Chapter 23
NIYAH LEE
Niyah washed her hands and slipped on a pair of gloves. She walked over to the table and stood next to Mario Limon, her intern. “What do you see, Dr. Limon?”
“Complete chaos,” he responded through a heavy breath.
“More specifically?” Niyah probed, prompting him to be serious.
“Sorry, Dr. Lee.” Mario raised a sheet of film to the light and studied the X-ray and then leaned over the body for a closer look. “I see a shattered frontal and nasal bone. A fractured orbital plate, with additional fractures to the zygomatic bone.”
Niyah tucked her hands under the descendant’s shoulders and rolled him over. “What do you see?” she asked.
“Exit wound,” Mario responded.
“And what’s missing?” Niyah quizzed.
His brows knitted with confusion. “A second exit wound?”
Niyah turned to look him in the eye. “Is that a question or an answer?”
“It’s an answer,” Mario replied, returning his attention to the X-ray.
“What does that mean, Dr. Limon?”
He smiled as if proud of his discovery and placed the X-ray on a nearby table. “It means there’s another bullet in there somewhere.”
He was right. No bullet from a handgun could cause that much damage. Niyah smiled at her exceptional intern. “Good call, Dr. Limon. Let’s fish it out with the least amount of damage. Hopefully, it’s structurally intact for ballistic testing.”
“Yes, Dr. Reed.”
Niyah peeled the gloves from her fingers. “Did you run the tattoos?” she asked.
“Yes, Doctor. The results are on your desk.”
“Thank you. I’ll be in my office if you need me.
” Niyah tossed the gloves in the trash and left the exam room.
Her office wasn’t far, only a few feet from the examination room.
She looked down at the photo in the file, trying to find any reason why the man one of the twins had left with half a face had tried to kill them.
Niyah was wondering if his intent had been to kill one or both when she ran into a solid wall wrapped in a lab coat.
“Oh shit!” she swore as the papers in her hand flew everywhere.
Strong hands grabbed her shoulders to hold her steady.
“Are you okay?” The deep English accent came from the wall of a man that she’d run into.
Niyah pushed a few locs out of her face and looked up into the eyes of a ridiculously handsome man. In fact, he was the finest Asian man she’d ever laid eyes on. “I’m so sorry,” Niyah whispered.
She could have kicked herself for the breathy apology. She didn’t even want to imagine what she sounded like from his perspective. Gathering herself and what dignity she had left, Niyah stepped out of the man’s grasp. “Thank you,” she said in her normal voice.
“No worries,” he responded, kneeling with her when she bent to retrieve the contents of her file.
After gathering the last sheet of paper, the man handed her the photo of the shooter’s remains.
While he was staring at the picture, Niyah glanced at his nametag.
Dr. Ayoki was his name. He had to be new because there was no way she would've missed him walking the halls of the county hospital.
She tucked the photo inside the file and stood.
“Thanks again,” she told the handsome man before continuing down the hall.
Within a few steps, Niyah was facing her office. She wanted to look back and get another glance at the hot doctor. But with a demonstration of self-restraint, she opened the door and stepped inside.
Niyah dropped the autopsy report on her desk and retrieved the file that Mario had left on the keyboard.
She sat and flipped through the pages. As expected, the ink covering the shooter’s skin was much more than a display of his artistic expression.
In his world, every tattoo meant something.
According to the FBI database, it was highly likely that the man in her exam room was in some way associated with the organized crime syndicate that originated from Japan known as Yacuza.
Niyah dropped the file on her desk and grabbed one of the folders containing information on her south side, gangbanger homicides.
She had done the preliminary exam, but Mario was responsible for following up with the state police for DNA results.
With results still pending, Niyah dropped the file on her desk and returned her attention to the body on the table.
For twenty minutes, Niyah did her best to catch up on her insane case load. She rubbed her tired eyes and looked down at her watch. It was eight-thirty in the morning, enough time for Mario to have extracted the bullet from the shooter's skull.
Niyah stood and pulled her cellular phone from the pocket of her lab coat. On the way out of her office, she tapped the key to call Bella.
“Hey, Niyah,” Bella answered when she entered the hall.
“Hey. How’s Lucas?”
Bella exhaled. “He’s out of surgery. He’s stable, but he hasn’t come to yet. Except for me and his mom, nobody’s allowed in.”
Niyah sighed with relief to hear that Lucas was stable. “What did they say about the surgery?”
“Ugh, too much. His mom was the only one who understood all the doctor talk. But I guess it went well. He’s out of the woods. He needs another surgery, but they have to wait for some of the swelling to go down to go back in.”
“Okay. What can I do?” Niyah asked with sincere empathy.
Bella exhaled a heavy breath. “Maybe you can look over his chart for me.”
Niyah leaned against the wall and nodded as if Bella could see her. “Of course, I will. But you should talk to your future mother-in-law. She practices with the living.”
“I will, but she’s struggling right now. Did the body give you anything?”
“Yes. We ran the tats, and they hit on the Yacuza.”
“What?” Bella gasped. “Why would me and Donna be a target for the Yacuza?”
Because she knew Bella was just thinking out loud, Niyah didn't respond. Instead, she told her, “Evidence techs have collected rounds from the scene. So, I’m sure they’re working on ballistics.”
“Okay, cool. Thanks.”
“Bella, who’s the detective on Lucas’ case?”
“Jackie French.” After a pause, she added. “She’s good. Been in the Violent Crimes Division for ten years. She’s a closer.”
“Good to know,” Niyah responded. “Okay, get back to your family. I’m gonna get back to my body. No doubt, your shooting and Lucas’ are related.”
Bella released another sigh. “It has to be some kind of vendetta. I mean who would wanna hurt Lucas?”
Niyah shrugged. “Could it be a business deal gone bad?”
“Niyah, what kind of business do you think Lucas is in? They’re in the luxury hospitality industry.”
“I guess you’re right. Don’t worry, Bella. We’ll get to bottom of the shit.”
“Okay,” Bella replied in a weak, defeated whisper. “I gotta go. One of the doctors just went into Lucas’ room. He might have news.”
“Okay. I’ll be by there later,” Niyah assured.
“Naw, friend. Go home and get some sleep. You have to be exhausted.
Niyah leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. Bella was right. She was exhausted.
“Come by after you’ve rested,” Bella insisted. “I need that big brain of yours to be on point.”
Niyah chuckled and pushed off the wall. “You’re silly. I gotta go examine the Japanese gangbanger on my table.”
It was Bella’s turn to laugh. “Okay, friend. Get to it.”
Niyah disconnected the call and crossed the hall to her exam room. As soon as she pushed the door open and stepped inside, she slid on something wet and fell hard on her ass. “What the fuck?” she cried, ready to read her intern for filth for leaving a mess.
Niyah tried to stand but slipped again. The sticky liquid on the floor was too thick to be water or coffee. She raised her palm and was horrified by the sight of blood. She looked up at the table. There was no reason for the corpse to be bleeding, and it didn’t seem to be.
Niyah flipped over and scanned the room for the source and was completely horrified when she found it. Across the room, Mario was gasping for air and clutching his throat. The sight of her intern lying in a puddle of his own blown nearly stopped Niyah’s heart.