Schism

Chapter 19 part 2

Doctor Westen adjusted herself, her hand held carefully in the air until she settled back in the driver's seat of her car.  This would be a good place to wait, she was sure.  She had only spoken with William's ex-fiancée by phone, but the two had once been close, and the chances were strong that William would return here.

She turned in the seat as much as the cast on her hand would allow her.  There was nothing down the street, but at the entry to the apartment she saw movement.  She squinted and recognized the man in the jacket.  It was the detective, Mickelson.

She leaned down and to the side as much as she could to avoid being seen by him as she watched him in the side mirror.  He walked down the street and dropped a clear plastic bag with something brown inside it into the front seat of his car.

With a sigh of relief, Westen straightened a little.  But then, in the mirror, she saw him turn, wave and walk to her car.

He knocked on the glass.  She pressed the button and the window eased down.  "Doctor.  Imagine seeing you here."

She kept the anger from her voice.  "Detective."

"What are you doing here?"

The answer was so simple, so obvious.  "Your job, Detective."

Westen leaned back as he placed his hands on the car door and leaned toward her.  His voice came lower.  "You've taken an incredibly personal interest in finding William Adams, doctor."  He leaned in a bit further.  It would have made her uncomfortable had she let it.  "You remember my theory about the voices being real?  If they are...why would they tell William to attack you?"

The last thing she wanted was more of his ridiculous theorizing when he should be looking for the patient.  But if he knew why William had attacked her, things would get very complicated.  "Should I be speaking to my lawyer, Detective?"

"Would you like to call him from jail?  This would be interfering with an investigation.  That's a misdemeanor, but since you've also impersonated an officer, you could do over five years in..."  His eyes moved away from her, to something in front of her car.  She looked, could only see a portion of an alley around the truck ahead of her car.  When she turned back to the detective, he was looking at her again.  "Just get out of here, doctor.  Now."

He stepped back and waited until she rolled the window up and jerked the car into gear.  As she pulled out onto the street, she watched him walk back to his car.  If he left, she might be able to watch the building from further down the street.

She drove slowly, her eyes still searching for William Adams.  As she passed the alley, she saw a figure.  She drove the brake pedal to the floor and the car shuddered to a stop.  Her body rocked forward and she winced at the pain.  In her rearview mirror, she saw Mickelson stop, half way to his car.  He turned back and walked toward her, faster this time.  She glanced quickly at the alley again, saw nothing, and when she looked back in the rearview mirror, she saw the detective's car erupt in a flash of orange light. The side windows blew out and flames coated the inside of the windshield. 

Outside her car, Detective Mickelson simply stood there a long moment.  Then, he looked over her car again, looked all around.  She saw him focus on the alley.  He had seen the figure there, moments ago.  Had it been Adams?  It must have been.  But why hadn't Mickelson run after him?  He could have caught William right then and there.

He pointed at her and she thumbed her window down again.  "You saw my car.  Did anyone go near it?  Did anyone touch it?"

"No.  The street was empty."

She looked from him to the fire and barely caught his mumble.  "He can start fires?"  He then slumped against a nearby car and waved a hand at her.  "Go.  Get out of here."

Doctor Westen eased off the brake and drove away from the detective and his burning vehicle.

*

(Author’s note: Yup, I’m just going to leave you for a few days wondering what’s up with that fire.  Until then…thanks for the votes and the comments!  See you all soon.)