A cowed Brady just nodded his head. In all my years of working with him, I’d never seen anyone intimidate him. Let alone order him around. Conklin and I had to work not to snicker in front of our boss.
The nurse looked at us and said, “Please try to keep your kids from roaming around the hospital. Your friend is still in surgery. We’ll give you an update when something changes.”
I settled into a comfortable recliner. It felt like it was giving mea hug. The soft fabric, which kind of felt a little like velour, was soft on my cheek as I leaned against the headrest. After the stress of the shooting and the adrenaline that had followed, I was starting to feel the crash. It happened to everyone.
I slipped into a comfortable sleep.
CHAPTER85
I CAN’T REMEMBERexactly what I was dreaming about, but it was pleasant. I think my subconscious tried to ignore the persistent poking on my shoulder. I came awake quickly with minimal confusion.
I looked up into the face of a doctor wearing blue scrubs but no surgical cap. “I’m sorry to wake you, Sergeant. I’m getting ready to go off shift and wanted to give you an update on your friend Alain Creasy.”
I twisted my head to crack my neck and glanced up at the wall clock. I was astonished to see that it was eight thirty in the morning. I sat up straight and tried to compose myself quickly. Then I stood up, held out my hand, and said, “Lindsay Boxer.”
The doctor, who had colorful pins in her hair and lovely brown eyes, took my hand. “I’m Lisa Dozier. I performed the surgery on Mr. Creasy.”
“Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, Doctor. How’s he doing?”
“He’s resting. The bullet entered between two ribs and somehow managed to avoid any internal organs except nicking one lung. The biggest issue is that he lost a lot of blood, but I think he’ll be up for a visitor sometime later this afternoon.”
We spoke for a few more minutes. Dr. Dozier was also a local girl. She’d even gone to college and medical school at Stanford. There’s no reason to leave your hometown when everything you need to succeed is close by.
Then my phone vibrated, and I realized my phone had been on silent all night long. I had missed fourteen phone calls and almost twenty texts. This most recent text was ordering me to appear at police headquarters down in Mission Bay by 9 a.m.
Only an administrator would’ve sent a text like that. Probably someone who’d never been in a shooting or had to stay all night in a hospital chair.
I sighed but didn’t complain. It was part of the job.
CHAPTER86
I MADE ITto the Public Safety Building in Mission Bay in record time. The six-story glass monstrosity near the baseball stadium didn’t hold a candle to the Hall of Justice. But it was very modern and sleek. The sort of stuff politicians loved wasting tax money on.
It doesn’t matter that we can’t hire enough cops to safely patrol the city, as long as we have a nice building for our administrators.
I wasn’t always so cynical, but I was feeling pretty salty this morning.
I rushed through the lobby to the women’s restroom. I figured I must look a little disheveled. Then I saw myself in the mirror. I couldn’t believe I’d gone out in public looking like this. My hair was a mess. I had Alain’s blood on the sleeves of my sweatshirt and on both of my shoes.Great.
I took off the sweatshirt, finger-combed my hair and dampened it a bit to keep it in place, and hoped no one looked down at my shoes when I walked into this meeting. This wasn’t the first timeI’d been involved in controversies that required me to be questioned by administrators. But I’d never gone into a meeting looking like this.
After being involved in two shootings within two days, I’d been expecting this summons. Just not on such short notice.
I’d already called the appropriate coordinators and told them I’d be at the meeting on time. I looked down at my watch and saw I had three minutes. I knew the big conference room with a raised stage on the second floor. As I came off the elevator, I saw my boss, Lieutenant Jackson Brady, sitting on a hard wooden bench in front of the room.
Unlike me, Brady looked well put together. He was dressed in a sharp suit and a tie that I was certain Yuki had picked out for him. He stood up as soon as he saw me. “You doing okay?”
I nodded. “Thanks for letting me sleep longer at the hospital. I needed it.”
He gave one of his usual grunts.
“I heard you declined to have a union rep with you. You shouldn’t go in there alone.”
I’d only declined because I knew there wouldn’t be time. Brady probably had realized that too. I spontaneously hugged the big oaf. I could tell by the look on his face he hadn’t expected it. It wasn’t particularly professional.
As we entered the cavernous, empty room together, the first thing I noticed was how cold it was. I was sorry I’d ditched my bloodstained sweatshirt and considered putting it back on.
There were chairs and a table set up facing a stage with its own, longer table and six chairs. The lights were down low. The whole place had sort of a funeral-home vibe.
