The Proteus Cure

by Wilson, F. Paul

  And then he hung up.

  Didn’t expect that, did you, you shit.

  Paul’s heart thrashed against the wall of his chest like a wounded animal. He’d just taken a monumental gamble.

  Whatever Gilchrist had planned hinged on Paul’s caring about his son. But if Paul didn’t care, then it became a whole new game. Gilchrist would have to rethink, regroup, and that would give Paul time to get to Tethys.

  As he grabbed his coat, a small bag of McDonald’s cookies fell out. He was starving and if his blood sugar got any lower, no telling where his moods might go. As he snatched them up and ran for the door, the phone began to ring.

  •

  Bill stood in speechless shock. Rosko hadn’t waited for a response.

  “Rosko?”

  A dial tone.

  He hung up on me! What the hell—?

  What kind of man hangs up on someone holding his son? All right, technically not his son anymore, but a boy he’s raised for thirteen years. What kind of cold-hearted bastard was he dealing with?

  Bill glanced at the kid, saw his eyes flutter open, then close again. He was coming out of it. Shen still stood by him. Fucking lioness protecting her cub.

  And what had Rosko said about Proteus? Where had he heard that name? Even if Kaplan had spilled the beans about the process, no one but the family ever called it Proteus. Not even Sheila knew.

  He ran his fingers through his hair, hard, pulling at it. How could he know?

  “How!” he screamed.

  Shen was looking at him as if he’d lost his mind.

  “Doctor Gilchrist, you are all right?”

  Some assassin he’d turned out to be.

  “Fine. I’m fine. Rosko’s phone must have cut out. I’d better call him back.”

  As Bill redialed he tried to think of a way to save face with Shen and regain the upper hand. He looked from Shen and the kid to the leaded window. Rain. Heavy rain eroding the Tethys campus drop by drop.

  Rosko answered on the second ring.

  He sighed. “You again, Swann? What now?”

  Again Bill was taken aback. How could this joker act like this? He had his boy for God’s sake! This was not a time to be acting the wise-ass tough guy.

  Acting … yes, maybe it was all an act.

  “Don’t hang up on me. Rosko. If you do, I will kill the boy.”

  Wait … what was that sound? Crunching? Chewing? Was this guy eating? Was it that small an issue to him that he could be snacking while his son’s life hung in the balance?

  Bill banged his pen on the desk. Christ!

  “Try to bluff me again and he’s gone. If that doesn’t matter to you, then let me know.”

  Nothing. At least the chewing stopped.

  “Say something, Rosko.”

  “It matters. What is it you want, Swann? My silence? Is that it? You want me to stop looking into Proteus?”

  Bill didn’t have an answer for him.

  What do I want?

  He wanted Rosko to come here so he could kill him. Not the right response though. What to say, what to say …

  “You keep throwing out the name Proteus. I don’t know where you heard it, but trust me, it encompasses so much more than the sliver of what you know. It’s an important therapy that will save millions of lives. It shouldn’t be stopped. The future of mankind is at stake here. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t want to hurt you or your son. Hurting is not what I’m about. I took an oath.”

  “Yeah, I know. First, do no harm right?”

  “Yes, exactly. Do no harm. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

  “But you did. You killed the Green woman and Kaplan and probably Silberman, then you framed me. Why the hell should I trust you?”

  Good point.

  Bill felt a buzz in his breast pocket and nearly jumped off his chair. The cell phone vibrated always startled him. He pulled it out and looked at it.

  Abra—home.

  Third time she’d called this morning. He didn’t have time for her right now. He hit the ignore button and replaced the cell in his pocket.

  “You have to trust me because I have your son. You don’t have a choice.”

  “So you’re admitting that you killed those people?”

  Stupid question. He knew damn well—

  The phone! He realized that the whole conversation was being recorded on IV’s answering machine. God, what an idiot he was. Bill pulled the phone cord tight, wrapping it around his fingertips as he tried to recall everything he’d said since Rosko picked up. Had he admitted anything? Jesus! Of course he had. Said he’d kidnapped his son and was going to kill him, and he’d given his location. If Rosko took that to the police …

  Had to bring him in, then Bill could call back and use the machine’s “erase-all-messages” option.

  Someone shoved his shoulder. He looked up to see Shen, pulling the cord off Bill’s finger.

  “You are all right, Doctor Gilchrist?”

  Bill nodded, glad for the jolt back to reality. He stared down at his purple fingertip. It burned as blood flow returned.

  He needed to shake up Rosko—gamble on his paternal instinct.

  “You want to know if I have him? You want to know if he’s still alive? You want to hear his voice? How about hearing that voice scream in pain?” Bill snapped his fingers to Shen. “Wake the kid and break his arm.”

  But Shen shook his head. “No sir. No, I cannot do that.”

  Shocked, Bill jammed his hand over the receiver’s mouthpiece.

  “What?”

  “I cannot do that. I am sorry, sir. No disrespect but I will not hurt the boy in any way before I talk to Jiù-zhù-zhe.”

  Shen looked away and stood in front of the kid. A barrier.

  Oh for Christ’s sake, Jiù-zhù-zhe, Jiù-zhù-zhe.

  As Bill glared at Shen he remembered Rosko. He put the receiver to his ear in time to hear him begging.

  “Please, please don’t hurt him! I’m begging you! I’ll come in.”

  Bill had to smile. “So, you do care.”

  “Yes. I do.” Rosko’s tone turned cold, menacing. “If you’ve hurt him I’ll—”

  Bill laughed. “You’ll what?”

  “I know who you are, Gilchrist, and if you’ve got kids of your own … a little Biblical justice will be in order. And in case you don’t know what that means, the phrase an eye for an eye should ring a bell.”

  Bill swallowed. How long had he known his identity? Did Sheila know? Robbie … April … dear God.

  No! He couldn’t let Rosko turn the tables.

  “Half an hour, Rosko, or the kid goes swimming.”

  He hung up and turned to find Shen dissecting him with his eyes, scrutinizing every move.

  Bill reached into his drawer, pulled out his lockbox. A key from his ring opened it and he removed a small .32 caliber revolver—loaded. He slipped it into his coat pocket. The instant Rosko stepped through that door—blam!—he was dead.

  Then what? Kill the boy? Might even have to kill Shen. This was out of control with no one to rely on but himself.

  His life’s work was not going to fall apart because of some ex-con cable installer and that overzealous slut Sheila.

  “Get the kid into the tunnels! Lock him in the monitoring room. Then we’ll go talk to my sister.”

  Shen looked at him, analyzing him. Probably thought he’d lost it. But Bill didn’t care. He hadn’t gone nuts, but someone had to get things under control. Let Shen Li judge all he wanted. He wasn’t long for his world. But for now Bill needed him. If nothing else, he knew the man would protect him.

  Shen lifted the unconscious boy into his arms and walked down the hall toward the elevators.

  The cell phone buzzed again and Bill flinched. He reached in and hit IGNORE. He didn’t have to look to know it was Abra. What did she want? He had no intention of taking Shen to see her.

  Abra relied on him to take care of things and that was exactly what he was doing. When it was
all fixed, he’d call her back.

  •

  Paul ran through the deluge in blind panic. If only he’d been able to hold up his bluff. But how, when someone invited you to listen while your son’s arm was snapped? And worse, he still didn’t know for sure if Coog was alive, if Coog’s light was still out there, still burning.

  One thing he did know was that he had to get to Tethys before Gilchrist could harm Coog.

  Paul’s anger was focused now, and just as cold as before.

  He looked at his watch. He was due at 8:50.

  I’ll be there in fifteen, Gilchrist. And then you and I will have a nice little chat.

  He jumped into his Explorer and turned the key, but it didn’t start. It whined but wouldn’t catch. Wet wires. Had to be.

  He began to shake. Oh, no. Not now. Not now!

  He kept trying, and on the fourth go round the engine caught and roared to life. Paul rested his forehead on the steering wheel and allowed himself one sob.

  When the engine had warmed, he threw it into gear and headed for Tethys.

  He’d known about the rain, of course, but lack of a TV or radio had left him unprepared for the flood. The streets were churning streams of water, running clear when he started out but turning muddier and muddier the closer he got to Tethys. The water forced him to cut his speed. Couldn’t afford to drown his engine now.

  Sheila!

  He’d been so focused on Coog he’d all but forgotten about her. If Gilchrist had abducted Coog, what had he done to Sheila?

  He pulled out his cell phone and turned it on. Fuck the police. Fuck giving his position away. The last thing he needed was to be stopped by the cops and hauled off to jail, but he bet they now had their hands full with flood-related problems.

  He speed-dialed her cell number and waited.

  “Paul?”

  Relief poured though him like sunlight.

  “Sheila! You’re okay? Where are you?”

  “At the hospital. It’s crazy here. Most of the staff can’t get in. We’re keeping things going with a skeleton crew. But shouldn’t you be calling from a land line?”

  How did she know he—? Oh, right. Her caller ID.

  “I’m past caring about that now. Gilchrist has Coog.”

  “What?”

  “He’s Swann.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “You know? Then why didn’t—?”

  “I wanted to tell you last night but I couldn’t risk it.”

  Paul sighed. “Wouldn’t have made any difference. But he called the IV line this morning. He’s kidnapped Coogan and wants to meet with me.”

  “It’s got to be a trap, Paul! Don’t go!”

  “Don’t have much choice. He said if I don’t show up he’d kill him.”

  “Wh-where are you meeting him?”

  Paul opened his mouth to reply, then quickly shut it. If he told her the Admin building, she wouldn’t be able to stay away. She’d run through the tunnels and do something crazy, like confronting Gilchrist to talk some sense into him.

  But Gilchrist was out of control. No talking sense into that man now.

  “At a motel.”

  “Which one?”

  Think fast. He chose a cheap trysting spot on the edge of town.

  “The Starlight.”

  “The Starlight? Why on—?”

  “I don’t know. But don’t go doing something foolish like rushing out there. This is my fight. I’ll take care of it. You stay there where you’re needed.”

  “But Paul—”

  “Can’t talk now. I’m running into deep water. Bye.”

  No lie about the water. He’d entered a particularly deep intersection. He heard the water sloshing in his wheel wells.

  The engine coughed …

  … sputtered …

  … died.

  •

  As the elevator descended to the tunnels, Shen wished he had refused this mission and had already left. But he would do that soon, in a few hours.

  Dr. Gilchrist had promised to take him to Jiù-zhù-zhe so that he could hear the boy’s fate from the woman herself. But Shen knew he had been lying. He could see from his reaction that she knew nothing about it. Shen had been a fool. Jiù-zhù-zhe knew nothing of any of the murders. All along this had been the doctor’s fight, his plan to eliminate threats to Tethys. And he had used Shen’s devotion to his sister to carry it out.

  Shen gritted his teeth. No one makes a fool of Li Shen.

  He looked down at the boy, a fallen angel.

  But as the elevator doors began to slide open this angel became a writhing, kicking, biting, screaming demon who twisted from his grasp. He landed on his feet and turned to run. Shen grabbed his shoulder but the wet fabric of the shirt slipped from his grasp. The child whirled and kicked at him. Shen lurched backward with pain blazing through his right knee as the boy ran down the tunnel crying for help.

  Shen leaped in pursuit but his injured knee slowed him, his limp making him unsteady on the puddled floor. As he rounded the first turn he stuttered to a halt. An empty tunnel stretched before him. Impossible. The boy could not have run that fast.

  Shen looked around. He had to be hiding, but—

  Then he spied a doorway labeled Authorized Personnel Only. Shen smiled. He had to be in there. The boy had probably never been down here. And since the passages weren’t labeled, he would have no way of knowing which way to the hospital—might not even know he could reach the hospital from here. So he’d done what Shen would have done: Got out of sight as soon as possible.

  Too bad for him that he chose that door. It dead-ended down toward the river. He was headed away from all possible help.

  Shen opened the door but did not immediately step through—in case the boy was waiting with another kick. But he found no one. He listened and heard splashes echoing from somewhere ahead—the boy, running away. He followed them along the dim corridor.

  This tunnel ran slightly downward and curved to the left. Since it led nowhere useful, it had not been renovated. Dark mold and mildew coated its stone walls; lighting consisted of naked incandescent bulbs widely spaced along the ceiling.

  The splashing grew louder, but this was not the sound of footsteps. More like a small waterfall into a pond. Shen picked up his pace, but slowed again when he rounded the bend and saw the water.

  A shiny dark pool reflected the overhead lights, stretching away to where a stream gushed through the ceiling and fed it. Shen felt his chest clench. The overflowing river had broken through the ceiling. A small break, but who knew how long it would stay small? If the ceiling should collapse many people could be killed.

  Where was Coogan? Though Shen could not see past the waterfall, he knew that was where he had to be hiding. Cold and frightened, no doubt. Soon he would start to make his way back. Shen could wait until he reappeared and grab him then, but that might take a long time. He had to warn Dr. Gilchrist of the leak.

  He took a step into the water, then snatched his foot back. Cold! No more than a few degrees above freezing. Clenching his teeth he stepped in again and kept going. The cold penetrated to and through his bones. His ankles felt as if someone were driving dull spikes into them. His calf muscles began to cramp.

  How had the boy done it? Fear must have given him a will of iron. Shen would lose great face if his resolve proved to be less than that of a teenage boy.

  The water deepened, reaching almost to his knees as he approached the waterfall. The stream seemed larger and louder than when he’d first seen it. No doubt because he was closer now. He hoped.

  He angled to his left to skirt the icy cataract. The boy had to be just beyond it. Shen hadn’t been in this shaft in a while but his memory told him that it ended not too far ahead. As soon as he got past—

  Movement to his left, a flash of something slashing toward his head. As Shen raised his arm to ward off the blow he saw the boy’s terrified face as he swung a length of two-by-four like a baseball bat. It struck Shen’s for
earm and shattered into a cloud of splinters and sawdust.

  Termites.

  The boy hesitated for a heartbeat, then turned to run. Shen grabbed him by the shoulder and this time his grip held.

  “You have twice caused me pain, Coogan Rosko.” He began dragging him back toward the dry area of the tunnel. “A third time and I will cause you pain. I am not here to hurt you.”

  “Yes, you are!” His voice shook and his eyes puddled with tears. “You’re supposed to kill me. I heard Doctor Gilchrist say so.”

  Shen smiled again. “How long were you playing as the possum?”

  He had spunk, this boy. He had not curled into a ball and awaited his fate. He had fought back. Shen liked that. He hoped Fai would grow up to be as spirited.

  “Long enough!”

  “Did you hear him tell me to break your arm?”

  The boy nodded.

  “And is your arm broken?”

  The boy shook his head.

  At last they reached dry floor, yet the deep ache in Shen’s legs eased slowly.

  “Then you must trust me to keep you safe until I take care of things.”

  As they began to round the bend, Shen glanced back and saw that the water level in the tunnel had risen. The waterfall seemed wider … and louder.

  •

  Sheila was furious. Why wasn’t Paul answering her calls?

  She started to pace, rubbing her upper arms. She had a wool sweater under her white coat but still she felt cold.

  Tethys … the once idyllic medical center had become a hellhole.

  Because of Bill Gilchrist, of all people. But how could she stop him? She’d never get out to the Starlight through all the flooding.

  And then a thought struck. The Starlight … Paul had hesitated before saying that was where he was meeting Bill. Why? Because he hadn’t wanted her to know? Or because the meeting place was closer?

  No way it would be Bill’s house. That left his office. Tethys was his home turf, and virtually deserted today.

  Without a word to anyone, she left the lounge and headed for the elevators. The wards were quiet.