Heather put on the emergency flashers and leaned on the horn to try to move cars out of her way. She escaped the freeway at the first exit and shoehorned her way through traffic until she wheeled into the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. Meanwhile, it took Steve three phone calls to detectives and a lieutenant in Houston P.D. before he found someone who knew what hospital Leo was going to. Details conflicted about the injuries or their severity.
Heather spoke the name of the hospital to her car's navigation system and watched the map appear with a blue line plotting out the course they'd need to take.
"That's just great," said Heather with sarcasm dripping off each word. "We're at least ten miles away and it's rush hour."
Steve nervously tapped his finger on his thighs. "Do the best you can."
It took the better part of forty minutes before Heather pulled into a parking spot outside the emergency room and Steve uncurled his fingers from the passenger's armrest. She met him at the front bumper and they moved at a quick pace toward the emergency room door. A quartet of police cruisers sat parked in the fire lane.
Once inside, Heather led Steve toward a gathering of two uniformed officers and two in plain clothes. Snickers and guffaws punctuated their conversation. A man wearing slacks, a long sleeve shirt, and a lanyard around his neck with a gold badge dangling from it saw their approach and took a step away from the group.
"Hello, Steve. Have you come to finish Leo off?"
"Kirby? Is that you?"
"Yep. They haven't run me off yet. Don't worry about Leo, he's fine." The man paused. "Not really fine, but he'll be home and sleeping in his own bed tonight. You might say it's only a flesh wound."
The men overheard the remark and burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" said Heather. "We heard he’d been shot."
"That's correct, ma'am, but it's nothing life threatening."
Steve interrupted, "Kirby, this is Heather McBlythe, my partner in our private detective agency."
The man didn't allow Steve to finish the introduction. "We've all heard about Heather McBlythe. Leo told us you traded him for the new and improved model of detective. I think he left a few details out." He held out his hand to Heather. “Nice to meet you.”
Heather nodded as she shook his hand.
Steve cut to the chase. "Why don't you stop trying to score points with an engaged woman and tell us what happened and how serious his injuries are."
"Sure, Steve." He shifted his gaze to Heather and then back to Steve. "Leo and his new partner were at the range. As usual, Leo was late qualifying."
"Were you there?"
"Yeah. I was standing well behind Leo and that detective from South Africa. The range master was between us barking out instructions. You know. Just another day qualifying. It must have been a misfire in Ayana's pistol. Instead of pointing the muzzle downrange, she pointed her weapon at the ground beside her."
Heather could see in her mind's eye the scene and what happened next.
"The range master screamed at Ayana to keep her gun pointed level and downrange. She jerked her head around to look at who was yelling. Her hand followed her head and the pistol discharged. The round took off the tip of Leo's little toe."
Steve and Heather both released a sigh.
One of the uniformed officers added, "That's one little piggy that won't go to market again."
Perhaps it was relief from knowing that Leo's pride was injured more than his body that caused both Heather and Steve to start with a chuckle. It soon morphed into a full riot of laughter.
The mirth lasted until the group spied Leo's captain come through the door. He took one look at the gathering and said, "Kirby, stick around. The rest of you need to find something else to do."
Like a covey of disturbed game birds, the group flew from the captain's icy stare.
Once the group was out of earshot, the captain said, "I don't blame them for laughing, but this is a real mess. The big-wigs are looking at me to clean it up."
Kirby said, “Captain Donaldson this is Steve Smiley, a former homicide—”
The captain broke in, “I know who Smiley is. At least by reputation. It’s good to be able to put a face to the name.”
“And this is Heather McBlythe, his business partner.”
“Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”
Heather put out her hand to the captain. “I assume you’re the one who corrals Kirby and Leo.”
The captain nodded his head. “The best I can.”
Steve rested both hands on top of his cane. "Kirby, how long before we can see Leo?"
"You know how hospitals and doctors are these days. Everyone's afraid of lawsuits, so they called in an orthopedic surgeon. She just arrived."
"That means we have plenty of time to get a cup of coffee. We had some recent developments in the Lucy Green case that will interest you, Captain."
Steve couldn't see it, but the captain’s eyes widened when he said Lucy Green’s name.
They left Kirby in the waiting room and a few minutes later, the trio sat in the hospital cafeteria sipping coffee. Steve added a bowl of peach cobbler to his order to stave off hunger pains. Heather filled the captain in on Bella going undercover and Sid hiring Steve and her to investigate the family and staff of the Green household. The lawman took in the information and seemed to be mentally chewing it like it was a tough piece of steak.
Long seconds passed before he said, "You two may be able to get me out of the pit I find myself in. Ayana is a special guest of this country and I'm under instructions to make sure she gets the credit for solving a murder before she ends her stay with us.”
Steve gave his head a single nod. "She must be the daughter of someone special."
"Very special," said the captain. "I assume you’ve already done background on her, so you already know about her."
Steve gave his head another nod. "Some. I knew there was more to Leo's story of a simple exchange program when I learned she had no field experience."
"The good news," said Heather, "is that we still have plenty of time to feed information to Leo so he can solve the case and make it look like Ayana did the work."
"It's not that simple after what happened today. Leo will be laid up for several weeks before the doctors give him permission to come back to work. There’s also the not-so-small issue of an officer-involved shooting."
"What about Ayana?" asked Heather. "It won't look good for her to return home with a stain on her record."
Steve faced the captain. "I know how you’ll have to spin this, and I don't like it. The official report will say Leo accidentally shot himself and Ayana wasn't at the range. Am I right, Captain?"
"Sometimes you're too smart for your own good, Smiley."
Heather's Scotch-Irish blood heated to the temperature of her coffee. She opened her mouth to condemn the duplicity of the plan, but Steve had his hand up to cut off her words.
"Heather and I will stay on the case, but there can't be any blame put on Leo. It's bad enough he lost his toe without some politician trying too hard to save their skin. If anyone tries to play games with us on this, Heather and I will go public and you'll have a real mess on your hands."
Heather leaned forward. "You have no idea what grief we could bring to the department."
The captain swallowed. "I'd much rather have you two on my side than against me. How can we make this a win-win situation for all concerned?"
"This will take some massaging along the way," said Steve, "but here’s a suggestion. Assign Kirby to take over the case. Unofficially, keep Leo in charge and we'll funnel information to him. We'll talk to Leo and make sure he understands the situation."
The captain rubbed his chin. "It might work. Are you sure Leo will go along with this?”
"I think he’ll go along with it. Every now and then a situation requires a work around. Telling him if he doesn’t do it, he’ll be designated the official babysitter for future exchange detectives won’t hurt either.”
The captain chuckled.
Steve stood. "You have damage control to take care of. There are at least two uniformed officers, two detectives, and a range master with stories that don't match what you want the official version to be."
The captain took a step forward and lowered his voice. "I'm dropping that hot potato in the lap of my boss. I draw the line at falsifying witness statements." He extended a hand to Heather. "Thanks to both of you for being such a friend to Leo and the department. If you can solve this case and make it look like Ayana deserves a commendation, I'll owe you a big favor.” He paused. “Make that several big favors."
Steve extended his hand. "Give the favor to Leo as a reward for his silence and half a toe."
The captain had his phone in his hand as he walked away. Heather could only imagine the intrigue being discussed to save some reputations.
"Let's go see Leo," said Steve.
It wasn't long before Steve had talked his way past a nurse and stood looking down on his former partner. "I thought I taught you better than to get shot."
"I prayed for a break from Ayana. The Lord has quite a sense of humor."
"Any pain?" asked Heather.
Leo grinned. "Modern medicine is wonderful. No wonder people get hooked on this stuff."
"We've been talking to your captain," said Steve. "I think I found a way for you not to have to worry about being late on your firearms qualification again."
Leo squinted his eyes. "I've heard that tone of voice before. It usually comes before you tell me about some harebrained scheme you've come up with."
Steve related the plan for Leo to fully recuperate at home while he, Heather, and Bella gathered information on the Green and Webber families. Relevant information would go to Leo, who'd pass it on to Detective Kirby. He’d slip it to Ayana and make sure the reports reflected her name before his.
Heather passed on the political reasons for the change in protocol.
Leo shook his head in apparent disgust. "Are you telling me that a careless cop blows off my toe and she'll take a commendation back to South Africa with her?"
"Something like that," said Steve. "But you're looking at this all wrong. There's plenty of upside for you."
"Like what?"
"As much recovery time as you need or want."
Leo shook his head. "That could be a two-edged sword. My wife will have me repairing everything broken or bent in the house. She's also been talking about painting all the bedrooms."
Steve rubbed his chin. "You won't be working with Ayana."
A grin came across Leo's face. "That's a definite plus. Keep going."
"The captain told us if we solved the case and made it look like Ayana is a female Sherlock Holmes, he'd owe you a stack of favors."
"What good does that do me?"
Heather patted him on the arm. "Think of all the silly meetings you can get out of."
Steve added, "All you have to do is go along with whatever story they come up with by keeping your mouth shut. Lie low and let the big boys and girls play loose with the truth."
"Ayana didn't shoot me? Is that what I'm supposed to say?"
"You'll find out soon enough what story they'll come up with. Don’t lie, just don't contradict it."
"Is that all? I won't have to write a report on what happened? No internal affairs or pencil-pushers who'll say it was my fault she shot me?"
"That’s the gist of it," said Steve. "The only thing you'll need to do is funnel information from us to Kirby. It's his and the captain's job to make Ayana look good."
Leo scratched his head. "It seems I don’t have much choice if I want to keep my retirement."
"It's sure nice to get a check every month for not working," said Steve.
The nurse came in and handed Leo his clothes. "You're ready to go, Mr. Vega. You're lucky that lawn-mower didn't take off all your toes."
Once the door shut, Steve said, "Someone much higher than the captain has been busy."
Heather turned toward the door. "I'll get the car so we can take Leo home."
"Good idea," said Steve. "Leo needs to sleep off the good stuff they’re giving him and we'll need to be alert when we see Sid tomorrow."