[Gina Mazzio RN 01.0 - 03.0] Bone Set

by JJ Lamb

  “The large sum of money was supposed to be the clincher,” Harry said. “And we fell for it.”

  “Hook, line, and sinker. Let’s just finish what we started.” She scrolled through the file and stopped at:

  (Non FDA) AZ-1166 Side Effects.

  After a few minutes of reading, they turned to each other. Harry’s expression reflected how she felt. “The results of this study are awful. Look at those numbers … a huge percentage of the participants have had devastating outcomes—increased dementia, acceleration of heart disease, crippling arthritis, pulmonary failure, osteoporosis, stroke, and on and on. If they turn this into the FDA, they’ll never get the go-ahead to market it.”

  “See if you can bring up individual outcomes,” Harry said. “Tap in Rhonda Jenkins’ name.”

  Gina brought up (FDA) Study Participants. It was a simplified, quick scan list. Strictly the name of the participant and the outcome.

  Rhonda Jenkins: Patient discharged, slight change in vision, Alzheimer’s in remission.

  “I guess you can call blindness a slight change in vision,” Harry said.

  Derek Kopek: Patient discharged, CHF, status quo, Alzheimer’s in remission.

  “This diagnosis is a sham,” she said. “His congestive heart failure had gone to Stage IV almost immediately from the day he arrived at Comstock. That poor man was in terrible shape; he could barely breathe. They did absolutely nothing for him.”

  Gina’s eye was doing the twitch thing double time. If she didn’t know it already, it told her just how horrified she really was. “None of these outcomes match the real results of taking the drug.”

  “The FDA will only see what Ethan and Zelint Pharmaceuticals want them to see,” Harry said. “They’ll get some kind of fictional report, with statistics that favor Zelint’s new miracle product. Damn!”

  “Let’s see if Emma Goldmich is on that list.”

  “She’s still an in-patient,” Harry said.

  “I’m just curious.”

  Emma Goldmich: Patient discharge; minor increase of arthritis; Alzheimer’s in remission.

  “Can you believe it? Minor increase of arthritis? Is that nuts or what?” Gina was ready to pull her hair out.

  “Maybe she was supposed to be discharged.”

  “Hit on Research; I’ll bet those are Ethan’s notes about his laboratory procedures.”

  “Look at that!” Harry said. “Derek and Rhonda are listed under Live Brain Studies.”

  Gina’s throat was so dry she could barely speak. “All those jars of brains in his laboratory … does that mean he took brain samples from them and kept them alive … or … oh, my God! Do you think he removed their brains while they were alive?”

  Harry’s features sagged. “Either way, he was working with living tissue, trying to find out why their other diseases escalated with Zelint’s drug.”

  She covered her face. “No one was ever discharged. These patients were brought here to die. He butchered them, didn’t he?”

  He was silent.

  “Answer me!” Gina’s heart was pounding in her ears. “Do you think he experimented on everyone who came to Comstock?”

  “I don’t know for sure, but where else did he get those brain specimens? Looks like all the study’s problem patients were brought here solely for experimentation and termination.”

  “Did they think they could get away with this? Get away with murder? I mean, any of the nurses or orderlies could bring them down.”

  “You don’t think Delores, Rocky, or Pete is going to stand in their way, do you?”

  “But, Harry, what about you and me?”

  “I wish you hadn’t asked that question.”

  He shut down the tablet and disconnected the flash drive. “Let’s get the hell out of here, babe. We need to get this information to the FDA, the police, or someone who can help these patients. We’re way out of our league.”

  Gina stuffed the tablet and flash drive into her traveling purse, and headed for the elevator. At the first floor they nervously waited for the door to open, then rushed from the building and ran to the Jeep. Harry pulled out the keys, unlocked the door, and they piled in.

  “This is how you make a quick exit, doll.” He gave her a huge smile and turned the ignition.

  Nothing.

  He turned the key again.

  Nothing.

  “Someone’s been messing with our Jeep.”

  “Oh, my God, Harry! What now?”

  He jammed the keys back into his pocket. “We’d better find a place to stash the tablet and flash drive. This may be our only chance.”

  Chapter 35

  When Gina and Harry walked back into the Comstock, the trio of Ethan, Rocky, and Pete seemed to appear out of nowhere.

  The two orderlies stood on either side of Ethan, hands at their side, wide smiles on their faces.

  “There’s no escape for the two of you,” Ethan said.

  “Ain’t it the truth,” Rocky added with a sneer.

  Ethan looked directly at Gina. “Why the hell couldn’t you just leave things alone? All you had to do was perform your job, then whiz out with a bundle of money.”

  “What are you talking about?” Gina said. She looked at them with wide eyes, trying to play the innocent.

  “You were right, Ms. Mazzio.” Ethan’s voice turned low and menacing. “We did bug your apartment and we know about your mini-laptop, or whatever it is. In fact, we know about everything.” He gave them a sardonic laugh. “And as far as the movies go … watch a better quality of films. We heard every word you said in that bathroom. Maybe you should have gotten into the shower.” Ethan nodded to Rocky, who grabbed her purse, opened it, and swiped a hand all around inside of it.

  “No computer,” Rocky announced. “Nothing here but a lot of female junk.”

  “Hey, give that back to me, you creep.” She reached out and tried to pull it away from him.

  Rocky held the purse at arms length. “Not in charge now, are you?”

  “Why bother to listen to our conversations?” Harry asked. “Just a couple of nurses who are beat from a day slaving away on your units.”

  Ethan smiled and pointed to Gina. “We didn’t … at least not until you brought in the mail and had your little talk with Emma Goldmich. Obviously you found a letter from her daughter, Tuva, who writes to her mother practically every day. You must have pulled it out of the bundle the courier gave you.” He moved in closer to Gina. “But you never said a word about it to me, did you? From then on, I knew you both needed to be watched a lot closer.”

  “Okay, so we’re fired,” Harry said, holding out a hand to Gina. “We’ll go pack up our things and get out of here.”

  “It’s ouddahere,” Gina said, her phony laugh sounding weird even to her. She snatched her purse out of Rocky’s grip. “Why can’t I ever seem to teach you to talk like a real New Yorker, Harry, no matter how hard I try?” She turned to Ethan. “You know what? We’ll send for our things later.” Gina grabbed Harry’s hand and they started for the door.

  “Pretty cute, big city girl,” Rocky said, moving to block their way. ”Did you plan on hoofing it? You ain’t going nowhere with that dead car of yours.”

  “That’s enough!” Ethan’s voice cut like steel through the back and forth taunts. “Where is the tablet, my flash drive? Give them to me right now and I’ll let you go.”

  “That’s bullshit, Ethan!” Harry pointed at the administrator. “You have no intention of letting us walk out of here.”

  Pete stepped forward, poked a finger into Harry’s chest. “That’s right! And I owe you big time, smart ass. I’m gonna get a big piece of you … chew you up, and spit you out. This is where your luck runs out, Lucke.”

  “Oh, fuck you, Pete. People have been telling me that my whole life, and I’m still here.”

  Rocky pointed at Pete. “He doesn’t know what having a piece is, but I sure as hell do.” He leered at Gina.

  “That’s enough, I sai
d!” Ethan shouted. “This isn’t a playground … just get rid of them!”

  Harry leaped up and jump-kicked Pete in the chest, knocking him backwards, turned and bashed Rocky solidly in the jaw with his fist. Both orderlies went to the floor in rapid succession.

  “Run, Gina!”

  “Not without you.”

  As Rocky started to push himself up, Gina kicked him in the face.

  “Let’s move it!” Harry grabbed her by the hand.

  They both started running for the door when a shot cut through the moment like a cannon.

  “Far enough!” Ethan said. “Both of you come back over here.”

  Gina and Harry turned, looked first at Ethan, then at each other. They saw the administrator waving his pistol at them, first at one, then the other.

  Ethan glanced down at Rocky and Pete, who were getting to their feet. “You’re the most stupid, inept idiots I’ve ever had to deal with in my whole career.”

  “When I get through messing them up,” Rocky said, “they’ll give up that computer stuff. You can bet your ass on that.”

  “Who cares?” Ethan said with a sneer. “Once we get rid of them, it won’t matter.” He waved the gun again. “Can you possibly manage the rest of this without my help?”

  “We’ll take care of it,” Rocky said, grabbing Gina’s arm while Pete clamped a hand on the nape of Harry’s neck. “Lookin’ forward to it.”

  * * *

  “You two are gonna regret the day you were born,” Rocky said, as he tightened his grip on Gina’s arm. His other hand rubbed his jaw where Harry had bashed him.

  Riding down in the elevator, Rocky and Pete briefly whispered to each other. When they stepped out into the basement, they began moving toward the tunnel. The path became narrower and narrower until they were forced to walk single file. She could hear Pete still bad-mouthing Harry. She tried to look back, but all she got was a quick glimpse of Rocky’s hate filled face.

  They’re going to kill us … they have to. We know way too much about how the study’s been rigged. Ethan made it plain—they can’t take a chance on our getting damaging evidence out of here.

  Rocky let go of her arm and began slapping her on the behind with an open hand, trying to get her to move faster.

  “You better cut that out,” she yelled, turning around to face him, balled up fists at her sides.

  “Or you’ll do what?” He squeezed her neck until she thought he would strangle her, or crack her vertebrae.

  * * *

  What she’d guessed was a tunnel, or corridor, was really a mine shaft. The ceiling was shored up with timbers and the side walls were bulging with mine tailings that poked through the rough-hewn boards. Plenty of rock and soil had already fallen from the ceiling. Gina wondered just how stable the whole place was. It made her queasy.

  The mine floor was very uneven and she kept tripping over loose rocks. When they came to a Y, Rocky shoved her off to the right.

  “Harry, are you there?”

  There was no answer.

  “Shut your mouth, bitch!”

  Her legs were shaking and it was difficult to see—the light bulbs that lined the mine were not only dim, they were few and far between. Moving from light to light, she began to sense a horrible blackness closing in around her. She could barely breathe.

  Rocky kept shoving her forward.

  The deeper they went, more and more of the ceiling of dirt and rocks had collapsed. Some of it had been removed so they could walk through, but a lot of the debris was still in the way.

  The path even narrowed more as they started on a sharp slant downward. She tried to control her breathing, but she was starting to pant; it felt like someone was sitting on her chest.

  Where’s Harry? Did Pete take him the other way at the Y?

  She stopped in her tracks and turned to face Rocky, her anger and fear a hot coal inside. “Where’s Harry?” she screamed in his face. “Do you hear me? Where’s Harry, you big ape?”

  He punched her in the mouth. Her purse went flying and she fell to the ground, teeth biting deep into her tongue. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth and she tried to wipe it away; tears filled her eyes.

  “I’ve fucking had enough of you, city girl.”

  She stared up at him hovering over her. Even in the dim light she could see a mean smile slashing across his face.

  She’d been cornered like this before and knew what was coming. He pulled down his fly, reached into his pants. She jolted up and turned to run. He grabbed her, nails clawing her arm. He swung her around and threw her hard against the wall. Rocks tore into her shoulders and back.

  “When I’m through with you, you won’t give a shit about Harry … or anything else.”

  His cock was out of his pants and he was starting to yank her scrubs down. She kneed him in the groin as hard as she could. When he pulled away, she kicked his balls, once, then again. He fell like a bag of rice, lying across the pathway, blocking the exit. Croaking sounds filled the shaft.

  She reached to scoop up her purse lying next to him, but he rolled over and his fingers encircled her ankle. She kicked out, then stomped on his hand over and over until she heard the snap of bones. His screams followed her as she grabbed her purse and ran deeper into the mine.

  “I’ll kill you, you bitch! I’ll kill you!”

  * * *

  Harry was certain that Pete intended to follow Ethan’s orders ... kill him.

  The bastard kept stick-poking him in the back every time he tried to lessen the pace so he could slow everything down and think his way out of the situation.

  But Pete was big and had a lot more heft and muscle than Harry. Even if he’d worked out day and night, he still wouldn’t have been able to match the man’s muscle mass and hitting power.

  Harry tried to visualize the terrain above them—form some idea where they might be.

  Probably behind Comstock where I scouted out before.

  There was only one thing in Harry’s favor—Pete was a slow thinker.

  When they came to a Y, Pete shoved him to the left. He listened carefully, but he only heard Gina call out once.

  Then there was nothing.

  * * *

  Gina ran fast and hard, but the rough terrain kept her tripping over rocks and broken pieces of timbers. She couldn’t go back; Rocky would be there waiting for her. She’d gotten away once, but she knew it wasn’t going to happen a second time.

  The air was stale as she ran deeper and deeper into the mine shaft.

  Should have listened to Harry when he was trying to teach me about the mines.

  Harry! Where are you?

  She was breathless, had to stop, had no idea how long she’d been running. She leaned over and rested her hands on her thighs while she tried to slow her breathing. It didn’t help; she continued to gasp for air. It was useless, she couldn’t take another step.

  An eternity later she started moving again, slowly, drifting from one side of the mine shaft to the other, banging into the walls, not knowing where she was or what to do next. Her muscles were cramping; pain was stabbing every part of her.

  The light bulbs were getting farther and farther apart until suddenly there was only the dimmest of light around her … and only blackness ahead.

  Exhausted, she slumped to her knees, fell against the wall.

  Chapter 36

  Tuva was squeezed into the window seat of a 767. The plane was jam-packed; everyone was inhaling and exhaling the same stale air. Babies were screaming, and the kid behind her wouldn’t stop kicking her seat.

  It’s like being in steerage ... the real designation of economy fare. Just once in my life I’d like to fly first class.

  She clutched a book she’d bought at a Kennedy International kiosk. Why she ever thought she could read when she hated to fly was beyond her. Margaret Lucke’s House of Whispers deserved more than sweaty fingers practically tearing off the cover with each air bump, large or small.

  The plane
began to bounce up and down, roll from side to side. The woman in the seat next to Tuva looked at her with sympathy. “It’ll stop, dear, as soon as we get past the mountains.”

  “It would have been easier if I could have flown direct. Once up, once down. ” She grabbed onto the armrests with both hands. “Stupid to be so freaked out, huh?”

  The woman was somewhere in her fifties and had the brightest red hair Tuva had ever seen. “I used to be exactly the same way,” she said.

  “You look like you have it together now.”

  “Well, a really smart old lady told me something once and I’ve been fine with flying ever since.”

  Tuva laughed, but her heart was in her throat and she gave the book another sweaty squeeze. She couldn’t help it. The lurching plane reminded her of another of her worst nightmares—roller coasters.

  “What did she say?”

  “When your time’s up … it’s up.” The woman chuckled and patted Tuva’s hand. “It sounds corny, but one day you’ll see the wisdom of it.”

  “I suppose.” But right now she didn’t. Nor did she think that old phrase was funny or terribly wise. “I’ll have to think about that,” she aid, not wanting to be impolite. She turned back to the window and watched the layer of clouds below her, hiding any sign of land.

  I must be crazy to just drop out of a new job and load up my credit card to run to Nevada.

  But she kept staring out the window at the empty sky above, and the blob of clouds below.

  No, there’s something’s wrong. I have to do this, find out for sure whether Mom is okay.

  * * *

  Tuva whizzed through the Reno airport, her carry-on rolling close behind her.

  When she got to the Avis counter, one of the hottest guys she’d ever seen was handling customer requests. When it was her turn, she stepped up and almost fainted when the most gorgeous pair of aqua eyes met hers.

  “Good morning. Welcome to Reno.”

  Her tongue felt fuzzy. It wouldn’t move.

  “Too much air time, huh?”