by Tom Haase
“Mr. Donavan?” the voice came from a white-coated doctor.
“Yes?”
He led Scott into a conference room that doctors used to talk with family members away from the large waiting room area. “Your wife is doing fine. There are a couple of things about her condition that we’d like to keep an eye on. Nothing serious, but we’d like to observe her overnight.
“What’s wrong with her?” Scott asked.
“Her temperature is a bit elevated, and she’s complaining of muscle aches. In early pregnancy, these could be signs of an infection. We’d like to run a few tests to rule out any problems, and monitor her status.”
“Can I see her?” Scott asked.
“Of course,” the doctor replied, exhibiting a sympathetic smile. “I believe all will be fine with your baby.” The doctor started to walk off, but turned and said, “You can visit her in her room now. Please don’t stay long, though. She needs to rest.”
On entering the room, Scott could see by her face that Gerti still suffered from a great deal of pain. He noticed the color was completely gone from her customary vivacious face. When she opened her eyes on his entry, she smiled at him.
“The doc says you’ll be able to leave in a day. You need to rest. They want to keep you here overnight. I’ll stay with you.”
“No, you won’t. We both know something’s happening concerning the three of us. Get with Matt and figure it out. I’ll be all right here. Besides, my father is sending a security team to watch out for me while I’m here. He called and said he’ll be by later. Come here and kiss me and then go find out why someone’s targeting us. You know how sorry I am about your sister? No one else can get hurt. Now go, and stop them.”
After a brief internal struggle, Scott finally, reluctantly nodded, but kept a stern face. He waited in the room until she fell asleep and then went to the hospital café to find some coffee. Schultz called him to inform him that two security men would be arriving in a few minutes.
“Mr. Schultz, I assume your men still have the shooter. They disappeared with him, and no one at the funeral said anything about that to the police. I was—”
“Scott, let’s leave it at that for now,” Schultz interrupted. “I’ll keep you posted.”
After disconnecting, Scott returned to Gerti’s room. Sitting there, he took a few deep breaths to relax, now that he knew Gerti would recover. He felt his rage at Matt start to come to the surface. He had talked to Bridget on the day of her murder and had informed her of their wedding. At that time, she had conveyed her concern that Matt might be avoiding her. She wanted to be with him, but he hadn’t contacted her since their return from Savannah. Why hadn’t he been with her? This thought had been boiling up in his mind since her murder.
At that moment, Matt arrived at the door to Gerti’s room. Might as well get this over with. Scott waited a second, then moved to the entrance, and then squared off in front of Matt.
“Why the hell weren’t you with Bridget?”
9
Matt Visits Gerti
Taken back by Scott’s confrontational comment, Matt stopped in the doorway and then stepped back a half step into the hallway. He remembered having reprimanded himself for the same thing on the drive over to the hospital, but he didn’t need her brother accusing him of anything at this moment. He suffered from a personal sense of guilt, and his private grief for his tardiness in getting in contact with her. If only he hadn’t delayed, she might be alive… but he knew that road led down a rabbit hole. He needed to refocus on the future, and the actions he must take to find her killer and any sponsor, if one existed. That would have to be his sole focus—find him and kill him—and maybe make him suffer.
From behind Scott, who blocked the door to bar his entrance, he heard a voice.
“Scott, what are you doing?” Gerti asked. “Matt, please come in.”
Scott backed into the room and went to the opposite side of Gerti’s bed.
“How are you?” Matt entered, taking careful and measured steps as he watched Scott, and then looked at Gerti.
“The doc says I’ll be fine with a few days of rest.”
“I’m delighted to hear that. You sure took me by surprise with your announcement at the cemetery.” He moved closer to Gerti’s bed and observed Scott cross his arms while his lips tightened.
“I think I shocked her father the most when I told him,” Scott said, finally changing the stern face to a more congenial one.
“You got that right,” Matt said. “I think Scott and I have to clear the air.”
“You know he holds a doctorate and is also a true computer geek, but sometimes he…” Gerti stopped.
“I can understand how he feels,” Matt interjected. “I don’t doubt that you probably harbor the same question for me.” Matt moved over to the window, which overlooked the parking lot a few stories below. He stared out at it for a short interval, then swung to face them with his hands behind his back.
“Your question, Scott, is the same one I have wrestled with for these past few days. Maybe if I try to explain it to you, I can manage to get it straight in my head.”
“Go ahead. We’re listening,” Gerti said. Scott reached down and propped a pillow up behind her head.
“On my return from Savannah, I had a brain fart. I couldn’t believe Bridget and I could maintain a love life and work together too. It took me two days of anguish, and then I woke up and kicked myself in the ass. What a fool I’d been. She’s the greatest thing to ever happen to me. So, that morning, I went to the jeweler and bought an engagement ring.” He reached into his pocket and took out a small box. He opened it and showed them the large diamond.
“I planned to ask her to marry me that night. I never got the chance.” His eyes watered, and he returned his focus to the present.
“My God, that’s so sweet, and so tragic,” Gerti said.
“I regret that I wasn’t there. I intended to be with her later that awful night.” He addressed this to Scott. As he concluded, he could see Scott’s posture completely soften.
“I’m sorry I attacked you like that.” Scott came and stood in front of Matt, extending his hand.
Matt took it.
“I didn’t realize you had such deep feelings for my sister. Your pain must be awful. She loved you too, you know.”
Matt clasped his hand. “Thanks.”
“We’re all on the same team now. We can’t change the past, but we can outline our future path. What are we going to do?” Gerti asked from her bed.
“We have to focus on the fact that someone wants the three of us dead. We need to find out who and why. Then we have to do what needs to be done,” Matt said.
“You’re serious?” Gerti said.
“Yes.” After a few seconds, he asked Gerti, “What do you think your father would do?”
Gerti took her time before she answered. “In this case, where someone tried to kill his daughter, he would hunt them down and exterminate them. I’m starting to think like my father.”
“You can’t expect us to do less,” Matt said.
Gerti shook her head. “I love my father, but Scott and I are going down a different path.”
“What do you mean?” Matt asked.
“We have a definite future in our plans with a child on the way. We see our future home in the country, where he or she can grow up in a safe environment. That’s for a start, and Father’s business, with its dark side, isn’t in our plans.”
“You won’t be taking over your dad’s business?” Matt asked.
Gerti didn’t respond, but Scott interjected.
“Not in our future,” he said.
“Did you tell Matt about what you saw at the wine bar before the explosion?” Gerti asked.
“No, it completely slipped my mind. I’ll tell him tonight. But now, we need to leave and allow you to get some rest,” Scott said.
As they went out the front door of the hospital, Schultz emerged from a limo at the curb.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” he said. “How is my daughter?”
“She’s resting and seems to be doing fine,” Scott answered.
“I’ve been thinking, and I want your input, Scott. I believe it would be best if we placed Gerti in a protected environment until this is resolved. We know someone is out to get you two, but I think we can protect Gerti by making her disappear.”
“Not a bad idea,” Matt said.
“I’m going to propose it to her now. I hope I have your support on this.”
Scott nodded.
“By the way, I received information a few minutes ago from my men that the shooter has revealed something. He says all of his instructions came by email on his computer. I hear that you are something of an accomplished geek, Scott. Could you try to help us in tracking down the sender? I can’t go through you, Matt, as the FBI might ask how I know this, and I don’t want to go there. You understand?”
Matt nodded. “I didn’t see a thing.”
“Good man,” Schultz said.
“I can give it a shot,” Scott said to Schultz.
“It’s late, and we’ve all had a hell of a day. Come to my hotel later. I’ll give you the computer my men recovered before the locals got to his apartment. You can go to work on it. After I visit Gerti, I’ll be there, but I need to return to New York tomorrow.”
Schultz bade them good-bye and entered the hospital.
10
Schultz Visits His Daughter
On his way to Gerti’s room, Schultz experienced some troubling thoughts. The snuffing out of Bridget’s life, and his daughter’s close call at the hands of the sniper, had brought him a sobering realization. He could be killed at any moment, as he almost had been in Alexandria, by that nut who’d tried to blackmail him for the Bible of Constantine.
There were others who undoubtedly would like to see him gone, and his empire destroyed. Currently, he did not believe his darling daughter would be able to manage his empire at her present level of knowledge about its administration. She did not fully understand the vastness of it, and its ability to support her if he suddenly came to some unexpected end.
He wanted, with all his heart, for her to become familiar with the ins and outs of his business in order to continue to live her comfortable lifestyle, now and in the future for his expected grandchild. He needed to convince her to begin thinking about taking more responsibility for company operations. Besides, the time would soon arrive for him to semi retire. Gertrude could run the business with his diminishing involvement, and then perhaps he could even enjoy his new status as grandfather.
Schultz noticed from the doorway that Gerti appeared to be sleeping. On his entry, however, she opened her eyes. She could see him standing beside her bed in his immaculate dark blue three-thousand-dollar suit with a lighter-colored tie. With his rectangular face that showcased a strong chin, he broke into a smile when he saw her eyes open.
“Hi,” he said. He lifted the flowers up for her to see.
“Thank you, Father. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the baby earlier. It’s just that everything has been crazy the last few days. We didn’t find the right time. We were on the way to tell you, but the car exploded. I hope you’re happy for us?”
“You’re going to make me a grandfather. What do you think?” he said and smiled again. “I do wish you the same happiness with your child that I have enjoyed with you.”
“Thank you.”
“You know that someday, not too far in the future, you’ll be taking over the business. After the two incidents where you could have been killed, I think I should arrange round-the-clock protection for you. I want you safe.”
“You mean Scott and me,” Gerti clarified for him. “Father, you know that I love you, but I don’t want to take over your empire. Scott and I envisage a different future.”
Schultz stared at her in total shock. He took his time before answering. “Of course.” He decided to ignore her protests, so he moved to the other side of the bed before continuing. “I think you need to take a more businesslike approach to our enterprise. You know it’s diverse and multifarious, including some things that are aboveboard and some that are not. We’ve always done what’s necessary to protect our interests and your future. You learned that from me.”
“What do you really mean?” she asked. “Is there a ‘but’ coming? You’re about to try and outmaneuver me. I know you. You want to change my mind.”
“There is a small ‘but.’ I think you should go into a secluded place until this current situation is resolved.”
“Not without Scott,” she said.
“Look at it another way. I have to shield you and the child from what I perceive as a definite danger to you. There’s something going on here that we don’t fully understand. Bridget Donavan was murdered. You barely escaped a bomb in New York, Matt killed an assailant, and today bullets were fired at you in the cemetery. It’s best you and Scott are separated for a time.”
“I don’t want to. I want to be with Scott,” Gerti insisted. “I also think you should consider the possibility that those shots were intended for you. You do appear to make a lot of enemies.”
“I hear you, but please listen to me. I don’t think that’s realistic. Someone is targeting Matt and Scott, and you’re in danger because you’re near them. Don’t you see? Someone is trying to kill them, and if you’re with them, you could be a victim too.”
“Wait a minute. I participated in the group that chased down the terrorist in Savannah, remember? So I could also be a target. Can’t you find out who’s doing this? Besides, you have a lot more resources—some, like you say, that you haven’t told me about.”
“I think it’s time for you to hear about them. You need to be fully versed in the company you’ll someday run. And that day is not too far in the future. I won’t be here forever. If you’ll let me, I’ll put protection on you. In return, over the next few days you will learn all the firm’s secrets, which I haven’t shared with you before. You were always leery of hearing all the details, but I believe the time has come. Is that satisfactory?”
“No, I want to be with Scott.” Gerti stared into his eyes. “We’re planning to find a little house in the country, and yes, one with a white picket fence. That’s the world I want—not the domain you live in.”
“Are you bargaining with me?” Schultz let out a laugh. He’d counted on his daughter being the realist he knew her to be. Her future remained intertwined with her father’s business, especially if she wanted to be her own person and have a secure lifestyle.
“I learned from a master,” she said with a twisted grin on her face. “I don’t want to, but if you insist, there can be no holding back. I have to know everything. If you die tomorrow, I realize I wouldn’t be capable of handling the business. And if I’m not able to, then the future Scott and I have planned won’t materialize.” She knew she needed to placate him, so she sought to make it appear convincing, or there would be consequences. She consciously attempted to protect her husband. “But we will live apart from you, and I don’t need to be in the business on a daily basis right now. And, all right, put me under your protection.”
She watched him as he mulled this over. He always took his time in making difficult decisions. She knew that once he made up his mind, he would carry it out to the fullest. She’d inherited that quality, and now he counted on her giving up the white picket fence, at least for the present.
He stared at her. “Agreed. You go into protective custody. I’ll tell you all you need to know about our business over the next few days. That’s the deal you bargained for. And you don’t have to take over the company on a full-time basis yet, but you must prepare to do it.”
“Scott has to be part of this. Do we agree?” she pushed. “He gets to know everything.”
“That wasn’t in my proposal, and I don’t appreciate you trying to change it.”
“All right, but he can see me and visit whenever he wants?” she asked.
“Agreed,” he said.
“Now, what or who do you think is attempting to kill us?” Gerti asked. “Did you come up with any ideas?”
“I don’t know about you including yourself on the hit list. I think it’s more about Scott and Matt.”
“Why do you say that?” she asked.
“Bridget and Scott made quite a few enemies over the years. Matt’s in the fray because he supported Bridget and joined forces with her. Not long ago, Scott and Bridget took out some Iranian terrorists to obtain the Crown of Thorns, and those guys have long memories. They also outwitted the Vatican by making it retract its position on the discovery of the ancient manuscripts. Bridget and Matt killed a Russian arms dealer recently, and Scott worked with them. That’s only a short list of their potential enemies. None of these involve you directly, but somehow you’ve managed to be in the line of fire.” Taking her expression as one of concern, he continued, “Don’t worry, Gertrude, I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“So you’re going to put all our resources behind finding out who’s doing this? Notice I said ‘our,’ and that’s the way it’s going to be from now on, at your insistence. Remember, Scott and I’ll need protection, if you’re correct.”
“I’ve every intention of repaying whoever did this in kind. That I promise. I just want you out of danger. Now get some rest—you’ve had a hectic day. We’ll start our talks tomorrow.”
She nodded, and her father took his leave.
* * *
Gerti stared at the closed door for a long minute after her father left. He had made some particularly insightful arguments. She would someday take over the company, but secretly she intended to eventually liquidate it. In her years of tutelage under her father about the legitimate operations the firm engaged in, he had taught her how to run that part of the business. Now, he proposed to show her all the secrets of the company. Provided it kept him happy, and peace reigned in her relationship with Scott, it would be worth playing along.
