Chapter 35

Dean Lifante

12:00 P. M.

"Can I get a cigarette? A drink?" Dean shouted through the open door. "Preferably Scotch?"

He slumped back down into the bed. It had been three days since he was admitted to the emergency room after the gas explosion had destroyed the Shujing and surrounding buildings. The doctors had to remove a piece of shrapnel from his gut, but were surprised at how little damage there was. It had pierced his kidney, but he hadn't lost it. They said it was a miracle.

He couldn't remember why he had been at the Shujing in the first place. Probably something to do with the murder. The last thing he remembered clearly was meeting the window washer after Ming brought him to the precinct. The Washer had asked to see the chew Dean had found in the broken trailer, and then there was a blank. Some bits and pieces floated in there. A blond woman and a mountain, but it was hard to pull them together.

His gut and his recorder were telling him a different story, though. After the time his ex-wife destroyed his first recorder, he'd made sure to save a copy somewhere he'd always have access to. Listening to the recordings, especially the fight at the end, left him with more questions than answers. They were strange as hell.

"You can't have alcohol this early in the day, Lifante," Ming said, shuffling in. She'd gotten off lightly with some scratches and a broken rib from whatever happened and had been released in a day. She handed him back his phone and earphones.

"You finished listening to everything?" Dean asked.

She nodded.

"What did you think?" He needed her mind. She could see connections with her logic that he couldn't always make out.

Ming put her finger to her mouth and tapped it. She was smiling. "You love me."

"Where does it say that?" He fumbled for the earphones and the phone, then looked at Ming. She was trying to hold in a giggle and failing. "What are you talking about?" Dean growled.

"You met my parents. Told them I spent the night at your place and defended my honour." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "According to the rest of the stuff on there, you destroyed your body to protect me. You don't do that for a friend. You love me, don't you, Lifante?" She gave him a trembling lip.

"Of course." He kissed her; she was making his head spin. "Do you think I'd do all the things I did on there if I didn't?"

Ming smiled and moved away. "What's on there is a little hard to believe. I've spoken to my mother. She's still dazed and in the psych ward, but she says the same thing. My father just--" she swallowed "--dissolved."

"Zacoski also confirmed some of what happened. I can't believe I'm missing a whole day. The last clear thing is you coming to the station with the window washer." He stared at the recorder. "Who was this 'Barbie'?" There was a small pang at her name. What had she meant to him?

"She seems to be the murder victim. I don't know exactly what's going on there, but she was important to the window washer," Ming said, frowning. Her fingers twitched the same way they did when she smelled a story. "They found the woman's body in the rubble, but no one can tell me how it suddenly reappeared." Ming paused. "I can't speak to him."

"Who? Bobby? Why?" Dean raised an eyebrow.

"The FBI has taken over his case. Seems he's some important mucky-muck." Ming punched her hand. "I want to know what he knows about Slazney, my father and how Uncle Yichen died."

Dean didn't mention what it said about him being her grandfather. If she wasn't ready to discuss him, he wasn't going to bring it up. "Is your hunt for Slazney over?"

"I don't know." She pursed her lips. "If that tape was right, he's gone. Part of me thinks it's true. Another part of me thinks it's only just beginning."

Her head twisted to the side, and she put her finger on her lips. "I also think I met Bugsy Siegel."

"The gangster?" Dean scoffed. "Eat some bad shellfish?"

Ming smiled. "Maybe. I have a few strange memories of being seventeen again and fighting the gangster. There's also mention of a note Kat gave you on the recordings. I'd love to read it. I feel there is more to Slazney than just what we found."

"Have you found Kat?" Dean asked.

"No. I've set up a meeting with her family, but they've brushed me off. I'm trying to meet with the grandfather, a man named Jim, but he's in a nursing home and suffering from dementia." Her fingers twitched. "I think I've met him before."

Dean grabbed Ming's hand and squeezed it. It was smaller than his and not as hard, but it was comfortable, like it fit there. "What's your gut telling you to do now? Or are you still refusing to believe in that?"

"I'm willing to accept that you're not full of it, and there are things I don't know about the world and probably never will." She looked into his eyes. "Maybe your gut has something going for it." She started rubbing his hand.

"You know I did a background check on you when we first met," Dean blurted out.

Ming raised an eyebrow. "I figured as much. You didn't trust anybody then, but why are you telling me this now?"

"If we are going to start a relationship. I need to clear the air. No secrets between us," he said.

"A relationship is great, but no secrets?" She leaned in and kissed him again. "Except the ones we'll make together."

Bobby

12:00 PM

"So, you have no idea how Vlad got the code in your head? Or how Gregory found out?" Ryan asked, pacing in front of Bobby's hospital bed. A tall man, he was broad-shouldered but slim with a runner's build. The beard made him look a little older than before, but he still had the eyes of a child.

"No. I suspect Gregory knew I was in Vegas somehow and had traps set up around the city," Bobby said. He'd convinced Ryan to get him a new computer so he could fall asleep listening to Crue. He hated hospitals. They smelled like medicine and antiseptic, and were too quiet. "You found Ivan's body, right?"

"The body at the center of the Shujing crater matches your description of Ivan, down to the missing tongue." Ryan pulled out his notebook. "I'm not sure what the detective and the reporter were doing there, though."

"I've erased their memory of what happened, especially the woman's. She would cause a lot of trouble if she kept what happened to her. Make sure that goes in the records. I don't need Gregory going after her. I've set mine to go slowly, so I could at least tell you what happened. It'll go back to what it was before." He pointed his finger at Ryan. "If you hadn't gone on vacation, this could have all been avoided." Bobby crossed his arms and hmphed. "You have no idea what I went through in nineteen forty-seven. Also, it seems this Slazney player was there as well."

"That's surprising. He's dead now, though. Your brother, that is?" asked Ryan.

Bobby grimaced. "I'm not so sure. He was controlling several bodies at the same time. When I confronted Vlad in Chip's body, he had no idea about forty-seven." Bobby looked up. "I think there's someone else. It's all a bit hazy, and I'll probably forget more as the program sets in, but I don't think there was a second player in forty-seven."

Ryan's eyebrows shot up. "Really? What do you think was going on there?"

"I wish I knew." Bobby fell silent.

"As for Gregory, we've been unable to find him. He is slippery."

Bobby scoffed. "Don't I know it. It's a shame about Ivan. I wish I'd been able to help him." That was going to hurt more than Vlad. His brother chose to be a dick. Ivan had even that choice taken away from him when Gregory got involved.

Ryan paced the room, pausing to play with the blinds. He'd open them, then close them, then repeat. Bobby couldn't stand the man. He was always so frivolous and goofing around. He wished he'd stay still. However, when it came to a fight, he could kick Bobby's ass twice over, without breaking a sweat.

"We've set up your new place. We'll move you back to Detroit, and we've got you a job in a factory there."

"Kiss's city," Bobby said, gaging. "I hate that place."

"It's temporary until we can find you a better place." Ryan smiled and started fiddling with the plants in the corner, flipping the leaves over and dusting them off with his fingers.

Bobby rolled his eyes and then perked up. "I'll go if I can meet one of the Crue. Can you arrange something like that?"

"I'll see what I can do." Ryan pulled out his phone. "Until then, get some rest. I'll have a man stationed outside the door. Nobody is getting in here."

When Ryan left, Bobby lay back in the bed and opened the music file. Selecting one of Crue's later songs, he upped the sound to max. He loved how the rhythm would shake his teeth, and it would cover this conversation.

"I can still see you, Barbie. You're faint, though. I don't know why you're here. I thought you'd be back in the future by now." He smiled. "Did you set up a delayed return trip? Sneaky girl. Sasha will be upset. Don't stick out your tongue at me. I couldn't let you kill me." He stuck up his hands. "Yes, yes, I know it's your job if I fucked up, but I'm safe now. Maybe next time I'll go back with you."

Bobby listened to the music for a few minutes, rocking his head. "Yes, I remember who you are." He tilted his head and chuckled. "I thought you would get into trouble if you played with the code?"

The air was silent around Bobby.

"No. My computer didn't have enough juice left to erase everything, and I focused it on the other two. They need a normal life. Please say hello to Sasha for me. Tell her I miss her, and I love her." He wiped a tear from his eye. "No, I won't forget you this time. I promise I'll learn how to use the code properly." He held out his pinky finger with the missing tip and shook it up and down.

The music played on and on. At the end of the playlist, Bobby shut down his computer. He blew his nose, turned over and pulled the sheets up to his chin. He needed all the rest he could get if he was going to suffer Detroit.