Death of an Escort (16 page)

"And then?"

"Something exploded."

"A bomb?"

"You tell me," I said. "What was it?"

"It looks like some explosive was rigged to
detonate when the power came to the light switch. You were supposed
to be dead."

"Yeah?" I said.

"Yes," the officer said. "There was a fair
amount of buckshot that was blasted around the room. Your office
has been shredded. Even your desk looks like it went through a
grinder."

"What about me?"

"You had emergency surgery this morning.
Nothing big. It seems only four pellets lodged in you, and they
were barely under the skin. You were really lucky, Ray."

I sighed.

"So, now you understand why it's important
for me to know what you were doing, what you were investigating. We
can't recover any files from your computer. It's destroyed. Someone
was trying to kill you, and it may be connected to what you're
working on."

"I can't talk," I said.

"This could be construed as obstructing
justice," he warned.

"Officer," I said. "I'm investigating the
suicide of a woman. How would that have any connection to
this?"

"You tell me," he said.

"There isn't any," I said. "They must have
rigged the wrong office."

The officer actually smiled. "You mean
someone was trying to kill a lawyer or accountant? Or perhaps the
tax preparation service downstairs?"

"I don't know," I said.

"I need to know Ray. What were you doing last
night?"

"Fine," I said. "I was staked out in front of
the residence of the last person to see the suicide victim
alive."

"Where would this be?"

I gave him the address.

"And the name, please?"

"Carlie Smith," I said.

"Can anyone corroborate that you were
there?"

"No," I said. "When I do a stake out, no one
knows I'm there. I'm good." It was all a lie, but it was a
believable one, I thought.

"Thank you, Ray." He got up and left.

Everything had come back to me crystal clear
now. Not only that, but I knew who it was who put the bomb in
there.

Chapter 15

It was Mickey. Well, not him exactly, but he
paid to have it done.

The son-of-a-bitch was determined to kill me.
More determined than I thought he was.

I raised my head up a little and looked out.
My door was open, and I saw some nurses and doctors walking by. It
came to me that I was an easy target now. Here I was all laid up in
the hospital. That son-of-a-bitch was going to try to kill me
here.

And it would happen soon.

He'd not even waited more than several hours
after the two guys failed. He'd had someone plant the bomb after I
took the two guys out, but not much after.

The police were gone now. Probably he had
someone watching and knew that.

Dread crept into my brain. I was going to die
soon if I didn't act fast.

The button to call a nurse had to be close
by. I felt around and found the paddle that had the button on
it.

I pressed it.

Seconds later a white-clad woman entered the
room. "Yes?"

"Has my wife been notified of my
situation?"

She looked confused. "Your wife?"

Oh, right. There was no connection to her.
She wasn't listed as an emergency contact. For that matter, no
marriage license had been filed. I did all that to keep her
separate and protected in case something like this happened.

"Not my wife, my girlfriend, I mean," I
said.

"No, sir. We didn't find any emergency
contact for anyone," she said.

"Can you get me access to a phone?"

"Yes, sir." She left and came back with a
cordless phone.

From memory I punched in the number of the
disposable cell phone my wife carried.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Marline. It's Ray," I said. The nurse
stepped back to give me privacy.

"Where are you Ray? You're not answering your
cell. What's going on?"

"I'm in the hospital," I said.

"What?" She sounded accusatory.

"I need you to bring me something. Right
away."

"What happened?"

I decided to be honest. "My office was blown
up."

"What?" She sounded even more accusatory.
Like it was my fault. "Why?"

"Someone is unhappy with me," I said.

"Who?"

"I'm working on that," I said. "But I need a
gun. Bring me a gun, and do it fast."

"You're scaring me, Ray," she said.

"I'm scared too," I said. "The bomb was
actually the second attempt last night."

"Ray! That's crazy. You need to get away,"
she said.

"I'm going to deal with it as soon as I can,"
I said. "But I'm in the hospital right now."

"You should have a police guard," she
said.

"No," I said. "I don't want the cops all over
this. No cops. That will muddy things."

"Didn't you have a gun with you?"

"I did. And my brass knuckles, but they've
got them right now, and it would look weird to ask for them right
now. Besides, I was carrying them illegally."

"Which gun do you want?" I could hear her
rummaging around.

"The Berretta 92," I said. "Do you know which
one that is?"

"I know it," she said. "Ray this is
crazy."

"It will be okay. Get me the gun right now.
Get here fast."

"You think something is going to happen now?"
She was sounding frantic.

"Yes. I do," I said.

"Keep a nurse in the room, Ray. Do
something," she said.

"I intend to," I said.

I could hear a car starting now. "I'm on my
way," she said. Then her voice got lower. "Does this have anything
to do with what happened with the cops and the shooting on the east
side of town early this morning?"

"No," I lied. "Get here fast."

I held the phone out for the nurse. She came
and took it. "It is all okay now?"

"I got a hold of her," I said. "She's on her
way, and she's bringing me something."

She smiled and nodded. "Is there anything
else you need?"

I grimaced. "I feel funny asking this," I
said. "But could someone wait with me until she gets here? She's on
her way."

"I can stay for a few minutes," she said.
"Let me put the phone back."

She left. I tried to stretch my neck and look
further into the hall either way.

Someone was out there. I could feel it.
Someone was watching. Someone was going to make a move. Who was it?
And where were they?

I couldn't see anything.

The nurse returned. She waited with me the
next ten minutes until a frazzled looking Marline burst through the
door. She was holding a small bundle that looked like a change of
clothes.

The nurse left.

My wife came over to me. "I've got the gun in
the change of clothes," she said.

"Thanks," I said.

"What happened?"

"I can't talk about it right now, and you
need to get out of here," I said.

"I just got here," she said.

"And you might have been seen," I said.

"Someone is watching?" She looked around.

"I don't know. I'd guess so, seeing how last
night went."

"Maybe it's time to get a job," she said.
"Forget this private eye stuff."

"Right and maybe I should grow a third arm
too. That's more likely," I said. "I'm not working for someone
else."

"Why do you need the gun?" She put her face
close to me. "Is something really going to happen here?" Her voice
had gone down to a whisper.

I leaned up a little and kissed her on the
lips. When I lay back down, I saw her eyes had closed.

"Ray," she said breathily. "I need you."

"I know," I said. "Me too. Right now I need
you to get out of here. That's the safest thing. And get out of
town. That would be best."

"Leave town? How big is this?"

"Big enough," I said. "Don't you have a
cousin in Oklahoma?"

"That's a day's drive away," she said.

"That's far enough away you might be safe," I
said.

I fished into the bundle of clothes. The cold
feel of the metal on my skin was welcome. I slid out the
semi-automatic pistol and put it under the sheet.

"And what about at night? You won't sleep,
will you?"

I shook my head. "Not while I'm here."

"How long is this going to go on?" she
asked.

"Once I'm out of here—I will put an end to
it," I said. She recoiled from me a bit. The viciousness with which
I said it must have frightened her a little. Well, God damn it, I
hate people that try to kill me. And this little turd, Mickey
Richardson, he was a nobody. I'd fix him myself, and wipe him right
out of the picture. Permanently.

She leaned down and kissed me again. It felt
good. I really loved that woman.

"Now, I'm serious," I said. "Get yourself to
your cousin's place. Far away."

She didn't acknowledge.

"Are you listening?"

"But," she said. "But what if something
happens to you while I'm gone?"

"You wouldn't have been able to stop it, even
if you were here. But if you're gone, then you'll be safe.
Okay?"

She still didn't confirm.

"Marline?"

"I'll go," she said.

"Right now," I said. "Leave right now."

"Is it really that bad? That dangerous?" she
asked.

I didn't know for sure. "Play it safe and
assume it is."

Finally she nodded. "Goodbye."

I let my head relax back into the pillow. For
the first time I was feeling the pain. Whatever pain meds they'd
given me, they were wearing off. That was fine. I could take the
pain. Besides, I wanted to know how much I was hurt. I needed to
know that so I could gauge how much longer I'd need to stay
here.

The sooner I could get out the better. I felt
so vulnerable and open here.

My eyelids closed. I felt like I needed
sleep, but I couldn't. If I did, then I could be disposed of
easily. And I was still sure there was someone nearby watching and
waiting for a chance.

If only that person would show himself . . .
if only.

I blinked my eyes open. I had fallen
asleep.

A sound of movement came near my head to the
left. It was a foot on the ground.

Someone was in the room. As imperceptibly as
I could, I raised my head. The door to the room had been
closed.

I put my hand down on the pistol, and I tried
to grip it, but I couldn't. The hand had gone numb. That was the
hand that the IV ran into. The rest of me felt okay, but that hand
had gone limp. It seemed it was spreading up my arm.

Forget subtlety. I hinged on my left side and
reached up with my right hand and got a handful of white lab coat.
The guy grunted and something he was carrying dropped to the ground
as I yanked him on my bed.

A syringe needle was in his right hand. He'd
injected something into my IV tube. This boob was the one. He was
trying to poison me with something.

I reached down under him trying to find the
paddle that would call the nurse. He flailed, and tried to regain
his balance as he was suspended over top of me on the two railings
on either side of the bed.

Finally he rolled over to his stomach and off
the rails. His full weight came down on my legs.

I got the paddle that called the nurse and
yanked it up into view. The wires had been cut. The paddle was in
my hand, and it was by itself, totally free of the cord.

Chapter 16

My right hand still worked and I fumbled
around for the gun. I could feel it against my leg. It had slipped
down lower than I thought it was.

The guy, he was dressed like a nurse, got to
his feet off my left side and picked up whatever he'd dropped when
I grabbed him.

Finally, I got the gun in my right hand. I
pulled it out from under the sheets.

The guy's head popped up, and he saw he was
staring right down the barrel. He froze.

"What did you inject?" I said.

He stared at me. Without a doubt, he was
trying to figure out his next move. I'd got him trapped like a wild
animal, and he was about to do something dangerous.

I didn't really want to shoot a gun in a
hospital room, but I wasn't going to let this guy do me in
either.

I saw someone walk by outside in the hallway.
There was a skinny, floor-to-ceiling window next to the door. I saw
the person through that.

"Hey!" I yelled as loud as I could. "I need
help! Hey! Someone, help!" My voice raised in volume to the level
of hysterical.

The guy looked panicked now. I saw his eyes
shift behind me. There was a window there. Was he thinking of
jumping out?

Then he turned and dashed for the door. It
opened before he got there.

Quickly, I shoved the gun under the sheets. I
got it under my body.

The door hit the guy and knocked the small
case out of his hands again. It clanked to the floor, but he didn't
bother to pick it up.

With great force, he took the female nurse
off her feet as he barreled out of the room. I heard the echo of
his steps receding down the hallway.

There was a bang as the stairway door was
opened too hard and it smashed against the wall. The sounds died
away as he rushed down the stairway and made his escape.

The female nurse was shaken and several of
her co-workers came to help her up.

My entire left arm was numb now.

"Hey," I said. "I need help."

They looked at me. A male nurse stepped into
my room. "What happened?"

"He injected me with something. It's making
my arm go numb."

"What was it?" another nurse asked.

"Who was he?" the original nurse asked.

"I think it might be a toxin. Lethal," I
said.

"Why do you think that?" the male nurse
asked.