The Dog Who Ate The Flintlock

by Edward Coburn

  When the FBI agents and the other people went through the front door of the hospital the guy checking the IDs went with them. The front was now clear. She hurried to the front door and walked right in without a hassle. She watched the agents pile into an elevator car and saw that it went to the fourth floor. She had been in the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and knew that floor housed the intensive care unit and wasn’t surprised that’s where Morgan could be found. If, as Donati had said, she had nicked Morgan’s aorta, she knew he’d have had to have undergone surgery and would now be under intense scrutiny. She gave the agents several minutes to do whatever they intended before she walked to the elevator. She exited on the third floor, scanned the floor to be sure it was empty, and walked behind the nurse’s station.

  The nurse at the station turned and glared at Miranda. “Who are you, and what do you think you’re doing coming back here?”

  “I’m your worst nightmare,” Miranda growled the clique as she clubbed the nurse with the truncheon she had already removed from her coat. She pulled the nurse into the small room behind the counter and lifted her ID. Then she moved down the hall and let herself into a linen closet where she put on a nurses gown and pinned the ID to the collar. She looked nothing like the nurse, but most people didn’t pay attention to the picture on an ID. They only cared that you had one. Besides which, it was not generally a good picture anyway. ID pictures were almost as bad as driver’s license pictures. She grabbed a handful of towels before she left the closet.

  Jenny pointed. “That’s him. That’s Ronald.” There was absolutely no mistaking the scar bisecting the large birthmark.

  Adam instantly recognized Morgan from the pictures Carinda and Robert had shown him and the vision he had seen when he picked up Jenny’s stun gun. He nodded. “I concur. That’s the man I saw.” He didn’t say anything about how he saw him because he didn’t want to have to explain anything to the doctor and nurses. For all they knew he might have been a witness to the shooting. They didn’t seem to care that he didn’t explain. Their minds were on their patient.

  Robert also nodded. “That’s Harold Morgan. There can be no doubt.”

  “Is he still with us?” Ken asked the doctor.

  “He is, but he’s very weak. He had a massive amount of internally bleeding. We’ve patched the aorta and drained a lot of the blood, but the damage was severe. There’s a minimal possibility that he’ll recover.”

  “Can we talk to him?” Robert asked rubbing his chin. He looked at the doctor, at the nurse, at Ken, before his gaze settled on Morgan.

  The doctor shook his head. “No, he’s under heavy sedation from the surgery right now. He needs rest. You can try tomorrow, but I can’t promise he’ll still be alive. We’ll do what we can, but…”

  “Is there any way you can wake him up now?” Robert pleaded, forming praying hands under his chin. This behavior was unlike the grizzled cop he’d become over the years, but he had to have an answer about his wife. He just had to. He started to reach out to shake Morgan, but one of the nurses stopped him, seeing the fire in his eyes.

  “Don’t!” she said forcefully.

  He tried to push the nurse away, but the other nurse came to her rescue. Together they were able to keep him from reaching the bed.

  The doctor pointed his finger at Robert with narrowed eyes. “Keep your distance. Any disturbance at this point could cause him to hemorrhage. I don’t think you want him to die.”

  “Not just yet,” Robert whispered still tying to break free. “It’s just that…”

  “What do you mean ‘not yet?’” the doctor asked crossing his arms.

  “If Morgan is guilty of any of the things he’s been accused of in the past, I’d say dying would be the easy way out for him,” Ken said. “But we do need to ask him some questions.”

  “I’m afraid that’s just not possible now.” the doctor turned to Robert and took two paces toward him. “And no, there’s no way to wake him without serious ramifications. Besides, I’m not sure he would wake up. Any effort on our part to do that might kill him. As I said, come back tomorrow, and we’ll see.”

  Ken scanned the room before focusing his gaze on Adam and exhaling slowly. “Is there anything you can do?”

  The doctor turned to Adam sticking out his chin while biting his upper lip. “Are you a doctor? If so, what’s your specialty? He’s my patient, and he needs special care.”

  Adam shook his head. “No, I’m not a doctor. Agent Jackson was speaking of something else.” He nodded to Ken. “Can I speak to you out in the hallway?”

  Ken nodded in turn and Adam followed him out the door. “Do you really think I should?” Adam was sure Ken would know what he meant.

  “I’ll leave that entirely up to you. I‘m sure it would be better for you if we could get the doctor and nurse out of the room, but that doctor seems to be a bit possessive of his patient, so I doubt that will happen.”

  “He sure does,” Adam agreed. “However, I would like to try as long as he’s still alive. What I do, if I can in this case, will do nothing to Morgan. It only affects me.”

  “Okay. I’ll position myself on one side of Morgan and ask the doctor something about his condition. You can get on the other side of the bed and touch his arm. Does that sound reasonable?”

  “That should work. I only hope it’s successful. I’d really like to give Robert something.”

  Together they walked back in the room, and Ken positioned himself by the doctor while Adam walked to the other side of the bed. Ken asked the doctor something that Adam didn’t hear while Adam touched Morgan’s upper arm. His face turned red, and his shoulders twitched as usually happened when he saw a vision. Ken watched Adam out of the corner of his eye and smiled knowing Adam was seeing something. The nurses immediately appeared at Adam’s side thinking there was something wrong. When one of them touched Adam, he came back to himself.

  “Are you all right, sir,” one of the nurses asked.

  “Quite all right. I just felt a little dizzy there for a second.”

  “Well you sit down here,” she pulled him to one of the chairs in the room, “and let me check your blood pressure. It wouldn’t do to have you passing out in Mr. Morgan’s room.”

  Adam let her put the cuff on his arm and wasn’t the least bit surprised when she reported his blood pressure was normal. She then took his pulse, temperature, and oxygen level and said they were also normal. “I guess you’re okay, but I’d feel better if you sat there for another minute.”

  “Thanks for checking me out and I will rest here for a minute if it’s okay.” Adam didn’t need to rest, but he thought they would expect it, so he sat as requested.

  Ken, Jenny, and Robert waited until Adam thought he’d sat in the chair long enough to satisfy the nurses. When Adam rose, Ken informed the doctor they would return in the morning. Then he asked a nurse where they could get a cold drink. She indicated which hallway to take, and they all exited.

  Miranda waited in another corridor giving her an unobstructed view of the door. She knew what room Morgan had to be in because it was the only one being guarded. She’d been stopped briefly when she came out of the elevator, but she stated she had to take her armload of towels to Mr. Robinson’s room not knowing if there was a Mr. Robinson on the floor or not. She guessed right that the agent wouldn’t know either. The agent glanced at her badge and waved her on. She smiled knowing she had been right. He hadn’t paid any attention to the picture on the ID. She ditched the towels in an empty room and then took up her post opposite the room.

  She was staring directly at Morgan’s room when the agent and his party came out. They held the door open wide enough to allow Miranda to see the only people in the room were a man in a white coat, that she surmised was a doctor, and two nurses. No agents were left in the room. The agent stopped briefly to talk to the agents at the door, and then he and the other three in his party walked directly at her. She didn’t worry when the agent came her way because she k
new no one had seen her when she ambushed Morgan. She calmly stood her ground, and when the agent and his group passed her, she thought nothing of one of the men brushing against her arm.

  Adam had noticed the nurse standing in the hallway and inadvertently brushed up against her as they walked past. The encounter was so brief Adam’s resulting vision was fleeting as well. However, he saw enough to instantly tell him she wasn’t a nurse. He saw her with a gun pointed at the FBI agents at the door. He turned to Ken while pointing at the nurse. “She’s not a nurse. Stop her,” he bellowed hoping the agents guarding the door would hear him as well. They did. They immediately started to pull their weapons, but Miranda was quicker. She fled down the hallway and was through the door to the stairway before anybody could react. Ken directed the agents at the door to hold their positions while he and Robert took up the chase. By the time they got to the stairs, Miranda was already out of sight. “You exit on the third floor and have someone alert security. Maybe they can stop her.”

  “Yes, sir,” Robert said. When they hit the third-floor landing, he exited while Ken continued the pursuit.

  As Ken flew down the stairs, he heard what he thought was a gunshot. When he reached the first floor, he saw the guard he’d sent back down rolling on the floor in obvious pain with a nurse already tending to his wound. Nevertheless, he ran over to the guard.

  “She went out front. You might…still be able to catch her. Go.” The guard was struggling to stay alert.

  Ken paused for only a second to pull out his gun and was out the door in another second. He saw no movement. He stopped, breathing deeply as he surveyed the parking lot. A car pulled into the parking lot, but he saw nothing else. Two hospital guards came out and shouted for him to put down his gun. He pulled his ID wallet out of his jacket with his other hand and tossed it to the closest guard. That guard nodded to the other one, and they both approached Ken.

  “What’s going on, sir?” he asked giving Ken back his ID.

  “Someone who looks like a nurse tried to reach Morgan in the ICU, and she shot the agent by the door.” He passed his gaze from one to the other. “You go that way.” He said to one and pointed. “You go around that way. Holler if either of you sees anything. And watch it. This is probably the woman who shot Morgan and the FBI agent.”

  “Yes, sir,” they said in unison as they set off in the directions Ken had indicated.

  Chapter 51

  Miranda had dropped down between two cars that hid her from the sight of anyone standing by the front door. She peeled off the nurse’s gown and took her gun back out of her behind-the-back holster. She rose up only enough so she could see the guard coming in her direction. She thought he’d pass her by without seeing her, but she was wrong. He was three cars away when he spotted her kneeling between the vehicles. He pulled his gun. “You there! Stay where you are!” he bellowed in his most forceful tone—the one that usually turned miscreants into jelly.

  The other guard and Ken heard him yell and they both hurried to join him. Miranda raised her silenced gun and fired in one smooth motion. The bullet caught the guard in the middle of his forehead. He went down without a sound except for the crunch of his head hitting the asphalt. Miranda instantly began moving away from where the body fell. She ran in a crouch to keep her body as low as possible while still covering the distance between herself and where her car was parked.

  Ken heard the soft popping sound of Miranda’s silenced gun, and the familiar sound indicated what had happened. The sound of the guard dropping to the ground confirmed that knowledge. He only knew the general direction of the shot because he’d seen the guard turn toward Miranda and fall after she shot him. He ran in the guard’s direction keeping his eyes peeled for any movement. The other guard was coming as well.

  Miranda slipped slightly on some oil as she ran in her crouch. She grabbed the first thing at hand to stop her from falling completely. As she reached out for the car’s rear-view mirror, her head flashed above the hood of the car next to her.

  Ken happened to be looking in that direction as he scanned the parking lot. “Over there,” He shouted and pointed so the other guard would know which direction to go. They both hurried from their opposite directions to close in on the fleeing Miranda.

  The agent and the hospital guard were far enough away from Miranda that she thought she would probably have enough time to reach her car. She wasn’t wrong. When she arrived at her car, she raised up only enough to open the car door and slip inside. She had already pulled the key from her pocket, and she breathed a sigh of relief as the engine started immediately. She screeched out of her parking spot sideswiping the car in the parking spot next to hers. She increased her speed until she reached the street. She sideswiped another vehicle as she plowed her way onto the busy street. This slowed her down slightly, but within a second she had buried the accelerator on the floor and was flying down the street on her way to freedom. At least she would be free until Donati found out she’d failed again. She could probably count her remaining days on the fingers of one hand. She would have to be vigilant to spot whoever came to take care of her under Donati’s orders. Her best bet was to go underground and disappear. Fortunately, her brother could help her do that. She had protected him in grade school when the bigger kids picked on him until they learned his sister was meaner than they were. From that time on, the bully’s knew not to mess with Miranda’s little brother. They renewed their harassment when she went on to middle school leaving him behind. Then he grew bigger and stronger until he was able to take care of himself. Yes, she knew her brother would be able to help her go so deep even Donati’s henchmen wouldn’t be able to find her. At least she had to hope that was true.

  With a sinking sense of self-worth, Agent Ken Jackson watched her drive away sideswiping two cars as she did so. His conscious mind told him he hadn’t let her escape, but none-the-less he felt guilty. They had stopped her from getting to Morgan, but she had put down one of his brethren as well as the hospital guard. He had to assume she was the one who had also killed the FBI agent when she tried to kill Morgan. He shook his head as he walked to where the hospital guard had died. The other guard walked up. “I assume that was our assassin playing demolition derby.” He pointed to the street where several other cars had stopped to check on the vehicle Miranda hit when she flew out of the parking lot.

  “Yes, I’m sure it was,” Ken sneered swallowing the bile that had backed up in his throat. “Can you see to your partner? I’ll tell the front desk about the accident. They should send someone out to check if anyone’s hurt.” He pivoted heading back to the hospital.

  By the time he got back in the hospital, Robert, Adam, and Jenny were waiting in the lobby.

  “What happened?” Robert asked.

  Ken explained what happened and then turned to Adam. “Well, what did you get up the room?”

  Adam stared at Ken vacantly and breathed a low moan. “Not much I’m afraid. I did confirm Morgan was the one who accepted the baby from Jenny, but we already knew that.” Adam glanced at Robert who suddenly looked like somebody had shot him in the foot. In fact, he thought he had lost his best, and maybe only, chance to find out the truth about who killed Molly. His only hope was if Morgan could last the night.

  “Maybe I can try again when we come back tomorrow. I may have more luck.”

  Robert brightened slightly. “Don’t take it personally. We all knew it was a faint hope at best. At least we got Mary Beth back.”

  “There is that,” Adam admitted.

  “Wait here,” Ken said turning to the hospital. “I’ll get them to send someone to the street, and I’ll be right back.”

  “Roman here,”

  “Roman, it’s Miranda.”

  Roman Yarborough was surprised. He hadn’t heard from Miranda for several years. He hated that they’d grown apart. He still owed her a lot from his time in grade school. He might not have survived it without her help. They had also been close in high school when it became his
time to be her protector although she seldom needed it. She was generally able to take care of herself. “Miranda! Where have you been and where are you now? What’s wrong?” He’d heard the stress in her voice even though she had tried to disguise it.

  “I’m in LA but I screwed up Roman,” she breathed with a shaky voice.

  “You?” She had been a member of the same profession he belonged to and had been killing even longer than he had. She’d never failed to carry out an assignment. “I don’t believe it. Explain.”

  “Not only did I screw up, I screwed up on an assignment Donati gave me.” She still couldn’t believe she’d missed Morgan’s heart. Maybe the wind…

  “Surely not you,” Roman interrupted her self-recrimination. “And for Donati?”

  “That’s right. I tried to take out Harold Morgan and, according to Donati, I missed his heart and nicked his aorta instead.”

  Roman already knew of the attempted assassination but didn’t realize it was Miranda who had tried to kill Morgan. His network of contacts was almost as extensive as Donati’s, but they’d missed that part of the story. The underground network passed news like this around the same way a grapevine passes rumors in thousands of small towns all across America. Sometimes part of the story got lost, modified, or expanded upon. “So you’re the one who tried to take out Morgan.” Harold Morgan had been father to both of them. He had beaten both of them or their mother whenever he got liquored up, but the last straw came when their mother found Morgan in their daughter’s room when Miranda was twelve. She made him leave Miranda’s room, and immediately packed herself and for both of the kids, and the three of them were gone before morning. As they left the house, Roman spit on his father, who was passed out on the couch with an empty bottle on the floor. Their mother remarried and, although the kids were already in high school, her new husband adopted them. Thus, they both had the last name Yarborough, not Morgan.