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He rose.
“Where are you going?”
“To the hospital to check on Katz and Melvin.”
“Is that all?”
“Then I’m going to see Mitzi Gardiner.”
“You want me to tag along?”
“Aren’t you deskbound after the shooting?”
“Well…”
“I’ll talk to you when I get back.”
***
“They think she’s going to be okay,” said Mars.
He and Decker were sitting in the visitors’ room outside the critical care unit at the hospital.
“Theythink?”
“Well, she’s stable,criticallystable, but at least she’s stable.”
“Okay.”
Mars rubbed his eyes.
“You look beat, Melvin. Why don’t you go get some rest?”
“No, I’m good. I napped on the couch.” He stretched his long arms. “They got cops outside her room.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Mars shook his head. “Why do I feel like it’s my fault she’s lying in that hospital bed?”
“Your fault? How do you figure?”
Mars said, “The people who shot her? They knew she was talking to me. They were afraid she might open up. So they decided to kill her. I don’t push it, she’s okay.”
“That’s pretty convoluted, Melvin. And wrong. You saved her life. She’d be on a slab but for you.”
“I saw this red dot hovering over her face. Man, it scared the crap out of me. Then I just grabbed her and down we went right as I heard the glass break. I thought she was okay. You know? Then…then I had her blood all over me.”
“What did she tell you, before she was shot?” asked Decker.
“She was really nervous. Afraid for her life.”
“Well, she turned out to be right about that. What else?”
“I think she wanted to talk. But couldn’t bring herself to do it. She said something about there being ‘shades of truth.’”
“Shades of truth? What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
