The patient was in his mid-fifties and corpulent. But he looked happy and healthy. He cinched up the tie on his bathrobe and padded over to the club chair by the bed. He sat down with a satisfied sigh.
“What’s the occasion?” he asked, smiling at his guests. “This is more company than I’ve had the whole time I’ve been here.”
“How are you feeling?” Jack asked. He grabbed a straight-back chair and sat down directly in front of Horace. Warren and Natalie lurked just outside the door. They felt reluctant to enter the room. Laurie went to the window. After seeing the group of soldiers, she’d become progressively anxious. She was eager to make the visit short and get back to the boat.
“I’m feeling just great,” Horace said. “It’s a miracle. I came here at death’s door and as yellow as a canary. Look at me now! I’m ready for thirty-six holes of golf at one of my resorts. Hey, any of you people are invited to any of my places for as long as you want to stay, and it will all be on the house. Do you like to ski?”
“I do,” Jack said. “But I’d rather talk about your case. I understand you had a liver transplant here. I’d like to ask where the liver came from?”
A half smile puckered Horace’s face as he regarded Jack out of the corner of his eye. “Is this some kind of test?” he asked. “Because if it is, it’s not necessary. I’m not going to be telling anyone. I couldn’t be more grateful. In fact, as soon as I can, I’m going to have another double made.”
“Exactly what do you mean by a ‘double’?” Jack asked.
“Are you people part of the Pittsburgh team?” Horace asked. He looked over at Laurie.
“No, we’re part of the New York team,” Jack said. “And we’re fascinated by your case. We’re glad you are doing so well, and we’re here to learn.” Jack smiled and spread his hands palm up. “We’re all ears. Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
“You mean how I got sick?” Horace asked. He was plainly confused.
“No, how you arranged to have your transplant here in Africa,” Jack said. “And I’d like to know what you mean by a double. Did you by any chance get a liver taken from some kind of ape?”
Horace gave a little nervous laugh and shook his head. “What’s going on here?” he questioned. He glanced again at Laurie and then at Natalie and Warren who were still standing in the doorway.
“Uh-oh!” Laurie suddenly voiced. She was staring out the window. “There’s a bunch of soldiers running this way across the square.”
Warren quickly crossed the room and looked out. “Shit, man. They mean business!”
Jack stood up, reached out, and grasped Horace by the shoulders. He leaned his face close to the patient’s. “You are really going to disappoint me if you don’t answer my questions, and I do the strangest things when I’m disappointed. What kind of animal was it, a chimpanzee?”
“They’re coming to the hospital,” Warren yelled. “And they all have AK-47’s.”
“Come on!” Jack urged Horace while giving the man a little shake. “Talk to me. Was it a chimpanzee?” Jack tightened his hold on the man.
“It was a bonobo,” Horace squeaked. He was terrified.
“Is that a type of ape?” Jack demanded.
“Yes,” Horace managed.
“Come on, man!” Warren encouraged. He was back at the door. “We got to get our asses out of here.”
“And what did you mean by a double?” Jack asked.
Laurie grabbed Jack’s arm. “There’s no time. Those soldiers will be up here in a minute.”
Reluctantly, Jack let go of Horace and allowed himself to be dragged to the door. “Damn, I was so close,” he complained.
Warren was waving frantically for them to follow him and Natalie down the central corridor toward the back of the building, when the elevator door opened. Out stepped Cameron with his Beretta clutched in his hand.
“Everyone halt!” Cameron shouted the moment he saw the strangers. He grabbed his gun in both hands and trained it on Warren and Natalie. Then he swept it around to aim at Jack and Laurie. For Cameron, the problem was that his adversaries were on either side of him. When he was looking at one group, he couldn’t see the other.
“Hands on top of your heads,” Cameron commanded. He motioned with the barrel of his gun.
Everyone complied, although every time Cameron swung the gun toward Jack and Laurie, Warren approached another step toward him.
“No one is going to get hurt,” Cameron said as he brought the gun back toward Warren.
Warren had gotten within range of a kick, and with lightning speed his foot lashed out and connected with Cameron’s hands. The gun bounced off the ceiling.
Before Cameron could react to his gun’s sudden disappearance, Warren closed in on him and hit him twice, once in the lower abdomen and then on the tip of the nose. Cameron collapsed backwards in a heap on the floor.
“I’m glad you’re on my team for this run,” Jack said.
“We got to get ourselves back to that boat!” Warren blurted without humor.
“I’m open to suggestions,” Jack said.
Cameron moaned and pushed himself over onto his stomach.
Warren looked both ways down the hall. A few minutes earlier, he’d thought of running down the main corridor toward the rear, but that was no longer a reasonable alternative. Halfway down the corridor he could see some nurses gathering and pointing in his direction.
Across from the elevators at eye-level was a sign in the form of an arrow that pointed down the hall beyond Horace’s room. It said: or.
Knowing they had little time to debate, Warren motioned in the direction of the arrow. “That way!” he barked.
“The operating room?” Jack questioned. “Why?”
“Because they won’t expect it,” Warren said. He grabbed a stunned Natalie by the hand and propelled her into a jog.
Jack and Laurie followed. They passed Horace’s room but the chubby man had locked himself in his bathroom.
The operating suite was set off from the rest of the hospital by the usual swinging doors. Warren hit them and went through with a straight arm like a football running back. Jack and Laurie were right behind.
There were no cases under way nor were there any patients in the recovery room. There weren’t even any lights on except for those in a supply room halfway down the hall. The supply room’s door was ajar, emitting a faint glow.
Hearing the repetitive thumps on the operating room doors, a woman appeared from the supply room. She was dressed in a scrub suit with a disposable cap. She caught her breath as she saw the four figures hurtling in her direction.
“Hey, you can’t come in here in street clothes,” she yelled as soon as she’d recovered from her initial shock. But Warren and the others had already passed. Perplexed, she watched the intruders run all the way down the rest of the corridor to disappear through the doors leading to the lab.
Turning back into the supply room, she went for the wall phone.
Warren skidded to a stop where the corridor formed a “T.” He looked in either direction. To the left at the far end was a red wall light indicating a fire alarm. Above it was an exit sign.
“Hold up!” Jack said, as Warren was preparing to dash down to what he imagined would be a stairwell.
“What’s the matter, man?” Warren questioned anxiously.
“This looks like a laboratory,” Jack said. He stepped over to a glazed door and looked inside. He was immediately impressed. Although they were in the middle of Africa, it was the most modern lab he’d ever seen. Every piece of equipment looked brand new.
“Come on!” Laurie snapped. “There’s no time for curiosity. We’ve got to get out of here.”
“It’s true, man,” Warren said. “Especially after hitting that security type back there, we’ve got to make tracks.”
“You guys go,” Jack said distractedly. “I’ll meet you at the boat.”
Warren, Laurie, and Natalie exchanged anxious glances.