Umbry emerged from the dark room some time later, closing it tightly behind her, her body still shaking only slightly. Francesca had returned to the puzzle. Perched on her seat, sipping an espresso in complete concentration, she looked like someone straight out of an old 1940s French poster (or perhaps Italian… it was a toss-up). Clay looked up when he heard Umbry approach and smiled warmly. “Hey. You okay?”
She scowled and took a quick glance at Julia, who was looking right her – they both turned away, Julia back to her espresso and Umbry to Clay. “What do you mean? I’m fine.” She shrugged, in an attempt at nonchalance. “I’m just… a little tired, is all.”
“Feel like grabbing some fresh air?” Clay put a comforting arm around Umbry, who avoided his gaze and instead looked down at the ground. “Okay,” she finally said, nodding, still avoiding eye contact. He led her out, and Umbry leaned toward him a little, careful to avoid the gaze from Julia that was so obviously burning a hole in the back of her head.
The fresh air did make her feel better, especially when they’d walked a little bit down the street and she knew her partner wasn’t watching anymore. Hesitating for a second, Clay took his arm away and tucked his hand in his coat pocket.
“Hey, um,” Clay began, but he wasn’t sure how he would say it. “Umbry, when did you and Julia meet? Do you remember?”
“We’ve always known each other,” She replied, the words coming automatically. “Why would you ask that kind of question?”
“Actually, I was wondering,” Clay began again, “Do you actually like her at all? You two don’t ever really talk to each other, and–”
Umbry stopped.
Clay cringed at his mistake. “Sorry I even brought it up.”
“No, Clay.”
“What, you mean you–”
“Clay. Behind you.”
It was at this moment that he noticed that Umbry was very pale – it was also the moment when he noticed the red liquid seeping around his shoes. Gasping, he turned around.
He covered his mouth and his face contracted into a sort of shocked horror that even he couldn’t particularly describe. Still, it took only a second to cover it up again, and he was only slightly pale and a little sweaty when he turned back to Umbry. “Go tell the others. Call an ambulance,” he said slowly, emphasizing every word as if trying to keep himself in control. Umbry looked hesitant, glancing back at the sight, but Clay was adamant. “Go,” he urged. “It’s all you can do.”
She nodded and took one last look at him. “Lindsay,” she managed to breathe, trying to think of something encouraging to say.
She couldn’t, and so she took off down the street, trying desperately not to look back at her bloodied colleague.
“See, Lindsay, this is why I said I was rooting for our team,” Julia said reassuringly, brushing his hair out of his face. Lindsay tried to grumble something in response, but was halted by the pain, and instead it came out as a disgruntled wince. Umbry watched him.
“You really should tell us who did this to you,” she finally said, staring him down. He looked up at the white ceiling of the hospital, and they all listened to the beeping of the heart monitor. Despite being a little bit annoyed, Lindsay seemed level-headed from his heartbeat, Umbry noticed. But still, it seemed like he was trying to make an important decision. Julia must have been thinking of the same thing, she realized. Behind the patronizing look she was giving Lindsay, it was clear her partner was worried…
“You won’t be able… to do anything,” Lindsay finally said, his voice slow and almost slurred. It seemed like the painkillers were finally kicking in. Julia and Umbry exchanged an anxious glance, and both knew that their time with a sane Lindsay was short.
“What?” Julia asked, trying as hard as she could to sound soft. “What can’t we do anything about?”
“…His plan.” He looked up at them for the first time, through the numbing pain.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he continued, trying his hardest to speak clearly, “I’ve seen what you two can do. Back in your day you might have been the best gumshoes anyone could hire… but you can’t compare to him, not as you are right now. Everyone in the world has to endure obstacles to get what they want, but he just rams through them without a care in the world… whether it’s laws or human lives, he won’t… he won’t stop…”
“And what does he want?” Umbry asked.
“He… he wants… music? I don’t remember…” Lindsay’s voice trailed off as his eyelids started drooping.
Julia ruffled his hair. “We’ll have to wait until he wakes up.”
Umbry nodded. “Lindsay, we might have to do some councilling or run lie detector tests or something so you don’t try to shoot us again, but you can come back to your job if you still want it.” She paused to stand up. “Part-time. And on lower pay. But still.” She smiled a little at his sleeping figure. Julia fixed the flowers on his side-table and protruded from her bag a small stuffed white cat. “You can have this until you see ours again. It misses you. And it told me to tell you: meow.” Scowling, she and Umbry nodded to each other in sync and then made their exit from the room.
Lindsay’s heartbeat remained stable – slow, but still stable. And the cat toy stared up at the rhythmic spiking on the screen.