shifted beside her and caught her close.
CHAPTER 21
Eve tried not to look disgruntled as Reed pushed her through the hospital room doorway in a wheelchair.
I feel ridiculous in this thing, she muttered.
You looked ridiculous trying to maneuver on crutches, he retorted, softening the sting of his words with a squeeze of her shoulder. “Good afternoon, Detective.”
Ingram offered a slight wave that jostled the IV tube connected to the back of his hand. The detective’s other arm was in a cast. He looked soul-weary, the pale blue of the hospital gown only emphasizing how wan he was. The other bed in the room was closed off by a curtain, leaving the detective alone with a uniformed female officer who he introduced as his daughter.
“Nice to meet you’ Eve said, extending her hand as Officer Ingram stood. The younger Ingram was trim and fit, with pretty features and dishwater blonde hair cropped super short.
“Are you okay?” the officer asked.
“Yes. I’m fine. Healing nicely, they tell me.”
Eve didn’t really need the wheelchair. The mark had healed the deep gash to her thigh over the last forty-eight hours and only a little redness remained. Still, the subterfuge was necessary since the wound had been nasty enough to take weeks for an Unmarked body to heal.
“You’re a popular guy, Detective.” She gestured at the profusion of flowers and balloons.
“They should be sending these flowers to the funeral home,” Ingram said bitterly.
Reed’s fingers caressed the side of her neck in a silent offer of comfort.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said quietly.
“We all lost.” Ingram sighed heavily. “Jones was a great cop. I was honored to w-work with him.”
Her eyes stung when the detective’s voice broke. “I need to thank you, Detective. You saved my life.”
He flushed. “I was just doing my job.”
“You’re a great cop, too, something I’m profoundly grateful for.” Changing the subject, as she’d learned to do when her dad became uncomfortable with sentimentality, she asked, “How long will you be in the hospital?”
“I’ll be released tomorrow. Thank God.”
She nodded and managed a smile. “I’m going to check on Father Riesgo now, but I’ll stop back by before I go home.”
Ingram looked at his daughter. “The priest is back?”
“Popped up yesterday,” she confirmed. “Said he decided to walk home.”
“From Anaheim to Huntington Beach?” Ingram was clearly dubious. “What’s he doing in the hospital?”
“Severe dehydration.”
“From the trek home? No, don’t answer.” Ingram heaved out a sigh. “I swear this world is going to hell in a handbasket.”
Reed turned Eve’s wheelchair around and pushed her back out to the hallway. As he steered her in the direction of Riesgo’s room, he murmured, “Well, they’ll be out of your hair now.”
“See? It all worked out.”
“Oh, no, babe. You’re not getting off the hook that easily. Your plan was more fucked up than mine.”
“No way,” she argued, tilting her head back to look up at him. “Everything’s wrapped up perfectly—the mask is contained, the wolf and Nix are finally dead, so are the hellhounds, the police are off my back, and the tengu are eradicated from Olivet Place. I finally feel like I can get started with a clean slate, like every other Mark does.”
“If the way this shit has gone down is your idea of perfect,” he said dryly, “we have a lot to talk about.”
Reed slowed, then turned into a room. There were two beds—one occupied, the other freshly made. The patient in the far bed was sleeping. And he wasn’t Riesgo.
“Wrong room,” Eve said.
Backing up, Reed looked at the number by the door. “No. This is the number they gave us at the desk.”
He hailed a passing nurse and asked, “Do you know which room Miguel Riesgo is in?”
“I believe he was discharged,” she said briskly. “Just a short while ago.”
Eve frowned. “Thank you.”
The nurse moved away.
Reed’s hand settled on her shoulder. “Didn’t you leave a message that you were coming?”
“Yes, this morning.” She reached up to link her fingers with his. “I’m really worried about him.”
Riesgo had looked so broken when he’d returned. Half-dead. She could only hope that his emotional state was better than his physical one. She wouldn’t relax until she saw for herself.
“We’ll track him down when we leave here,” Reed promised, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “We’ll make sure he’s okay.”
***
Eve wished it was possible to fade into the woodwork while staring straight into a satellite feed. Alas, there was no way to hide from the many eyes that rested heavily on her.
“How is it that no one