by David McLeod
‘You took away his right to choose, and signed his death warrant,’ Malone snarled.
‘Don’t look at it that way. I just helped him make the right choice. Hell, at one point it looked like he was going to pull through; he had a slight remission, but rather than continuing with the proven method of treatment, the bastard ingrate got his bimbo secretary to download files and went in search of Hoxsey and Rife copycats and other snake oil salesmen — no wonder he died desperate and alone.’
‘If it’s all a load of rubbish, why are you going to such great lengths to hide it from the public?’ Scott butted in.
‘In the interest of public safety, and for the good of all concerned, of course,’ Paxton smiled slyly.
‘Enough of all this, none of it is any of your concern now. Elwood will be along to give you a safe trip to the afterlife, but don’t worry if he’s held up; this chiller is airtight so you’ll probably make your own way there.’ Paxton smiled at his own joke and stood up to leave.
‘Before you go, I’ve got to know one thing? If you were in Cain’s position would you have used orthodox medicine?’ Scott asked trying to see if this whole thing was all in vain.
Paxton thought for a second before saying.
‘Fuck no!’
Then he slammed the big chiller door shut and locked it.
Chapter 54
Even in the pitch dark it didn’t take Malone and Scott long to get out of their restraints. Scott pounded on the metal door while Malone checked on Joshua. To his limited medical experience, the kid’s pulse seemed strong, and although outwardly groggy, he was — as Scott had said — fine.
‘HELP. Is there anyone there?’ Scott yelled as he beat on the door.
‘Save your energy,’ Malone called out.
‘Well, what do you suggest? How are we going to get out of this place?’
‘How should I know, I’ve never been trapped inside a giant fridge before. But I’m sure that your fist on that door isn’t going to get us anywhere.’
Malone thought for a minute, and then began to feel around for the metal racking on the side of the wall. He wrenched at the flattened and tempered metal frame but it hardly gave an inch.
‘Come over here and give me a hand,’ Malone called out to Scott.
‘What is it?’
‘I’m just thinking that if we can break down this shelving we can try to pry the door open, or worst case, we can use it to make more noise than your fist.’
They both put their hands on the base of one of the down beams and on the count of three both heaved at the bar.
Straining under the pressure, they grunted and swore as they pulled at the frame. With leg muscles inflamed and veins almost bursting; the shelving creaked and finally tore away from the wall, loudly crashing to the floor in the oppressive dark. Both Scott and Malone gave an exhausted cheer.
Like blind men, they groped around with their hands trying to select a suitable pole to wedge in the door or beat against the steel chamber wall.
Comfortable with their choices, they moved to the door and felt for its jam. The steel on steel clang rang out as they both dug at the jam looking to get purchase. Clang, clang, clang — nothing. Sweat began to form on the men’s faces as the room started to get warm and clammy. Clang, clang, clang — still no movement into the slight gap.
‘Stop, stop. This is useless and it’s chewing through the air,’ Malone said.
Clang – clang – clang – clang. Frustrated, Scott beat on the door with his pipe. ‘Fuck!’ he yelled.
Both men collapsed to the floor exhausted. He knew it was probably all in his head, but Malone felt that the air was already starting to get thick.
‘I’ve been thinking about my own fridge — surely there must be a vent or something in here,’ Malone said. ‘We’ve just got to find it. Joshua can you give us a hand, please? Rub around the walls until you find a grill or something.’
Slowly and methodically, the three of them stroked the walls in search of a vent; it took them nearly fifteen minutes before Joshua called out from the bottom right corner of the steel cube.
‘Is this it?’
Malone followed his voice and then ran his hand down Joshua’s arm to the small metal cover, the size of a softball. ‘Well done, Joshua, I think that’s it.’
Malone stuck his bar into the small lip and with both hands put his whole weight into trying to get the cap off. The bar bent but the cap remained unmoved.
‘Shit!’ he yelled.
‘Let me have a go,’ Scott said, moving Malone aside.
They both took turns for almost an hour trying and failing to dislodge the vent. Tired and angry they went back to smashing their bars against the walls, fast and loud at first but slowing in rhythm and ferocity as the time clicked by.
They were running out of air and running out of steam, rest breaks were getting longer and longer, and the three of them were struggling to keep their eyes open. Each breath was an effort, and each became shallower until one by one, the three of them fell asleep.
Chapter 55
It was around dawn when the door was unlocked and opened, none of the chiller’s three occupants noticed it happening due to the deep sleep they were in, but their bodies certainly responded to the inflowing oxygen they craved. Like a fairytale kiss from a prince, the tiny molecules of life-giving oxygen slipped into their nostrils and into their lungs. With each faint breath, their blood became more and more enriched, faint breaths becoming shallow, shallow becoming light, light becoming…
Malone gasped as he awoke; his lungs taking huge gulps of air, he crawled over to the door and shoved it fully open, then went back to the other two. Firstly, blowing life into Joshua, once he was breathing on his own, Malone turned his attention to Scott who was already coming around. Malone dragged the two of them out of the chiller and then collapsed on the ground. He half expected to see Elwood there waiting to attack, but to his relief, the kitchen was empty.
It took them nearly half an hour to get back to some form of lucidity; thankfully, they weren’t in a hurry to be anywhere, but the constant threat of Elwood’s arrival was flashing through Malone’s mind. On the countertop were their wallets and Scott’s smashed cellphone; obviously Paxton had left the items there for Elwood to take care of. The flash drive and car keys were gone. Bastard! Anger built inside Malone as he thought about Paxton.
‘Come on, we need to get out of here,’ he said, and picked up Joshua; Scott trailed closely behind. They followed the corridor out to the front of the facility and had to kick the boards out of the door that had been locked. It felt good to get the early morning Chicago sun on their faces, but more importantly, the fresh air into their lungs.
They stood either side of Joshua holding his hands as they walked towards the main road to flag down a cab. The Yellow Taxi gods were smiling on them, and it didn’t take long for one to appear.
‘Where to?’ The happy cabbie asked, and then frowned as he looked at the state of his passengers.
Malone thought about the question; where did he want the cabbie to take them? He looked over at the other two, yes they’d had a hard night, and yes they should go to the hospital and get checked over, or to the police to get Paxton arrested, but rage was bubbling inside Malone’s gut. He wanted to get at Paxton, and he wanted to get at him now.
‘The American Medical Association, North State and Grand,’ he announced; Scott nodded his approval.
The three of them looked like vagrants, so it came as no surprise to Malone when the security guard stopped them the moment they entered the building. ‘We’re here to see Paxton,’ Malone yelled.
‘I’m sorry sir, but that won’t be possible,’ the guard said quietly.
‘We’re not leaving here till we see Paxton,’ Malone yelled again. He was intentionally causing a scene.
‘I’m sorry sir, that will not be possible,’ the guard repeated.
‘The bastard tried to kill me; get him down here, or… In fact no, get
your president, Sheila Stratford, down here — I demand to see Sheila Stratford,’ Malone boomed.
The guard got on the phone, and once connected spoke quietly into the mouth piece, nodded, and then hung up.
‘If you’d like to follow me, please, I’ll take you to see Ms. Stratford.’
For the second time in under twenty-four hours Malone was in the AMA express elevator. This time though, with no other members of staff inside, it went straight to the thirtieth floor without stopping. Sheila Stratford was there to greet them when the elevator doors opened. She told the guard she would be fine, and he gave the three vagrants one last look before pressing the ground floor button and leaving them to it.
Although Sheila Stratford was a fierce looking woman dressed in a dark power suit, she did her best to give a pleasant smile and ushered them into her office.
‘Please take a seat. Can I get you anything?’
Malone was having none of the niceties.
‘Yes, you can get me Gerard Paxton’s head on a stick!’
‘I’m sorry, but that won’t be possible…’
‘Why is everyone saying that? I want him here and I want him here now!’ Malone interrupted.
‘If you’d let me finish — unfortunately, Mr. Paxton committed suicide in his home last night.’
The three of them sat down slowly, mouths aghast.
Sheila Stratford ordered food and drinks for them, and Scott and Malone went on to tell her all about what had happened. She listened intently and took notes where necessary. When they had finished, she sat back in her chair looking shocked and overawed.
‘Wow, that’s quite a huge story,’ she said. ‘So you say the memory device was taken by Paxton, did you keep another copy of files for evidence?’
Scott and Malone looked at each other.
‘Unfortunately not,’ Malone lied, knowing the information was downloaded to Daniel’s computer.
Sheila bobbed her head as she let the story sink in.
‘Murder, abduction, cover ups, corruption, and conspiracy — like I said that’s quite a story; you’ve given me an awful lot to follow up on, gentlemen. Now, is there someone you need to call? Can I offer the services of our company transport to get you back to California?’
‘You don’t believe us, do you?’ Scott blurted out.
‘On the contrary, gentlemen, we take all complaints like this seriously; and as I told you, I will personally follow up on this. But you have to understand that these are huge allegations, they put our whole organization into question. I must first look into my late colleague’s affairs; if there is anything out of the ordinary in Mr. Paxton’s dealings, I will certainly find it. I’m sure you understand that although I believe all you say is true, without physical proof, we need to be cautious. I will get the police to search Mr. Paxton’s home for the device, and then get my most trusted team to go through his internal records. Does that sound like a good start for you? I will, of course, keep you updated with what we find.’
Malone and Scott nodded.
‘I want to thank you for bringing this matter to my attention, and rest assured that I will get to the bottom of it. Now, if you’ve finished here, I will have my driver take you where you need to go.’
In the elevator, Malone felt cheated; he had desperately wanted revenge on Paxton, and all he got was a suicide and a disbelieving look and tone from the AMA’s president. He looked down at Joshua and smiled.
‘At least we’ll get you back to your mother,’ he said, ‘and we get to fly in a corporate jet.’
Joshua started to cry.
‘What’s the matter, Joshua?’ Scott asked.
‘You told me my mother doesn’t want me anymore.’
Malone stared at Scott and he went beet-red.
‘I’m sorry, Joshua, but I lied to you. Your mother loves you very much. I was wrong to lie to you. Sometimes people make things up; I hope you forgive me.’
Joshua looked up at Scott, smiled, and nodded.
As the elevator reached the ground floor, Scott turned to Malone and said, ‘with Paxton gone and no sign of the flash drive, I guess we won’t have to worry about Elwood.’
‘Yeah, I’ve been thinking, it must have been him that opened the chiller door, I doubt Paxton had a change of heart, and Elwood was the only other person who knew where we were.’
Scott nodded.
‘Look, is our deal still in place? Joshua is back with you, will you let me go?’
Malone thought for a moment, and then nodded.
‘I think I’ll disappear around here for a while. I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused, and I hope I’ve gone some way to redeem myself — I never meant for any of this to happen.’
Malone shrugged his shoulders and shook Scott’s hand.
‘Take care of yourself,’ was all he said.
Scott hugged Joshua and disappeared out of the building.
Only a moment after Malone, Scott, and Joshua left Sheila Stratford’s office, Elwood entered through a side door.
‘Lucky for them I read your report in time, Elwood, killing Malone would have caused far too many problems for the corporation. It turns out he’s more high profile than we first thought. It’s good you got my memo in time, and were able to open the freezer door … I take it you heard all they had to say.’
‘Yep, loud and clear. Do you believe it when they say they haven’t taken a copy? Elwood asked.
No, I think Malone’s lying.
So, do you want me to finish the job, boss?’
No, killing Malone would be messy; as I said, he’s too high-profile. Just do what you have to do to get the data back.’
Chapter 56
Malone had called Erin from the plane, and after a brief and obviously sub-standard explanation as to why they were on a corporate jet inbound from Chicago, came her shrieks of joy and elation that he had Joshua in tow, and that he was safe.
A moment after the plane’s stairs hit the tarmac, Erin sprang into the cabin and swooped her son up in her arms hugging and kissing him for all she was worth.
‘My beautiful boy! I’ve missed you so very much; let me look at you.’ Tears of joy streamed down her face as she turned him this way and that, and then pulled him in tight again.
‘Thank you, thank you, thank you!’ she said as she looked at Malone. ‘I can never repay you for what you’ve done…’
Embarrassed and exhausted, Malone squeezed past them and got off the plane. It seemed like everyone was there to greet him. Taylor rushed up and gave him a big hug and kiss, Daniel slapped him jovially on the back, and Detectives Rodriguez and Logan moved forward and applauded.
Malone knew he had a lot of explaining to do, especially to Erin, but right now he just smiled and took a bow.
Sheila Stratford called a meeting with her two direct reports Tuck and Lattimore. The three of them sat around the boardroom table and discussed what had gone on.
‘Sorry guys, but Paxton had to go.’ Stratford began, the other two nodded understandingly.
‘So it wasn’t suicide then?’ Tuck asked, already knowing the answer.
Sheila went over the report she’d received from Elwood in her mind.
As usual, it was thorough and detailed. At her request, he’d waited at Paxton’s house for him to show up. Obviously celebrating the safe return of the files and the imminent demise of Nalder and the three in the chiller, Paxton was late getting home and any resemblance of sobriety had long since abandoned his body.
The experimental drug Elwood used on Paxton was a modified version of Ecstasy and ketamine; it rendered the victim semi-euphoric but susceptible to simple manipulation. Applied nasally, the drug was fast-acting and after thirty minutes, totally untraceable.
From then on the job was simple, he got Paxton to write the note, go to the garage, and cut the flex cord off the electric lawnmower, and then to take a chair from the dining room to the lobby, tie the cord to the first floor banister, climb the chair and loop the co
rd around his own neck — and finally, kick out the chair.
With such a clean and simple job and no spouse or close family to be concerned, Elwood doubted there would be any real form of investigation into the death, but with the bonus of Paxton doing all the work, Elwood had very little to do as far as removing any trace evidence.
Again under her direction, Elwood made his way to McKinley Park and to the teaching facility. He unlocked and opened the chiller door and left the building as silently as he’d entered, letting God and nature decide the fate of the three occupants.
‘He was out of control; I think losing Cain hit him harder than he let on,’ Stratford said pausing for a moment to quietly honor the dead.
‘But when I found out he wanted Elwood to take out Nalder — aka our organization’s conscience — that’s when he really over-stepped the mark. There’s no way I’d let that happen — sure she can be troublesome at times, but if she thinks we’re clean, then we know we’re covered. After all, she comes to me for guidance with all her major concerns.’
The three of them laughed.
‘Now, on to happier things, who are we going to pick for Paxton’s replacement?’
‘He was fishing around a couple of our guys,’ Tuck said ‘but I have to say they’re not particularly good candidates.’
‘They’re bad, but not bad enough; I think we should transfer them over to Nalder, keep her busy,’ Lattimore added. Again the three of them laughed.
‘I think we should take a look outside the organization, let’s draw up a shortlist from our friends in big Pharma — we’re sure to find someone who fits the bill there,’ Stratford joked. ‘But maybe the list wouldn’t be very short though.’