Page 69 of The Last Grift
Rizzi didn’t have an answer for Gabe. Or not one he wanted to share with a stranger. Instead, he knelt on the pavement next to where his deputy lay and pressed his fingers against Nolan’s neck. “He’s got a pulse.”
“For now, anyway.” The way blood was exiting his body, Gabe doubted Nolan would have a pulse for long.
The sheriff rose to his feet again and activated his chest radio. “10-53, Medical Center parking lot.” Someone, presumably dispatch, answered, and Rizzi turned his back on the dying deputy to respond.
Ignoring Rizzi, Gabe kneeled down on the wet pavement and asked the dying deputy, “Why did you go for your weapon?” There were so many questions, but that seemed like the most important for some reason.
Nolan’s head moved back and forth. A bit of blood leaked out the side of his mouth when his lips parted and dribbled down the side of his face and neck to the blacktop, where it mingled with the rest of the fluid leaving his body. Cold fingers fumbled at Gabe’s ankle. Gabe frowned but didn’t look away from Nolan. The pleading expression in the dying man’s eyes had him leaning closer.
“Not me.” His voice was weak and faint, “I?—”
Even before he had finished, the light extinguished from Deputy Nolan’s eyes. Then Gabe was being pushed to the side by the medical staff who would try and save him. But in his heart, Gabe knew it was too late for the deputy.
“Why did he draw on you?” Gabe asked Rizzi, who’d moved to stand next to him.
They watched the responders do their work. A separategroup of staff were checking on Gordon MacDonald, and Elton and Casey were hovering off to one side.
“Can we get a wheelchair over here?” one of them called out.
“Nolan was a bad apple,” Rizzi said, frowning. “We’ve had other reasons to investigate him recently and dammit, it led us to finding out he was the one who’d killed Dwayne Perkins. MacDonald possibly witnessed the killing—or Nolan thought he did. The station was notified that MacDonald was being treated for a GSW here at the medical center. I figured we’d question MacDonald tomorrow, but Nolan found out and decided to take things into his own hands.”
“Huh.” Gabe thought it sounded all very pat and didn’t explain much.
Maybe he was suspicious because Lundin and Elton didn’t like the man.
Or maybe you’re suspicious because something smells rotten, Chance.
Because now there was no one to tell Deter Nolan’s side of the story.
Even though the day was drawing to a close, they all had to give statements about what they’d seen and heard in the hospital room and then in the parking lot. The Chief Deputy, Emmett Spurring, questioned each of them personally. Presumably, Sheriff Rizzi had excused himself from the investigation into his officer’s shooting and death, especially since his had been the bullet that hadn’t missed. Nolan hadn’t fired his weapon as far as Gabe knew.
“Thanks for coming to the station,” Spurring said, standing up from the table and holding his hand out.
Gabe hesitated and then shook the man’s hand. “Sure, of course.”
“We’ll reach out if we have any more questions, but frankly, it’s pretty clear what happened.”
As mud, maybe.
Nolan may have been a bad apple, but it was Gabe’s life experience that when there was one bad apple in the barrel, there were a whole lot more yet to be found.
“Sure, Elton will know where to find me.”
It wasafter midnight by the time Lundin dropped Elton and Gabe off at Elton’s place.
Gordon MacDonald was back in the hospital for twenty-four hours, with the expectation of release the next evening. His gunshot wound had needed to be restitched, but, as Gordon had said, “At least I’m not dead.” Clearly, the pain meds had kicked in again by that point.
The big question Gabe continued to grapple with waswhyNolan had gone for his gun so quickly. The decision had been made before Rizzi exited his vehicle. And why had Rizzi seem prepared for his reaction? There’d been no hesitation from Nolan once he’d pushed Gordon to the ground. And no attempt to calm the situation on Rizzi’s part. Admittedly Gabe got most of his information from TV shows but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a hint of truth to the plots.
During the car ride from the hospital to the station to give their statements, the three of them had talked it over. They agreed they’d all seen the same thing and all of them had similar questions They’d also all decided not to share their thoughts about illegal mushroom harvesting and possibly sketchy investment groups. Or ask why Rizzi had been so prepared to take the life of his deputy.
“The important thing tonight is that Gordon is safe and will recover,” said Elton. “But this isn’t over, I don’t think. Not by a long shot.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
GABRIEL
Sunday
