Chapter 7
Bryan twisted in his chair, one of the older and least ergonomic in the whole squad room, as he scribbled in the notebook. His Find Nutjob to-do list included RESEARCH, HOMELESS SHELTERS, FIANCEE.
Next to his book was a small stack of phone message sheets. Each one was from Dr. Susan Westen. He was glad that he hadn't given her his cell number. He thought a moment, remembered that he had given that number to Jessica, the ex-fiancé. That had been automatic, something he'd done without realizing it, as if another part of him had taken over and talked to her without his conscious mind being in the room. It had felt good. He hadn't really figured out why, but it felt good to speak with her. It was more than her looks; there was something in her personality or presence that made him feel more like himself than he had in a long time.
He leaned back, tried to shake some of the stiffness out of his neck. It was nearly ten p.m. He'd put off dinner about as long as he could. But that meant eating alone, trying to settle into bed alone and having the same dreams before he woke alone. He could shove the hunger back for a bit longer. He had done it for two years.
He picked up the stack of messages. What was it about the doctor? Aside from the red hair, which was too much like Claire's, there was something else about her that put him on edge. And, she had tensed when he told her that Adams had escaped. Was she frightened? That would be understandable, but Adams would have to go back to the hospital to have the opportunity to attack her again, and she'd be surrounded by people there, easily protected.
And why would she worry that he would come after her again? More importantly, why had he attacked her in the first place? Adams had no history of violence, and then he suddenly picked her as a target. Attacking her simply to escape didn't make sense. It was a minimum security facility, he probably could have broken out without her badge and keys. There had to be something else.
Knowing why Adams attacked her might tell Bryan why the man escaped, which is what he really needed to understand. Knowing the motives always made the perp easier to find. He understood that every criminal had a worldview, a set of explanations for what they did. They were sometimes stupid and ill-reasoned, but they were valid to the criminal, formed by his experience. What Bryan needed to do was find out more about William Adams so he could see this worldview. Then he'd have a much better idea how to find him.
He added another line to the list. REVISIT DOCTOR.
Bryan nearly jumped at a shout from the next cube over. "God! Just listen!" It was a woman's voice. He put his pen down and eavesdropped.
One of the other detectives, also working late, replied. "You said the suspect broke one of the other perp's arms?" It sounded like Cray.
The woman's voice again. "Will you just listen? Jesus."
"The guy who attacked you did it."
"He wasn't the one who attacked me." Her retort was cut off by a telephone.
"Rios. Yeah? All right. Yeah, yeah, fine." Rios's voice sounded tired and annoyed. "We'll be there. Just wait." The phone clicked back into its cradle. "Slinger with a broken arm and a limp just checked himself into the ER at Mercy."
"Thank god," Cray said.
"Might not be an all-nighter." Rios prairie-dogged up and peered around the room, his eyes resting only briefly on Bryan. He lowered his voice, but it still carried right to Bryan. "Mickelson's here."
Bryan could feel Cray's groan like it was reverberating through the floor. "No."
"It's just a statement." Rios stood again, leaned over the wall between them. "Hey, Bryan. Got a favor."
Bryan decided to make the other detective work for it. "Yeah?"
"Assault, single homicide. Suspect about to go into surgery. Can you take this woman's statement? No biggie."
He took a deep breath before standing. "No biggie." He circled to their cube and was rewarded with a slap on the back.
Rios and Cray grabbed their things. "Miss, uh...Miss, this is Detective Mickelson. He'll take care of you."
"Ling. Mei Ling. Is that such a hard name? God." Bryan hid his smile from the departing detectives as he sat at their computer. He put out his hand.
"Ms. Ling. I'm Bryan Mickelson. You all right?"
She sighed as she obviously sized him up before shaking. "Look. Can I just go? There's no point to this."
Bryan sat, waited for her to go on. He'd seen Cray and Rios interview witnesses before. All assumptions and interruptions. They interviewed everyone like a suspect, which didn't work. It took patience, time for the answers to come out.
And waiting for her to answer put off dinner, sleep and the dreams. He was fine with that.
Finally, she started up again. "You cops don't listen. Those two kept asking about the wrong guy, the one who killed the bad guy. He was the good guy."
Bryan let that sink in a moment. "One good guy, two bad guys?"
"Yes, thank you." She eased back into her chair. "He's the one who saved me."
"What from? If you don't mind." Her mascara was smudged from what looked like tears and the shoulder of her black button down was torn, but she looked mostly unscathed.
"Rape, probably murder. What do you think? Was stupid to take that way home. "
Bryan waited, looked at the flat computer screen as her tense fidgeting leveled out to wary tension and quiet.
She took a deep breath. "Anyway, he's six foot tall, thin, pale, probably thirty, hard to tell. I just know I wouldn't card him. Was dressed all in gray and black. Looked really out of it, like he chewed Prozac or Valium for dinner. Kept looking around like he heard something down the street or something."
Bryan looked away from the keyboard to her. "Thirtyish, six foot, thin, short dark hair?"
"Yeah."
"Did he speak to you at all?"
A shrug. "Not much. Whispered. His voice was kind of hoarse, like he didn't talk much."
It was a stupid idea, but Bryan stood anyway. "Hold on a second, please. Long shot, but...hold on." He went to his desk, pulled out the photo of William Adams.
The squad room door creaked as Bryan sat back down with Mei. She barely glanced at the picture. "Yeah."
He stared down at the photo. "No shit."
"He's not a bad guy. He showed me my son."
Bryan froze at the words, tried not to let her see his discomfort. "Your son?"
"My son, my dead son. I was taking the bad ways home, but he showed me my son, told me my son wanted me to be safe, to be alive. I know it sounds god damn nuts. He helped me."
He barely had time to process, to push away the image of his own son, before a voice boomed out. "Mickelson!" He turned. Hayes stood in the aisle. The Lieutenant jabbed a finger at his office. "Now."
"Be right back." Bryan followed Hayes into the office.
Hayes didn't even give him time to breathe once the door was closed. "What the hell are you doing?"
"What?"
"Is that your witness?" Hayes asked.
"No, Cray and Rios'," Bryan said.
Hayes snarled. "Then what the hell are you doing talking to her?"
"They had a perp at the hospital. I'm taking her statement. What's the problem?" Bryan asked.
Hayes only turned it down one notch. "They're working a murder. I don't want you near it. Do you understand?"
Bryan turned his attitude up in response to the opening. He didn't need to fake it much, Hayes' meaning did make him angry, but he knew a little drama would redirect the conversation. "Time for the I'm not ready routine because I help out the other detectives with one little interview? One bad evaluation and I'm on the injured reserve list forever?"
"I didn't need a psychologist to see what was going on with you, Bryan. I've got real work on these damn fires I'd love your help with, but I can't use you like this," Hayes said.
Hayes' voice had calmed, but lacked the patronizing edge it had held earlier that day. Bryan decided it was best to keep pushing. Hayes could easily figure out what he was up to if given the chance. "I was doing the work. Clearing the cases. How could I have been in such bad shape?" Hayes was silent, the only confirmation Bryan needed. "You want me to find the escaped inmate? Fine. I'll catch him and then maybe you’ll let me have some real cases."
Hayes watched him. "You gonna catch him by showing his picture to their witness?"
Bryan looked down at the photo in his hand. Trying to put Hayes on the defensive had only worked for a moment. The lieutenant had still spotted what he was holding and hiding. Everything inside him fell quiet. If he told Hayes what she'd said, he'd lose the case, and probably be dumped onto another pile of bullshit work. But, if he took the risk and lied, he could prove he was up to the job, by handling a bigger case than Hayes knew. "Her description was similar."
"And?"
"It was a stupid idea." He walked out before Hayes could lay into him more or spot the lie.
He crossed the squad room and sat down next to the woman. "Tell me again about what you saw. Tell me everything."
(Author's note: Hold on...from some awesome police work to lying to his supervisor??? What is Bryan up to? What do you think? And...is this information from Mei Ling going to help him find William??? Read on to see! Thanks for the votes and comments! Please keep them coming!)