Silver Lining - A Carpelli Adventure: Sequel To The Bestselling Thriller Fatal Mistake (15 page)

“That’s okay, I’ll aim and all you have to do is pull the trigger.” I told her as she cranked down the window and slipped the gun up between the mirror and the roof pillar.

“I’m ready when you are,” She announced.

“Hold tight and fire,” I shouted as I swung the car slightly to the right so the barrel of the shot gun was pointed at a cluster of bikers trying to get far enough off the side of the road, so the car would miss them. The blast tore through the small group mowing the men over and I’m sure killing some of them.

“Was that both barrel’s” I shouted as I took quick peak.

“No, you didn’t say fire both barrels.” Betty explained.

“No, that’s fine. It worked great. Get ready, here we go again.” This time, I nudged the car slightly to the left at a guy with an AK47 pointed at us. “Fire.” I yelled just as the barrel hopefully lined up on the guy and he fired. What was left of the windshield exploded inward and showered the car interior with rounds from the AK47. Most of the other windows had been shattered to bits by the AK47 as well. The roof liner was hanging down in rear corner on the passenger side and the roof had almost enough holes in it to call it a convertible.

The shotgun roared the next second and the AK47 continued to fire for a moment than stopped. I peaked as we followed the curve to the right and I saw the rifleman lying sprawled across the ground behind his bike at the edge of the road. There was more of a shoulder here and the bikers were taking full advantage of the situation. I couldn’t take on both sides any more. I had to go after one or the other. Which meant we would be exposed to the other groups fire. I opted to go after the group on the right again forcing the fire into my side of the car and away from Betty, as much as I could.

“Toss me the shotgun,” I shouted and Betty put it in my hand which I then propped the barrel on the window ledge and brought it up to fire. As we swung into the bikes on the right, I fired one barrel into the crowd across the road and a second later, I fired yet again.

Bikers scattered in every direction as Betty and I careened into the bikes and I fired at the other group. I couldn’t tell if I hit anyone or not with the shotgun blasts, but it sure did send everyone to the ground in hurry. It also caused one of the bikes to burst into flames, probably from a few pellets having poked holes in its gas tank and gas having found something hot to ignite it.

The last twenty-five to thirty yards of the big turn held only a couple bikers and they cleared out of my way without firing a shot at us until we’d passed them and then they shot at us with everything except shoulder fired missiles, RPG’s and Bazooka’s. Betty slipped real low, right down to the floor boards. I couldn’t get that low and still drive the car and despite sliding down as low as I could go, I didn’t fair as well, as Betty.

Just as I had fired the shotgun the last time, I had gotten tagged in the upper left arm. The arm still worked so I wasn’t too concerned about it being overly serious, but it still hurt like hell. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only spot I gotten tagged. Apparently there was someone out there using a hand cannon because the round had penetrated the door and clipped me in the left side of the abdomen. That one was burning badly and felt like there was a hot poker stabbing me in the spine just above the beltline.

I continued down the road glancing at the rearview mirror every few seconds expecting to see several bikers racing up behind us but no one came. When I reached the main road, I rolled the stop sign and kept right on going as fast as I could and still keep control the old beast. When we reached Weirs Valley Road, Betty got up on the seat and gave me a quick assessment.

“Are you okay? You look like you’ve been shot?” Betty stated as she sat staring at me. I was busy looking in the mirror for our friends, so I didn’t turn to look to straight at her.

“Yeah, they managed to tag me a couple of times.” I replied.

“Oh my God! Can you still drive? Should I drive? Here, can you slide over and I’ll go around and slide in behind you.” She stated as she opened the door and started to get out. When I didn’t move she stopped. “What you think you can still drive? Do you really think that you‘ll be okay?” She asked as she knelt on the front seat. I stopped looking around and turned my head towards her, so I could look her in the eye.              

“I don’t know if I can drive much further, but I do know, I can’t move across the seat without some help.”

“Oh right, here let me help you. Oh God, this is going to hurt you, isn’t this?” She asked.

“I’ve got to move. We can’t stay here. Just pull and ignore my complaints. We haven’t got more than a few minutes before our biker buddies come looking for us.”

“Okay, sorry.” She whined as she grabbed my shirt and pulled. Thank God for the full front bench seat and its nawgahyde cover. It wasn’t fun or painless, but it was quick, thanks to the seat cover. Betty quickly ran around the car after gently closing the door.

“Where are we going? We got Maryville General or Laconte?” She asked.

“Neither one. Take me to UT and the county morgue,” I blurted out without explaining what was the reasoning behind my directions.

“What? That’s quite a long way from here. You may be dead by the time we get there. The others are much closer and you aren’t dead yet,” Betty baulked at my directions.

“No, I’ll be dead before morning if we go to either of those places. Hospitals have to report gunshot wounds and the police are after me for breaking up their little drug deal they had going. Take me to UT and the morgue. Take me to see Dr. Anne Harris, she’s one of the medical examiners. She’ll fix me up and won’t report the incident.”

“Why is that?” Betty asked as though she was jealous.

“I’m helping find her son Daniel and helping her get rid the bad cops that are using her son to black mail her.”

“Damn you do get around, John. It’s like you’re a character in a crime novel,” Betty lamented.

“Yeah, it’s a real page turner too. It keeps me right at the edge of my seat every day.”

“I was right. You are way too dangerous to be around. We could have gotten killed back there,” she whined.

“Well, the jury is still out on that one. I maybe dead, I just haven’t fallen down yet.” Betty gunned the engine and the car leapt forward.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

At first, John couldn’t really tell where he was. The light was so bright but then he realized he must be in the morgue. That was where they were headed when he passed out. He tried to move his left arm but it was no go, it was pinned down somehow. He could move his fingers though and to his surprise there was a heavy bandage on his left side. How long had he been out?

“I think your patient is waking up,” John heard someone say though he was so drugged up still, he wasn’t sure who it was. When Betty leaned over him and smiled at him, he still wasn’t sure who he was looking at. Then he saw another woman peer down at him for several seconds before she spoke up.

“John, can you hear me, John?”

I gave weak nod, I think and looked at the other woman. I looked at her for several seconds then back at the other woman and slowly the faces began to take on recognizable features. I cleared my throat and asked,

“You didn’t take out anything I might need later did you?” Doctor Anne grinned and stated dead pan.

“Just your brain, you weren’t using it anyways.”

“Oh good, for minute there, I thought I might have been left without a heart or something major.”

“Who said you had a heart?” Doctor Anne retorted. “All I found in there was a wind up set of jumping teeth.”

“So that’s where my dentures got knocked to the other day.” I grinned despite the bad joke.

“Yeah, he’ll live but I don’t know why we bothered. He’ll just get himself killed a few days from now?” Doctor Anne stated, as she checked my pulse.

“You are one very lucky man, you know that, right?” Betty interjected.

“Why would you say I’m lucky? Wasn’t I the one that got shot?”

“You’re lucky because I found Doctor Anne here and that there wasn’t anyone else around. People would have remembered the two women pushing a gurney through the parking structure with a body hidden under a sheet on it.” Betty shared.

“Ahhh…, no so much around here. We are the county morgue after all, Doc Anne offered.

“You can’t say it’s boring when I’m around,” I retorted.

“It’s sort of like being struck by lightning only without the after tingle,” Betty explained.

“You do have that certain spark for the interesting, John. Now rest and try to sleep. You’ve got to be out of here in another six hours.”

“As long as there’s no hurry. So how bad is it?” I asked.

“Well, the upper left arm was more like a graze than a GSW. It is very superficial penetrating the skin less than a quarter inch. I would guess it was a small caliber bullet. Now your side is a different story. That was a large caliber bullet, probably a .357 hollow point. It must have run into something rather solid before it got to you, because it only penetrated to within a half inch of your spine. It didn’t spread any further than had at the point of impact which kept it from sprawling and tearing you up inside. It went straight in. it also was only embedded in your body about an inch deep on a near level track. That’s why you were a lucky man.” Doctor Anne explained.

“Yeah, I can see what you mean. I guess the round traveled through the door and then the armrest before hitting me. Thanks for saving me.” John offered.

“Well, don’t think this in anyway lets you off the hook for finding my son.  I still expect results sooner than later.” Doctor Anne snapped playfully.

“I’ll need another day once I am certified fit for duty again.” John played along.

“You’ll be certified alright. You just plan on resting for a while, a week to ten days minimal,” Doctor Anne ordered. “Given any thought to where you’ll hide out until you’re well enough to move around?” Doctor Anne then asked.

“I can go to my place,” John absently mumbled. “I don’t think anyone knows where I live. I used a fake address when I got my new license.”

“And where is your place, John? And where am I supposed to go? They will go back to my place, you know. Probably burn the place to the ground,” Betty informed him.

“You can come and stay with me until this gets sorted out. My place is only about a mile from the diner. Give or take a mile or two,” I mumbled and then grinned at Betty.

“Well, that makes it perfectly clear,” Betty groused.

“What about transportation?” Doctor Anne asked, but I had dropped off to sleep so she turned to Betty for an answer.

“That was quick,” Betty stated as she stared at John. Doctor Anne checked his pulse again and didn’t seem concerned, so Betty continued. “That’s a good question about transportation. We can’t take the piece of junk in the parking structure anywhere. It’ll either get us pulled over or if their out looking for us, it’ll be real easy to spot. It has no windows and every surface inch of the body is pock marked with bullet holes and dents.”

“Okay, we’ll take my car to my house where I’ll let you use my husband’s car, he’s out of town.” Doctor Anne stated as she walked around the gurney on which I was stretched out and went to her desk and sat down. She made a quick note, about something on note pad. After making the note she sat looking at John for a few moments and then made another note on the pad.

“What are you writing down?” Betty asked and Doctor Anne gave her a hard look. Then, slowly her expression changed to a much softer tone. The way Doctor Anne was able to switch moods so quickly, seamlessly, unnerved Betty. She’d seen people like her before and despite their public persona, they were not nice people.

“I’m writing down the prescriptions, I’ll need to borrow from the med lab, before we get out of here.” Doctor Anne stated, as she held out the note for Betty to come look at it. Which she did. On the note were the names of two very strong antibiotics, which Betty had learned about a few years ago.

“Couldn’t we just pick them up at the pharmacy on the way home? Isn’t it a big risk to steal it from the lab?” Betty asked showing genuine concern which momentarily touched the Doc’s heart, but only for a moment.

“These are the typical antibiotics that are prescribed for GSW”s. If we stop and buy them at the pharmacy they are likely to report the purchase and quite possibly, bring the police to your door and mine. So no, it’s not too big a risk to steal them from the lab. In fact, it’s probably the safest course of action available to us,” Doctor Anne explained.

“Well, when you put it that way, you have a point,” Betty retorted.

“I always do,” Doc Anne replied curtly. Then she abruptly changed the subject. “I can tell you care about John, how did you meet him?” Doctor Anne asked.

“He was a customer in the diner where I work.”

“So he was captivated by your flirtatious banter, while taking his order was he?” Doctor Anne sarcastically offered.

“Actually, I couldn’t tell you. I told him no several times before he wore me down and I agreed to have dinner with him. I knew he was a bad man. I could just sense it. But I stupidly agreed to go. I was so right on target with my assessment of him, as soon as I had left to go home from our first date, he was in a fight in the men’s room. Then, despite my telling him I didn’t want visitors and I refused to take his call while at work today. He hunts up my address from somewhere and comes to my house. And of course, just as I had predicted, he brings along a couple of dozen bikers, who are there to kill him and anyone who is with him,” Betty shared.

“Strange he didn’t notice them following him,” Doctor Anne offered.

“They didn’t arrive right after he did, but they were oh, maybe ten minutes later.” Betty clarified the timing for Doctor Anne.

“Okay, that brings us to how did they know where he was? I mean it sounds like, if you don’t know how to get to your place, then you don’t get there. So how did the biker’s know where to go?” Doctor Anne pondered.

“There’s a homing device on my vehicle or on me or…………” my voice tailed off and I sat there grinning. A big wide grin.

“What? Why are you grinning?” Betty asked.

“Because he knows how they were able to follow him,” Doctor Anne offered.

“So what is it? How did they do it?” Betty asked.

I held up a hand and slowly shifted my weight and the whole gurney shook.

“Whoa, there buddy. You’ll end up on the floor, if you keep moving around like that.” Betty warned him, as she quickly stepped over to steady the gurney with her hip and me with her arms. She then gave Doctor Anne a withering look to which Doctor Anne replied.

“It a gurney in a morgue. It’s used to transport dead people around. They don’t usually do all much shifting around.” Doctor Anne explained without making any effort to ensure I didn’t end up on the floor. “Okay,” Doctor Anne stated and stepped towards the door, “don’t let our patient fall off and I’ll slip over to the medical lab and pick up our prescriptions.”

“How long will you be?” Betty asked, clearly concerned with being left alone with me being injured and all.

“I shouldn’t be too long, ten to fifteen minutes. You can wheel him over into the corner,” Doctor Anne stated as she pointed that way, “I’ll turn out the light and lock the door behind me. That way, should anyone come by, which I doubt they will, they can’t shine a flashlight over there from the door window, so you should be safe.”

“Okay, thanks,” Betty retorted as Doctor Anne step through the door flicking off the light switch as she passed. “Be right back.”

I groaned slightly and turned my head towards the door then mumbled, “Is she gone?”

“Yes, she is gone.” 

“Good, let’s get you up to the car, asap.” I directed.

“What? Why?” Betty asked.

“On the floor of the backseat is a brief case. Look around for a few big plastic bags to dump the continents into. Be sure to leave the brief case, in the car. Hurry. If what I think is correct, they are tracking us through a GPS signal implanted in the brief case and they will be here shortly, now hurry!” I urged. Betty looked around the lab for a minute opening and closing drawers until she found some trash bags. These were the big ones, thirty gallon size. She grabbed two and walked to the door. She stopped there and peaked out the window before turning to me one last time.

“Are you going to be okay?” She asked.

“Yeah, I’ll hide.” I groused sarcastically at her. “Speaking of hiding.” I said changing the topic. “Before you run for the money, can I get you to go over to the desk and look for two small tape recorders? Once you have found them, I need you to take out the tapes that are in them and stuff a different tape, hopefully new, in each of the recorders. Then stuff the tapes in your purse. I’d carry them but I seem to have lost my pants someplace.” I directed Betty knowing the best evidence against the crooked cops and for exonerating myself, were on one of those two tapes.

“Be serious.” Betty snapped. “Why do you want just the two tapes? Why not take both recorders with the tapes to save the hassle?” Betty asked, but I ignored her and changed the subject.

“Do you have either of my guns?” I asked.

“They are in my purse.” Betty stated as she switched the second tape out.

“Take one and leave me the other,” I directed and Betty quickly grabbed her purse off the side counter, tucked in the two tapes and walked over to me.

“Better tuck the purse under the sheet while you’re gone. I don’t want anyone looking in there.” John stated matter of fact. Betty slipped the purse off her shoulder, then tucked it up under the sheet between my knees. Then handed me the big forty-five caliber, while keeping the nine mil. automatic for herself.

“You could have tucked the purse a bit higher.” I stated as she turned to leave. “I’m not shy, but it’s not a come on either. It’ll be hard to get a hold of being that low, if I really have to hide. I’m not bending so well, just now.” I explained.

“Unbelievable,” Betty groused, while shaking her head, as she turned and reached under the sheet. She grabbed the purse and stuffed all the way up into my groin

“What’s unbelievable?” I inquired, as she walked over to the door again.

“Men,” Betty snapped, “there you are shot, nearly dead and your making passes at me.”

“What? I was not. I need to have the purse within easy reach so if I have to hide I can take it with me, easily.”

“Yeah right. You just wanted me groping around your crotch is what you wanted.”

“Well, it is a good spot for groping, but it wasn’t my first consideration. Having your purse within easy to reach, was. Besides, you wouldn’t have peaked would you? I wouldn’t have minded if you did, though.” I teased while snickering lightly.

“Dream on, Broomstick Cowboy. I already saw everything you have when the doctor and I took your clothes off. It was hardly worth a second glance.”

“What? The doctor and you stood around judging me?” I acted as though I was offended.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say we were judging you.”

“Then what was it? You said it wasn’t hardly worth a second glance. That sure sounded judgmental to me.” I whined to tease her. “It wasn’t a fair time to judge me. After all I was near death and lying naked in a freezing cold morgue.

“Really, you’re going to claim things shrink in the cold?”

“I’ve got to have some excuse. I can’t just say, it’s not fair because I’m nearly dead. Unless of course, it works for you.” I lamely defended himself.