Dead Weight (6 page)
I had to smile. “Jagger, they are making big bucks off the insurance companies through fraudulent billing, but that isn't the worse part.”
“No, I'd say the worse part is yet to come for you two,” came a voice from behindâalong with a click.
A click I think, since I was no expert, that was a gun being cocked or whatever they called it.
Henry stood behind Jagger with a gun pointed toward him. For as much as I was pleased to have recognized the sound, seeming as if I were a true professional, fear gripped me inside, and I immediately started to think of what I could do.
But nothing came to me.
So, I remembered that criminals liked to brag. Jagger had taught me that. Their “bragging” rights often got them to spill their guts about the case. “Henry, you are brilliant.”
I saw him hesitate, but he took his left hand and wrapped it over the right one that held the gun. Was he loosing some power? Needed to steady himself?
“Yeah, I mean, these billing scenarios are brilliant.”
Just as I'd said it, Hannah walked in.
And she was half the size!
All I could think was there must have been a recent sale on body suits. Then my next thought was, no wonder Henry recognized a fake bellybutton. She walked to Henry and grabbed the gun from his head. Her hands never shook.
“Get the hell out of the way, baby brother,” she said, pushing Henry away. “Take the filesâ”
“Wait!” I said, with no idea what would follow.
Jagger started to turn, but Hannah smacked the gun against his head.
I screamed.
Jagger tumbled to the floor. A pile of purple Jenny.
And Henry started yelling at Hannah.
They started to argue so I ran to Jagger and told myself that head wounds looked much worse than they were. I ripped a piece of cloth from my blouse (thank goodness for the plus size) and held it against the wound with all the pressure I could muster.
“You fool!” Henry yelled. “Why'd you have to hit her?”
“Stop being such a baby. She's gigantic. She was going to grab the gun.”
They still didn't know who Jagger was.
Not sure how that would help, I said, “Jenny wasn't going to grab anything unless it was edible. She needs stitches.”
Both looked at each other.
I was guessing if you had something to do with murder, you didn't really care much about a cut on the head.
They ignored me as the argument continued with Hannah commanding, “Call the doc now!”
“Good, he can suture herâ” I started to say.
Both of them laughed. Eerie. That was the tone I'd use to describe it.
“That fool probably couldn't suture a football,” Henry said.
The paperwork caught my eye. There was something more to this than fraudulent billing. Goldie and I had figured out that Nurse Ragget fudged on the weights to meet the 100-pound minimum that someone had in order to have the insurance pay for the gastric bypassâbingo.
Dr. Burger didn't do the major surgery with an incision. He must have done a simple laparoscopy, which would have been a heck of a lot cheaper to do but
billed
for the major surgery including a longer hospital stay. More money in their pockets and the patients long well healed.
Jagger's color looked okay. His respirations were fine and I put my finger on his pulse. Okay. He would come to soon and the bleeding had slowed. I knew he'd be all right so I couldn't resist saying, “Laparoscopy.”
They looked at me as if insane, but then Hannah said, “Yep. Smart girl. We know you aren't the size you pretend to be. Just who the hell are you? Or make that what the hell are you? We know you're not a real client.”
“I'm a nurse and now I know Dr. Burger wasn't doing major surgery.”
“Impressive,” Henry said. “I knew there was something about you when I saw that fake belly button and realized you weren't fat.”
As if she wouldn't let her brother one-up her, Hannah said, “Laps are much faster, cheaper and then he tones and lipos the hell out of their bodies. Quick results and mucho bucks in our pockets.”
“I'll bet you could do a lot in one day.”
“Right again, nurse. We like to call them âlitter mates.'” They both laughed.
“Litter mates?”
Henry nudged his way in. “Like kittens. We can run so many through in one day, they are like kittens in a litter.”
As he laughed, the door opened.
Doctor Burger stood there staring. “What the hell?”
I looked at him. “You're not even a board certified surgeon. Are you?”
“What the hell is going on?” he demanded again.
While Hannah and Henry filled him in, I realized they looked alike and close in age.
Twins.
Evil twins.
That's what they were.
“Hold on, baby,” Hannah said.
Ah, that explained the trio. Evil twins and her lover, who happened to be a doctor even if a rotten one.
“You all must make quite a bundle with that plan,” I said, leaning over Jagger to make sure his cover wasn't blown. “Does nurse Ragget get a cut?”
Absentmindedly Henry replied, “She gets paid to lie. That's all she knows.”
“Get them out of here,” the doctor ordered, but by the expression on Hannah's face, I sensed that she wore the pants in that relationship. Or should I say the scrubs.
And she didn't much like the doc cutting in on her territory.
“Leave ⦠Jenny here,” I said. “She has nothing to do with it. I'm a private investigator under cover. She's a real client and knows nothing.”
“So why was she in here with you?” Hannah asked.
Bitch. “I ⦠I told her ⦠there were snacks hidden in here. All the clients know that.” Thank you night janitor.
For a few seconds they all kinda stared at each other.
“Please. You'll only make more trouble for yourselves if you hurt an innocent ⦠client.” As if the murder of Mitsy and whomever else Jagger had known about wasn't going to cause them enough trouble.
“Take her out to the desert and come back alone,” Doctor Burger said.
I had the feeling he wasn't the brightest bulb in this trio and not the usual ringleader, but I hoped they'd follow that order and leave Jagger here alone.
“I'll tell Jenny she slipped and hit her head when we came to look for snacks,” I pleaded, hoping they wouldn't mention that I'd probably never be
back
to see Jenny.
And also praying to St. T that I would be back.
Hannah took the gun and pointed it at me. “Get up.” She couldn't resist yanking me by the arm ⦠and that proved her downfall.
I always knew Jagger was superhuman in my eyes, but to see him come to, and despite the extra hundred-plus-pound weight on him, still manage to fly up from the ground, take down Hannah while a stunned Henry, Dr. Burger, and, yes, I admit, myself watched was incredible.
It was as if he rose from the dead.
Before I knew it, I had slugged the doctorâan easy, not physically fit target-and Jagger had Henry down on the ground next to his sister with the gun in his hand.
Phew.
“Call 911,” Jagger said, and then pulled me as close to him as two people in latex and stuffing could manage.
The New Mexico sun lit the room like a thousand tiny white lights on a Christmas tree. Christmas was my most favorite time of the year, so the analogy was perfect.
I leaned over and touched Jagger, a sleeping softly snoring Jagger, on the cheek.
He didn't even stir.
I had to touch him to make sure it had all been real.
Then I chastised myself for a second.
How could I even think our night of lovemaking was not real?
Oh ⦠my ⦠god.
“Morning.” Jagger's eyes were now open and his husky voice made me gulp.
“Yeah. Morning.”
He leaned over and pushed a few strands of hair from my forehead. “Morning, Sherlock.”
I smiled then looked into those dark, dark eyes, thinking it was time. “There is something I need to know, Jagger.” It felt odd calling him by name. “Jagger?”
And to this day I will never forget that Jagger had this way about him. A way to know me so well. A way to know so much about the world, the cases. And a way to know how to make my life seem as if a fairytale dream that even Stella Sokol couldn't conjure up had come true.
“My last name,” he said. “Stanley's my first.”
From then on, I
always
called him Jagger.
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