“Did you wonder why they weren’t returning fire?”
I tried to remember back. “I wondered if Lieutenant Stewart had been hit. I didn’t know if that’s why she drove into the tree. I saw them sitting in the vehicle, and I saw that they weren’t moving or firing back. But it happened fast. It was all over in a matter of just a few seconds.”
He nodded.
“And you believed Martin could hit them from his distance?”
I nodded. “Absolutely. Like I said, he was twenty-maybe twenty-five feet away. That’s a pretty easy shot. He’d just fired a shot at me from more than one hundred feet, and he blew out the mirror on my Jeep, two feet from where I was standing. That was a hard shot, and he damn near hit me, so I figured the man had good gun control. From twenty feet, he’d have most probably been deadly.”
It was quiet for several seconds as they flipped through their notes, trying to tie off any loose ends. Finally, David said, “We’ve been at this for nearly two hours now, and the questions are starting to get a little repetitive. Do you folks have any further questions of Mr. Logan?”
“Yeah,” Captain Cristello said. “Where the hell’d you learn to shoot like that?”
I smiled. “U.S. Army.”
He nodded. “Good.”
“Alright, then,” Ohlmer said. He turned and looked at his associate.
“Denise? Do you have anything else?”
She shook her head. “I don’t. I think we’ve got everything covered.”
“Okay then,” Ohlmer said. “Let me wrap things up. Based on what I’ve heard, there seems to be little question that the shooting was justifiable. There seem to be about nine witnesses-police officers-who corroborate your testimony. Accordingly, based on what we know now, I can say that, pending the results of our final report, the district attorney’s office will neither be referring this matter to a grand jury, nor will we be filing charges on our own. When the complete investigation is wrapped up, we’ll make our decision formal. Until then, do us all a favor and please keep this conversation confidential.”
I nodded. I never expected to be charged for anything, but it was still a relief to hear it from Harold.
“Thank you, Harold,” David said. “Are we free to go, then?”
“You are,” he said.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Thank you,” he said. “And Danny,” he said, turning to look at me. “Thank you.”
“Abso-fucking-lutely, thank you,” Cristello said. “I’m pretty certain it’s safe to say that if you hadn’t been where you were, we’d probably have two dead officers on our hands. The department owes you for this.”
I smiled. “No problem,” I said. I shook hands with each of them, and David and I left.
As we began to walk down the hallway to the lobby, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw that it was Cristello.
“You okay, Danny?” he asked. “Is it alright if I call you Danny?”
I nodded. “Yeah,” I said. “And, yeah, I’m okay. Thanks for asking, though.”
He nodded. “Just checking. I know it can be rough when you have to shoot someone.”
I looked at him carefully. “You?” I asked.
“Yeah, 2004. Kid with a gun. Messed me up for a couple of months. But we’ve got some good people you can talk to if you need it. I sure as hell did.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate it. Give me a card, Captain. If it gets to a point where I think I need to, I’ll give you a call and get a number.”
“Good deal,” he said. He handed me a business card.
“You take care of yourself,” he said. Then he turned around and walked the other way.
“I’m proud of you, son,” David said as we watched Cristello leave. “You did a good thing today. You’re a fine young man.” He thought for a second, and then he chuckled and added. “If all my clients were like you, I’d probably be out of a job.”
We reached the fifth floor lobby and found several police officers, including Dwayne and Gus, waiting to meet me. Dwayne shook my hand.
“Well done, Danny,” he said. “Good job.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
“I know you, and I know you’re going to go all humble on us here, but you made a damn tough shot under very difficult circumstances and in so doing, you almost certainly saved the lives of two friends of mine. So thank you.”
“That goes for me, too,” Gus said.
“Me, too.” Said another officer. The other officers present all agreed.
I smiled and nodded. “Thanks,” I said.
“We talked it over,” Gus continued. “We decided that in a show of appreciation, we’re going to go ahead and waive one of the lunches you owe us.”
I smiled. “Gee, really?” I said. “That’s touching.”
“Well, hold on,” he added, “before you get all blubbery on us, the lunch we’re waiving-it’s got to be one of the ones where it was your turn to pick. Not one of those where we get to pick,” he looked at Dwayne. “Isn’t that right.”
Dwayne nodded. “That’s it.”
I chuckled. “Thanks a lot, guys,” I said. “I know how hard that must have been for you two. I’ll be sure and let Nancy know the depth of your gratitude.”
“You bet,” Gus said, nodding.
“By the way,” Dwayne said, “there’s a shitload of reporters downstairs. Unless you guys feel like holding a press conference, you might want to follow us. We know a secret way of getting out of here.”
I looked at David, and he nodded. I turned back to Dwayne. “By all means,” I said, “lead on.”
When we were safely on our way, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Isabel was almost forgotten in the events of the past couple of hours; thoughts of her small, frail body being carried out on a stretcher having been pushed to the back of my mind. Now that things were at least a little back under control, I found myself thinking about her. I needed to get to the hospital. Toni was there waiting for me. I was suddenly very eager to see her and find out how Isabel was doing.
Chapter 30
David drove me back to my office, where I picked up the surveillance van. Toni’d had my Jeep towed to the dealership earlier in the afternoon. Apparently, they didn’t have all the replacement parts, so it wouldn’t be ready until next Monday or Tuesday. By the time I reached the University Medical Center at Montlake and Pacific, it was already past six. I called Toni on her cell and found out where they were. I hustled over to the surgery waiting room.
When I entered the room, I saw Toni sitting with Doc, Kelli, Julia, and Mary Webber. Toni got up and walked over to me as soon as she saw me. She hugged me tightly. I took a deep breath, smelling her hair and her makeup. For a moment, I felt like I was home, like I was safe, like the shitty events of the day weren’t a part of me any longer.
“You alright?” she asked, pushing me back and holding me by my arms, studying me closely.
I nodded. “Yeah, I suppose. It’s been a tough one.”
She nodded. “Did it go okay with the police?”
“Yeah. Remember Harold Ohlmer?”
“The DA? Tall, silver-haired guy?”
“Yep.” I explained how the interview had gone and how Harold had said that the DA wouldn’t refer the case to the grand jury.
“Bastards better not,” Toni said.
I smiled. “How’s Isabel?”
Toni glanced toward the nurses’ station. “She’s out of surgery, but she’s still in the recovery room. She had a partially ruptured spleen that was causing internal bleeding. She has some sort of infection and some sort of immune system reaction-they call it sepsis. Oh, and she also had a broken arm.”
“Jeez,” I said. “Anything else?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. They seem pretty close-lipped around here.”
“She’s not conscious yet? No one’s talked to her?”
Toni shook her head. “I don’t know. None of us have been able to talk to her. But I don’t know if she’s awake yet or not. They won’t let us back to see her.”
I made sure that Mary couldn’t hear, and then I asked, “Is she going to be okay?”