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She nodded. “I did. My nurse friend said that he’d survived the surgery and was expected to make a full recovery, but that he’d died. Which would have been good for Xavier, because he wouldn’t have... you know.”
“Actually killed him,” Xavier muttered hoarsely.
Cicely winced. “Right. But also good in that he can’t come after my son again.”
“I checked the news, and Houston PD’s posted a sketch of the man’s face,” Burke said. “The police are trying to identify him. He had no ID, and his car was reported stolen. I want to get into his medical records so we can know exactly what killed him.”
Xavier hung his head. “It was me. I killed him. What am I going to do?”
Carlos hugged him harder. “We’ll deal with it. I promise.”
Xavier shook his head. “You can’t promise that.”
“I can,” Cicely said. “So try not to worry. Although I know you will.”
Molly hoped the woman wasn’t thinking of saying she’d shot the man instead of her son. But she wouldn’t blame Cicely for wanting to save her child. It’s what I would do.
“Did the intruder have a cell phone?” Gabe asked.
“I’m going to find out,” Burke promised. “Don’t ask how,” he cautioned when Willa Mae opened her mouth, probably to ask.
The older woman shook her head. “Fine. I won’t. What about that Eckert, the hit man? Who hired him?”
Molly wrote the question on the board. “At least the cops have him alive. Hopefully he has a cell phone and his communication can be traced.”
“Your mouth to God’s ears,” Burke said. “And the not-lawyer, too.” Then he looked at his phone. “Molly, photograph the whiteboard and erase it completely. Captain Holmes is here.”
Xavier lurched to his feet. “A cop? You called a cop? You said you’d—”
“You lied!” Carlos hissed through clenched teeth.
Burke put up both hands. “Please. I told you I was asking NOPD for help in catching the men who were following you. I haven’t lied. He wants to talk to you about the man who called you last night. He knows that you had an intruder. He doesn’t know that you shot him, and he doesn’t know that he’s dead. Captain Holmes is the cop who caught Eckert and the other guy while you got away. All he knows is that you know the man driving the white BMW SUV wasn’t the real Paul Lott. So, leave out the gun part for now, okay? And calm down if you can. If you can’t, we say that you’re just shaken from your ordeal. Got it?”
Xavier slowly sat down, nodding. “Got it. You trust this guy?”
“I do,” Burke said. “I’ve known him for years. He’s good. Still, keep the gun out of it. We won’t volunteer that information unless we have no other choice.”
Molly smiled her thanks at Gabe when he rose to help her clean the whiteboard. When she turned back to the group, Cicely was clutching Xavier’s hand and Carlos looked ready to leap to his friend’s defense.
“Guys, look at it this way,” Molly said logically. “He has information we need. We want all the details about Eckert and the Lott impersonator, and he can help with that.”
Xavier’s nod was grim, his body rigid, and his eyes suspicious. “Okay.”
Burke dialed Joy at the front desk. “Bring him back, please, Joy.”
