Dead Ringers: Chapter 18

I watched Laci hurriedly trot back towards the chief's office. Great. Just fantastic.

"I have good news," Miles says, perching on the edge of my desk.

"I have bad news," I replied.

Miles blinks. "Do you want to go first then?"

"That depends. Is your news one hundred percent good news?”

"I can't think of any reason why it would be bad." He tilts his head, adding an afterthought, "Yet."

"The camera in the hall wasn't working. Neither were any of the cameras in the halls leading to the back exit that our shadow ran out of."

Miles's lips become a thin line as he nods solemnly. "I'm somehow not surprised. Good news: we're getting out of here for now." He stands up.

I turn in my chair. "And where are we going?"

"To the hospital." He replies, already walking towards the exit.

"How many times do I have to tell you people that I don't have a concussion?"

Miles turns to look back at me. "It's cute how you think I care about you. Let's go," he motions for me to follow. "Your partner is awake."

"Why didn't you lead with that?" I turn to my desk, reaching for my keys, which are not where I left them. Did I put them somewhere else? I begin shuffling through the stuff on my desk.

"What are you looking for?" Miles demands, sounding on the very of exasperation.

"My keys are gone."

"These keys?"

I look up. Miles dangles my keyring in the air, giving it a gentle shake. I scoff, grabbing my badge. Once I'm close enough, I grab for my keys. Miles deftly dodges my grab. I let my face speak for how not in the mood I am for this as I hold out my hand. "Hilarious. What are you? Five?"

Miles scoffs. "We may not be going to the hospital for you, but you aren't driving." He turns, walking off. "You might have a concussion after all."

xXxXx

Elliot looks up as we walk into the room. His face lights up. "Winter! Oh, thank God!" He pushes the food tray away from himself. "I knew you'd come and get me out of here!"

I give him an apologetic smile. "Sorry Elliot. You're stuck here for at least a week."

Elliot slumps back against his pillows. "If I don't die of boredom first, this questionable food is going to poison me."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," I sit down at the foot of his bed. "Seriously though, how are you?"

"Well, I'm not gonna lie; I've felt better."

I reach out, resting my hand on his fingers protruding from his cast. "I'm glad you're okay. The doctor said it could have very easily been much worse."

Elliot's eyes fall from mine. "How much worse could it be? I lost the doubles."

"At least you weren't a suspect," Miles says. I start, looking back at him. I had forgotten that he was in the room.

"A suspect? For what? Why would I be a suspect?"

I look back at Elliot. "We believe there is a mole at Day Division. They let someone in who killed an officer to impersonate during the transfer. We had to clear Jeb and get him released this morning."

"Is Jeb okay?" Elliot demands.

I give him a look. "You're lying in a hospital bed due to serious injuries and you're asking if Jeb is okay?"

"Speaking of injuries," Elliot holds up his cast, showing me Laci's long signature, "How could you let her wound my pride like this? I don't think I'll ever recover."

"I could always rebreak your arm so they have to take the cast off and give you a new one."

Elliot quickly pulls his arm away from me. "You know it's actually not that bad. I spoke too soon. I'm sure I'll make a full recovery."

I laugh, "Good."

Elliot's eyes flicker to the door where Miles still stands. "I take it you aren't just here to check up on me."

I smile apologetically. "Sorry."

Elliot shrugs. "Considering what happened, I figured it was only a matter of time before I got questioned. Speaking of which; why are there officers standing watch outside my hospital room?"

"You're the only person that actually saw what happened."

Elliot gives me a look. "Security cameras."

I return his look. "Sabotaged. There's a mole."

Elliot looks left, then right. He looks back at me, spreading his hands wide, "And?"

"Did you miss the part where I said an officer was killed?"

"Um, I was almost killed."

"They were still poking around Day Division this morning," Miles intercedes, exasperated. "Unfortunately, they managed to get away."

"See! They weren't even after me!"

"Because they're probably hoping that you have a concussion from a head injury that was also bad enough to make you forget what you saw. Why risk trying to get past officers to kill you if you don't remember anything? Too much effort and much too risky."

Elliot stares at Miles, eyes narrowing. "You speak very casually about this. Have you thought about killing me here?"

"You're making it very hard not to."

"You make a valid point. I'll stop arguing."

"Good." Miles finally walks closer to the bed, sitting in one of the chairs. He crosses his arms. "Let's get the questioning over with."

"Before we begin, I want to say something." Miles and I silently wait for him to continue. Elliot takes a deep breath, releasing it slowly. "I'm going to tell you everything I remember and answer your questions with full honesty."

I tilt my head as my brows knit together. "Elliot, I know you wouldn't lie-"

"Winter, please!" He looks at me. "I'm not crazy." Miles straightens in his chair. "I know what I saw. I can't explain it, but I swear, I'm not crazy. Just, please, promise me you'll keep an open mind." He looks towards Miles. "Outside of my wounds, I have a clean bill of health. There are no meds in my system that would cause me to say things that don't make sense or mess with my memory."

Miles holds Elliot's gaze for a second before nodding. "I believe you."

Elliot looks at me. I give him a look. "You have yet to give me a reason to not trust you."

Elliot sighs. "Okay. I'm just gonna go for it. Feel free to ask questions at any point in time." Elliot shakes his head. "Here goes nothing.

"Jeb went back in to get the paperwork. I was just standing there, watching the van. Then there was this. . . I don't know, a whistle maybe. It was really high-pitched. All the officers fell to the ground, covering their ears. I almost couldn't believe my eyes when the pitch went up an octave, and their ears just started bleeding. Then they just started slumping over. One by one. Once the last one hit the ground, the noise just stopped. The silence was so deafening, even with the ringing in my ears.

"None of the officers were moving, so I went to the closest one. That's when someone spoke, it was a female. She said something about being lucky. I was on my feet in an instant. A woman was standing there. There was a man standing behind her. Then another man and woman came around the van. The other woman saw me and a look of annoyance filled her face. She stepped forward saying I was going to wish I wasn't so lucky. She opened her mouth, and the other man grabbed her arm. He said 'Don't bother. Your cry doesn't work on his kind.'"

Miles starts. "He said that? Exactly that?" He looks slightly concerned.

Elliot nods. "Don't ask me what it means though. All I could tell you is that it seemed to really piss off the woman. I mean, she hadn't looked too pleased with me when she first saw me, but now she looked like she wanted to kill me."

Miles just nods. I want to press Miles for what he's thinking. He's clearly getting something out of Elliot's story that I'm not. Elliot already thinks he’s crazy, I don’t want to alarm him any more, so I choose to leave it alone for now. "What happened next?" I prompt Elliot.

"The man said he'd deal with me, waving her off. She didn't look too happy about it, but she turned to the van. I pulled my gun, told them all to freeze. The man just laughed, walking towards me. I pulled the trigger but my gun didn't fire. Before I could react, the man grabbed my arm, pulling me off balance. I heard the snap before I felt it. I tried to fight back, but he threw me into the wall. I was sure I had a concussion. My head was pounding, and my vision was double.

"Then that second woman was back at the man's side. She told him it was time to go. He just nodded, turning and leaving. I thought she would just leave too, but she came closer, kneeling down in front of me. She smirked at me saying, . . ." Elliot swallows. "She said. . ." Elliot looks up at me. I can see the indecision in his eyes. He wants to tell me, but something is stopping him.

She must have said something about the Night World. That's why he doesn't want to say it. He had no idea that it existed and that I'd come to know about it. "It's alright Elliot. Go on."

He nods. "She said 'Too bad your siren blood can't protect you from my blade.'" His good hand floats to the stab wound. His eyes are distant. "I didn't even see her pull it out. I just felt pain. When she stood up, that's when I saw the knife and knew she had stabbed me. She was walking away when a black van pulled up. She stopped at the passenger door. She turned around and screamed. I didn't think anyone could scream that loud. She stopped screaming and got into the van. When it drove away, I realized that I couldn't hear anything.

"I could see the officers starting to move. I knew I needed to get help. I managed to stand up, but I must have passed out. Next thing I knew I was here."

I stare at him. "You thought that the crazy words of robbers were going to make me think you're crazy?"

He meets my stare. "I'm not done yet. Right before I pulled the trigger, the woman who didn't stab me said something. I couldn't understand it, it wasn't in English. And there was this glowing light on my gun."

"That was probably just a street light reflecting off your gun."

Elliot shakes his head. "The glow was blue."

"Did it have a shape to it?" Miles suddenly asks.

Both Elliot and I look at him. Elliot nods slowly, "Yeah, it did."

Miles nods. "Can you describe anything about the man that didn't break your arm?"

"Yes. Well, not really. There's not much to describe."

My eyes flicker to Elliot. His face is blank. I look back at Miles. His eyes are locked on Elliot's. My mind flickers back to the car ride to Sofia's shop. Miles had used his power on me to get me to answer him. So long as his eyes had been on mine, I could only answer his questions. That's what he was doing to Elliot right now. "Miles," I object.

Miles just holds up a hand. "Describe him for me."

"He didn't have a face, only eyes and ears. Taller than you. Strong enough to carry both of the doubles."

"No mouth or nose?"

"No."

Miles stands, looking at me. "I need to make a call. Wait here."

Elliot blinks, confusion evident on his face. He watches Miles leave the room before he looks at me. "You think I'm crazy." I go to object, but he cuts me off, "You don't need to spare my feelings. I know I'm crazy. That or I got a serious head injury."

"No. No, on both counts." I stand. "If you're crazy, then I'm insane. Trust me. With the last couple of days I've had, everything you said seems perfectly reasonable."

His eyes flick towards the door. "I don't think your new partner agrees."

I also look at the door. "No. He got more out of what you told us than he's letting on."

"Like the fact that I've officially lost it?"

I give Elliot a look. "Stop it. You're not crazy."

"Where are you going then?"

I glance back at Elliot. "To find out what Miles got out of what you said and hit him upside the head." He had no right to use his power on Elliot, especially when he had been cooperating. "Just sit tight. Don't worry. I won't leave without saying goodbye."