I scraped my tongue over my lips. Dr. Anderson must have known how parched they were. He had a little sponge on a stick and he dipped it in water and brushed it against my lips.
"Can you tell me what day it is, Annie?" he asked.
"The day of the party." Carefully, I turned my head to look at Jim for confirmation. "Isn't it?"
He checked his watch. "Aye, but just barely. It's nearly midnight."
"No." This wasn't possible, and I thought it only right to point out Jim's error. "That would mean I've been knocked out for—" Though numbers were my forte, the mental calculations didn't compute.
"It's been a couple hours. We were worried." Dr. Anderson supplied the information. "Some of us more than others." He did not make this sound like a bad thing. When a smile tickled the corners of his mouth, I knew who he was talking about.
I couldn't move my left arm. Lifting my head enough to peer down at it, I saw the fuzzy outline of a cast. So much for escaping unscathed. Jim put his hand over my good one. "Sorry we didn't get to dance," I said. "Or maybe we did? I didn't trip on the dance floor and end up flat on my face, did I? Is that how I ended up here?"
"You don't remember?" The question came from the doctor.
"I remember the party, but I'm in the hospital, and my arm is broken because a dog was barking."
"Yeah, that's pretty much how it happened." Jim chuckled and smoothed a hand over my forehead. "Is that all you remember?"
"No, I remember . . ." I squeezed my eyes shut. No easy thing, since the left side of my face was swollen. "Eve!" I would have bolted upright and jumped out of bed, but with Jim on one side and Dr. Anderson on the other, I didn't have a chance. In desperation, I looked at Jim. "Where is she? Is she OK? What happened?"
"Exactly what we were hoping you could tell us."
It was the first time I realized there was someone else in the cubicle with us. I looked toward the foot of my bed. It's a good thing I'd already figured out the double-vision part of the equation. I would not have liked to think that there were two Tyler Coopers in this world.
When he saw me looking his way, Tyler pushed off from the wall and stepped closer to the bed. "Do you remember anything about what happened onstage?" he asked. "Anything at all?"
"I'm not even going to try." Because I knew Tyler wouldn't understand, I said this to Jim. "Not until you tell me about Eve. Is she—"
"She's fine." Jim smile was soft. "Better than you, as a matter of fact. Seems when you saw that flower arrangement headed at you, you had the presence of mind to push her out of the way. Unfortunately, you weren't so fast on your feet yourself. Your high heels tripped you up, and the flower container toppled right over and caught you on the left side of your body. A couple more inches . . ." Jim looked away and cleared his throat. "A couple more inches in the other direction, and you would have been crushed."
"Now that you've contaminated her memories . . ." Tyler sighed with exasperation. "How about you go check on Miss DeCateur." He made it sound like a suggestion, but I knew Tyler well enough to know he wouldn't take no for an answer. He looked from Jim to the doorway, his message anything but subtle. Typical Tyler. But maybe my nearly mushed brain was playing tricks on me, because the next second, I swore that what was almost a smile crossed his face.
"You can have Annie all to yourself," he told Jim. "In just a couple minutes. I'd like to get a few words in with her before the Secret Service shows up."
Another piece of my memory clunked into place. I looked toward Tyler. "The vice president. He's—"
"He was just getting out of his limo in front of the hotel when the flower arrangement came tumbling down, so yeah, he's fine, too. Everybody's fine. And as strange as it seems, it's all because of that damned dog some moron brought to the party."
Tyler didn't have a warm and fuzzy bone in his body. No way could he understand Eve's affection for Doc, so no way was I even going to try to explain.
"It was the dog's yapping," Tyler said. "That's what made you and Eve look to see what was going on. I guess that means that dog saved your lives."
"And Doc—"
Jim kissed me on the forehead. At this close range, I saw that what I'd mistaken for snow in his hair were bits and pieces of blasted flower petals. "Doc is back in his tote bag where he belongs. He's gone home with the senator's driver. This time, for certain."
"And nobody else—"
Another quick kiss, and Jim backed away. "Nobody else was hurt. Just you. And Eve, but just a bit. It seems a bit suspicious, don't you think?"
"I'll be the one to decide that." As soon as Jim was gone, Tyler took his place. The look he aimed at Dr. Anderson told him it was time for him to head out, too.
"A minute," the doctor told Tyler. "I just want this young lady to know . . ." He glanced toward the doorway where Jim had just disappeared. "You're bound to hear it from somebody else, but I thought you should know. The story I got from everybody who was there is that your young fellow was the one who rescued you from under that flower arrangement. Worked like the dickens to make sure you were OK. It wasn't easy. Or without danger. See, when that arrangement came down, the curtain did, too. And all the heavy pulleys and weights that make it work. Risked his own neck to save yours." He gave me a wink. "Thought you might rest better knowing that."
I thanked him with a smile and watched him leave. I would have liked to have some time to think about what Dr. Anderson had told me, but of course, Tyler was still there. And like I said, Tyler didn't have a warm and fuzzy bone in his body.
He flipped open his notebook and took out a pen.
"What happened?" he asked.
When I shrugged, every muscle in my body screamed in protest. "The flowers fell."
"We know that. The question is why."
"Gravity?"
Tyler didn't get the joke. Or maybe he did, and he just
wasn't in the mood to laugh. Then again, he hadn't nearly been killed by a bouquet of flowers as big as the Jefferson Memorial. Maybe he didn't understand how living through something like that made a person feel grateful and just a little slaphappy.
I apologized with a quick smile that I swear Tyler didn't even notice. "Eve was stuck," I said. "Her gown got caught on a nail, and I went onstage to help her. The next thing I knew, the curtain went up, and the flowers came down."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
"You didn't see anyone near the flowers when you got to the stage?"
I knew better than to shake my head. It hurt too much. "Lorraine Mercy was with me. She's the one who told me Eve needed my help. But then . . . then she was gone. I'm sure she had other things to do. You know, before the vice president arrived. But I never saw her anywhere near the flowers."
"And you have no idea why anyone would want to hurt either you or Miss DeCateur?"
I was starting to see where Tyler was headed with his questioning, and I didn't like it one bit. "You don't think it was an accident."
"I know it wasn't an accident. You want to tell me what you're up to?"
"You want to tell me how you know it wasn't an accident?"
He gave in with a brittle smile. "The flower arrangement was rigged. As soon as the curtain went up . . ." Tyler demonstrated, lifting one hand into the air. "The flowers came down." He brought his other hand down against the bedside table with a slap. "Of course, the curtain wasn't supposed to go up until the vice president walked out. That's what's got everyone feeling a little antsy about this whole thing. Fortunately, it was just you and Eve . . ." He twitched his shoulders. Enough said.
"Some Secret Service agents are going to come and talk to you," Tyler told me. "They think the sabotage was aimed at the vice president, and for all I know, they're right. But just so you know, I did a little digging. I'd heard about the drive-by in Alexandria, of course, but being the reasonable person I am, I never thought you or Eve were involved. But after what happened tonight, I called a buddy of mine over on the Alexandria force and found out you two just happened to be standing outside the restaurant when the shooter did his thing. I'm putting two and two together here, Annie. I know you understand, because I know that's how your brain works, too. If there's anything you want to share with me . . ."
His brows raised, Tyler waited
"The drive-by, it was random. It had to be." Was I trying to convince Tyler or myself? "And the flowers . . ." My mind flashed back to the moment when I saw the huge black bowl headed straight for me. "Eve doesn't think Lorraine Mercy can be involved, because she's too nice. Lorraine, not Eve."
"No kidding."
"Eve's nice, too." I felt duty-bound to remind Tyler of this. "But that's not what I'm talking about. The only other person with something to hide is Dylan Monroe . . . but well, he wasn't even at the party, was he?"
Of course, none of this made sense to Tyler. Not much of it made sense to me, either, but I blamed it on the thwack on the head.
"Dylan Monroe, the news anchor?" he asked. "What does he have to do with Lorraine Mercy?"
"Nothing."
"And so . . ." Impatient, Tyler paced back to his place near the wall. I knew what the motion meant. He would have been happy if I could have explained more.
Hey, so would I.
Before I could work through it, though, there was a commotion outside the cubicle. A second later, a cotton hospital blanket around her shoulders, Eve rushed in.
"You're OK!" Tears slipped down her cheeks. Her hair was a mess, and she'd bitten off all her lipstick. "Oh, Annie!" She threw herself at me.
Which wasn't the wisest thing to do, considering that every little movement of my hospital bed made my stomach lurch.
"I was so worried. I thought you were—" Eve hugged me harder. "You saved my life, you know. If you hadn't pushed me out of the way—"
"The way I heard it, Doc saved both our lives." I knew that mentioning the dog would take her mind off what had happened and, hopefully, keep her from doing any more damage to my already sore muscles. "He's OK, isn't he?"
Eve sniffled. "He's fine. He's home. Doug's driver took him." Smiling, she looked over her shoulder, and I saw that the senator was here, too. She held out her hand to him, and when he stepped into the cubicle and took it, she turned back to me. "The media is already calling Doc a hero. Imagine that! His picture is going to be on the front page of tomorrow's
Washington Post
. They're calling him the dog that saved the vice president."
"I should have known you had something to do with the dog being there."
Needless to point out, this comment came from Tyler. Eve had been so worried about me, she hadn't even noticed he was there. Now she turned to him, and her cheeks, already chalky, got a little paler.
"Why, if it isn't Lieutenant Cooper." Eve raised her chin. "Fancy finding you here. Like a vulture circling the scene of an accident."
Tyler tipped his head. "Just doing my job, ma'm."
Eve's smile was sleek. "I don't believe you've met Senator Douglas Mercy."
"I don't believe I have." Tyler didn't offer his hand. Which was just as well, since Eve was hanging on to the senator's so tight, there was no way he could have shaken it. Tyler looked my way. "I may have more questions. Later?"
And before I could tell him I had a feeling I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, Tyler walked out.
"Well!" Eve rolled her eyes. I knew that in front of the senator, it was the only comment she was going to make. "It's so good to see you, Annie. We were so worried. Weren't we, Doug?"
"So are the fellows from the Secret Service." The senator looked toward the doorway of the cubicle, and I saw that there were two men in dark suits waiting out there to talk to me. A senator apparently trumped a civil servant, but I knew they weren't going to wait long. "Eve and I are going to get some coffee," he said. "We'll be back."
Eve bent to kiss my cheek. "And then we'll talk," she whispered.
I didn't know what about. Which was pretty much what I told Mike and Alex, the two Secret Service agents who questioned me about the accident. Were the tumbling flowers aimed at the vice president, and had Eve and I just gotten in the way?
Honestly, I couldn't say, and I told them so.
"But if the flowers were meant for him . . ." Thinking out loud, I turned the thought over in my head. "Well, you must have realized it, too. That's an awful lot of trouble to go through. I mean, rigging the flower arrangement and such. But then the flowers came down before the vice president was even in the hotel. That seems like really bad timing to me."
It also seemed to indicate that maybe the vice president wasn't the intended target.
This, I did not mention to Mike and Alex. It wasn't their job to worry about Eve and me, and I needed to think about this a whole lot more before I pointed fingers. Besides, I still didn't know who I was pointing fingers at.
I was still mulling it all over when the agents left, and a nurse came in to check my vital signs and tell me that there was a room ready for me. I was going to be transferred upstairs for an overnight stay and observation. By then, Eve was back. This time, without the senator.
"I gave Doug the slip." She winked like it was some big accomplishment. For all I knew, it was. "Told him we had girlie things to talk about. We do, don't we? I mean, about our investigation, right?"
I yawned. "We still don't know squat. Except that we were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"But Dylan—"