When he came to, an aching throb permeated throughout Morgan’s left shoulder. “Where am I?” 

“You’re in the hospital, babe.” Tamra squeezed his hand.

“I was shot?”

“Yeah, hon. It was a through and through. In and out. The doctor said no permanent damage, thank God.” She kissed him on the forehead. 

“And you?” Morgan noted her free hand was in a cast.  

“Anderson broke all my fingers. Four for four.” She held up her cast. “Still, better than being dead.”

“Is he?”

Chief Wilson stepped forward, surprising Morgan that he was in the room. “You hit Anderson dead center, right between the eyes.” He’ll no longer be killing women in our city, thanks to you. My God, son, what other tricks do you have up your sleeve?”  

“Is it a clean shoot?” Morgan tried to sit up, causing intense pain to shoot through his upper body.  

“We got him dead to rights. Buckets of evidence that he’s our serial killer. It looks like he was hiding in Miss Tamra Burns’ apartment for some time before he attacked her, because we found a lot of his fingerprints and DNA in there. We think the sicko may have even masturbated on her bed as there was traces of his semen on the sheets.  

“Oh goodness, that’s my home.” Tamra looked like she was going to be sick. Morgan squeezed her hand. 

Wilson shrugged. “Hutch and the boys are finding a lot of evidence in Anderson’s apartment as well. This is over.”

Captain Howitz rushed in, “Chief, the press is getting out of control. They want to interview our hero.”

“Tell them we’ll all meet back here tomorrow morning in the press room.” 

“Are you going to take their questions then, Sir?” Howitz asked. 

Chief Wison smiled and pointed at Morgan. “No, he is.”

           *.    *.    *

“Can you handle this?”Captain Howitz held an unsure look on his face. "You were just shot"

“I—-“ 

Of course he can handle it.” Chief Wilson lightly patted the injured Morgan on the arm, laughing. “My top cop is going to come through with flying colors. Just two rules. Always make the department look good. Also, try not to lie. The press will tear you apart if they catch you in a lie.”

“No worries. I got this,” Morgan sounded more confident then he felt.   “How do I look?”

Tamra rushed over and adjusted his collar and tie. She planted a kiss on his cheek, then wiped away her red lip marks. “You look mighty damn handsome, Detective Harper. Just relax and be yourself. You’re very likable. You’ll do fine.”

Could use a stiff drink. Morgan stepped up to the podium, wearing a shoulder sling as any movement of his arm caused pain. He held up his good hand in a gesture to quite the crowd. “I’m going to make a quick statement, then I’ll take a few questions.”

He adjusted the microphone. “First off, let me say that working together as a team, the Seattle Police Department has solved the case of the Aurora Avenue Assassin.” It was a name the press had created while he was in Brazil. 

“Suspicion fell on one of our own early on. The man was more of a secondary employee than an actual street cop. It’s my understanding that his name was released earlier. That man was Brian Anderson.”

“Question, please, question!” a reporter shouted out.  

Morgan simply held up his hand again and continued, “Concerning State Senator Kern’s daughter and granddaughter, they’re reported to be doing fine. Both are suspected to have a full recovery. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for their Mercedes Benz.”

This brought about a chuckle from the crowd of reporters.  

“Keeping in mind that this investigation’s still ongoing, I”ll take some questions now.” Morgan pointed at a young woman in the front row. 

“Katie Pellar, Channel 5 News. About how long has this investigation on the serial killer been ongoing?” 

“Couple of months.” Easy one. 

“John Miller, Channel Seven News. How many people did Brian Anderson kill?” I hope they stay this easy. 

“Sadly, there are seven victims that we know of.”

“Mac Yung, Seattle Times. Are the rumors true that you had to sleep with some of these dead prostitutes to solve this case?”

Morgan managed a forced chuckle. “I can assure you that the Seattle Police Department doesn’t condone that type of behavior. But, let me reiterate, I was deep undercover.”

“Carl Perkins, local tribune. When did the police department start suspecting that the killer was actually one of their own?”

“As I said in my statement, it was very early on.” Only they were looking at me. 

“Mac Yung again. If you were so deep undercover, why’d you just spend thirty days down in Brazil?”  

“I can see you did your homework, Mac.  I was following a lead.”

“A different case? Was that wise considering you had a serial killer running loose in Seattle?” Mac pushed. 

“I am not at liberty to discuss that issue.”

“Katie Pellar, Channel 5 News again. Are the two Incidents related. The Kern’s crash and the murder case?”  

“At this point, we don’t believe so.”

“Then how’d you just happen to be there, Detective Harper?” Mac shouted out. 

I need to choose my words carefully here. “Let me be clear. I was engaged in a car chase with the gang members who hit the Kern’s car. They’d been suspects early on in the prostitute killings, but had been cleared. They came after me as part of a personal vendetta. I had arrested the leader of the group a few times in the past. It was simply bad timing all the way around.”

Several more hands shot up. Morgan pointed at a middle-aged black male. “Is it true those same gang members were later found dead?”

“Yes. They were also killed by Anderson.”

“That’s mighty convenient, Detective,” the voice was twice as loud as the other reporters. 

“What’s convenient, Mac?” Here we go. 

“Several hookers claimed they were sleeping with you. A group of thugs reported you beat the hell out of them. Pretty much everyone who made complaints against you are dead. Coincidence?”

Morgan paused for a long moment, gathering his thoughts. “As far as I’m aware, there have been no formal complaints against me. It seems that you’re putting a lot of weight into mere rumors and speculation, Mac. Look, the Aurora prostitute murders was my case, and I took down a serial killer.  In the process, I took a bullet for this city and also managed to save a mother and daughter amidst all that. What’s got you upset? Did you expect me to find Bigfoot as well?”

This brought loud laughter from the room. But Mac wouldn’t be assuaged.

“Kelly Pierson. What was your relationship with her, Detective?” Mac pushed. 

For the fist time, Morgan was unnerved. After clearing his throat he answered, “Relationship? She was like a kid sister to me. I tried to get the young woman off the streets. Got her a safe place to live, a car, and enrolled her in college. Sicko Anderson found her and killed her. That’s the real tragedy of this story. Ruined dreams.”

More hands shot up, including Mac’s. Morgan raised his hand for quiet, again. I’m hurting. It must be time for my meds.  

“I think that concludes our press conference. Just know that the city of Seattle is much safer tonight thanks to the Seattle Police Department. I appreciate your time.”

“I saw you come out of that alley where they found Beth Mackie, Harper,” Mac shouted as Morgan turned away. "Anderson killed those gang members to clear you? Doesn't add up, Detective!"

When Morgan walked off the stage, Tamra came up beside him and took his hand, whispering,” Oh, I could just punch that Mac right in the nose.”

“He’s only doing his job, Tam.” I would like to do a lot more than punch him in the nose. I'm surprised I handled that without booze, but those days are over. “I’m just glad you have my back.” 

“Always.”

Character/Suspect List: 

Homicide Detective Morgan Harper - The heavily faulted main character who never recovered from the suicide of his wife.  

Tamra Burns- a crime scene technician who is Debra's identical twin.

Internal Affairs Officer Brian Anderson - Investigating Morgan Harper.

Homicide Detective Hutch Kelly - Morgan’s partner. 

Captain Howitz - Morgan’s boss who runs the Homicide Unit. 

Ronny Tate - Street cop who can't stand Morgan.

Darrin Belzar - Religious by-the-book street cop. 

Doctor Millison Parker - Morgan’s psychiatrist.

Mac Yung- Aggressive reporter. 

Ted 'Teddy' Norton - Morgan's old academy training officer. 

Steve Vance - Vicki's husband.

Kelly Pierson - Reformed prostitute victim.

Paco Sanchez - A local pimp and street thug.

Hugo Chavez - Paco's thug/bodyguard.

Vicki Vance - An old friend of Morgan and Debra’s. Murdered in her bar by the killer. 

Beth Mackie - A murdered prostitute. 

Jennifer Collins - The first victim prostitute. 

Amy Henderson - The second victim prostitute.

Debra Harper - Morgan’s deceased wife who committed suicide.