Split Second - Catherine Coulter [97]
Savich said, “I believe him when he told me it didn’t matter if he told me, because Kirsten was long gone. Still, let’s not take any chances.”
Lucy said, “And who is this other person Kirsten is calling?”
Savich shrugged. “Comafield didn’t know.”
Savich slammed the door inward when he unlocked it, and they went in, fanning their SIGs around the room, though Kirsten hadn’t been there for hours now. Her fingerprints, sure, but that wouldn’t help them.
Kirsten hadn’t left anything, not even a comb, but who knew if there’d be a stray hair from one of her wigs? Savich called in a forensic team.
When Savich got back to Sherlock, they let him take her home with orders for her to rest—in bed—today. She stepped into the wheelchair without any trouble at all. “I’ll be ready to go once my stomach has some real food in it,” she said.
“Yeah, but you’ll do as you’re told. I’m your boss. Suck it up. I’m thinking some chicken noodle soup might be a start, then we’ll see.” He grinned at the leap of interest in her eyes.
Chicken noodle soup. Sherlock’s mouth watered. She looked at his profile, laid her hand lightly over his on the handle of the wheelchair. “We’ll find her, Dillon.”
Yes, he thought, they’d find her, but how many more women would die because of the mistakes he’d made? Where would Kirsten go next?
Savich was wheeling her down the hall when Dr. Pendergrass called out to him, “Agent Savich, I’m sorry to tell you, but Bruce Comafield has died. He developed sudden sepsis and then abdominal hemorrhage. We did everything we could, but he didn’t make it. He was a young man, and I believed he had a chance. I’m sorry.”
Sherlock saw Savich flinch, only a small movement. He said, his voice emotionless, “Thank you, Dr. Pendergrass.”
Dr. Pendergrass nodded, then turned to walk away. He turned back. “Agent Savich, don’t think your method of interrogating Mr. Comafield had anything to do with his death. It didn’t.”
Savich only nodded, then turned to look at his pale wife. “Nothing more to do. Let’s get you home.”
CHAPTER 48
Maryland
Midday Thursday
Lucy drove her Range Rover out of the hospital parking lot and headed for 95, Coop behind her in his blue Corvette. She was still smiling at what he’d said when he’d walked her to her car. “I know this really good Chinese restaurant near Dupont Circle, best Szechuan in town. How about dinner Saturday night?”
Dinner with Coop. A date, he was asking her for an actual date? She started to kid him about working her into his busy dating schedule, but that joke fell right out of her head. That wasn’t what she wanted to say at all. She said with a smile, “Actually Chinese is my favorite, especially Szechuan.” She paused for a moment. “Isn’t there some bureau rule against agents in the same unit socializing?”
“Savich and Sherlock are in the same unit, and they do, I imagine, a great deal more than mere socializing.”
It was the strangest thing, but her heart speeded up, and out of her mouth came, “You want to get me alone so you can jump me, right?”
He raised an eyebrow. “What a thing to say. It’d only be our first date.”
Her heart thudded to her feet, and her voice flattened. “Oh, I see. You want to talk to me some more about what I’m—feeling.”
He lifted his hand, touched his fingers to her cheek, then dropped his arm. His eyes roved over her face. “Do you know, I happen to find myself worrying about you at the oddest times—like when I’m shaving or drinking nonfat milk out of the carton or singing in the shower, and wondering how we’d sound in a duet? The thing is, Lucy, I want to get to know you better, and talking isn’t such a bad idea, now, is it?”
She laughed, thrumming with energy. “Okay, then, but all I’ve got to look forward to is talking?”
“Certainly not.”
“Then you might as well think about what you’d like to sing with me in the shower, too.”
He tapped his fingertips to her chin. “I’ll think about that, too, although that’s an awful lot of thinking.”
Lucy tossed him a little wave and got in her car.
Coop