“I’ll be right back,” he said firmly.
He walked across the street to where he knew the gate would be standing wide open. The gangs had cut the chain so many times the caretaker had given up and stopped putting new chains on the gate. When he was almost to the gate, Harry saw a large man walk through it as if he didn’t have a care in the world. A man that size was not the usual gang-banger, but Harry didn’t want adult gang-bangers on his block any more than the drug-dealing younger thugs. “Stop right there,” Harry shouted doing his best to keep his voice from shaking. The big man didn’t stop. Harry’s convictions overwhelmed his common sense, so he fired a shot in the air hoping to alarm his opponent.
Roman was startled, but that didn’t stop him from automatically reacting. He pivoted and fired in one smooth motion so quickly that Harry didn’t have a chance for his own reaction. He went down with a hole through his heart much like the one that had killed Miranda. Roman walked over to Harry, gave him the once over to make sure he hadn’t missed, shrugged when he saw he had only killed an old man instead of someone who might have caused him trouble and nonchalantly continued on his way. It was the old man’s own fault. Stupid old man.
Chapter 53
Harriet started shaking as soon as she stepped out the door because she didn’t see Harry striding across the street with his usual arthritic gate. She didn’t like the thoughts that were forcing their way into her mind. She tried to think about other things, but impending dread kept overwhelming her. Her apprehension began when she heard the shotgun blast. That old fool lied, she had thought. Her next thought was to wonder if he had killed someone. Then when she heard the gunshot follow almost immediately after Harry’s shotgun blast, she wouldn’t allow her mind to entertain thoughts of Harry catching return fire. He had to be all right. She wouldn’t let it be any other way. She didn’t want to cross the street in case she was wrong but knew she had to. Maybe he was hurt, and she could help or get help. The old fool, she thought, with love.
Ken, Adam, Jenny, and Robert were waiting for their cars in front of the hotel when Agent Cox and Agent Baker arrived. Before anyone got in the vehicles, Agent Cox walked up to Ken and handed him a printout of a photo. “I need to ask if this is a picture of the nurse that tried to get to Morgan yesterday.”
Ken stared at the picture while Adam looked over his shoulder. Ken nodded with a groan. He could tell a crime scene photo when he saw one, and the mass of blood under her and on her chest left no doubt. “It’s her. Who shot her?”
Cox shook his head. “No one has any idea. She was found like this on a grade school playground just after sundown by the wife of another victim.”
“Thank God for that,” Adam said. “At least some kid was saved the trauma of finding a dead body. But did you say another victim—as in more than just the girl.”
“Yes, sir, I did. They said there were four dead bodies, actually,” Cox said wearily. He’d seen many such tragedies and was delighted to be spared the vision of at least one gruesome crime scene.
“Four?” Robert said joining the discussion.
Cox nodded. “Yes, four. This one,” he waved the printout, “two gang members, and one bystander. At least the cops at the scene thought he was a bystander since, according to his wife, he only went outside when they heard several gunshots. The cops still aren’t sure what happened. All they know is the two gang-bangers were killed by the same gun. The coroner said the girl,” he waved the picture again, “and the old man had through-and-throughs but their wounds appeared to be from the same caliber gun as the two gang-bangers. The suspicion is they were all killed by the same weapon and the same guy.
“Or girl,” Jenny couldn’t resist being part of the discussion.
“Okay, or girl,” Cox said. “Far be it from me to be sexist. Anyway, the cops are still looking for the bullets. They had to close the school because it’s an active crime scene and they didn’t want hundreds of little feet trampling whatever evidence mignt still be there. They’re apparently still shoeing kids away from the school.”
“I assume there were no witnesses,” Ken said folding up the paper and slipping it in his pocket. He thought perhaps he might need to show it to someone else for identification. Though he didn’t know who that could possibly be he had learned long ago, witnesses sometimes showed up in the unlikeliest of places.
“No one has come forward, and the canvas of the neighborhood hasn’t turned up anyone who admits to seeing anything. Apparently, no one even heard any shooting except the old guy and his wife. Although this crime scene is like a lot of crime scenes where no one wants to be involved. They’re all scared of reprisals. The old guy took a double-barreled shotgun to the melee and fired off a round. His wife heard the shot and then another gunshot right after that. She said she tried to stop him from going out when they heard the first three shots, but he went anyway. The cops around that area are familiar with the old guy. They said he had complained a bunch of times about the gangs in the area and he’d been found on the street several times toting his shotgun. They called him Mr. Vigilantly Justice.”
“You said he got off a shot?” Ken asked ignoring Cox’s sarcasm.
“That’s right,” Cox said.
“Do the cops think he hit anyone?”
“They’re not sure. If he did, he wouldn’t have hurt them too badly. His shotgun was only loaded with rock salt. I guess he was only trying to make a point.”
“That’s too bad. If he’d have had real shells maybe he wouldn’t be dead,” Agent Baker put in.
“That may be true, but vigilantly justice is never a good thing. He should have just stayed home and maybe then he would still be alive,” Robert said with a faraway look thinking Molly might still be with him if she’d stayed home that fateful day so long ago. But then, all she did was go across the street to the park like she’d done many other times.
“That’s true,” Baker said.
“All right,” Ken said. “We can’t do anything about any about that now. We need to get to the hospital.” He almost said, “so Adam can do his thing,” but held that back. The two other agents didn’t know anything about Adam, and it wasn’t his place to breach the confidence Adam had shared with him.
“There’s one other thing,” Baker said looking directly at Ken.
“What’s that?”
“Agent Butler, a friend of mine, has been assigned to work serial cases as well as assassinations. He heard Baker and I talking about the lady in the picture as the one who probably shot Morgan and killed the agent, and he asked me to show him the picture. He instantly knew who she was. He said he’d been on her trail ever since the assassination of the diplomat from that African country. Her name is Miranda Yarborough. What’s interesting about her is that her name, long ago, used to be Miranda Morgan.”
Ken’s eyes grew wide, and his mouth hung open for a second before he spoke. “Are you saying…?”
Baker nodded with a brief smile. “I am. Harold Morgan is Miranda Yarborough’s father. She tried to assassinate her own father.” Ken stood silently absorbing what Baker had said. Baker scanned the others, but nobody else seemed ready to say anything either. He guessed they were all too stunned. Therefore he thought he’d add to everyone’s incredulity. “Butler mentioned something else as well. Miranda has a brother named Roman. And…,” he paused for effect and to make sure he had everybody’s attention, “Roman is also rumored to also be an assassin although nothing has ever been pinned on him. Recently he was put in a jail cell next to an inmate awaiting arrangement, and that inmate ended up dead. Roman was a person of interest in the murder, but they couldn’t get anybody to point a finger at him. They were all too scared of him. Apparently, Roman is a big guy and is supposed to have a hot temper.”
Ken regarded Adam wonderingly. “You don’t suppose…?”
“Do you have a description of this Roman guy?” Adam stared with dialed pupils. He started to tingle in anticipation of the description.
�
�Better. I have a picture of him along with the description.” Cox took out another piece of paper, unfolded it, and handed it the Adam. “Note that it says Roman is six-foot-six and mentions one odd thing.”
“What’s that?” Ken asked.
“It says he has larger than normal hands.”
Adam examined at the picture, swallowed noisily, and turned to Ken. “It’s him. I recognize him, and with the large hands, it’s just got to be him.”
“I would agree based on what you’ve told me about him,” Ken said.
“You know him?” Cox asked.
“No. But I saw him at one point,” Adam had actually seen him in two visions, but he did not want to tell the rest of the story of how he saw Roman. “Do you think he will try to finish the job his sister…,” Adam paused still looking at Ken. He tilted his head in thought, “Do you think he will try to finish off Morgan? If Morgan is still alive, that is.”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Ken took in Cox and Baker in one glance. “Have either of you heard if Morgan died?”
“The last I heard he’s still with us,” Cox said, and Baker nodded in agreement.
“Well let’s get to the hospital fast, then,” Ken said. “We still have some questions for him.”
“Yes, sir,” Cox said leading him and Adam to his car while Robert and Jenny rode with Baker as they’d done the night before.
When they were underway, Ken asked, “What’s the setup at the hospital now?”
“The agent that got shot last night at the front door had surgery to remove the bullet and is recovering. Another agent has taken up his post. Plus, two other agents have relieved the guards on Morgan’s room.”
Ken took out his phone, called the hospital, and asked to speak to the guard by the front door. He warned him to be on the lookout for Roman and described him. He said the agent should inform the agents guarding the door to Morgan’s room. He also said they were on their way and would be there soon.
As they pulled into the hospital parking lot, Adam’s nose started to itch. “Uh oh,” he said.
Ken saw Adam scratching his nose. “What do you think? Is something going to happen?”
“I don’t know for sure, but probably. I guess we should be alert. But then,” he said with a sly grin, “I suppose you always are.”
“I certainly try to be.”
When they arrived Cox and Baker parked, and everyone got out. As they walked to the front door of the hospital, Ken warned everyone to be alert. He didn’t mention Adam’s itchy nose but that everyone needed to be extra vigilant because of what had been happening.
Jenny turned to Ken and nodded. As she turned she noticed a tall man in the distance wearing surgical scrubs walking toward the emergency room door. She pointed. “Is that him?” She whispered even though he was too far away to hear her.
Ken, Robert, and Adam turned in unison as the tall man entered the door. “He may be. He’s really tall,” Adam said, “but he didn’t turn this way so I couldn’t see his face.”
“Let’s go see if we can catch up to him,” Ken said moving toward the emergency room door the tall man went in. Ken took out his phone and again talked to the agent at the front door. He ordered him to go to Morgan’s room to warn the guards and to stay there. Ken said he would post either Cox or Baker to guard the front door in his place. He turned to Cox and ordered him to defend the front door while the rest of them continued to the emergency room door. When they went in, they stopped at the reception desk.
Ken flashed his ID. “Did you see a tall doctor go into the hospital?” he asked the receptionist.
She looked at him disdainfully. “I did. Nobody gets past me. I didn’t recognize him, but he flashed his ID.”
“How closely did you look at it?” Ken asked knowing this woman, who resembled his grade school teacher that everyone called the beast, would be about as forthcoming as that proverbial turnip from which one could not get blood.
“Not too closely because at the time I was arguing with that patient.” She pointed at a large woman who was seated but was cradling her arm and moving her body side to side while moaning in obvious pain.
“That’s all right. Which way did he go?”
“He went up the elevator. The door happened to be standing open when he walked up. Someone one had just gotten off. So he went up right away.”
“Did you see which floor he got off on?”
“No,” she answered rolling her eyes toward the ceiling. “It’s not like I have time to watch the elevator. I have too much to do.
“Well, I’m sorry we bothered you,” Ken said with a slight edge to his voice as he drummed his fingers on the counter. He was used to dealing with unhelpful people whether their reluctance was deliberate or not. He always tried to be civil, but sometimes his frustration got the better of him. He waved his arm at the others and said, “Let’s go up to Morgan’s room. We don’t have time to search for Yarborough if that was actually him. Besides, he might have gone up to the room, and maybe we can intercept him.”
Chapter 54
Ken and his entourage took the elevator to the intensive care floor and walked up to the two agents on either side of the door.
“Where’s the third agent I sent up here?” Ken asked.
“He went into the room to make sure everything is okay in there. There are a couple of nurses in there, and a doctor just went in,” One of the agents said.
Ken’s eyes grew wide, and he clenched and unclenched his fists. “He wasn’t the tall doctor we warned you about was he?”
The agent appeared to be surprised that his superior would question his ability to follow orders. “Absolutely not. He wasn’t even as tall as I am and we thoroughly checked him out before we let him in the room. We also made sure the nurses were legitimate before we let them go into the room. The two in there now replaced two other nurses that were in there when we came on duty and the other agents left. They had vetted those nurses before they let them in.”
Ken relaxed. “Let’s go on in,” he waved to the others in his party.
As they went in Ken saw the doctor they’d talked to the night before. “Well, how is he, Doctor?”
The doctor consulted the chart he was holding. “He’s still alive but, according to these notes, he didn’t have a fun time last night. He was in a lot of pain and in and out of consciousness pretty much all night.”
“Do you think we can ask him a few questions?” Robert asked taking a shaky breath.
“You can try, but I’m not sure he’ll understand you or be able to answer. He’s very weak.”
Robert glanced at Ken who nodded. He took Jenny’s arm. He was mildly surprised when she didn’t resist. Together they took the few steps to the bed and stared intensely at the formerly robust body. “Do…do you know who I am?” Jenny asked.
Morgan turned his head toward Jenny and inclined his head in a failed attempt to nod. “You’re the one who…messed up my perfect plan with that stupid tattoo,” he struggled to get the words out, and spittle rolled down his chin. He tried to raise his arm but quickly abandoned the effort. “I’d strangle you if I could…raise my…arm.” He tried again, raised it a few inches before he dropped it for lack of strength, and breathed deeply from the effort.
When Roman approached the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, he gazed at the main building where he knew the intensive care unit was housed and then scanned the area for another building with a high enough floor to provide him an unobstructed view of the fourth floor. Fortunately, there was a building with seven floors right across the street. He went in and took the stairs to the roof. He situated himself facing the main building and scanned the fourth-floor windows with his binoculars until he found the correct room. He couldn’t believe his luck. He could plainly see Morgan’s face, so he was sure he was looking at the proper room. He had only guessed on which side of the building Morgan’s room would be and happened to hit it right on the first try.
He removed his tripod and rifle
from his ordinary-looking but specially-made suitcase and set everything up. He scanned the building again to make sure he had the right room and focused his rifle scope on Morgan’s chest. Because Miranda had nicked Morgan’s aorta he knew there had to have been massive internal bleeding and he was sure another hole in Morgan’s heart would finish the job Miranda started. He lined up his sites, checked the wind, and gently squeezed the trigger.
At that moment the doctor, who was between Morgan’s bed and the window, dropped his pen. In the process of picking it up, he rose up a few inches to his left and much closer to Morgan. The doctor caught Roman’s carefully prepared shot in his left shoulder. Roman let out a stream of invectives and started to line up his shot again.
When the doctor fell onto Morgan’s bed from the force of the rifle shot, blood spewing from his wound, Ken immediately understood what had happened. The spider-web of cracks in the window confirmed it. He instantly drew the drapes blocking the shooter’s view of Morgan’s bed and his prey. Ken pulled the right side of the curtains back until he could see the building across the street. He caught a glint of reflected sunlight from the barrel of the shooter’s gun. He turned to Baker and yelled for him to take the agents guarding the room and secure the building across the street. “The shot came from the roof. Expect Yarborough but be on the lookout for anyone else. I didn’t get a good look at whoever was on the roof.”
“At once, sir,” Baker said heading out the door.
When he shot the doctor instead of Morgan and the guy in the room drew the drapes Roman knew his chance was gone. The only thing to do was to pack up and try again some other time and maybe some other way. He had many murderous talents besides being a marksman. Donati would merely have to wait until he had time to come up with another plan. In the meantime, maybe Morgan would die on his own. After all, Donati had said Morgan was already at death’s door and he had already taken care of the other half of Donati’s contract by killing Miranda. Miranda, his own sister. They had been so close in the past. He had acted nonchalant when he confronted her, but that hadn’t been his true feelings. He couldn’t have afforded to let her see how killing her would affect him. If he had shown the smallest gap in his armor, perhaps he might not have been able to do it. She might have been able to turn the tables on him. After all, she had been as good of an assassin as he was.
The Dog Who Ate The Flintlock Page 38
