MAYA HOPE, a medical thriller - The Dr. Nicklaus Hart series 1

by Timothy Browne, MD

  “I’ve heard Maggie talk about this place,” Anna said. “It’s kind of a counterpart to the Hope Center. I think they even share supplies sometimes.”

  “I guess we should check. Pull over to the curb,” Buck directed Miguel.

  Buck stepped out of the passenger side of the van and walked into the one-story building.

  Miguel looked back over the seat at Anna and smiled. “I’m sorry that Dr. Hart is missing, but I’m glad you’re still here.”

  Because his attention was distracted, Miguel missed the FOCO SUV drive through the intersection in front of them. Buck did not see it either, as he returned from the hospital with his eyes on the ground and got back into the van. “No gringos,” he told Anna and Miguel. “Let’s head back to the hotel.”

  CHAPTER 48

  * * *

  Waking Up

  Nick held his face to stop his pounding head. His brain was foggy, as he tried to remember what happened. Had somebody crashed his beloved Porsche and left him trapped in the mangled wreckage? His mind reeled through time and space. He was afraid to open his eyes.

  He touched his swollen nose and eye socket. His medical training revived, and he palpated his nose to see whether it was just swollen or actually broken. Then his consciousness drifted away, and he went limp. His unconsciousness won the tug-of-war. Catalepsy, a seductive mistress, pulled him deeper into its well of nothingness. Floating in a void, he saw himself in his doctor scrubs examining a patient’s face. Happy to be out of his body, feeling no pain, he beat the air and swam closer. There he was, examining the patient’s face, only the face was his face.

  * * *

  A cold compress stunned his forehead, shocking him back to life like Lazarus rising from the dead. Bright light penetrated his eyelids, and loud noise drummed his ears. His head was aching. He wrapped his head and ears in his arms for safety. Slowly, his consciousness regained control. He lowered his arms and felt his body parts. He was lying flat on his back. His head still ached, and so did his neck and forearm.

  “Dr. Hart?”

  He heard a voice. His eyelids fluttered. He opened his right eye, but his left was swollen shut.

  “Dr. Hart?”

  That voice again. Calling Dr. Hart. He was Dr. Hart.

  When he was able to focus, he could see kind, dark eyes, and a woman’s face. It didn’t make sense.

  “Can you hear me, Dr. Hart?”

  He listened and watched her lips mouth the words, his neurons trying to make a connection between sight and sound.

  The woman adjusted the compress on his head. She put a hand against his cheek. “Would you like a sip of water?”

  Nick tried to speak, but only moaned and nodded.

  She slid her hand under his head and neck and lifted him high enough to sip from the glass. He noticed that she was a small woman, petite, that was the word. Out of the corner of his right eye, behind the woman, he saw a taciturn Asian man with a pistol in his hand. Nick’s brain clicked. His heart pounded, and bells of danger tolled in his ears.

  Recognizing the terror in his eyes, the woman calmed him, “I’m not going to harm you, Dr. Hart. At least not any more than I already have,” she smiled.

  The woman hurt me? But she’s so tiny.

  He studied her smile. It was a gentle smile, in stark contrast to the sudden wracking pain that ravaged his face and head.

  “Are you the one who hit me?” he choked.

  “I’m sorry, Dr. Hart. But you were in my bedroom, and you were holding my gun.”

  Still hazy, Nick scanned the room. It came back to him—where he was, what he was doing. His heart thumped. He tried to sit up, but with surprising force, woman pushed him back down.

  “Please don’t get up yet,” the woman said firmly.

  Nick’s mind and body surrendered. He was in no condition to resist.

  “What time is it?” he asked, his mind trying to find a lifeline to reality.

  The women ignored his question. “What were you doing in our bungalow, Dr. Hart?”

  “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I should not have come in here. I was…” He stopped, too tired to explain. “Wait,” he started, “how do you know my name?”

  “We have your wallet, Dr. Hart. My partner ran your name through our database. We need to know what an orthopedic surgeon from Memphis is doing in Guatemala snooping through our bungalow.”

  “Database? Who are you? Are you with FOCO?” He asked the last question without thinking, and even in his muddled mind, he saw the woman react to the acronym.

  “No, Dr. Hart, we are not from FOCO. We are from the South Korean Anti-Terrorist Agency.”

  Nick didn’t follow politics, but he was pretty sure South Korea was one of the good guys.

  * * *

  Buck, Anna, and Miguel sat at the lakeside table at Jalapenos. Not even the beautiful day could offset the fear that crept over them.

  “I’m not sure I’ve felt this helpless in a long time,” Buck said.

  Anna understood what a profound statement that was from a man who had endured so much from combat blast wounds, both physically and mentally.

  “Anyone have other ideas?” Buck sighed. “Sitting here doing nothing is killing me.”

  Anna and Miguel looked down and shook their heads.

  The sun reflected off the lake as it started to slip into the horizon. The waiter asked again if they were sure they didn’t want anything to eat or drink. Of course they didn’t.

  Buck’s phone sat in the middle of the table and startled them all when it vibrated and rang.

  “It’s Maggie,” Buck told them as he looked at the caller ID. He picked it up. “I’m sorry, Maggie, nothing yet.” He didn’t mince words. “Yes, we are beside ourselves, too. I think we just have to wait.”

  Anna heard Maggie’s concern, even though she couldn’t hear exactly what she was saying.

  “Well, sure, we could use the moral support. We’ll be there to pick you up.” Buck ended the call. “She’s joining us first thing in the morning.”

  * * *

  Nick’s head still pounded, and when he was able to sit up, he got some relief from the Advil the woman gave him. Something in her eyes made him trust her, that, and she reminded him of Maggie—she had jet black hair pulled in a tight bun, dark eyes filled with understanding, and a soft and beautiful complexion. She also had Maggie’s strong spirit.

  “Here. Drink some of this. The sugar will do you good,” she said, handing him a can of soda from the minibar.

  Nick sipped the soda. It tasted good and lubricated his tongue. He told the woman and the man all he knew about FOCO and why he was in her bedroom. The woman’s partner remained silent; he sat erect on the other side of the room, his gun tucked in an under-arm holster.

  “Again, I’m really sorry,” Nick apologized. “I had no business coming into your room. But I was so desperate for answers.” He smiled, trying to diffuse the situation. “And I’m sorry I got blood on you.” He pointed to blood splattered on her linen pants. He was still trying to comprehend the fact that this bantam woman had knocked him out cold.

  He swallowed some soda. “Would you at least tell me your names?”

  “Is there anything more you need to tell us?” the woman asked, again, ignoring his question.

  What does she want to know?

  “What about your friends? We saw you with them at the restaurant. We thought you might be from the U.S. government with the elections here this coming week.”

  Nick laughed. “Funny, that’s is what our taxi driver thought.”

  The woman did not smile.

  “Can’t your database tell you all this?” He didn’t mean to sound exasperated although she had given him no choice. Then he realized he had not even thought of Buck and Anna until she’d mentioned his friends. They would be worried sick. “I’m sorry,” he apologized for sounding rude. “I know this all sounds crazy to you, but Buck is a good friend who brought down stuff for surgery, and Anna is just
a kid doing good work here in Guatemala. Can we at least call them and let them know I’m okay?”

  When she didn’t respond, Nick took a deep breath and said, “Look, take my phone and look at the pictures of the last few days, and you will see what we’ve been doing.”

  Nick’s iPhone was on the table next to the man. The woman turned to the man and nodded. The man picked it up and turned it on. When they had searched his pockets for identification and found the phone, they had turned it off. If he were from the CIA, they would instantly be tracked.

  “The security number is three four five seven,” Nick told him.

  The man tapped the numbers and looked through the pictures. He paused at one and stared at it for a long time, trying to decipher what he saw. He turned it toward the woman. Nick caught a look at what they were staring at. It was Isabella standing beside him with her not-yet-corrected clubfeet.

  “That’s Isabella, one of the kids we fixed,” Nick said. It felt like ages ago.

  Fascinated by the pictures, the woman took the iPhone, scrolled through a few more, and handed it back to the man. She turned to Nick with her lips pursed, nodded slightly, sighed. “My name is Miss Kim, Katelyn Kim.”

  * * *

  Buck’s phone rang again. It was probably Maggie, but Anna and Miguel saw shock on his face when he looked at the phone.

  “Oh, my God.” Buck answered the phone. “Nick?”

  Anna and Miguel shouted with jubilation, then shushed each other so they could hear the conversation.

  “You okay? Where are you? Hang on. I’m going to put you on speaker.”

  Buck, Anna, and Miguel could tell something was not right. Nick’s voice sounded hoarse and nasal.

  “Guys, I’m okay,” Nick insisted. “I just ran into a little problem.”

  “Where are you?” Buck demanded.

  “Really. I’m okay. A little banged up, but okay. I’m at the Island of Flores Hotel. Miguel, I’m sure you know where that is. We are in the last bungalow on the right…bungalow number…”

  Buck heard a woman’s voice fill in the blank. “Thirty.”

  “Did you get that? Bungalow thirty.”

  “Nick, who’s with you? Do we need to call the police?”

  “Buck, no police. Please. Really, it’s all okay. You know me—I kind of bumbled into a situation. Please just come and get me.”

  CHAPTER 49

  * * *

  North versus South

  Sergeant Buck did not wait to be invited in. He threw open the door of bungalow thirty with such force, it banged against the wall as he charged in. Katelyn squared off with him and blocked his pathway, totally disarming the big warrior.

  Buck regained his composure when he saw Nick sitting in a chair beyond her with a bloodied face and swollen eye. “What the hell is going on here?” Buck shoved the woman out of his way.

  “Stop.” It was the first word that Nick had heard Katelyn’s partner utter.

  When Buck looked to his left, he saw a man with a pistol leveled at his head. He stopped in his tracks.

  Nick saw the muscles in Buck’s arms and shoulders coil like a trapped snake about to strike. He shouted, “Buck, no!”

  As the words left Nick’s mouth, Buck’s hand smashed down on the man’s hand and knocked the pistol to the floor. In the same instant, Buck grabbed the man’s throat and lifted him up off the ground.

  Buck felt something like a lightning bolt hit his throat and collapse his trachea—causing him to instantly release the man and drop to his knees. Katelyn Kim had struck Buck’s adam’s apple with a spear hand thrust, almost simultaneously grabbed the pistol, aimed it at Buck’s head and yelled, “That’s enough!”

  In the doorway, Anna and Miguel stood in shock, their hands raised in surrender.

  “Buck, stop.” Nick yelled as he saw Buck’s fists tighten again.

  Buck and the Asian man glowered at each other. Buck, still on his knees, looked at the woman. She stood at eye level with him, and she backed out of his reach.

  “Buck, really, it’s okay,” Nick persuaded.

  “Well, you sure don’t look okay!”

  “Buck, this is Katelyn Kim and this is, uh…” Nick realized that he didn’t know the man’s name.

  “Mr. Kim,” Katelyn said. “No relationship.”

  “They are from the South Korean Anti-Terrorist Agency. The good guys. And I think they have information for us.”

  Buck looked warily at the two. “Well, someone help this ol’ soldier up then. It’s one thing that’s hard to do with these worthless legs.” He gestured to Anna and Miguel.

  * * *

  “Now tell me again how you got knocked out by a girl?” Buck hooted. They were all in a good mood after finding Nick.

  “I will, only after you tell me how you were brought to your knees by the same,” Nick retorted. They all laughed again, including Mr. Kim.

  Both Nick and Buck admitted they had never been hit so hard by a woman in all their lives. Nick thought that Katelyn blushed. With her fine Korean features, she resembled a princess more than a warrior.

  When the dust settled, the Kims had invited Nick and his team to dinner at the hotel. Nick was still woozy from his concussion, but a frozen pineapple, banana, and mango smoothie hit the spot.

  Katelyn changed the subject. “We have been investigating FOCO for a couple of years now. In fact, we were in their office in Seoul last week,” she said, poking at the fish on her plate with a fork. “There have been rumors that they are connected to North Korea, but we have never been able to find the connection. If there is one, we suspect that even the current leaders of FOCO in South Korea don’t know. The FOCO people have been more than willing to cooperate. But the money trail always ends in Beijing, and the Chinese, of course, give us no further information.”

  She took a small bite of fish, dabbed her mouth, and continued.

  “The problem is, FOCO has been doing many good works around the world, so no one is anxious about making accusations. We heard about North Korean activity here in Central America with some of the elections, and we knew that FOCO had a project here in Guatemala, so we were sent here last week to investigate. So far, we have found very little, except for this man we caught in my bedroom.” She smiled at Nick.

  “I’m afraid I have told you everything we know,” Nick said. “I honestly don’t know if there is any connection to the absence of pregnancies in the area and FOCO. We could take you out to one of the villages tomorrow, and you could see for yourselves. Buck, you still have that map?”

  Buck pulled the rumpled map from his pants pocket, and Nick unfolded it on the table. He pointed to El Zapote. “We were here yesterday. Like I told you, this is where we saw three men in a FOCO vehicle, but didn’t get a chance to talk with them.”

  He grimaced at Miguel who then looked at his shoes.

  “There is another village over here called Cruce Dos Aguadas that we could all visit. I kind of wanted to see another one of the villages anyway,” Nick continued.

  “Oh, Nick, I meant to tell you,” Buck put in. “Maggie is coming here tomorrow morning.”

  Nick shook his head “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “I’ll let you tell her that when we pick her up.” Buck smiled.

  “Miguel, would you be able to take us all?” Nick asked.

  “I think so, Dr. Hart. Cruce Dos Aguadas is a little more isolated than El Zapote, but I will ask my uncle to make sure the road is not washed out.”

  * * *

  Suk stirred the coals in the fire pit outside their rental. Large embers of burned paper rose to the sky. He had purged every correspondence, record, and receipt he could find. But he could not bring himself to burn his scientific notebook. He would keep it at least for now.

  Someday, the world will know I helped Professor Kwon.

  It would be the only thing left. It would be his legacy.

  “Boss, you want a beer?” Hwang yelled from the back deck.

&n
bsp; “No.”

  “What time we leaving tomorrow?”

  “I want to get away by eight. You think you mongrels can drag yourselves out of bed that early? I want to sweep through all the other villages before we leave. We should get departure instructions any day.”

  “Cho and I are going into town. Wake us up when you’re ready to go in the morning.”

  CHAPTER 50

  * * *

  Last Trip

  Maggie was not happy when the team met her at the airport the next morning. She could hardly look at Nick’s battered face. The purple bruising had spread around both his eyes and nose. She stood on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “You look terrible. But I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “I had to adjust my nose last night in the mirror. I thought I was going to pass out again. How does it look?”

  “Like a dog pile,” Buck said. “Does your face hurt?”

  “Uh—”

  “Well, it sure hurts me.” Buck made everyone laugh.

  The Kims stood off to the side as everyone hugged Maggie.

  Greetings aside, Nick said, “Let me introduce you to my plastic surgeon.” He pointed to Katelyn.

  She bowed politely to Maggie and extended her hand. “I am sorry.” She bowed again.

  “From what I understand, he deserved it,” Maggie replied, “and now I know I can count on you to keep him in line.” She gave Katelyn a quick hug.

  Katelyn turned to Mr. Kim. “This is my partner, Mr. Kim.”

  Nick wondered if he had a first name, but since the man had hardly spoken a word, he decided not to ask.

  “The Kims want to see one of the villages we told you about last night on the phone, Cruce Dos Aguadas,” Nick told Maggie.

  “Sure you’re up for a road trip?” she asked him.

  Nick pulled a bottle of Advil from his pocket and shook it. “Let’s go.”

  * * *

  Miguel had borrowed his uncle’s seven-passenger van. It was roomier than his and higher off the ground for a more comfortable ride. His uncle had told him the road was passable unless there was a lot of rain. But now, it was clear and sunny.