Echo's Crusade Part 5

The file lay unopened on the coffee table in her apartment as Echo bit her lip and concentrated on what had happened a few hours earlier.

According to the doctor, Echo's speedy action in calling 911 may have saved Keating's life. The st.i.tches had broken in several places, and infection set in. It was a common malady with gunshot wounds of that type and could turn deadly if not properly administered.

The hospital made a call to Keating's precinct and the captain of the unit would arrive soon. As Echo waited in the corridor, she wondered if she would receive any information. After all, she wasn't a relative or friend.

Captain Sofia Renaldo walked out of the hospital room and sighed heavily. She glanced at the brunette sitting patiently near the room. She walked toward the seated woman and smiled. "Hi, the doctor tells me that you brought Roan in."

Echo frowned slightly. Roan? "Yes, I did. She didn't want to...she's stubborn, I guess."

Sofia nodded. "Yeah, that's Roan. Thanks," she said. "She might not say that when she's awake, but the doctor said if you hadn't taken immediate action, she might have been far worse."

"I wanted to call family, but she said there was no one." Echo focused on the closed door.

Sofia chuckled and muttered, "She has the whole darned precinct as family, not to mention her uncle, and she calls that no one. How do you know Roan?"

Echo wasn't sure what to say next. Roan had been specific about who the file was for, and it wasn't the police captain, which struck her as a little strange, but she figured Roan knew best. "I'm a...friend, Echo Radar." She held out her hand.

Sofia gave the woman a concentrated look and took the proffered hand. "Well, Echo, when she's ready...and that's when the doctors say this time...she'll need help at home. Want to volunteer?"

Echo felt trapped. "Sure, if she agrees."

"Oh, she'll agree." Sofia looked around at a tall handsome middle-aged man who appeared through the doors. "I have to go. I'm sure I'll see you here again. Roan will be here for at least a week." The woman turned away to greet the man who frowned at her. "Ah, Chief Mahoney, sorry to bother you in the middle of dinner, but I thought you'd want to know about Roan."

The man gave them both an icy blast. "d.a.m.n it, why can't that niece of mine just do as she's told for once in her life?" He shook his head, then opened the door and went inside.

Echo listened in fascination, then realized that he was the one she had to give the report to. The question was...How? For two hours, Echo waited to catch Mahoney and give him the folder. However, with each attempt she made, something thwarted her.

Her gaze flicked to the report in her hands. She was tired and wanted to go home and think. The next day, she'd come back to the hospital and hope Roan was awake and able to provide her with a way of seeing Mahoney. Since he was her uncle, Roan would surely have a way to see him.

Later, as she began to fall asleep amid the chaotic thoughts and events of the day, Echo thought about Roan Keating. "I wonder how she got that name..." she mumbled before sleep claimed her exhausted body.

Chapter Nine.

A deafening quiet filled the hospital corridor as Echo walked to the room where Roan stayed. It was seven in the evening, and although she'd wanted to arrive earlier, it had been impossible. Numerous calls to the chief's office had drawn a blank, then Stan called. He'd insisted that she return to the office to help with a few glitches on her last campaign. Not sure if it was a ruse to get her back in the office or the truth, she went.

It hadn't been a ruse, but it made her realize that what she and Karen had worked hard for over the years was drifting through her fingers if she didn't make the effort to get back to normality. In a perverse kind of way, Roan was helping her do that. Her help, however reluctant, made a big difference more than Echo cared to admit. A total stranger had somehow attached her life back together from its freefall into bereavement h.e.l.l.

It was Sat.u.r.day evening, and Echo was tiptoeing down a hospital corridor to see a woman who probably wouldn't be glad to see her. Echo wouldn't blame her. Her exaggeration that they were friends probably wouldn't sit right with the uptight woman. Oh, well, in for a penny, in for a pound. Echo knocked on the door and entered.

Echo was surprised when she entered the room and saw three people sitting around the bed, laughing amiably. What did she know of Lieutenant Keating's private life? Gulping down her embarra.s.sment, she waved a hand around in a nervous gesture. "Hi, I just wanted to check that you were okay. I'll leave you..."

Echo turned to leave and was almost to the door when a burly man stopped her.

"Don't go. Roan here could do with a change of company...we've been boring her with our shop talk for the last two hours." A washed-out brown gaze caught hers. The man's lips, the top one covered by a mustache, pulled into a warm smile.

Echo didn't say anything immediately as the visitors, two men and a woman, stood. The man who had called her back waved at Roan. "See you on duty soon, LT."

"Yeah, the streets aren't safe without you out there," the other man, who was much younger than the rest, said with a grin.

From what Echo could ascertain from the revealing sweater, the female visitor had a great body. Her tight jeans hugged sensual curves, which came into great effect from Echo's vantage point, as she bent over and kissed Roan's cheek. "I'll call and see you when they let you out."

Echo stood waiting to hear Roan's reply. The only response was a vague nod. Otherwise, Roan hadn't let her gaze waver from Echo's position.

The man who had stopped her earlier grinned and waved toward one of the chairs around the bedside and winked. "We'll be in the bar across the street if Roan gets too boring for you." Then the other two visitors pushed him out of the room as they berated him for his pick-up line.

The door closed on the boisterous rumblings and Echo stood unable to go forward or back.

"You can sit, I don't bite."

The voice was every bit as s.e.xy as Echo remembered. Added to it was a slight croak that had Echo's stomach muscles tensing in response. She moved slowly to the seat farthest away from Roan. "I know. I didn't mean to interrupt your visit with your friends. I just wanted to see if you were okay."

Roan let a small smile cross her lips before she spoke. "Jake was right, we were talking shop mainly. When I bore you, you can go join them if you want. I'll vouch for their integrity, and Jake took a shine to you...he's a good man."

The remark insulted Echo. "Why do you always a.s.sume you know people? I might already be in a relationship, yet you're throwing me at your friend. You have a limited view of people, Lieutenant."

Roan sighed. "It's the job...look, I'm sorry. Are you in a relationship? I deduced on Sat.u.r.day evening that since you weren't tied up elsewhere and had time to see me, you weren't. I'll try not to a.n.a.lyze the situation with you in the future."

Echo felt that was the nearest to an apology she was going to receive. "Thank you. How are you feeling? I feel terrible...it's my fault that you ended up like this. If you hadn't..."

"No, it wasn't...isn't your fault. I would have left the hospital anyway. I hate being cooped up in a strange place. As several well- meaning people have already said, I was stupid. Some might even say it was almost suicidal to have left so soon after the surgery."

Echo's eyes grew wide as her gut reacted to the word "suicidal" for in its own way it was fitting. "You had surgery? Oh, my G.o.d, now I feel worse. Exactly how badly were you hurt?"

Roan's cheeks held a slight tinge through their pallor. "I was shot in the chest. The bullet missed the heart. I needed a few st.i.tches and I lost a lot of blood. That was the reason I was struggling. The doctor says I can leave on Tuesday if I continue doing as the staff says. If I don't follow orders, my captain will take my badge...well, she threatened anyway."

Echo smiled slightly. "She won't, I'm guessing." Roan's chuckle was light in tone and Echo found herself fascinated by its tempo.

"No, she wouldn't, but she can enforce extra leave." Roan felt lighter somehow, and she suspected it didn't have anything to do with the drugs she was taking.

"She asked me...your captain, that is...to help you when you went home. She thought I could help you until you were strong enough..." Echo trailed off when she saw Roan's face scrunch up in a frown.

"What did you say?"

There was an expectant silence in the room as Echo softly said, "I agreed to help if you'd let me."

"Why?"

"Because you're helping me, and I know you didn't have to."

Roan considered the answer. "Payback?"

Echo knew that in a way, it was payback, but it was something else...something she couldn't or wouldn't admit at that moment.

"Okay, I can accept your help on those terms. Did you take the file to the chief?" Roan changed the subject.

"No, not yet. He's a hard man to contact directly. Can't you do it...he's your uncle, right?" When she saw the stunned expression, Echo added, "He came to see you when I brought you in."

Roan nodded. "I'll arrange a meeting as soon as I can. He's away for three weeks from today. The rest is up to you."

Echo bit her lip and watched Roan's eyelids droop heavily. She'd refrained from asking the question she had on the tip of her tongue: Why couldn't she take it to the captain she'd met earlier? "Look, I need to go and you're tired. Do you want me to visit tomorrow?"

Roan blinked back the sleep that was overwhelming her. "You want to visit again? Why?"

"Maybe I like visiting the sick." Echo knew it was an absurd reply, but she didn't know what else to say that would make any sense to this woman.

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

"I'll be here in the afternoon if that's okay. Would you like candy or flowers, maybe both?" Echo felt her mood lighten.

When she saw Roan frown, Echo smiled and stood. "Okay, I'll just bring myself. See you tomorrow." She headed for the door.

A mumbling sound of a person almost asleep said, "That's more than enough."

Echo smiled at the words as she left the room as softly as she could.

Chapter Ten.

"I'm not an invalid, Ms. Radar!" Roan felt Echo's hand take a gentle yet firm hold of her arm to steady her out of the car.

Echo smiled sweetly but didn't remove her hand as she felt Roan lean unconsciously into her body strength. "I know, but I figured if I'm here to help you, I'd better do it."

Roan shook her head. It was Tuesday afternoon and she'd been waiting since the doctor dismissed her at ten that morning for Echo to collect her from the hospital. Her captain would have arranged to send someone, but Roan had wanted to see Echo again. Her visit to the hospital the previous Sunday had been familiar and nice. The woman had a wealth of silly anecdotes from her work and even sillier stories of her childhood.

Roan, of course, had given none of her personal details away, barring that her uncle was her mother's elder and only sibling. She reluctantly admitted she wanted to see Echo again and would have waited all day if necessary.

Inside her brownstone, Roan sucked in a deep breath, glad to be home.

"Why don't I help you upstairs and you get ready for bed? I'll make us a drink while you do," Echo volunteered with a grin.

Roan frowned. "I've just spent the best part of a week in bed. I'd just like to sit awhile. I'll go into my study and check on my mail."

Echo was about to say something negative but thought better of it. As they'd entered the brownstone, she'd collected a mult.i.tude of letters, packets, and newspapers. "Okay, exactly where are the kitchen and the study?"

Startled by the question, Roan furrowed her brow before she realized that Echo wouldn't know. "Kitchen on your left over there." She pointed at a door. "The study is to your right. I'll give you a guided tour tomorrow if you come back."

Echo ignored the slight jibe of her coming back. "Sounds like a plan to me." Then she watched Roan gingerly make her way to the study and shut the door behind her. When Echo entered the kitchen, the size blew her away. "Can't wait for the guided tour," she said before checking out what was available in the larder, which wasn't much. What does she live on? A visit to the supermarket was at the top of the priority list. Once she'd made a mental note of the basics that she needed, she headed for the study.

Echo knocked on the door, and after hearing a faint, "enter," she popped her head inside the door. Then unconsciously, as she peered around the study, she stepped inside. Numerous books lined three walls. A large, old-fashioned cherry wood desk sat in the middle of the room. A laptop computer sat on the desktop along with a wire-framed letter tray. The room appeared to be spa.r.s.e yet functional. The floor was in a highly polished wood, and the whole room seemed to envelop you in a sense of purpose.

Turning her attention to Roan, who was staring at her with an unreadable expression on her face, she said lightly, "Hi, you don't appear to have much by way of food. I'm just going to Jones's market to pick up a few things and I'll be right back."

Roan gave one of her now telltale frowns of concentration, which Echo had seen several times since she'd met her. "I guess I was going to shop and didn't. Look, leave it and go back to work or home. I'm sure you have better things to do with your time."

"I'm sure there are numerous things I can do, but I chose to do this. I figure that for my efforts today, the least you can do is provide coffee. When did you last eat?" Echo was starving. She hadn't had lunch and her stomach was protesting.

Roan grimaced. "Lunch...not much, though...the hospital food sucked."

Echo chuckled. "I'm starving. How about I pick up a cooked chicken from the deli and a few salad items and we can eat together?"

Roan, suddenly feeling hungry, would welcome a decent meal, but she wasn't going to let Echo know. "I get the feeling that if I said no, you'd bring it anyway."

"Caught me," Echo said with a bright smile. I love food...you should hear Karen..." With a shrug she said, "I'll be back soon." The memory of her friend caused a painful lump to form in her throat.

Roan watched silently as Echo closed the door behind her. All of a sudden, the room felt empty, and that was odd. The study always was her refuge, but it didn't feel like it anymore. Echo leaving the room had left a vacuum as all sense of vitality sucked out of the room. With a shake of her head, Roan picked up an official-looking letter and sliced it open.

The meal they'd shared had been tasty but nothing special. Strangely enough, their easy familiarity that had begun in the hospital transcended to Roan's home.

"Can I ask you a question, Lieutenant?" Echo caught the cautious blue gaze from across the kitchen table.

"Roan...I think you're ent.i.tled to call me by something more than my rank."

Echo grinned. "Thanks, and I'd rather you called me Echo than Ms. Radar. It makes me sound like an old-fashioned schoolmarm."

"Thank you and your question?"

A small smile tugged at Echo's lips. "Why can't you take the file to the chief yourself? What about your captain...surely, she could reopen a case."

Silence filled the room and Echo wondered if the question would go unanswered.

Roan finally said, "My captain needs in this particular case the support of the chief. Logically, we ask the chief first. Have you read the file at all?"

"No, I wanted to, but something kept holding me back. I guess as much as I want to know the truth, I'm not sure if I have the guts to read all the details of what happened that day." Sighing heavily, Echo hung her head.

Roan watched Echo and gave her an intense stare. "It doesn't make nice reading. In my opinion, you made the right call."

Echo snapped her head up and felt the room spin. "I guess I'm going to have to if I need to convince the chief."

"No, that won't be necessary. Talk to him exactly as you did me that day at the precinct. Then give him the file. The only question he'll ask is who compiled the file."

"Do I tell him?"