Last Call

Chapter 19

Jack, Uncle Cy, and Trina rose as Theo's surgeon entered the waiting room. For Jack, it was like trying to read the faces of jurors at the end of a trial, until the doctor removed his surgical mask.

"Your nephew is one lucky man," he said, smiling.

Cy nearly collapsed with relief, and Jack held him up by the arm. "Theo's going to be okay then?" said Jack.

"Fine," said the doctor. "Head wounds always bleed like crazy. Fortunately, the bullet never actually penetrated the skull. Chipped off a small piece of it, but never penetrated."

"So what's his prognosis?" asked Jack.

"Excellent. Full recovery."

"How quickly?" asked Trina.

"We'll keep him here overnight for observation. He has a concussion and should take it easy for a couple of days. The wound needs to be covered for about a week to prevent infection."

"That's it?" said Cy.

"Some scarring. The bullet ripped a two-inch cornrow down his scalp. I used as many subcutaneous stitches as possible to minimize the railroad-track effect, but it won't be perfect. For most guys, that wouldn't be an issue. But your nephew wears his hair very short, so I can refer him to a plastic surgeon to help improve the looks of it."

"Is he awake?" said Jack.

"Should be coming around any minute. We used a mild anesthesia."

"Can we see him?"

"Sure. Normally it's one visitor at a time in recovery but at this hour you've practically got the place to yourself. Go for it."

They thanked him and found Theo behind a beige privacy curtain in the recovery room. The bed was adjusted to put him in a seated position, and Theo was noisily sucking down the last few drops of a juice box. The right side of his head was covered with bandages, but otherwise he looked pretty good.

Trina planted a kiss on his lips before he could say anything. She checked out the bandage as she pulled away. "Does it hurt?"

"Not as much as a Prince Albert."

She smiled. "How would you know, wimp?"

Cy went around the bed and congratulated him on dodging another bullet – literally. Jack said, "How do you feel, big guy?"

"Like I been drinking cheap tequila all night."

Jack knew that feeling – thanks to Theo. "Police are downstairs," said Jack. "I'm sure they'll want to know if you got a good look at the shooter."

"Not really. Maybe I'll remember more when my head stops throbbing." His gaze shifted to his uncle. "Did you see 'em?"

"Uh-uh," said Cy" It's like I told the cops. Looked like a drive-by shooting to me. Random, you know? But Jack's got a different take. One that makes pretty good sense to me."

"You know somethin' I don't?" said Theo.

Jack went to the tray table and poured Theo some water. "It's just a matter of deduction. But you have to accept that Isaac was telling you the truth."

"About what?"

"That he knew who killed your mother."

Theo drank his water. "Okay. Let's assume he had some source in prison and found out who killed her. So what?"

"Then you have to assume that the killer didn't want Isaac telling anybody who killed her."

"Logical," said Theo." So whoever killed my mother also killed Isaac."

"I'm thinking yes."

"And now he wants to kill me."

"Right. Because he thinks Isaac told you who killed her."

"Why would he think that?" said Theo.

"Because he's the guy who tapped your telephone. He heard Isaac call and tell you that he'd give you that information if you helped him beat the manhunt."

Theo grimaced, as if the chain of deduction were suddenly broken. "Some loser killed my momma over twenty years ago. How is that guy suddenly smart enough to tap my telephone right before Isaac calls and tells me he can name the killer?"

Trina groaned, as if perturbed by the microanalysis. "Back up a second. You geniuses are missing the big picture here."

"What's that, baby?"

Trina reached inside his gown and plucked several chest hairs, which made Theo yelp. "Stop calling me baby'' she said.

"Okay, okay."

The look of concern returned to Trina's face. "What I was trying to say is that maybe Jack's right. This shooting probably wasn't random, which creates one huge problem. Whoever killed Isaac – and whoever tried to kill you – won't be very happy to hear that all you ended up with is a concussion and a few stitches."

"You got a point there, ba-"

Her glare killed the pet name. Theo crossed his arms to prevent further chest-hair removal.

Jack said, "Trina's right. He'll be back to finish the job."

Uncle Cy massaged his temples, as if he didn't like the information his brain was processing. "What do we do about this?"

Jack said, "That's something Theo and I need to discuss in private, attorney to client."

Trina looked miffed, but Jack knew that Uncle Cy was the one Theo would really want kept in the loop.

"Why can't they be part of this?" said Theo.

"Lots of reasons," said Jack.

"Give me one," said Trina.

"All right. Because the answer, I think, involves FBI Agent Andie Henning."

Theo looked at his uncle, then at Trina, as if to assure them that Jack knew whereof he spoke. "That's a pretty good reason."

"None better," said Jack.