by JJ Lamb
“I see from the form you filled out that you work for the police department?”
Another question.
“Is that some kind of problem?” Mulzini said. Marcia squeezed his arm as if to say, “Cool it!”
Tallent gave him a phony chuckle. “No, no, of course not. It’s just that that must be a very stressful job.”
“It has its moments.” Mulzini felt as though he already had this man’s probing fingers wandering up and down his body. “I deal with it.”
Tallent nodded. “I see from your internist’s notes that you refused to get any of the tests he ordered.”
Mulzini could feel the hairs on his neck getting prickly, a warning that he was about to lose his temper. He took a couple of deep breaths and calmed himself. “Look, my doc already talked to me about atrial fib until it was coming out of my eyeballs. I had all those tests a year ago, when this AF crap started.”
Marcia dug her nails into his arm, letting him know he was getting out of line.
Dr. Tallent’s face flushed. “Look, Stefano—“
“Do not call me that!”
“I don’t understand—isn’t that your name?”
“My name is Mulzini. That’s what I like to be called—please.”
“Okay, sir. Your internist found that you had no structural damage to your heart, however, no one has examined your blood vessels to see if there are any other problems that might be causing you ...” He paused and ran one finger down a sheet of paper in front of him. “Let me see—shortness of breath, fatigue, and, of course, your episodes of increased AF.”
“They recommended a cath a year ago, but he refused,” Marcia said.
Mulzini glared at her, then turned back to Tallent. “Maybe I didn’t have the cath, but I’m not going through that whole business again. I don’t want to take all of those tests a second time, understand?”
“Well, sir, I see you’ve had a twenty-four-hour AF episode and they had to do a cardio-version to set you back to a normal rhythm.”
“Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Next thing up is the stroke business.”
“And the fact you refused to take the anti-clotting medicine,” Marcia said.
“Look, doc. I’m in a risky profession. I can’t afford to be on anything where I can keep bleeding. A cut can do that to you, right?”
Tallent threw his notes on his desk and ignored the question. “Look, Mr. Mulzini, we can set you up for the Cath Lab right here in our offices.”
“No hospital?”
“No. We have our own CCU right here. There’s a good chance an ablation might be the answer for you.”
“Yeah, my internist discussed that.”
“You might also have narrowing of an artery—”
“Look, I know all that crap. Just set me up so I can get back to my life.”
“Okay, sir. Let’s get to your physical and we’ll go from there.”
Chapter 20
Cal’s arms were wrapped around her. He tongued her neck, trailing downward over her breasts, her belly. They were sucking up each other’s breath while his hands rode her hips, her bottom—lifting her onto his cock ... writhing, moving faster, frantic ... gulping for air, drowning in each other ... screaming with joy.
Kat Parker jolted back to reality. She was having one of those daydreams again. She’d been doing that a lot lately. The kind of mind games or fantasies you know aren’t real, but feel real and urgent. She snapped out of it, looked around. But she was safe in her office.
She wished she could stop thinking about Cal Cortez. She hardly knew him; he’d only come into her life two days ago, almost right after she went to see Dr. Tallent.
She shouldn’t have even met him, but she’d filled in for someone who was out sick—she’d had to finalize his employment entry into Golden Eye Tech.
The minute he walked in the door she was caught. He was not only handsome, in a rugged kind of way, he was an anomaly in her world. It was rare she met any employee over fifty. Technology was filled with thirty and forty-year-olds, at least the ones she’d met.
“My name is Cal Cortez,” he’d said with a nervous laugh. “But you already know that.”
“Yes.” Then they just sat looking at each other; it wasn’t at all uncomfortable or disquieting. It was pure attraction, something she’d forgotten about along the way.
“Are you free for dinner?’ He’d blurted it out.
Before that, she was lost and lonely, but one day, one moment had changed it all.
Something real happened to her that day.
Kat had not felt well for so long that it was surprising that since she met Cal and saw Dr. Tallent, things had gotten so much better. Maybe her life would now change for the better.
Was it meeting someone new and vital? Was it because she was finally going to do something positive about her health—have the cardiac catheterization and find out once and for all what was the matter with her, if anything?
Dr. Tallent tried to explain the procedure, had gone over the possible disastrous things that could happen, even though he’d made it plain that having a stroke or developing a blood clot was statistically very low. It all seemed unimportant compared with all the benefits she would get from just knowing about her physical situation.
She started daydreaming again and right on cue, her phone rang. It was Cal.
“Hi, Kat.”
“Hi.” She was totally breathless thinking about his green eyes and they way they seemed to swallow her.
“How about I make us dinner at my apartment tonight?”
It caught her totally off guard. “I ... I’d love to.”
“I’ll come and get you at five. Okay?”
“Yes. I’m looking forward to it.”
The minute she hung up she tried to remember what underwear she’d worn, not that they’d necessarily become intimate, even though she knew they both wanted to. At least, she did.
Now she was restless and when she tried to pick up where she’d left off on a project sitting on her computer screen, she couldn’t remember what was so important about it. Instead, she started daydreaming again.
* * *
Tallent picked up his phone. “Maya, please bring Lolly Stenz in to see me right away.”
“Yes, doctor.”
He sat at his desk flipping Lolly’s employee card over and over. The metallic strip on the back served as a key that allowed her entry into every section of the penthouse offices. This one little key could be the beginning of the end. If it wasn’t so serious, it would be amusing.
Done in by a stupid little nothing.
“Hi, Mort. You wanted to see me?”
Even though he expected her, her voice startled him. She stood at the doorway—had on her soft head cap, scrubs, and shoe coverings.
“Come in, Lolly. Close the door, please.” He could tell she was nervous—her body was tense and she was slightly bent as she approached his desk and slid into the leather chair opposite him.
He leaned back, tapped a pen from point to top, back and forth, drawing the moment out. She shifted in her seat, apparently trying to get comfortable.
“What were you doing in my office last night?”
She looked stunned, but blurted, “Why?”
“Why?” he said, trying to hold back a sneer. “Because you don’t belong in here.”
“How—”
Tallent pointed to her employee ID card on the desk in front of him, flipped it over, and tapped it as if it was a winning blackjack card.
“You know, I was wondering what happened to my card. I thought I’d lost it in the employee parking garage.” She gave him a tentative smile.
“I think you lost it when you and Gina Mazzio were here last night.” He leaned forward, half-way across the desk. “We have you on our security tapes—don’t try to deny it.”
She leaned back into the seat and laughed. “I should have known.” She grabbed a tissue from her pocket and blew her nose. “You know Gina Mazzio—she work
s in CCU at Ridgewood.”
“Of course I know her. She’s also the one who recommended you to Robert for this job.”
“Well, she was curious about the offices and our own little CCU set up so I brought her here after hours to show her around.”
“It was after three in the morning, Lolly.”
“I know it was dumb, but when we’re all busy it’s hard to show off the place.”
“And you were in my office and at my computer. Is that part of the tour?”
“I don’t know why we did that,” she laughed nervously. “Sort of when the cat’s
away, the mouse will play kind of thing.” She held up a hand. “I know, pretty lame. But she was curious.” She shifted in her seat again.
“Enough to go through my desk drawers?”
“I’m sorry. I admit it was pretty dumb, but we both suffer from insomnia and it seemed like a fun thing to do. I hope you’ll forgive my stupidity. ”
He held her eyes for a long moment. “Go on, get out of here—go do your job.”
She was up like a shot. “Please forgive me.”
He nodded at her.
Not a chance in hell, you lying piece of shit.
* * *
Lolly left Mort Tallent’s office, hurried to the bathroom, and locked herself in. She looked in the mirror.
She was white as chalk. The face staring back at her was one of a scared-shitless human being—her eyes were watery and when she removed her surgical cap, her hair was soaking wet and plastered to her head.
Did Tallent believe me?
Not for a minute!
Maria was dead, along with her mother, for interfering in Tallent’s affairs. That was it, plain and simple. Was she next? Was Gina?
She washed her face with cold water and patted it dry with paper towels, tried to puff up her hair—she would have to get a fresh cap. And looking at the sweat stains mapping under her arms meant she needed to change into fresh scrubs as well.
Lolly pulled out her phone and tapped in Gina’s number, hoping she would be in a spot where she could grab her phone to talk.
Gina picked up right away. “Lolly? Are you all right. Is there anything the matter?”
“I just spent the most uncomfortable ten minutes of my life.”
“What happened.”
“Tallent is on to us.”
“What do you mean, Lolly. How could he be?”
“Well, remember when I dropped my employee card?”
“Oh!”
“He returned it to me. Not only that—he reviewed their security tapes and saw both you and me sneaking through the place.”
“Oh, my God! This is awful. Is he going to fire you?”
“I don’t think so. But, I know he didn’t believe a word I said.”
* * *
Gina met Harry in the cafeteria for their lunch break. Her eyes were a big as saucers as she told him about Tallent, how he knew she and Lolly had been in his office.
All kinds of scenarios flashed through his head.
“This is just what I was afraid of, Gina.”
“If you say, I-told-you-so, I swear I’ll scream.”
“Look, doll, this is how you always get in over your head.” Harry grabbed her hand, squeezed it. “Now you’re not only in the middle of a murder case, you could be charged with breaking into Tallent’s office.”
Gina covered her face. “He wouldn’t call the police, would he?”
“Actually, I don’t know why he hasn’t done it already.”
She thought a moment. “I’ll tell you why: because he’s involved with Maria’s murder. He’s not going to run to the police and chance their radar picking up his signals.”
“Maybe.”
“Lolly is not one to push the panic button about anything, but she was worried about the bookkeeper, and then Maria she was dead, along with her mother.”
“You have to forgive me, doll.” Harry moved his chair closer to her. “I’m selfish, I know, but this was supposed to be our time ... like getting into wedding plans, doing something that was fun instead of always getting into the middle of some life or death crisis.”
She looked at him and her eyes filled with tears. “It’s what I want, too. But I can’t turn my back on a friend. You wouldn’t do that either.”
Harry nodded. “You’re probably right, besides, it’s too late.” Harry leaned over and kissed her cheek . “You’ve gotten yourself smack in the middle now.”
Chapter 21
Mulzini and Marcia took the elevator down from the penthouse offices of the cardiologists. Neither of them said a word. Marcia reached for Mulzini’s hand and he felt safe for the moment.
Outside, he pulled her along with him. Crowds were wandering back and forth and there was an energy that revved him up. Almost as good as being at the Indy 500.
“The car’s the other way,” Marcia said, smiling up at him.
“Yeah, but I like being around these San Francisco people. They make me feel feisty. Like I’m still here kicking.”
“Not feeling sorry for yourself, are you?” Marcia tugged at his arm. “Are you?”
“Naw, we’ve all gotta go sometime. Maybe this is my time.”
“Time, schmime! You listen to me, big guy: don’t you even think about checking out, you hear? You’re here with me, and that’s the way it’s going to be.”
She stopped, pulled his head down to her, and kissed his cheek. Crowds moved around them, but he could see people were looking at them and smiling.
“Hey, see that lunch cart? Let’s get a couple of dogs. I’m actually hungry.”
“If it’s junk food, you’re always hungry.” She laughed and lightly punched his arm.
“Hot dogs aren’t junk food—they’re basic to human nutrition. How do you think I’ve lasted this long?”
After slathering their dogs with mustard, onions, and relish, they moved back away from the cart and started eating.
“So, are you up for doing the cardiac cath next week?” Marcia said.
“Wow, it’s that soon?”
Marcia nodded as she finished chewing the last bite of the impromptu lunch. “At least it’s going to be at Ridgewood. Gina will keep me in the loop.”
“Yeah. I gotta get it over with so I can get back to work. That way I’ll stop driving both of us nuts.”
“And, Dirk, too. He looked like he’d been crying after talking with you this morning. What was that about?”
“Nothing really.” Mulzini stuffed the rest of the hot dog into his mouth. Talked around it. “He was just reassuring me, while I reassured him. That kid’s a treasure.”
“Yeah, one of the few perks you’ve brought home from the job.”
* * *
Mort Tallent sat in his BMW outside the Time Out Health Club.
He’d bought a pack of cigarettes and started smoking again—something he hadn’t done in almost fifteen years. While he inhaled the tobacco smoke, he hoped it would calm his nerves, help him think. But he realized that all the smoking did was push him back into a deadly habit.
This morning, after talking to Lolly, he’d hurried through his consultations so he could get out for an early lunch. He wasn’t interested in food. He wanted a resolution.
He sat there and devised a plan for handling everything, thought about again bringing Vlad into the messy equation. The Russian was unpredictable, violent, unstable, and, worst of all, already had too much incriminating information on Tallent. But did he have a choice?
He was worried, though. If he went ahead and had Vlad take care of Lolly for him, it would be much too soon after the murders of Maria and her mother.
And since Maria had worked in his office, some nosy cop might drag up the connection between that and the death of his ex-wife, Annie. Too many deaths involving the office of Dr. Morton Tallent?
His head was exploding.
For the millionth time he cursed his dead ex-wife for causing him to get involved with the hit man.
&
nbsp; It was getting too messy—all fingers could soon be pointing at Mort Tallent.
Not only that, Lolly had brought in her friend Gina Mazzio. Another CCU medical tie in.
He lit another cigarette with the old stub.
No, he would have to wait it out. See how the cards fell. There was no doubt that Vlad was definitely needed, but getting rid of Lolly wasn’t the answer. There were other ways.
He took a couple of deep breaths, put out the freshly lit cigarette.
Chapter 22
The man leaned against a store front on the corner, cell in hand. He was looking at the phone window, like every other person around him, as though there was something there that mattered.
What he was really doing was looking across the street at Vlad Folo walking up the steps into the Time Out Health Club.
He was profiling Vlad—age , height, weight, physical condition. Even at this distance it wasn’t difficult to read Vlad’s body language—confidence. The man tapped into the stored notes in his smart phone, data he’d been carrying with him for a long time. This might or might not be the person he was looking for, but all of the superficial details seemed to fit.
He waited a few minutes, crossed the street, and walked into the club. A very attractive receptionist looked up from her desk and smiled at him.
“May I help you?”
“Yes, I do believe you can.” He gave her a bright smile and leaned over her desk.
* * *
Vlad was feeling particularly good this morning. Instead of his usual raw egg and twelve- ounces of orange juice, consumed in his kitchen, he’d gone out to eat a large breakfast of pancakes swimming in maple syrup, along with four sausage links, all topped off with an extravagant four cups of black coffee.
Every bite warned that he would have to pay a physical price to compensate for all that food. He knew it was going to take more than one heavy-duty, two-hour workout to make it all right again.
At the club, he winked at the receptionist, who was still trying to get him into bed, and then walked through the facility, past the squash rooms, the pool, the spa, and the steam rooms.
