Scarlet Angel (8 page)

She shoved herself away from the desk and went to
the kitchen. As she filled a glass of ice with water, she watched
the liquid pour into the cup. Her eyes focused on the stream.

The edges of her vision faded and darkness clouded
around the water. She felt herself falling away until she was
somewhere and somewhen else.

Around her, she saw a bedroom, familiar and yet, at
the same time, not. A queen-sized bed covered in red satin sheets
sat centered against the wall in front of her. The single window to
her left was obscured by long, gauzy-white curtains. More than a
dozen candles lit the room, creating a romantic glow.
Where am
I?

Scarlett blinked. The stream of liquid slowed to a
trickle then stopped. She watched as her own hands set down a small
bottle and moved to the tanned form of the man beneath her. His
oil-slick skin moved with her fingers as she massaged his tight
muscles. With his face turned away, he moaned.
That’s
Derrick!

“
I’m glad you decided to come over
tonight.” The second voice was her own. “I know the stress of the
test next week is getting to you. You snapped at Jonathan today and
he really didn’t deserve it.”

Derrick moaned again. “Yeah, I know. I’ll apologize
to him tomorrow. You would not believe the flak I’m getting from
the director on this. We’re three weeks early on the test and he’s
still giving me shit.”

“
I know. I’ll tell you what... How
about if we don’t talk shop anymore and I’ll do all the work
tonight. Deal?” Her hand slid down his hips and slid around to his
front. She felt a distant pleasure and a strong revulsion at the
same time as her fingers wrapped around his flesh.

“
Mmm... Sounds good to me.
Deal.”

Scarlett started falling away again and everything
faded to black.

The clang of the elevator jarred her back to
reality. Her eyes snapped open. She found herself lying on the
floor.
What the? Crap, again?

She jumped to her feet and saw the water still
running into the sink of broken glass. Shutting off the faucet, she
heard the metallic sound of the elevator coming down.
Neil’s
back early.

Her heart jumped in her chest at the thought of Neil
walking over to her. She pictured him strolling across the floor,
them engaging in idle chitchat and her offering to give him a
massage to recover from his mission. She smiled at the thought of
what that might lead to.

The lift came to a halt with a thump.
What the
hell am I thinking? I must be crazy. It was that strange flashback.
Yeah, that’s what it was.

She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and set
the computer to sleep. “Welcome back. How’d the job go?”

“
What the hell is wrong with
you?”

Her head snapped around to see him storming across
the room. His right arm shifted and his large black duffle fell
onto the couch. He kept his other arm tucked under his jacket.

“
What? What do you
mean?”

Neil’s movements were stiff but he still reached her
faster than she expected. His hand closed around her throat. The
impact slammed her against the wall.

“
Are you
nuts
? You just go
traipsing around the Net researching your target, allowing anyone
and everyone to see my I-P? Are you
trying
to get us killed?
I thought you wanted to live through this!”

Scarlett struggled to breathe. “Wha? I didn’t
know... I... can’t...”

His grip released. She reached up to clutch her
neck.

The back of his hand smashed across her cheek. She
bounced off the desk and onto the floor.

She looked up just as he pulled a pistol from behind
his back. The muzzle centered on her forehead.

“
You’ve endangered yourself, me,
Cash and his whole family.”

Scarlett was too terrified to move. “What are you
talking about? I didn’t find anything. It was just a general
search.”

“
You think they don’t know? You
tripped search alerts all over the damn place. Now they know you’re
alive.”

The potential consequences of her search registered.
If they knew she was alive, they could trace her killer’s movements
right to Ruby’s house.

“
Give me one good reason I
shouldn’t save them the effort and kill you right now.” The gun
wavered.

Then she noticed it, the growing blossom of red on
his shirt. Her eyes followed the stain down to the floor and all
the way back to the elevator. “Because if you kill me you’ll
die.”

Neil looked down at the growing puddle of blood at
his feet. “Aw, fu...”

The weapon dipped and his hand went slack. Metal
clacked against the concrete floor. Neil’s body followed, landing
face first.

“
Neil? Neil! Shit!”

Scarlet scrambled to him. A quick check showed he
still had a pulse. It was weak, but it was there. She rolled him
over onto his back and gasped. His once-white shirt was now bright
crimson. The sickly wet cotton material clung to his skin.

“
Oh shit!”

Random, panicked thoughts raced through her mind.
Forcing herself to focus, she tore open the shirt. A single dark
hole oozed blood from just below his ribs.

Scarlett put one hand over the bullet hole. She
shoved her hands into his pockets. “Dammit Neil, where the hell’s
your phone?”

Every second that passed pushed him closer to death.
She finally found the phone and hit the power button. In his
contacts list she found the one set of initials she recognized.
“Sorry Neil, but I gotta do it.”

She hit dial. “C’mon, c’mon!” The phone rang too
many times. Scarlett started to worry that no one would answer. She
sighed when the familiar voice finally replied. “Why are you
calling me?”

“
Cash, Neil’s in trouble. Get
Ruby.”

Chapter 12
Surgery

The human body has nearly a gallon and a half of
blood. It is terrifying how fast it can leave through one tiny
hole.

* * *

Blood trickled between her fingers. Scarlet shifted
the palm of her hand and pressed harder. “He’s your friend Cash.
What the hell do you mean ‘no’?”

Cash’s voice cracked with fatigue. “Exactly what I
said. No.”

“
He’s dying!” she
screamed.

The voice on the other end sighed. “I understand,
but I will not put my family in the middle of his bullshit. That’s
why I left that kind of work. I have to keep them safe. Please, do
not call me ag...”

“
They’re already not safe!” Blood
continued to seep from between her hand and Neil’s chest. “I broke
cover.”

She wasn’t sure why she was fighting so hard for
Neil’s life. She barely knew the man.

Cash’s response came with a slow, deliberate anger
she’d never heard from him before. “What?”

“
I was looking up Universal
Dynamics on the computer here. He said they know I’m alive. Cash,
if they track that dirtbag’s cellphone movements...”

Cash sighed again. “Scar, you didn’t break cover.
Neil’s network is invisible to the Net, it doesn’t leave any
tracks.”

She didn’t have time to argue with him. Even if what
Cash said was true, Neil was still in trouble.

“
Cash, dammit! Help me. If he
dies, I have nowhere to go. They’ll find me and then they’ll find
you.” Tears streamed down her face. Scarlett tried to stifle the
sobs in the long moment that followed.

“
Alright. Just keep him breathing
and try to stop the bleeding. Someone will be right
there.”

“
Okay.” She sniffed. “I’ll
try.”

Scarlett kept one hand on Neil’s wound and hung up
the phone with the other. Seconds and minutes ticked by slowly. She
pressed a button on the phone and the screen lit up with the time.
Only two minutes had passed. Neil’s pulse weakened. The slower his
heart beat, the faster hers raced. “Don’t you dare die on me
Neil...”

She checked the time seven more times over the next
fifteen minutes. Each time, more and more doubt crept into her
mind. Scarlett began to think Cash lied to her.
Maybe no one is
coming.
When an unfamiliar buzzer echoed through the apartment,
she yelped.

The central panel of the vidscreen wall came to
life. The screen showed a live feed of the front door. The oblique
angle from above and to the side disoriented her.

Standing in front of the door was an unassuming man.
A tan trench coat hung on his shoulders.
Who the hell is
this?

She noticed his rolling suitcase and white lab coat
under the trench coat.

The stranger knocked on the door and the buzzer
startled her again. She watched his lips move accompanied a split
second later by an omnipresent voice. “Hello? I believe there’s a
patient waiting for me? I’m Doctor Smith. I was sent by Cash
Mallack.”

She stared at the screen. “A doctor?” Scarlett dared
not move. She’d just stopped the flow of blood from Neil’s chest.
If it started again she didn’t think he would survive.

“
Yes, a doctor,” the voice
replied.

Scarlett did a double-take. “Wait, you can hear
me?”

“
Yes Ma’am. Is there a patient
waiting for me or not?”

“
There is, but I’m holding his
chest. I... I mean my hand is over his wound.”

The doctor looked around, trying to find the camera
he was being viewed through. “That’s fine. Mr. Mallack said for you
to
tell the door to open.
”

“
Tell the doors to open?” Her brow
wrinkled. “What the hell does that mean?”

“
I’m sure I don’t know, but that’s
what he said.”

“
Um... okay. Front door
open.”

A chime echoed through the room, followed by a
female voice. “Voice recognized. Door open.”

The door clicked and the doctor reached for the
handle. When he saw the inside he paused half-way in. “Where are
you?”

She gave the man directions through the offices to
the small closet elevator. A minute later he appeared.

“
How long has he been
unconscious?” The man strolled quickly across the floor and knelt
beside Neil.

“
I don’t know, maybe ten
minutes?”

“
Alright then, tell me what
happened.”

Scarlett relayed the events of the last few minutes.
By the time she was done, fresh tears streamed down her face.

Doctor Smith pulled on a pair of blue rubber gloves
with a snap. He made a quick inspection and gave his prognosis. “So
far, I’d say he’s very lucky. I don’t know what kind of bullet hit
him, but it went cleanly through. Whatever it was, it was hot. The
flesh around the wound, inside and out, is scorched.”

He jumped up and looked around. “We need to move
him... here.” He pointed to the kitchen table.

Scarlett ran over. She cleared the surface of debris
with a swipe of her arm. Doctor Smith hefted the front half of
Neil’s limp form. Scarlett grabbed his legs.

Once the patient was on the table, the doctor went
to work. The two of them removed the last shreds of Neil’s shirt
and jacket. A small pair of scissors appeared in the doctor’s hand.
He attempted to cut away Neil’s black undershirt, but the stainless
steel tool only bent. Together, they peeled the tough material from
his torso.

The doctor grabbed a needle and started an I.V.,
hanging the bag on the chandelier overhead. Several times he
pointed and barked for Scarlett to get more gauze or tools from his
bag. She returned from another foray into the doctor’s suitcase to
see Neil’s motionless chest. “Doctor, he’s not breathing!”

Doctor Smith’s voice was smooth and flat. “I
know.”

“
Do something!”

“
There, in my bag. That mask.” The
doctor checked Neil’s pulse and grabbed the small airbag mask from
Scarlett. “Shit. Here, now put this over his face and squeeze and
release like this.” The doctor squeezed the bag and released it,
letting it fill back up with air.

She took the bag and moved toward Neil’s head. As
she squeezed the plastic sack, Doctor Smith retrieved a small
device with two wands.

He placed the two wands on the patient’s chest and
sternum. “When I say clear, back away.”

She nodded.

“
Clear!”

Neil’s muscles twitched. The doctor held the
patient’s wrist. “Okay, his heart is beating again. Keep up with
that bag and don’t stop.”

The doctor spent the next hour reconnecting the bits
of tissue he could inside Neil’s wound. He finally declared there
was not much else he could do.

“
You’re done? That’s
it?”

Doctor Smith produced a fat aerosol can from his
bag. “Not quite.”

“
You’re going to cover him in
shaving cream? What the hell kind of doctor are you?”

He laughed. “Not quite. This is a special mix of
antibiotics and growth hormones. Exposed to the air, it dries into
a skin-like surface. The seal prevents infection better than
stitches.”

“
Oh. Wow, that’s cool.”

“
Yeah. But underneath is where the
real magic happens. The growth hormone encourages cells to
reproduce at an accelerated rate. With this, he’ll heal in a
fraction of the time.”

Scarlett was stunned. She watched with wide eyes as
he filled Neil’s wound with white foam. In just a few minutes, the
surface of the foam transformed into a semi-clear skin. “That’s
incredible!”

“
Yep. Oh, you can stop
now.”

The doctor cleaned the rest of the area around the
wound and started bandaging Neil’s chest. Once the bandages were in
place, he pulled off his red-stained gloves and wiped his brow.
“Well, he suffered a lot of trauma. He should have gone directly to
a hospital. Though, I suppose given his profession that’s not
likely. He is very lucky the round missed his major organs. He lost
quite a bit of blood, but all in all I think he’ll be fine.”