Black Diamond.
This morning I knocked on Aly’s door and waited as she took her time getting to the door. “Howdy Trin,” she said as she leaned against the side of the door. I noticed she was attempting to take the weight off her right leg.
“Something happen?” I looked at her with concern.
“Yup. Been shot for tha first time last night.”
I blinked and pointed to the table. “Go in. Sit. I’m right behind you. Did you tell Tye?”
“Oh....we laid side by side in the same clinic, shot by tha same person. Romantic, eh?” she snorted.
“What the hell happened?” I asked as we sat at the table.
“Well uh...I hard commotion, and then a shot, and I got my gun... First instinct was bein’ worried about Tye,when oddly enough I was with Mark.....so , and I really shoulda made Mark stay home, he got his own injury, but that’s another story. Anyhow... Sure enough I saw Mac carrying Tye into the clinic... I followed.”
“Mac carrying Tye? Usually it’s the other way around,” I raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah well... It weren’t this time. I asked Tye who shot him and he was coherent enough to respond. He said the sassy one. Which confused me, cause I had a gun, and I’m sassy, but I’d never shoot him. Then I saw Jewel. Really never knew her name before...just was that blonde outlaw gal to me. I was actually talking to Tye when I said y’all such spiteful lil’ children sometimes... but she seemed to take it personally and told me to shut my mouth... and you know how I tend to blab things.... so I told her I was shiverin’ in my boots. And uh...she said let’s go outside and have at it. I said no thanks..”
“Mmhmm.”
“Then I saw Tye’s shirt come off...and I said.... I’ll be right outside.... forgetting about what she said. She was still pissin’ and moanin’ so I just blew her a kiss. Then that was it. She shot my leg. Guess she don’t like women folk none.”
“Welcome to the club, I guess,” I sighed. “Tye doin’ okay now?”
“Spent a part of the day over there. I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me.”
She frowned then and said, “I’ve been through a lot. You know this. with my family, my loss, my dreams... and I’ve been invited to be a part of Lil’s wedding party as a bridesmaid. Which I’m really excited about! The thing is, I see how much planning and stress is involved....as it is, I’ve known Mark less than a month. I’m not ready. Heck, I’m not even ready to be engaged. I honestly don’t even think I’m ready to be courting.”
“So what do you think you’re going to do? Have you told Mark about it?” I leaned back a bit.
“And about the dreams....it’s not just dreams....I know I could never be with Tye, it would be wrong on so many levels. But it’s not fair to Mark for me to keep thinking about someone else. No, I haven’t. I’m glad I saw you first. I needed to talk to you. I have strong feelings for him, I really do, but I feel like Im spinning out of control and everything is happening so fast....”
“But you have to get over that, Aly. You have to get over your feelings for Tye.”
“Like I’ve no time to actually enjoy any of it. He almost got killed when he returned home the other day. I don’t think I could bear another loss. Marrying right now....for me, it just doesn’t seem right.”
“Remember what I told you about your subconscious controlling you?”
“It’s not,” she nodded. “What’s controlling me... is fear. Fear of loss.”
“I understand that. Then tell Mark to slow down.”
“I can’t give Aly to someone when I can’t take care of my own issues first.”
“I understand hon. Why do you think I’ve been single this long? I needed to be comfortable with myself again and I finally am.”
“That’s why I was hoping to talk to you first,” she nodded. “Trin, I JUST lost my family. I JUST lost my fiance. I haven’t had time to grieve properly.”
“Trust me, I know hon,” I nodded. “You need to give yourself that time.”
“Marriage is forever. I’m not ready for forever. not even close.”
“Then tell Mark that, hon. He’ll understand. Tell him you want time to get to know each other.”
“But the other thing is...what if he’s not right for me? He’s madly in love with me, and I find it hard to say it back. I don’t want him thinking that marrying him will happen eventually. It might not.”
“I think you need more time hon. More time before you can tell someone else that you love them. You can’t force that. I know you were under pressure when you told Mark that you would marry him... but he shouldn’t have rushed it like that or put you in that position either.”
“Trin...he asked me at the Valentine ball in front of his family and everyone there. I was embarrassed and actually passed out. I’m just feeling so...wrong about it. I don’t want to. but I do.”
“You need to talk to him about this Aly... You need to be honest with your feelings. If he doesn’t respect it... Hon... even if you’re going to still marry him. Honesty has to be first and foremost.”
“I’m not a heartbreaker, Trin, but you know this is the second time I will have to do it since I got to Black Diamond.”
“Who says you’re a heart breaker? Aly, you’ve gotta be honest.”
“I know. I haven’t seen him yet since I decided all this. it was just this morning.”
“I know it’s hard but... you can’t keep lying to yourself either.”
“And I feel I’ve been trying to convince myself. Ugh I just have no idea what.....how....I’m going to do it... and ha...still trying to tell myself that I shouldn’t.”
“Just... sit down with him and tell him you’ve been having these feelings that you need to tell him about.”
“Well he already knows about the dreams, and he knows that I’m not ready for marriage....but I don’t know if I’m ready for him,” she nodded.
“I know...”
“I need something sweet now,” she grumbled and I laughed at that. “Ahhh but that felt good to get out. I feel like I’ve been holding it in. Tye and I spoke briefly about it the other day.”
“You have?”
“Actually, he’s the one that kinda made me go ‘oh yeah’.”
“He does that,” I nodded.
“Yeah well just the bit about how come you’re getting married after only two weeks...and such.”
“Right you guys talked a bit at the saloon, I was kind of distracted...”
“But I haven’t mentioned to him of actually doing any of what I just told you... That’s okay,” she looked at me.
“I’m not so good with this topic...”
“I have the attention span of a 4 year old I think. Well you’re a good listener either way.”
“Maybe we should take a walk and get some fresh air? See what’s goin’ on out in town?”
“Yeah I think that would be a good idea...I’ll be limping a bit though. Gonna have to take it slow.”
“Right... might be good to move it around though. Wonder if Ger’s around... Been a couple days since I’ve seen him.”
“I saw him earlier. He was in an out of the sheriff’s office.”
“Oh good... Glad they’ve been in communication.”
“Well weren’t much communicating though,” she laughed. “Quick in and out.”
“Oh.”
We walked over to Ger’s apartment and started to throw pebbles at the door. He didn’t answer though so we walked upstairs and knocked on the door. He came outside and we talked about how we’d missed him and how Aly had gotten shot by Jewel.
Tye walked over just as Aly was throwing pebbles back onto the ground. Aly apologized for hitting him with the pebbles and Tye looked up at us, “We need to talk,” he said. “In private.”
“Aly you mind if the two of us head over to the office with Tye?”
“Uh... sure,” she looked confused.
We walked downstairs and led Tye to the office where we closed the door. The three of us sat down at the table and Tye pulled out papers from his vest pocket. “First, the main report. You don’t have a copy yet, Trin,” Tye said and handed me and Ger the report. “This includes the Lab tests, the bank account documents, and Chase’s witness statement. I just have to summarize them in the description.”
I smiled and looked for the test result report that I hadn’t seen yet.
“What do you want me to do with the reports due back from New York on Leighs abduction by Krell?” Ger asked.
“What reports are those, Ger?” Tye looked up.
“Told you about them when I turned in my test results earlier...checking up on what Leigh told us about being abducted by Krell whle living in New York...I have friends there on the force checking out a couple of things for me.”
“At most, it would corroborate the chain of events, at worst it would lead the jury to believe we were overreaching our bounds as town law,” Tye rubbed his chin.
“Was in her statement,” I leaned forward, rubbing my temples and wishing this long case would just be over. It had given me enough headaches already.
“Tell ya what, I’ll hold them when they come in, just in case we need them,” Ger said.
“Maybe I misread. Continue,” Tye nodded.
“I read Miss Bree’s statement Tye, and it counters what you told me... You told me that Miss Bree told you that she dumped and cleaned the teapot...right?”
“I may have misread the statement, I have not talked to Bree. I was recalling her statement,” Tye nodded.
“And the only time I’ve talked to Bree about anything was when I wrote out that statement word for word,” I put in as I made myself some coffee.
“Ahh..okay then, in her statement she said Dash dumped it... No where mentioned cleaning it. And it was cleaned.”
“We can look into that in the future. Let’s focus on Leigh and what we can prove for now,” Tye looked at Ger. Much of this is just circumstantial, but as you stack it up... It tells a very compelling story.”
“Indeed it does,” I nodded. “I recall thinking Leigh and Jewel were working together from my first conversation with Krell.
“She attempted to not only extort money from Krell, but also frame him for a kidnapping,” Tye said. “Double.”
“Sounds like revenge shooting to me,” I nodded.
“I think as time went on, she became increasingly more agitated and careless trying to finish what she started. And that’s how I ended up with a confession from Jewel. That’s what ties all of this together.”
“She was so insistent on focusing on him being crazy that whenever something with her came up, she would pass it off and turn the focus back on Krell.”
“That’s what set me off,” Tye agreed.
“So do we have enough? To end this and arrest her?”
“More than enough. I have a warrant already.”
“Fantastic.”
“What I need from you two is to double check my work,” Tye said and I started to look over the report again. “Make sure that A. I didn’t miss anything and B. I didn’t cross any lines that would lose us the case.”
“I am more than halfway through it...” Ger put in.
“This all looks great,” I looked at Tye. “I wish we could avoid the jury process somehow... We’ve all done too much work for it to go to a not guilty verdict.”
“I disagree. We say this here, because we know we’ve done our due process. But that power could be abused,” Tye shook his head.
“Well, you have a confession to the non-lethal shooting. All we need to prove is the extortion.”
“I am very intent on making sure that the revenge portion of the shooting is clear. That’s what it is so important to go over every detail, to show every step that she was indeed, plotting against him,” Tye said. “Juries tend to get sympathetic to hanging cases. So every piece of evidence has to be perfect.”
“You asked for my opinion, right?” Ger asked.
“I did,” Tye nodded.
“Okay, if I were on the jury...seeing this evidence...I would find her guilty of Revenge Shooting, unholstered gun, Non-lethal shooting and weapon used in a crime...” Ger started. “As far as obstruction and Extortion, I would find her innocent.”
“Continue,” Tye nodded.
“You have her confession....clear cut, and it matches all of the witness statements....my report on the tea cup will get thrown since there are no witnesses to see who put it in there...as far as the extortion, it is her word, the Mayor’s wife, against a known criminal.”
“I can give you that. But if we don’t put it in there, the jury will wonder why we didn’t include it,” Tye said. “The circumstances under which she provided the confession, too, will matter. She realized she was in a corner, her tricks had not worked. She had to confess.”
“Obstruction, well, she can always say she was upset and forgot...witnesses have said she has been in a bad shape every once in a while,” Ger said.
“True, although she has at every turn attempted to frame Mayor Krell,” Tye agreed.
“And turned the focus on him,” I nodded.
“You have tied two separate cases into one...extortion and shooting...” Ger pointed out.
“Because it’s all connected...” I started.
“Because I believe they are involved,” Tye said and I smiled at that. “You don’t have a case for revenge shooting if you don’t connect them.”
“Yes ya do...” Ger nodded.
“The jury needs to see all her previous attempts at framing him up to and including that point. You have a case for shooting, but not revenge. Believe me, revenge shooting is very difficult to convict in this town.”
“She was found in a cage with him lying on the bed....once she got out she lost her head...” Ger pointed out.
“Take that one incident out, and what do you have?” Tye asked. “Domestic dispute. DA might not even take it, other than the shooting. And there’s no proof who put her in there.”
“True...” Ger nodded.
“I’ll be honest,” Tye started. “I want the revenge shooting. She could be found not guilty for every other charge.”
“Won’t get her hung...” Ger argued. “She did’t kill him.”
“As long as its guilty for that. Because that is a hanging offense. Revenge shooting will hang her in this county. Dead or not.”
“Remember the last case I prosecuted, Ger? Lisa didn’t kill Kris either...” I started. “But she was tried for revenge sohoting and the other charges led up to that revenge shooting.”
“I’m working on a case against TJ and his lot of fools,” Tye offered. “They came for me because I shot Mac. Only one of the shooters hit me, but they’ll all hang for revenge shooting, because they all tried.”
“One case at a time..” Ger looked between us dizzily.
“Sorry,” I sighed and went back to drinking my coffee.
“And yes I do...but with that case, you had no witnesses to support it,” Ger said.
“And this case with Leigh we have a lot of support,” I said.
“Is there anything additional you believe we could do? Or that we missed?” Tye asked. “Or is anything in there something you believe would hurt the case?”
“We’ve got witness statements from Bree, Ger, Krell... For the shooting itself.”
“She also admits it,” Tye said.
“We have a confession,” I nodded.
“Where’s Dash’s?” Ger asked.
“Dash skipped town,” Tye replied.
“Or Pet’s... Was another thought I just had.”
“She wasn’t there for the shooting, only afterwards,” Ger pointed out.
“But...” I shuffled through my notes and read, “Gerric arrived. and wanted to speak to Leigh. even Miss Pet arrived...”
“That from Bree’s statement?” Tye asked.
I nodded and kept reading. “I found out later Dash had his gun out guarding Krell Miss Pet asked Dash for his gun. and somehow Leigh got it from Pet. I was trying to get Krell to clinic.”
“Hold on... That isn’t how it happened,” Ger stopped me.
“That’s what Bree said happened. And your statement doesn’t mention Pet,” I looked at him.
“Right, she had nothing to do with the shooting...she wasn’t there.”
“So then why would Bree say what she did? The jury will see that as conflicting statements.”
“That’s fine. The main detail of the story - what the prosecutor should focus on - is that Leigh shot Krell,” Tye nodded.
“I know, Tye... but the jury will pick up things like that too.”
“If the defense attorney wants to examine about that - they’ll need to ask witnesses directly,” Tye said.
“And the DA will pick up on it and call it conflict.”
“Then we need to find Bree, and correct her statement,” Tye said.
“And I won’t lose this based on Bree’s confused statement. But one of you will have to talk to her.”
“Or Bree’s confused state of mind,” Tye added.
“Maybe she’ll tell you a different story,” I looked at Tye seriously. “I’m not kidding. We’ve worked too damn hard for her statement to mess this up.”
“I got it,” Tye raised his hands defensively.
“I agree with Trin...her statement has changed so many times to suit her needs,” Ger said.
“We still have time. My warrant is based on her confession, nothing else,” Tye pointed out.
“What happens if we don’t use Bree’s statement?” I asked. “Is that withholding information even though it’s skewed information?”
“They may call her in,” Tye said. “You know she’ll be there.”
“Because it’s mentioned that she was there. Oh of course she will,” I sighed.
“Here’s the thing about Bree,” Tye started. “Before you say anything to her at all. She has to know you aren’t accusing the Mayor of any wrong doing. Convince her you’re trying to save the Mayor... Then she’ll tell it to you straight. All day. Probably never stop talking.”
“You’re right,” I nodded. “She thinks we think the mayor is crazy. But if we turn the tables on Leigh...”
“That’s how I got these bank documents,” Tye said. “I convinced Mayor Krell that I was trying to prove the bank was cheating him, rather than Leigh. He won’t be convinced Leigh is guilty.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered and Ger nodded.
“So we have to play these people. Manipulate the truth from them.”
I looked at Ger and asked, “Why don’t you take a stab at Bree.”
“So, we are settled, then? One of us needs to talk to Bree. Get a more concise statement,” Tye looked between us.
“I can try...compare notes so to speak...” Ger noted.
“Bree knew you were there too... You have that shared experience.”
“Listen to her ramblings, write it down, have her sign it. That’s true,” Tye nodded. “Specifically ask when Miss Pet was there.”
“Good plan of action,” I nodded.
“Other than that, I’m arresting her as soon as I get a chance,” Tye said. “So we’re on the clock, here. Once she’s arrested, we’ll have only a few days to get reports in. Once that happens, our chance to alter this case is over.”
“I’m worried about Bree and her ‘accounts’ of what happened....if the defense finds out she has changed her story over and over again...it could be thrown out and we would look underhanded,” Ger said.
“An unreliable witness can be noted by a smart prosecutor. I believe Bree just needs to understand we aren’t going after the Mayor.”
“I agree with Tye,” I said.
“I’m just looking at it from a defense stand point,” Ger said.
“I know, Ger, and that’s why I brought up the statement from Bree,” I nodded. “They would take that and turn it into something.”
There was a knock on the door and I sighed, going to open it. Aly looked as if she’d been crying and I looked at her with concern. “Aly? What...”
“Sorry Trin, I won’t be long. Just wanted to let you know... I did it. Um... That is all...”
“Oh hon...” I hugged her tightly as she cried against me. “It’s okay hon...” I rubbed her back, closing the door.
“I feel like a monster.. but I couldn’t Trin... Not another day...”
Peta walked over then and said, “Hello! Who needs space? I’m good at givin’ space. How’s everyone? Why ya cryin’? Is it personal? I never tell personal things.”
“Yeah, pretty personal. I broke up with Mark,” Aly said.
“Aly... let’s go to your place,” I shook my head.
“You sure Trin? I don’t want you gettin’ in trouble,” Aly looked at me.
Tye and Ger walked out of the office and I asked, “You guys need me still?”
“Well! I, uh, hope you get over your broken heart and either find a good fella or learn how to be a strong independent woman who don’t need a man,” Peta waved.
“We uh, thanks, I think,” Aly blinked at Peta as we walked back into my house.
I led her inside and said, “Come on hon, let’s go inside. Have a seat on the bed hon, I’ll take the couch.”
“I told him everything honestly,” she said as she lay on my bed.
“And how did he take it?”
“Hard, but I think he could sense something wasn’t right. He told me he knew it was too soon after the proposal... and honestly, that’s when I started getting really stressed, was after that night. Ain’t even known him a month, Trin. Weren’t right.”
“I know, Aly... It’s way too soon to be married. Heck, Alex and I had known each other a couple of months before we even started living together. And we only did that ‘cause we didn’t want to be married yet. I saw him with a ring on his finger the other day. Guess he’s moved on.”
“Oh my,” Alex chuckled. “I feel like I should be saying sorry to you.”
“Maybe it’s time I moved on too.. Just saying...”
“Moving on is a hard thing to do.”
“Yes it is.”
“I haven’t had time to move on from my previous fiance. That was a five year engagement. we were to be wed on Valentine’s day.”
“That’s what you need to do hon, that’s my point. It took us both this long to move on from just living with each other. Now we’re best friends. But you need that time to grieve.”
“Yes...” she sighed. “I feel so bad, Mark is madly in love with me. But it’s not fair to him if I’m not ready.”
“But he needs to understand that too hon and it sounds like he does.”
“Yes. He’s a very good person, which is why all this is hard to do. I never kept anything from him. He even knew about the dreams.”
“I know. But Aly can I give you advice on those?”
“Yes,” she sighed.
“The more you talk about them, the more you think about them... the harder it’s going to be without moving on.”
“Well that’s true... Well maybe I just need to reflect on them rather than pretend they will go away on their own.”
“The key is to stop talking about them, hon. Stop obsessing. They’ll go away.”
“I’m not obsessing. I’m just...”
“Aly... You can’t go one conversation without bringing them up. I’m only saying this as your friend. I’m only saying this as your friend. Trust me, you know I’ve been in that exact place. The EXACT place.”
“I never noticed that. Yeah well at least I ain’t dreamin’ about an outlaw. Trin....you don’t think someone from Mark’s family will be angry with me and...you know...?”
“No hon. You were honest about how you felt. NO one can fault you for that. Listen... get some rest... I’m going to go down and get some work done. You can lay there a while if you like. My leg hurts too much to get up. Thank you.”
“Good.. Rest. I’ll see you in a bit.”
I waved and headed downstairs and let her fall asleep.
***
This evening I walked over to the sheriff’s office and saw Tye and Jewel with a man I didn’t recognize. There was a horse in front of the office and Tye and Jewel were talking about the horse and I asked, “Everything alright, Tye?”
“Will be in a moment,” he nodded.
The man I didn’t recognize got on the horse and rode it out of the way. Tye led Jewel inside and I walked over to him. “I don’t think we’ve met yet.”
“Hey,” he greeted me.
“Trin! Ray!” Tye shouted out to us.
I heard Tye and looked at the man, “Sounds like I’m needed.” We walked into the office and I asked, “What’s up Tye?” I looked over and said, “Ray, nice to meet you in person.”
“Ray, can you show Trin the boot tracing? Trin, we arrested Sasha earlier. I want you to update your reports,” Tye looked at him.
“Likewise, miss,” Ray nodded and went over to the desk, taking out a piece of paper with the trace of the boot. He held it out to me and I took the paper, comparing it with the file I’d taken from Ger’s desk. “We’ve got a match, Tye. Definitely the same prints,” I looked over at him.
“Yeehaw!” Ray smiled.
“Good. Jewel, your charges are...” Tye turned to the cell.
“Looks like you can book Sasha for theft, Tye,” I said. “And we can consider those cases closed.”
Ray took the paper and put it over on his desk. “Fingerprints from her gun, too,” Tye said. “If you didn’t get those.”
“Fantastic. Bet you they match the ones on the potted plants on Aly’s porch,” I smiled. “And on the damaged lock at Myst’s place.”
“Jewel... Destruction of Property, Shooting, Shooting Law, Revenge Shooting, Weapon Un hlostered in town, and Weapon used,” Tye listed her charges.
“Revenge shootin gis a hangable offense, Jewel,” Tye told her. “Though, you should know that. I’ve told you... three times now?”
“What the heck did I miss?” I looked from Tye to Ray.
“I’ll give you the report in a moment, Trin,” Tye looked at me and I nodded.
“Ray, any trouble from Sasha?” Tye asked him.
“Nope, After her time I gave her her unloaded guns back and sent her on her way. She seemed quite scared if you ask me,” Ray said.
“I was hoping she’d be scared straight with our last run in. I think she’s scared, but dumb,” Tye nodded. “You saw how easy she was to trick.” He looked over at Jewel and said, “Jewel, if I could make up charges you’d be charged with silly outfits. So no.”
Ray laughed and nodded, “I’m glad I just followed along.”
“Me too. You caught on quick,” Tye nodded.
“Hey that was my disguise and it fooled you!” Jewel laughed.
“Well, it hides all the best parts about you, Jewel,” Tye said. “You know, the parts I like to shoot.”
“Yeah you just like seeing me behind bars!” Jewel rolled her eyes.
“Trin, that enough to prosecute Sasha?” Tye looked at me. “Oh, don’t be like that, Jewel. I just like seeing you. I call it... ‘Job security’.”
“Let’s see... Footprints, green fabric... A confession would be nice...” I thought out loud.
“You’ll have Ger check the fingerprints, then?” Tye asked.
“Does that mean you ain’t gonna hang me then?” Jewel smirked.
“Yeah we need to check those fingerprints,” I nodded.
Tye looked outside and said, “It would be a waste of a pretty face... maybe you can still be convinced to go straight... Wait, I already tried that once. So nope. Still hanging.”
“Yeah, well good luck with that,” Jewel folded her arms across her chest.
“You’re cute when you’re in there and flustered,” Tye smiled and looked over, “So, Ray, you can watch her a bit. I need to eat dinner quickly, I still have a bigger target to get hopefully tonight.”
“Got it, no problem,” Ray nodded.
“Trin, get back to me on the fingerprint and the rest of that case as soon as you can,” Tye looked at me and stepped outside.
“Yes sir,” I nodded. I looked over at Ray and smiled, “So... Welcome to Diamond.”
“Thank you, I like it here. Very lively.”
“It is a cute little town...” I smiled. “I lived here for a few months before the winter... then moved away but came back. It kinda draws you back, you know?”
“Indeed. It’s like it’s own little country back here surrounded by mountains. Nothin bothering it,” Ray nodded.
“Mmhmm... I spend more time over here than I do anywhere else. Only reason I go over to Tombstone is to do a court case. I’m a lawyer as well as a detective.”
“Oh I see, you must be a very busy person then.”
“Keeps me out of trouble, right?” I winked.
“Sounds about right,” Ray smiled and nodded.
“Ain’t like there’s a lot of men around my door to keep me out of trouble, so something has to.”
“C’mon, now that’s hard to believe,” Ray raised an eyebrow.
“It’s true. Last man I was with like that ended back in November or so,” I shrugged.
“Hm, that’s a shock to me.”
“It’s the truth though. Only kissed one man since and that was just a couple of days ago. Spur of the moment thing and doubt it’ll happen again. He’s somewhat taken by a few other ladies in town.”
“A FEW? What is he a male dove?”
“Might as well be,” I shrugged. I shook my head with a sigh, “Hope my partner’s around tonight. Need to lock down this case against Sasha for theft.”
“I’m sure you could even do it on your own.”
“Well see... I kind of copied this footprint picture without my partner knowin’, just in case I needed it and he wasn’t around... I don’t have the fingerprints though.”
“Ahh I see...”
We decided to walk around town and I saw Ger and Aly in the clinic with Myst. I put a hand on Ray’s arm and said, “Hold on a sec...” I walked inside and saw Aly on the bed. “Aly! What happened?”
“Can you speak?” Mysti washed her hands and went back to the table.
“She was going into shock, passed out after I picked her up to bring her here,” Ger explained.
“Oh Aly....” I looked over and put my hand on Aly’s arm as she lay unconscious.
“She complained that her bad leg gave out, the one that was shot. I removed her boots and checked the wound. It has opened and is infected.” Ger looked over at me and asked, “Trin, can you take off her hat?”
“Ger, this is the new deputy.. Ray,” I said as I took Aly’s hat off for her, setting it on the table. “Ray this is my partner, Detective Gerric Firehawk.”
“Hello Sir,” Ray nodded.
Myst walked back to Aly and pulled up her pants to look at her leg. She shook her head and said, “Looks badly infected to me.” She started to wash off the wound. “There is a new drug I got from Boston recently when I was at a conference called Asprin that will help with the swelling and fever. But it might upset her stomach some.. she needs to eat with it. How did it get this way?”
“I’m going to step outside. You two have this under control,” I said and walked outside to take a deep breath. Ray had gone off to get a drink and I considered going there to join him but I was still concerned for Aly.
Ger called for me and asked if I could stay with Aly tonight and I told them I could do that. I asked Ger about the fingerprint files for the case against Sasha but he said we didn’t have any. I frowned at that and then we took Aly to my house where she lay in my bed. I lay down on the couch and fell asleep.
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