Multiples of Six (17 page)

“No, I’ll be fine,” Mary Alice said.

He looked at her furtively, then turned and headed back down the hall. She followed, watching him into the stairwell. She headed toward Mr. Cooper’s room, but at the last moment, veered off into the neighboring room, without turning on the light. She closed the door and waited for a moment while her eyes adjusted.

“Did you hear that?” she asked to the darkness.

“You’re my new best friend, Mary Alice,” a man’s voice came out from behind the bed.

“How’s your chest?” she asked.

“Better, thank you,” the man said.

“Is there anything I can get you?”

“No…you’ve really been more than helpful. You’ve already risked so much,” he said.

“He might have killed me,” she stated.

“Yes, he might have. I’m sorry for that,” he said.

“Do you know who he was?” she asked.

“He’s not the one who tried to kill me. I couldn’t see anything without risking being seen. But his voice…there was something strangely familiar about it. I just can’t place it though,” he said.

“If he comes back…” she started.

“I plan on being long gone by then…and you can tell him the truth,” he said.

“That’s good…”

“Mary Alice…you’ve been a real saint. The kind of people I’m going to need if we’re going to make it through all of this. I just hope you aren’t the exception.”

“You won’t tell me your name?”

“It’s better that way,” he said. “This way you don’t have to lie anymore. If I make it through all this, I’ll come back and thank you in person.”

“I hope you do that,” she said.

“Yeah…me too,” he said.

She opened the door slowly, looking up the hallway, and moved nonchalantly back through the doorway, ducking quickly into Mr. Cooper’s room. She checked the chart of the now-sleeping man for the second time without really seeing what was written. She had to make a conscious effort to hold the chart still. Her heart beat so hard against the wall of her chest, she was afraid the sound might wake Mr. Cooper. She lowered the volume of the TV and left the room.

Chapter 31

Fred Taylor continued to dab at the still bleeding wound on his forehead. The pursuit of James with such reckless abandon had nearly cost the two men their lives. The Barracuda wasn’t exactly designed with safety in mind, and though the car itself was still in working order, Taylor and the man in black weren’t without a little damage themselves. Taylor turned to look at the man, his remaining good hand white-knuckled on the wheel. The other was pressed tight to his stomach, the tail of Taylor’s shirt wrapped around his forearm in a makeshift tourniquet. It was already drenched in blood and the way the man gritted his teeth told Taylor everything about the pain he was in. He’d never felt more satisfied about someone else’s misfortune.

The sudden departure from the main road startled Dr. Taylor. Over the roar of the engine, it was hard for him to distinguish anything, let alone the sound of a cell phone ringing. The man in black killed the engine before the car had come to a stop. He pulled the phone out of his jacket with his good hand, pressed a button and held it to his ear. He said nothing, but listened intently. Taylor turned his head to try and catch something, but either the volume was turned down, or the individual was speaking very softly. The sound of the rain hitting the roof didn’t help either. The man in black coughed hoarsely once, then hung up the phone.

Without saying anything, he opened the door and went to the rear of the car, opening the trunk. When he came back he was holding a map. He shook the rain from his hat and took a long drag from a fresh cigarette. Taylor choked on the fresh cigarette smoke wafting through the car.

“That shit will kill you, y’know,” Taylor said.

“Not soon enough for you, huh, Doc,” said the man, ruffling the map in his hand and laughing harshly.

He examined the map for a moment, looked out through the rain-streaked window at a road sign across the highway, looked back at the map, and grunted. He tossed the map in the back seat, then examined the wound on his arm. In the accident, somehow his left arm had caught on the window handle. It had torn his jacket and dug a five inch gash in his forearm.

“Pretty bad, huh Doc?”

“I’ve seen worse,” Taylor said.

“Won’t heal on its own though.”

“Not likely.”

“At least it’s not my shooting hand, right Doc?”

“Thank god for small wonders.”

“Glad you haven’t lost your sense of humor, Doc.”

The engine of the car roared to life again and the man made an illegal U-turn as discreetly as he could on the quiet four-lane highway.

“Fucker’s alive, Doc. Fucker’s alive,” he said.

“We knew that already…and besides, what difference does it make? All that matters is…” Taylor said.

“I don’t remember asking your opinion on the subject.”

“All I’m saying is Paynter can’t do us any harm if he’s out of the picture.”

“You just don’t get it, Doc, do you? There’s more to this than that kid.”

“He’s not a kid.”

“He’s a fucking kid. What, twenty-three? Twenty-four? He’s a fucking kid, and this’ll all be that much simpler to deal with, with your buddy-pal out of the way. Besides, they won’t let him just rot somewhere. They’re like faithful dogs. Ready to jump off the bridge after their master.”

“He’s not my buddy-pal,” Taylor said.

“Whatever, Doc.”

Taylor sat silent for a while, watching the rain start to make a mess out of the snow-covered countryside. Fifteen minutes later, the black car slowed and exited the highway. Soon, they were passing the hospital. Taylor saw them before the man in black.

“Police, and lots of them,” Taylor said.

“Motherfuckers,” the man said.

“Maybe we should wait,” Taylor said.

“We can’t fucking well wait,” the man said, a note of desperation in his voice. “We’ve already lost a lot of time.”

“I thought I saw an office building on the opposite block. Probably backs up to the hospital,” Taylor said.

“Well, at least one of us is thinking,” the man said.

They turned the next corner and found the building with the parking lot adjacent to the rear of the hospital. The man parked in the first spot he could find and got out. Taylor was left to fumble with the door and chase after him as the man in black made quick strides across the lot. He stood for a moment, torrents of rain running off of his cap, assessing the rear of the hospital. They watched, just as a service entrance door closed.

“You don’t go in the back when you’re in your shape,” Taylor said.

The man turned into Taylor so swiftly that he nearly fell down the embankment. His crooked face, inches from Taylor’s, the rain from his cap, now pouring onto him. His smile was half cat-like.

“The union doesn’t exactly provide me with health insurance,” he said.

“They can’t turn you away for that,” Taylor said.

“Shut it, Doc. I need to find someone who’ll fix this med-school 101 bullshit,” he said.

“Then you kill Paynter,” Taylor said, just able to ignore the rain streaming down his face.

“Are you really still surprised by that, Doc? Of course I’m going to kill him. That’s my job! And if any of those brats show up, I’m going to kill them too. And, if they all happen to be in there, maybe I’ll kill you too and move on. Ready, Doc? Let’s go,” and he half-slid down the muddy trough on the embankment to the parking lot below.

Taylor made to follow, but lost his footing near the bottom and landed, hands first, in a large puddle. What hadn’t been wet before was now soaked.

“Great,” he muttered and had to run in order to catch up to the man in black, who was reaching for the service door.

Expecting it to be locked, he was surprised when the door gave way. The man pulled it back slowly then, seeing no one, pulled it back the remainder. They stepped inside the entryway that appeared to be recessed at the end of the T-junction of perpendicular hallways. The man in black stepped to the edge of the hallway. Had anyone been in the hall ahead of them, it would have been impossible to hide. He edged his way into the hall, looking both ways. Seeing no one, he waved with his good hand and they stepped into the middle of the hall. As if alerted to their presence, a head popped out of a door halfway down the hall, a frown creasing the brow of a middle-aged man in blue scrubs.

“What the…? Excuse me? Can I help you? This isn’t an entrance!” the male nurse said

The man in black didn’t miss a beat. He pulled his arm in close to his side, cradling it against his jacket, but revealing enough of it so that the nurse could see the blood. He mewled horribly at the man.

“I need a doctor, bad,” the man said in a simpering voice, and Taylor had to resist the strong urge to laugh.

The nurse glanced at the arm and his expression changed immediately.

“Oh my god. You should be in the emergency room. Let me get you a wheel chair,” he said.

“No! You gotta look at it…you gotta fix it. Now!” the man in black cried, and the nurse looked from Taylor to the man in black and back again.

“I think he’s in shock,” Taylor deadpanned.

“Well…,” the nurse said and he drew in close enough to see just how bad it was, and cringed. “I really need to get you to the ER a-sap, mister.”

The man in black shuffled forward, drawing the nurse in closer to him. The humanity he had developed as a nurse was overriding any sense of danger and Taylor watched as the spider drew the fly into his parlor.

“I need…I need…,” the man was saying, and he was bending over now, lower and lower and whispering the words softer and softer.

“Oh man,” the nurse said and moved to comfort the man in black. It was what he’d been waiting for. “What do you need?”

“I need you to take me to a fucking doctor. Now!” The gun had come out quicker than Taylor had expected and the barrel was in the nurse’s face, which had suddenly drained of all color.

“Je…Jesus Christ, mister. Jesus…what the…”

“Someone who can stitch…I don’t care if they’ve got an MD at the end of their name…I just need someone who’s good with a needle and thread.”

“I…I don’t know…”

The man in black pressed the barrel against the nurse’s face. His badge said his name was Steven.

“Steven,” the man in black said, “If you don’t know, then I have no use for you. And, if I have no use for you, then I’m going to kill you. Got it?”

Steven nodded.

“Good. Now, where can we can we go for a little privacy and someone who can sew?”

“Third floor is quietest,” Steven said, trying to back away from the barrel of the gun.

“Well, let’s go then,” the man in black said.

He waved toward the nearby stairwell and tucked the gun inside his coat.

“Run and I shoot you. Try and tell someone and I shoot you and them. Speak too loudly and I shoot you. Getting the picture, Steven?”

The nurse nodded and they went into the stairwell and up. 

Chapter 32

James was glad for the rain. It gave him a sense of cover that he felt they had lacked. In broad daylight, he thought, it was easy to look someone straight in the eye and see them for who they really were. At least the rain would make them blurry and, hopefully, unnoticeable. As they arrived at the hospital, his heart sank.

“Good God,” Doug said, continuing on past the hospital entrance. “What the hell is that all about?”

They all looked out the window as they passed; two police cars, three ambulances, and a fire truck, all lights flashing, lined up along the curb outside the emergency room entrance. Doug continued on to the next block before turning.

“It looked like there was a small office complex behind it. Maybe we can park there and come in the back,” Kevin said.

“It’s worth a try,” James said.

“Why do you think they’re all there?” Nicole said.

“It’s a hospital, sweetie,” Kevin said, “They tend to attract law enforcement and other uniform-wearing types.”

“Ha ha,” she said, “You know what I mean.”

“You think they found your doctor?” Doug asked.

“I can’t imagine they would need all that to take him in,” James said.

“What if him calling us was a trap…like he was forced to call or something,” Nicole said.

“I thought of that, but I didn’t hear it in his voice,” James said.

Doug pulled into the parking lot of the building that was adjacent to the rear of the hospital. He backed into the first space he could find.

“Just in case,” he said and killed the engine.

They sat silent for a moment, listening to the sound of the rain on the roof of the car. Kevin broke the silence.

“Think he’s got an umbrella in here?”

They all chuckled a little before actually determining that, no, there was no umbrella in the car. There was a map of the Gulf coast, a Burt Bacharach CD, and a box of tissues.

“Florida plates,” Doug said, “Don’t imagine he has much use for one.”

“Yeah, cuz it never rains down there,” Kevin said.

“I guess we’re gonna get wet,” Nicole said, and immediately regretted it. The boys all smirked at one another.

“That’s what she said,” Kevin muttered.

The brothers burst out laughing. Nicole blushed, rolling her eyes.

“Pigs to the end,” she said. “Ok, very funny. What’s the plan?”

“Plan?” James asked, still smiling broadly.

“Yes, you know. One of those things you come up with just before you do something stupid,” she said, and the smile left his face.

“You think they’re expecting us?” Doug said.

“Do you think they’ll just let us walk into a hospital we have no right being in and just walk out with someone who might need their help more than ours?” Nicole said. “Do you think that perhaps that car stopped following us because they already knew where we were going, just like they seem to have known all along? That maybe they’re watching this place right now, waiting for us to make a move. That we might not make it across the parking lot alive? Am I the only one who’s dedicated any brain time to this?”

“No,” Kevin said, “I’ve been thinking about that too.”

“And?” she said.

“And, I’m having trouble getting us past the door, let alone finding Paynter,” Kevin said.

“Yeah, me too,” James said.

“Well, I don’t think sitting here, agreeing that it’s hopeless is going to help us any,” Doug said.

James flinched and they all froze as someone raced across the parking lot toward them. A man, covering his head with a sodden brown paper bag was sprinting right for them.

“What…?” Nicole started, but James shushed her.

“Wait,” he said.

The man ran past them, fumbling with some keys. They all heard the man cursing. He pulled the door to the car next to them open and started it. He probably hadn’t even seen them.

“My heart’s racing,” Nicole said.

“That’s ok,” Kevin said, “I think I wet myself.”

They all turned to look at him, Nicole moving away instinctively.

“It was a joke, people!” Kevin said.

They watched as the car pulled out, leaving an open space next to them. James stayed facing forward as the conversation resumed. He didn’t want to be caught off guard again.

“Well, they’re looking for four people, right?” Nicole said. “So, why not split up? Two and two.”

“I don’t like that idea,” James said.

“Makes sense, though,” Kevin said.

“Strength in numbers,” James said.

“We’re not storming a castle, Jimbo,” Doug said.

James didn’t look back at any of them. He just shrugged and continued to watch the parking lot.

“Well, I don’t have a plan, so whatever you guys decide,” he said.

“James, don’t be like that,” Nicole said.

“I just…I don’t want to get split up…I don’t want to lose anybody. Not now…not now that we’re together,” he said, shrugging again.

Kevin and Doug looked at one another and raised their eyebrows at one another, but Nicole shook them off. She leaned forward and touched his shoulder.

“We’re going to get through this James, but we can’t realistically do it all together. And, I really think this is one of those times that splitting up might actually give us an advantage.”

He didn’t say anything, but the tension seemed to drain from him a little. His hand met hers in an awkward sort of pat and his ears turned crimson.

“Well, whatever we’re doing, we should go now…the rain is letting up a bit,” he said, and they all looked out the front windshield.

Sure enough, the torrential downpour had subsided enough for them to see clearly across the parking lot. Though the buildings were adjacent, they could now see that this street was slightly elevated from the street on which the hospital was. There was a drop off of about ten feet difference from the back of this lot and the back of the hospital lot.

“I’ll trade you my Ted’s Towing cap for whatever you have,” James said.

Kevin donned the other cap, pulled it tight on his head and said, “Sure about that?”

James looked around and laughed at the Brown cap with bright orange lettering perched upon Kevin’s head. It read “Hooters.”

“It fits,” James said.

“Right,” Kevin said, “Who’s the best actor?”

The other three looked at one another nonplussed. Kevin had a wad of tissues in his hand. Nicole coughed a little.

“What about actress?” she said.

“I have a role planned for you already. One the boys can’t play,” Kevin said.

“I played the lead in our eighth grade musical,” Doug said.

“You can sing too? A man of many talents,” James said.

Doug looked a little taken aback by the surprise in James’ voice.

“I don’t think American Idol has anything to worry about, but yeah, I can carry a tune,” Doug said.

“Think you can play sick?” Kevin asked. “You know, without overdoing it too much?”

“I’ll give it a shot,” Doug said, grabbing the tissues from him.

“Good. That actually makes sense,” Kevin said.

“What do I do?” Nicole said.

“Hopefully, just look pretty, but you’re his wife…errr…girlfriend,” he said, pointing to Doug. It was Doug’s turn to blush a little.

“I don’t like the sounds of this,” James said.

“Why? Because your girl is going to role-play with another guy? Jesus, James, get over it. With luck, they won’t even have to do anything. We might need the distraction though, and Doug doesn’t know what Paynter looks like, so he might be more useful this way. No offence, Doug,” Kevin said.

“Ummm…none taken,” Doug murmured.

“If we have to walk in the front door–” Kevin began.

“If we have to walk in the front door, we’re as good as caught,” James said.

“Which is why we’ll need a distraction, James,” Kevin implored. “Don’t you see? If Doug causes enough hell…”

“He might just get himself arrested,” James said.

“Doubtful,” Kevin said. “But, he might just take enough eyes off of us to sneak through.”

“This is insane,” James said. “It’s not going to work. I don’t care how much fuss he makes…it’s just not that easy to get in…”

“James…it’s not a fortress we’re talking about. It’s a big office building full of doctors and a few sick people. Plus, we’re in northwest Pennsylvania! What could a bunch of young people be up to out here?” Kevin said.

“James?” Nicole said.

“Yes?”

“Did you text Paynter like he asked?” she said.

In the excitement and anticipation, James had completely forgotten why exactly they were there. That there was a man on the inside of that building that needed their help had been totally lost to him and he hated himself for a moment. James pulled out the phone and typed a quick message. [Hello sunshine]. They sat, staring at the phone in James’ lap, waiting for the response. A minute went by…then two.

“What if those cars
were
there for him?” Nicole asked.

“They weren’t,” James said, staring at the screen in an attempt to will a response from it. It was another moment before it buzzed to life.

[HELLO JERSEY. 3
^RD
FLOOR. ROOM 346].

[Is there a back door?] James typed.

Again, there was a long delay for the response.

[SERVICE ENTRANCE, REAR PARKING LOT, DOESN’T LOCK. BE CAREFUL].

[Always], James replied.

[PS CRAWLING WITH COPS AND SPOOKS].

“What’s a spook?”

“What do you mean,” Kevin said.

“Paynter said it was crawling with cops and spooks,” James said.

“I don’t think he means ghosts,” Nicole said.

“I think they used to call rogue agents spooks,” Doug said.

“Like CIA?” Kevin asked.

“Yeah…I think so,” Doug said.

“Great…whatever that means,” James said.

“I think going in pairs makes the most sense…just in case,” Kevin said.

“I can agree with that…so long as we’re going in the same door,” James said.

“We should stagger our arrival at least,” Doug said.

“Just remember,” Kevin said, “You should still play up the sick routine, just in case someone is watching.”

“You just want to see if I can do it,” Doug said, the hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

“Maybe,” Kevin said smiling back.

“Let’s go then,” James said and he and Doug opened their doors at the same time.

They were soaked by the time they reached the back of the parking lot. The rain was still coming down heavily as they surveyed the rear of the hospital. From their vantage point, they could see the emergency room entrance at the side of the building was still crowded with emergency vehicles and police cars.

“Not as many as before,” Doug said. “That’s good.”

“Look!” Kevin said, and pointed to a man hurrying across the parking lot with a sort of skip in his step. He had on a set of coveralls and they watched as he approached an entrance at the rear of the building. He simply pulled at the handle and the door came open.

“No keycard or anything,” Nicole said.

“You can bet we’re not the only ones who know about it,” James said.

Kevin turned to Doug and Nicole. “You two go. If someone’s inside, play it up. Tell ‘em you were afraid to go in the emergency entrance for fear of getting in the way. If no one’s there, try and head up to the third floor. We’ll wait till you’re in. Go.”

James and Kevin watched as Nicole and Doug crossed the parking lot. She threw an arm around Doug’s shoulder and James had to shrug off a mild sense of jealousy. It had been too long since he’d had a private moment with Nicole. He knew this was nothing, but it was strangely hard to watch. Doug was just a bigger version of himself. At that distance, it could’ve been him if he squinted his eyes.

The rain was pouring down James’ face now, despite the efforts of the Ted’s Towing cap. His jacket kept him warm, but as he looked at the sleeves, he wondered just how long it would keep him dry. He turned and looked at Kevin, who hadn’t taken his eyes off the pair walking across the lot.

“A part of you is enjoying all of this,” James said.

“What do you mean?” Kevin said, but James could tell he knew exactly what he meant.

“This sudden show of authority. A plan. Focus,” James said.

“Guess you don’t know me very well,” Kevin said.

“I know enough,” James said.

“Well, maybe I was sick of sitting on the sideline, watching you guys bungle things,” he said, still not looking away from the door.

James saw them disappear from the corner of his eye.

“They’re in,” Kevin said.

“How long do we wait?” James asked.

“I think a sixty count should be plenty. I figure if they ran into someone, they’d either kick ‘em right back out the way they came in, or sorta force them to where they’re pretending to go.”