“Yes. Who are you?”
He stepped away from Dani and put his hand out to Katie. “I’m Manark. I’m so sorry about Zach. I have a daughter. She’s eight years old. When Zach told me you were missing, I did everything I could to find you for him.”
“Is that how he found me?”
“Yes.” He turned back to Dani. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I went in. I couldn’t take the chance on you arresting me.” He rubbed his arm again.
“Why would I arrest you?”
He looked around. When he saw benches about ten feet from the door, he headed for them. He sat with his elbows on his knees. “Zach told me to leave, but I didn’t feel right doing that. I watched a bunch of people go into that building. I knew he couldn’t take them all on, even with his gun. I debated with myself whether to follow him in or just stay outside and call for help if it sounded like he would need it.”
Dani stood in front of him with her arms crossed. “It seems you decided to go in.”
“Yeah.” He grinned. “Yeah, I did. I watched him go in. He had a head full of steam. I got off and on my bike a few times trying to decide if I should follow him. I saw a guy pulling a keg out of a van. I knew whoever was in that building were either drunk or stoned. As much as I don’t want my daughter growing up without a father I just couldn’t let him go in alone. So I followed.”
He looked up at Dani.
“I had my phone in my hand with your number called up. I was ready to call you at the first sign of a problem. Only I didn’t get the chance. It seems I debated with myself too long.”
Dani hit him in the arm again. “You should have called me!”
“Ow, damn it. Stop hitting me.”
“You can take the hit or I can just arrest you for holding back information on a murder investigation.”
He got up to pace. “I’m sorry, Lieutenant. I’m really sorry, but I didn’t get a good look at the guy. I can’t tell you who did it. I can’t go to jail. You know that. I have too much to do. I have a daughter to raise. It’s been killing me that I didn’t say anything. I liked Zach. He was a stand up guy. He didn’t deserve what happened to him.”
“No, he didn’t.” She turned her back on him, taking some deep breaths to calm down. “What did you see?” she asked as she turned back.
“As soon as I walked in the door I knew it wasn’t going to be good. The first floor was empty, but as I got to the second floor I could hear yelling. The music was too loud to make out what the yelling was about. I saw a drug deal going down in one of the rooms across from the stairs as I continued up.” He rubbed his arm.
“Are you okay?” Katie asked.
He smiled at her. “Yeah, I’m good. It still hurts when I touch it.” He looked at Dani. “Or when someone hits it.”
Dani stood toe-to-toe with him. “If you don’t want me to do it again, you’ll finish your story.”
Manark sighed. “When I got to the last room I heard someone yell, ‘Hey, man, you can’t take her.’ Zach yelled back, ‘I’m taking her home and then I’m coming back for you.’ I turned into the room and I saw a gun pointed at Zach. I yelled for him to look out. Then there was a gunshot. I swear I felt it before I heard it. As I stumbled back I saw Zach going for his gun, but then there was another shot.
“At that point everyone started yelling and running for the door. I was about to go in after Katie, but she ran right past me. I hightailed it out of there. I tried to keep up with her, but she’s very fast.”
Dani and Jake laughed. “Yeah, we found that out.”
Manark looked at Katie before continuing. “As I ran out of there I called it in. I got on my bike and headed for my shop.”
“Not the hospital?” Jake asked.
“Yeah, like that was going to happen. Gunshot wound warrants a hell of a lot of questions I couldn’t answer.”
Dani took a seat on the bench. “Where were you hit? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, Mary’s a nurse. She took care of it.”
“Mary?” Jake asked.
“The woman who told you I was with her that night you asked me about Katie.”
“How bad was it?”
“Not too bad.” He took his jacket off and pulled up his sleeve. “It didn’t hit the bone. Actually, it hit this.” He pulled out a cigarette case. “I had it in the pocket on my sleeve.” He showed them. “It stopped the bullet.”
“Can I see?” Katie asked.
Manark shrugged and gave her a closer look. “I’m sorry you got hurt trying to help me.”
Manark gave her a hug. “It’s okay, honey. You’re good. That’s all that matters.”
Jake asked, “Do you still have the bullet?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. “For some reason I can’t leave home without it.”
He opened the cigarette case and pulled out a piece of gum.
“You keep gum in your cigarette case?” Katie commented.
“Sure. The case has special meaning. I quit smoking a few years ago, but it’s something else I couldn’t leave home without. So I just use it to hold things like gum and mints.”
“I’m going to need that bullet,” Dani said as she held out her hand for it.”
Slowly he handed it over. “Can you describe the guy with the gun?”
“Not really. All I saw was the gun. From the quick glance I did get, I can guess he was about six foot and had black hair.”
“White? Black? Asian?”
“Sorry. I really didn’t see him. I wish I could help you, but I didn’t get a good look at him.” He took Dani’s hand. “If I had anything I though would help you I would have come forward. Even if it meant getting arrested. I would have told you.”
“I know.”
“So you’re not going to arrest me?”
She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “I’ll give you a pass this time. But don’t leave town. We may need you again.”
“You know where to find me.” He turned and headed for his bike.
CHAPTER 34
Dani pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Aspirin not working?” Jake asked.
“No, they worked. I’m just frustrated.”
“Gee, I wonder why.” He smirked.
They stood in silence as they watched Manark pull away.
“Now what?” Katie asked.
“Now we get a cup of coffee while we wait for Willy’s parents.”
As they headed for the elevator, coffee in hand, Willy’s parents walked up to them.
“Where is he?” Mrs. Textler asked. “Where’s my son?”
She motioned to the elevator as the doors opened. “He’s in ICU, but last time we spoke with his doctor the outlook was promising.”
“Thank God,” Mrs. Textler exhaled.
“Ma’am, while we believe the young man in ICU is your son, we still don’t know what is going on. We may have gotten it wrong,” Jake implored.
“Do you think you got it wrong?” Mr. Textler asked.
“All I can tell you is that he looks exactly like the boy that we have in the morgue.”
They both tensed up as they exited the elevator, heading to ICU. Jake held them back as Dani went up to the doctor. As they conversed, she motioned to the Textlers. A few moments later they called them over.
“I’m Dr. Major. I understand he may not be your son. So until we can verify that he is, I’m going to have to hold off on telling you about his condition.”
“We understand. Can we see him now?”
“This way.” He motioned to the second door from the end.
“Is he awake?” Mr. Textler asked.
“Not yet. But it shouldn’t be too much longer.”
Without hesitation they walked into the room and up to the bed. Mrs. Textler brought her hands to her mouth and whispered, “Willy.” She took his hand. “Willy, Mommy’s here.”
It seems Mr. Textler wasn’t as quick to assume it was his son. He lowered the blanket from his left shoulde
r. When he saw his collarbone he let out his breath and took his other hand. “Daddy’s here too, son. Don’t you dare leave your mother.”
A moment later Willy came too. They were all shocked when the first words out of his mouth were, “Katie. I have to get to Katie.”
“Willy, it’s Mommy. We’re here.”
“Mom? I have to get to Katie.”
Katie took a step up to the bed. “Are you Katie?” Mrs. Textler asked.
“Yes.”
“It seems he needs to talk to you.” She stepped back, motioning for her to move closer to the bed.
“Willy, it’s me, Katie.”
“Katie.” He sighed. “Are you okay? I’m sorry I left you alone.”
She moved the hair from his eyes. “I’m okay, Willy. I missed you.”
“I have to tell you…”
He fell asleep.
The nurse stepped up to his monitor. “Okay, everyone out. He needs his rest.”
“Please, can I stay?” Katie asked. “I promise I won’t get in the way.”
Jake walked over to Mrs. Textler and whispered in her ear. When he pulled back she nodded. “It’s okay with me.”
Katie smiled and took his hand. Everyone else stepped out of the room.
When they were in the hall the doctor verified that Willy was indeed William Textler and that he was their son. Then he explained his condition to them.
“Will there be any after effects we’ll need to worry about?” Mr. Textler asked.
“If your son truly has not done any type of drugs before, I don’t see there being a problem of addiction. We’ll make sure what he was given is out of his system before we release him.”
Jake turned to the Textlers. “I know you want to be with him, but I’m sure you realize that time is of the essence. We’re going to need to question him as soon as he wakes up again.”
“We understand. If he can help you with those poor kids in the morgue then we’ll gladly stay back until you talk to him.”
“Thank you. We know this is hard for you.”
They looked at each other and smiled. Mrs. Textler replied. “I know you think because we put our son in boarding school and went off to another country, we don’t love our son, but you are wrong. We love him very much.”
Mr. Textler continued. “Willy was with us until he was ten years old. He loved traveling with us and going to school with kids from other cultures. Then he got bored. He was way ahead of them. We didn’t understand how much ahead until we came back to America and had him tested. We were shocked to find he is a genius.
“We discussed it and he decided he would stay here to go to a private school that would challenge him. Unfortunately, that only lasted about two years. Then he got bored again. He started running away. Not for long. The first few times it was just for the day. Then it was two days and so on. We just found out that in the last year he has been away from the school more than he’s been in it.”
“They didn’t tell you?”
“They figured he’d be back. Oh, according to them they did try to find him, but he wasn’t in any of the previous places he said he had gone.”
Jake and Dani both glared at that. “So you’ll be suing them?”
“You bet your ass,” Mr. Textler stated.
Katie stuck her head out the door. “I think he’s coming around again.”
Jake headed for the room. Dani held him back. “What’s up? We need to get some answers before he falls asleep again.”
“I know. Katie, come here.”
When Katie stepped further out of the room, Dani told her, “We need you to ask him some questions.”
“Why her?” Mr. Textler asked.
“He trust her. It will go better and quicker if he feels he is just talking to her. We’ll be there to listen, but she needs to do the asking.”
“I agree,” Jake said. “Can you do that?”
“What do you want me to ask him?” she shyly asked.
“Just ask where he was. I’m sure that will get him talking.”
“Okay. I can do that.”
They all headed back into the room. Willy seemed to be sleeping. Katie took his hand as they waited for him to come around. It was less than five minutes before he woke up. He immediately tried to get out of bed.
“We have to get the others out.”
Unfortunately the exertion of jumping up was too much. He fell back and passed out.
Jake chuckled. “Try to keep him from doing that again.”
Dani turned to the doctor. “Is this normal behavior? Will we be able to trust anything he says?”
“With the drugs he was given, it is normal for him to be going in and out of consciousness for a few hours. As far as what he says when he is awake, I’m not sure what you can trust. He could be hallucinating. Actually, he probably is.”
“Great,” Dani sighed.
A few minutes later Willy came to. This time when he tried to get up Katie gently laid a hand on his chest. “It’s okay, Willy. It’s Katie. You’re safe.”
“Katie.” He smiled and laid back.
Dani motioned to her to ask the question. “Willy, can you tell me where you were? What happened to you?”
“I was kidnapped.”
“By who?”
“Oberman. Get the others.” He tried to get up, but the exertion was too much for him and he fell back to sleep.
The doctor stepped up to the bed. “I’m sorry. I’m going to have to put a stop to this. It’s too much for him just yet.”
“But…” Dani started to protest.
“No buts. He needs to rest and come out of it. I’m sure by morning he’ll be more coherent. You’ll be able to get more out of him.”
Mr. Textler walked over to the side of the bed. “You know we want to help, but we have to do what’s best for Willy. I’m going to have to ask you to wait till the morning.”
When Dani stepped up to protest, Jake held her arm. “They’re right. We need to make sure we get good information. It’s late. We can all use some sleep. It’s better to wait.”
“Fine,” Dani sarcastically answered and walked out. Katie kissed Willy on the forehead and followed.
“We’ll be back around eight,” Jake said and followed.
“What now,” Katie asked through a yawn.
“Have you found out where Oberman is staying?”
“Not yet, but I can get back on it now.” She yawned again.
“No,” Jake told her. “You can try to find him in the morning. Right now you need some sleep.”
“I can work on it for a little while. I know it’s important you find him.”
Dani looked at Katie and shook her head. “No. Jake is right. You need some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow.”
Tears immediately weld in Katie’s eyes. Jake pulled her in for a one-arm hug as they headed for the car. Something in Dani’s eyes had him worried. She had been going at these cases full force since he had first met her. What was it? Four days? Five? He was as worried about her as he was about Katie.
When they walked off the elevator to their apartment, Dani and Katie slowed as they noticed a bag on the floor by the door. Jake walked past them and picked it up.
“Jake, are you crazy?” Dani yelled. “Put that down. You have no idea what’s in it.”
He reached his hand in, pulling out some clothes. “I figured Katie didn’t want to do laundry. I had Jeremy get some stuff from the house.”
Dani and Katie continued to the door. Katie took the bag. In a soft voice said, “Thanks. I wasn’t sure what I should wear to the memorial.”
“If you don’t feel any of this is right we can run to the store in the morning.” She headed for the bedroom.
Dani sighed. “Katie, hold up.”
When she turned around, Dani smiled. It was fake but she hoped it would help Katie get through another night.
“Leave the laptop out here.”
Katie looked at it hanging over her shoulder. “Why?�
��
“Because as much as I hate to admit it, Jake is right. You need some rest.”
She looked at her feet. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep. Maybe working on finding Oberman will help keep my mind off my mom.”
Jake and Dani sighed. “Okay, but try to sleep first.”
“Do you want the bedroom tonight?”
“No, it’s all yours.”
She nodded and headed for the bedroom. Jake went to the refrigerator for a couple of beers. He handed one to Dani and fell on the couch.
Dani took a sip and fell on the other end. “I thought we were out of beer.”
“I had the store deliver some things and called the supper to have him let them in.”
Dani gave him a sideways glance. “When did you find time to do that?”
“Between trying to figure out who those kids in the morgue are, filling in Jeremy on the info we got from Drums and Tim, and talking with Lizza about the memorial tomorrow.” He looked at his watch. “Correction, today.” He took another pull of his beer. “I had no idea it was so late.”
Dani leaned up and turned on her laptop. “I don’t even want to know. Go to bed. We’ll meet at seven by the car.”
He leaned up and shut the laptop. “No, no work tonight. Katie is not the only one that needs some sleep.”
“I was just going to try to find Oberman. We have to talk with him in the morning. Especially after what Willy said.”
“Yeah, we do. But we need to sleep first. It’s almost three in the morning. Seven is only four hours away. We’ll be no good if we don’t sleep for at least half of that.”
He finished off his beer.
“Why don’t you take Zach’s bed tonight?” he suggested. “I’ll stay on the couch.”
“Ah, thanks, but no. You take it. Like I said, I usually sleep on the couch. I’m used to it.”
Jake sighed. Except when she had looked at Zach’s journal on his computer, she hadn’t been in his side of the apartment. Was she trying to forget him already? Maybe it was because she remembered too much.
He lightly ran his fingers down her cheek. “Are you sure? You really do need to sleep tonight.”
Dani felt something she shouldn’t be feeling and jumped up. “Yeah. I’m good on the couch.”
She went to the bookcase and opened it.
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