Mohammed had the car idling at the curb. Ted joined Lester in the back seat, and they headed toward the LIE. Lester had a bulging plastic bag in his lap.
“How’s the lady?” he asked.
“Not good,” Ted said. “What’s in the bag?”
Lester flashed him a view of the contents. Ted guessed there were two dozen or more airline-sized vodka bottles.
“What’s this?” Ted said.
“Controlled dosage,” Lester said. “Is she going to be okay?”
“I don’t know. The nurse thinks so. They’ve got her in an induced coma.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“No,” Ted agreed, though reluctant to admit to a negative thought. “It doesn’t. How many of those have you had?”
“One an hour should work.”
“So you’ve had one so far,” Ted said.
Lester held up two empties. “The key to dealing with pain is to stay in front of it. Did you get to talk to a doctor?”
“No. Her mother showed up, and I thought that was a strong indication that I should be somewhere else.”
“What’s the mother like?” Lester asked.
“She’s too young for you.”
“You say that, but you’ve never seen me dance.”
“I need to speak to Detective Duran. There’s no guard on her. The mother said they pulled the uniforms early this morning. I talked to the hospital security guys on the way out but they’re useless. Empty uniforms.”
“Will Duran listen to you? I’ve got a bad feeling.”
Ted nodded agreement. He did not like this situation at all. “I did manage one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I was able to get the video Kenzie shot at the restaurant last night. I’ve got Councilman Pak, Cheryl, Little Reisner, all of them. Once Duran sees it, he’ll have to take this seriously.”
“Meanwhile, we need some place to hole up where we won’t wake up being clubbed.”
“I have an idea about that.” Ted looked at Mohammed, who appeared frazzled and in need of a break. “How’re you holding up?”
“Rock and roll,” he replied.
“Mohammed thinks we’re high maintenance,” Lester muttered.
“He’s got a point,” Ted said. “Take us to Corona. I’m looking for a guy who might help us.”