Cop Hunch

Conclusion

At 9:00 in the morning, Cassy was back at the hospital, sitting in Tom's room. She felt better after getting some rest, even though she had never really slept.

She moved her chair close to Tom's side and grasped his left hand, her finger stroking the back of it lightly. The nurse said that he had been awake briefly a couple of times in the past two hours. He began to move his head slightly from side to side, groaning periodically, mumbling in his sleep. Cassy knew that he would wake again shortly. Anxious to hear his voice…to see his eyes, she decided to hurry him along in the process, "Thomas, it's time to wake up. We need to talk."

There was no response, just more groaning. "Come on, Thomas. You can't stay asleep forever."

He remained unresponsive, but his eyelids began to flutter. Cassy moved her hand to his face and stroked the side of it again. "That's it, Tom. Open your eyes."

This time he listened. The hazel eyes were open, but seemed to be staring through her, not at her. She turned his face slightly, so that she could look into his eyes at a better angle. Suddenly, there was recognition on his face and a slight smile.

"It's about time you decided to wake up. I was getting tired of sitting here by myself," she smiled back at her partner.

He tried to talk, but his lips were dry and his voice was raspy. Cassy found some ice chips on the table at the side of the bed and spooned a few into his mouth. "That better?"

"Yeah…," his voice was still rough, but she could at least hear him now. She left the room to advise the nurse that he was awake. The nurse asked for Cassy to wait outside until his vital signs could be checked.

A few minutes later, she exited the room. Cassy stopped her. "How is he?"

"Remarkably alert. Everything appears to be normal under the circumstances. It's okay if you'd like to stay with him for awhile. I'll have the doctor check in on him when he finishes his rounds." Cassy started to enter the room. The nurse stopped her. "By the way, don't give him any water until after the doctor checks him out. Ice chips only, if he's thirsty."

"I understand." Cassy reentered the room.

She took a seat at Tom's left side again. She held his hand, bringing his fingers to her face. "You really scared us last night."

" I'm sorry…didn't mean to." Tom suddenly grimaced. "God, my…chest…hurts." His breathing was labored.

"Your lung was damaged by one of the bullets. It's going to take awhile for your breathing to get back to normal." Cassy paused, moving a hand to his injured right arm. "The other bullet damaged your shoulder, but the doctor says he thinks you should recover without any difficulties."

Tom nodded, a look of relief coming over his face. "What…time…is…it?"

Cassy looked at her watch, "It's about 9:30 Tuesday morning. The nurses said Erin stopped by earlier, but you were still asleep. She had to go to school this morning, but said she would come by on her lunch hour."

Tom smiled at the thought of Erin. Cassy continued, "Harry's on his way down right now. He says he has Pamela Harper's confession and it's a whopper. He wants to compare what she said with your version of the events." Cassy paused again. "What did happen last night?"

Before Tom could draw a breath to answer, Harry walked into the ICU room, "I'd like to hear this story myself, although I'm pretty sure it won't beat the one I just heard at the police station." Harry was happy his injured detective was awake. "How are you feeling Tom."

"Oh…wonderful," Tom responded unconvincingly.

Harry placed a fatherly hand on Tom's lower leg. "Has Cassy given you her 'cop hunch' lecture yet? She's been preparing it since last night."

Tom winced, but not with pain this time. "Don't be…too hard…on me. Had…my reasons," Tom pleaded, giving them his best look of innocence.

"By the way, I spoke with your parents this morning. They were able to get booked on a 9:00 flight. They should be here by this afternoon. Your Mom broke down crying when I told her that you were going to be okay."

Tom's look of innocence changed to one of guilt. Cassy spoke up, "So, shall you tell us about your 'cop hunch' or shall Harry start with the facts?"

Harry spoke first, "Why don't I begin, since Tom's feeling a little…under-the-weather right now?"

Tom nodded, relieved that he could rest and that his partner's attention would be diverted. Harry pulled a report out of the file he had been carrying.

"According to what we can piece together from Ms. Harper, she and Carol Johnson had met a few months ago. Carol Johnson was apparently bored with her life, in particular, with her marriage. The two developed, shall we say, a rather intimate relationship. At some point during the relationship, Carol convinced her husband to invest in Harper's construction company. The company was failing however, despite the cash that Johnson was pouring in, and Derrick Johnson suspected that Pamela Harper was embezzling corporate funds. He wanted to hire an investigator to check out her financial records and told his wife about it. She told Pamela. Pamela made sure to tell us it was Carol who decided that if Derrick Johnson were out of the way, all of their problems would be solved. Carol would have control over all of Derrick's property interests and she and Pamela could live…huh…happily ever after." Harry had a slight grimace on his face as he made the comment.

"How'd they do it?" Cassy asked, her curiosity piqued.

"On Sunday night, Carol Johnson slipped a few sleeping pills into Derrick's night cap. Pamela came over with her pick-up and they loaded Derrick inside. They took him to the construction site, dumped his body into the swimming pool hole and buried him. From what we can gather, he was still alive when it happened."

"No one saw them leave the house?" Cassy couldn't believe that none of the neighbors saw this kind of activity.

"I…can answer that….Path…at…the back…of the house…led to the…construction site," Tom groggily answered.

"That's what Harper said. She had made the path herself so that she could sneak over to Carol's house without all the neighbors seeing her." Harry explained.

"Then the mud in the garage came from the path?" Cassy concluded.

Tom nodded. "Last night…I saw her… She drove…down the path. Went to…Carol's house."

"Harper said that she saw your car on the street and thought you were in the house with Carol Johnson. When she realized that you weren't inside, she concluded that you were spying on them. She saw your car enter the path and they followed." Tom had concluded that he had been spotted at Carol's house. That was the only explanation for the two showing up at the work site.

"They saw you uncover Johnson's body and Carol decided they had to get rid of you, too. The two of you struggled over the Carol's gun. Carol shot you and you shot Carol." Tom began to shake his head. A restraining hand on Cassy quieted him. Harry continued, "She said she didn't know you had fallen in the hole…she was just trying to rebury Johnson's body."

"Oh…come on…Harry…don't…don't tell…me…you…buy that…"

Harry smiled at Tom, looking over the rim of his glasses. "Not hardly. I figured lab tests would prove otherwise. I just wanted to see your reaction."

"She…Pamela…got the…drop on me. I tried…to run, Carol was…caught in the…line of…fire. She shot…her in the back." Tom was exhausted and breathing heavy.

Cassy had a worried look now, "Take it easy, Tom. We don't have to talk about this now. We can continue later." Harry also decided it was time to back off.

Tom protested, "No…I want…to…finish. I ran…she shot me…in the back. I hid…for awhile, then decided…to try to…get help. That's when…she shot me…in the…shoulder. I fell into…the pool. She tried…to bury me…like Johnson." He stopped suddenly, all energy leaving his body as he slumped into the pillow further.

A nurse walked into the room. "I think Mr. Ryan has had enough for awhile. It's time for him to get some rest." She began to check the vital signs of her patient.

Harry, seeing Tom's exhausted features, suddenly felt guilty for deciding to question Tom so soon after the surgery. He patted Tom on the leg again. "I'm going to go back to the station. I'll pick your parents up at the airport when their flight gets in and bring them back here."

Tom nodded his gratitude to his captain.

"You get some rest. We'll talk later. Cassy, you coming?"

"I'll be there in a second, Harry." Cassy responded, but her eyes never left Tom's face. Harry nodded his understanding, waved goodbye and left the room.

"Ma'am, you really do need to let Mr. Ryan get some rest."

"I'll leave in just a second, I promise."

"Very well, I'll be back in five minutes…you'd better not be here when I return," the nurse warned, but with a friendly smile on her face.

"Look…Cass, I'm…really…not up to…a lecture…about my hunches…right…now," Tom was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

"I'm not going to lecture you…at least not yet. You get some sleep. When you wake up, I want to talk to you about something else…something that I have needed to say to you for a long time." Cassy was unusually quiet.

Tom's piqued curiosity gave him a surge of energy, "What…what's wrong?"

"Nothings wrong. It's just that sitting in a Waiting Room for the entire night has given me a lot of time to do some thinking about you…about us. There are just some things I think I need to say…but not now. Get some rest. We'll talk later."

Cassy gave him a parting kiss on the cheek. Tom looked at her through sleepy eyes. He wanted more than anything to talk to her now, to hear the words that she felt needed to be said. It was so rare for Cassy to open up to him…to be honest with him about her feelings. Why now? He thought desperately. Why…now…

Cassy turned and headed for the door. She took one last look at her partner before departing. His eyes were already closed and he was sleeping peacefully. A smile came to her face and she left the room.