Gin Palace 01 - The Poisoned Rose

yet despite that, she was opening the passenger door, ready to come running toward me.
    I held up my hand, telling her to stay put, then turned and rushed into the kitchen. The phone had been pulled from the wall, its cord torn out of the socket. I headed down the hallway, grabbed the boxer by the ankles and pulled him into Augie’s bedroom to get him out of the way. Moving into the study, I knelt beside Augie.
    I knew I shouldn’t move him, not in his condition, but he was in bad shape, and maybe the two shotgun blasts had wakened the whole neighborhood and the cops were on their way. But maybe it hadn’t. Either way, I couldn’t just wait and hope for the best.
    I skimmed my hands over Augie’s body—his neck and his spine, ribs and collarbone, up and down each arm and leg. I was feeling for breaks but found none. Then I lifted him into a more complete seated position against the wall, doing so as carefully as I could. After that I took his left arm and tucked my head under it, holding his wrist with my left hand and wrapping my other arm around his left thigh. Getting up to my feet, I hoisted him into the fireman’s carry, his stomach across my right shoulder.
    I used the wall to support us, and to help keep my balance, and yet it still took all my strength to lift Augie. My legs trembled as I moved step by step down the hallway and through the trashed living room.
    Finally, I was out the door and heading toward my car.
    At the hospital, Tina struggled with the paperwork while I found a pay phone and dialed Frank’s pager number. After the beep I entered the number of the pay phone and hung up and waited. Less than two minutes later he called me back.
    “Did you find him?”
    “Yeah. We’re at the hospital.”
    “What happened?”
    “Two men ambushed him at home.”
    “Where are they?”
    “One took off on foot, the other is still there.”
    “Alive?”
    “Yeah. If you go, you might want to bring some help.”
    “The cops are there now.”
    I realized that someone must have heard the shotgun blasts.
    “I just found out that you’ve had yourself a busy night.”
    I said nothing.
    “I think we need to talk.”
    I hung up without saying anything more and went back into the waiting room and sat beside Tina.
    She was visibly shaken. It took all I had to hide that I was, too. The clipboard with all the paperwork lay unfinished on her lap, the pen clutched tight in her hand. But she was ignoring it, staring instead at the double swinging doors through which her father had been wheeled on a stretcher.
    I watched her for a moment, certain that she was not aware of me or anything else around her. I reached across and took the clipboard and pen. Her hand opened and relaxed once the pen was removed.
    She sat silently, without moving, staring off across the room as I filled out the paperwork. When I was finished, I got up and handed the clipboard to the heavyset black woman in white behind the reception desk. Then I sat back down beside Tina. I didn’t say anything, just waited with her, watching her closely while being careful not to stare.
    Eventually I looked through the sliding glass doors that led outside. I could see that the sky above the tree line was changing from black of night to dawn’s silver. Despite my surroundings, I could sense the stillness that was out there, that quiet moment that always comes when night bridges slowly into day.
    The two shotgun blasts that had struck my ears like cupped hands had set off a ringing that was just now beginning to diminish. I felt myself emerging from a muted world to a more distinct one. I could hear Tina breathing, I could hear conversation around me, sneakers squeaking against tile, dolly wheels rattling as they rolled. I thought about Gale and wondered if she was somewhere in this building right now. I wondered if I would ever see her again.
    It wasn’t long before I heard the sound of a siren approaching. It grew louder and more insistent as it came nearer. I watched through the sliding glass doors and waited for what I knew by the sound would be a patrol car. The siren grew more urgent till finally I saw it pass the doors and come to a stop just beyond them. I heard car doors open, then close. I glanced at Tina. She was staring at some point across the room, unaware of everything. I heard voices and looked back toward the double glass doors just as they parted automatically. Two cops entered with a handcuffed man between them. They held him by