Second Opinion (24 page)

CHAPTER 44

The first sensation to pierce the nothingness was the smell of wet dirt. Thea was lying facedown on the muddy ground, her head pressed against the exposed root of a tree. Her chest was gurgling with each breath, but she could not muster the strength to cough. The realization that she was alive was almost incomprehensible.

For several minutes she lay there, laboring for each breath and trying with no success to re-create the final minutes of what she thought was the end of her life. Finally, she was able to sputter out a feeble cough. Pond water and surface scum sprayed from her nose and throat. A minute later she was able to cough again.

She blinked open her eyes and allowed them to focus. It was lighter than it had been when she was attacked. Four, she guessed, maybe a bit after that. The throbbing behind her eyes had begun once more, monitoring each heartbeat with a shell burst. Her arms were stinging, as were her hips and knees. A flash in her memory bank momentarily lit the scene of her struggle to get out of the Volvo. She was desperately wriggling her way forward as she pulled herself headfirst through the smallest of openings along the right-hand edge of the windshield.

Again and again she became wedged or her clothing became caught. Again and again she kicked and flailed and freed herself for another inch or two. At some point she was forced to take a breath.

Her lungs filled with water, but still, driven by adrenaline, and nearly beyond fear, she clawed ahead. Her flesh tore at every point that dragged across the metal and the glass. No matter, she thought now. They were wounds that would heal. She was battered, but she wasn't dead.

Get that, whoever you are? I'm not dead!

Slowly, Thea lifted her head. She was on the edge of a dense wood, no more than ten feet deep, that bordered the grassy field where her Volvo had struck a tree. That fierce collision, by cracking the windshield, was what had saved her life. To her left, at an opening in the trees, the sodden ground was gouged by the tires of the Volvo, and behind those marks were the deep trenches made by the much more powerful pickup. The memory of the screeching engine made her shudder.

She pushed herself to her forearms. The left sleeve of her sweater was torn nearly off, and a large patch of skin by her elbow was deeply abraded and oozing blood. By her left hip, her dress was torn through to the skin, and soaked with a mix of pond water, filth, and more blood. But no bones were broken, and none of the wounds seemed crippling.

Through the opening in the trees, she could see the pond itself, its placid surface reflecting the first light of the new morning, its banks waiting perhaps for a pair of lovers to stop by and snuggle together in the warmth of the day. Farther to the right, a narrow spillway emptied water from beneath a broad mat of algae and scum, adorned with several empty bottles. Nowhere was there any sign of the Volvo.

It was only then that Thea opened her tightly clenched left hand. Nestled there, having created a bloodless indentation in her palm, was her father's
mati
—his evil eye.

In the distance, Thea could hear the noise of moving traffic. Route 9.

Someone driving into the city would stop for her and at least use their cell phone to call a cab, or Dimitri, or better still, Dan, who lived not that far away. No calls to the police, though—at least not yet. Police would mean endless questions, and probably a trip to some emergency room. And at the moment, those were the last things she wanted.

In the cool early-morning air, her thoughts had sharpened, and pieces of the past few days had fallen into place, cemented there by the scene in the street outside of Niko's home. How had the driver of the truck known she would be at the hospital? He knew because she had told him.

The man who had come so close to killing her had to be either Scott Hartnett or someone working for him. What she needed now was proof, starting with the plastic bag in her freezer containing the syringe of Hartnett's that she had come so close to throwing away.

CHAPTER 45

'Ouch!'

'You're not supposed to be saying ouch. I'm the one who's injured.'

'Yeah, but you're too tough to say it even though I can tell you feel this, so I'm saying it for you.'

'Okay, ouch.'

'That's better.'

Thea, showered and toweled off, lay on Dan's king-sized bed, naked beneath his flannel bathrobe. Her wounds were nasty, but shallow, and given that none of them were on her face, and the bleeding was stopped with reasonable ease, stitches were not called for. Piled in the corner on the floor were her decimated party sundress, her shredded sweater, her sodden underwear, and the Mary Jane flats that in all likelihood had helped her get free, enabling her to kick out the windshield of her father's Volvo.

In spite of looking like she had just escaped from a car submerged in a nearby pond, or perhaps because of it, she had no problem getting a businesswoman heading into the city for a breakfast meeting to stop and lend her a cell phone. Thea glibly told the woman her husband was a policeman and that she was fine to wait by the side of the road for Dan, but the Samaritan insisted she wait in the car, wrapped her in a blanket, and to her credit, asked few questions.

After stopping at an all-night pharmacy to stock up on bandages and antibiotic cream, Dan took her to his place, the second floor of a neat, well-maintained duplex in West Roxbury. His downstairs neighbor and landlady was a woman in her seventies who clearly looked on the father and son as family. After Dan woke her following Thea's call, he had brought Josh down to her place and put him back to bed. Later in the morning, Dan's ex, Valerie, would pick him up there.

In addition to ignoring much of the discomfort from her wounds and contusions, Thea felt a warm, reassuring comfort being among Dan's things. His kindness, manliness, and spirit were in evidence throughout the modest flat, in addition to his scent. And in spite of her situation, Thea found herself wondering what it would be like to live there with him.

'I still can't believe you got out of that mess alive,' he said, finishing up applying antibiotic cream, non-stick pads, and an Ace bandage to a nasty gouge on her left knee.

'Good thing I hardly remember doing that,' she said as he gingerly applied the wrap.

'And you feel certain that Dr. Hartnett was responsible? He seems like, I don't know, not exactly the run-you-over-with-a-truck type. More like a hit-you-with-his-Vespa.'

'He's the only one who knew I was going back to the hospital from Niko's party. And don't forget that my father told me he was involved. We need to find out where he lives and drive out to see if he owns a black pickup.'

'I might be able to get his address from our records at the hospital. We might even have the makes and license numbers of his cars. If need be, my friends on the force can do this for us.'

'Just be careful. Don't do anything that will get you in trouble.

We can try WhitePages.com first. Then we've got to get out to Wellesley and pick up that syringe.'

'My pal at the state lab will get it analyzed.'

'It's going to be positive for a muscle paralyzer and some powerful tranquilizer. I promise you.'

'What are you going to do for a car?'

'Maybe rent one.'

'You need a license for that.'

'Let me check with Dimitri. He's very resourceful. He once promised to get me a foolproof State Department visa if I needed it.'

'I don't think I want to know.'

'You probably don't.'

Dan knelt beside her and kissed her long and gently.

'Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation,' he whispered, holding her.

'Do it again. I think there's still a few drops of pond water in my lungs.'

'You know,' he said as the second kiss slowly faded, 'I don't think I've ever kissed a beautiful woman who looked like she just finished fighting a no-holds-barred steel-cage death match with, like, an eight-hundred-pound gorilla.'

'There's a first time for everything. You know, Dan, I've been trying to figure out how Hartnett
couldn't
be the one responsible for this.'

'And?'

'And I'm wondering if maybe someone could have been following me all the time, looking for just the right chance to…'

Her voice trailed away as some of the true horror of the attack returned.

'I suppose it's possible someone had been following you continuously. But who?'

Thea shrugged and shook her head.

'I don't know. Maybe it's that guy who came after my dad in the unit and probably me in the parking lot—the guy who… what was his name?'

'Prevoir. Gerald. It's okay, you can say his name. And you can say what he did to me, too. You know, I'm going to get him. I promise you I'm going to get him. I've hired that private eye from Manhattan and—say, listen. I want to check on if he's made any progress and I want you to hear his secretary in New York, or more probably it's his answering service. She's like sort of a cartoon of what we Boston people think New Yorkers are supposed to sound like. Mendez— that's the guy's name—is a bit of a cartoon himself. But he's a pro, and tough. I can tell those things. Let's call. I'll put the phone on speaker.'

Before Thea could tell him that she would much rather kiss some more than listen to cartoons on the speakerphone, he got a number from the pad on a small desk under his window, and dialed. The secretary spoke precisely as Thea anticipated from what he had said.

'Downtown Detective Agency. May I help you?'

'Hi, this is Dan Cotton from Boston calling. I recently hired Mr. Mendez to do a job, and I'm wondering if he's available to give me a progress report.'

There was a long, uncomfortable pause.

'Who did you say this was?'

'Cotton. Dan Cotton. Albert and I met when—'

'Mr. Cotton, I'm afraid I have some bad news for you… Mr, Mendez is dead. Some children found him floating beneath a pier in—

'—Delaware.'

Dan muttered the word in unison with the woman.

Ignoring the increasing aches in a dozen parts of her body, Thea sat upright and tightened the robe around her. Her expression was grim.

'Do the police know what happened to him?' Dan asked the woman.

'Not that I heard, but his girlfriend Rochelle—do you know Ro-chelle?'

'No.'

'Oh. Well, Rochelle told me that he was badly beaten, and that two of his fingers had apparently been… you know, cut off.'

'God, that's awful,' Thea said after Dan had given the woman his number and got her promise to call him if there were any further developments.

Ashen, he set the phone down.

'Prevoir knows I'm after him,' he said. 'For two fingers I'm sure he knows exactly who and where I am. I'm going to call Valerie and get Josh to her place right now. Then I'll call Dennis Lockwood and tell him what's been going on. I hope he's on today.'

'Good idea. Do you think this Prevoir could be working for Hartnett?'

'Do you?'

'I think we should go and get that syringe and then find out if Hartnett owns a black pickup the size of a tank.'

CHAPTER 46

The syringe was gone.

Thea stood in front of the open freezer, having emptied its contents entirely onto the kitchen table. When she returned home from confronting Scott Hartnett at her father's bedside, she had put the syringe into a plastic bag and set it at the back of the bottom shelf. Now, it clearly had been taken.

'At the party, did you tell Hartnett what you had done with it?' Dan asked.

'I… I don't remember. Yes. Yes, I suppose I did. He brought the course program from Moscow describing the anticoagulant combination he said he was giving my father. Why would anyone go to that kind of trouble if they weren't telling the truth?'

'Better not to ask that question. He must have come over here after he waited by the pond and you didn't come up. Or else after whoever was driving that truck called to tell him you were history and it was time to pay up. I wonder how he got in.'

'Remember how you got in? I don't always think to lock the doors.'

'And you told him that, too?'

'No.' She grinned. 'At least I don't think so. Anyway, if the doors were locked, he could have broken a window.'

'You know what you are, Dr. Thea?'

'What? What am I?'

There was uncharacteristic tension in her voice. Dan had never challenged her like this before.

'You're… the best. That's what you are.'

He put his arms around her and kicked the freezer door closed.

'But just a little gullible. Go ahead, you can say it.'

'I would rather have you trusting and gullible any day, than cynical and mistrustful of everyone. Besides, you said he had had too much to drink. Who would have expected him to remember such details?'

'Dan, I'm starting to feel like the walls are closing in. First this business with the truck, then your detective. And I don't even know what to make of Hayley's disappearance.'

'I'm not so thrilled with any of those things, either. Mendez getting killed may be the worst of all. I felt like Prevoir was at a disadvantage as long as he didn't know I was after him. Mendez was full of himself, but he was tough. He didn't seem like the kind that would let himself get taken like this.'

'I think after we take a drive past Hartnett's place and stop to see Petros, we should go to the police. Clearly Hartnett and whoever is in this scam with him appreciate that my father's a threat. Maybe we could hire an off-duty policeman to stay with the nurse. In fact, maybe we could get an injunction to keep Hartnett away.'

'If you say so, we'll do it.'

'First I want to get a driver's license.'

'First, maybe you ought to change. I love the way your behind looks in Josh's sweatpants, but some of the people at the hospital might take a more conservative stance. Can you make it up the stairs to your room?'

'I can. Over the years I've spent in the bush, I've had insect bites that were worse than what I've got here.'

'Okay, Dr. Tough. I'm impressed. I have to be on duty at three, anyhow. If we get to the hospital early, I'll just clock in. You can use my car if you need to until you can rent one. This yours?'

He held up the cell phone that had been lying on the counter.

'It is. I thought I had put it in my purse when I went to Niko and Marie's, but I guess I didn't.'

'Lucky for it, unless it can swim. Do you have another purse to put this in just in case we need to talk?'

'I think I can find one.'

'I'll give you some cash if you need it. At some point after we speak to the police, you should notify your father's insurance company. Wish you had a credit card. You can't rent a car without one.'

'We'll see what Dimitri can do about that, too.'

Dan groaned.

'I'm glad I'm not on the force anymore,' he said.

DIMITRI TOOK
no small amount of pride in being able to produce an impressive replica of a laminated Massachusetts driver's license with Thea's photo on it in less than five minutes.

'It's not perfect,' Dimitri said, passing the license over, 'but neither are the good people who usually look at them while they're wondering how they're going to pay their electric bills. It won't stand up to a really close examination because of OVGs—the optically variable graphics. They're like digital watermarks that seem as if they're moving as the license is tipped one way or another. But I'm getting closer and closer, and if I really cared to get it just right, and I were willing to slow down my march to the absolute top of the heap in WOW—that's
World of Warcraft
for you uninitiateds—I could reach perfection. Ever play WOW, Dan?'

'I have a ten-year-old son whom I hope never discovers the game.'

'If he's ten and if he has Internet access, and if he talks to the kids at school, I'm sure he already has, whether he's playing it or not.'

'How can I keep him from getting addicted to it? I know of kids who have had to be hospitalized to be weaned from the game.'

'You really want to know?'

'I do.'

'From me?'

Dimitri looked genuinely affected by the request.

'Yes, from you.'

Thea cringed at the prospect of what might come out of her brother's mouth, but at the same time, she was anxious to hear.

'Well, let's see,' he said. 'My advice is to tell your boy that you have no problem at all with him playing WOW so long as he promises to tell you if he thinks it might be getting out of hand. Oh, and when you tell him it's okay to play, don't forget to tell him you love him.'

Thea stared at her brother, genuinely impressed with his advice. She knew as well as he did that none of the Sperelakis children ever heard those words from their father, although their mother did her best to make up for that—at least with Thea she did. If Dimitri picked up on the look, he gave no sign of it.

'That sounds like good advice,' Dan said, apparently oblivious to Thea's expression as well. 'Besides, telling Josh it's okay to do something is often the best way to make him lose interest. Thanks.'

Perhaps unable to handle the compliment, Dimitri turned his back on the two of them and chopped off several virtual heads with a weapon that looked like a combination battle-axe and scythe.

'Now,' he said, still looking at the screen, 'I'll need about an hour to come up with a decent credit card, although it'll be one you shouldn't use too often—just for like renting a car. In the meantime, tell me what you make of this truck business? We Sperelakis kids tend to protect our own when it comes to attempted homicide against one of us. How sure are we that the guy in the truck and the guy trying to keep Father from talking, er, blinking, are both Scott Hartnett?'

'Or someone working for him,' Thea amended.

'We're not certain,' Dan said. 'Actually, we have no hard evidence at all. But at the moment, Hartnett is the only possibility that makes sense.'

'As soon as I have taken care of the credit card, I'll spend a little time with my electronic friends at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, checking on what they've got registered to Dr. Scott Hartnett. Then we've just got to find a way to get him to trip himself up.' Dimitri put his feet up on the counter, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'Give me some time. You got a cell phone, right?'

Thea and Dan exchanged smiles.

'Right here,' she said, holding it up. 'It's Dad's.'

'One hour. I'll call you.'

He had just said the words when the phone began vibrating, startling Thea so that she almost dropped it.

'It says 'private call,'' she said, setting it against her ear. 'This is Thea Sperelakis.'

'Thea, this is Scott Hartnett.' His voice sounded urgent and strained. 'Can you talk?'

'It's Hartnett,' she whispered to Dan and her brother. 'I can talk,' she said icily. 'What do you want?'

'Thea, I can explain everything. I need to talk and to show you something.' bo on.

'Meet me tonight. One
A.M.
in the MRI suite. Bring your friend, the hospital guard, if you wish, but please, no one else.'

'Was it you who tried to kill me this morning?'

'One
A.M.
in the MRI suite. I'll explain everything.'

'Hartnett?'

The director of hospital development had hung up.