Suffer Not Evil: A Florida Action Adventure Novel

by Scott Cook

  “How’s your day going, baby?”

  “Swimmingly,” I grumbled. “I found a dead guy a little while ago. Ted Whittaker was shot to death in his shower early this morning or late last night.”

  A pause, “Jesus… guess somebody feels his usefulness is over.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “And probably knew I was gunning for him… shit… poor choice of words. I’m at Doctor Campbell’s now and about to talk to him. After that, I need to phone the Sarasota cops.”

  She sighed, “I’m glad I caught you then. I’ve got some information on Doc Campbell I think you should know.”

  Lisa then explained that she’d spent the morning at the Hillsboro County courthouse and was now headed back to Pinellas. She discovered records of the court case against Campbell and that Whittaker had defended. Apparently, it was a wrongful death suit by a family who’d lost their little girl in childbirth.

  I groaned, “God… that sucks. Losing your newborn and then having to sit through a trial…”

  “Yeah…” Lisa empathized. “And then having the doctor acquitted. Not evidence to suggest he was at fault… but there’s something odd.”

  I waited and knew I probably wouldn’t like it.

  “It seems this was not the first time. I found five other cases of Campbell being involved with infants deaths. Either in maternity or right afterward.”

  I sighed, “Probably not that unusual over the course of a twenty-plus year career, right? Unfortunately, you deliver several babies each day, and the odds are that a few won’t make it. Even in this day and age…”

  Lisa scoffed, “I’m just talking about the court cases. There are a dozen more where the families didn’t sue. But that’s not even the strangest part. These items go back over twenty years. The first being in 1999. Unfortunately, that case is sealed. But I do know it was filed in Hillsboro County, of course. And it was filed in July.”

  “July of 1999…” I muttered.

  “Isn’t that when you said that Sarah Beth Bradford was born?”

  “Yeah… and when Veronica had her appendix out,” I noted. “Hmm… strange. Maybe I can make a call and get those records cracked open.”

  Lisa paused and then said: “Here’s another odd coincidence for you, gumshoe… in 2004, Rosanna Cardoza went into Tampa General to give birth. On the same day, a Juanita Ramirez went into maternity as well. Antonio Cardoza was born that afternoon, and unfortunately, baby Ramirez didn’t make it. Guess who was the attending physician on both cases?”

  “What the…” I muttered. “Okay… holy Christ… this is a lot to absorb.”

  “What do you think it all means?”

  I chuckled sardonically, “That the killer is obviously Dave, of course.”

  “Dave? You mean Dave Alexander, your narrator?”

  I chuckled for real this time, “Yeah, exactly. It’s always them smooth-talkin’ radio types that can’t wait to pick up a wet noodle and start lashing indiscriminately!”

  She sighed, “Seriously, though… what do you think this all means?”

  “Means there’s quite a spider’s web growing here, and I still don’t quite know how it all connects. It does make me a bit suspicious… well, more suspicious, of the doc. Good work, punkin-puss. Keep digging on your end. I’m going to go up and ring his bell.”

  I rang the bell and waited for nearly a minute before the front door, which was strangely located on the ground level, opened and a sour-faced, middle-aged Philippino woman frowned at me. Her size eighteen body was delicately squeezed into what appeared to be white size fourteen scrubs. Probably not scrubs, though.

  “Yes?” she asked neutrally.

  “I’d like to speak to Doctor Campbell, please,” I replied, treating her to my high-wattage smile. The smile that generally resulted in the immediate disrobement of any female caught within its line of fire.

  The woman seemed to remain calm, “He not seeing patients at home.”

  “While I’m often confused with a pregnant woman, I’m not actually a patient, ma’am,” I charmed. “This is a personal matter.”

  Again, she didn’t react. Must be made of some stern stuff this lady, “Who are you?”

  “Scott Jarvis.”

  She scowled, “You police?”

  “Why not?”

  The scowl was joined by a glare, “You wait.”

  She slammed the door in my face, and I heard steps clomping up internal stairs. I waited.

  Two minutes later, the steps returned, and the door opened, “He not home.”

  “Didn’t you know that before you went upstairs again?” I asked.

  “He not home. You go now. Come back tomorrow.”

  She moved as if to slam the door again and I put my hand on it. I then dropped my charming and sunny disposition and speared her with a glare of my own, “Listen to me, ma’am. This is a serious matter. I know the doctor is in, and you’re going to let me see him right now, savvy? If not, I’m going to break this goddamned door down and arrest him, and I’ll take you downtown as well for interfering with a federal investigation. Any of that getting through?”

  Her sour expression blanched considerably, “I… I do what the doctor say…”

  “Yeah,” I said gruffly. “Well now you do what I say. Take me to Campbell, now.”

  17

  The maid, or footwoman, or whatever kind of servant she was, led me through the house and into a Florida room that took up half of what would otherwise have been a full-width balcony. The left side of the fifty by twenty balcony had been closed in with openable windows so that one could enjoy the sunshine while still being able to enjoy the air conditioning. Keep all that nasty nature from melting the cocktail ice too rapidly.

  Doctor Felix Campbell was enthroned on an overstuffed reclining chair with a tall glass of something at his right elbow. His expression was not inviting.

  His left index finger held the place in some paperback book or other. I couldn’t see the title from where I stood. However, I went out on a limb and assumed that it was probably not a riveting Jarvis adventure.

  “What is the meaning of this, Mr. Jarvis?” he asked snidely. “You told Josanna here that you were a police officer? Unless you lied to me the other day at the hospital, you’ve lied to get in here.”

  “Doctor,” I said sternly, moving to sit in a less comfortable bamboo couch thing that must have been set there as a means of punishing his guests. “I am in law enforcement. At a level far higher than local, state or even federal offices. However, that notwithstanding, you and I have a few things to discuss. And by discuss, I mean that you had better have some damned good explanations for the items I’m about to bring up.”

  He glared, “I have nothing to explain, sir. And I don’t care who you work for. If you harass me, I will have my attorney file an appropriate suit against you.”

  “Fine words, Doctor,” I said. “Would that attorney be Theodore Whittaker, by chance?”

  His only response was to glower condescendingly and, I thought, menacingly.

  My level of fright did not elevate.

  “Well, let’s start with you before we move on to Ted, shall we?” I asked. “Let’s begin with why an obstetrician would be the attending physician for a head wound patient. Or did you really think nobody would notice that?”

  “Ted is a personal friend of mine as well as a business associate,” Campbell said. He did indignation and professional haughteur very well.

  “Indeed,” I rejoined, doing a pretty good version myself… even if I do say so. “Yet you told me at the hospital that you… not a surgeon… removed bone fragments from his inner cranium. You and not a cranial specialist or even psychologist told me that you’d diagnosed Ted as having temporary amnesia.”

  He picked up his drink and sipped contemptuously. “Prove it. I never said those things. You’re not in the medical field, Jarvis, so I’m sure you misunderstood me.”

  I chuckled, “Felix… may I call you Felix?”

  �
��You may not.”

  “Great, Felix… this isn’t an episode of The Columbo,” I explained. “We’re not talking about a liable or a slander suit or what I may or may not have recorded. You said those things. You lied to me and got me looking deeper into your… situation. Had you simply been honest, I might not ever have thought to do so, Felix.”

  He narrowed his eyes, “What situation?”

  “Glad you asked, Felix,” I went on. “For one, how old Tedward defended you in no less than half a dozen wrongful death suits filed by delivering mothers.”

  He actually chuckled scornfully, “And I was acquitted on all of them.”

  I smiled, “Acquitted? That’s a term used in a criminal case, Felix. I believe the term you’re groping for is found not to be negligent or criminally liable. Which I’m sure was a great comfort to those families. Interesting how you chose acquitted, though… something gnawing at your conscience, perhaps?”

  His aplomb was beginning to crack now. He leaned forward and pointed a finger at me, “Those deaths were tragic, but not my fault. Sometimes infants die during birth or shortly after from complications. It’s very unfortunate, but no doctor is perfect. The longer you practice medicine, the more likely you are to lose a patient. It’s an unpleasant side of what we do… and stop calling me Felix.”

  “Sure, Felix, sure,” I went on. “Yet interestingly, those women and the children had no prior issues. Nothing that would indicate a problem.”

  “You’re a real bastard, you know that?” he snapped. He threw himself back against the chair and gulped another inch of his whatever it was in an attempt to re-establish his air of disapprobation.

  “I’m only trying to get to the bottom of something here, Felix,” I replied. “For instance, there was a case while you were in residency at Tampa General twenty-three years back. Why was that one sealed? Oh, and what about the case of the woman who lost her child on the same day that noted drug gangster Louis Cardoza’s wife delivered his first son? Which seems somewhat untoward, Felix. Especially when you consider that the hidden case took place when both Julius Bradford’s first wife and his future next wife, Veronica, were in the hospital at the same time. I don’t mean to spout off, but that seems like more than a fluke… a whale of a coincidence. I don’t much believe in them.”

  His face had been reddening with anger but now had suddenly begun to pale, “What… what are you saying?”

  “It’s not what I’m saying, Felix… it’s what you should be saying. You’re connected to my case. It’s a connection you need to start explaining. Not just for your legal or career standing, either. I think you may be in grave danger. I think you know some things that some other people might not want known, Felix. I think that somebody out there… somebody like Cardoza maybe…? Well, somebody may begin to believe that you’re a liability. And those kinds of people, Felix, don’t tolerate liabilities. They tie up loose ends. Do you follow me?”

  He was bone-white now. When he spoke, his voice trembled. I couldn’t be sure if it was from fear or anger. Perhaps both: “Get out! I want you out of this house immediately! I don’t care who you say you work for! I’m going to file a civil suit… I’m going to get in touch with the Saint Petersburg police! I know people, too, Jarvis!”

  “Don’t bother calling your lawyer, Doctor,” I said, getting to my feet. “He can’t answer you.”

  “What does that mean!?” he raged.

  “I found Ted shot to death in his shower just a few hours ago,” I said harshly. “I’m about to notify the Sarasota police. Do you know anything about that?”

  He stammered but could find no words.

  “Well, don’t be surprised if they come around and inquire,” I said as I walked for the archway that led into the dining room. At the threshold I turned and held up my finger in a very Peter Falk-esque manner. “Oh, and don’t be surprised if someone else comes to call, Felix. My advice is to tell me what you know. I can help you. I can protect you.”

  “Go to hell!” he managed to shout while barely making it above a whisper.

  I shook my head and shrugged. I rubbed my two palms together in a washing motion, “So be it, Doctor Campbell. So be it.”

  I admit that I handled him pretty roughly. Perhaps too roughly. I could’ve been wrong. He could’ve been a guy who was just helping a friend. He was right; natal deaths did happen from time to time.

  Yet my gut told me he wasn’t clean. There was something dirty about that man. Something that stunk. I wanted to shake him up, which I did, but it hadn’t really done me any good. At least not immediately.

  However, regardless of how complicit he was or was not, I also felt that his life was in danger. I’d need to do something about that, or he might end up like Whittaker.

  Of course, my options were limited. If I got Alex involved, then that meant SPPD. That might also mean Captain Cutler again, and she could very well cause me grief or, at the very least, obstruct me somehow. I had four bodyguards at my disposal… yet pulling one of them off Veronica meant reducing their effectiveness.

  I also had to consider that Campbell might refuse help. If he didn’t want a bodyguard, then I couldn’t force one on him. I could put a man outside his house and to follow him…

  “Take men away from my client to watch over a man who may be involved in the attempts on her life?” I grumbled aloud as I got into my Jeep. “Dammit to hell…”

  I began to think that it was a bit of a shame that I didn’t know more thugs. Really good thugs. The kind of thugs that Spenser could call upon in times like this. I didn’t have a Vinnie or Hawk or Sixkill. I didn’t have a Cholo or Bobby Horse or a Bernard J. Fortunato. All I had were the four guys Gregorio Santino had sent me. I had Wayne, Sharon and Juan… but they were cops and couldn’t be used in the same way. There was Charles Conklin, of course, but I happened to know that he and the Jack Brody team were doing something in the Philippines at that moment.

  I had a few others I could possibly call on… but only in a dire emergency. While Clay would certainly jump onto a burning boat with me, I couldn’t ask him to get involved with this. Then there was Rick Eagle Feather… not exactly a thug but a man who was quite capable and might be able to step in on something of this nature.

  I had to worry about the fact that if I put somebody on Doctor Campbell, they could and possibly would be in danger themselves.

  I had my team from ICE, of course. Quite a few members, but especially the team I generally worked closely with. Between Bryan Turner, Jackie Stevvins, Anthony Hightower and James Dillan, there were decades of SEAL experience there. The only trouble was that this wasn’t exactly what they did. Those assets were meant for a broader scope.

  Maybe I needed to go about this in a different way. Perhaps I needed to start going to the source of some of my troubles. It was time that Lou Cardoza and I had a face-to-face meeting. Seemed only right since he had sent no less than five dudes to kill me and Veronica.

  I drove down Gulf Boulevard and turned left at the big, pink Don Caesar hotel and onto the Pinellas Bay Way. Over the big bridge and then right to go out to Tierra Verde and over that new, and still partially under construction, big bridge. When I arrived at Veronica’s everything seemed calm and normal.

  Then I realized that nobody was standing watch down in the garage area. Furthermore, I hadn’t seen a police cruiser anywhere near the house either. I frowned and made my way upstairs. No one was on the deck, either.

  “What the Christ…?” I muttered and went inside.

  I found Lisa, Sonny, Jimmy and T sitting around in the living room looking as if they’d lost the grocery money at the track. When she saw me, her face flushed, and she hung her head in what seemed very much like shame.

  “Hey, what’s…?” I began.

  “It’s my fault,” Lisa said softly.

  “What’s your fault?” I asked in confusion, although the lack of Veronica’s presence was telling.

  “She flew the coop,” Sonny stated matter-of-f
actly.

  “What do you mean… flew the coop?” I asked, trying to hold back anything but bewilderment. “There were four of you here!”

  “I talked with her about some of the stuff I told you,” Lisa said. “About forty-five minutes ago, when I got here. When I told her about the doctor, she sort of… went numb. Just listened and then went outside and… never came back.”

  I looked at the three men. Sonny drew in a breath.

  “Jimmy and me was takin’ a nap,” he said. “Joe and T was watching the joint. Joe said she came out on the pool deck, said she needed somethin’ outta her car and went downstairs. He said he didn’t think nothin’ of it, on account T was down there.”

  The big man’s dark complexion seemed to flush as well, “I never seen her. She must’ve waited till I took a stroll around the yard and bolted.”

  “Her car is in the driveway,” I said. “And speaking of Joe… where is he? And where the fuck is the damned cop again?”

  “He went after her,” Jimmy added. “Thought maybe he could catch her or somethin’. He ain’t called in yet, though. Was only… what, fifteen, twenty minutes ago?”

  “Yeah,” Sonny confirmed.

  “When I noticed she was gone I went out and talked to the police officer,” Lisa explained. “when I told her Veronica had left, she reported in and then was ordered away to try and track her down, I guess. Haven’t heard anything since. But the officer said she didn’t see Veronica leave… so she must have snuck past somehow…”

  I wanted to explode. I wanted to rage and grab each and every one of these men and shake them. Four of them had allowed Veronica to simply walk away and out of their sight.

  Yet that wasn’t fair. A bodyguard or bodyguards are only effective if they have the cooperation of their charge. The scenario presumes that the person being guarded doesn’t try to slip them.

  There’s a saying regarding technology that states that no matter how foolproof your system, you can’t make the system impervious to intentional internal tampering. With bodyguarding, the same is true. We can watch someone and even jump in front of a bullet for them, but our attention is focused on protecting them from outside threats. You don’t assume they’ll try to evade you, too.