“Don’t tempt her or she’ll have us here all night,” he said to the doctor.
“I want to run a couple of tests,” he said.
“Why?” I said.
“You sustained a concussion, one substantial enough to cause a temporary loss of memory.”
“But I feel fine now. What kind of tests?”
“The usual––strength, balance, coordination,” he said.
He gazed for a long moment at my chart.
“I also ordered an MRI.”
“That sounds serious,” Nick said.
“It’s nothing to worry about right now; I just want to make sure her brain is not bruised or bleeding.”
“I want to go home. When will that be possible?”
The doctor patted my head.
“I’ll come back and check on you in a little while.”
He walked out and the chief walked in.
“Mind if I come in?” he said.
“Not at all,” I said.
“How’s the patient?”
“She’ll live,” Nick said.
“I’m glad you came,” I said. “We need to talk.”
“No need for that. Madison filled me in.”
Having Maddie discuss her findings with the chief was for the best. The medical jargon she liked to use sounded like a bunch of gibberish to me.
“So?” I said.
“Why didn’t you come to see me before going to the victim’s house,” he said.
“You called her the victim. Does that mean you believe me now?”
I was pressing my luck, but my head hurt, and I didn’t care.
Nick piped up from the corner of the room.
“I’m going to check on Maddie and see how she’s coming along with our dinner.”
“The green jello looks so good though,” I said. “We can’t let it go to waste.”
“Watch this pain it the butt for me for a few minutes okay,” he said to the chief.
He winked in my direction and exited the room. And then there were two.
“Look Sloane,” the chief said, “you might think I don’t give a rat’s ass but I do.”
I adjusted my position in the bed and tried to sit up.
“I know.”
“You withheld information from me,” he said.
“I didn’t look at it like that. Besides, I talked to you about this once already, and we both know how that went.”
“So you thought you would go out and confront Parker Stanton on your own?” he said.
“How did you––?”
“Know?”
I nodded.
“Your boy wants to press charges. Says you assaulted him in his home and broke three of his fingers.”
I tried my hardest not to crack a smile.
“Well?” he said.
“What?”
“Did you break his fingers?”
“Not all of them.”
He shook his head.
“Ah hell, Sloane,” he said.
“Did he tell you he had me pinned up against the wall? My guess is that he left that part out. That complete waste of human life abuses women. I caught him in the act the other night, and it would come as no surprise to find out he’s the reason I’m in this place.”
He rubbed his forehead which he did whenever he needed to decide what to do with me, like something could be done.
“Well,” I said, “do you want to work with me on this or not?”
“You got a name?” he said.
I promised Daniela anonymity and I wanted to keep that promise unless it was the only trump card I had left. I shook my head.
“Come see me when you feel better,” he said.
He got up and walked toward the door.
“And Sloane,” he said, “don’t do anything stupid.”
CHAPTER 27
I woke to the sound of food sizzling in the kitchen. From the smell I deduced it was of the swine variety. Lord Berkeley relaxed in his favorite position next to me––sprawled out on his backside with his paws in the air like a dog’s version of sun salutations.
“You’re awake,” Nick said. “How’s the head?”
“I’ll survive.”
He handed me a plate with enough food on it to feed a small country.
“Wow,” I said.
“I figured you might be hungry.”
“What time is it?” I said.
“Half past one.”
“In the afternoon?”
He nodded.
“Tuesday?” I said.
“Wednesday.”
“Wednesday! I can’t believe I slept that long. The chief is going to––”
“Be just fine,” Nick said. “He already called to check in and said not to rush you. He will see you when you feel up to it.”
I set the plate down and attempted to stand, but my legs had something else in mind. Damn drugs.
“I’m fine; I need to talk to him today,” I said.
“Whoa, hang on.”
Nick took hold of me and helped me back to bed.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
“Oh, come on, I just need a minute and I’ll be fine,” I said.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “Now eat your food.”
“You can be so stubborn sometimes.”
He laughed and pointed his fork at me and said, “I’m not half as stubborn as you.”
I could tell by the impassioned stare down he gave me that unless he left, my day would be spent in solitary. I clutched my plate and at the same time Lord Berkeley conducted a taste test on my side of bacon.
“Boo, no!” I said.
He ducked his head under the covers.
“I have information the chief should hear,” I said.
“You need rest and Sheppard understands that.”
“Parker is dangerous. I’m worried about the other women. There’s no telling what he might do.”
“If he has any sense at all, he’ll lay low awhile.”
“You don’t know that. What if he hits someone else? What if he goes after Audrey? What if he disappears and we can’t find him? What if––”
“Okay, okay.”
He let out an exasperated sigh and I could tell he might relent. I waited for it.
“Tell you what I’ll do,” he said. “I’ll call the chief and see if he can come over.”
“Here?”
“Take it or leave it. You’re in no condition to go out. I don’t care how tenacious you think you are, today you’re confined to this bed.”
Nick didn’t bother to wait for my answer before he left the room and called the chief. Lord Berkeley remained halfway beneath the covers with his bottom up in the air and his tail wagging.
“It’s okay Boo,” I said. “I’m not mad, you can come out.”
He poked his head out but averted eye contact with me. I patted him on the head and he nuzzled up against my leg. He made his peace and returned to business as usual. If only life was that simple for everyone.
My cell phone rang. It was Vicki.
“I heard what happened,” she said. “Sloane, are you alright?”
I didn’t realize we were on a first name basis.
“I’m fine.”
“I guess one of your friends found you,” she said. “Talk about good timing. Is what Audrey said true––someone murdered Charlotte? It’s hard to believe, I can’t comprehend who would do such a thing.”
“It looks that way.”
“Do you suspect Parker?” she said. “Because Audrey is certain he did it.”
“It’s hard to say for sure.”
There was an awkward pause that was just long enough for her to gear up for another round of questions. I couldn’t allow that to happen.
“Thanks for calling, but I need to go.”
“Oh, right,” she said. “I bet you’re still recuperating. Listen, I don’t want to keep you. The reason I called is Audrey mentioned you still wanted to track down Charlotte’s assistant, Bridget.”
“No one can find her.”
“She showed up here today,” she said. “I thought she left town, but then I walked into the office and––”