He padded naked out of the bathroom. It was time to go. He went to the closet and put on his clothes, wincing again as he bent to get into his underwear and still again as he bent to put on his slacks. His belt was missing, too. He put on his white shirt, grit his teeth and held on to the wall. He sat in one of the chairs, put on his shoes and socks, feeling like a child, as he struggled with his bandaged hand to tie his shoelaces.
Then he rang for a nurse. Seconds later a young woman with a wide smile, showing plenty of teeth and wearing a white uniform entered the room. She attempted a frown when she saw the big man dressed, but she wasn’t able to pull it off, because even a frown on her toothy face looked like a smile.
“ Mr. Washington,” she tried to scold him through grinning teeth and twinkling blue eyes, “where do you think you’re going?”
“ I’m checking out.”
“ But you can’t. You’re not well.”
“ I’m sorry, I have things to do.”
“ I know, I was listening at the door. He’s not a nice man.”
“ Apparently not.” Washington returned her smile.
“ You’ll need the rest of your things,” she said.
He followed her with his eyes as she seemed to glide to the nightstand next to the bed. She opened the top drawer, took out his badge, wallet, belt and tie. His weapon wasn’t there and he didn’t ask about it. She handed him the belt and he put it on. Then he slipped the badge and wallet into his pocket.
“ You’ll need help with the tie,” she said, looking at his bandaged hand.
“ I’d appreciate it.”
“ Stand up straight.” She wrapped it around his neck. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you posture?”
Hugh laughed, stood erect.
“ There,” she said, “finished, a perfect Windsor.” Then with both her tiny hands, she grabbed the tie in two balled fists and forced Washington to look straight into her eyes. She didn’t blink when she said. “You are going to find out who killed those people and show that jerk up for what he is, aren’t you?”
“ That’s just what I’m going to do.” He smiled.
“ Behind you.” She jumped back, startled, releasing the tie.
Washington spun around and saw a gecko scurry up the wall and disappear behind the television set.
“ It’s only a gecko.”
“ I know.” She regained her composure, “It’s just that we don’t have them in California.”
“ It must be somebody’s pet. A kid, visiting his mother or father probably snuck it in and it got away.”
“ Probably,” she said.
“ Some places they’re regarded as a good luck sign.”
“ And some places they’re a portent of evil,” she said.
“ My luck has been too bad to get any worse. I’ll accept it as a good luck sign,” he said.
“ Me too.” She smiled wide, showing off her teeth.
“ Now I’d like to talk to my partner, if that’s possible?”
“ He’s in ICU.”
“ What’s he doing in intensive care?”
“ He’s okay. He was shot, remember? It’s standard procedure.”
“ Can I see him?”
“ Sure, down the hall, turn left. Follow the signs.”
“ Thanks.” He started to go.
“ Hugh Washington,” she said.
He turned. “Yes?”
“ After you catch your killer, come back and buy me dinner. Okay?”
“ Count on it.”
He went through the swinging doors of the ICU and approached the nurse’s station.
“ I’m looking for Ron Walker,” he asked the nurse on duty.
“ Five-eleven, that way.” She pointed. “You’ll have to wait, only two visitors at a time. He’s already one over.”
“ Is it okay if I go in now?” He showed her his badge.
“ Five-eleven, that way.” She pointed again. “I’m sorry. You look more like a patient than you do a policeman.”
“ I feel more like a patient,” he said. Then added. “How is he?”
“ He’ll be out of ICU tonight.”
“ That’s good.”
“ But his arm will never be the same.”
“ Oh no.”
“ He was lucky,” she said.
“ I hope he sees it that way.”
“ I think he does. He’s taking it very well.”
“ Thanks for telling me.” He returned her smile, then pointed, “Five-eleven, that way.”
“ That’s right.” She pointed for the third time.
He followed her finger and found Walker in his room, an IV in his arm, feeding him a clear, gluey looking substance.
“ They’ve got you hooked up like an astronaut,” he said, looking at the monitors.
“ Yeah,” Walker said. “I keep checking the heart rate to make sure I’m still alive.”
“ I’m Hugh Washington,” he said to the pretty woman and the two young girls. “You must be the lovely Carol I’ve heard so much about.” Smiling at the two girls, he added, “And you two pretty ladies must be Denise and Dianne.”
“ We meet at last,” Carol Walker said. “I only wish it could have been under better circumstances.”
“ I’m sorry I got him into this,” Washington said. “It was my fault. I was pigheaded and bent the rules and this is the result.”
“ It’s not your fault. You didn’t put a gun to Ron’s head. It’s just bad luck. You pay your money and you take your chances.”
“ Honey, could I talk to Hugh alone for a few minutes?”
“ Come on girls, let’s see if we can find the cafeteria.” She kissed her husband. “We’ll be back in about forty-five minutes.”
“ Thanks,” Walker said.
“ I love you,” she said, leading the girls out of the room.
“ I love you too,” he called after her.
“ I’m sorry it wound up this way, Walker,” Washington said after she was gone. “I really didn’t count on Monday being a killer. Go figure.”
“ He’s not. I know it. Not him.”
“ You heard about what happened?”
“ I know Monday escaped. That a cop and two lawyers are dead, but I still don’t think he’s a killer,” Walker said.
“ Rich guy like that, hard for me to believe, but everything seems to be pointing to him.”
“ You said yourself that it looked like whoever killed Askew was waiting, that you thought it was murder.”
“ I could have been wrong.”
“ Not you.”
“ Even I make mistakes.”
“ Then what about those shots in the alley?”
“ Could be coincidence.”
“ And the Pope could be a Methodist, but he’s not.”
“ Look, Walker, I know you admire the guy.”
“ I don’t admire him, I respect him and everything I’ve learned about him tells me he wouldn’t kill anyone. Not unless he had a very good reason.”
“ Maybe he had a reason,” Washington said.
“ Not for killing a cop to escape from city jail.”
“ Maybe getting out of jail was all the reason he needed.”
“ The man spent four years in a North Vietnamese POW camp and he didn’t crack. A few days in our jail would be like the Hilton to him and you don’t kill to get out of the Hilton.”
“ People change.”
“ You’re forgetting that he didn’t have to be there. He asked for it. He wanted the time to get his head straight, remember?”
“ Yeah,” Washington said, thinking. “You’re right.”
“ Somebody is setting him up and doing a damn good job.”
“ Could be.” Washington rubbed his jaw.
“ Listen, Hugh, I’m finished with the department, my arm will never be right. I know that. Carol and I have just been talking about it. When I get out of here I’m going to set up my own practice. There could be a place for you there.”
“ I’m not finished yet.”
“ You will be if you keep pursuing this thing. It’s not your case. In fact, I’ll bet that’s what that bastard Hart was doing here. He didn’t come to see how we were getting on, did he? He came to tell you to lay off. Didn’t he?”
“ He told me to lay off.”
“ Are you going to?”
“ No.”
“ See, you’re finished too. You’re all alone now. I can’t help you, but what I can do is make sure you have a job when this thing is all over. If you want to go back to school and cram for the bar, then there will be a place for you in my firm. If not, then you can do our PI work.”