Page 46 of Charmed Forces
“Without a doubt.”
“Then you saved Detective Wayne’s life.”
“It was a team effort,” I said.
He stared at me for a moment, then nodded and closed the door with a quiet click, leaving me alone.
I’d sat in this room before, having been arrested by a different overzealous detective although, looking back, I was found at the scene of that crime. This time seemed somewhat harsher, given everything that had transpired. Was Officer Sneery reallythatstupid? Or did he just want to cover up his own lack of action? Maybe deflect his superior’s attention from the fact he and Redmond virtually let a hitwoman walk through the door unchecked. Or perhaps he was trying to bamboozle his way into some kind of hero’s commendation? If it were the latter, I felt he would fail. The hospital’s security would retell the story and there were enough witnesses to corroborate mine and Solomon’s account of the events.
I figured Captain Brandt would arrive soon so I could tell my side of the story and then get out of here in time for lunch. If I were lucky, he might even give away a few tidbits about the investigation into Daniel.
My watch showed almost an hour had passed before the door reopened and Captain Brandt stepped inside.
“Can I get you a bottle of water?” he asked, standing in the doorway.
“Sure, thanks,” I said.
“Bring us two waters,” he said to someone outside. Then he closed the door and walked around the table. He placed a slim folder on the table and a notepad before unbuttoning his suit jacket, and then he sat.
“Is Detective Wayne okay?” I asked.
Captain Brandt picked up the folder, sat back, and opened it, ignoring me. He studied what was inside, then looked across at me, coolly assessing what he saw.
“What did you hope to gain from visiting Detective Wayne?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “I wasn’t there to visit him.”
“Oh? You have a relative in the ICU? A friend perhaps?”
“Well, no.”
“So, you just stopped by? Thought you’d hang out on the high dependency unit? Me? I like to go to a coffee shop or the movie theater in my spare time. Maybe play a little soccer.”
“Is my lawyer due here?” I asked.
“Do you need your lawyer?”
“I was arrested.”
“Yes, you were,” said Captain Brandt, returning to study the folder again. “Ya know,” he continued, barely glancing at me, “it seems very strange to me that your brother is wanted for multiple murders and you just happened to go visit the one man who witnessed everything he did. Did you want to take a look at your brother’s handiwork?”
“My brother didn’t hurt his partner!” I said.
“And you know that… how?”
“I just do,” I said.
“Oh, well, that’s okay then,” snorted Captain Brandt. He closed the file and slammed it on the table, his hand resting on top. “I’m going to tell the squad to go home. Private Investigator Lexi Graves said Daniel Graves didn’t do it. Case closed! And here I was, thinking this would cost the city lots of overtime.”
I opened my mouth to say something but no words came out. While I struggled for a smart retort that wasn’t furiously indignant or downright rude, a knock came at the door and Redmond appeared with two bottles of water.
“Captain, I took the liberty of asking hospital security to send through the footage of what happened. The video footage is in your inbox.”
“Wait here,” said Captain Brandt to me before following Redmond out.
Alone in the box of doom, I sipped my water and waited as the minutes ticked by. By the time the door opened again, I was ready to pee, and I wondered if that was their intention. Make me bored, then encourage me to imbibe liquid so I would confess to anything just so I didn’t pee in my pants.
When I looked up again, it wasn’t a police officer. Instead, my lawyer stepped in, clad in a chic black pantsuit and the most perfect pair of heels, not looking at all perturbed. “Hello again,” said Diana Casey. “We really should stop meeting like this.”