by K. M. Hodge
Jason sat down at the round table—used for backroom gambling, no doubt. A set of cards and chips sat on the counter at the other end of the room. Charles always did have a weakness for poker.
Julie walked around the room and calmly looked at the artwork, calm as if it were just a normal lunch date.
“Wonderful! You’re here.” Charles paused in the doorframe, his gaze locked on Julie. “Ah, you brought the girl.”
Zane pushed passed Charles and made a beeline for Julie. The young people clung to each other. “I’m so sorry,” Zane said.
Julie tightened her hold on him, burying her face in his neck. “What happened? Why did you run away?”
“Some guys jumped me in the hospital parking garage and took me to the MDNA headquarters.”
Jason glanced over at Charles. MDNA... Sally’s organization.... Apparently their arrangement went deeper than he originally thought.
Julie frowned, but let Zane pull her tight against him. “I’m sorry, Julie.”
“It’s fine. I’m just glad you’re okay. We were worried.”
Zane brushed Julie’s hair away from her face and kissed her.
“Hmm... young love. How quaint.” Charles watched it all with a wry smile.
Jason narrowed his eyes at Charles. “Can we cut the crap and get down to business?”
The old man’s smug grin slid off his face, but he sat down across from Jason without another word.
The kid and Julie sat beside each other on the low buffet table in the back.
Jason leaned back in the chair, balancing on two legs, and stared Charles down. It would be so much easier if he had something to offer in trade, but he didn’t. Which only left threats. If he didn’t have to go there, he wouldn’t.
Don’t poke the bear, he reminded himself.
Charles tented his hands on the table in front of him. “What do you want, Jason?”
He set the chair forward onto all fours and waited a moment before responding. He glanced over at Zane and Julie, who stared at him blankly, waiting. “Marianna is on to you being gone. I don’t how she found out but she connected all the dots. She’s getting a warrant to search my wife for your monitor. You need to fix this and fix it quick.”
“I don’t see how any of that is my problem.”
Jason bit his tongue and took in a sharp breath. It took everything in him to keep from reaching across the table and strangling the son of a bitch.
So much for hoping he might have some small amount of a soul left in him.
He closed his eyes and took another breath. “Charles, if you don’t agree to my terms, I’ll make things very difficult for you.”
The old man chuckled. “Oh yeah? And what exactly are you going to do?”
“With a push of a button I can have Marianna on to your location. The kid said you are all holed up at MDNA. You forget that I know where that is.”
His nemesis shifted in his chair and looked away.
“If you want me to keep playing along with this plan of yours, then you’re going to have to help us out here.”
Charles scratched the stubble on his cheek, right above a greenish purple bruise marking his neck.
Who did he get in a fight with? Sheesh, the guy is out in the real world a day, and already he looks like he got used as someone’s punching bag.
Whatever had happened didn’t seem to be slowing him down any. He still seemed to want to hold court with them. Then a red stain appeared on his side.
“You’re bleeding.” Zane hopped off the buffet. The stain seemed to be spreading.
“What did you do? Get stabbed?” Jason asked.
Zane lifted the shirt and examined the wound.
“You pulled your stitches.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m going to go grab my bag.”
“Hurry up.” Charles turned to Jason. “I’ll make some calls. I’ve paid off the doctor. He’s ready to take the fall. I didn’t want to lose him unless I had to. Apparently, he’s going to have to clean up this mess.”
“What about Zane?”
“What about him?”
“What’s your plan for him?”
“None of your business.”
Jason paused, his mouth hanging open, waiting for the words to come out. He had a good idea of what Charles wanted with Sally’s son, but was afraid to find out for sure. “You’re going to use him as bait.”
Julie jumped into the mix. “Like hell you are! He didn’t ask to be any part of this.”
Charles laughed a little. “Honey, you’re just gonna have to trust me on this. Zane is perfectly safe. I won’t let anything happen to him.”
“Nothing will happen to him because he isn’t going with you.”
Jason pushed off the table and started to pace. If he came back without the boy, Sally would go berserk. “Let the kid go, Charles.”
“No. This isn’t negotiable. Either you agree to my terms, or I’ll let your bride take the hit all on her own, and still keep the boy here.”
Jason stood paused in the doorframe as Zane bustled passed him with his medical bag. Sally would just have to understand.
“You okay, kid?” Jason asked.
Zane put on gloves and started to thread his needle. “I’m just peachy.”
Julie glared wide-eyed, mouth agape. “No....”
“It’s time to go, Julie.” He shoved his hands in his pockets.
“No! You can’t just let him do this.”
“I can and I will. Zane is big boy and can take care of himself.”
Zane turned to look at them. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, man, but what are you guys talking about?”
Julie crouched down beside her boyfriend. “Come back with us. You don’t owe this man anything. He kidnapped you, for fuck’s sake. Don’t stay.”
Zane pulled the string mid-stitch and met Julie’s eyes. “It’s not that simple. The cops are linking me to Charles’ escape. They want to take me in for questioning. And this cretin—” He tugged the stitching string almost to the point of snapping. “—has evidence that will take me down with him. So I don’t really have a choice, do I?”
Charles winced and glared down at Zane. “No. No you don’t.”
Jason shook his head and walked over to Julie. “Come on. Let’s go.”
She wouldn’t budge. “I’m staying.”
Zane stilled his hands and glared at her. “Like hell you are. I need you to go back to the hospital. I can’t let you be put in danger.”
The young people stared each other down until Julie finally rose to her feet in a huff. She glowered down at Charles. For a moment, Jason thought she might hit him. “You fucking bastard. You’re not going to get away with this,” she said through clenched teeth.
“I can,” Charles said with a shrug. “And I already have.”
Julie pushed passed Jason, calling after her from behind her shoulder. “I’ll wait for you outside.”
Zane bit his lip and continued to stitch up his patient. He tugged the string hard with each pass, making Charles wince. “Take it easy, kid,” the old man said, “or my fist is going to find a new home in your face.”
Jason ran his fingers through his hair. “Be careful, Zane.”
The boy nodded, but avoided looking at him. “Just look after my mom, okay?”
“I won’t let anything happen to her. I promise.” Jason turned to the mastermind. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Charles.”
“Nothing’s going to go wrong.”
“Yeah, okay.” Jason walked away, leaving his new stepson with a murderer.
Chapter 15
St. Rita’s Hospital
Danville, Virginia
June 30, 2026
1:00 PM
~~~
Marianna scrolled through the notes on her mini while sitting in the waiting room.
Where could Charles be hiding?
A ping broke her train of thought—a new message.
“The chip has been activated with the sedat
ive and the GPS coordinates read that he is located in St. Rita’s Hospital in Danville, Virginia. Use this code—34529—in your GPS reader to get the exact location. The sedative is pretty strong. It will last a good six hours at the most.”
Marianna popped in the code and started to follow the signal down the familiar hallways towards Sally’s room. She wouldn’t be able to get away this time—no more playing dead. The signal beeped louder the closer Mari got, but the noise coming from the other woman’s room soon drowned it out.
“She’s nonresponsive.”
Mari crept to the open door and peeked in.
A team of nurses and a doctor surrounded Sally in a flurry of activity. One of the nurses flipped frantically through a chart.
A feeling a dread settled down in Mari’s chest. It had never occurred to her that in requesting the sedative, she would be putting Sally’s life in danger. Even though she hated the woman, she hadn’t wished to harm her.
“Her pulse is threading,” the nurse said. “We’re losing her.”
Marianna turned on her heels and ran.
No! What have I done?
***
Nin’s Bar
Danville, Virginia
June 30, 2026
1:00 PM
~~~
Zane washed his hands and took long slow breaths, trying to calm himself. His fist clenched and unclenched under the running water of the buffet’s sink.
I will not hit him. I will not hit him.
He repeated the mantra over and over again until the sensation started to fade—the man didn’t care who he hurt; all he cared about was taking down Scott.
“I think your hands are clean enough,” Charles said.
Zane shut off the sink and shook the excess water from his hands. He couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. “Do you actually have a plan, or are you just going to go all commando style like last time and get us both killed?”
Charles kicked his feet up on the loveseat in the bar’s back office and looked down at Zane from above his reading glasses.
Zane slumped down into the chair across from him and rested his own feet on the coffee table. He had no fucks left to give.
“Yes, I’m working on it. I don’t exactly want to get stabbed by that crazed motherfucker again.”
Zane narrowed his eyes. He didn’t believe this man could pull off anything. Maybe his mother had been the real mastermind, because this guy seemed like a total asshat.
Charles turned his attention back to his work, ignoring Zane.
With nothing else to do, Zane pulled Jason’s book from his bag and started to read where he’d left off.
“You’re reading that crap?” Charles glared at him from over his reading glasses again.
“Do you think it’s crap because it makes you look like a self-centered hothead?”
Charles turned bright red and yanked off his glasses. “Look, kid, he didn’t know the whole story. All he knows is what Katherine and the rest of them told him.”
“Oh?”
Charles sighed and sat up on the couch. “Yeah, there’s a lot more to this.”
A loud crack startled them both.
“What the hell....”
Plumes of dust fell from the ceiling, coating them both. Another crack sounded, followed by more crumble and more dust.
“Shit!” Charles leapt to his feet. “Come on, kid, we gotta get out of here.”
Zane jumped up and brushed the dust off his face. “What’s going on?” He coughed and sputtered as some of the dust got into his mouth.
Charles snatched his arm and pulled him from the room. A loud boom followed, making Zane’s ears ring. More dust and pieces of plaster fell at their feet.
Charles looked back at Zane, his mouth hung open like a door on a broken hinge. A silent scream of commands sputtered out, but Zane couldn’t hear anything above the ringing. A chunk of plaster caught him on the side of the head and he stumbled forward. His vision clouded as a warm liquid coated the side of his head. Charles grunted as he picked him up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
So this is how I’m going to go.
***
St. Rita’s Hospital
Danville, Virginia
June 30, 2026
1:00 PM
~~~
Jason and Julie walked through the automated double doors and into the waiting room of the hospital, where a group of people stood huddled around a TV hung from the wall. Jason’s stomach bottomed out as he crept closer to the crowd.
“What’s going on?” Julie whispered.
“I don’t know.” Jason tapped the shoulder of the woman in front of him. “Excuse me, ma’am. What’s going on?”
The woman turned to face them. “An explosion at a bar off the highway, the one that billionaire murderer owns.”
Julie gasped and grabbed Jason’s hand. “Zane....”
The woman kept talking, obviously ignoring Julie’s distress. “The place was full with a lunch crowd. They’re saying no one made it out alive. It happened too quickly—a flash bomb or something or other, right in the middle of the bar.”
Jason’s knees bent of their own accord. No.
He’d just been there and everything had been fine. Why hadn’t he fought harder to get Zane out? He could have convinced Mari to drop the charges, or at least reduce them.
Julie buried her face in his shoulder and he held her tight.
“Jason.”
A tap on the shoulder made him turn around.
“I’m so sorry,” Mari said, avoiding looking directly at him.
“Do you know for sure? Were they there when it happened?” Jason asked, afraid to know the answer.
“What?”
“The explosion.... Was Zane there?”
“What are you talking about?”
Jason pointed at the TV behind him. “That. What are you talking about?”
“Sally... she, uh....”
“What? What’s wrong with Sally?” Jason let go of Julie and grabbed Mari’s arm. “What’s wrong?”
Mari stared back at him with her mouth partly open. She took several shallow breaths, until his hold on her tightened and she finally spoke.
“A sedative was released and a secondary GPS tracker was activated. Due to Sally’s current state, the sedative caused a lot of problems.” Mari’s eyes filled with tears, but she didn’t look away from him. “The device administers the sedative for several hours until the prisoner is found. I finally got a hold of Corrections to stop the device.”
Jason sucked in a breath. “Is... is she okay?”
“Yes. She had a cardiac event. They were able to help her once I told them about the drug. No one seemed to know the chip was there.”
The air between them crackled, and Jason thought.... “Were you the one who put in the order for the chip to be activated?”
“I’m sorry.”
Jason released his hold on her. If he didn’t put some space between them, he might do or say something he would regret later.
Julie followed him down the halls to the ICU, where he paused outside the unit’s door. They stood there for a several minutes not saying a word. He could hear the faint sound of her crying, but she kept her eyes downward.
“I’m sure he’s okay, Jules.”
She let out of choked sob and wiped away at her face. “Mmm hmm.” She sucked in a trembling breath. “I’ll wait out here.”
Jason’s hand’s shook as he donned the required protective clothing, making it difficult to put on the thin material. He held his breath as he stepped inside Sally’s room.
A nurse hovered over his wife, taking her vitals.
Jason’s heart flip-flopped in his chest and he let out the breath he’d been holding, as the machines surrounding her beeped and clicked. A tube hung from her mouth.
She’s alive. Thank God. She’s alive.
The nurse looked up from her chart and gave Jason a small smile. “You must be her husband
.”
Jason let go of the breath he’d been holding, letting his shoulders loosen and drop a little. “Yes. Is she going to be okay?”
“Her lungs were failing to push oxygen to her heart and brain as a result of the heavy dose of sedative she was given.” The nurse adjusted the IV and the bedding.
“What did it do to her?”
“Her heart rate increased, but once we intubated her, it regulated. She’s been given medication to counteract the sedative as well. Because of the lack of oxygen, she may have short term memory problems and some temporary numbness. The more pressing concern right now is the infection. The doctor induced a coma to prevent it from spreading. We also have her on a high dose of antibiotics.”
Jason sucked in another anxious breath. “But she’s going to be okay?”
“We’re doing everything we can to help her. The next twenty-four hours will tell how things are going to go.”
He sank down into the chair beside Sally’s bed, barely noticing Julie sitting down across from him.
The nurse patted him on the shoulder. “Talk to her. Let her know you’re here.”
He clasped hold of his wife’s hand and brushed her hair away from her forehead. “I’m here, Sal.”
Not knowing what else to do, he bowed his head and prayed for his stepson. Please, God... please let him be okay.
***
Mari stood outside the ICU watching her ex sit beside his wife—a woman she’d harmed. The guilt of her part in the woman’s near death experience weighed heavily on her. She should have consulted the doctors first, but her hatred of the woman had clouded her judgment.
Her mind began to wander to why Sally had agreed to such a dangerous plan. She imagined Charles must have used her illness as a bargaining chip.
Caught up in her own worries, she startled when Sally’s doctor walked up and touched her arm. “Detective?”
Mari looked up at him. “Yes?”
“I would like to turn myself in. I’m the reason Mrs. Knettle almost died. Charles MacAvoy paid me to remove his chip and place it in someone else. He and Mrs. Knettle had the same blood type so she made a perfect match to keep the chip fooled.”
“So you’re saying Sally Knettle was not aware of the plan?”
“No, she knew nothing about it.”
