You Do What You Have To - 6

 

 

"Would you have stuck around, if you were him?" Olivia asked. "He's there for a down and dirty fuck and gets caught in the middle of a gun battle. Speaking of which, where was your gun at the time?"

 

"Under the mattress. I managed to put it there while I was undressing, without Micky seeing me do it. Unfortunately I wasn't expecting extra company—or to be shot at. I didn't have time to reach for it, to say the least of using it."

 

"So presumably it's still there. That's good—unless the guy finally came back to see if he was successful. If he hung around until he thought it was safe and saw this Micky kid leaving, he could have followed him and taken him out, just in case."

 

"Are there any reports of people being shot and killed last night?"

 

"Night before last," Olivia said.

 

"You're kidding. I've been here twenty-four hours, give or take?"

 

"You were wounded, and by the time I found you, close to bleeding out, so yeah. Consider yourself lucky you awoke as soon as you did. The doc said it could take forty-eight hours." She grinned. "Guess your head is even harder than I thought. And to answer your question, this is Denver. Of course there were a few shootings. What does Micky look like?"

 

"Reddish-brown hair, long enough that he had it tied back. Well-built, if thin, umm, hazel eyes bordering on green. No scars or other identifying marks."

 

Olivia chuckled dryly. "And you'd know, having seen him in the buff. Let me call my contact at the morgue and check."

 

While she did that, Darren looked at the items on the table next to the bed. His phone was there, as were his keys and… "Where the hell's my wallet?" he asked as soon as Olivia hung up.

 

"You tell me. It wasn't on you when I found you, and it wasn't anywhere in the toolshed either. I backtracked to your place while I was waiting for Jax to get there and didn't see it."

 

"So it's either in the house, or the kid found it and took it."

 

"The latter I suspect, unless the shooter got it. I had Jax go to the house once we got you here and he said it wasn't there."

 

"Did he check for my gun?"

 

"Probably not, since he didn't know he was supposed to. There was no reason to think you'd have put either of them under the mattress, now was there?"

 

"Yeah, true. Last I remember, the wallet was in my jeans so it must have fallen out when I tossed them on the chair. Damn it. If Micky found it, he knows who I am."

 

"Who did he think you were?" Olivia asked.

 

"Just a guy called John."

 

She snorted. "Considering you picked him up at the bar, that sort of fits."

 

"I guess it does. Has his body turned up at the morgue?"

 

"Not so far, so either he's alive or his body is well hidden." She shook her head. "If he is alive, we have to find him. He just might have seen whoever shot you. It would be nice to know if it was one of Mackenzie's people or someone else."

 

Darren smiled wryly. "The list could be a long one if it wasn't one of his men."

 

"No kidding." She stood, looking down at him. "Get some more sleep, and don't even think about leaving until the doc gives his okay. Understood?"

 

"Yeah, I got it."

 

"Then remember it. I'd rather not have to come searching for you again because you passed out somewhere."

 

"I'm not too partial to that happening either, so I'll be a good boy—for now."