Page 109 of Stay Awake
“Before you go, I’ll need you to hand over your weapon, Detective Halliday,” the captain told Halliday as she stood to leave. “It’s only until the report on the shooting is submitted. You’ll have plenty of time to catch up on paperwork over the next few days.”
Halliday unclipped her service weapon from her holster, removed the ammunition clip, and put both down on his desk. She’d be on desk duty until the Internal Affairs investigation into the shooting was complete. From the way she’d been questioned the previous night, one of the key issues would be why she didn’t shoot to kill. There had even been a suggestion that she might need extra sessions at the firing range to improve the accuracy of her shot.
Halliday told the investigators that she’d deliberately winged the suspect. They’d asked her why. She’d said she did it because she was a good enough shot to accurately disarm him without killing him. She preferred knowing he was in a prison cell rather than the grave.
“Being a desk jockey for a few days is actually good news,” the captain said as he put her weapon and badge in a locked desk drawer.
“In what way?”
“It will give you time to prepare.”
“Time to prepare for what?” Halliday asked.
“Your application. We have a permanent homicide detective position opening up. We’re advertising it next week. You’d be our preferred candidate. That’s if you decide to apply, of course. Maybe I’m being presumptuous, Detective Halliday. Maybe working homicides isn’t your thing.”
“I’ll be putting in an application. Yes, I will,” said Halliday before heading to the door.
“I’ll need a referee to vouch for you,” the captain called after her.
“You can put me down,” said Lavelle, putting on his jacket and following Halliday out of the office.
Chapter
Sixty-Six
Thursday 2:45P.M.
Liv Reese was dozing in a hospital bed when Halliday and Lavelle entered her room, waiting near the window as the nurse checked her vital signs.
She stirred from the noise of the beeping heart monitor machine and slowly opened her eyes. Liv had been up half the night giving a sworn videotaped statement to Detective Tran about what had happened at the warehouse. Lavelle had insisted Tran take her statement before Liv went to sleep because of the possibility that she might wake with no memory of the events of the previous night.
“How’re you feeling today?” the nurse asked, half-opening the venetian blinds. Streaks of daylight covered the hospital bed linen.
“Exhausted,” Liv answered. The hospital gown she wore emphasized the pallor of her skin. Her hair was rumpled from sleep and her eyes were bleary as she blinked to adjust to the light. “What’s the time?”
“It’s after two,” the nurse said, wrapping a Velcro blood pressure sleeve around Liv’s upper arm. “You’ve been asleep since the doctor woke you at ten this morning to check on you.”
Liv noticed Halliday and Lavelle standing near the venetian window shades. When the nurse was done, she plumped up Liv’s pillows and blankets and pulled over the uneaten food tray before leaving the room.
“You’re the detective from last night.” Liv’s gaze fixed on Halliday.
“You remember me?” Halliday asked, pulling out the visitor’s chair and sitting down so they were at the same eye level.
“I remember everything that happened after I woke on the train platform last night. I remember the warehouse, the shooting, and the ambulance ride to the hospital. I especially remember you. You saved my life.”
Halliday colored slightly from the depth of Liv Reese’s gratitude. “So you’re cured? No more memory problems?” she asked.
“The doctors say that if I sleep properly and I don’t take caffeine and other stimulants to stay awake, then it’s unlikely to happen again. But there’s no guarantee.”
“Getting your memory back is a big step in the right direction,” said Halliday.
Liv Reese’s face was downcast. “I suppose,” she said with a sad shrug. “The doctors don’t think I’ll ever remember the period that I’ve forgotten. That means I’ll always be missing two years of my life. I guess it’s something that I’ll have to come to terms with.”
Liv picked up the remote control for the bed and pressed a button to raise the bed so she could sit up properly. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you, Detective. I’d be dead for sure. There are no words to thank you for what you did. Risking your own life to save mine.”
“You should thank yourself. You were smart enough to alert me by sharing your location,” Halliday said. “I dread to think what would have happened if you hadn’t been so quick-thinking.”
“I was taking a risk, trusting you,” said Liv. “I knew you suspected me of murder. It was all over the TV. I figured that worst-case scenarioyou’d track me down to arrest me for murder. It seemed like my only hope.”
