by Sam Carter
“He will be somewhere in this hallway. Let me talk to him. Try and convince him to stop. That should distract him enough for you to take him down.”
“Are you sure? Seems risky.”
“I am. I know him better than anyone. He will listen to me. I know just what to say.”
Barry nodded in agreement again. Harlan gave him another thumbs up, and they slowly opened the door.
As they turned the corner, someone was standing looking right at them, and it wasn’t Cole. It was someone that Harlan had been running into a lot lately, only this time Harlan wasn’t surprised. Barry stared, shocked, as Luke smiled.
Chapter 63
There was silence as the three of them stood together in the hall—the type that meant you could hear a pin drop. Harlan waited to see who would break the silence first, for what lie Barry would tell next. To see where this would go.
Harlan had often heard the phrase “this silence is deafening” used in uncomfortably quiet situations, but this was the first time he really understood what the phrase meant. This silence was loud. It screamed tension and fear. The longer it lingered, the louder it became, and the harder it was for Harlan to keep his mind clear and focused. Someone needed to say something. And these two psychopaths seemed intent on seeing who could keep this going the longest.
Harlan didn’t want to be the one to say something first, but the clock was ticking on his patients’ lives. He couldn’t wait any longer.
He opened his mouth, hoping that the right words would magically form, but he never got the chance to find out.
“Can you believe it, Harlan? Luke Masterson is in our hospital. People have been looking all over for you.”
Luke laughed at Barry’s attempt at conversation. Harlan just stared in disbelief. Did he honestly believe he could lie his way out of this? Perhaps when you’ve lied for so long without consequence, you begin to believe you’re untouchable, that you can get away with whatever you’d like.
“Is this guy for real?” Luke asked while continuing to laugh.
“What are you talking about?” Barry looked at Harlan but didn’t get the response he expected. He still believed that Harlan had no idea.
“Stop, Barry. I know who you really are,” Harlan said as he pulled the loaner out of his pocket.
“What is that supposed to mean? Have you lost your mind? Are you drunk, Harlan?”
“Nope. My mind is completely clear.” Harlan opened the loaner behind his back and pressed send.
“You don’t sound that way. You sound . . .” But he was drowned out by the loud ringing coming from his pocket. Barry didn’t move. He was pretending he couldn’t hear a thing.
“You should answer that. Didn’t your mother ever tell you it was rude to ignore a phone call?” Now it was Harlan who had the smile on his face.
“Fine. I don’t know why I should. But if it will get you back to normal, I’ll do it.”
Barry opened his phone and answered. “Hello?”
“Hi, Barry.”
Barry dropped his phone as he heard who was on the other end.
“What’s the matter?” Harlan’s smile grew as he saw Barry’s reaction. “How does it feel to actually have to face someone and not hide behind your voice?”
Barry turned around and looked straight at Harlan. Harlan had expected a look of shock or surprise or maybe confusion. That’s not what he got. Instead, Barry looked angry. Angrier than Harlan had ever seen anyone. He looked like the voice sounded.
“Aren’t you so clever, Harlan?” Barry began to slowly walk toward him. “Not smart. If you were smart you would have known that figuring this out would only make horrible things happen for you.”
“Because the last few days have been fantastic, right? Why would I want to go and ruin that?”
“It can always get worse. You should have just played the game.”
Barry quickly bent down and pulled a gun from his sock. It was something Harlan only thought happened in movies.
“I hate doing things like this. I hate the violence. Why do people make me do this?”
Barry pointed the gun at Harlan with a look of complete disgust. Harlan started to run in the opposite direction, knowing it wouldn’t do any good, but also not knowing what else to do. He braced for the pain that would soon explode through his body.
Nothing happened. Harlan couldn’t figure out why until he heard a loud thud come from behind. He turned his head and saw Barry pinned to the ground by a smiling Luke. Luke had saved Harlan’s life.
“The moment has arrived, Barry. Can I call you Barry? Or would you rather Mr. Voice?” Luke said as he glared right into Barry’s eyes.
“You can’t call me anything. You’re the reason we are here right now. If you would just have cooperated. Stuck to what you were told to do.”
“I don’t ever get told what to do. We are here right now because you thought you could control me. You thought you were in charge.”
Harlan could see Luke’s grip tighten on Barry’s shoulders. Any harder and it looked like they would snap right off, but Barry didn’t flinch at all. He looked like he felt no pain.
“No, no, no. Do not kid yourself. Your instructions were simple. Important? Yes. But simple. This has never been your show.”
“It’s always been my show. Everything is my show.” Luke was no longer smiling. His anger now matched the anger Barry had shown before.
“Keep thinking that, Luke. It doesn’t matter now. You’ve lost.”
“I have not. I don’t lose. You still need me. How do you expect to get into the other children’s hospitals without me? I’m your way in.”
“And what good will it do if you stop us from curing the disease here? The point wasn’t death, Luke. The point was suffering, so much suffering that people would pay any amount of money to get the cure for their kids.”
“This was all about money?” Harlan yelled from down the hall. “You injected kids with deadly snake venom for money? You put these kids through all of this, you put me and countless others through this, just to get rich?”
“And fame. Why else? What other reasons are there? But this loser tried to stop the cure from being given to the patients. He wanted them all to die.”
Harlan didn’t know or understand what was going on. He didn’t know which of these two men made him angrier. Both weren’t worth a penny.
“I’m not a loser, Dad! You are. You’re the one who beats his wife and child. You’re the loser.” Luke was once again yelling at no one. Harlan remembered again why he had felt bad for this man. And why he hated Barry more.
“Shut up, Mom. It was your fault, too. You let this happen to both of us. I was raised by fools who deserved what they got.”
Barry used this as a chance to push Luke off him and get free. He grabbed his gun, but didn’t point it toward anyone. He looked calm. Like nothing had happened at all.
“This has been fun, but I can’t stay any longer. I need to get ready for all the interviews I’ll be doing once this ‘new’ disease and its miracle cure leaks to the press.”
“What would stop us from going to the press and cops first?”
“Come on, Harlan. You know why. It’s probably why you haven’t gone to them already. Who would believe an alcoholic whose ineptness is the reason his patients are dying and a missing baseball player whose finger prints are all over this tragedy over a well-respected, never-had-any-problems CEO?”
“I’m glad you asked,” Harlan said as he held up his cell phone. “Say hello to Detective Rodriguez.”
Chapter 64
“The look on your face. Priceless. I wish I had a way to take your picture,” Luke said with a laugh. He was back and lucid again. “The once mighty voice is reduced to a whisper.”
Barry moved his glare from Harlan to Luke. Without hesitation he grabbed Luke and slammed his head hard into the concrete wall. Harlan watched as blood splattered all over, covering Barry’s clothes. Barry slid his finger through the blood on h
is shirt and stared closely at it, like he was admiring his sick handiwork.
“Such a waste of talent,” Barry said as he pulled the trigger, putting a bullet through Luke’s brain for good measure.
“Who are you? What kind of person does the things you do? Even after you’ve been caught. You’re done, Barry. Done.”
Barry’s rage grew as Harlan taunted him. He looked like a man who had never been defied before and did not know how to handle it.
He, once again, pointed his gun at Harlan.
“Why do you insist on making me do this? This was all so simple. But you had to be a hero.”
This time there was no way out. There was no Luke to save him. At least Harlan’s death would serve a purpose. The patients would be saved, Barry and his voice would be silenced. No one else would have to suffer because of him. That was all that mattered now.
“Look at me. I want to see the life leave your worthless body.”
Harlan heard footsteps coming from behind him. This had been one of his fears. That someone would walk in, and another innocent person would die.
The footsteps stopped. He wanted to know who it was and warn them. Tell them to run. Get away from here. But Harlan was too afraid to turn around. He looked at Barry, whose eyes widened with his smile.
Barry fired twice, but both bullets flew past Harlan’s head and into the person who had the bad luck of stumbling into their own death.
Harlan took that moment and charged, slamming Barry hard into the ground. Barry tried to push Harlan off, but Harlan wouldn’t budge. He was filled with strength he did not know he had and anger he had never felt before.
Harlan picked Barry up and flung him against the ground again. And again. And one more time. Until he knew Barry could not move. He stood up and to emphasize his anger, wound up and kicked Barry right in the kidney. Barry screamed out in terrifying pain, a noise Harlan had never enjoyed until that very second.
“Why are you doing this? How can you know so much about so many people?”
“It’s pretty simple,” Barry said through his pain. “Everyone has secrets. Most of them are damning. And everyone thinks they can bury them without anyone ever finding them. I learned when I was young that once you found out a person’s secret, you had them for life. They would do anything and everything you wanted to keep that secret from getting out. So, I created a whole army of idiots who would do anything for me. Kill for me. Steal for me. But mostly dig up dirt for me. Dirt that I could exploit for more power, money, and fame. And here we are again and even though it may not look like it, I will get what I want again. I always do.”
“Why me? Everyone knows my secrets. Why did you choose me?”
Even through all the pain, Barry managed a smile. “Ask your ex-wife.”
Harlan kicked Barry hard again. Barry writhed in pain while laughing at his continued control over Harlan.
Harlan saw Barry’s gun on the ground and made a decision that he never thought he would be tempted to make in his life. He picked it up and aimed it at Barry. He felt an uncomfortable power coursing through him. Countless times he had held life in his hands, but never like this.
Harlan slid his finger onto the trigger. He did his best to steady his shaking hand and focused hard on his target. A chill went through his spine and into his whole body as he stared at Barry’s soon-to-be lifeless body in front of him.
“Harlan! Don’t do it. He’s not worth it,” Rodriguez yelled as she sprinted in his direction. She got to his side and grabbed his hands. “Put the gun down. Walk away. Your patients need you. So many people need you.”
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t. He deserves this. He deserves his life to end.”
“You’re right. He does. But you don’t. Pull the trigger and your life is over, too.”
Harlan slowly lowered his arms, while Rodriguez slid the gun out of his hands. He looked hard at the gun, unable to believe what he had almost done. What he would have done.
“Thank you. I don’t know. I don’t understand. I’m sorry.”
“I get it. Everyone gets it. Now it’s over, and I’ve got it from here. I’ll do my job, and you go do yours.”
Harlan looked at his watch. It was almost noon. If Cole were right, and he usually was, those kids only had about an hour left to live. And it could easily be less than that. He nodded at Rodriguez and left to go to the floor where Clara would be waiting with the antivenom.
He knew this meant he would have to pass the body of the unfortunate person that had been killed by Barry. At least by Barry’s bullet, but because of Harlan’s actions. Because Harlan had brought the gun fight into the middle of the hospital.
Harlan couldn’t make out the face at first, but as he got closer it became perfectly clear. And as it became clearer, his vision became blurry. His heart sank. His knees buckled as he collapsed to the ground next to Cole.
Chapter 65
Harlan lay down next to Cole’s body and put his arms around him, hoping that somehow that action would give his best friend his life back. He didn’t care how it looked to anyone at all. He didn’t care how crazy it sounded. He just wanted Cole to roll over and make some horrible joke again. Breathe. Be alive.
“He kept his promise,” Harlan whispered to no one at all. Just himself. Just a reminder that Barry had kept the promise that he would ruin Harlan’s life. Take everything away from him that mattered. And he probably wasn’t done yet.
“Wake up. Wake up. Why won’t you wake up?” Harlan was hitting his fists against the ground. Yelling at the top of his lungs. “Why were you even here anyway? You weren’t supposed to be here.”
“He was worried about you, Harlan. He didn’t know why it was taking so long. He thought you had to be dead.” Rodriguez sat next to Harlan and laid her head on his shoulder. He could tell by the wetness on his shoulders that she had been crying, too.
“Why didn’t you stop him? Why didn’t someone stop him?”
“Everyone tried. Clara, Lucy, Dr. Baxter, you name it. They tried. He wouldn’t have it.”
“And now he’s dead. Because of me. Because I wouldn’t just listen to Barry and play my part. The only person in the world who never gave up on me is dead. I killed him.” The tears just exploded from Harlan’s eyes. There was no end in sight.
“You’re not the first person to lose a friend like this and feel this way. And you won’t be the last. Barry killed him. Not you. Barry.”
“You should have let me kill him. You shouldn’t have stopped me.” Harlan stood up and began to walk toward Barry’s still, handcuffed body. “I still can. I still can.”
“No, you can’t.” Rodriguez grabbed Harlan and held him back. “What good would it do?”
“He’d be dead. That’s all the good we need.” Harlan struggled, but she wouldn’t let him go. He couldn’t budge at all.
“And Cole would have died for no reason. Do you get that? Make his death mean something.”
“How? How can I do that now? He’s gone. My best friend. My best friend. Gone.”
Rodriguez loosened her grip and turned it into a hug. She just let him cry. He wasn’t sure how long, but he didn’t really care. He was sure he would never stop.
“Go save those kids. Don’t let Barry win. Don’t let your hard work, Cole’s hard work, everyone’s hard work, go down the drain. Make Cole’s death matter.”
Harlan stared at Barry’s body and then back at Cole’s. What a contrast. One had everything. The other nothing. But, had you looked at their lives, even examined them closely, you would have gotten that mixed up. Rodriguez was right. Cole’s death would mean something.
“Thank you again.” He hugged her a little harder, then turned and went to work.
Chapter 66
Harlan was just moments away from putting what just happened behind him and concentrating on his patients. He was usually good at this. It usually came easy. But he had never watched his best friend die before. This was uncharted, rocky, and unfair waters.
He turned the corner and saw the patients’ rooms. Soon they would be ok. All of them, except one. One would die. Another person would die, because of him. How much blood could one person have on his hands? Harlan sure felt he was testing the limits.
He noticed there was a buzz about the floor. Nurses, techs, phlebotomists, everyone was running around. All of them looked out of sorts. Lost and confused. Including Clara who was running toward Harlan.
“What took you so long?” Then she stopped and stared. “You’re covered in blood. Is that . . . is that yours?”
Harlan hadn’t even thought about the blood. He didn’t even think for a second that his clothes would be covered from holding Cole just seconds before.
“No. It’s Cole’s.”
“Cole’s? Is he . . .” She didn’t have to finish her sentence. She could tell by the look in Harlan’s eyes. “I’m so sorry, Harlan. How?”
“Barry.”
Clara looked shocked. Then angry. Then devastated. She looked how Harlan felt. She mirrored him in every way.
“Will you get me a lab coat? I’ve got to cover this blood up. Can’t let the patients see this.”
“Are you sure? Can you do this?”
“There’s no other choice. I can’t sit back. You know that.”
“I do. Wait right here.” Clara ran and grabbed Harlan a lab coat, and they were back to work.
“Are we ready? Do we have the antivenom? What is the situation?” Harlan beckoned Clara to walk with him. He was in full go mode. It was either that or collapse.
“We’ve got it. And we need to do it now. Give the orders and you’ve got a team ready. But, there is one more thing.” She grabbed Harlan’s shoulder and stopped him. “You do remember we only have enough for eleven of them, right? One of them can’t get it. Who?”
“I don’t know. I can’t decide who lives and who dies. I just can’t.”
“Dr. Allred?” It was Stacy. He hadn’t realized they had stopped right in front of her room. “Can you come here?”
“Of course.” He and Clara walked over to her bed, where she was sitting with her dad.
