Stranded With The Suspect

The room phone rang, the bell loud and jarring. Simon answered it. “Ms. Daniels?” The woman on the other end sounded unsure.

“This is Officer Woolridge. I’m with Ms. Daniels.”

“This is Cami at the front desk. There’s an ambulance here, and two police officers.”

“Send them up.”

Five minutes later, the room was full of people—three EMTs, two police officers, Pogue and another man who said he was with hotel management. Simon started to move away from the bed, but Andi grabbed his hand. “Don’t leave me!” she pleaded.

“I won’t go far,” he said. “But I need to let the EMTs examine you.”

One of the emergency medical technicians moved in alongside Simon. “It’ll be all right, ma’am,” he said. “You’ll feel a lot better once we get this checked out and cleaned up.”

Simon stepped back, and a wiry black man in uniform tapped him on the shoulder. “You Simon Woolridge?” he asked.

“I’m with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” Simon showed his badge.

“Sergeant Tyson Daley.” Sergeant Daley glanced at the bed, where two EMTs were bent over Andi. “She an illegal?”

“I’m on special assignment with the Ranger Brigade, working out of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We’re a federal task force focused on crime on public lands.”

“You’re a few hundred miles out of your territory, aren’t you?” Daley asked.

“I came to Denver to apprehend a fugitive, Daniel Metwater,” Simon said. “He’s the one who cut her.”

“We had a report of a domestic dispute here earlier,” Daley said. “This the same guy?”

“It is. He must have hidden in the hotel until he saw his chance to get at her again.”

“Tell me what happened,” Daley said.

“I shot him—got him in the shoulder, I think.”

Daley didn’t look happy about this news. “So now we’re looking for a wounded crazy guy with a knife. What do you want him for, anyway?”

“Kidnapping and attempted murder, for starters. But he may be connected to several other crimes.”

Daley pulled out a tablet computer. “Okay. Let me get some particulars and we’ll put out an APB and alert the local hospitals and emergency clinics. I’m gonna need a statement from you and from Ms. Daniels.”

Simon didn’t bother telling him he would have to wait for his statement. As soon as Simon was satisfied that Andi was safe, he was going to follow Metwater’s trail himself. While he wouldn’t be upset if the locals caught up with the Prophet before he hurt anyone else, Simon wanted the satisfaction of being the one to track him down.

He gave Daley the information he needed, then excused himself. “I need to call in to my commander,” he said.

Though it was after two in the morning, Commander Graham Ellison of the Ranger Brigade answered on the fourth ring. “Ellison.”

“It’s Simon. I’m here with Andi Matheson at the Brown Palace in Denver. Metwater tried to get to her. I wounded him, but he got away.”

“I’m listening.” Simon pictured the commander moving from his bedroom to his home office, transitioning from family man to cop. “Tell me everything.”

Simon summed up all that had happened since he had arrived in Denver. “I’m going after Metwater,” he concluded. “But first I need to make sure Andi is safe.”

“Do you think she’s still a target?” Graham asked.