Countdown Read Free Page B

me, I guess.”
    “Rape?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “It’s possible. A kidnapping? Do your parents have a good deal of money?”
    “I’m an orphan, but I’ve lived with Eve Duncan and Joe Quinn since I was a kid. Joe’s a cop like you but he has private money. Eve is a forensic sculptor and she does more charity work than professional.”
    “Eve Duncan . . . I’ve heard of her.” He turned as another man came into the room carrying a Styrofoam cup filled with steaming coffee. “This is Sergeant Ken Fox. He thought you’d need a pick-me-up.”
    “I’m glad to meet you, ma’am.” Fox offered her the cup with a polite smile. “It’s black, but I’ll be glad to get you another one with cream if you like.”
    “Are you playing good cop, bad cop with me? It won’t work.” But she took the cup of coffee. She needed it. “Like I said, I was brought up by a cop.”
    “That must have come in handy tonight,” Manning said. “It’s hard to believe you were able to fight your way out of that alley.”
    “Believe what you like.” She sipped the coffee. “But find out from the doctors if Mike’s going to live. Those nurses gave me all kinds of soothing noncommittal assurances, but I don’t know whether to believe them. They’ll talk to you.”
    “They think he has a good chance.”
    “Just a chance?”
    “He was shot in the chest and he lost a good deal of blood.”
    “I know.” She moistened her lips. “I tried to stop it.”
    “You did a good job. The doctors say you may have saved his life. How did you know what to do?”
    “I took EMT training three years ago. It comes in handy. I sometimes go to disaster sites with my friend Sarah Logan, who does canine rescue work.”
    “You seem to have all kinds of talents.”
    She stiffened. “Are you being sarcastic? I don’t need that kind of hassle right now. I know you have a job to do, but back off.”
    “I wasn’t trying to intimidate you.” Manning grimaced. “Lord, you’re defensive.”
    “My friend has just been shot. I think I have a right to be defensive.”
    “Hey, we’re the good guys.”
    “Sometimes it’s hard to tell.” She gave him a cool glance. “And you haven’t shown me your ID yet. Let’s see it.”
    “Sorry.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out his badge. “My error. Show her your ID, Fox.”
    She examined both IDs closely before handing them back. “Okay. Let’s get this over quickly. I’ll make a formal statement later but here’s what you need to know right now. It was too dark in that alley for me to be able to ID the first man who attacked us. But when I turned on the headlights I got a glimpse of the man who shot Mike.”
    “You’ll be able to recognize him?”
    “Oh, yes.” Her lips twisted. “No problem. I’m not going to forget him. Not ever. Give me a few hours after I get through this hell and I’ll give you a sketch of him.”
    “You’re an artist?”
    “It’s my major. And I’ve got a knack for portraiture. I’ve done sketches for the Atlanta PD before and they haven’t complained.” She took another sip of coffee. “Check with them if you don’t believe me.”
    “I believe you,” Fox said. “That will be a great help. But you only saw him for a moment. It would be hard to remember enough to—”
    “I’ll remember.” She leaned wearily back in the chair. “Look, I’ll do everything I can to help. I want to get this bastard. I don’t know what the hell this is all about, but Mike didn’t deserve this to happen to him. I’ve met a few people who did deserve to be shot.” She shivered. “But not Mike. Will you go check and see if there’s any—”
    “No news.” Joe Quinn’s face was grim as he came into the waiting room. “I checked as soon as I got here.”
    “Joe.” She jumped to her feet and ran across the room toward him. “Thank God you’re here. Those nurses were practically patting my head. They won’t tell me anything. They’re treating me like a