Split Second - Catherine Coulter [140]
“Indeed not,” she said.
“What?” Coop asked.
Dr. Rayburn kept talking. “I’m happy to say the surgeon who saw you in that ER in North Carolina fixed you up fine—good, tight stitches, no signs of infection. Still, I’m glad you stopped here before heading on home, if only to be sure. You can see your own doctor tomorrow.”
“Nah, not tomorrow, I’ll give him a call on Tuesday. I feel fine, Doctor, thank you—”
“That’s the narcotics you’ve got on board talking, Coop.” Lucy patted his hand, and turned to Dr. Rayburn, who was no older than she was, bags under his eyes the size of carry-ons. “He’ll do exactly what you’ve said, not to worry. I’ve got him well in hand.”
“Only because I’m such a nice guy. But Lucy, we’ll have to discuss this strenuous-activity business.”
“Ah, are you both FBI agents?”
“Yes,” they said in unison.
“You guys married?”
“I barely know him,” Lucy said, kissed Coop’s cheek, and smiled at Dr. Rayburn.
Dr. Rayburn opened the curtain around the stretcher, shook hands with the waiting Savich and Sherlock on his way out, and then he was off in a fast walk, his white coat flapping.
Savich and Sherlock walked into the cubicle and examined Coop’s face. “Lucy’s right,” Savich said. “You’re happier now than you’ll be for a good two days. Lots of rest, Coop. I don’t want to see you at work until Wednesday.”
“But—”
“Wednesday,” Savich said very pleasantly, and turned to Lucy. “Lucy, we were so relieved to hear you’re okay. We’re very sorry about your cousin.”
Lucy could only nod. The reality of Miranda’s suicide crashed in again.
“I want you to take the time off, too, Lucy. Stay with Coop. You can help us get a better handle on what happened later. The police detective in charge, Mylo Dwyer, wants to understand what brought all this about, since he only saw the tragic ending. He told me it seemed Miranda became enraged because her mother told her Alan Silverman wasn’t her biological father. There was also mention of a ring. He wants to speak to you again. One thing, though—however did you get away from Miranda?”
“She tied my wrists to the chair arms, but managed to work one hand free. I couldn’t get my SIG or her Kel Tec, but I could run, and so I did.”
“Why did Miranda want the ring so badly?”
Lucy looked him straight in the eyes. “The ring is very old, and it may have been in my family for hundreds of years. She wanted it for herself.”
Enough to kill you? Enough to kill herself ? Savich shot a look at Sherlock, who was patting Coop like she patted Sean when he hurt himself.
He said to Lucy, “It looks like you’re going to have your hands full with John Wayne here. Both of you regroup, take it easy, come to grips with the fact that all of this is over. You ride herd on him until Wednesday, okay? You’re both going to need the rest, because I think you’re going to want to go on a long trip on Wednesday.
“Coop insisted on calling Vincent Delion while we were still hunkered in that tobacco field, told him where Kirsten said she’d buried Arnette Carpenter.
“They found her. Roy Carpenter wants both of you to come to the funeral in San Francisco on Thursday, to thank you for finding his wife, but only if you’re feeling up to it. There’s a visit to Nob Hill you’ll want to make, too, while you’re there.”
Coop said, “I’ll be more than ready to fly out on Wednesday. As for Nob Hill, how did you know, Savich?”
“It only made sense. And we’ve had time to get a good look at the calls Kirsten made from her cell. By the way, Kirsten is out of surgery in North Carolina as of an hour ago. They say she’ll survive her wounds fine, so now it’ll be up to the state and federal courts to decide where they’ll try her first.”
“Amen to that,” Coop said. He stood quietly while Sherlock buttoned his shirt. He gave Savich a big loopy grin. “I’m really glad we all made it out of this. I didn’t like my chances for a while. And that mom, she was so happy her kids are okay she might forget to sue us. She and her kids sure have a story for a lifetime—bringing down Ted Bundy’s daughter. Can you imagine how popular those