The Body Hunters (37 page)

"Gerard! Gerard!" Rob yelled, bumping his shoulder into a wall
.

"What the hell are you yelling for?" A sleepy-eyed Gerard asked, coming out of one of the offices. He scratched his new stubble absently, having just been roused from sleep. His clothes uncharacteristically were wrinkled.

"The Feds!"Rob exhaled catching his breath. "The Feds hit the spa. They're everywhere. They're arresting the doctors and taking files. I didn't want to call you because my phone might be tapped. I had a run-in with an FBI agent this morning.
"

As Gerard calmly headed downstairs to where the women were being held, Rob continued chattering. "This huge FBI Agent forced his way into my house. He put a gun to my head and threatened to shoot me if I didn't tell him where you were.
"

"You didn't reveal my location did you?" Gerard asked, opening the door where Danny and Cassie were held captive
.

"Of course not.
You know I would never betray you, boss."

Gerard vindictively stared down at the two women huddled in the corner. He roughly yanked Danny out, leaving Cassie alone in the room. Holding her by the neck, he violently threw her to the floor
.

Gerard made a show of unbuttoning the sleeves of his shirt and rolling them up. "Rob! Find me some plastic because after I've taken my time with my ex-fiancé and her new best friend here, we're going to bury these two bitches.
"

He punctuated his statement by mercilessly kicking Danny in the abdomen. Walking a slow circle around her crouched like a predator, he punched her in the face continuing the assault
.

Danny did her best to defend against his barrage of blows, but with the drugs in her system and her prior injuries she was unsteady on her feet. Every time she tried to stand up, Gerard was there to knock her back down
.

Rob felt a little déjà vu helping Gerard with the disposal of two more female victims. He was hurriedly searching through the construction crew's supplies for a plastic tarp or even black garbage bags. He was so busy he didn't see the hulking shadow fall over him before it was too late.

"You conniving little bitch!"Gerard snarled, grabbing Danny by her hair as she crawled away from him. "I give you everything and you betray me like this? You think when the Feds get here it's gonna be happy ending? No, sweetheart. When I'm done with you, I'm going to mail pieces of you to 'em.
"

He rolled her over and battered her body with more punches. Reaching into the pocket of her jeans, Danny grabbed the screwdriver and jammed it deep into Gerard's belly.

"Ahhh!" he yelled as he fell off of her, clutching at the screwdriver submerged in his gut
.

"Just for that I'm gonna take it nice and slow! I know how you really like it." He threatened, looking at his own blood on the instrument. He reached down to grab another hunk of her hair
.

"Motherfucker!
You put another hand on her and I'm gonna rip your arm out of the socket and beat you with it." Aiden’s voice called from the bottom of the stairs. He pounded on his chest with a heavy fist. "You like hitting on defenseless women? How 'bout you try hitting a man for a change, braddah.
"

"Who the
fuck areyou?" Gerard spat
.

Aiden
 ignored the question, his eyes trained on the battered Danny desperately crawling away from Gerard. His tone of voice softened relieved at seeing her alive, even though she had been badly beaten. "It's alright, Nani. I'm here.
"

"Nani?"
Gerard looked between Danny and Stone, the synapses in his brain starting to fire as he produced a blade and pointed it at Aiden. "Well I believe I may have killed the wrong agent after all. You're the fucker that's been fooling around with my fiancé. You're just in time to watch me fillet this treacherous bitch!
"

The big man
 rotated his shoulders. Ready for a physical fight, he put his gun down. This was personal, and he couldn't wait to get his hands on Wolfe. "You're the bad ass, bring it. Give me a reason to put your ass down for good. I'll save the taxpayers the expense of a trial and kill you right here.
"

Hollering, Gerard charged at Stone blade first.
  Aiden expertly deflected the blade, sending it skittering into a forgotten corner.

Wolfe was a dirty fighter going for low blows, shots to his knees, and eye gouges which
 Aiden successfully parried. Wolfe's fingernails tore a gash in Aiden's forearm which he barely noticed. After being tossed across the room by Aiden like a bag of garbage, Gerard came back with the screwdriver Danny had stabbed him with. His movements frenzied, he took aim with the screwdriver and rushed at him. However, the FBI Agent stopped him dead in his tracks with a solid boot to the face
.

Though Wolfe was stronger than he looked, made up of wiry muscles,
 the former marine was much stronger and a better fighter. Gerard was rocked by brutal blows from Aiden who was exacting cruel punishment. After doubling the doctor over with a punch to the midsection, his elbow met the back of Gerard's head. Grabbing Wolfe's arm, he forced the man to the floor, his knee between his shoulder blades. He jerked the doctor's arm until he was satisfied with an appalling crunch.

"Try operating with that arm now you sick sonofabitch." He taunted, before punting the doctor's head like a football. Gerard was out cold
.

His wrath sated for the moment,
 Aiden picked up his gun and carefully walked over to Danny. She had since passed out; her limp form sprawled across the cold concrete floor. He brushed her hair back, sickened by the cuts and bruises inflicted on her beautiful face
.

"Baby, it's alright I'm here." Like she was made of porcelain, he scooped her up in the safety of his arms. He breathed a much needed sigh of relief.

"Help me, please, help me!" Cassie cried from the closet.

"Stand back." He ordered
.

In one swift move he kicked the door, nearly knocking it off the hinges
.

"Oh my God, Danny!"
Tears started to well up in her eyes at the condition of her friend. "Is she gonna be OK?
"

"I think so." He said, gathering Danny closer to his chest. "But we need to get the two of you to the hospital. Can you walk?
"

Cassie nodded.

Together, they ascended the stairs, with Cassie giving the unconscious Gerard a kick in the face for good measure. Armed with submachine guns, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team was already in motion. They were escorting a handcuffed and newly conscious Rob out of the building. Danny and Cassie were hustled into the lobby where Lucius was waiting. Spotlights shone from the outside into the building illuminating the entire space
.

"Is she--?" Lucius began, appalled at Danny's condition.

"She's hurt bad." Aiden answered. "We need to get her to the hospital.
"

"The ambulance is outside." Lucius pointed to where the ambulance was waiting and turned to Cassie. "Are you OK,
Miss?
"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said.

"This way."He offered his arm and she took it
.

An inhuman howl filled the building. The FBI agents immediately drew their guns and pointed them toward the center of the building
.

His right arm hanging limply at his side, Gerard shuffled into the lobby. His face was blood splattered and beaten up, his eyes crazed. In his left hand he clutched his pistol in a death grip
.

"Get the women out of here!" Lucius ordered Stone. He complied, taking Danny and Cassie
tothe waiting ambulance
.

"Put your weapon down!" the HRT Sergeant bellowed
.

The HRT Squad surrounded Gerard with their weapons at the ready, red laser sights dancing over Gerard's body
.

"You think you can stop me!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "I'll kill you all.
"

To show that he meant it he shot one of the Agents in the neck, causing a fountain of arterial blood to spurt all over the unfinished lobby floor
.

Before the team could react, one solitary shot rang out and Wolfe went down hard. Gasping for breath, he couldn't quite catch; Gerard lay on the floor with a gunshot wound to the abdomen
.

His just fired Glock still locked in his hand, Lucius walked up to Gerard's sprawled form
.

"Get him out of my sight!" He ordered
.

Chapter 2
2

Stephania sat next to Danny in the reclining chair the hospital provided for her to sleep in. It was well after midnight and Danny had been rushed to the hospital hours before for her injuries. She had suffered multiple contusions over her face and body at Gerard's hands, and several of her ribs were bruised. The good news was that the doctors had successfully determined that she didn't have a concussion, any broken bones or internal bleeding. They had taken samples of her blood to the lab to determine if Gerard had injected her with any harmful drugs. To ease her discomfort, the doctors had her on a pain medication regimen, and as a result she was in and out of consciousness. Danny abruptly awoke to her best friend hovering over her intently, stroking her hair
.

"Where am I?' Danny asked painfully through bruised lips.

"Danielle, darling you are in the hospital.
"

Danny's eyes darted around the unfamiliar room. "Am I in New York?
"

"No
no, the hospital call me. I came on the red eye right away. Shh now you rest." Stephania said in her broken English as she re-arranged the bedding, tucking her in and fluffing her pillow. "You should drink, take a sip."

She raised Danny's bed and brought the Styrofoam cup and straw to her lips, Danny struggled to open her mouth. Gerard's punches had taken a punishing toll on her body, and even breathing was a laborious chore.

Stephania, who was now in protective mama grizzly mode, took the cup away after Danny took a sip. She tried to speak some more, but Stephania stopped her. "No, no! You rest, no talking. I'll talk Danielle. Mio Dio! I can't believe this thing happened to you! Never again will I let you my girl out of my sight! You understand, never! This beast Gerard! He is IL Diavolo! I can't believe it. He loved you! But we will not talk about it now.
"

"Stone?"
Danny asked softly
.

"Yes he had heart like a stone! Shh. No more talk now. I'll stay with you. Go back to sleep.
"

Danny's body obeyed as the pain pump of morphine took effect making her fall asleep quickly
.

Agent Stone entered the 5th floor hallway and rounded the corner of the nurses' station. Looking at the assignment board he found Danny's name and room number. She had been in emergency half the night before they made him leave.
 
Room 545, of course
, he thought
, all the way to the end of the hall!
 He walked past two rather large gentlemen standing at a doorway on either side. Both men were in tailored suits and fedoras.  Aiden wondered what mafia boss was on the same floor as Danny to warrant body guards like these.  He kept walking checking the room numbers as he passed.  
Damn
he thought
where the heck was it?
It had to be her
e! A light went off in his head. The two gentlemen at the door were blocking the room number. They couldn’t be there for Danny. They didn't look like FBI agents that Lucius may have put in place. Walking slowly back to the entrance he asked one of the gentlemen.        
 

 
“Uh, excuse me, what room number is this?
"

The large man stared at him, blocking the doorway and said.
 "Non parlo inglese.
"

 
The other large gentleman moved to stand directly in front of Aiden.  He was not used to other men standing toe to toe with him and realized these guys meant business. He could see the outline of their guns through the suit jackets.

"Look I don't know who you boys are but you'd better get out of my way! I am an FBI agent!" The men refused to budge. The larger of the two went nose to nose with him. Stephania appeared in the doorway, yelling in Italian for everybody to shut up that she just got Danielle back to sleep. She laid eyes on
 Aiden for the first time as he held up his badge to her.

"Ma'am I have to believe you are Stephania? I'm
 Stone FBI. I'm here to see Danny."

"You Mr. Stone, I don't know you! Luigi, Alphonso, verificare la sua!" She motioned for them to pat him down.
  Aiden complied turning over his gun for Stephania to hold.

"Be careful with this ma'am, it's loaded."
 He would have been amused if it weren't keeping him from seeing his Danny
.