He was presently living in a rented brownstone located not more than three blocks from the harbor. He had a gang who worked for him, dangerous enforcers who didn’t mind breaking the necks of those who bothered their boss. His activities were funded through a wide variety of jobs he took for the various crime lords in the city. He worked for them all, creating weapons of hideous damage for each. The fact that he sold to their enemies as well didn’t deter any underworld boss from doing business with him. He was simply that good at killing people.
Doc Pemberley walked up the stairs to the second story of his home, moving so quietly that the two men assigned to guard a certain door didn’t hear him. Their names were Vince and Coley and they were little more than vicious dogs on two legs. They would have worked for Pemberley for free as long as he kept providing violent entertainment.
Vince’s voice carried a bit more and his words were what had led to Pemberley’s decision to use stealth. "That girl needs to be put down. Did you see what she did to Jake? The guy looked like a prune when he died. It was like every bit of water in the guy had been drained out!"
Coley shifted his weight from foot to foot. He was a good bit shorter than Vince and a lot stockier. "The Doc says she can’t really control it so it ain’t her fault."
"A rabid animal attacks and attacks ‘cause it’s sick in the brain," Vince retorted. "It ain’t really its fault, right? But you still gotta kill it or it’s just gonna hurt more people. Same with this dame."
"The Doc says-"
"I know what Pemberley says! But the man’s got a screw loose and everybody knows it! I like the guy ‘cause he keeps us busy, you know? But maybe this is one time he ain’t thinking straight."
"Gentlemen."
Vince and Coley both froze in place, their heads turning in unison toward Pemberley. He stood very close to Vince, his hands pushed deep into the pockets of his lab coat.
"Boss," Vince said, sounding a bit shaky. Though he was far larger than Pemberley, there was no denying the fear that shone in his eyes. "I want to explain."
"There’s no need," Pemberley replied. "I understand completely."
Vince sighed, looking relieved. "You do? That’s great. I was just saying that I thought maybe you were wrong on this one. Nobody’s perfect, right?"
"Certainly. I obviously made a mistake when I hired you." Pemberley’s right hand slid from his pocket, a scalpel held in his palm. The hallway light flashed off its polished surface. Doc Pemberley swung the weapon with practiced ease, expertly slicing through Vince’s throat in such a way that there would be no hope of saving him. He was going to bleed out right there in the hallway.
Vince’s eyes widened and he reached up with both hands to clutch at his throat. He staggered away, bumping into Coley, who was watching him with a face bleached of all color. Vince tumbled into the railing, his momentum causing him to flip right over it. He fell to the first floor, landing with a sickening thud.
Pemberley reached out and cleaned his scalpel on Coley’s lapel. "Is there anything you’d like to say to me, Mr. Coley?"
Coley blinked, swallowing hard. "I’m sorry?"
"Good enough for now. I don’t brook insubordination. It makes me feel like I can’t trust you. And we should all trust one another, shouldn’t we?"
"You bet, boss."
"Good. Now go clean up the mess downstairs while I check in on Miss Nero."
Coley hurried away, grateful that he wasn’t sharing his partner’s fate. Not today, at least.
Samantha Grace walked slowly toward the brownstone, her heels clicking on the cobblestones. Morgan Watts was right behind her, his eyes glued to the swaying motion of her hips. Though they engaged in constant bantering, there was nothing particularly romantic about their relationship. Morgan would certainly have been open to such a thing but Samantha kept herself at a distance from most men and Morgan wondered if she wasn’t secretly carrying a torch for Lazarus. He hoped not, because he had a feeling that it would only lead to heartache for the pretty girl.
The Chief had dispatched the two of them out here for reasons mostly unknown to Morgan. Gray had simply said that he needed them to check in on the place and that he had reason to suspect that Doc Pemberley or his associates might be making use of the residence. Morgan was familiar with the doctor, having bumped into him on many occasions back in his criminal days. Pemberley had been a strange sort and Morgan had made sure to never spend too much time alone with the man.
"Should we just give a knock?" Samantha asked, standing outside the front door.
"How about you let me do that and you look around the back?"
Samantha gave a pixyish grin. "Don’t you think they’ll be more relaxed if they see me standing here than you? Or are you just worried that little old me is going to get hurt?"
Morgan frowned. "Quit kidding around, would you? Pemberley’s a nasty one. If he’s hanging around this place, we both have to be on our toes."
"Fine, Morgan. You don’t have to be surly about it." Pouting, Samantha began moving around the side of the house, not sparing another glance at her companion. Morgan felt like calling after her but he held his tongue. She was right about him not wanting her to get hurt but he didn’t want to admit it. Besides, he reasoned, Pemberley might remember him. If he did, then Morgan might be able to come up with some explanation for what he was doing there. What would Samantha say? That she was going door-to-door selling cookies?
Morgan was about to knock on the door when he heard a loud thud come from inside the house. It sounded like something very heavy had been tossed from one floor to the next. He tried the door but found it locked and some sixth sense told him that now would not be a good time to alert anyone to his presence. Whatever had happened in there couldn’t have been a good thing.
Taking a step back, Morgan noticed a vine-covered trellis that led to an open second floor window. Quickly glancing around, Morgan made a quick decision. He tested the trellis to see if it could hold his weight and, after deciding that it could, he threw himself into the act of climbing up to the exposed window.
Around back, Samantha heard the noise as well. She froze in place, expecting to hear a scream or shout but when none came, she slowly slid up against the rear door. To her pleasure, she found that it opened easily at her touch and she stepped into the kitchen area. The place was filthy and completely lacking a woman’s touch. The sink was piled high with dirty dishes and flies buzzed about, landing repeatedly on a couple of half-eaten sandwiches left on the counter.
Samantha was made of stern stuff but she had to shove a hand over her mouth when she found the dead body in the foyer. The man was lying face down with a rapidly spreading pool of blood beneath him. He was quite obviously dead but she still bent down to check for a pulse. Finding none, she looked up and saw no signs of anyone else. Had he fallen by accident? She tilted his head to the side and saw that wasn’t the case. His throat had been slashed.
It was then that Coley entered the room, a large carpet under one arm. He’d meant to roll up his friend’s body and dump it into the trunk of his car but he forgot all about that when he came face-to-face with the pretty girl kneeling on the floor.
Samantha stood up quickly, forcing a pleasant smile on her face. "Hello. The back door was open."
Coley grimaced. He didn’t like hurting dames but he knew that Pemberley wouldn’t be pleased if he let the girl go. "You shouldn’t be here," he said as he dropped the carpet to the floor and took a heavy step toward her. "I don’t know who you are but today’s a very unlucky day, girlie."
The big man towered over the pretty young blonde but there was no fear in her eyes as he approached. He lunged for her with two meaty hands extended but she calmly grabbed hold of his wrist and twisted, using his momentum to send him flying head over heels. He landed on his back, the air momentarily knocked from his lungs.