Swingin' in the Rain (20 page)

  “That’s not so,” he said. “He was probably taking Patti someplace to kill her. If you hadn’t intervened, he could have driven off with her and killed her at his leisure. You probably saved her life, Alex.”

  “If she survives,” I said. “Where’s that doctor? He said he’d check on her for me.”

  “I’ll check,” he said. “You stay here.”

  “Alright.”

  “I mean it, Alex,” he said.

  “I know.”

  He went to the door, but didn’t go out. He backed up and turned to me.

  “There are some uniforms here,” he said. “The hospital must have called them because of the knife wound.”

  “Should we try to get out?”

  “No,” he said. “If Patti survives, she’s gonna mention you.”

  “What about you?”

  “We’ll see,” he said, “but she’ll definitely tell them about you, so just tell them you went there to see her, and saw them struggling. Tell the truth from there.”

  “Are they going to call Rockland?”

  “Probably,” he said.

  “How do I deal with that? He could be Randy’s killer.”

  “Just stay calm. Tell the cops that you and Patti work together and she quit suddenly. You decided to check on her and walked into this situation. If Rockland shows up, tell him the same thing.”

  “What about you? You should get out of here.”

  “No,” he said, “we’ll just tell them that you called me when you got here. We’re a couple. That would be natural.”

  “Okay.”

  “Now relax, get your breath back. The key is to stick as close to the truth as possible.”

  “Right.”

  “And Alex?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Did the guy that attacked you know you recognized him?”

  “Definitely. He said he was going to take care of me once and for all. Before that lady yelled out.”

  “What lady? You never mentioned a lady.”

  “She saved my life, Jakes. The guy was about to stab me when she yelled out for him to stop.” He nodded and looked at the floor.

  “Where was she when this happened?”

  “I’m not sure. I had a lot going on at the time, ya know?”

  “I’m gonna want to find her and talk to her. Don’t mention this to the cops, okay? And for now you stay put. Understand?” He held me by my shoulders and kissed me someplace it didn’t hurt, adding, “I’ll check on Patti and come right back.”

  As he went out the door I briefly considered jumping down from the table and running out. Although I realized I wouldn’t get too far with a hospital full of cops. At least I wouldn’t have to concentrate on staying as close to the truth as possible if I got out of there. But I wanted to know how Patti was.

  While I was weighing my options two uniformed policemen walked into the room.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  I had to show them identification and answer questions, just as Jakes had said. They wanted to know what happened, what I was doing there, if I knew the victim and the assailant. I told them that I worked with Patti and was concerned when she had suddenly quit our show. That I had heard she was staying at a mutual friend’s house and decided to check on her because I was worried. I had driven up to find her being attacked by the assailant, whom I had never seen before. That part I lied about. And I left out the part of the neighbor who heroically saved my life.

  They wrote it all down, and then told me I was going to have to talk to a detective. I hoped they weren’t referring to Rockland. It was going to be tricky hiding what I knew about him and Randy, and that he had most likely bugged my home and phone. And even may have been behind Patti’s stabbing.

  They left, and Dr. Hart came back in, closing the door behind him.

  “How’s Patti?”

  “She’s still in surgery. So far she’s stable.” He said. “The knife did a bit of internal damage. Good going with keeping the pressure on her wound. Because of that her blood loss wasn’t as extensive as it could have been.”

  “When will she be out?”

  “An hour or so,” he said “and then she’ll be moved to recovery.”

  “When can I leave?” I asked. “I’ve got to pick up my kid from school in a few hours.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “Fine.”

  “No dizziness?”

  “None.”

  “Stand up.”

  I dropped down from the table and as soon as my feet hit the floor I swayed—or the room did. The doctor took my arm and steadied me.

  “Sit back down,” he said. “Can you have someone else pick up your child?” Dr. Hart whipped out his little tiny flashlight and pointed it in my eyes. “Let me take another look.”

  “Is there something wrong with me?”

  “Nothing serious. But you were shaken up. It would be better if you didn’t drive today.”

  The door opened suddenly and Detective Rockland strode in. “How is she, Doctor?” He was looking straight at me when he asked the question.

  “Not seriously injured,” the doctor said, “but she could use some rest.”

  “I can question her, then?” His gaze never left me.

  The doctor straightened up and looked at Rockland. “For a few minutes,” he said, “and then I want her to rest. Understand?”

  “I understand.”

  My handsome doctor was a youngish man, and Rockland was imposing. I admired the way he stood up to him. I heart Dr. Hart.

  “Call me if you need me,” the doctor said to me.

  ”Thank you.” I was close to begging him to stay with me but I thought better of it.

  He left and Rockland moved closer, which I didn’t appreciate.

  “Could you back up please?” I asked, putting my hand out. “You’re making me feel nauseous.”

  He backed up two steps. I wondered if he had seen Jakes in the hospital.

  “You want to tell me what you were doin’?” he asked.

  “I was going to see Patti,” I said. “When I got there I saw her being assaulted, so I tried to help.”

  “How’d you know she was there?”

  “She called me at the studio, said she wanted to talk,” I lied, keeping Kathy out of it.

  “About what?”

  “She didn’t say on the phone, but I had the feeling it was about Randy’s murder.”

  Rockland hesitated, passed his hand over his mouth. He was looking right through me. I have to admit it was a little frightening. I had no idea what this man was capable of doing. Well actually I did. And that’s what was scary.

  “Who was the guy?”

  “What guy?”

  “The guy who stabbed your friend. The guy who knocked you around, Alex. Remember him?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You never saw him before?” His look was penetrating.

  I hesitated and took a breath. Hopefully he wouldn’t notice how nervous I actually was.

  “No,” I said, “I’ve never seen him before.”

  “What about his car. Did he have a car?”

  “I never saw one. It all happened very quickly, you know?” He stepped a little closer to me. “Please. Back. Up. I’m not feeling well. I’d hate to barf all over your nice suit.” I smiled weakly.

  He looked like he wanted to punch me, but instead he slowly took a step back. “So that’s it?”

  “That’s it,” I said. He stood there sizing me up. I got the feeling he didn’t believe a word I was saying. “Why aren’t you asking Patti these questions?”

  “I was waiting for her to regain consciousness so I could,” he said, “but she crashed and they kicked me out.”

  “What? Is she all right?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, unconcerned. “I came over here to question you.”

  “She crashed and you didn’t wait to see if she was okay?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “I have a job to do.”

  “You’re a sonofabitch, do you know that?” It was out of my mouth before I could stop it. “A first class SOB.”

  “You might be surprised to find out you’re not the first person to call me that.” He smiled.

  I stood up, fought off a wave of dizziness and pushed past him, grabbing my purse.

  “I’ll be in touch, Miss Peterson,” he called after me.

  I wondered at the time what he would have done if I’d told him about the man from Mulholland?

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  I hurried down the hall and went into the ladies room. I pulled out my cell phone and called Tonja. She picked up on the first ring.

  “Hi Alex! How are you?”

  “I’m okay. Well not really. I, uh, have a problem at work. I’m not going to be done in time to pick up Sarah from school.”

  “Say no more! I’ll get her and take her to my house. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

  “Thanks so much. I’ll call and let you know what time I’ll be back. Thanks, again. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem, Alex. I’m happy to help.”

  She hung up and I looked in the mirror. Lord! I had a bruise that was coming up on my forehead; it was going to be a doozie. I quickly brushed my bangs over to hide it and headed back into the hall to find Patti. Unfortunately, I didn’t know where she was. I didn’t even know if she was on the same floor. I looked around and saw my doctor standing at a desk talking to a nurse.

  “Doctor Hart!” I called. He turned and looked at me, said something to the nurse, then turned to face me as I approached him.

  “Patti,” I said. “What happened—is she—what happened to—“

  “Calm down,” he said. “She crashed, but she’s all right. They took her to ICU.”

  “So she can’t be questioned?”

  “Not for a while,” he said, “She’s being closely monitored.” He looked past me. I turned and over my shoulder saw Rockland just coming out of the examination room I’d been in. He had his cell phone in his hand, was in the act of closing it. He’d stayed behind to make a call.

  To whom, I wondered?

  “Do you know where my--Detective Jakes—the man I, my . . . my boyfriend is?”

  “When they wheeled your friend to Intensive Care he went with her.”

  “And where is that?”

  “One floor up.”

  “Thank you.”

  I hurried to the elevator, hoping Rockland wouldn’t follow me.

  I found Jakes standing outside of Intensive Care. There was no sign of Rockland behind me.

  “I’m glad I found you,” I said.

  “Rockland?”

  “Downstairs. He said Patti crashed so he came to talk to me. He didn’t care if she’d made it or not. I was this close to smacking him. He’s a real asshole.”

  “That he is. And then some. Thankfully, Patti’s okay, but she can’t talk.”

  “Has Rockland seen you yet?” I asked.

  “No, but I think I’ll go down and rattle his cage a little.”

  “I told him what happened, but I didn’t tell him about recognizing the guy or the lady who yelled out.”

  “Okay, good to know,” he said. “Look, wait for me here.”

  “Do you think it’s smart to let him see you?”

  “I want him off balance,” Jakes said. “I want him to wonder what I know.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  He held me by the arms, kissed me and said, “I’m gonna make him think I know more than I do. Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

  I turned and looked through the window at Patti. With tubes running in and out of her and machines all around she looked very small and pale. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was lying in there because of me, or if Jakes was right. She would have been dead if I hadn’t gone charging in like the cavalry. Now she was just lying in a hospital bed, clinging to life by a thread. Either way it didn’t seem I’d done her much good.

  A nurse came out and I stopped her. “How is she?”

  “It was close,” the woman said, “but we’re managed to stabilize her, again.”

  “Again?” I asked.

  “Yes, we had her stable before she crashed.”

  “So it could happen again?”

  “Oh, yes,” she said. ”It could.” She touched my arm. “But maybe it won’t.”

  Yeah, maybe, I thought, looking back at Patti.

  Jakes later told me about his encounter with Rockland . . .

  As the elevator doors opened Jakes prepared to step out, but Rockland was standing there.

  “Up?” Jakes said.

  “What are you doin’ here?” Rockland demanded. “You have no right—“

  “My girlfriend was assaulted,” Jakes said. “I’m here to pick her up. She’s upstairs, with her friend. You going up?”

  “I was gonna check on the Dennis woman,” Rockland said.

  “She’s all right,” Jakes said. “Stable, but unconscious.”

  “So she can’t talk?”

  “She can’t.”

  Rockland nodded, started to step away from the elevator. Jakes walked out.

  “Of course,” he said, “she could, but now she can’t.”

  “What do you mean, she could?”

  “She was lucid just for a few minutes,” Jakes said. “She . . . talked.”

  “About what?”

  Jakes shrugged. “She just . . . muttered some things about . . . blue boots? You know anything about that?”