April tries to walk around Dalton. He blocks her. He has his hands in his pockets, a clear signal that he will not physically stop her, but he’s not about to let her pass him easily either.
“This isn’t about me,” he says. “It’s about your sister. Who needs your help, and believe me, she wouldn’t be here if she didn’t.”
April opens her mouth. Then a woman in a nurse’s uniform enters the garage, and April straightens so fast I swear her spine crackles.
“Yes, I understand,” she says, in her most businesslike voice. “Let’s discuss this outside.”
She leads us through a side door to a grassy area. It’s empty, but she surveys it twice to be sure.
“If you wish to speak to me, I can spare…” She checks her watch. “Ten minutes. Then I have a salon appointment.”
Dalton snorts a laugh before catching her expression. “Fuck, you’re serious.” He shakes his head. “Are you sure you two are related?”
“Yes, we are,” April says coldly. “We simply don’t share the same sense of responsibility.”
“Yeah,” Dalton says. “You could learn a few things from Casey.”
She looks at me. “Please tell your guard dog he’s using up your ten minutes.”
I explain Kenny’s situation, as fast as I can. I’m a homicide detective, but I grew up in a family of doctors and had been expected to take a career in medicine, so I know enough to give April a decent assessment of the damage and the treatment so far.
“You have doctors treating him,” she says.
“No, we have me, plus an army veteran who received some medic training, and a psychiatrist with an M.D. but no on-job experience.”
“This man needs a doctor. A hospital.”
“The situation…” I glance at Dalton.
He nods, telling me to continue.
“The situation is not criminal,” I say. “Let me clear that up right now. I’ve been working in a remote community. Very remote. We’re more than willing to take the patient to a hospital, but he refuses to leave. He fears that if he goes, he won’t be allowed back. The community is … a safe haven.”
“Witness protection?”
“Something like that. It’s complicated. That’s all I can say, April. I am not asking you to do anything illegal. I wouldn’t.”
She’s eased back, her guard still up but flexing. “I can’t go on site, Casey. I can recommend someone, but you really should get him to a hospital.”
“We know that. And we aren’t asking you to go on site. Just consult. The two guys working with him are excellent medics. Steady hands. Steady minds.” I force a tiny smile. “Which was always what Mom and Dad said made a good surgeon.”
She flinches, and I realize maybe I shouldn’t bring up our parents. She was always much closer to them than I was.
“We just need a consult,” I say. “Lead them through the process of removing the bullet.”
“Fine. We’ll go to my place and video-link them in.”
“It’s not a video link.” I reach into my bag and hand her a satellite phone.
She stares at it. Then she looks at me. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Our town is very remote.” I pull pages from my bag. “But we have the medical equipment.” I flip through the stack. “Here are photos and X-rays…”
She flips through them and then slows for a second pass before slapping the pages back into my hand.
“This can’t be done by a satellite phone, Casey.”
“It’s that bad?”