Bone Crack: A Medical Suspense Thriller (The Gina Mazzio Series Book 6)
Page 23
“Drop the knife. Carefully!”
Gina could see the man had fiery eyes and was shaking with emotion.
“Who are you?” Vlad stepped back over Rosia’s body.
“I am Alexander Yurev. The one who was supposed to kill you twenty years ago.” He backed away, out of Vlad’s reach.
Gina yanked on one of the strips of cloth that bound her to the bed. She sensed no weakness. It was solid.
“I’m the one who has been a step behind you for the past twenty years, the one who should have killed you when you were a boy, the Antonev boy. But instead, today you are Vlad Folo, the man. All the same to me: Dimitri Antonev, Karl Pushkin, Vlad Folo. Today you will die ... Dimitri Antonev will finally be dead.
Vlad looked shaken. “I can give you money.” All his bravado had melted, his voice was weak, faltering. “All you have to do is forget you ever saw me.”
“Money?” Alexander spat out the words. “Did you say money?”
“I can give you fifty thousand dollars. Cash. American.”
Alexander stared at him, his neck was red, his back rigid.
“I was just a child,” Vlad said. “I had nothing to do with my father’s decisions. Why do you blame me?”
Alexander’s face flushed a bright red. “I blame you for living, for having a life these twenty years. Everything I had—my wife, my children, my home, my country are gone! So tell me, little boy-man, of what good is fifty thousand American dollars to me now?”
“Please,” Vlad said bowing his head.
“When you are dead, I will return to Russia”
“Why would you do that?” Vlad demanded. “As you said, there is nothing left there for you.” Vlad smirked as though he had found the key to his freedom—simply tap into Alexander’s weakness. “Stay, and with fifty thousand dollars, you can make a new and much better life for yourself.”
Gina kept tugging at the strip of sheet. Her skin was raw and burning; her leg wound was painful, continued to seep blood. She ignored the pain, kept pulling at her bonds. She knew that if she didn’t get free soon, she would die.
Alexander held the gun with a steady hand. “I will reclaim what is mine when I return to Russia. I will kill anyone who tries to keep me from my family. I will destroy anyone who stole what is mine.”
Without warning, Vlad jumped for Alexander. The blast from the pistol filled the room. There was a hole in Vlad’s forehead when he fell atop Rosia’s body and tumbled onto the floor beside her.
Gina’s heart was racing, she could barely breathe. She pulled harder and harder, felt her wrist burn from the friction. She didn’t stop yanking and twisting her bonds.
* * *
Alexander Yurev lowered the pistol, wavered for a moment, his face paled, and he looked as though he was going to topple over.
“You should have died twenty years ago,” Alexander said, looking down at the dead body of Vlad Folo, lying face up at his feet. “Twenty years of my life wasted looking for you.”
Gina yanked again, pain shot up her arm. The strip of sheet was beginning to shred. Then she froze, saw Yurev staring at her. She tried to make herself small, shrink into the mattress, and disappear from the room.
He took a couple of deep breaths and shoved the pistol into a holster under his jacket. He bent and picked up Vlad’s knife and walked over to the bed. He stared down at her and she knew he was weighing her value.
“Who are you?” Alexander demanded
“Gina Mazzio. Vlad kidnapped me. He was going to kill me.”
Gina could see the man was undecided; he looked deep into her eyes.
Please, please don’t kill me. Please, please, please!
He examined her naked body, his eyes continuing to evaluate her. He took in every inch of exposed flesh.
He sighed, checked his watch, and leaned over the bed. Using Vlad’s knife, he cut away the strips of sheet from her ankles and wrists.
“You are nothing to me,” he said without emotion.
He turned from the bed, walked to the door, and left. She soon heard the apartment door slam shut.
Chapter 64
“That’s the building,” Pepper yelled. “Man, this is one ugly neighborhood. I don’t even like driving through here.”
The rain had stopped, but Harry saw a homeless man covered in plastic sleeping next to a line of garbage cans. Harry knew that if the rain hadn’t washed down the streets, the aroma of urine and rotten garbage would probably have made the air near unbreathable.
Pepper double-parked directly behind a squad car. “Looks like my backup beat us here.” Two uniformed officers got out and stood by their vehicle, waiting.
“You stay here, Harry, until I see what’s up.”
“No way. I need to go in with you. If Gina’s in there. ... well, that’s where I’m going.” He could see her lips tighten, ready to turn him down. Instead, she said, “Okay, but stay behind me.” She pointed a finger at him. “You hear me, man?”
“Got it!”
They walked up to the two cops. “You guys can wait here in case the perp runs out.”
“Come on, Inspector,” one of them said. “We didn’t come here just to stand and look stupid.”
“Okay, you guys follow me.” She turned to Harry. “You’re at the back of the line.”
Harry started to object.
“I swear, Harry, I’ll fry your ass if I get screwed because of this.”
Harry raised his hands in surrender. “Whatever you say, Inspector.” He walked to the entrance of the rundown apartment house, but all he could do was try to shut down an image of Gina’s dead body.
Inside the entryway, Yee said, “Looks like Mazzio took part of the wall with her.” She pointed to the fresh nail gouges cutting through the paint leading up to the second floor.
A man dressed in wrinkled pants was coming down the stairs. He nodded and gave the four of them a wide smile of crooked teeth. When they let him pass, he said, with the hint of an accent, “Good evening officers.”
Standing in front of the apartment door, Pepper drew her gun and pounded on the door.
“SFPD. Open up! Now!”
The patrolmen drew their weapons also, then one of them slid past Yee and kicked open the door. The smell of decay smacked them in the face.
“Holy shit!” Yee said. “What the hell!”
The uniforms spread out, quickly checking the kitchen before moving cautiously down the hallway. When they stepped into the bedroom, the first thing Yee and the cops saw were the two bodies sprawled on the floor.
All Harry saw was Gina, crouched in a corner. Alive!
* * *
Gina had been searching the apartment for something to cover herself when she heard the banging on the door and someone moving down the hall.
What if that man Alexander changed his mind and was coming back to kill her?
She closed her eyes.
Every part of her was screaming in pain. Where Vlad had stabbed her in the buttocks hadn’t bled much, but it was throbbing—her wounded thigh was on fire.
Maybe he would shoot her through the heart. End it quickly.
When she finally opened her eyes, Pepper Yee and two other cops were in the room.
And so was Harry.
He ran to her and lifted her up into his arms.
She kissed him on the neck and whispered in his ear, “Don’t ask me how, but deep inside, I knew you would come.”
“How could you know that, doll?” He’d leaned back and was gently fingering her split lip.
“Because you always do.”
Chapter 65
Gina found enough of Rosia’s clothes to cover up. She pleaded with Yee not to call the EMTs, and Harry promised the inspector that he would take good care of Gina, make sure she got the proper medical help.
“I really don’t get why Mulzini loves you two,” Yee said, with a sour look. “If you ask me, you’re both pains in the ass.”
“We probable are,” Harry said. “An
d I really want to thank you for saving Gina. I’ll never forget this, Pepper.”
She actually blushed and looked away.
Before they left the apartment, Pepper rested a hand on Harry’s arm. “Don’t take me too seriously, you know? You’re a good man.” Then she turned to Gina. “You’re lucky to have him.”
“Don’t I know it.”
Gina leaned heavily on Harry as she limped down the apartment building steps and into the back of the squad car.
“Take me home,” Gina said, squeezing Harry’s hand. “You can steri-strip the wound. I don’t want to go to the hospital.”
“No way, doll.”
Harry asked the cops to take them straight to the Ridgewood ER.”
* * *
Gina’s thigh needed some heavy duty suturing. The knife had really made a mess of her muscle.
“Steri-strips, huh” Harry whispered in her ear. She smiled, kissed his hand, and held it to her cheek.
She was grateful just to lay back and rest while the ER doc and nurses took care of her. She knew most of them by name; they not only fussed over her serious wound, there were a lot of comments and home remedies for her black eye and split lip.
By the time Harry got her home and into bed, she was pretty much out of it. The last thing she remembered was him saying, “Sleep tight, doll. I’ll be right here.”
* * *
The next day, Gina spent most of her time sleeping. She’d tried to convince Harry to go to work, but he’d refused. He told her the ICU team leader gave him hell for not coming in, but he stood his ground and promised he’d make it up.
Late in the day, the doorbell rang and Harry opened the door to Vinnie and Helen.
“Thought maybe you and Gina might want to go out and grab a bite for dinner,” Vinnie said.
“Nice thought,” Harry said, “but not tonight.”
“Who’s out there?” Gina called from the bedroom.
“Your brother. Was looking forward to your company for dinner. What say?”
“Come on back,” Gina yelled.
“Maybe we could do this another night,” Harry said.
“Really? What’s with you, Harry?” Helen said. She grabbed Vinnie’s hand and tugged him toward the bedroom. They stopped in their tracks when they saw Gina in bed.
“What the hell happened to you?” Vinnie said, his voice filled with suspicion. He turned to Harry with questioning eyes.
Harry held up his hands. “Don’t look at me that way. You know I would never hurt your sister.”
“Maybe not, man, but what happened?”
Helen sat down next to Gina on the edge of the bed. “You look like you’ve been to the wars.”
“It’s nothing. I was just sleep-walking, plowed straight into the bathroom door.” She laughed. “It about knocked me out.”
The phone rang and Harry snatched it up.
“Oh, hi, Mulzini. How you doing?”
He lowered his voice and carried the phone into the kitchen. “She’s fine. But it was close.”
“Taking care of the two of you is getting to be a full time job,” Mulzini said.
“I can’t thank you enough for convincing Pepper Yee to get involved right away. The next morning might have been too late.”
“Well, I’m glad things worked out. Can’t let anything happen to my favorite nurse. Pepper said there was a shooter who killed that Vlad guy who snatched Gina.”
“We have to go to the station tomorrow so Gina can give her statement, but it’s a real bizarre back story.”
“What else can I expect from that crazy nurse of yours?”
“Thanks for calling, Mulzini. But really, how are you doing?”
“Hey, I’m fine and it’s behind me now.”
“We’ll be up to see you tomorrow after we give our statements,” Harry said. “Again, we really appreciate everything you did.”
When Harry turned to go back to the bedroom, Vinnie was standing in the doorway. From the look on his face, Harry knew he’d heard everything.”
“Okay, Harry. Out with it! What really happened to my sister?”
“Nothing you need to worry about ... now,” Harry said.
Vinnie’s face flushed and his eyes went cold. “Stop treating me like a damn invalid. Just because I have PTSD doesn’t mean you have to shelter me from the world. She’s my sister and I have a right to know what’s going on with her.”
Harry pointed to the dining room table chairs, they sat down next to each other. Harry told Vinnie everything. When he finished, he wrapped an arm around Vinnie’s shoulder. “She’s okay, man.”
Tears ran down Vinnie’s cheeks. “I don’t understand how so many life-threatening things happen to my sister—anything that can go wrong, always does. It scares the shit out of me.”
“Yeah, me too, Vinnie. Me, too.” He took a deep breath. “You know, it’s not like Gina asks for trouble. Most of the time, like with Tallent, trouble comes to her and she gets sucked into something that should never have involved her in the first place. Know what I mean?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
They went back into the bedroom, where Vinnie gave Gina his usual lecture about her working harder to avoid trouble, then hugged her a long time before letting her go.
* * *
When Helen and Vinnie were gone, Harry locked the door and went back to Gina. He took her in his arms and said, “What am I going to do about you, doll? I’m not sure my heart can take too much more of this, to say nothing about how your antics affect Vinnie.”
“It’s been hard, I know,” she said, looking into his eyes for a long moment.
“I feel so helpless, so lost without you. There must be something I can do to stop the world from crashing down on you.”
She took his face in both hands, looked deeply into his eyes.
“Just love me, Harry. That’s all I need. Just love me.”
-The End-
Acknowledgments
As always, our gratitude, thanks, and love to what has to be the world’s greatest critique group —Margaret Lucke, Shelley Singer, Nicola Trwst & Judith Yamamoto
About the Authors
Bette Golden Lamb & & J. J. Lamb have co-authored a dozen crime novels, plus a few other individual fiction titles as both short stories and books.
Bette is also an RN and a professional, award-winning sculptor and ceramist.
J. J. has spent his entire career behind a keyboard as a journalist, freelance writer, editor, and fiction writer.
The Lambs have lived in Virginia, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, and currently make their home in Northern California. If you see them at a writers’ conference, say Hello!
www.twoblacksheep.us
Other Books By
Bette Golden Lamb & J. J. Lamb
Books in the Gina Mazzio RN Medical Series:
Bone Dry
Sin & Bone
Bone Pit
Bone of Contention
Bone Dust
Other novels by Bette Golden Lamb & J. J. Lamb:
Sisters in Silence
Heir Today...
The Killing Vote
By Bette Golden Lamb:
The Organ Harvesters
By J. J. Lamb (Zachariah Tobias Rolfe III P.I. Series):
A Nickel Jackpot
The Chinese Straight
Losers Take All
No Pat Hands
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