The Sarah Roberts Series Vol. 4-6

by Jonas Saul

  If Sarah died because he wasn’t there for her when she needed him, even after Penny had let him know what he was supposed to do, he could never forgive himself.

  Family first.

  That’s why Penny talks to him. To protect family and make things right. He couldn’t protect her when she was stolen from the hospital. Now this was his chance to make things right.

  Family first.

  He turned until he faced the officer.

  “I’m sorry,” he said as he lifted his foot and kicked. It connected with the cop’s groin, lifting the cop off the floor.

  The cop crossed his eyes. His mouth formed into a silent circle and he doubled over at the waist, his hand coming off Russell’s shoulder.

  “I’m sorry,” Russell said as he thrust the curtain out of the way and disappeared, heading to a room on the second floor.

  He knew he was already too late.

  Collins and Munro stopped in front of room 214. Munro raised her hand to knock but then stopped.

  “What is it?” Collins asked.

  “That girl. I recognize her.”

  Collins edged out and looked past Munro’s head. At the end of the hallway where it turned to the right, a tall, athletic woman stood reading something on the wall.

  “You recognize her? What, you two go to the same gym?”

  “Nothing like that.”

  “Then what?”

  “When we got here, she was on the first floor. I thought she watched us go to the elevator.”

  The woman turned to look at them. In that second, Collins recognized her and realized Munro’s hunch was correct.

  “Holy shit. That’s Maxwell’s girlfriend, Amanda something or other.”

  Amanda turned and started down the hall the other way.

  Collins tried the door to Mark’s room. It was locked. Something thumped behind the door and then someone grunted.

  Collins pulled out his sidearm and turned to Munro.

  “Go after Amanda, but be careful. Maxwell could be with her.”

  Munro started away. “What are you gonna do?”

  “Get inside this room.”

  “Noooo,” a female yelled from the other side of the door.

  Collins knocked on the wooden door.

  “Police. Open up or I will shoot the lock out.”

  When the doctor lifted up to push the plunger, Sarah twisted her arm toward the floor. The doctor lost his grip. She dragged her arm under her, pulling the needle out far enough that when she dropped onto her back she could grab the end and yank it out.

  The doctor reached for it, but she threw it aside before he could get to it. The needle landed harmlessly near the bed, the clear liquid still inside.

  Someone knocked on the door.

  “Police. Open up or I will shoot the lock out.”

  Sarah grabbed the top of the doctor’s lab coat and brought his face over hers.

  “Move away from the door,” the man on the other side shouted. “I’m going to shoot the lock out.”

  “Shoot now!” Sarah yelled.

  Then she shoved the doctor straight up as far as her arms would extend. He grabbed at her hands and tried to scramble out of the way, but she held him in a vise grip and screamed from the bottom of her gut. She turned her face away and squeezed her eyes shut.

  Three loud bangs, like a hammer smacking solid wood, broke through her screaming and his shouting.

  He jerked and vibrated in her hands. When she looked back, there were two red holes in the doctor. One was in his forehead over his right eye, the other in his cheek.

  The door banged inward, slapping into her shoulder. She let go of the doctor as his dead weight was too much.

  He fell on top of her as the door smacked into her shoulder again.

  “Hey, take it easy,” she said.

  “Sarah?” It was Detective Collins.

  He eased the door open enough to squeeze through.

  “What the hell happened here?”

  “Get him off me.”

  Collins grabbed the doctor and rolled him off. Sarah took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. She shook all over.

  “What the fuck?” Collins whispered.

  “I know.”

  He glared at her. “What happened?”

  “You need to know that this is your fault.”

  “My fault? How do you figure?”

  “If you’d listened to Russell, came here and investigated some betting scam the doctors were in, this asshole wouldn’t have had a debt to pay back.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Footsteps slammed down the hallway outside the door. Russell appeared, holding his arm to his stomach.

  “Sarah, are you okay?”

  “Oh, were you supposed to be here sooner?” she asked. “Running a little late?”

  She laid her head back on the floor and focused on catching her breath. That was a close one. Too close. It pissed her off that someone almost killed her. She would have to start carrying pepper spray around or start pumping iron. If she were stronger, she could’ve knocked the doctor out before he got that needle in her arm. Or maybe she needed to go back to Toronto and learn martial arts from Aaron Stevens. She was sure he could teach her a thing or two.

  “Your arm is bleeding,” Collins said.

  “Ahh, a detective at work. Fucking dick.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “What’s not fair?” Sarah asked. “You have a picture and a letter from Russell and you don’t investigate. Because of that Mark Stead is dead and I almost bought a lovely farm.”

  “Not that. The dick comment. I’m a detective, not a dick. That’s usually reserved for private detectives.”

  “Oh my fucking goodness. Are you serious?”

  “Okay, Sarah, I understand you’re upset—”

  “What’s going on here?” a female voice broke in.

  “Munro, come on in,” Collins said. “Join us here at the scene of two murders.”

  Munro stepped over the doctor and walked around the bed to look at Mark’s body.

  “Collins?” she asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “You shot your weapon through the door of this hospital room and hit the doctor?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Surrender your weapon. I’ll call the firearms discharge investigation team in. Looks like you’re in for some time off.”

  “What’s going on?” Sarah asked. She leaned her head up against the wall.

  Two nurses stood at the door and a doctor peeked in over their shoulder. Russell stepped back to give them some room.

  “Once an officer uses deadly force,” Collins said, “they can’t work until the special investigations unit investigates. I’m in for a ton of paperwork and a little holiday, without my firearm.”

  “I reckon that’s going to be dangerous for you in this city,” Sarah said.

  Collins turned to Munro. “What happened to Amanda?”

  “Couldn’t find her. I ran back downstairs and outside. Nothing.”

  “Maxwell?”

  Munro shook her head.

  “Damn.”

  “Who’s Amanda?” Sarah asked.

  Collins rubbed his nose. “Someone you don’t ever want to meet in a back alley.”

  “If she has something to do with this, then it doesn’t matter where, but I do want to meet her.”

  A doctor entered the room. “What happened here? Is anyone in need of medical care?”

  Collins pointed at Sarah. “Her arm is bleeding. Looks like that needle jabbed her.”

  Sarah looked at the door where Russell had been standing.

  He was gone.

  Chapter 25

  It had been three days since the attack in the hospital room. In that time, Sarah had finally gotten her hot bath and wine.

  The first day was spent under guard at the hospital while her blood was taken. She remained under observation for twenty-four hours. Officers and detectives came and w
ent while she rested. Statements were prepared and signed.

  Russell didn’t visit.

  On the second day, her mother had called back.

  “Did you find anything out? What did your sister say?” Sarah asked. It sounded weird saying those words to her mother.

  “At first, she didn’t want to discuss what she called ‘ancient history.’ In our first call she told me that she never had any kids. Just as I suspected.”

  “Are you saying this guy is lying?” Sarah asked. “He’s not my cousin?”

  “No, I’m not saying that. Just give me a second.”

  “Okay, Mom. Spell it all out.”

  “I didn’t want to call you back right away. I had a feeling that Abigail was lying. Anyway, I was about to call her back when she called me. Sarah, have you ever had that happen when you’re thinking of someone and then they call you?”

  “Seriously, Mom? You’re asking if I believe in spiritual stuff?”

  “Right, sorry. Anyway, Abigail called back to confess that she did have a son out of wedlock.”

  “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere …”

  “It really disturbed her because she had found religion and, well anyway, she loves her son, but they don’t talk much.”

  “So Russell is my cousin?” she asked. “Is that what you’re saying? I have a family member?”

  “Well, I don’t know about that.”

  “What do you mean?” Sarah asked.

  “My sister’s name is Abigail Mercer. What did you say this guy’s name was?”

  “Russell Anderson.”

  There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Abigail’s son’s name was Michael Mercer, not Russell.”

  “Maybe he changed his name. Did she know whether Russell, I mean Michael, had any kids of his own?”

  “Absolutely not. I asked about other family members. Did she know of anyone else I could tell you about? We ended up having a heartwarming conversation. She was really happy you knew about Vivian—”

  “Mom, I need to know if Michael had any kids.”

  “No. At least none that Abigail knows of. Her son lives in New York, last she heard.”

  Sarah had ended the call with her mother, who agreed to contact Abigail one more time to double check if her son had given her any grandchildren.

  At this point, the new information meant Russell Anderson was a liar. But why? Collins knew him. They were tied together because of the prophecies Russell offered Collins. What benefit would Russell have to lie to Sarah after helping her while she was in Vegas? Why bring her into their world? Most importantly, why was he crying when he asked her to not send the texts the night she arrived in Vegas?

  Yesterday, she had been discharged from the hospital. Collins and Munro had picked her up and moved her into a motel close to the police station.

  They’d spent most of yesterday together as Collins outlined what they had found out.

  There was a lot of money flowing on the streets of Vegas. Loan sharks thrived. One in particular, Maxwell Ramsey, was owed fifty thousand or more by Tyrone Percy. Mark Stead was involved financially with that somehow, but Munro hadn’t gotten enough details to figure out the connection yet.

  At the hospital, Dr. Scott Emmet was involved in a betting ring where the hospital staff would wager up to a thousand on which patients would die before others. More money was dished out if they could predict the day and even the hour. Emmet handled it all. Two nurses confessed to the whole thing, offering the names of all those involved. All those people were suspended without notice pending the investigation.

  Emmet was into Maxwell Ramsey for over a hundred thousand. On the day Sarah showed up at the hospital, along with Collins and Munro and Russell, one of the nurses took a call from Maxwell asking for Emmet. As far as Munro could gather from the hospital staff who were talking, Emmet had taken bets that Mark Stead would not last the day. Since he would obviously live, everyone bet the maximum against Emmet. Some even doubled and tripled the maximum.

  Emmet was looking to get out from under Maxwell’s thumb and at the same time, help Maxwell by finishing the job Sarah and Russell had stopped at the warehouse.

  Sarah had asked the detectives how the cab drivers were involved.

  They had something completely different going on. A dozen drivers were in on the ‘vacation scheme.’ When they were called out to pick up fares that were bound for the airport, they would load the luggage and get the person settled in the car. Then the driver would prescreen the fare to find out if they were taking a vacation or if it was business that took them away from home.

  Once the driver knew that the subject lived alone and would be away for a certain amount of time, their house became a target. Two of the drivers had a long history of break-ins and robbery. These two professionals would be supplied with the address and the time the subject was expected home. The break-in would take place and once the house was emptied of valuables, the twelve drivers involved would meet and divvy up the findings. Sometimes they hit it big, other times there was only a meager amount of pickings.

  The two drivers hospitalized because of Sarah and Russell were into Maxwell for over ten thousand dollars. Apparently they were to be given a free pass on that money if they delivered Sarah and Russell. The drivers were given Sarah’s and Russell’s description. If they didn’t deliver these people to Maxwell, the interest on their debts would soar to fifty percent.

  That explained why Sarah’s driver was so nervous when she got in the car.

  Since then, neither Amanda nor Maxwell had been seen. A state-wide bulletin had been posted for their arrest in the murder of Tyrone Percy and Mark Stead. Munro had gone to see Alfred Carter, a casino owner downtown Vegas with ties to Maxwell. All he did was complain of the extortion Maxwell was attempting on him to sign half of his business over.

  Collins was authorized by his superiors to make a deal with Kristi Raine, Tyrone Percy’s girlfriend. If she testified against Ramsey, extortion charges against her would be dropped. Bruce Collins’ brother, Jake, was free to fly back to Phoenix, his ID and wallet returned. His money would remain in evidence, pending the trial. Once that was completed, he would receive it back.

  In the end, Russell Anderson, Maxwell Ramsey and Maxwell’s girlfriend, Amanda had disappeared.

  Sarah leaned back in the rugged police chair, a coffee in hand.

  “There’s one more thing,” she said.

  Collins looked up from a document he was writing on. “What’s that?”

  “How much do you know about Russell Anderson?”

  Collins set his pen down and swiveled his chair to face her. “What are you looking to find out?”

  “He lied to me.”

  “How?”

  “He told me we were cousins.”

  Collins suppressed a laugh. “He told you that?”

  “I called my mother,” Sarah said, ignoring his laugh. “Apparently I do have a cousin. This is news to me. But my cousin’s name is Michael Mercer and he supposedly lives in New York.”

  Collins tapped the pen to his lips. “What are you looking to find out? I’d bet Russell is not your cousin. He’s actually quite strange. And cryptic.”

  “When people show up and tell me they know me in some way, especially if they say we’re related, my guard goes up. I’ve had too many people claim to be someone else and then I find out they were after me the whole time. I could tell you stories about a man named Jack Tate who was actually Armond Stuart. Or Rod Howley who chased me in Europe and in the end died saving my life.”

  “You would be awesome to have around a campfire.”

  Sarah looked down at her fingers clasped together on her lap. “No, my stories are unbelievable and I’d end up crying like a baby at the good people I’ve lost like Dolan Ryan and Esmerelda Hall.” She looked up and met his gaze, her eyes watering. “There’s too much wrong in this world.”

  “You’re telling me.”

  They looked away from each other f
or a moment. Sarah took those few seconds to compose herself.

  “So, if Russell Anderson misrepresented himself to me, I want to know why. If he didn’t, then my mother’s sister will be next on my list to visit.”