And we never even got the information we went after. Shit! What was it that Maria had seen?
Lolly was scared, but she was also stubborn. She couldn’t stop thinking about the other doctors’ computers. Maybe the same billing information would be available there and she could pick up on whatever it was the bookkeeper had seen.
Nosing around the other employees, she discovered that each doctor had his own bookkeeper, kept separate books, and they all paid into one expense fund for maintaining the office. It seemed they were actually three separate practices sort of semi-merged into one business.
One of the other nurses got suspicious about all of her questioning. “Why are you so interested in their finances? We don’t get into the financial part of their practice. What are you up to?”
“Just curious.”
It was obvious that answer wasn’t going to hold off her or anybody else. Lolly had to back off. She still wasn’t going to let Tallent get away with the deaths of Maria and her mother. She knew Tallent had to be involved. Lolly vowed she would find the answers and would stop dragging Gina into the whole mess.
After questioning her in his office, Tallent stayed away from her, requesting other nurses’ services throughout the day—she ended up working mostly with Bob Cantor and Jon Brichett in the OR.
Every time she saw Mort Tallent, she managed to find something else to do to stay out of his way. The last thing she wanted was any kind of face-to-face with him again—about anything.
She knew she wasn’t off the hook for breaking into his office. He wasn’t the forgive-and-forget kind of guy. He’d find a way to get back at her. It puzzled her that he didn’t out and out fire her. That’s what any other doctor would have done.
Lucky Gina—at least he held no power over her.
Power had occupied Lolly’s career-staging with every job she took. She learned early on that hospital hierarchies were simply not designed in the nurses’ favor. They had little clout in a doctor-hospital relationship that fed off of each other. Nurses were there as a service to the patients and doctors. Without unions they would have been powerless.
She was happy when the day was over; he was one of the last to leave the penthouse offices. When she stepped out of the elevator into the garage, she sensed something was off.
Gina talked about an eye-twitch being her antenna for trouble. For Lolly, it was her neck—like a dog, her muscles would bunch up as a warning. She took a careful look around, Saw nothing to feed her suspicions.
Nothing. Nothing here. You’re just jumpy because of Tallent.
She picked up her pace, hurried to her car, dragging the key out of her purse as she walked. She was focused on clicking the electronic door opener when someone grabbed her around the neck. She tried to scream, but she couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe. She was suffocating, fading into darkness.
* * *
Lolly was in a black hole. She could hear music off someplace in the distance and she drifted in that direction.
Her eyes snapped open.
Memories of choking and suffocating became stronger, and with that, all her senses started kicking into gear. The fear of attack that every female in her old Bronx neighborhood knew well, struck her hard.
Someone had snatched her.
Her heart was clawing at her chest; she could hardly swallow with something wrapped tightly across her mouth. She turned her head and globs of drool dripped out from the corner of her mouth and ran down her naked chest and shoulder. She looked down.
She was completely stripped.
What was she doing naked in an empty room? Her breaths came in snorts and gasps. She wanted to scream, but all she could do was grunt.
She turned her head as far she could in every direction. The only furniture in the entire room appeared to be the bed she was lying on. Spread-eagled, arms and legs tied at the four corners of the bed. She twisted and tugged but there was no give in the bindings.
A voice startled her; floated out of nothingness. “I see you’re finally awake.”
A man came around from behind the headboard of the bed, walked up to her side, bent over, and licked her face.
He slowly ran a finger down from the top of her head, across her nose and mouth, through the space between her flattened breasts, onto her belly, and into to her bush. He plunged one finger deep inside of her.
Stopstopstopstopstopstop!
She wiggled furiously, jerked her hips up, tried to get away from him. But he was there no matter what she did.
His eyes, intense, never left hers. His gaze seemed to bore straight through her head.
“What were you and the other woman doing in the doctor’s office?”
She grunted.
He laughed and uncovered her mouth. “So, you’re still not going to say anything? He pulled the invading finger from her vagina, straightened to his full height, and moved out of sight behind the headboard.
Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. I’m going to die here. He’s going to kill me.
When he came back, he was nude. Now she could see the massive shoulders, bulging muscles, and engorged penis that had been hidden beneath his clothing.
He held a stiletto in one hand. “Look at me! Take a long look. I’m beautiful, right?” His eyelids narrowed to slits.
She nodded, saw his eyes almost close and his lips pull back to reveal his teeth. She quickly nodded again, and again.
Gonna killmekillme.
In a single motion, he leaped onto the bed, straddled her, and held her tight with his knees. He raised the stiletto high above her. She watched the needle-sharp point of the knife come down ever so slowly until the tip touched her skin. He lifted one breast, caressed it, and laced the blade through it again and again.
She screamed. Sounds of a desperate, trapped animal filled the room.
At the peak of her shrieks, he jammed himself inside her and rode her like a cowboy, never letting up. Her mind started slipping away. Every thought, every feeling became a wave of pain, repeating itself until she escaped into unconsciousness.
When she woke again, she was stretched out on the back seat of her car, the stiletto still impaled in her breast. There was a damp note resting on her bare belly. She lifted it with trembling hands and wiped away tears so she could read it:
GO AWAY AND DON’T COME BACK
NEXT TIME YOU DIE
Chapter 25
Gina paced back and forth in the living room, then stopped at the window and stared at the deluge of rain. “I don’t understand it, I’m really worried about Lolly. It’s not like her.”
“The message was on your phone?” Harry was flaked out on the sofa. He twisted around and sat up. “It does seem odd that she would leave a text message for that kind of thing. What did it say again?”
Gina reached for her cell and read: “I’m writing to you from the airport. Don’t try to reach me. I’m going back home. California was a big mistake.”
“Jeez. When did she leave you that message?”
“About eight.”
“You’ll never be able to reach her until tomorrow.”
“There’s more.” She held the phone so he could see.
He read it out loud: “Protect yourself. Stay away from Tallent.”
“Something must have happened to make her run like this.” Gina plopped down next to him. “Probably something to do with getting nailed on those security tapes.”
“I was afraid there’d be blow-back from that little adventure. “ He took her hand.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Cooking the books is bad enough, but do you think Mort Tallent would really do something vicious to scare Lolly off.”
“Well, hell, Gina, you and Lolly were accusing him of being involved in his bookkeeper’s death. If he did have a hand in it, why wouldn’t he do most anything to get clear?”
“It’s hard for me to think of doctors as killers—at least outside of their practice.” She gave him a cynical smile. “Imagine going through all that schooli
ng and training to save lives and then turn around and murder someone. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Harry stood, went into the kitchen, came back with a bottle of wine and two glasses. “People change. Life and circumstances change all of us.” He poured wine into each of the glasses.
“But murder?” Gina sipped at the wine. “What the hell can be in those books that’s so devastating?”
“Tax evasions. Something illegal.” Harry set his glass back on the coffee table after taking a sip, turned back to Gina, and took her hand. “Look, babe, he has you on tape breaking and entering—”
“—we didn’t break in. Lolly had her employee card; we just walked in.”
“Just a technicality. You were where you didn’t belong.”
“I suppose,” Gina said
“That, as I’ve said before, could cause you real problems.”
“All of this started with those accounting books. Maria and her mother are dead, and not only that, I heard from the hospital grapevine that Mort Tallent’s ex-wife was also murdered. That’s three deaths circling around the doctor’s head.” Gina grabbed onto his arm. “You don’t think there’s a connection do you? I mean, really?”
“I don’t know, babe.”
“Well, it’s got my eyebrow twitching. Something’s wrong. I can feel it.”
Harry pulled her into his arms. “Can’t you just let it go ... for us? We’re getting married soon—Vinnie and Helen are getting married. Can’t we just be light-hearted for a change?”
“I want to. I really do. But people are dead and my friend, Lolly, is gone because something to do with Tallent is dangerous and scary. It has to start with those books—I’ve got to get into them.”
“You’re not getting anywhere near his computer,” Harry said. “I can tell you that.”
“You’re probably right. Maybe what we need is a hacker, someone who can get the job done.”
Harry nodded.
“Do you know anyone like that?”
“You mean someone who’s willing to risk going to jail because you ask for a favor.”
“I guess so.”
Harry looked long and hard at her. “Let it go, doll.”
“I want to.” She scratched her head for several seconds. “I promise I’ll try.”
Harry held her at arms’ length. “But it’s not going to happen, is it?”
She tried to smile but couldn’t.”
“Let me think about it. I might, I just might know someone.”
Harry put his head on her shoulder. “Gina, on and off, during the last four years you have jumped from one nightmare to another. The thought of someone hurting you again—” he pulled her to him—“is more than I can stand.”
* * *
The man sat in the rented BMW waiting. He’d watched Vlad Folo slip through the front door of the building—he looked at his watch—twenty minutes ago.
He was a patient man. He would sit there for as long as it took.
After another thirty minutes, Vlad came out and went to his black Cadillac, and slipped into the driver’s seat.
The man noticed Vlad was dressed in a black running jacket and pants outfit. His body movements were that of a well-trained athlete. Even in the dim light of the street lamp, the man could see Vlad Folo moved like a panther on the hunt.
* * *
Mort Tallent sat in his high-rise condo and looked at the lights spread across the city. If he squinted, it became a mass of stars staring back at him. It reminded him of when he was a child. He would make everything a blur, because it always made life so much more beautiful—like a wonderful impressionist painting.
That’s the way the world should be—never have to look, to study the details of anything. Once you do, it all turns ugly.
It reminded him of his dead ex-wife. Until he really got to know her, she was so beautiful. Like when they first met. She was young and as idealistic as he was. Surfing together, they were going to make the world a better place.
How dumb we were.
Surfing in the ocean, he felt connected—at one with everything that was or would ever be.
Lazy me. Didn’t want to have to worry about money and survival. Just wanted to surf.
If he’d been brave he would have walked away from his parents and their insistence that he become a doctor. Just take Annie and run. He could have told them to take their money and shove it.
Instead, Annie got to go to school, he got to go to school, and neither got what they really wanted.
She’d been so, so perfect ... until she wasn’t.
Even now, the thought of her being dead would catch him off guard and overwhelm him.
I made it happen.
He closed his eyes and began to cry. Soon he was sobbing so hard he didn’t hear the doorbell at first. Then there was someone pounding at his door.
Mort jumped up, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. “Just a minute.” Dabbing at his eyes, he hurried to the door. “All right. Cut it out!”
He looked through the peep hole and there stood Vlad Folo, impatience written all over his face. Before he could release the deadbolt, Folo shouted at the door,
“Well, are you going to let me in or do I have to pick the lock, then come in there, and punch you in the face?”
Tallent pulled open the door and stepped aside. Folo brushed past him, went straight to the sofa, and made himself comfortable.
“That’s better!” Folo said.
“How many times have I told you to never come to my place—either here or the office?”
“Damn, Doc, don’t think I ever made a count. Besides, what makes you think I give a shit what you say?” He reached for one of the candies in a cut-crystal dish on the coffee table.. He carefully unwrapped the clear paper from a butterscotch sucker.
Tallent sat down in a chair opposite him, his stomach a roaring volcano. “What do you want?”
Vlad laughed. “What do I want? No, Mort, it’s all about what you want.” He sucked loudly on the candy. “Isn’t that what we’re all about?”
“Why are you here?”
“Lolly Stentz is now your ex-employee.”
“You killed her?”
“No. You didn’t want me to kill her, you cheap skate.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you were too cheap to pay my fifty-thousand fee. That’s what I mean.”
Tallent was on the edge of his seat. “How did you get her to leave?”
“I simply advised her to go. She saw the reality of what her staying might lead to, so she left.” He reached over for another sucker. This time a red one. “Right now, I believe she’s taking an airplane ride back to wherever she came from.”
“Did you hurt her?” Tallent jumped up.
“Sit down, Dr. Mort.” He unwrapped the second candy and popped it into his mouth. “Of course I hurt her. Do you think she would have left any other way?”
Tallent slowly sat down again. “What do you want?”
“Well, first I want you to pay me the twenty-five thousand you owe me for Ms. Lolly. Then I want to know what you want done with the other one.”
“The other one? You mean Gina Mazzio?”
Chapter 26
The minute Gina stepped onto the unit, Gwen, the team leader, was waiting for her. “Don’t freak out, but I’m going to need you to scrub in for a Cardio Cath this morning.”
“Oh, no, not yet, Gwen. I’ve hardly had any training for it. It’ll be a mess.”
“Believe me, it’s not something that was planned.” Gwen looked at her with sympathy. “But with two out sick, you’re up.” Gwen squeezed her arm. “Hey, you’re gonna be fine.”
“Who’s the doctor doing it?”
“Mort Tallent.” The team leader turned away as soon as she dropped the name on her. “Look, I know he’s a pain,” she said over her shoulder, “but we have to make it work. Keep your thoughts on the patient instead of him.”
“I’ll try.”
&
nbsp; “By the way, a friend of yours has signed up for a cath procedure. He named you as a go-to-person if there are any problems. You and his wife.”
“Who is it?
Gwen opened her iPad and tapped on the screen. “Stefano Mulzini.”
“Did you say Stefano?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Gwen said, checking her screen again.
“Well, thanks, Gwen.” Gina s laughed for the first time since she arrived at work. “You’ll never know how much that tidbit of information means to me.”
* * *
Mort Tallent hadn’t slept most of the night thinking about Vlad Folo and his unwelcome visit to his condo.
The man’s a killer and he’s getting more and more uncontrollable.
And why not. He has me by the balls. I’ll never get him off my back now.
At that moment, he couldn’t comprehend the madness that had caused him to contract Vlad to kill his ex-wife. Still, just thinking about Annie had him clenching his fists, fighting against anger that might flash or break loose at any moment. Worse, he knew he would feel like this for hours.
Of all the days that he didn’t want to work at Ridgewood, this certainly topped the list. He had a violent headache and he was tired and worn down. If he could have been in his own Cath Lab, worked out of the penthouse, he would have been on safe territory.
Pull yourself together, Tallent.
He was scheduled for a cardiac cath, with a probable stent placement; all he wanted to do was crawl back into bed and sleep.
Tallent took the elevator to the Ridgewood CCU wing and was further irritated that construction workers were still at it in the hallway that joined the wing to the main hospital. He didn’t like being in that dusty section. It kicked up his allergies.
When he walked into the actual unit, he went straight into the locker room and started to undress, hanging everything neatly in his locker. There were a couple of other doctors in the area, also getting into scrubs, but they did nothing more than exchange nods with Tallent.
Once he was ready, he checked his watch and saw he had enough time for a cup of coffee. He went into the staff lounge, headed straight for the coffee machine, and poured black coffee into a mug.
Bone Crack: A Medical Suspense Thriller (The Gina Mazzio Series Book 6) Page 9
