Disturb (24 page)

She grabbed a capsule first.

Rothchilde gave her a disapproving glare. “I was talking to Dr. May.”

Theena knew she must look like hell, and she couldn’t recall a moment where she’d ever felt less sexy. But she’d been manipulating men all of her life, and for the very first time her life depended on it.

Theena smiled as seductively as possible, and brushed up against Rothchilde with a smooth roll of her hips.

“You killed this man, didn’t you Albert?”

Albert met her gaze, trying to look nonchalant. Theena lowered her voice, breathy and soft.

“I want to see it.”

“Really? You’re a fickle one, aren’t you?”

“Just because I want to be on the winning team?” Theena pouted slightly, a move that always worked for her. “You won’t let me share your victory? Share your power?”

She placed a hand on Rothchilde’s arm and caressed it. His face softened.

“Maybe we could try it together.”

Theena nodded, putting the capsule between her lips. She held it there, like a cigarette, teasing. Rothchilde raised a hand and plucked it out.

“Not now. Later. We have other things to do now.”

Theena struggled to hide her relief. Rothchilde turned his attention back to Bill.

“You’re still interested in pushing N-Som through the FDA?”

“You’re still willing to part with half a million?”

Theena eyed Bill. Had Rothchilde actually been able to bribe him? Or was Bill planning something else?

Rotchilde nodded his head. “We’ll give it a try, then. Let’s gather up your things. You know I’ll need to hold you someplace until all the paperwork goes through.”

“I’d want assurances that I’d be released when it happens.”

“Of course. You’re sure it won’t bother you allowing N-Som on the market, after seeing what it did to poor Manny?”

“I’ll live with myself.”

Rothchilde’s mouth twisted. “Yes. You’re good at that, aren’t you? Gather up your things, we won’t be coming back.”

Bill nodded, and as he turned, Rothchilde shot him in the back.

T
he feeling was similar to a muscle cramp, multiplied by a hundred. It hit Bill like a pick ax in the right shoulder, the pain flaring across his back and extending down his arm.

He pitched forward, vision blurring, bouncing on the unforgiving tile floor.

“I watched your extraction procedure, Theena. You’ll be able to do it yourself next time.”

Bill felt a hand on his back, directly on the wound. Theena, trying to stop the bleeding. It amplified the pain and he saw stars.

“No more killing, Albert.”

“Theena, dear, you don’t think he’s really going to approve our drug, do you? He’s just buying time.”

Bill tired to gauge how bad the wound was, but he couldn’t without seeing it. He could breathe okay, and bend his arm. His best guess was the bullet broke his shoulder blade.

“I don’t want you to kill him.”

“You said you wanted to be on the winning team. I’m the winning team.”

Rothchilde held out his hand for Theena. “Come on. You can process his brain and we’ll relive his death together.”

Bill knew it was over, and the thought didn’t bother him too much. His quality of life hadn’t ever been what it was when Kristen was still alive. He didn’t like dying at the hands of a bastard like Rothchilde, but it was probably a better way to go than being hacked to death by David.

Theena met his eyes, and he nudged her, trying to get her to save herself.

She took Rothchilde’s hand, got daintily to her feet, and punched him between the legs.

Rothchilde doubled over, still gripping the gun. Theena launched herself at him, both hands locking on his weapon, kicking frantically at his legs to get it away.

“I’M BACK.”

The voice boomed over the intercom, unmistakable. It infused Bill with a fear that made his pain seem minor. Somehow, David was still alive.

Bill rolled over and saw Theena and Rothchilde topple to the floor, his hand entwined in her hair. Bill managed to pull himself over to them, adding his good hand to the wrestling match for the gun.

Rothchilde was thin, slight, and not much of a fighter. Theena clawed at his eyes and face, and sunk her teeth into his wrist.

He screamed out a slur and let go of the gun.

Bill grabbed it and had a momentary tug of war with Theena, who was too enraged to notice he’d joined the fight.

Rothchilde, both hands free, managed to scramble to his feet. He grabbed a handful of the N-Som Theena had produced, then ran out the door.

Theena managed to pull the gun away from Bill and she fired two wild shots after him, ready to squeeze off a third.

“Save the bullets!”

She stopped, looking at Bill with confusion, and then relief. Without thinking, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, causing him to yelp at the pressure.

Theena relented and hurried to a medical cabinet.

Bill managed to sit up. “David’s still alive.”

“First things first.” She hurried back to Bill with a large metal case, and unsnapped it. Using scissors, she cut away the back of his shirt.

“I’m giving you a shot of morphine first.”

“Not morphine. I need to stay alert. Do you have any Novocain?”

“How about lidocaine?”

“That’ll work.”

Bill felt a prick in his shoulder.

“I KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. YOU’RE IN THE LAB.”

“How long will it take to numb you?”

“We don’t have time to wait. Just do it.”

“This is going to sting.”

She emptied a bottle of alcohol on the wound, and tears squirted out of Bill’s eyes.

“Here, bite this.”

Theena handed Bill a roll of gauze. He’d barely gotten it in his mouth before something sharp went into the bullet hole and began to poke around.

He moaned, his nervous system lighting up like a Christmas tree. Theena dug deeper, and deeper, and then there was a small sucking sound and a tremendous feeling of relief.

“I got the slug. You need stitches.”

“We have to get out of here. Dress it.”

Theena slapped on some cotton pads and taped them to Bill’s skin. The lidocaine hadn’t completely numbed him, but it was taking the edge off the pain.

She helped Bill to his feet. He was woozy.

“Can you walk?”

“Watch me.”

They were halfway to the door when David filled the entrance.

“Hi, Theena. Dr. May. You’ll be happy to know that Manny and I have resolved our differences.”

He swung the ax.

T
heena jumped back. The ax cut the air inches before her face, ripping out a few stray strands of hair that didn’t move as fast as she did. Her butt hit the counter behind her, and David lifted the ax again, his eyes shining with a madness she knew all too well.

“I don’t want to kill you, David!”

Her grip on the gun was tight, certain. David advanced.

She shot him in the thigh, and he folded in half and hit the floor, still clutching the ax.

“Go ahead, Bill! I’m covering him!”

Bill had a moment of uncertainty, then he stepped around David and fled the lab. Theena kept the gun and both eyes on David, following Bill’s route. David’s eyes tracked her every step, a cobra poised to strike. He had one hand clamped over the wound on his leg, but already the bleeding was slowing down.

“We have to get out of here.”

Bill turned for the elevator. She caught his arm, holding him back.

“You need a key card.” Theena fished it out of her lab coat. He eyed her strangely when she offered it to him.

“How about you?”

“I have to contain David. If we leave, so will he.”

“But we’ll be safe.”

“He needs help, Bill. I owe him that.”

The look he gave her was priceless, a cross between bewildered and resigned. He was such a good guy. Maybe when this was over…

She pushed the impulse away. Theena couldn’t think about happily ever after. She knew she didn’t deserve it.

Bill let out a long breath. “What do you have in mind?”

“We can tie him up. There are jump ropes in the gym.”

“Lead the way.”

They jogged down the hall and turned left. Blood was spattered over the floor and walls, and many of the overhead fluorescent tubes were smashed. The remaining lights flickered and hissed, erratic strobes throwing crazy shadows. A portion of Theena’s resolve eroded with every step. Her sense of responsibility was slowly being overtaken by her fear. David seemed to be hiding in every corner, ready to leap out and mutilate all of the people that hurt him.

And she was the last one.

The gym was a decent replica of a modern health club; too bright, completely encircled with mirrors, and crammed with stacks of machines that looked like torture devices. For some insane reason, the equipment locker had a padlock on it. Theena shoved the gun in her pocket. She unclipped the overhead T-bar from a lat-press and wedged it in the latch. She twisted, her muscles bunching with effort. The lock was bending… bending…

SNAP!

Theena tugged open the locker door and snagged five jump ropes, shoving them under her armpit.

“Theena!”

She turned at Bill’s voice, followed his frightened gaze.

David was in the room with them, leaning on the ax like a cane. He grinned.

“Is the Stairmaster free?”

Theena drew the gun.

“Drop the ax, David.”

“This ax?” With a violent jerk, David thrust the ax into the mirror alongside the doorway, smashing glass with an ear-bursting crash.

He shifted and swung in the other direction, shattering a reflection of himself, droplets of his blood peppering the glinting shards that fell at his feet.

Theena took careful aim and shot him in the leg again. There was a small eruption of blood, and his knees buckled, but he somehow managed to stay on his feet.

She shot twice more, the first bullet missing, the second taking off part of David’s calf.

He still didn’t go down.

“Hold your fire!”

Bill threw himself at David, a fifteen pound barbell in his good hand. He connected solidly with David’s chest. There an audible thump, and both men toppled over.

Theena was there in three steps, kicking away David’s ax. He was flat on his back, arms and legs akimbo. His eyes were open but unfocused.

The time to act was now, but she didn’t want to take the gun off of him to tie him up. Bill managed to get to his feet, wincing. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be much help in the knot-tying department with a broken shoulder blade.

“Take the gun.”

Bill hesitated, then accepted it. Theena wasted no time, winding a jump rope around David’s ankles, cinching the knot so tight her arms burned.

“Theena!”

Bill’s warning came too late.

David jackknifed into a sitting position and batted her across the face. She fell to the side, just as David was rolling in the opposite direction.

Towards his ax.

Her vision cleared in time to see David grip the handle, lift it back to swing at her.

“Bill!”

He fired.

The gun offered an anticlimactic
CLICK.
There were no bullets left.

The pain was as blinding as it was sudden, an explosion in her right side just above her hip. Theena stared down at the thing buried several inches in her side, unable to fathom what was happening.

An ax. She had an ax sticking out of her.

She touched it, fingers trembling, blood bubbling up and swallowing the blade.

There was a sucking sound, and suddenly the ax was out. Theena watched her life spill out of the hole in a gout of blood.

She stared at David, lying a few feet away from her, lifting the ax for another blow.

Then everything went black.