was all he said, as his hand dropped and he passed out.
Cliff instantly lifted his friend's shirt and saw the wound. He could hear the hissing and gurgling of the air passing through the chest wall. He repositioned the plastic wrap and held it tight in place. Bill's chest was hardly moving and when he checked for a pulse with his other hand, it was weak. In the distance he heard the ambulance.
I only hope it's not too late.
Chapter 67
Five hours later
Cliff Jones
Cliff was at the police headquarters sitting next to Joe in computer forensics. They had secured Andrew Livingston's data on the police mainframe, under heavy encryption and multiple layers of passwords. Because of the sensitivity of the information, they also made a hard copy and put it in physical evidence, also protected with everything they could think of.
Seeing some of the names in the files, Cliff didn't trust that there couldn't be someone inside the force that could make this disappear. He had made a copy before he went to see Joe which he put in the private safe in Bill's office, accessible only to Bill and himself.
He then sat at his desk and fired off an email to both the organized crimes unit, and the group investigating the Mayor's office, letting them know what was found. He knew this would blow things wide open.
This city is going to be one heck of a mess for a while.
Once he pushed Send, he closed off his computer, shut off his office lights and closed the door. After a stop at the hospital, he wanted nothing more than to sleep for a few days and to spend some time with his wife.
Chapter 68
Bill Roberts
Bill felt a pressure on his arm. Someone had a hold of his arm and was squeezing. He tried to pull away and he heard a voice telling him to stay still.
He opened his eyes to see a nurse hovering over him.
"It's okay Mr. Roberts. I'm only taking your blood pressure. You've had quite an afternoon," she said. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel like I've been hit by a car."
"From what we hear, you came pretty close. But I can understand why you feel that way. You spent an hour in surgery. They had to re-inflate your lung and sew you back together."
"We also had to re-stitch your shoulder," came a familiar voice from the doorway.
Bill looked over to see the emergency doctor he saw in the morning, Dr. Perry. She came to the side of his bed.
"You couldn't resist getting your hands on me again, I bet." Bill almost tried to move away when she wiggled her finger at him. "Get that away from me," he said.
"I think you were the one who missed us. We get you all fixed up and instead of behaving quietly in your room, you felt you needed some more of our attention." The nurse filled out his chart and left the room. The doctor took his chart from the end of the bed and scanned the last few entries. "Your blood pressure's coming down. We thought you were going to blow a gasket. Do you have a history of high blood pressure?"
"No. But it's been a rough day. Speaking of which, is there anyone from my team here?" he asked.
"You mean the ones who helped bust you out of here this morning?" she said looking sternly at him. Then she smiled. "There's been a few coming and going. Last I checked, there were two in the waiting area with your kids. I can have someone get them for you if you'd like," she said.
"Why did my kids get called? I don't want them worrying about this stuff."
"You mean worrying about you almost dying? That's what family and friends are for, Inspector."
"That's not what I meant. I don't like them worrying about my line of work."
"We've been keeping them up to date on your progress. They didn't have to worry too much. When they heard you took off after I fixed you up this morning, I think they were more concerned with what I was going to say to you once you woke up."
"Are you going to tell me off, Doctor?" he asked.
"I think you've been through enough today. But I don't want to see you here again."
"You don't want to see me again, or you don't want to see me here again?" he asked.
She smiled. "Inspector, it has been a pleasure, and I hope you get feeling better," she said