any place Dillon may go. Family residences, vacation rentals, hell, look to see if he rented a home share through one of the apps.”
“On it. I’m also looking for aliases and known acquaintances. Oh, hey, that Chandler Kates dude flipped out when he was on bail. A real psychotic break, according to the reports I’m getting. He’s been committed to a hospital. Probably won’t see the outside for a long, long time.”
“So, the only outlying issue is Dillon, if he’s responsible for the shooter, and if he isn’t, Dillon and the shooter.”
“Right now, we don’t have anything on Dillon other than the fact Jessica shot him, do we?” Con asked.
“He’s an accomplice at a minimum, and my gut tells me that man is slimy as hell. That undercover NYPD officer knew who the boss was. Call whoever you have to call to get me in to see him today. This won’t wait twenty-four hours. I’ll call in favors if I need to, and you know what that means.”
“Gotcha. Use the big gun if necessary. You know that will ruffle some feathers.”
“As if I give a shit,” Elliot huffed.
“I'm just saying, my man. The NYPD has a long memory. Anyway, I’ll keep looking into Jessica’s financials. I’m not sure we’ll find anything, but …”
“I’m heading to her apartment with Rob and Silas, then to Dillon’s. Let me know when I can talk to that cop.”
“You got it.”
He looked at Rob and Silas. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah, but, dude, you need a change of shirts.”
Elliot looked down at his blood-stained shirt. The nurse hadn’t found a shirt large enough for him. “You got something against blood?”
Rob shrugged. “Only if it’s my own. Even so, that shit is pretty drastic.”
“We can grab you a t-shirt on the way out in the gift shop,” Rob suggested.
“Then let’s go.” Elliot turned down the hallway. He would stop to check on Maya one more time before he left, even if she hadn’t been moved to her room yet. Then, well, then, he had a man to find and answers to get.