turning back to Susan.
“I’m sorry about your friend,” he told her.
She bit her lip, nodded. Shannon knew she was on the verge of tears. He took hold of her hand and squeezed it. Robideau noticed the gesture, excused himself and took a seat on the other side of the room.
Time dragged until a doctor came into the waiting area. He talked first with Robideau, then came over to Shannon and Susan. He introduced himself as Emily’s surgeon. “I have positive news,” he told them. “Emily’s still unconscious, and by no means out of the woods, but she’s doing much better. Her vitals have stabilized, her breathing is better and, while she has a fractured skull, the CAT scan shows no significant damage and far less swelling around her brain than we could’ve expected given the blow she received. Things are looking hopeful.”
A few tears broke loose from Susan. She wiped them off quickly. “When will you know that Emily’s out of the woods?”
“Regaining consciousness will be a big step. There’s no telling when that’s going to happen. It could be in a day, it could be longer. You just never know. The officer over there has left me his number to call when Emily’s status changes. If you’d like you could leave me your number also.”
Susan shook her head. “I’ll wait here for her.”
“That’s your choice. If you change your mind, feel free to leave your number with the nurse on duty.”
He left the waiting area, his gait showing that he’d had a long day also. A few minutes later Shannon received a call from Daniels telling him the sketch artist was waiting for him. After he got off the phone, he told Susan he had to go to the Boulder Police Station but that he’d be back as soon as he could. She nodded, signaled with her index finger for him to move closer, then kissed him lightly on the mouth. “Try not to smoke any more cigarettes,” she said.
When Shannon stepped outside, he took hold of his shirt collar and tightened it around his neck. It had gotten even colder than before. Earlier in the day the temperature had hit the mid eighties, now it was closer to fifty. Still no rain, but jagged flashes lit up the sky. He could now hear the thunder off in the distance.
At the station house, he went through several books of mug shots without any luck finding the younger Russian, Dmitry. He then worked with the sketch artist, who came up with a pretty good likeness. Shannon told him there was a good chance this one had a broken nose also. The sketch artist came up with a second drawing with the nose bandaged up and the eyes blackened.
As he was getting up to leave, Daniels wandered over and told him he’d like to talk to him for a few minutes.
“Go ahead.”
“It would be better if we talk privately.”
“I’d really like to get back to Susan.”
“This will only take a couple of minutes. Come on, follow me.”
Shannon shrugged, saw he had no choice in the matter and followed Daniels into one of the interrogation rooms. He took a seat while Daniels leaned against the table with his arms folded across his chest.
“None of your neighbors saw anything,” Daniels said. “Canvas came up empty.”
“A good thing then I was able to give you that Russian’s license and a description of his partner.”
Daniels scratched behind his ear. “About that. According to Paveeth, you weren’t allowed entrance into True Light today. He insists that you arrived there around two o’clock today, and were told to leave when you rang the buzzer. One of his members claims she saw you wait by the gate for fifteen minutes and then drive off.”
“The two of them said that, huh?”
“Yeah, they did.”
“I can describe Paveeth’s sanctuary in detail. If you need me to do that -”
“That wouldn’t prove anything. He claims when you busted in a couple of days ago you forced your way into his sanctuary. He also denies knowing anything about any Russians.”
“Then who gave me my black eye and swollen jaw?”
Daniels flipped through his notepad until he found the page he was looking for. “Duane Sweenski and Alvin Guthrop.”
“Who the fuck are they?”
“The Mutt and Jeff team you tangled with over there.”
Shannon gave him a blank stare.
“The guys whose heads you busted up,” Daniels explained.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I talked with Paveeth, I talked with them. They all gave me the same story.”
“I’m sure they did. And you bought it?”
“Before I answer that, let me tell you about a call I just finished with. It was to your old boss.”
“Martin Brady?”
“Yep.”
“How’s Martin doing?”
“He wasn’t too happy I woke him, but he talked with me. He told me you were the best detective he’s had. Smart, resourceful, tenacious as hell once you took a case. He also told me the full extent of your history with Charlie Winters. It was a lot more than a single incident where you lost a couple of fingers in the line of duty.”
“Yeah, quite a bit more than that,” Shannon agreed.
“I had no idea about everything you went through.” Daniels uncrossed his arms and rubbed a hand across his jaw. He tried to look Shannon in the eyes, but veered off and stared into an empty corner of the room. “He told me it wasn’t just your losing your two fingers that put you on disability.”
“That’s mostly true. I could’ve gone on disability with what had happened to my hand, but along with being maimed I did have rage issues dealing with Winters.”
“I’d have to think anyone would under similar circumstances. Question is, how are you doing with these rage issues now?”
“I think I’m doing pretty good.”
“Were you doing pretty good when you attacked Sweenski and Guthrop and almost killed them?”
“That was self-defense.”
“Sure it was.” His eyes shifted back to meet Shannon’s. “Something else your old boss told me that I found troubling. That you had a history of blackouts while on the force.”
“I could explain that but you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Why don’t you try me?”
“It’s not worth the bother. So where’s this leading to? Your department’s going to try to revoke my license?”
“Yeah. My boss will be requesting a hearing.”
“That’s fine. I’ve pretty much decided I don’t want to do this shit anymore. Are we done?”
“Not yet. There’s a thought around here that maybe you were involved with the victim. That you could be using these phantom Russians breaking into your apartment as a cover for what really happened.”
“That’s fucking ridiculous.”
“Maybe, but it will have to be looked into.” Daniels wavered, unable to meet Shannon’s stare. He curled his fingers on his right hand and gave the impression that he was studying his nails. “There’s another thought that maybe you’re still having trouble dealing with your rage. That you’d go to any length to harass True Light.”
“You really believe I attacked Emily?”
“I’m not saying what I believe. My boss, however, might be thinking along those lines. He also might be thinking you could’ve had a blackout and not even know what you did.”
“I didn’t have a blackout. I didn’t ransack my own apartment. And I didn’t attack Emily.”
Shannon waited for Daniels to say something. When he didn’t, Shannon laughed. He felt a tightness in his throat as he asked, “So what are you telling me? You want to arrest me?”
“No. I’m not doing anything until I see whether Emily Janney regains consciousness, and then hear what she has to say.”
Shannon lips pressed into a rigid smile. He nodded to Daniels and got to his feet. When he had his hand on the doorknob, he turned and asked, “What are you going to do if you find the two Russians I identified?”
“I’ll talk to them. But unless their prints are found in your apartment or we find someone who saw them there
