Marcia Muller - Locked In

I t was after four in the afternoon when Ben Travers came out and told him the newsthe good news. McCone was awake and responsivenot locked in any more. He could see her briefly.

Dont expect too much, Travers told him as they took the elevator to intensive care. We dont yet know what damage the pressure on her brain stem did. Even if its not severe, shes still got a long way to gotherapy, relearning skills shes lost.

But shell be all right?

Ultimately thats what were hoping for. The important thing is that shes alive and cognizant.

Hy leaned heavily against the elevator wall. I dont care how long it takes for her to recover. Just so she does.

Travers looked as if he wanted to say more, but the elevator door opened. He led Hy through a large circular area of rooms arranged around a central nurses station. Each room had a window and its door was openso the nurses could monitor the patients from the desk, Hy supposed.

Shars head was swathed in bandages and she was hooked up to monitors that kept blinking on and off, providing running strips of information. Her eyes were open, and they lighted up when she saw him.

Hy kissed her cheek. Welcome back. Youll be all the way back in time.

Doubtful look.

Dont try to talk now. You need your rest.

Hy studied her face. The skin below her eyes looked bruised and her complexion was sallow. There were lines around her mouth that he hadnt noticed before. But she was alive, and that was everything to himeverything.

She regarded him with a long, intense stare.

They removed a blood clot and some bone and bullet fragments. No more pressure on your brain stem now.

Still she stared at him.

Dr. Travers, your surgeon, will explain more fully later on.

Still staring.

You want to know about the investigation. Is that it?

Blink.

Youre insatiable.

He explained that everybody was working 24/7, gathering data. Once they had all they could get, theyd pool their information and present it to her. Another eyeblink. Then her lids closed and stayed that way.

Hy kissed her again and slipped out of the room. In the corridor he faltered and steadied himself on a railing. The constant emotional highs and lows had left him exhaustedbut he wasnt ready to give in to it yet. Hed go back to the waiting room and talk with Elwood. Then hed begin to make phone calls.

Now you realize her strength, Son.

Nobody had called him Son since his daddy tangled with those high-tension wires in his beat-up old crop duster. He guessed hed qualified as family with Elwood.

Oh, Hy! My babys all right! Did you hear that, Saskiaour babys all right!

Kay started wailing. Why the hell hadnt Saskia or Melvin answered the phone?

You know what Im gonna do tonight? Clean this house. We cant have Shar coming home to a dirty place.

Well, maybe John would finally get rid of the empty beer bottles.

Youve reached Charlene and Vic

Patsy and Evans are heading for the Bay Area. If this is about restaurant business, please call 801-2345 and speak with Nora.

Rae Kelleher. Please leave a message.

This is Julia Rafael. Im sorry I cant answer the phone

This is Ann-Marie. Im not available

Hank Zahn here. Leave a message, and Ill get back to you. Dammit, people had cell phones so they could keep connected. Then they turned them off at a critical moment.

McCone Investigations, Ted Smalley speaking.

Finallya real voice again.

Its Hy. Shars awake, not locked in any more. They think shell eventually be okay.

I knew it! I just knew it!

Ive been trying to tell everybody, but mostve them are unavailable. Is anybody else there?

Craig and Mick are, and if you can leave Shar, I think you ought to get over here. Something uglys about to go down.

D iane DAngeloSusan Angelosmiled at her and said, I suppose they told you about my charade.

Yes, they did.

Thats all it wasan acting job to please my boyfriend.

That did harm to my boss and this agency.

How? What does it matter whos fucking who at city hall?

It matters that Sharon McCone is in a locked-in state and may remain there forever. It matters that Amanda Teller and Paul Janssen are dead.

DAngeloAngelo, whateversat on the edge of Shars desk, rolling a cut-glass paperweight between her hands.

Teller and Janssen were corrupt; they deserved what they got. McConeshe was in the way.

Julia tensed. Craig and Mick had urged her not to confront the woman, but

DianeSusanfrowned. Jim isnt going to like me getting caught out. Or admitting to the scam. She looked down at the paperweight in her hands. I need to tell him what happened, that they forced me to talk.

Julia didnt see what was coming until the woman rose from the desk and raised the crystal globe. She tried to shield her head

She woke up slowly, her vision swimming, then focusing on carpet.

What carpet? Had she passed out? No way. Shed quit the drugs and booze years ago.

Footsteps coming toward her. Jules? What happened? Gentle hands on her shoulders. Jesus, theres a bloody welt on the side of your head!

She stiffened. Then: nothing to fear. It was Craig Morlands voice; he wouldnt hurt her. But somebody had.

Oh, yeah, that puta, Susan Angelo. Slammed her on the head with the heavy crystal paperweight from Shars desk.

Craig asked, Can you sit up?

I dont know.

How about turning over on your back? Or should I call nine-one-one?

Help me. Then well see.

When she was on her back again her vision swam, then focused on Craig, who was kneeling next to her.

He asked, Did Susan do this to you?

Uh-huh. One minute were talking, the next shes coming at me with Shars paperweight.

I think I should call for the paramedics. You could have a concussion.

Dont. I can She tried to pull herself up, sank back weakly. Maybe you better. Then she remembered about the citys emergency services dangerously slow response times. Mierda. Ill be laying around here till the middle of next week.

Craig was dialing, giving the address of the pier.

Craig? Call my sister and let her know what happened. But ask her not to tell Tonio.

Will do.

And theres something I dropped off at Richman Labs. They promised it for tomorrow morning.

Ill pick it up, dont worry.

Thank you.

Dios, her head hurt and she felt like she was going to hurl. If she hurt this way, how bad Shar mustve felt when she got shot!

T he second of the Bill Delaneys turned out to be Callie OLearys attorney. He had his office in the front room of his shabby Victorian on Shotwell Street in Bernal Heights, two blocks from All Souls former headquarters. When Rae came to his door and said she was an investigator hired to locate Callie so she could claim an inheritance left her by her grandmother, Delaney let her in, but the small eyes that peered out of poochy folds of flesh were shrewd and wary.

He probably didnt believe her but hoped there might be something in it for him.

Delaney urged her to take one of his clients chairs and sat behind his old oak desk. The rooms sagging shelves were lined with law books, but the bindings looked brittle and were faded by the sun coming through the unshaded bay window. The air smelled of dust and stale cigar smoke; the collar and cuffs of Delaneys blue oxford cloth shirt were frayed. Rae felt much better dressed in her jeans and sweater.

So Ms. OLeary is an heiress, Delaney said, folding his stubby-fingered hands on a file in front of him.

I wouldnt put it that way, but the sum is substantial for a woman of her means.

And how would you know about Ms. OLearys means? Ive been to her last address. And from what people tell me, she was a hooker.