A few minutes later Cole dropped Miranda off next to her car. He helped her into her car and then leaned in and pecked her cheek. "I'll see you later."
"Sure thing," she said. Just as she was going to start the car, a man walked out of the front door of the museum, and spotting Cole he walked over to him.
"Detective, just the man I want to see."
"What can I do for you sir?" he asked.
"We have video surveillance of another person from that mess last night."
Cole frowned and looked at Miranda. "I had better go and check on this. I'll see you later, okay?"
She nodded, and starting her car, she backed out. She waved at him and drove away.
He turned to the curator. "Another person?"
"Yes, but we don't think they were involved in the mess. We think they came to help."
"Why do you say that?"
"Come and watch the video," the man said, leading Cole inside.
The two of them headed to the security office. A man sat at a desk, facing several monitors. "Hal, pull up the surveillance from outside the building last night."
The man nodded and pulled up the video. "We didn't get a good look at whoever it was, but they were small, almost the build of a woman."
Cole frowned at that. "What would a woman be doing here at that time of night?"
The men shrugged as Cole watched a shadowy figure sneaking around to the back of the building, and then climbing the ladder. They disappeared over the roof.
"We don't have cameras on the roof, but we are having them installed as we speak," the curator said. "I didn't think anyone would be so brazen as to come through the skylight. It is 200 feet up."
"Desperate men I suppose," Cole said. "So what makes you think this person was helping?"
"Well, you guys found those two thieves knocked out on the roof, and the ropes were untied and dropped into the room as if the person wanted the crooks caught."
"Are you sure it wasn't just someone that turned on the men?"
"I don't think so. Whoever it was didn't arrive in the cars with the others. They walked here."
"They walked here, and no one saw them?"
"Nope. There isn't another business close by with cameras, and there wasn't a car nearby, and watch this," he said, stepping forward and fast-forwarding the tape. He pointed at a figure leaping from the roof to another.
"They are nimble," Cole observed.
"Extremely. I am not sure how the camera picked that one up, considering the cameras are more angled to our building, but they caught this person going to the rooftop of the other building."
"And no one saw this person at all," Cole frowned.
"Nope. I guess you could talk to your crooks and see if they saw anyone."
"I will," Cole nodded. "If it was just some vigilante out serving justice, how did they know that these men would hit the museum at that time?"
"I don't know, detective, but it would be interesting to find out."
"Yes, it would. I will go and talk to our prisoners and see what they know."
"Thanks, detective, and please invite your girl to the revealing of the crown jewels tomorrow, we would love to have you as our guests."
"I might just do that," Cole smiled. "I will call you later and let you know if we find out anything."
The man nodded and Cole headed back to his car. He wondered who the person could be, it was extremely odd.
Miranda drove to a clothing store after she left, she needed a nice dress, and she had not packed any.
A few hours later, happy with her purchases she went back to her hotel and pampered herself with a hot bath in the Jacuzzi tub. Then she got dressed in a black body-hugging dress, but one that was a bit more modest than the outfit she had on earlier. She put on makeup, curled her hair, and then put on a light shawl to hide the bandage on her arm. At exactly six o'clock, a knock sounded on her door. She straightened her dress and answered the knock. Cole whistled when she opened the door. "Wow, you look nice," he complimented.
"You look very nice also," she told him, checking him out. He was wearing a gray button-up shirt with a cream dinner jacket, and gray slacks.
"Shall we?" he asked her and held out his hand. She accepted it, after grabbing her handbag that matched her dress. Cole closed the door behind them and they headed outside to get his car. Cole handed the valet his ticket, and the young man ran to get his car. Miranda seemed not to notice the stares they were receiving from other people walking by, as they waited for his car. But Cole noticed and smiled to himself. He had to admit, they made a nice looking couple. The valet pulled up in a car then, a black corvette. It was a different car than the one he had been driving earlier. Miranda wasn't surprised at his choice of a car though. It suited him.
"Nice," she said, admirably.
"Yes, she is my baby," he admitted, helping her in. He walked around to the driver's side then, and climbed in, starting the car. The engine purred like a great cat. Miranda wanted to purr also. Sitting in a very nice car, next to a very sexy man, made her suddenly very happy. Cole glanced over at her as he pulled out into traffic and saw her smile.
"I take it, you like my car?"
She nodded. "Very much so, along with the man who is driving it," she admitted.
He smiled at her. "I feel the same way about you. Now, I have reservations at a nice place in town; I think you will like it. It is called Le Fleur."
"The flower," Miranda translated.
"No surprise that you knew that one. How many languages do you speak?" he asked.
"Six."
"Really."
"Yep. My dad served in the military for a long time, and we moved a lot. I was born in Colorado and ended up making that my permanent home, but my father was stationed in Japan, Korea, Australia, Germany, France, Sweden, Hawaii, and his last tour was in South Africa. So wherever I was dragged, I learned the language."
"Wow, that is incredible."
"I think it comes in handy."
"Especially when you are acting like someone else," he smiled at her.
"Yes, that comes in very handy."
"Tell me, how many times have you had to change your looks and your accent?"
"A few," she admitted.
"Plus your name," he said.
"Yes, plus that."
"You know, I could help you track down your ex and go after him, charge him with assault, and attempted murder."
"Yes, I am sure you could, but he has money, and would bail out in no time, and then he would come after me, again."
"You have a point," he agreed as they pulled into the restaurant parking lot. He helped her from the car and then tucked an arm about her waist, leading her to the door and inside.
Cole told the host he had reservations, and the man led them to a small intimate table set for two, pulled out Miranda's chair for her, and then proceeded to tell them about the dinner specials. He then assured them that their waiter would be there shortly, and he walked away. A waiter soon appeared, ogling Miranda. "Good evening lovely lady, what would you like to eat?" he asked her, ignoring Cole.
"Whatever my date is having," she replied, looking at Cole who was glaring at the man.
"Steak, medium rare, baked potato and vegetables."
"Make my steak medium-well," Miranda said.
"Very well," the young man said, "and drinks?"
"Your finest wine," Cole replied.
"I don't drink," Miranda replied. "I will take a Pepsi."
"Then make mine the same," Cole replied. The man walked away and Cole looked at Miranda in surprise.
"You don't drink?"
"Nope, I see what alcohol does to families, I don't even want to go there, even if I don't have a family."
He nodded. "Smart woman. I have a family."
She looked at him in surprise.
He chuckled. "Not a wife, Mandy, but parents, and a brother and a sister. They all live closer to Anaheim."
"Oh," she said.
"Were you jealous?" he asked her.
"Why would I be? We barely know each other."
He chuckled. "You were jealous."
"Oh? Because you aren't? I saw the look you gave the waiter."
He grinned. "Okay, I might be a bit jealous, but I can't help it, you are incredibly beautiful, and I love who you are. You don't put on a front, well, except to disguise yourself from your crazy ex, but you seem real, and I like that."
"Thanks, Cole, I think you are a great guy too." Would he think she was so great if he found out about her? She kind of hoped he wouldn't. She liked being treated like a normal person, well, as normal as could be.
Their dinner came all too soon then, and they were silent except to comment about the good food. After dinner ended, Miranda reluctantly headed out to Cole's car. She was almost sad that the night was coming to an end. She had enjoyed his company. After they walked outside Cole went to open Miranda's door when he heard a gasp. He turned and cussed. A man had a hold on Miranda's wounded arm, and a knife held against her neck. "Give me the purse lady."
Cole went for his gun then.
"Don't try anything," the man growled to him, "or she dies."
"It seems every time I am with you Cole, we get into some kind of trouble," Miranda choked out, then she collapsed, feigning a faint. The crook loosened his hold on Miranda for a second. Cole made his move. He grabbed his gun and shot the man in the head. He fell forward onto the ground, dead, letting go of Miranda as he fell. She moved out of his way, and he hit with a thud.
Cole was instantly beside her, kneeling by her. "Are you okay? Nice faint there," he said, but then frowned.
The bandage on her arm was bright red with blood.
"I take that as a no. I'm calling this in and then I am taking you to the hospital."
She nodded, not wanting to fight him this time. Her arm really hurt.
He pulled out his phone and hit a number. "It's Cole. I need an ambulance at Le Fleur, pronto, I have a gunshot victim. I also need a coroner and send me some officers to clean up the mess."
He hung up and sat by Miranda. She looked pale. "I don't have a first aid kit in my car," he frowned.
"It's okay. Not like a band-aid would help me much anyway."
He chuckled. "You are right, it wouldn't. I am so sorry this happened."
"I am too, I was having a nice night."
"I was also. Maybe I can make it up to you?"
"I would like that," she replied, smiling at him.
He kissed her softly, sending her heart soaring. The kiss was incredible, everything she had always wanted in a kiss.
He pulled back and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "So, you fake fainted?" he chuckled.
"I did. I didn't need a knife in my throat, and I knew you had your gun. I was hoping you would take him out as I fell."
He nodded. "That was pretty brazen of him."
"He looked to be homeless, and he stunk to high heaven," Miranda said, glancing at the body.
"Not your ex-boyfriend then," he teased.
"No, definitely not. At least my ex showered every day."
Cole chuckled. Miranda leaned her head against his shoulder, feeling weary and weak. He pulled her close to him. "The ambulance should be here soon."
She nodded, closing her eyes.
"Mandy, stay with me okay?" he said worriedly.
"I'm still here," she whispered. She could tell she was losing a bit of blood.
Just then they heard sirens.
"Thank goodness," Cole sighed.
An ambulance, two police cars, and a coroner showed up. All the men jumped out. Two of the cops set up a perimeter to keep out nosy people, and two others approached Cole and Miranda, along with two paramedics.
They all knelt down by Cole and Miranda.
"What happened detective?" one of the officers asked as the paramedics looked at Miranda.
"Some nut job tried to steal Mandy's purse, then he hurt her before I killed him."
The coroner walked to the body. "Nice shot Cole."
"Thanks," he said.
The paramedics saw the blood soaking through the bandage.
"You were already bandaged?"
"She was shot a few days ago," Cole replied, "But that creep reopened the wound. She needs to be stitched up and quick, she is losing a lot of blood."
The men nodded. One pulled out a towel to wrap around Miranda's wound, while the other helped her onto a stretcher.
"I'll meet you there," Cole told the paramedics. "I need to help clean up this mess."
They nodded and Cole looked at Miranda. "I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Okay," she said, as the paramedics loaded her into the ambulance.
One of the officers watched the ambulance take off, its lights and sirens running.
"We got this Cole, why don't you follow the ambulance," the man told him.
"If you are sure."
"We are sure. She was your date, go make sure she is okay."
"Thanks, Frank."
"No problem man, see you at work tomorrow."
Cole nodded and hopping into his car, he headed out after the ambulance.
In the ambulance, one of the paramedics was trying to slow the blood flow.
"Just wrap it like a tourniquet," Miranda said.
The man nodded and tied a towel around the bottom of the wound.
"You've had some medical training," the man said, trying not to ogle the beautiful woman.
"I have."
"Are you a paramedic?"
"No, social worker, but I have had to help out some kids when their parents get abusive."
"I would not want your job."
"It's hard sometimes," Miranda admitted.
She closed her eyes again.
"Stay with us Miss," the man said.
"I'm still here, but I am tired and weak."
"We'll get you stitched up in no time," he promised. "So, how do you know the detective?"
"We met a few days ago on that plane that was hijacked."
"Oh yeah, that was crazy stuff. I heard some lady took down all the hijackers."
"Yeah, she took down a lot of them."
"She must be some serious hard chick to take down those guys."
"She was pretty tough stuff."
"She was probably built like a linebacker."
Miranda laughed. "No, she was built like me."
"Really, and she took them all down."
"She was really good with a gun."
"She had a gun on board?"
"Yes, which was a good thing, otherwise those guys would have killed everyone."
"But the detective had a gun also."
"Yes, and he took down a few of the guys too."
"That is so cool."
"Yes, the two of them made an amazing team."
"You sound jealous," he chuckled.
She grinned. "No, not really."
"Well, considering you are the one dating Cole, and not her, I guess you won then?" he teased.
"Something like that," she replied.
"We're here," the other paramedic said, as he pulled into the ambulance bay.
The doors were thrown open and several people were there to assist in getting Miranda out.
The doctor took one look at her arm and said, "Get her prepped for surgery."
"Yes sir," one of the nurses replied.
When Cole walked into the emergency room, he headed to the desk and flashed his badge. "A gunshot victim just came in."
"She's headed to surgery," the woman said, "I'll let the doctor know you are here as soon as he is done with her."
Cole nodded, suddenly worried. If Mandy was in surgery, that was not good, not good at all.
He sat down on a chair to wait and sighed. Every time he was with her, something happened. Not just with her, but something would come up. It was getting out of hand. He had only known her for a few days, but he was falling for her, and fast. He didn't know why, but he was. She was so likable and extremely brave. He had never seen a woman get shot and not even care about it. Most women cried their eyes out, and acted like they were going to die, even at a scratch, just like the stewardess had. Her dad must have taught her well, to just deal with things and move on.
"Detective," he heard then.
He looked up to see his Chief.
"Chief, what are you doing here?"
"Came to see how she was doing."
"Why?"
"I heard about what happened."
"But you never check up on victims."
"I know," he said, sitting by Cole, "but there is something about that young lady. She is special, I can tell."
"I was thinking the same thing," Cole replied.
"She says she is from a military family, and I pulled up her name, but nothing came up, not a thing. I looked up a Winters in the military and zilch. Think she is lying about her name?"
Cole nodded. "More than likely. She has some crazy ex out for her, so I wouldn't be surprised if her name was fake."
"We need to get her to tell us her real name."
"I can try, but I doubt she will budge."
"Is she really that scared of her ex?"
Cole frowned. "No, she really didn't seem like it. Most victims of abuse have a haunted look on their face and are scared to even mention their abusers. But she seems to joke about it."
The Chief nodded. "So are we sure she is really running from her ex?"
"I don't know sir," he said, shaking his head.
In surgery, the doctor did some repairs on tendons in Miranda's arm and then turned to the nurse to have her stitched up.
"Did you see the scars she has?" the nurse asked as she stitched Miranda up. "She's got a nasty one on her side, and then one above her heart, that looks like a gunshot scar."
"I did notice that," the doctor replied.
"I wonder what kind of business she is in to have so many scars."
"She could be a cop," the doctor said.
"I heard she was detective Cole's girlfriend," another nurse spoke up.
"Where did she get this gunshot then?" the doctor asked.
"I heard she was shot on the plane that was hijacked the other day," the same nurse replied.
"How do you know all of this?" the doctor asked.
She chuckled. "My brother is a cop."
"Ahh, that makes sense," the doctor chuckled. "But she wasn't taken care of, she should have had surgery right after she got shot. I wonder why she didn't?"
"Those doctors in Utah must not know what they are doing," the same nurse said, chuckling.
"Must not," the doctor said, shaking his head.
"All done sir," the other nurse said, clipping the end of the thread.
"Good, wheel her into recovery and wake her up. I want to keep her here at least overnight, if not for two days. She lost a bit of blood. Make sure she gets at least two pints, and some saline, plus pain killer and antibiotics."
The nurses nodded and after taking off their gowns, the two nurses pushed Miranda into recovery.
The doctor then walked into the waiting room. "Anyone here for the young lady that came in with the gunshot?"
Cole and the Chief stood up.
"Detective, Chief," the doctor said. "Come back to my office."
The two nodded, and they followed him down a hall. He led them into the office and closed the door.
"How is she Doc?" Cole asked, looking worried.
"I had to repair some tendons, and she lost a bit of blood, so we are giving her a few pints. I want to keep her here at least tonight if not tomorrow, to make sure she is okay, and she needs to take it easy for a few weeks to let her arm heal."
Cole nodded.
The doctor then sat down. "Detective, this young lady,"
"Mandy," Cole supplied.
"Yes, Mandy. She has quite a few scars on her."
"What do you mean?"
"She has a large one on her side, not sure what that one is from, and what looks like a gunshot scar right above her heart."
Cole went deathly pale. "She did say her ex-boyfriend was abusive."
"Enough to shoot her?" the doctor asked. "It's not a new scar, looks to be a few years old, actually, and she also has a gunshot wound, high on her thigh," he said.
"Why would she have so many gunshot wounds?" the chief asked.
"Either she was wounded in combat, or she has one crazy boyfriend who likes to hurt her," the doctor said.
"She did say her father was in the military," Cole said, "but she didn't say anything about getting hurt while her father served, or that she had served."
"Where is she from?" the doctor asked.
"Georgetown, Colorado," Cole said.
"I would call the police chief there. Tell them you have a young lady here by the name of Mandy, see what they know about her."
Cole nodded. "Good idea, I will."
The doctor stood then. "Well, gentlemen, the young lady should be out of recovery in about an hour. I will inform the nurse to tell you when, and you can go and see her, although she most likely will be sleeping through the night."
Cole nodded. "I will stay."
The chief nodded. "I will call the police in Colorado and see what I can dig up."
Cole nodded. "Sounds good." The two men then stood and left the room. Cole heading to the waiting room, and the Chief headed back to his office to call the police. He knew it was late, but he needed to know who the young lady was.