Look Again - Lisa Scottoline [101]
“Here they come, Mommy.”
“Right, here they come.” Ellen crossed to the door as the cops hustled onto the porch, their shoes heavy as soldiers as they reached the front door.
They were coming to save Will.
And to destroy the only life he knew.
Chapter Seventy-eight
Ellen opened the door, and police filled the living room and immediately began looking around, hurrying into the dining room and toward the stairs, their shoes heavy on the hardwood. Outside the window, she saw flashlights flickering as cops searched her front and side yards. Will quieted in her arms, gazing wide-eyed at an older cop with wire-rimmed glasses who took her aside, his hand on her elbow.
“I’m Officer Patrick Halbert,” he said. Snowflakes dusted the shoulders of his nylon jacket. “You’re the homeowner who called 911?”
“Yes.” Ellen introduced herself. “Where is the ambulance?”
“On its way. Are you injured, ma’am?” Officer Halbert looked at her coat, and she realized that there was blood all over her.
“No, this isn’t my blood. It’s my son who’s hurt. When will the ambulance get here?”
“Five minutes, tops.” Officer Halbert’s tone sounded official, but under the wet patent bill of his cap, his eyes looked concerned and they scanned Will, up and down. He asked, “Now, you told our dispatcher it was a home invasion?”
“Yes, it was.”
“Is there anyone else in the house?”
“Pat!” one of the cops called from the kitchen. “We got two in here!”
Ellen said, “We need to get going, he’s bleeding from the head. Can’t you take us to the hospital?”
“It’s best to wait, so they can treat your boy on the way.” Officer Halbert chucked Will’s stocking foot. “No shoes, fella?”
Will recoiled, and the cop plucked a Bic from inside his jacket, slid a notepad from his back pocket, and flipped open the pad. “Ms. Gleeson, why don’t you fill me in on what happened?”
“Can’t we talk about this after my son is treated? That’s my priority, and it’s not good to talk in front of him, anyway.”
“This won’t be your formal statement, we’ll talk later at the station house. I know who you are, my wife reads you in the paper.” Officer Halbert smiled, more warmly. “We’ll talk until the ambulance arrives.”
“It’s a long story, but there was an intruder in my house. He had a gun. He broke in and tried to kill me and my son. He poured gasoline on him.” Ellen glanced at Will, whose gaze remained on the cop, though she knew he was listening. “Then a woman named Carol Braverman came in and interrupted him, and he shot her when she tried to save Will. I tried CPR on her but it was too late.” Ellen felt a stab of guilt but stayed in control. It wasn’t the time to break down. “They’re in the kitchen.”
“They’re the bodies?”
“Yes.” Ellen caught a glimpse of bright red lights in the street. It was the ambulance pulling up, spraying snow from its back tires. “They’re here.”
“Let’s go.” Officer Halbert quickly put away his pen and pad. “We’ll escort you to the hospital, Ms. Gleeson.”
Ellen was already out the door, cuddling Will against the storm, and he held her tight as Halbert and some other cops fell in beside them, and they descended the porch stairs into the snowy night. A paramedic jumped out of the cab and flung open the ambulance’s back doors, spilling harsh fluorescent light onto the snow.
Ellen hurried down the walk with Will, plowing through wet snow in her boots. “Lots of snow, huh?”
“So much!” Will answered agreeably.
“Already eight inches,” Officer Halbert added, steadying Ellen by the arm as the paramedic rushed to meet them.
“This the boy?” the paramedic shouted over the idling engines. He held out his arms for Will, and Ellen handed him over.
“Yes, he’s three, bleeding from behind his ear. His head was . . . pressed from the side.”
“You ride in back, Mom.” The paramedic hustled Will to the back of the ambulance and climbed inside, and Ellen followed, stepping up onto the corrugated metal floor.