Forgotten Place Read Online Free Page B

are picking up days next week and in the
meantime, he's spending some time with his kid down in
Phoenix."
    "Shit."
    "You want me to call Lou and see what she
thinks?"
    "It's Downey's case, Ned.  You and
Captain Caveman caught it fair and square."
    "Technically, it's yours too.  You were
first on scene, Helen."
    "I'm not on active duty.  God only
knows when that troll of a physical therapy intern will release
me."
    "All the same, if you're feeling up to it,
I'd appreciate it if you'd hang out and see if you can coax a
statement out of her, provided she survives this thing."
    "I'll head downstairs.  Whatever you
and Shelly decide to do about other interested parties, I'll accept
it, but I'd rather not liaise between Downey and OSI."
    Stupid gossips. 
    Ned nodded curtly and stared at the
ground.  "Course, you could tell Darnell what's going on, lay
out your terms before anybody else finds out what happened
today."
    "C'mon, Ned.  Use your detective
brain.  Chris doesn't control anything but the sound bites,
and I'm pretty sure that's history too."
    "He has more influence that you realize,
Helen.  Wouldn't hurt to have him in your corner being the
voice of reason why this case needs to stay in our hands.  I
know Darnell fought it with Lowe but you proved yourself to
him.  He didn't balk about letting Downey keep that other
business with the meth and the cyanide in our house, even though it
was OSI's undercover who got killed."
    I pulled out the phone and dialed another
number.
    "Darnell."
    "Chris, it's Helen Eriksson."
    "Wow.  What a surprise.  What can
I do for you, Helen?"
    Stop acting like I should
call you for coffee and the latest dirt in Darkwater for
starters.  I tamped down the urge to
be sarcastic.  "This is a courtesy call.  It looks like
we've got an active case that might be linked to an old one from
Downey."
    "Resolved?"
    "Partially.  I witnessed what looked
like a simple mugging at MSUH about twenty minutes ago."
    "All right..." 
    I felt Darnell's patience growing thin and
cut to the chase.  "The victim was Journey Ireland,
Chris."
    "Dammit," he hissed.  "Johnny needs to
know."
    "We'd like this to stay in Downey's
hands."
    "I know, and I understand why, but there is
no conceivable reason he'll accept for staying away from this case,
Helen.  If your objections relate to the job –"
    "They do."
    "And not whatever personal thing happened
between the two of you that has turned Johnny into Zombie Cop, I'll
strongly discourage his involvement."
    "Darkwater Bay needs to believe in its
police department again, not see OSI running in to save the
day.  You know that.  We've talked about it before,
Chris.  I don't object to Finkelstein keeping him in the loop
of communication, just like she did on the Cox murder, but we
cannot lose control of this to OSI.  Not if people are really
serious about seeing change in this department."
    "Do your thing, Helen.  I trust you to
get to the bottom of whatever happened this morning.  I'll do
my best to remind Johnny that Darkwater needs faith restored in its
own department.  I can't promise results."
    "I appreciate it."
    "Who caught the case?"
    "Ned Williams and some new guy you and Orion
recruited."
    "Devlin?"
    "That sounds right."  My voice turned
crisp and cold.
    "He's a good cop, Helen.  Give him a
chance to prove himself.  You won't be disappointed."
    I spared the rehash of my first encounter
and disconnected.  My heart whipped against my ribs in fear
that Orion would appear from the mist at any second.  It
seemed like as good a time as any to check on the victim and see if
a conversation was possible.
    "Go ahead," Ned agreed.  "There's not
much to process here, so let Dev know I'll be down in a bit."
    Must I?  Still, in the spirit of
maturity I agreed.
    Being of mostly sound mind, whenever I enter
an emergency department, I get a bad case of the
heebie-jeebies.  Given my history, who can blame me? 
Bits and pieces of my experience as a victim of