[2017] Terminal Secret by Mark Gilleo

Author:Mark Gilleo [Gilleo, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780999047200
Amazon: B074V8LGCC
Barnesnoble: B074V8LGCC
Publisher: 2020 Press
Published: 2017-09-26T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 31

Wallace parked his squad car on the curb and ran into the emergency room at GW Hospital. Police shield in hand, he bypassed the half-dozen cases standing in line at the registration desk. The security guard on duty stepped forward to intercept Wallace, noticed the badge, and nodded.

“Dan Lord,” Wallace said tersely to the woman in purple scrubs behind the registration desk.

“Room six,” the woman replied, pointing down the light blue hall to her left. “He’s getting ready to be released.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, sir.”

Covered in perspiration, Wallace arrived at the doorway of the room and spotted Emily’s profile at the curtained partition on the right. Steps later, Wallace tugged the curtain to the side and entered. Dan was sitting upright on the adjustable bed, his pants on, a thick roll of ace bandages wrapped around his chest. A nurse stood next to his right arm, checking the printout of the EKG machine.

“Does someone want to explain exactly what the hell is going on?” Wallace said, pulling Emily to the side. “Dispatch reported he was shot and wasn’t wearing a vest.”

“He was shot. It hit. Center mass.”

“What am I missing? Someone’s going to have to start explaining.”

Emily tried not to smile. “Dan here has taken to wearing bulletproof clothing.” Emily nodded in Dan’s direction as if to highlight the living and breathing evidence receiving medical treatment.

“No injuries?” Wallace asked.

“Two broken ribs and one fantastic bruise in the making. But otherwise he’s fine.”

The nurse who had been checking Dan’s vitals turned away from her patient, slipped by Wallace and Emily, and exited while whispering something about men and guns.

“The nurse said I’m free to go,” Dan said. “And let me say, I had no idea how fast service at an emergency room could be. Turns out, if you come in with a police officer, you get to cut the line.”

“Smart ass. Damn near gave me a heart attack,” Wallace said.

“Time to get in shape.”

“You think this is funny?”

Emily interjected. “No, we don’t think it’s funny. We’re just a little ahead of you on the emotional roller coaster.”

“I don’t recall a psychology degree on your résumé. You want to give me the rundown of what happened?” Wallace asked.

“It started with a mugging,” Dan said.

“Another mugging?”

“An attempted mugging. Three men. Emily here took out two of them. She left me one for exercise.”

Wallace raised an eyebrow. “How considerate. Ever seen them before?”

“No. Well, I saw them ten minutes before on another block. They were walking the neighborhood.”

“And you let them follow you?”

“I didn’t let them do anything. The leader of the group addressed me by name before the altercation. It wasn’t random. The guys spoke Spanish.”

“MS-13?”

“They weren’t MS-13,” Dan and Emily said almost simultaneously.

“Why’s that?” Wallace asked.

Dan answered. “Because they were Mexicans. Different accent all together. MS-13 members are almost exclusively El Salvadorian.”

“I’ll have to brush up on my Rosetta Stone Spanish,” Wallace said. “Any ideas?”

“I have a few. Starting with the obvious. It was professional hit and whoever shot me wasn’t interested in your partner,” Dan said.

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