David Grant was intrigued by her call. Little Pilar Santos wanted to deal. He supposed he should have seen this coming when she didnt get this little book from Dietz.
Too bad, Dietz hadn't shown and he had decided he had better uses for it. He might be willing to entertain the thought of giving it to her...for a price. A rather handsome price. He never had had any luck making anything he ever had on the Santos's stick before and he had been stuck on this joke of a police force for far too long. It was time for him to use this to his advantage. Pilar could have this book, he had made the necessary copies, and then he would have the money he needed to blow this popcorn stand and all of it's vendors.
He put on his vest and then added his gun holster. The standard police issued gun went in next. He would run home and throw the stuff he would need in a suitcase. His rent was paid till the rest of the month and all the furniture came with his little apartment so he didn't have any need to worry about what to do with it. He didn't have any loose ends to tie up unless you counted Vicki Spaulding.
He was going to miss her alot but he has always known that he was out of her league anyway. He dismissed the momentary stab of hurt that penetrated his heart and grabbed the book and stuck it in the back of his pants.
Better get this over with now and not look back. It was better this way. She would be alright. They had not gotten that serious anyway and she was a Spaulding. She would bounce right back into the thick of things and he would become a dream from which it was well she awoke. No, Vicki Spaulding would be fine.
He was just turning into the hall when he saw Frank coming down the hall in the opposite direction. His heels were clicking on the tile floors and the sound got louder as he approached David. Maybe he would pass him by without speaking.
He tried to settle the nerves in his stomach as he realized he had the missing customer book tucked into the back of his pants and he hadn't put on his jacket to cover it yet.
Frank stopped when he came parallel with David. "David, I was just looking for you. Have you got a minute?" he said.
David had no choice but to play along with whatever Frank wanted. He was out of here tonight anyway. He had a one way ticket to Rio De Janeiro and he was getting on the plane tonight. No matter what.
"Sure Frank, what is up?" he said.
"Something weird happened out on Lewis Street this afternoon" he said.
"What was that?" David asked not really caring but knowing he was going to have to listen anyway.
"Michelle Santos was in an accident and the report just came in from the accident site. Looks like someone took a shot at her. We can't find the bullet but the windshield was shot out and there is a bullet hole in the seat of the driver's side." he said. "Who do we know that would want to take a shot at Michelle?"
"Don't know Frank. Let me think. Carmen has been gone over two years so it couldnt be her. As far as we know Dietz went....." he said.
"No David, Dietz didn't go with Carmen. He is still in Springfield. He was the one who found the accident. I tell you David, something doesn't smell right here. Something doesn't add up. If Dietz has been in Springfield, why haven't we seen him? Where has he been? What has he been up to? No, I am sure something is not right." Frank said running his fingers through is already disheveled hair.
David listened to Frank with a straight face. He knew Dietz was here, had always known. Dietz had not come and got that book because he was helping Michelle Santos. Had he gone soft? Had he had a sudden attack of consience? It was not like him to put anyone in front of himself. What did he care if Michelle Santos lived or died? He had just helped him arrange for a man to die in his cell barely 24 hours ago. What was going on with him?
David knew he needed to get out and get out now. If Dietz had gone soft, then he probably would start squawking soon. He knew about the book and about Pilar's name being in it and knew about David's stealing it from the evidence room. He knew about David's involvement in Gino Cartelli's "suicide". Suddenly he got a chill that ran clear to his bones, sweet mother of mary... Dietz even knew who shot at Michelle. It was Pilar.
Why didn't David make the connection sooner. He looked at Frank and knew that he had drawn the same conclusion. Damn, this was not looking good. Frank would want to move on this soon. All he needed was an hour to meet with Pilar, collect his money and then board that plane bound for Rio. Just an hour or so.
Frank watched David's expression go from listening to him intently to being nervous. David was edgy about something. What was it?
"Well, David" he said. "I think it's time we visit Michelle in the hospital. Maybe she will remember something about who took a shot at her but I've got a sneaky suspicion she isnt going to have to go outside her own family to find the culprit" he said as they both walked down the hall towards the door that would lead them to their cars. Next stop, Cedars Hospital and hopefully some answers that could help solve the puzzle of why Pilar Santos would shoot at her own sister in law and what Danny Santos would do to her if it were true.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Just as she promised, Susan came back and sat with Michelle during Danny's surgery. She helped her get up to go to the bathroom twice and even helped her drink some liquid so she didn't dehydrate. She was still so weak and her pain medicine was able to help keep her calm although Susan could see the worry etched in her brow.
She had been too weak to try to write anything so they just didn't try to communicate at all. They just stayed there and waited. Four hours had gone by and Michelle was fighting sleep. She was exhausted but determined to be awake when they had news of Danny.
The surgery was scheduled to take close to 6 hours and they had several hours to go. The nurse in the operating room had phoned midway through the procedure to tell her that everything was going according to schedule and that Dr. Turner was very hopeful of a successful rebuild this time.
Susan told Michelle to close her eyes and try to sleep and she would awaken her should they get word on Danny. Michelle had looked at her so desperately and she explained that it was going to be another couple of hours and the best thing she could do would be to get some rest and maybe if she were up to it, later she would be able to see Danny. It was only that promise of maybe seeing Danny that made her shut her eyes and get some rest so she would be strong.
Sleep came and Susan snuck out of the room and up to the operating room. She went up to the observatory room and watched the procedure. She had been in a few operating rooms and she knew hip replacements were both graphic and extremely bloody. Not to mention painful and this was Danny's second time to go through this. She found a new admiration for her dear friend and stayed just a minute longer to watch before she went back down to stay with Michelle.
She was just opening the door to exit when she heard the hushed voices in the operating room began to get louder. She looked at saw one of the nurses looking at the doctor with a panicked look on her face and saying "Pressure's dropping". The doctor began to speak in rushed tones and Susan was rendered helpless. The Moody Blues music that the surgeon had been listening to was suddenly turned off.
She watched the events unfold in the room and suddenly everything appeared to be happening in slow motion and her knees threatened to buckle when she heard the doctor proclaim him in defib and grabbed the paddles.
Oh no, Danny, she cried. Not Danny, dear Lord, please save him. He has gone through so much. Please don't take him. He finally has his Michelle. Please let there be a happy ending she prayed as she watched the team work on him diligently trying to restart Danny's heart.