Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #2: Books 5-8 (A Dead Cold Box Set) Blake Banner (read out loud books txt) 📖

life. Instead, this…” He gestured at the corpse on the table. “This senseless act has robbed him of everything, and robbed the world of a fine human being. And there aren’t many of those.”

“I hear you.”

“Anything you need on this one, I’ll put in the extra hours on my own time if need be.”

I thought for a moment. “How well did you know them, Frank?”

He shrugged. “We didn’t hang out together, obviously. I am twice their age, but they sometimes joined me for lunch. We talked a lot. Sebastian asked my advice on his career choice. We had a good rapport. I think I knew them quite well. Why?”

I put it to him straight. “You think Luis was the type to steal drugs from the hospital and sell them?”

He frowned hard at me, then sat slowly on one of his bench stools. “You think they might have been there selling? They strayed into somebody’s territory and got punished?”

Dehan shrugged. “It’s all we’ve got at the moment.”

He thought about it a long time, then shook his head. “No.” Then he shrugged. “Obviously, you have to go with the evidence, but off the record, my personal opinion is that Luis would not do that. He is a very ethical, moral young man. A lady’s man, a flirt, a party-animal, certainly all that, but fundamentally a very moral, ethical young man. And Sebastian even more so. I would be truly astonished if that turns out to be the cause of this killing.”

I stared at Dehan a moment and she stared back at me. Finally, I said, “OK, thanks, Frank. We’ll keep you posted.”

“Please do.”

We stepped out into the sunshine and walked slowly through the gardens toward the main hospital complex. Dehan watched her feet, with her hands in her pockets, and I stared at the trees, without seeing them. Eventually, she stopped and spoke without looking at me.

“If we are wrong about the motive, and it seems we might be, what possible reason could anybody have to ambush these two boys and kill them?”

I turned to face her and sighed. I held up two fingers. “Two more important points: how did the killer know they were going to be there? And, increasingly, it is looking as though Sebastian was the intended victim.”

She nodded for a bit, gazing at the grass, like the grass was slowly beginning to make sense. “We really need to find out who owns that Toyota.” She started to walk again and I fell in beside her. “One minute, Stone, they are having a party with Lynda, next minute, they are parked outside Angela’s house, in somebody else’s car, and they are ambushed.”

“I agree. Whose car is it? What made them use that car? And what was their purpose in being outside Angela’s house at three AM?”

We entered the hospital and at the reception desk, I showed the receptionist my badge and asked where Luis Irizarry was. She checked her computer and gave me the directions to his room.

When we found it, I peered through the glass panel in the door and saw Ed standing with his back to me, talking to a large man in a white coat. Between them, I could see Mary’s small, worried face. Luis was in the bed, intubated and motionless, connected to a heart monitor. I knocked and we pushed in. Ed and the doctor turned to look at us.

The doctor frowned. “Who are you?”

Simultaneously, Ed said, “What do you want?”

I ignored him and nodded to Mary. “Mrs. Irizarry.” I showed the doctor my badge. “Doctor, I’m Detective Stone and this is my partner, Detective Dehan. We are investigating this shooting. We were at the ME’s office and thought we’d check on Luis and see how he was. Do you mind if I ask what his prognosis is?”

Ed spoke before the doctor could draw breath. “Dr. Delgado, you will answer no questions from these detectives! My son’s records are covered by…”

Dr. Delgado had a big voice to go with his big body, and he used it now to good effect. “Mr. Irizarry, I am well aware of my obligations to my patients.”

Ed’s mouth snapped shut.

Delgado turned to me and added, “And to the police. Luis is scheduled for surgery this afternoon. He is in a coma at the moment. It is very hard to make a prognosis until we have removed the bullets and patched him up.” He smiled comfortably at his own reassuringly colloquial usage. “If you would like to give me a contact number, I’ll have somebody call you as soon as there is any kind of development.”

I gave him my card and he excused himself and left. As soon as the door closed behind him, Ed was snarling again. “What are you doing here, Detective? Why aren’t you out there looking for whoever did this to my son?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Well, if you would like to tell me exactly where ‘out there’ is, I will gladly go there and look for him.”

He screwed up his forehead and said, “Eh?”

I sighed. “We are ‘out there’ looking for the man who did this to your son, Mr. Irizarry. ‘Out there’ happens to be in here right now.” I pointed in the general direction of Frank’s office and said, “The Medical Examiner, and here, to know whether we are dealing with a double homicide or, if not, what Luis can tell us about what happened that night.”

His lips clenched into a tight line. “No. Oh, no. No way.”

Dehan gave a small, incredulous laugh. “Excuse me?”

“I know cops, and there is no way you are talking to my son. No way. You talk to me, I am his attorney.”

I frowned. “Does he need an attorney, Mr. Irizarry?”

He glared at me. “Anyone who talks to the cops needs an attorney!