by R L Dunn
Elizabeth smiled. "My dad drove a Dodge Diplomat. When he was campaigning, he rented a warehouse in North Silverton. We spent hours packing plastic campaign bags with literature and crap with my dad's name on it: key chains, sponges, rain bonnets."
"We will bring him home, chère. I promise," Julian said.
"What about me?" Elizabeth was ready to join the fight.
"We need you to try to save Troy. Tucker is staying to help, and Pete will be here soon. Kieran just let me know the governor is sending a National Guard unit with physicians to cover the hospital until they can hire more. Hillinger either is or will be in custody soon. Patrick agreed to help orient the new people. I know Martin is counting on two things: that you are safe, and Lola has a Mommy."
"Julian, Lola needs her daddy, and so does this baby." Her hand drifted to her belly.
Julian's mouth went dry. "You're pregnant? Does Martin know?"
"No, just Patrick and Pete. I asked them to keep it a secret." Elizabeth's eyes welled up.
"Oh, chère, promise me you’ll listen. Lola and that little one need a mommy.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Loren Ragan headed to Judge Ronald Weese's home. Ragan, Mike Johnson, Cordelia Snow, and Terrence Newsome stood at the judge's door. The judge gaped at the district attorney. "Mr. Ragan and friends, what did I do to deserve your presence on my stoop this evening?"
The district attorney sounded stressed. "Permission to be heard, Your Honor. We are here to notify you of a horrendous miscarriage of justice." They explained the evidence and the situation, offering the judge detailed, notarized documents.
The judge scanned the paperwork. "Case against Martin Bailey is dismissed. Any idea of where he is?"
"No, Your Honor," Zach said.
The judge escorted them to the door. "Keep me posted. I expect you to do your part to fix this, Loren."
On their way to Ragan's office, as Kieran pledged, Loren watched as the Silverton Community became inundated with law enforcement. On live video, two state patrol majors walked into Chief Doug Sharpe's office with orders signed by the current Iowa Governor. A similar thing was occurring at the Silverton Corrections Center. Dogs under state deputies' direction descended like the hounds of hell, searching for contraband. Based upon new evidence and evidence provided by Chase Security, arrests of cops, corrections officers and inmates were underway.
Tucker and Pete worked over Troy. "What are we missing?" Even with ibuprofen, acetaminophen, ice, cold IV fluids and now irrigating his bladder, Troy's temperature hovered around 104.2. "I'm givin' the lab five more minutes before I go down there and run the tests myself. Let's go through this again." Tucker opened Troy's medical record. The two PAs searched through every medication Troy was on and listed what it covered.
Walking in with Trask, Elizabeth appeared distraught. "How's he doing?"
Pete shared their thoughts on changing up some meds. "Let Julian take you home, Beth. You need to rest. If his condition changes, we’ll call you."
Elizabeth shook her head. "Lola will be better off with Joyce and Ruth right now. I won't be able to rest until Marty is safe. There’s a possibility if I stay here, I'll be able to help Troy. Repeat the CT scan."
Pete patted the lounge chair. "Would you at least put your feet up?"
Trask observed each of them. "We need to focus on Troy. If something happens to you while I'm in charge of your safety, I won't be able to live with myself. Does Martin know?" He cocked his head.
"Know what?" Her brow arched.
Trask folded his arms as if he were carrying a baby.
"Who told you? Julian? Patrick? Pete?" she snapped.
"My wife and I are parents of six beautiful kids. I can spot a pregnant woman from a mile away. Sit, feet up." His tone was stern and his eyes soft.
Martin hung by his wrists from a thick chain dangling from the warehouse ceiling, his ankles tethered to posts in the floor, preventing him from kicking. Hailey Ullman sat at a table painting her nails. Vernon and Boyd sat with her, playing cards. After taunting and beating Martin, Clay, Beck, and Trip left the room.
Martin sighed, "Hailey, you remind me of a mantis shrimp."
"Do I look like I care?"
"They're remarkable creatures. They are very colorful and are voracious predators. Plus, the speed of the attack of their claw is like a .22 caliber bullet. Kind of like you with a needle."
She chuckled. "Quite a comedy act you've got going on, especially since you’re close to the end of your rope—or should I say chain?"
Another CO Martin recognized as Keene Jensen walked in. "Where's Clay?"
"He's working out some details with Beck and Trip," Boyd said.
"We need to go," Keene said. “Clay killed Tim, after first pounding Brynn Hackman's head into the wall and killing her. Before Tim died, he ID'd Clay as his killer, not Bailey, in front of a room full of people. We are all in trouble."
"Yeah, you are. Your boss took a metal chair and beat him with it. He wanted the investigators to think I did it. My guess is Tim wanted to clear his conscience before he met his maker.” Martin rattled the chains. “You three, it started out as a little bit of extra cash? Help pay some bills? Take a vacation? Buy a car? When did you start to notice where the money came from? Did you see your boss, the Director of the Silverton Department of Corrections, sodomize a man until he was unrecognizable, or what he did to other kids and that little girl? Are either of you fathers? How many did he kill? The little one who survived—she is four years old." Martin was trying to divide and conquer his captors.
Boyd punched Martin hard just beneath his ribs. "Shut up. Keene, we need to talk to Alden."
"Chase Security and the Feds are making arrests—they got Alden. The state took over the PD and the jail. They got Hillinger at his office. If Hillinger talks..." Keene paced.
"You think Clay will protect you? Everything is falling apart. It's going to be all men and women for themselves,” Martin warned.
Keene stood and slammed the end of his flashlight into Martin's gut.
Martin groaned in pain. "Hailey, you kept those Post-it notes for a reason. Keeping track of something? You aren't well liked. I have to tell you, Krystal Slater had a lot to say about you, that you get around. Perhaps you should be examined for diseases. Do you know your male partners raped prisoners while unprotected?" He caught the small facial tic—he was getting under her skin. "Then Elizabeth. It didn't take long for the doctors to figure out the drug and who gave it to her. How many other times did you and your buddies try to murder her and epically fail?"
Hailey started to squirm. "You know nothing about me."
"Tell me, Hailey. Why would you gravitate to an animal like Clay? Don't you see what he likes to do? Who got you to come back? You escaped. We had no idea where you were. Hailey, you do understand, he's going to kill you when he's done with you, right?"
"That's not true; he needs me. Hillinger brought me in to control Randy. The moron didn't realize I started the first day of my internship. Why else would I want to be part of an understaffed, over-demanding facility? Hillinger was worried Knox's appetite for screwing staff might expose our secrets," Hailey's voice rose.
"Well, I guess you’re the last one to find out Knox was sleeping with Krystal, and he told me he was sleeping with Elizabeth. You didn't do a good job of controlling him. Boyd, was he fucking you too?"
Boyd grasped Martin by the throat. Keene and Gafford dragged him off.
Martin choked out, "Do you really believe you’re going to end up with Clay? You bat for the wrong team. He executed Brynn. He will destroy Elizabeth the first chance he gets. And then he will destroy you."
"I am the one he wants. I am number one. I kept the others on board, except for that bitch, Krump. Alden likes fucking old broads—she would do anything he asked. I cleaned up everyone's mess, and I was the one who killed that nurse, Saperstein. Danny and Beck took out Randy and that wife-beater. But the morons couldn't work the frame-up. I had
to go in with the evidence to incriminate Elizabeth. Your girlfriend is a super surgeon, but she leaves her stuff around. Swiping hair ties, straws and spoons was easy. She's also old-fashioned, cute little white underwear with pink bows. It was easy switching hers out for new ones. When you didn't kill Satanta, I snuck into that hellhole and took him out." Hailey was indignant.
"The entire place blew sky-high," Martin spat.
"That was unintentional. The propane tank was full, and, well, you saw the reaction."
"That reaction killed six innocent people and injured a bunch more."
Hailey griped, "Oh, how can I forget Lola? Indira was chicken. All she had to do was put her in her pocket and walk away. You would be so distraught, too weak to function. She thought if she kept needling you about how much care she needed, you'd give up. Even when she gave her the nitrates to turn her blue, you doubled down and added more help."
Anger ran down Martin's back. "Lissa? Did you see her?"
Her voice flattened, "No."
"Poor little one had a boot print on her back. Which one of you stepped on her? Who stood by while Clay's rage tore her almost in two?"
Hailey blurted out before Boyd could stop her, "Not me, Hal and Boyd messed up everything."
"What did they mess up? Tell me what Boyd did," Martin coaxed.
Boyd backhanded Hailey. "Don't say another word, you tramp."
Keene shoved Boyd. "The kid was a throwaway. Some drug dealer's spawn. Hal let Jenner destroy her like he did to Hank Price. We dumped Price in the same ditch when we couldn't get to the hog pen."
Martin's stomach rolled. Hogs ate anything.
Keene frowned and continued to divulge the secrets, while he and Gafford held Boyd back. The men began to turn on each other. "Tim and Boyd couldn't tell they weren't dead. Bad enough the farmer found the kid, your brother found Price. Trip and Locke didn't have the stones to shoot him in the head. And the girl, Beth saved her too," Keene spat.
"Then Dufour, he demanded the hit on Randy. Talbot backed him. Who knew Randy had some scruples? When he found out about Viola's pregnancy, after she died, he threatened to out Dufour. That screwed us. There was no one to admit the prisoners to the floors—we needed an attending. Hillinger was helping us, but it's not like you can advertise, and he hasn't admitted a patient in years. Indira couldn't admit adults. Keys agreed to turn a blind eye, but he wouldn't hurt a fly," Hailey said.
Martin swallowed hard. Keys.
Gafford added a punch to Martin's gut. "It was the perfect set up. We were making a mint from the films when everyone cooperated."
"What happened if they didn't?"
"They died. No one looked too hard. Except for Beth. She had to go," Hailey continued.
"Who made that decision?"
Hailey gave him a perverse smile. "Who do you think? She was the governor's daughter. She's like a friggin' cat. The poison was supposed to be foolproof until you saved her again."
"Foolproof to whom?"
"Henrietta, Krystal, Pietra, Indira, and me," Hailey was now on a roll. "Alden, Tim, and Keene picked the prisoners. Some starred in the movies, and some fed the other pipeline. Talbot giving us Beth's pads was a godsend. The pills were another big moneymaker. Cecile tracked the indigent deaths at the jail—that was an unlimited stream of identities. Who would complain? The kiddie and violent gay porn Clay, Hal and Boyd made broadened our audience. We added a limited inventory.
“That was until Homeland stuck its nose into things. Brynn couldn't stop it. We had to move that off the server. Hal triggered a fire alarm in the server building, and after the building emptied, Danny, Beck, Trip, and Irvin protected the door. Cecile went in, took the listing out, and used her skills to steal card numbers of heavy spenders. A sporadic purchase would never be noticed, and Brynn got praise for finding the catalog."
"The children? Where did they come from?"
"Here and there. Orphans. Junkie’s kids. Not hard to find people who wanted to sell their kids.”
"The bomb?"
Trip joined them. "It was meant for you, asshole. We knew Beth was in the ICU. Talbot figured you or one of your people would move her car—he wanted revenge."
"Who planted the charges?"
"I did with Danny. Again, you screwed us up. I had to put a bullet into the secondary switch. That was a helluva shot." Trip patted himself on the back.
Martin hissed, "Tell me, what stopped you from shooting Austin in the head?" Trip didn't reply. "Hailey, I'll ask again, how'd you get caught up in this? You’re a smart physician."
"Last year, I made almost sixty thousand dollars as a third-year resident, and I have two hundred fifty thousand in loans. I made three million from the operation. By the time I finished my residency, I would be made for life. No more working in a hospital in East Cupcake. No more working, period."
"Your oath never meant anything to you?" Martin asked.
Hailey squirmed more.
"And Elizabeth? Didn't you think someone else would figure it out too?"
"To be honest, no. I mean Keys did, but he needed the money. Most people like money or have secrets. Elizabeth, we intended for her to die painlessly. But Clay wants to ruin you in front of her. He plans to do to you what he did to Mills. That was such a waste. I dressed up for one of the movies—you could feel his conflict. Damn, he was good." Hailey's smile disgusted Martin.
Martin rattled his restraints. "Jenner was wasting talent; why are you so loyal to him?"
Martin was unaware of Clay’s approach. He pulled him against his body, squeezed Martin's crotch, and twisted his hand. "I require it. Loyalty Elizabeth never gave me, because of you. Mmm, I can't wait for you to beg, Marty." Clay bit his ear until it bled, but Martin refused to react.
The room was small and hot. Kieran sat across from Alden McAllister, his gaze icy. "Within hours, I predict there will be a struggle among parties to gain favor from arresting authorities by sharing information. Alden, any possible deal leaves this table when I walk out of the room in five minutes.”
“Bring me a lawyer.”
“If that’s what you want?”
Zach walked in. After handing him a file, Zach whispered into Kieran's ear.
“Alden, I think you may want to read the charges against you before you make that call. First one to talk gets the deal,” Kieran warned.
Grabbing the file, Alden fell for the ruse. Zach’s sad message was that Troy was going back to the operating room. Kieran's expression stayed unreadable.
"All right, what do you want?"
Based on McAllister's information, the unmarked car pulled up in front of the airport hotel at eight o'clock. "This is Tango Three; target's vehicle is parked at the curb in front of Silver Crest Hotel. A male and female fitting Logan's and Hahn's descriptions registered for room 511."
"All Echo, Bravo, and Tango squad units on scene, breach on three. One, two, three," Mike ordered.
The suite was small. The bedroom door opened with a swift kick from Mike's right foot. "Homeland Security. Hands in the air." Pietra Hahn sat perched naked atop Danny Logan. "Well, look at this. Both of you are under arrest. Dr. Hahn, we're going to wrap a blanket around you. Logan, don't move."
Logan snarled, "What the hell is going on here? I demand an explanation."
Archie Stevenson aimed his gun at the naked Detective Logan's head and laughed. "Nature Boy, you aren't in any position to demand anything. Jesus, man, you left your damn socks on?"
"Don't touch me, you pig," Pietra Hahn spat at Mike.
Kelly Ramirez wrangled a struggling, spitting Pietra with a comforter. Two members of Echo team helped subdue her. "Watch yourself, or you’ll be wearing a pillowcase."
Archie pulled Logan to a sitting position and tossed a pair of pants at him. "You’re going away for a long time. The only thing you can do is start talking. Get dressed."
Logan played dumb. "What you are talking about?”
“You may want to be careful, man. These women are dangero
us. Dr. Ullman was screwing Randall Knox to help hide prisoner abuse or join her in the kill.” Mike saw the flash in Logan’s eyes. Jealousy was a potent tool. “Then she seduces a female resident and the good Dr. Hahn to try to do away with Elizabeth Reed. You don’t think they always waited for you?”
Kevin “Boomer” Harper walked into the hotel room. “We found Hahn’s car. The GPS leads to a Silverton address. Registration comes back to a rental belonging to the mother of an inmate in Silverton Jail.”
Mike tapped his com. “Tango squad Alpha, secure and search the room. Take apart Hahn’s car and match every car in the lot with their owner. Boomer is in charge. Bravo team, head to 4284 Summit Street.”
Fifteen minutes later, Mike and Virgil stood in a room in the basement. One shelf was lined with bricks of C-4 along with shock tube and detonators. Mike ordered an evacuation of the area due to a gas leak. “Shit.”
The area flooded with law enforcement from every possible responding agency. Josh “Hoist” Stone walked into the home and down the basement steps. “Mike, get back to base. They have a location on Martin. I’ll do my best to lock everything here down tight. This is going to hit the 10:00 news and the internet any minute. Bring him home.”
Elizabeth peered over the drape at Troy’s face. She was told Patrick and the hospital’s two other remaining general surgeons were working on other cases. Patrick was part of the tactical unit to rescue Martin. Pete Walter stood across from her beside Dr. Caine. Dr. Keller stood next to her. Prepped, Troy lay, torso exposed, on the operating table.
"Everyone, we are going to try a laparoscopic procedure to resect a group of three large, irregular, thin-walled liver abscesses. We’re going to go as slowly as reasonable because I’m nervous about the perforation of adjacent abdominal organs, lung collapse, hemorrhage, and leakage of the pus into the abdomen. May I ask for complete quiet unless it pertains to the surgery? Electrosurgical scalpel."