“We can discuss the matter later, if we must. For the moment, we need to attend to your partner. Now.”
Fredericks growled, shouldered the door open and heaved himself out of the seat. He looked down at her from his full height and slammed the car door. “This isn’t over, Sister. Not by a long shot. Come on.”
He stormed away from his car toward the hospital entrance. Alice stuffed the Tanfoglio and suppressor into her holster and ran to catch up.
* * * * *
Rafferty’s room stood out from the others. It was the only one with a uniformed officer on guard outside the door. The curtains had been drawn across the room’s interior windows for the night shift.
Fredericks nodded at the officer as they approached. “All quiet, Hastings?” he said in a low voice.
“All quiet, Detective. Pretty late for a visit.”
Fredericks indicated Alice. “This is Sister Jacobine. She’s gonna visit the detective for a few minutes.”
Alice looked up at the policeman and smiled grimly. “Good morning, Constable.”
“Good morning, Sister.” Hastings looked back at Fredericks. “I got orders, Detective. No one in or out without authorization.”
Fredericks shrugged. “He’s my partner. What other authorization do I need?”
“Captain’s orders, sir.”
Fredericks glanced around. “So, maybe we came by when you were getting a coffee?”
Hastings glanced from Fredericks to Alice and back. He shrugged. “She’s a nun. What’s it gonna hurt? Just be quick.” He checked his watch. “My relief’s here in fifteen minutes.”
“Thanks, Hastings. I appreciate it,” Fredericks said and nodded to Alice.
Alice slipped past both of them and into Rafferty’s room.
Rafferty’s bed was half surrounded by a bank of machines. Between the flashing lights and the beeps, it would be impossible to get any rest unless one were sedated.
Rafferty lay in the bed unmoving, his eyes closed. A tube ran from his mouth to the noisiest machine in the room, a ventilator. The edge of a bandage peeked from beneath the top of the sheet over his chest.
As the door pulled gently closed behind her, Alice took a step forward. “Clearly, your injury is quite grave, Constable. I am so sorry I was not here for you when it happened.”
She moved to the side of the bed, reached into her pocket and extracted the two test tubes, the needle and syringe. “Do not worry yourself in the slightest. Alice is here to fix you up,” she said softly.
She flipped open the compartment in the top of the tray table and set the vials of blood inside. If anyone came into the room in the next few minutes, they would be out of sight.
“Michael is very angry with me,” she said, continuing to speak softly as she twisted the needle onto the large syringe. “Why do these things always have to be so complicated?”
She looked at Rafferty ruefully. His chest rose and fell with the puffing of the ventilator. “I expect I shall have to endure his angry posturing a while longer.”
She picked a vial out of the tray and drew her blood into the syringe. When the syringe was full, she gripped the injection port of the IV line running into his right arm. “Here it comes, Constable.”
She slid the needle into the port, depressed the plunger and watched the blood mingle with the clear fluid in the IV tube and move down to his arm. She repeated the process with the second vial, capped the needle and slid everything back into her jacket pocket.
She watched in silence as the blood cleared the tube and flowed into his arm. When the fluid in the tube looked normal again, she nodded. “There. That will help. I will return tomorrow to give you another dose. You shall be as good as new in a few days. With luck, this mess will be cleaned up by then.”
She rested a hand on Rafferty’s forearm. “Rest well, Martin. Michael and I will attend to the problem.”
* * * * *
“Do you have any idea who is responsible for this?” Alice asked as they stood beside Fredericks’ car.
“No. A couple of uniforms found him lying in the parking lot beside the precinct. Don’t think he’d been there very long.”
“I see.”
“Shooting him in broad daylight right there like that, not your usual gang bangers from the street. This was a professional hit. Whoever did this has balls, that’s for sure.”
Alice nodded. “They do, indeed. And we shall cut them off.”
“My thoughts, exactly.”
“Where do we start, Constable?”
He shrugged. “I’ve got the file back at my place.”
Alice looked resolute. “I believe it would be best for both of us if we refrained from being alone in your house for a while.”
Before Fredericks could answer, his cellphone rang. He scowled and dug it out of his pocket. “Fredericks.”
He listened and his gaze moved to Alice. “What makes you think I know where she is?”
He listened again, scanned the parking lot and swallowed, then handed her the phone. “They can see us standing beside my car.”
Alice put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
The Italian accent was very distinctive. “I bring you greetings from His Holiness.”
“I do not believe so, Signore Romano. I believe your greetings come from a far less holy place.” She watched Fredericks squirm in front of her.
“You dare to—” Romano began.
“It does not take daring to call out a charlatan.”
The anger in his voice was clear even through the tinny speaker of the cellphone. “You will come to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul immediately if you wish no harm to befall Detective Rafferty’s family.” He ended the call.
Alice looked up at Fredericks, her jaw slack.
“What?” he said.
“He has threatened to harm Geraldine and the girls if I do not meet with him.” She thrust the cellphone into his hand and backed toward her car. “Look after them. Get them somewhere safe. I will deal with Signore Romano.”
As Fredericks yanked his door open and dove inside, she turned and sprinted for her rental car.
* * * * *
The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul faced
