by Dana Mentink
She got out of the car on shaky legs. What would it be like to face Mrs. Guzman and tell her she was the reason Julio Guzman was dead? Her palms were icy as they entered the lobby and checked in with the nurse. “You’ll have to wait a few moments,” she said. “Mrs. Guzman is taking some medicine right now. Have a seat for just a minute.”
They walked to the serviceable upholstered chairs, next to the windows that overlapped the parking lot. Then she saw him. Tank walked across the lot, his hands shoved into his pockets, head down as if in thought.
Angela was out the door in a moment. “Tank,” she said, running to him.
He started, tensed and then relaxed. “Hey.”
Dan jogged up behind them. “Thought you were on your way to Mexico.”
“I am. Cora is already there. I had to tell my mom I’d be gone for a while.” His face crumpled. “She’s upset. She doesn’t understand that I have to do this to keep Cora safe. I had to keep things vague, you know?”
“We know about Gruber’s transplant scheme,” Angela said.
Tank’s eyes widened. “Now you see what kind of a man he is. I changed my mind about handing over my kidney, and he’s been threatening me ever since. When I tried to bring you in to get some evidence...” Tank sighed. “I thought I could make things right. I’m sorry I involved you.”
“We are going to get the proof,” Dan said. “But if you and Lila went to the cops—”
“The cops?” He shook his head. “I’ve learned my lesson. Torrey wants me to turn myself in because he needs my kidney for his son. He’s not going to protect me from Gruber. He’s going to hand me over, and they’ll probably take both my kidneys while they’re at it. Now that Lila’s running, too, and Ralph Pickford is nearly dead, there’s no one to prove what Gruber’s been up to.”
“But—” Angela started.
He held up a hand. “I’m leaving, but as long as you’re here, I got something to say.” He shot her a quick look and rubbed a hand across his face. “My brother thought the world of you, Chaplain, and I gotta say he was right. You put yourself on the line for me and Cora, and I can see why Julio did the same for you.”
Angela felt the burn of tears as she took the hand he offered. It was a precious sentiment, one that could not come from anyone else but this man, Julio’s brother. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He shrugged. “My brother was my hero, and I’d do anything for him. I wish I could have told him that once before it was too late.”
“He knew,” she found herself saying. “He told me all the time about you. He loved you, too.”
Tank’s mouth twisted in a smile. Then he straightened, looking at his phone. The color ebbed from his face. “Oh, no.”
“What is it?” Dan said. “What’s wrong?”
Tank gulped. He looked from his phone to them. “Gruber’s won,” he groaned.
“Tank, what is it?” she said, gripping his hand.
“I have to go.”
“Go where?”
His eyes were dull and defeated. “I have to find Harry Gruber and give him what he wants.”
“No,” she said, clutching his hand.
He smiled at her. “Got no choice. I guess it’s my turn to be the hero.”
In a moment he’d jerked his hand free and sprinted away.
TWENTY-ONE
While Dan was trying to decide if he should wrestle Tank to the ground and prevent him from leaving or try to talk some sense into the guy, Tank charged out of the lot. Dan nearly caught up, but as he closed in Tank whirled around and punched. The blow connected solidly with Dan’s cheekbone, snapping his head back and sending him over backward. As he hit the asphalt, Dan glimpsed Tank sprinting across an intersection.
Dan was getting to his feet when Angela caught up. He winced, his left eye pulsing with the first throb of pain.
She offered a hand. “You’re going to have a shiner.”
“Sucker punch.” Dan got up unassisted.
She scanned the street for any sign of him. “What made him act like that?”
“I wish I knew. Maybe he got word that something happened to Cora.”
They jogged back to Dan’s truck just as Marco pulled up, Donna in the passenger seat, craning to see. “Was that Tank we just saw running?” she said. “What happened to your eye?”
Marco grinned. “Looks like he took a left hook.”
Dan glowered. “He surprised me, and he’s going to pay for it when I catch up with him.”
“Just like two boys on a school play yard,” Donna said.
“No. We’re gonna glove up and I’ll flatten him properly in the ring,” Dan snapped.
“Let me know if you need some pointers,” Marco said.
“I can handle it myself, thanks,” Dan huffed. “Can we focus on the bigger picture here? Tank’s going to hand himself over to Gruber. Gruber wants his kidney.”
Donna gasped. “So that’s Gruber’s racket. Organ harvesting?”
Angela nodded.
“We’ll see if we can run him down before he does something stupid,” Marco said. “He’s heading west.”
“We’ll check the clinic and his house.” Dan opened the passenger door for Angela, and she climbed in.
With a nod, Marco drove off.
“Okay,” Dan said. “You want to talk to Mrs. Guzman before we go?”
She shook her head thoughtfully. “If we don’t figure out where Tank was headed, she might be about to lose her second son.”
Dan did not answer, but he had the uncomfortable churning in his gut that made him want to agree. He pushed the car faster than the speed limit and they made it to the clinic, where there was no sign of Tank or anyone else. The parking lot was empty, the sun mellowing into dusk. His cheekbone throbbed.
Angela chewed her lip. “Did he go back to his house first?”
They drove there next, but the house was still and quiet. There was no answer to their forceful knocking.
“The hospital?”
Dan shook his head. “I don’t think Patricia would want to risk Tank talking to her there. Too public.” Yet to remove his kidney, she would have to have access to a surgical room with the necessary equipment, and a nurse to assist. She could not manage that in the hospital without attracting attention.” He felt Angela’s questioning glance. “She has a place to do all this secretly. And after she’s removed the kidney, she’d need to transplant it quickly into Lance before it’s no longer viable. Where could she...” The thought struck him like a hammer blow. He wheeled the car in a tight turn, tires squealing.
Angela clutched the door. “What?”
“Underground. That has to be it. The clinic basement.”
“But how would she get in there with Lance and Tank undetected?”
He floored the gas, and the truck roared back to the clinic. “The clinic was a library at one time, remember? And the hospital was an old college campus. It was replaced years ago with something much more high tech, but the infrastructure still remains. There must have been a system to move books back and forth as needed between the two buildings before the college built their own library.”
He handed her his phone. “Get Jeb on the speakerphone. He’s in my contact list.”
She did, and, in a moment, Jeb was on the line.
“Is there a connecting tunnel between the hospital and the clinic?” Dan demanded.
Jeb snorted. “Most people start with a hello.”
“Urgent, Jeb. What do you know about it?”
“I knew a student who researched the whole thing when he was working on his thesis. Most of the tunnels were filled in.”
Dan’s stomach plummeted. Wrong. He’d been off the mark, a doctor, not a detective.
“But two decades ago
there was an underground passage that connected what used to be Cobalt College with the Cobalt Library, which is now the clinic.”
Angela leaned forward. “Is there any way that passage still exists?”
“Not sure. I can phone the kid who did the paper and ask.” He hesitated. “Funny thing, you bringing this up.”
“Why funny?”
“The kid mentioned that he’d worked for Harry Gruber’s trucking company while he went to school part-time about a year and a half ago, before Harry started the clinic. Harry was real interested in his research, the kid said. Said he wanted to buy a building that had some history to it.”
Dan’s mouth went dry. “Can you call him and find out where the access point is on the hospital grounds?”
“Sure. When?”
“Now,” Dan said. “Right now.”
He could practically hear Angela’s mind spinning as he pulled up at the hospital.
“So Dr. Lane moves her equipment and patients via the tunnel to the clinic so she can keep the surgeries secret and care for the patients after the fact.”
“I think so, which means that she has some medical people helping her.”
“Plus Torrey.”
“He’s a cop. How far would he go to keep this a secret?” Their eyes met, and she answered her own question. “He’d do anything to make sure his son will get his kidney.”
“Anything,” Dan agreed.
“If Tank called Dr. Lane, or Gruber himself, he may already be at the clinic or on his way.”
They waited an interminable thirty minutes until the phone buzzed.
“Kid says the passage is attached to the unused utility building on the northeast corner of the property. That help?”
“Sure does. Thanks, Jeb.”
“Don’t suppose you need the help of an old man and his dog?”
“We could use a lookout,” Angela piped up.
“On my way,” he said.
Marco and Donna joined them in the hospital parking lot. They started on foot across the darkened hospital property. The utility building was locked at every door.
Angela smacked her hand on her thigh in frustration. “We’ve got to get in there.”
“Would this help?” Jeb smiled, holding up a set of keys as Pogo scampered over to give them all a sniff.
Angela grinned. “You’re amazing, Jeb.”
“Nah. I just happen to know Norm. He’s the oldest janitor on the hospital staff. He’s been here for fifty years and he’s got keys to everything. Guy never throws anything away.”
“I owe you one,” Dan said. “Would you stay here, out of sight, and text me if anyone comes this way?”
Jeb beamed. “Yes, indeed. This is the most excitement I’ve had in decades. But Dan—” he gave him a stern nod “—try to remember that you’re a doctor, not a superhero, huh?”
“What do you mean? I’ve got a cape and everything,” he said.
They let themselves into the utility building and began their search.
“Here,” Marco called, pointing to a metal door on the far side of the building. “It’s this one. Locked.”
Dan tried all the keys on the ring until one slid home. “Gonna have to buy Norm a cup of coffee.” Pulling the door open, they were hit with a stale smell and silence.
“All right,” Marco said. “Donna and Angela—”
“Are not going to wait here while you manly men search, so don’t even suggest it,” Donna said, arms folded.
Dan shook his head. “We know too much about Gruber. He’s got a great reason to kill us.”
Angela’s determined expression, mirrored on her sister’s face, did not change. “I’m going in there to help Tank. I’ve got to.”
A woman with a mission. He saw fear in her eyes, glimmering there like a star about to fall. And that was courage, he thought with a tightening in his chest, to go forward through the fear, holding tight to faith and pressing on. Courage. He gripped her hand.
“If you’re sure,” he said.
“I haven’t been sure of anything since Afghanistan, but this time I’m certain.”
He raised her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss there. It was the closest she’d allow, the only way he could savor the fleeting connection between them. When he let her go, his body and soul grieved the loss. “All right,” he said, after a breath. “Let’s do this.”
* * *
Angela wished she could have kept hold of Dan’s hand as they headed into the passageway. Her imagination had conjured up a rough earthen tunnel, but this was a neatly tiled corridor with plastered walls and bare electric bulbs hanging from the ceiling every six feet or so. They decided to leave the lights off. Except for their phone flashlights, they were in darkness.
She tried to keep her breathing normal as the walls boxed her in. The ceiling was high enough that Dan and Marco did not have to duck, but still it felt as if there was an unbearable weight above her, sinking lower every moment.
Breathe and walk. One foot in front of the other.
The air was cold, damp.
Marco who was in the lead, stopped suddenly. He pointed ahead and whispered, “Door ten feet ahead. Light showing.”
Light. Had Patricia already had time to get started operating on Tank? It was just under two hours since they’d lost him in the parking lot. Would Tank be able to deliver himself up to her? What had changed his mind? Goose bumps prickled her flesh. And what reason would Patricia Lane have for keeping him alive, a man who could send her, Torrey and Gruber to jail?
Instincts screamed at her to turn back and run the other way, but instead she sped forward, edging through the door after Marco and Dan, her sister right behind her. They emerged into the basement of the clinic. Half of the space was bracketed by sheets of plastic that hung from the ceiling to the floor. Figures moved behind the plastic, eerie blurred shapes dressed in white.
Dan was already moving, throwing a section of the plastic aside, striding in as they scurried to keep up. Patricia gasped, eyes enormous, dropping a surgical instrument on the floor of the makeshift sterile room. Violet, the nurse from the hospital, heaved a sigh as though she’d been expecting their untimely arrival. Tank lay on a table, eyes half-closed, wearing a hospital gown.
“What...what are you doing here?” Patricia said.
“Stopping you from taking his kidney,” Angela said, running to Tank’s side and shaking his shoulders. “Wake up, Tank. You’re not going to do this.”
“Got to save him...for Julio.”
He was babbling. The anesthesia.
Dan shook his head. “Patricia, I understand you’re desperate, but this isn’t the answer.”
“Isn’t it?” She pointed to Tank. “This man can save Lance. His kidney will spare my granddaughter from being orphaned. And he’ll be fine.” Her mouth quivered, voice pleading. “Violet and I have done this many times. It will be fine, and Tank will be paid.”
“No, he won’t, Patricia,” Dan said. “Tank’s threatened to go to the police. Gruber isn’t going to let him walk out of here.”
“That’s not true,” she whispered.
“It is,” he said. “And you are a good doctor deep down. You know you can’t do this.”
“Yes, she can.” Torrey stepped through the plastic, holding a gun on them.
Angela froze, heart pounding.
“Patricia, you’re going to take out his kidney for Lance, just like we’ve been planning for months. I’ll make sure Gruber doesn’t kill Tank. It’s time to help our own.”
Marco shifted back slightly. Donna drew closer to Angela. Dan must have read Marco’s intent. He took a step toward Torrey. “So you see how this is spinning out of control, Patricia? He’s pulled a gun on us. There are four of us here who know the truth, plus
Tank and Lila. Six people. Are you going to kill us all, Torrey? Because I’m pretty sure one of us can get you before Patricia takes out Tank’s kidney.”
Torrey’s grip on the gun tightened. “I know there’s nothing left for me. I’m over as a cop. All I can do now is make sure Lance gets what he needs. He hates me, anyway, so he won’t cry when I go to jail. At least I’ll know I saved his life and his kid will have a daddy.”
Marco slowly reached out a hand toward a small wheeled table. A few inches more and he’d have it.
“But she’s a doctor,” Dan said. “Do no harm. Tank doesn’t want this.”
“Sure he does. Came on his own, didn’t he?”
“What did Gruber threaten him with?” Angela said, rewarded when Torrey’s attention shifted slightly to her. “He was ready to flee the country and then all of a sudden he’s here handing over his kidney?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care. I only—”
Marco made his move, shoving the rolling cart, which shot forward and clipped Torrey in the knee. He reeled backward, and both Marco and Dan were on top of him. Fists and feet slammed into the rolling cart, the operating table, the lamp, scattering utensils. The metal tools clanged to the ground.
Torrey thrashed, refusing to relinquish his grip on the gun.
It seemed as though Marco had secured his wrist when he kneed him in the chest. Dan dove for his arm as the door to the basement room slammed open. Lila staggered in, face ghastly pale, shrieking.
“Where is he? Where’s—” She did not get out the last word as Torrey’s gun fired.
* * *
Angela screamed as the shot exploded through the space. Lila tumbled backward, crashed against the door frame and crumpled to the floor.
Marco snapped out a fist and dealt Torrey a blow to the jaw that knocked him unconscious. While Donna secured the gun, Marco found a roll of duct tape to secure the officer’s hands behind him. Patricia dropped to her knees next to Lila, where Dan was already crouched.