Waters’ face turned red and he bared his teeth as he shook my pistol in my face.
“Herb, at least tell me what you think of my Browning.”
Waters gathered his composure. He paused for a second, realizing he hadn’t actually looked at the gun since picking it up from the floor. He took that opportunity now. “Nice. Very nice. I’ll do you the honor of killing you with this exceptional handgun.”
He chambered a fresh shell, purely for effect, and put the gun to my head.
“What about Harris?” I asked, trying to buy time. “He’ll put you in jail for murder, in addition to all your other crimes.”
Waters lowered the gun and laughed out loud. “You fool. You’re in over your head. Don’t you know Harris is dead? Actually, I sent Jefferson to kill him, but somebody else got him before he had a chance. Jefferson saw them carrying his headless body. Now, without you two to question the hospital sale, I can be rid of this place in a matter of months.”
My knees nearly collapsed at the news of Harris being decapitated.
Farok’s assassins must have got him.
I looked at Keyes. Tears were in her eyes. She knew how savage they were.
I took a deep breath and said to Waters, “Before you can sell the hospital, you’ll have to expose the changes that transferred hospital ownership to you.”
“Why? There’s no grand announcement to be made, Scott. Some minor alterations appeared in the charter over a ten-year period, nothing all at once. It’s all legal and will endure court scrutiny.”
Waters put the gun to my temple. I quickly made a statement I couldn’t substantiate but tested on a hunch. “Herb, I know you ordered the killing of Cabot Barnes and Quinton Jolly to shut them up. I know you had Dr. Carey killed — and that young cop at my office, too — in order to frame me. I’m the only one who’ll stand up to you. You’re so damned insecure. You always were. I also know that you’re helping Al Qaeda launder money, and now maybe ISIS, too. You’re playing both sides to build your little empire. You’re going to be exposed as a traitor.”
Waters’ face turned red. He shook the gun in my face. “You’re lying! You don’t know any of that shit!”
“Who injected Valium into Dr. Carey’s neck? Was it Brightman? That’s my guess.”
“Right man, Dr. James, wrong drug. He hit him with succinyl-choline, a drug that can’t be discovered and is deadly. But I knew about your stash of Valium. Brightman even carried a bag of hospital Valium that he poured in the cabinet with your stock. And you acted guilty by trying to hide it all. You spilled a little, but Brightman threw a couple handfuls more on the floor after you left.”
He motioned to Jefferson, who held me upright. Waters smashed me with his fist, punching my face, abdomen, and groin. I absorbed the blows and spat blood on Waters. Waters picked up a three-foot section of a broken, half-inch water pipe, and approached to beat me further. Using Jefferson behind me for support, I arched my back and kicked with both feet. Waters went sprawling against the wall. He lay there, stunned.
Keyes kept looking at her phone.
Waters shook his head, calmed himself, then stood. All the stalling had given me just enough time to work through the plastic bands on my wrists. They were just about to go. I gave a hard twist of the wrists, broke free from Jefferson, and punched Waters as hard as I could. He fell back, badly dazed by the blow. Keyes grabbed for her phone. Jefferson slapped it from her. With all the strength I could muster, I lifted the battering ram from the floor and slammed it into Jefferson’s chest. It knocked him against the wall. He shook himself and smashed his huge fist into my shoulder. I fell to the floor on top of Keyes.
Jefferson grabbed me by the collar and lifted me until my head touched the ceiling. The ceiling was constructed of slip-in panels of aluminum. The edges looked sharp. As Jefferson stepped back to throw me into the wall, I yanked out a metal panel and swung it wildly, slashing Jefferson’s arm.
Bulky muscle pushed through the six-inch cut in the tight skin covering his arm. He tried to throw me against the wall, but, weakened by the deep cut, there was not enough force in his arm.
I fell to the floor.
Enraged, Jefferson screamed, “Enough of this. Now you die!” And went for the kill.
He raised his foot to stomp on me, but I rolled to the side and the foot crashed to the floor. I reached for the pipe Waters had dropped and slammed it into Jefferson’s ankle. A jagged edge, protruding from the pipe, cut deeply into his leg. For the first time in the fight, he screamed and his face twisted in pain.
Jefferson hopped on one foot and then fell to the floor.
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
Michelle paced the floor of the barn, continually looking at her watch. She kept the launch control remote in her hand. Thirty minutes earlier, Celena had informed her that the control center had been discovered, but she still hadn’t confirmed that Alpha Charlie was at the site. Things were in a holding pattern.
Omar Farok was visibly agitated as his Learjet 60 flew over the vast Dismal Swamp on the Virginia-North Carolina border. The muscles in his jaw worked and sweat beaded on his forehead.
He called Quasart. “Celena must be with Waters at the drone control center. Use the bomber now and blow it up. Launch the first missile to strike one minute after the bomber detonates.”
“But why do we need the missile if the bomber is—”
“In case the bomber fails, we will still achieve our objective.”
“You want to kill Celena along with Alpha Charlie?”
“Yes! Kill them both!”
“But I thought you and Celena—”
“I said, send the bomber! And the missile! Now!” Farok bellowed.
“Yes, sir.”
Quasart texted Farok: BOMBER ON THE WAY TO CELENA’S LOCATION. ARRIVAL IS 3:37 pm. MISSILE TO LAUNCH AT 3:36 pm for 3:38 STRIKE.
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
Brightman shook his head and opened his eyes. As he slowly sat up, he brushed away blood from a bullet wound that had creased his scalp and knocked him out. He stood and shook his head. He was still dazed, but sensed Celena was in danger and entered the RV.
“Zahar! Help me!” Keyes screamed when she saw him. “Get my phone! It’s in Waters’ hand.”
Joshua Zahar Brightman stepped toward Waters.
Waters called out, weakly, “Zahar, I pay your salary, not Celena. Kill her. And the doctor!”
Brightman paused. Waters had paid him well for eliminating Carey, Fowler, Jolly, and Barnes. But now Farok was his boss, and Farok paid ten times what Waters did. As Brightman lurched for the phone, something slammed his kidney. Zahar turned to face Jefferson.
For a brief moment, the two giants stood face to face, their heads nearly touching the ceiling. Then Jefferson threw a body block. The entire Emergency Disaster Unit reacted by rolling with the huge men. Brightman raised both arms and threw the huge football player back to the other side. The mobile hospital lurched back with them. I fell to the ground.
Jefferson was not fazed. Ignoring his badly injured ankle, Jefferson locked arms with Brightman, spun around, and yanked the huge blond back across the RV. The entire Mobile Hospital squealed under the strain. The room rolled and equipment flew into the air, crashing all around.