With that, Gemma opened the car door and made a beeline through the double doors. At the receptionist desk, she called out so everyone nearby could hear her. “I’m looking for police chief Lando Bonner, gunshot wound.”
“Are you family?” a stout nurse asked.
“Yes.” She held up her left hand with the moonstone ring on it, hoping the nurse would take that as enough evidence to let her through.
For half a second, the nurse looked skeptical, but finally bobbed her head toward a curtain at the far end of the hallway. “His mother and sister are with him.”
Gemma pulled back the curtain and spotted Lydia dabbing her eyes and a concerned Leia standing in the corner, arms folded across her chest.
Her focus turned to a gray-faced Lando lying in a sea of hospital white sheets.
“How is he?” she asked Luke. But he was leaning over his brother, a stethoscope attached to his ears, listening to a heartbeat or checking vitals. Either way, it didn’t look good. Waiting for an answer seemed like an eternity until Luke glanced over at Gemma.
“The gang’s all here now,” Luke said in sing-song fashion. He straightened his back. “He’s gonna be fine. It’s just a scratch.”
Gemma shook her head and reached out for Lando’s hand. “Zeb said surgery. They wouldn’t be doing surgery for just a scratch.”
“Yeah? Well Zeb didn’t go to medical school, now did he?” Luke quipped. He winked at his brother. “Tell her you’re fine.”
Lando squeezed Gemma’s fingers. “Zeb overreacted. Luke’s right. The bullet just grazed my shoulder. Akin was a lousy shot. I’ll be out of here by tonight.”
“No surgery?” Gemma finally let out the tight breath she’d been holding, her lungs finally able to work. She pressed her lips to his, then whispered in his ear, “You’d better be. I had tonight all planned out. Looks like now we’ll have to go easy.”
“Define easy.”
“Uh-uh. I think your blood pressure might skyrocket and then they’d have a reason to hold you longer. Face it, for the rest of the evening you’re gonna be all mine, Chief.”
With her bravado at a premium, she wanted the truth and turned to Luke for answers. “What gives? I see the bandage on his left shoulder. It isn’t exactly a Band-Aid, so will they really let him go home tonight after getting shot?”
Luke flashed his pearly whites at his brother. “I told you she wouldn’t fall apart. Chief Bonner is getting released as soon as he signs his paperwork. He wouldn’t let a little thing like a bullet nicking his arm keep him chained to a hospital bed, not when he can go home to his girl.” He pivoted to Gemma. “I trust you to keep him from doing anything strenuous.”
“Party pooper,” Gemma good-naturedly muttered. “I’ll do my best. But not before I kill Zeb for scaring me half to death.”
“Get in line,” Leia grumbled. “Zeb had Mom and me thinking the worst. We locked up the restaurant and ran out of there like the place was on fire. We had to push old man Cathcart out the door. I don’t think he believed us. He’s probably still there in the parking lot waiting for the fire department to show up.”
Zeb stood in the doorway with a hangdog look on his face. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure how bad it was. I was just trying to let everyone know and get them here.”
Immediately contrite, Leia pulled him through the doorway. “It’s okay. You did the right thing. It’s not your fault Mom drove like she was in a race at Daytona to get here.”
“I only ran two stop signs,” Lydia fired back. “Any mother would’ve done the same thing.”
An hour later, after Luke had given her a packet of bandages and instructions on how to treat the wound at home, Gemma wheeled Lando to the curb to where Zeb waited in his cruiser.
Gemma leaned down near Lando’s ear and asked, “Decision time, big guy. Your place or mine? What’s it gonna be?”
“I thought you said you had the evening planned out.”
“I did. But I understand if you’d be more comfortable at your own place…”
“I’m comfortable wherever you are.”
Zeb drove them back to Gemma’s place, still apologizing.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Lando rubbed his temple. “Give it a rest, Zeb. I’m serious. How many times have we backed each other up now? Getting shot is one of the everyday risks that go with the job. We both know the dangers.”
“Yeah, but Leia read me the riot act and told me never again to ask.”
“Do you do everything Leia says?” Lando challenged. “I’ll set her straight on that score. We’re each other’s backup, now and forever. Enough already. It could’ve just as easily gone the other way and you know it.”
“But I asked you to cover the back.”
“You did and Akin could just as easily have charged past you. I think he was on some kind of PCP or maybe angel dust. Something. Did you get a look at his crazy eyes?”
“Not while he was alive. Maybe he wanted you to do what you did. You know, death by cop. He wasn’t happy about his wife filing for divorce.”
Lando scowled into the sun. “All I know is we both have very inexperienced staff to count on in a crunch, a force that doesn’t exactly bring to mind confidence. That’s why we look after each other in situations we know might turn serious.”
“Now see,” Gemma began from the back seat. “That right there makes me feel better knowing you’re looking after each other. Personally, I’m not even sure Jimmy, Dale, or Payce could have handled an Akin.”
“See?” Lando said. “I don’t want to hear any more apologies, Zeb. Got it?”
“I guess,” Zeb muttered. “I’m just grateful you’re able to sit here and lecture me.”
“I’ll do more than that if you bring it up again. I’ll kick your ass first chance I get,” Lando countered.
“You and what army?” Zeb fired back.
“Boys, could we just focus for ten seconds here? Want to stay for dinner?” Gemma asked Zeb. “I have plenty.”
“No, but thanks. You two make a night of it. I have to go write up my report on Akin.”
Lando opened the car door, ready to bolt to get away from the situation. “You need me to fill in the blanks, give me a call.”
Gemma settled Lando in the backyard and started the grill. She put the corn on first, letting it simmer in aluminum foil filled with melted butter. Then she put on the kabobs, searing them on each side enough to still crunch.
“That smells good.”
“You’re okay with all veggies? I wasn’t sure.”
“You should know better. I love your pasta salad. It’s a meal on its own. The corn and shish kabobs are a nice bonus, though.”
“I just hope you can manage the corn with one hand. Should I spoon feed you? With all the pain meds they gave you, you’re a little shaky.”
“I certainly won’t turn down your help.”
Gemma sat down and dished both plates high before hauling a forkful into Lando’s mouth. “What did Luke mean back at the hospital when he said he knew I wouldn’t fall apart?”
Mouth full, Lando had to finish chewing before answering. “The truth? I wasn’t sure you’d still want to be with me knowing what happened. I was afraid knowing I got shot might mean you’d decide that you didn’t want to be with a cop.”
She took his hand. “Oh, Lando. For a smart man, you’re really dumb sometimes. I love you, cop and all. Don’t you understand that? What concerns me right this minute is how you’re coping after…after killing a man. Are you…okay?”
“It’s never an easy thing to live with, especially over something as trivial as serving a restraining order. If Akin had simply taken it, accepted it, he’d still be alive tonight and able to see his kids at some point in the future. Now it’s a forever decision he made when he ran.”
Realization hit Gemma. “That wasn’t your first time, was it?”
“No.”
“Okay, change of subject, unless you want to talk about it.”
“Do you want me to?”
“Totally up to you.”
“Then no, I’d rather not.”
While they ate, stars glittered overhead as nightfall spread out like a cozy blanket around them. Cicadas came out to join the crickets in a lazy serenade. A few frogs warbled their way into the chorus.
They finished their meal with Lando almost nodding off.
“Why don’t I help you to bed? I’ll come back later and do the dishes.”
‘I do feel sleepy.”
“Demerol does that,” she cracked as she helped him into the bedroom. After turning down the comforter, she helped him kick off his shoes, unbuttoned his shirt, and tugged off his jeans as he teetered on the edge of the bed like a drunk. She gave him a little shove into the stack of pillows and watched him fall back in a stupor. She tucked him in like a four-year-old, but doubted he’d even remember. Before she’d even left the room, he was out, snoring like a seasoned lush.
But she didn’t feel like going to bed at eight o’clock. Something Suzanne had said earlier that day kept rolling around in her brain. She had to call Leia for confirmation.
“Can you talk? I mean I know it’s almost closing time, but…I really need to know if you can remember all the guys Mallory has gone out with over the years, enough to put a list together.”
“Now? You’re kidding. That would take hours, maybe days.”
“Then what about your mom? Would she be able to come up with a list like that?”
“Are you kidding? Mom knows all the dirt on everyone, names, dates, and she never forgets a face.”
“Then I’ll call her. Sorry I bothered you.”
“No, that’s okay. How’s Lando doing?”
“Painkillers kicked in. I promise you he’s sleeping like an adorable infant.”
Leia snorted into the phone. “I’ll have to take your word for that. I didn’t know my brother was ever an adorable anything, least of all an infant. Look, I gotta run. Mr. Cathcart thinks we owe him a free dessert because we shoved him out the door. Go figure.”
“Give him that two-day-old tiramisu I saw in the fridge the other day. That’ll make him think twice about becoming a pest.”
“Good thinking. A great way to pawn off the whole thing.”
As soon as they hung up, Gemma punched in the number for Lydia. Fortunately, Lando’s mom was full of useful information. They put together a list of Mallory’s lovers and made up a list of questions about Mallory’s life in general.
After ending the call, she went out to the backyard to gather up their dishes from the picnic table. Rufus ambled up, shoving his nose into her leg for some attention.
She sat down on the bench to rub his ears. “Things are getting complicated now, Rufus. We found a dead body and Lando got shot on the job. What are we going to do? I wanted to fall apart before I got to the hospital. But I didn’t. I held it together and got kudos from Lando and Luke for my valor.”
Tears streamed down her face as she put Rufus in a bear hug. “Little do they know I’m a phony. What if we’d lost him? What if he…? I couldn’t handle it. Now I know exactly how Gram must’ve felt after losing Poppy. It must’ve felt like her heart had been ripped out manually to let him go.”
Rufus whined and licked her face. “That’s right, boy. From here on out, I’ll be a rock. We both will. I’ll be the best wife a cop has ever had in the history of cops. And you’ll be the best dog. ’Course you’re already the best dog in the world, aren’t you?”
They sat there under the stars, breathing in the sea air.
The pep talk kept her from a torturous worry fest and gave her the incentive to finish the dishes before heading to bed.
She got undressed in the dark, then crawled beneath the covers, scooting as close to Lando as possible. Resting her head on his good shoulder meant she could watch him sleep. If she ran her hand over his chest, she could feel his heart beat, an affirmation that they still had a chance to make their life wonderful. If he’d survived a shooting, anything was possible.
Falling in love with him all over again was a glorious thing. A tune popped into her head from a high school talent show they’d once done together. She began singing, ever so softly into his ear the words to “Songbird.”
She was still humming the tune as she drifted off to sleep, content that the man she loved was Lando Bonner.
7
Lando woke in a fog, blurry-eyed from the heavy dose of Demerol. Somewhere his phone kept dinging again and again with a string of text messages. His hand fumbled getting to the nightstand, trying to reach the off button to shut off the device before it woke Gemma. He picked it up, only to see that all the texts were from the same person, Jeff Tuttle.
Victim Rawlins: Sexual assault still up in the air. Found DNA underneath nails. Fought and scratched the person who attacked her. Lab results still pending for another week, maybe longer. No need to bug me today because I can’t hurry them along.
Lando sat up and tried to clear his brain. Rolling to his left side brought pain to his shoulder and a reminder that less than twenty-four hours ago Ben Akin had tried to end his life with a .22. His quick reflexes had saved him, but left behind nasty scorched flesh where the bullet had seared his upper arm.
On the other side of the bed, Gemma struggled to come awake. Her cell phone kept trilling; the noisy device repeated the alert four or five times before she rolled over to put a stop to it. Sweeping a section of hair out of her eyes, she read the message. “I don’t believe this. Luke sent me five texts to remind me to change your bandage, as if I didn’t have the sense to do that.”
Lando looked down at his arm and ripped off the tape and gauze. “There. Problem solved.”
“What’d you do that for?” Gemma asked, scooting across the sheets to get a better look at the damage and inspect the wound for herself. “Lando, this looks awful. You can see the path the bullet took right through your skin.”
He ignored her concern and nibbled the side of her jaw. “It’s no big deal.”
“It is,” she countered as she bounced off the bed and headed into the bathroom. “Luke must’ve thought it was important.”
She scoured the medicine cabinet for peroxide and Neosporin, and then grabbed one of the large bandages Luke had sent home with her.
She came back out in nurse-mode, hands full, and plopped down at the edge of the bed to work her magic. “I see now what your brother was worried about. It’s red and puffy and oozing. This could leave an ugly scar. Is this the first time you’ve been shot?”
“I got nicked one other time on the leg by a drug addict strung out on heroin. He was shaking so bad his aim was way off. And Payce tasered me once when we were trying to arrest a drunk down at the pier.”
“Tasered you? No wonder you and Zeb need each other.” She took his chin. “Thank goodness for drug addicts with lousy aim. What does my patient want for breakfast?”
“You mean after a hot shower? I’d love an omelet with ham and cheese.”
“Your wish is my command. Just try not to get your owie wet, though.”
Before she could dash off, he grabbed her hand. “Maybe you should join me in the shower and supervise. I dreamed last night you were singing to me.”
“That’s because I was.”
“Songbird. Why don’t you help me get undressed, songbird?”
For an answer, she yanked his boxers down and led him to the walk-in shower. “God, you’re gorgeous.”
“That might be a first. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that to me before.”
She kissed his mouth, a deep, soul-rendering lip lock that ignited a fire. “From now on, we’ll make love twice a day.”
It finally dawned on him what had changed. “Maybe I should get shot…”
She put her fingers to his lips to stop him from finishing. “Don’t say that. Don’t even think that. I love you with all my heart. Don’t take that away from me now, not after I fully understand how precious you are to me.”
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br /> “I’m not going anywhere.”
“No. You definitely are not. Not for at least twenty minutes.”
Forty-five minutes later, she broke eggs into a bowl, and walked him through her evening. “I had a long talk with your mother last night.”
“About my getting shot?”
“Although that topic did make its way into the conversation, it wasn’t the main reason I called her. After talking to Suzanne Swinton yesterday, it occurs to me that Mallory had a constant string of men in her life. That should be your starting point. Not that I’m trying to tell you how to conduct your investigation or anything.”
“Of course not,” Lando said, giving her an effective eye roll.
“Hey, I’m just trying to help you while taking the heat off me. Your mother and I stayed up late last night comparing notes. One thing we couldn’t figure out is what exactly Mallory did to make a living. What was her main source of income? Who did she work for? Lydia didn’t know the answer to that any more than I did.”
“Huh? I know Louise mentioned she was a pharmaceutical rep for a while until she got fired for selling the samples.”
“Jeez. What other jobs did she have? I mean I haven’t seen her work since I’ve been back. Lydia says she had plenty of money to blow around town at the bars, but never seem to be able to hold a job. Where did she get her money, Lando?”
“Beats me.”
“So that’d be something else to check into. Lydia and I also put together a list of Mallory’s…relationships. Lydia was able to come up with most of the men in town who knew her in the…biblical sense.”
Lando chuckled. “My mother did that?”
“Yep. Over the years, she’s seen Mallory drag a string of dates into the restaurant so often to eat and drink that it’s a regular thing. Or was.” Gemma handed him the list.
Lando perused the names. “Holy crap, this is every guy in town. And not all of them are single.”
Shadow Canyon (A Coyote Wells Mystery Book 2) Page 7