Night bait, page 32
"Chet," she said, the sound of his name pushing all else aside. "He's—he's dead, isn't he?"
Dignazio gave her one of his funky looks. "Dead? Of course not. He's—"
"You mean he's really alive!"
"Sure. What gave you the idea he was dead?"
Happiness was bubbling out of her. "He got shot so many times, I thought sure... My God, I don't believe it. How could he have lived through all that?"
"Ask him yourself," Elliot broke in.
Someone walked into the room then. Vickie turned her head, still not quite believing that Chet had survived, and she squinted at the person who had just entered. It was Chet, though at first she didn't recognize him because he was wearing a suit and tie, and his hair had been cut almost as short as Elliot's.
"Chet!" she squealed. "I thought you got killed."
"Oh, hell no," Chet said, and smiled at her. "It takes a lot more than that to knock off a Winslow." He went over to her then, and hugged her very gently. "I came to see you a bunch of times yesterday, but the doctor said you were asleep. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," she told him, and she realized that she had never been so glad to see anyone in her life, and that she forgave Dignazio for his sleaziness, and that all she cared about was the fact that Chet was okay. "Now how the hell did you manage to get a chest full of bullets and not get hurt?"
Chet shrugged. "I was wearing my Threat-Level 3."
"What?"
"My body armor. It's a bullet-proof vest that you wear under your clothes. All cops have them, basic issue. I was out cold for an hour, and I got bruised ribs like you wouldn't believe, but that's about it. Fit as a fiddle."
Only then did Vickie feel genuine relief. She sighed, and she thought that the smile on her face might never go away. "A bullet-proof vest. Don't that beat all?"
"Yeah, I figured I'd give it to Deputy Chief Dignazio as an acknowledgement gift for his promotion." Chet was laughing now, looking over at Dignazio. "It would make a great toilet seat cover."
Dignazio scowled. His" expression soured. "You better hang on to that vest, pal. Those rich hippie kids will be taking shots at you after a fucking week...Come on, Dave, I'll let you treat me to lunch." He glanced over at Vickie and Chet, said, "See you two later," then he and Elliot left the room.
Chet suddenly got serious. He sat down in the chair beside the bed and unconsciously took Vickie's hand. "I was worried sick about you. That bandage on your head looks pretty nasty."
"It's nothing," she said. "The doc said I could take it off in a week. No big deal. . . . Chet, what was Dignazio talking about? Rich hippie kids?"
"He's pissed off because I'm leaving."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, that's what I've been wanting to tell you about for the past two days, but you were too busy sleeping. I'm resigning from the police department in two weeks. Yesterday I got a letter from the Fairfax County School Board offering me a job to teach English. That's why I'm wearing this suit, and why I got a haircut. I just got back from there a few minutes ago. I told them I'd take the job."
"That's great," she said, but it wasn't great. It meant that she would probably never see him again. Virginia was a long haul.
"I start in January," he went on. "It's a brand-new high school in a clean county, not like the schools here in D.C. I'll start at seventeen-five, not as much as I'm making now, but it sure beats playing Serpico for a living. I'll finally be getting out of this ugly screwed-up city."
Vickie looked over at the wall. She wasn't smiling anymore. "I'm happy for you, Chet. I wish you the best of luck."
He held her hand tighter. Some seconds ticked by, and he said, "Vickie, I want you to come with me."
"What?"
"I want you to come with me."
"That's what I thought you said. Come on, let's get out of this place."
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Edward Lee, Night bait
