Toni looked at me, and I saw tears start to form in her eyes. “They don’t know,” she said. “From what they said, sepsis is really dangerous. She’s bad, Danny.”
I felt like a huge weight had just hit me in the chest, and it wasn’t just because I hated to see Toni hurting. Fact is, I’d never even stopped to consider that after we rescued Isabel from Donnie Martin that she still might not be out of the woods. I guess I’d assumed that she would be okay physically, aside from being beat up while she was held captive. The notion that she might have been beaten nearly to death was a blow.
I looked over at Mary. Her hands were clutched tightly around a tissue. She stared at the ground, not looking around, not saying anything. Kelli sat on one side of her, with Julia on the other, holding her hand. From time to time, one or the other spoke to her. Mary nodded, but didn’t speak. “How’s Mary holding up?” I asked.
“She’s in shock,” Toni said.
Understandable. “How about Kelli?”
“She’s good. She’s trying to be strong for Mary. You know,” she said, “I told her that you volunteered to keep looking for Isabel, even without pay. She didn’t need to go out and try to be a hero.”
I shrugged. “Don’t be too hard on her. She took action. She did what she thought she needed to do.”
“She could’ve gotten herself killed.”
I smiled. “She didn’t. She’s safe. Isabel’s rescued. Soon, Isabel will be better. Trust me.”
Toni looked at me for a moment, and then she smiled. “I do,” she said. “I do trust you.”
I nodded. “Good. You better.” I hugged her again. While I was holding her, I looked over to the group. “I think I’d better go talk to them,” I said.
Toni nodded. I walked over. Julia smiled at me when she saw me. When Kelli noticed me, she got up and walked over to meet me. She stopped when she was a couple of feet away. “Danny,” she said. “I’m so sorry.” Tears filled her eyes.
I looked at her for a moment, and then I smiled. “Come here,” I said. She rushed over to me and we hugged.
“I was so afraid for Isabel,” she said. “I didn’t know what would happen to her if you guys stopped looking.”
“It’s alright,” I said. “For the record, we weren’t quite ready to give it up. We had a pretty good idea where Isabel had to be, but we needed more evidence to get the police involved. We were frustrated, but we weren’t done. But then when you went out on your own undercover investigation, well then we didn’t have a choice. We had to stay in then-all the way in.”
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
I smiled. “It’s alright. Really. Hunting for you allowed us to uncover another few leads that made it so that we could bring the police in. So I guess I’d have to say that you made a difference.” I paused, and then I added, “But if you want to become a private investigator-a real one-then come and talk to Toni and me first. We’ll help you out. Meanwhile, no more playing Nancy Drew on your own. Got it?”
She nodded.
“Good. Now we just have to say our prayers for Isabel.”
She nodded again. “I’ve already started,” she said.
Twenty minutes later, we were all still seated in the waiting room, hoping to hear something, anything, from Isabel’s doctors. Suddenly, Kelli’s eyes opened wide. “Oh, shit,” she said, quietly. “What’s he doing here?”
I turned and saw Tracey Webber enter the waiting room. Like the last time I’d seen him, he was wearing dark blue uniform pants and a light blue, short-sleeved uniform shirt-untucked and greasy. His face was red-he looked like he might be drunk. Great. He stood at the entrance, looking for someone-Mary, I suppose. He didn’t look happy.
I glanced over and saw that Toni’d seen him, too. She immediately jumped up and walked toward him. Uh-oh. She had a look in her eye. This could end badly.
“What are you doing here, asshole?” Toni demanded as she crossed the room. As I’d feared, she decided to skip the niceties. The nurse on duty took one look at the developing situation and immediately reached for her phone.
Tracey, as seemed to be his habit, was a little slow to catch on. His eyes scanned the room, pausing momentarily when he saw Kelli and me.
“I’m here because my stepdaughter’s in the hospital,” he said. “They said she was here.” His eyes continued to search the room. “Where’s my wife?”
“It’s thanks to you that Isabel’s here in the first place, ass-bag,” Toni said. She now stood right in front of him.
“What?” he said, his head spinning back to look at her. “What’d you say?” he demanded.
“Tracey, go home.”
His head popped up and his eyes locked on Mary.
“What?”
“Go home, Tracey,” Mary said again as she walked toward him.
“What the hell’s going on around here, Mary? Why are all these people here?”
She didn’t answer. The silence lingered for a few seconds, and then Tracey, apparently tired of waiting, said, “Fuck that,” his anger rising. “I drove all the way down here from Lynnwood. I’ll go home when I’m good and goddamn ready.”
Doc stood up at the same time I started walking toward Tracey.
“Hey,” I called out. “Big guy.”
He turned and looked at me. “You know, I didn’t like it the last time you called me that, Mr. Private Investigator. And I don’t like it now. What do you want?”
“Sorry about that,” I said, smiling. “I’m not trying to piss you off.” I was nearly to him now. I stopped and leaned toward him and spoke quietly. “If you want to know the truth, I’m actually trying to save you.”
“Save me? From what?” he asked, derisively.
“I’m trying to save a big guy like you from getting his ass kicked in public by a woman maybe half your size.” I nodded toward Toni. She was about an eighth of a second away from going nuclear and dropping this asshole, right there in the waiting room. As it was, I halfway expected to see a Doc Marten come flying through the air any second, aimed right at his nose. “She’s really pissed.”
“Fuck that,” he said. “Why’s everyone so pissed at me, anyway? What’d I do?”
“Really?” I said. He’d have been better off following Mary’s advice and leaving. Now I was getting pissed, too. “You’re going to stand there and say ‘what’d I do’ when your stepdaughter is inside there, fighting for her life?” I said. “You’re a real piece of work.”
“Fuck you, buddy,” he said. “I don’t care what you think.”
“I’m sure you don’t,” I said. “But when all’s said and done, everyone knows you’re the reason Isabel’s lying in there on a hospital bed. Turns out, big strong guy like you-you’ve got a thing for little girls, right?” Uh-oh. Now I felt myself getting into the windup. This sensation usually signals my last chance to exercise restraint and control in emotional situations like these.
Fuck that. I was pissed.
So was he. His eyes were filled with anger now. Good.
“And Isabel was right there, right? Every night when you got home, right? You’re one sick bastard, big guy.” We stood staring at each other, each hating the other. I was aware that he was two inches taller than I was and maybe fifty pounds heavier. Too bad. That wasn’t going to help him. I spoke, more quietly this time. “I’m hoping you get busted soon, for your own good. Because if you don’t, you’re going to need to watch out for me. I know all about you. And I will never forget about this. Never. Meanwhile, do yourself a favor-maybe your last one. Take a hike. No one wants to see your sorry ass around here now. And you’re damn sure not getting anywhere near Isabel.”
How about that? I was proud of my self-control.
“Is that right?” he said, puffing himself up even further. “Who’s going to stop me? You?” He nodded toward Toni. “Her?”
“They won’t need to.”
Everyone turned and looked at the new voice. Nancy Stewart had just walked out of the swinging doors that led to the recovery room. Tyrone Allison and two uniformed officers flanked her. Tyrone had a big white bandage taped to his scalp. At the same time, three hospital security guards rounded the corner and entered the room from the main entrance. “Tracey Allen Webber,” Nancy said, walking up to us. “My name is Lieutenant Nancy Stewart, Seattle Police Department Vice and High Risk Victims Unit.” She held up her badge. “I’m placing you under arrest for second-degree rape, statutory rape, child endangerment-and whatever else I can think of to charge you with.”