Home Invasion by William W. Johnstone Page A

about that. Alex handed the papers back and said, “All right, take him.”
    Cochrum motioned to the men who had wheeled in a gurney behind him.
    Alex stood to the side with her arms crossed as Navarre was unhooked from the IVs and the monitor and transferred to the gurney. A couple of private nurses moved in and reattached him to IVs that they carried. The whole group moved out with the precision of a military unit.
    Alex followed them down the hall. They went out through the lobby, into the crowd of reporters and cameramen that had gathered just outside the hospital entrance. Armed rent-a-cops kept the crowd from getting too close. A tumult of shouted questions went up at the sight of Navarre on the gurney.
    Cochrum had put his sunglasses back on. He held up his hands for silence and called, “Please, please! We have no statement at this time! Let us through, please!”
    It was all for show, which Cochrum proved by turning back to the reporters as soon as Navarre had been loaded into the private ambulance.
    “Mr. Navarre will now be transported to a secure private facility where he can receive the proper care. On behalf of my client, I’d like to thank the doctors and staff of Home Community Hospital for their outstanding efforts on his behalf.”
    One of the reporters managed to say, “Were you worried about your client’s safety while he was here?”
    “I think that was one of the main factors in deciding to transfer him, yes,” Cochrum replied.
    “You don’t think the local police could protect him?”
    “Well, it’s a small department, isn’t it?” Cochrum asked smoothly. “And to be honest, I’m not certain that my client’s safety was at the top of their priority list.”
    Alex saw some of the cameras swing toward her. She knew the reporters wanted her to react to the lawyer’s provocative statement.
    She kept her face as stony and expressionless as she could.
    When they didn’t get what they wanted from her, they turned back to Cochrum. “Do you believe that Navarre is a flight risk? “ a woman asked.
    “Absolutely not,” Cochrum answered without hesitation. “My client
wants
to answer all the absurd charges against him. Even more than that, he wants to be on hand when the lawsuit that I have filed on his behalf comes to trial. You see, ladies and gentlemen, while my client may not be a citizen of this country, he is a great admirer of it and wants to see its system of justice in action. He wants the man who is truly responsible for this tragedy to have to answer for what he has done. To that end, once again I call on the local authorities to arrest Mr. Peter McNamara and charge him with the crimes of which he is guilty …
the murder of Jorge Corona and the attempted murder of my client, Emilio Navarre!”
    Once again the cameras turned toward Alex, staring at her with their lenses like the eyes of hungry scavengers. A man called, “What about it, Chief? Are you going to arrest Pete McNamara?”
    Alex knew she couldn’t get away with a “No comment.” She said, “The Home Police Department will take all appropriate action, I assure you.”
    “Chief Bonner, aren’t you friends with Pete McNamara? Is there a conflict of interest here?”
    “There’s no conflict of interest,” Alex said. “My officers and I will follow the law. That’s all.”
    She ignored the other questions they yelled at her and backed toward the glass doors leading into the hospital. Clayton Cochrum stood beside the ambulance, smirking at her.
    Less than twenty-four hours ago, Home had been such a nice little town, Alex thought as she retreated into the building. Inez McNamara was still alive, and the streets weren’t clogged with vultures masquerading as reporters. She had never even heard of Clayton Cochrum, let alone had to endure his smarmy grin.
    Now everything had been turned upside down. A monster was claiming to be the wronged party, the victim of the evil that he himself was responsible for, and he had