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The nurse was apologetic. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Ms. Van Dyke. I’ll let the doctor know you’ve come around. Are you hungry?”
“I’m starving.”
“Fine, then I’ll order you some dinner. Please try not to lie down on the back of your head—it’s still healing.”
Chapter Twenty Three
Merrick walked into the parking lot of Scripps, Mercy, and spotted the FBI agent immediately as she was parked in the red zone and standing next to the open passenger door of her sedan, motioning him to get inside.
Relived that he wasn’t being placed into the back seat of the FBI agent’s car, Merrick’s got inside and waited for her to join him. When she took her seat and refrained from starting the car, he expelled a breath and said. “So, how can I help you, Agent Carson?”
“I understand you hired a Private Investigator to look into to Sheriff Buck of Placid County. I’m curious as to why?”
Merrick’s first thought was that his cousin Giovanni had a big mouth, but then he realized who he was talking to. The FBI had reach.
“Yes,” he answered, “I wanted to know more about him?”
“Why?”
“He put some bullets in my car the other night. I wanted to make sure I knew where to send the body work bill.”
“Last Friday night at the Double XX near Misty Falls?”
“Yep, that would be the time and place.”
“But, why hire a Detective Agency – if you already know who he is, why not send the bill straight to the Sheriff’s station?”
Merrick was tired of playing games. “Look, I’ve got a friend up there in a coma – can you cut to the chase? What do you want?”
The FBI agent pulled a fed file from the side of her seat and opened it. “We’re looking for this girl,” she said. “Have you seen her?”
Merrick held the picture of Bombshell in front of him. It was a slightly grainy photograph, clearly shot at night. Her shoulders were slumped and her face was hidden by her hair, but even with all the photographic imperfections, he could still sense the fear in her posture. She was taking out a heavy bag of what looked like trash, and walking across what looked like a covered driveway between a house and a garage.
Merrick wanted to say No, in case Bombshell was in some kind of trouble with the law, but he doubted that Special Agent Carson had played all of her cards.
“Why do you think I’d know about some girl?”
“Because, she’s apparently the Sheriff’s girlfriend, and he shot bullets into your car.”
Hearing confirmation that Bombshell had been with that man, had a relationship with him, made Merrick’s fist tighten in his lap. “Alright, yes, I’ve seen her.”
“Can you tell me where she now?”
“Upstairs, but she’s still in a coma.”
“That’s too bad. What’s her name?”
Merrick blinked. “You mean, you don’t know her
name?”
“No, we haven’t been able to find her identity. She’d only been seen with the Sheriff for about two weeks, before she disappeared. It’s good to know that she’s alive. Did he put her in the hospital? Can you tell me why she’s in a coma?”
“Yeah, he did. I mean, not at first. When he shot at our car, he broke the window near where she was sitting, and a piece of glass got lodged in her head. They took it out – I mean a doctor took it out, but he missed a sliver and … well,” Merrick had to stop and compose himself. “It could have killed her, so they operated. That’s why she’s in a coma now.”
“Sorry, to hear that. What’s the prognosis?”
“Good, at least they’re hopeful. Look, you don’t think she has anything to do with that guy, do you?”
