#280
"What happened here?" The officer was brisk in his demands. "Your name please, Sir, stay right where you are. Do not approach any further. Keep your hands on the hood of the car," he demanded harshly when Willie turned to see how Wade was doing.
"I am William Pendelton Jr.," Willie said as he kept track of the EMT's working on Wade. "I live with Mr. Donaldson and do his driving as he has reduced eyesight." Willie added. "We were going in to box up another year's worth of files, he is closing his practice."
"License?" the man continued the interrogation. "Move slow son, so I don't have to draw on you," he cautioned.
"My wallet is in my left rear pocket, my license is in the right hand side pocket," Willie made no moves to upset the twitchy fingered cop.
"Use your right hand to reach behind you and get your wallet," the voice instructed.
Willie tried and tried, but could not pull the wallet from his tight pants. He stopped trying, and just stood there. The officer ordered him to try again, and as Willie was reaching, Wade stopped the charade.
"Officer, what is the charge against this young man? He is in my employ and drove me here. He is most definitely not the intruder." Wade was angry, hurting and out of patience with the display of force that was unnecessary.
The officer's partner came up and whispered in the man's ear. The officer looked at him hard, and then turned back to scrutinize Willie.
"Are you Will Pendelton's boy?" he said with an almost sneer, standing with his feet apart and arms folded in an arrogant stance. "How is your old man?"
Willie turned his head enough to look the man in the face. "My father died from terminal cancer several months ago." he said quietly.
"Oh well," the man mumbled as he tried to get his foot out of his mouth, "I didn't know. Sorry." he didn't sound sorry, but he did back down from the oppressive manner of questioning.
The investigation was in full swing when the partner came to question Willie. "What is missing?" he asked.
"Hell if I know," Willie was pretty fed up with the whole situation. "We just got here and found the door open. I dialed 911 and gave the phone to Wade to make the report. I stuck my head in the door and that's the last thing I remember."
"So you didn't see the attacker or see Mr. Donaldson shot?"
"No Sir, I don't remember getting punched in the gut either, but it sure feels like it did happen." Willie rubbed his belly lightly, hoping to dissipate the pain radiating from deep inside. When he removed his hand, it was bright with blood. Transfixed, he stared at his stomach and then looked up at the officer. "Is it supposed to do this," he said in a weak voice, turning white and crumpling to the ground.
Wade had to wait at the hospital for Christy and Toby to get home from school; completely forgetting that Ev and Cheryl were there for Ev's therapy. Willie was out of surgery and back in intensive care by the time the young couple came walking down the hall. Wade was asleep in a chair in the surgery waiting lounge, and they woke him gently.
"What in the world happened?" Toby sat next to Wade.
"There was an intruder in the law office, he hit Willie on the head knocking him out, and got a wild shot at me when I was getting out of the car. We didn't realize Willie had been shot in the stomach until he fell over as there was no sound, so the guy must have used a silencer."
"Where is Willie? Can I look in on him?" Toby was up and pacing the floor. "Listen Christy, we need to get a hold of your parents," he stopped his own train of thought. "We don't want them walking in the house unprepared as there might be others."
Christy looked at her watch. Her folks had already left for home, so she tried the cell phone Cheryl carried. After several anxious minutes, she finally got her mother to answer.
"Mom," she shouted into the phone when Cheryl spoke, "don't go in the house. There maybe an attacker waiting, get away from there and come back to the hospital with the van. We are here, up in intensive care with Wade and Willie. They have been shot."
"Please stop and return us to the hospital," Cheryl spoke loudly for the driver to hear. "Don't go down our street," she ordered, as the driver gave her a duh look. "Turn around NOW" she spoke in her very best mother voice. That tone finally got through to the young man driving.
"Christy," she returned to the conversation, "there's a strange car in front of the house, what does Wade want us to do?"
Christy relayed the message to Wade. "I set the alarm, so the police should have been notified the instant the house was compromised." he reassured the nervous group.
Wade had set the alarm....to someone's house somewhere, but not his. Because of his eyesight he had missed the last number. When they finally all got home, it was to a thourally trashed house. In the soft desk pad in Wade's home office, someone had cut a square shape and put a handle on the top. A suitcase to remind him the intruder wanted the metal.