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Chapter 31
Speaking in stops and starts, Menundez told them that Gif had been discovered lying on the pavement. “He was in excruciating pain. Couldn’t talk. Barely able to breath. Somebody called 911. By the time emergency services arrived, he was unconscious.”
Drex grabbed the detective by the collar and all but hauled him into the car.
“Was he still alive?”
“I don’t know. I swear, I don’t.”
“What happened to him?”
“Nobody knows. He was in the middle of a crowd. Just dropped. People around him thought maybe a heart
attack or stroke. Locke stayed to question them. Sent me to tell you.”
“Thanks.”
Talia already had the motor running. As soon as Drex released his hold on Menundez, she peeled out of the parking space, leaving the detective where he stood.
She navigated the streets of downtown in the direction of University Hospital ER, where Menundez had told them Gif was being taken. She made only one wrong turn, going the wrong way down a one-way street. She dodged oncoming motorists who flashed their brights and honked, but she didn’t ease up on the accelerator.
In the passenger seat, Drex was beside himself, taking all the blame for letting Gif go alone. She dropped him at the entrance to the ER. He bolted from the car and ran inside while she and Mike went in search of parking.
By the time they caught up with Drex, he was threatening the personnel at the admissions desk with demolition of the hospital if they didn’t inform him of his friend’s condition.
“At least tell me how seriously he was injured,” he shouted at the woman, who must have been the one in charge. “Was he shot? Stabbed? Bleeding? What?”
Unfazed, she said, “There’s nothing I can tell you, sir. You’re welcome to take a seat in the waiting—”
“I’m not taking a seat!”
Talia and Mike flanked him, each hooking an arm through his and pulling him away. They wrestled him toward the waiting area where Mike pushed him into a chair and told him to get a grip.
“You’re not the only one upset, you know. Losing it isn’t helping.”
Drex told him to back the eff off, then planted his elbows on his knees and buried his face his hands.
“Keep an eye on him,” Mike said to Talia. “My badge will make that harpy more accommodating.”
“Hold on.” She caught him by the sleeve. “Flashing your badge might draw unwelcome attention to us.”
She’d become aware of other people in the waiting area, who had diverted their attention from cell phones, magazines, and pamphlets about miracle drugs, and were now observing them with avid interest, as though the personal drama that had brought them to the ER tonight paled in comparison to Drex’s.
Mike’s glower made most go back to what they’d been doing.
Talia crouched in front of Drex and placed her hand on his knee. “Drex, do you still have my cell phone and the battery with you?”
He raised his head and looked at her as though she were speaking in tongues. When the words registered, he nodded. “Why?”
“Put the battery in.” When he started shaking his head, she pressed his knee. “One call, then you can take it out again. Trust me. I’ve got this.”
Either he did place his trust in her or he was too worried over Gif to argue, but he began doing as she asked. She left him under Mike’s watch and returned to the admissions desk.
The woman took her sweet time sorting through a stack of forms, then, without even looking up from her task, said, “Yes?”
“Is Dr. Phillips in the hospital tonight? Andrew Phillips.”
She looked up then. “He’s chief of surgery.”
