Unsolved (Invisible #2) - James Patterson Page 0,110
blood.
“You should go to the ER,” says the woman.
“I’m okay.” The physical pain is nothing compared to the stupidity he feels. Petty jumped him. He puts it together now. Somehow, Petty made him; he knew Books was following him. He parked his car, doubled back, and hid behind something until Books passed him on his way to the blue sedan.
That stupid AC condenser, still chugging along with its loud hum, helping Petty sneak up behind him. But that’s no excuse. I screwed up. “Did you recognize him, ma’am?”
“I don’t think so, no. He was bald and wearing a camouflage shirt. I didn’t get a good look at his face, but it wasn’t someone I recognized.”
“What about the name Petty?” Books asks. “Recognize that name? Maybe Sergeant Petty? Someone who might live in this apartment building?”
It’s doubtful, he realizes. If Petty was suckering Books into an ambush, he wouldn’t have driven him to the place where he lives.
“It doesn’t sound familiar,” she says. “And I think I know everyone in this building. Sir, you really should see a doctor.”
“I will, I will. Thank you again, ma’am.”
“I wish I could be more help.”
“You interrupted him,” he says. “Who knows what he might have done if you hadn’t come by when you did?”
That seems to make her feel a little bit better. “I could try to help you up,” she says.
“No, I think I’ll sit right here for a few minutes, let my head clear a bit.”
They say their goodbyes. The woman and her granddaughter retrieve their groceries and head into the building. Books calls Emmy.
“You want the good news first,” he says, “or the bad news?”
110
I PULL my car into the lot of the apartment house in Huntington. I had been halfway to the Hoover Building when Books called me from here.
Petty jumped him, Books told me, but when I see him coming out of the rear door of the building, it looks more like Petty ran over him with a truck. The left side of his face is bruised and scraped. The right side’s okay, but above his ear the hair is caked with blood and the area’s swollen, as if he’d grown a tumor since I last saw him.
“You shoulda seen the other guy,” he says when he gets in my car. “I feel like such an idiot.”
I put my hand up to his face, though it’s hard to touch it.
“I’m okay,” he says.
And suddenly I burst into tears. He brings me close while I release the nervous energy, the worry, the feelings I’ve suppressed.
“I didn’t…know…what happened to you,” I say after a few minutes, catching my breath, the sobbing finally passing. “I hadn’t heard from you…”
I look at him. He’s trying to smile. It’s not easy with all the bruising.
“I can’t lose you, Books. I don’t know what that means. I really don’t. But I can’t.” I take a deep breath. Where did all that emotion and confession come from?
“Okay, first of all, I’m fine,” he says. “Second of all, I suggest we tackle the task of finding our serial killer before we address the far more difficult and complex mystery of Emmy and Books.”
I wipe my face, laughing. He always makes me laugh. “Deal,” I say. “But how about before we do either of those things, we take you to the emergency room?”
“No, I’m okay. My pride is wounded, I have a massive headache, and I’m going to look like the Elephant Man for a few days, but otherwise I’m ready to dance a jig.”
No, he’s not. “Can you drive?”
“Yeah, I’m okay to drive.”
“Then follow me to the nearest ER. I’m not taking no for an answer.”
He sighs. “My head hurts too much to argue with you.”
“And then you’ll go home and rest.”
“No, I’m not going home to rest. I’m following Elizabeth tonight.”
“Elizabeth? Still?”
“What?” he says. “Nothing’s changed. I know someone’s funneling cash to her. I still think it’s Citizen David. But why can’t Petty be Citizen David? If he can be Darwin, he can be David too.”
“I don’t know…”
“If I’m wrong, I’m wrong,” he says. “But there’s only one way to find out. She’ll leave tonight the same time she always does, I bet. And I bet she goes to the Payton Club again for one of her little meetings.”
“Even tonight, after the day we’ve had?”
“Especially tonight, Em. I don’t know who she’s been meeting with or what she’s been saying, but I know this much—she has a lot of new information to share after today.”