Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 78696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
She hadn’t had one of those since I’d started seeing her, but just before she’d left for the appointment today, she’d mentioned that she felt one coming on.
“Okay, so what’s the difference between the two scans?” I asked, looking closer, but not seeing anything.
“The mass is gone,” he said, indicating where the mass was located on the earlier scan, and then pointing to where it should’ve been on the later scan.
“Okay,” I said slowly. “So what does that mean?”
“Essentially?” Dr. Parsons asked. “It could be that the bullet did what we were unable to do, and removed it by forcing it out. Or it could be that it wasn’t a mass, per se, maybe it was more of a cyst, and it ruptured during the fall. I’m not sure we’ll ever really know, though.”
I nodded. “And what does that mean for her?”
Dr. Parsons closed his computer and set it down on the bedside table next to Lenore’s bed.
“I don’t know, yet. And we won’t know until she wakes up,” he explained. “The reason we didn’t operate is because it was inoperable…at least for us,” he said, walking forward to the board. “This part of the brain is called the brain stem. It controls her breathing.”
I nodded.
“But she’s still breathing on her own,” I said smartly, looking over at Lenore where she laid peacefully on the bed. The only thing signaling that anything was wrong were the two white bandages on her head covering the bullet’s entry and exit wound.
“Yes,” he continued. “Which is what we were worried about when we decided not to operate.”
“So what does that mean? That we won’t have to worry about this anymore?” I asked.
Dr. Parsons smiled. “For right now, I think Lenore is going to be just fine. In the future, I’d still like her to have regular scans done every three months, then move to every six if everything continues to stay clear.”
I couldn’t tell whether I was relived she was shot in the head, or upset.
It was a combination of both.
“So why is she asleep if she’s okay?” I finally asked, studying the woman that I loved.
“She’s in a medically induced coma. It’s just a precaution. We’re giving her body a chance to focus its energy on healing, not routine functions, and we’re also waiting for the swelling to go down,”
I nodded warily. “Okay.”
“Are there any other questions we can answer for you?” Dr. Parsons asked.
I took a seat at Lenore’s side, and looked at her.
I almost lost her today.
“No. Well…I’m going to have to leave in a few minutes on police business. So you’ll need to explain this to her parents who haven’t gotten here yet,” I said, picking up Lenore’s hand.
“We can do that,” Dr. Parsons said, patting my shoulder as he started to exit the room.
“Dr. Parsons?” I called. “Dr. Jeffries?”
They stopped. “Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Dr. Jeffries smiled. “Your welcome, but I didn’t do anything. It was all on your lady, there. She’s the fighter, not me.”
Indeed, my girl was a fighter.
But she wouldn’t need to fight for much longer.
Not with me at her side.
But now I was about to wipe the earth clean of ten people responsible for tainting our lives with their brand of evil.
With one final kiss to Lenore’s hand, I stood up and walked out the door.
Calm on the outside, raging in the inside.
***
“Give me the names!” I roared.
I slammed the man who was responsible for shooting my child into the wall behind him, suspending him at least six inches off the floor as I did.
“Perry. A-Abraham P-Perry.”
My blood ran cold.
He was a preacher I’d quarreled with when I’d first moved here. The one who’d refused to give me a ride on his expensive boat to show me around the area.
Mr. I can only use my boat for church related purposes. No exceptions.
Although it seemed a minor occurrence then…now it wasn’t.
I dropped the man, and he slammed to his knees, no fight left in him to hold him up.
“You better hope you gave me the right information, or I’ll take your limbs off, and burn the stumps so you don’t bleed to death,” I growled, giving him one last kick before I surged out the door.
I’d deal with him later.
There were bigger fish to fry right now.
***
An hour later
“This is all you have on him?” I asked, scanning the paperwork Wolf had just handed me.
He nodded. “This was all we’d been able to get on him. He’s a fuckin’ preacher for Uncertain’s only fuckin’ church.”
I shook my head. “Good cover, to be honest. Would know everything about this town, too.”
“So how’s a preacher able to afford a boat like that? Seems hellaciously suspicious,” I nodded.
We had our man.
Wolf nodded. “We’ve been watching him since that killer gave you his name. Got the approval from the boss man, as well as the warrant, leaving me with the power to do almost anything I want to.”
I grinned a tad manically.
“Good. Let’s go.”
Thirty minutes later, the entire team was dressed and ready to penetrate Perry’s house.
I knocked on the door, not worried that they’d bother to look through the hole.
I didn’t care if they saw me.
I was ready for them, too.
The first man I saw when I entered through the door to Abraham Perry’s place was the man I’d seen on the security cameras across the street from the hospital.
The one who’d thrown the black mask in the trashcan when he thought he’d been far enough away from the security cameras.
And…I’d give him credit. He had been. At least from the hospital’s.
He hadn’t been from the drug rehab place across the street who’d been battling a bunch of petty thefts.
I didn’t even pause to think.
I pulled my .45 out, aimed it at the man’s chest, and fired.
He stumbled back as the bark of the gun sounded in my ear, then fell slowly to the floor as he clutched his chest in his hands.
Two more men ran through the door, weapons drawn, but the two men at my side, Mig and Wolf, took them down, too.