I shook my head again, and tried to call out to Casey, but I could barely speak. The darkness was coming to engulf me. The last of my energy was leaving me.
I looked back to Robbie. The true extent of the crash became clear. He still had shards of glass sticking into his arms.
He looked at my truck. To where Casey was sheltered. He lifted his handgun. He was focused. Determined.
I could see the smile start to drift across his face.
“I won’t let the system rape me again, Jack!” He called out to me, but he was facing my truck. He was turned towards Casey. “I won’t let the system use me again!”
He aimed his weapon.
I rolled forward. My gun was drawn.
“Casey!” I yelled. “Cover!”
Robbie fired at my truck. He fired at Casey.
From the sidewalk, I fired back.
Robbie’s arm fell slack, and the gun fell to the ground.
He looked in my direction. His face was confused and contorted, and, for a split second, he looked so sad, lost and alone.
He fell, his face smashing into the edge of his car.
And then, my world went dark.
Chapter 35
The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the whiteness of the walls in the bright room. I knew that smell. It was disinfectant. I heard the beeping next. Then, I noticed the woman slumped next to me on a cushioned chair, focused on the glowing screen of her mobile phone.
I lifted my head side to side and lifted both arms, my left hand had a drip inserted and my right hand had a heart rate monitor attached to my finger. But mostly, I notice the dryness of my throat and the dull ache in my shoulder.
“Casey,” I said, feeling like I was shouting but hearing only a scratchy whisper come out.
Her head whipped up and she stood up quickly.
“Howdy there, partner, about time you showed up. Things were getting boring around here. I was getting tired of having my ass whipped at online Chess.” Her smile was sincere, large and warm.
“I need a drink,” I whispered, but she was already there, pouring water into a glass and holding the straw close to my lips. I took five long sips and then let my head fall back on the pillow. “What happened?”
“Well, as usual, you’ve managed to find a way to get yourself an extra few hours’ of sleep.” Casey started to laugh at her own joke but then winced and stopped. She held the back of her head for a moment, and then sat back down.
“Robbie. He’s…?” The memories began to flood back to me.
“He survived. Took a bullet to the shoulder, and another to the chest, but the paramedics managed to keep him alive. Currently, he’s locked up in a prison hospital. He’s not going anywhere soon.”
I stared at the ceiling, the breath coming and going from my lungs slowly. “How long have I been out?”
“You’ve been in and out for almost two days. The doctors keep checking on you, but they’re happy with your progress. The bullet went clean through your shoulder, and you lost a lot of blood. The paramedics weren’t sure you were going to make it. It was touch and go for a while. You were in the operating room for about five hours. You’ve got fifteen stitches in your shoulder and another five in your leg. You managed to get shot twice in one day, Jack. That’s got to be a record for you. And you’ll have quite the scar on your shoulder, apparently.”
“I love a good scar. Makes me look tough.” I grinned and looked at Casey. “Cubs win?”
Casey smiled. “Yeah, they got a win last night.”
“And you? How are you feeling? Have the docs cleared you?”
“They gave me the all clear and I’m as fresh as a daisy. Zippy. Zappy. Rejuvenated. Feeling great, and, just as well, the doc says that you’ll be out of action for a few weeks. Someone has to run the business for you.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow. Can’t keep a good man down.”
“Or an idiot from saying stupid things, apparently.” Casey’s smile was broad.
I laughed but it hurt my chest, forcing me to cough and wince. Casey rested her hand on my wrist. “Settle down. There’s no rush, Jack. Everything is taken care of.”
“What’s going to happen to Robbie?”
“He’s been locked up. It’s a done deal.”
“For the murders?”
“Not yet, but Williams is preparing the charges as we speak. Robbie crashed a car and then fired six shots into a street full of people. That’s enough to keep him locked up while they put all the pieces of the murder investigation into action.”
“Does Williams think they’ll nail him?”
“Your phone recording certainly helped,” Casey said. “Everything he said was recorded and sent to the cloud. We’ve got it all recorded and I passed it onto Williams. He called this morning, and he said that he’d already sent forensics to do a thorough sweep of Robbie’s apartment, and they’d already found some clothes in the laundry covered in blood. I reckon the chances are good it’ll be a match to Fittler’s blood. We can also place him at the gym at the time of Hudson’s death, and they’re working on some evidence for Waltz and Stone. He’s toast. He’s going away for a very long time.”
“I feel sorry for him.” I drew another deep breath. “He never asked for any of those things to happen to him. And he was right—the system failed him.”
“I know.” Casey folded her arms across her chest. “But a vigilante killing lawyers for doing their job? Sorry, Jack, I don’t feel bad for him about that. Jeffery Stone, I understand why Robbie went after
