Gin Palace 01 - The Poisoned Rose

Tommy and his friends. And if you hadn’t taken me home.” She shrugged again. “I can’t imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t done what you did.”
    “Everything’s going to be okay,” I said. I didn’t know what else to say.
    She found my eyes then. “Promise.”
    “Yeah.”
    She looked at my mouth for a moment more, then leaned into me, resting the side of her head on my shoulder. I didn’t dare move. She stayed that way till a doctor came out of the emergency room and approached us.
    His hair was dark and tightly curled. He had an early tan on his face and forearms. Tina and I stood to meet him. He was wearing green hospital scrubs and there were pockets of sweat under his arms.
    He spoke to Tina and me equally, alternating eye contact between us. His voice was calm and certain, but there was a graveness in his tone.
    “He’s unconscious still,” he told us. The three of us were together in a tight huddle. “He took a severe beating to the head. There is some blood clotting that’s pushing against the brain, which we can drain, but we’ll have to wait till he’s stronger. He’s listed as critical, but we’re hoping that will change soon. Our real concern here is in the long term. There may be some brain damage. We won’t know anything till he comes around. He’s a strong man, and he’s healthy. It’s just too early to know anything for certain. All we can do now is wait and see. If you come back this afternoon you should be able to see him.”
    He left us alone then. Tears were in Tina’s eyes again. She seemed as angry by what she just heard as distraught. I wondered then what battles she and her father fought on a regular basis. I wondered if certain aspects of Augie’s nature required that this fifteen-year-old girl play the adult. I wondered if she was as much wife as she was daughter, tireless reason to his vast capacity for recklessness.
    I knew it was time to get her out of there, away from this commotion. I knew she would need to be in a place where nothing else could happen to her for a while. The only place I could think of was mine. And that, for a hundred different reasons, wasn’t exactly the place for a fifteen-year-old girl to be.
    I got Tina out of there, walked beside her and guided her toward my LeMans. The clouds had rolled off, and the morning sky was clear and bright. I squinted against the early sun as we got into my car and made the short drive from the hospital to the Hansom House.
    I expected Elm Street to be filled with cop cars, but it wasn’t. I expected them to pull up as I was walking Tina up the pathway to the door, but that didn’t happen. I got her inside, put her in my bed, told her I’d be right outside and closed the door behind me. I walked to my living room windows and stood there.
    Where the hell were they? Why was the Chief waiting so long?
    It was just before noon when the knock came to my door.
    Tina was still asleep in my bed. I was stretched out on my couch, exhausted but unable to rest. I got up quickly and hurried to the door. I didn’t want whoever was on the other side to knock again. I didn’t want to awaken Tina.
    I was in jeans and a T-shirt, barefooted. When I opened the door I was once again face to face with Frank Gannon.
    Despite the fact that it was high noon outside, it was dark in the hallway. Frank’s features were deeply shadowed, his expression, what I could see of it, austere. He didn’t make a move to enter and he didn’t offer a greeting. He was here on business, that was clear, and I got the feeling that it wasn’t going to be a long visit.
    “I thought you’d like to know that there isn’t going to be any fallout for what you did behind the library last night.”
    I didn’t say a word.
    “You know who those boys were, right?” he asked. “And the one whose knee you busted. You know who he was, right?”
    I nodded. “They were about to rape Augie’s daughter.”
    “Hey, you don’t have to explain it to me. Tommy Miller has had quite a criminal career so far. Shoplifting, drunk driving, assault, you name it, he’s been there. Of course, he hasn’t been charged with anything. And he never will be. You’d be amazed what a choirboy the Chief thinks his son is, despite everything the kid has done. Christ, the Chief’s walls are covered with photographs of his pride and joy in action. Dozens of them. And you’ve put his pride and joy in the hospital. They say he’ll be lucky if he can walk