Your Next Breath (33 page)

“Maybe it’s my imagination.” Eve Duncan and Joe Quinn were walking back from the waiting room toward the ICU. They were smiling. They wouldn’t be smiling for long. Where the hell was that elevator?

At least that bastard Caleb wasn’t with them at the moment. The doctor had called him away as John had entered ICU. Seth Caleb gave him the creeps. He was always at his shoulder, staring at him with those piercing dark eyes.

But not today. Today was John’s lucky day. Everything had gone just right.

But it might all be going downhill. Eve Duncan and Joe Quinn had reached the door of the ICU. He could see Eve’s forehead wrinkle in a frown as she looked at Jane MacGuire, lying in the bed across the room.

No. Too soon. Too soon.

The doors of the elevator slid open.

Yes.

He jumped into the elevator and punched the button.

As the doors started to close, he saw Eve Duncan stiffen. Her eyes widened. “Jane?”

And then she screamed.

*   *   *

“Dead.” Eve ran across the room, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Joe…” Her arms went around Jane’s slack body. “No, it can’t be true.”

“What’s wrong?” Nancy Rodham ran into the room. “The alarms just went off. Dead? You’ve got to be wrong. She was doing so well.” Her gaze went to the machine. “Shit.” She ran forward, picking up her phone she called the code. “You’ll have to leave,” she told Eve and Joe over her shoulder as she tore the cover off Jane. “We’ve got to try to save her.”

“It’s too late,” Eve said, as the doctor ran into the room. Seth Caleb was right behind him, his gaze on Jane’s face. “Leave her alone. Can’t you see? You can’t help her.” The tears were still flowing, and her voice broke. “My Jane’s dead.”

CHAPTER

14

He still had time, John Chalce thought. It was going to be pure chaos in that ICU for the next five to ten minutes, and by that time, he’d be out of this parking garage and on his way to the airport.

He unlocked his Ford Escort and threw open the driver’s side door.

“Hello, Chalce.” Seth Caleb was suddenly beside the door. “In a hurry? Too bad. Because I don’t think you’re going anywhere.”

“Oh, hi, Mr. Caleb. I’ve got to leave.” John moistened his lips. “I just received an emergency text from my dad. He’s not well, and he needs me.”

“No, I need you more.” He stared him in the eye. “And I want you to stick around.”

Those damn dark eyes were almost hypnotic, John thought. And with all the ferocity of a forest animal. He could feel the sweat begin to bead on the back of his neck. “Sorry.” He tried to get in the car. “Family, first.”

Caleb slammed him against the car. “I’m sure Eve Duncan would agree with you. But not about your dear old dad. She’s very concerned about her daughter. There’s a big furor going on in ICU about Jane MacGuire. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

He shook his head.

“I don’t believe you. You don’t know that they think she had a reaction to her medicine just when you left her room?” His eyes were blazing in his taut face. “She’s dead, Chalce.”

“I’m sorry.” He tried to sound sincere. It was hard, with this beast looking at him as if he wanted to devour him. “She seemed like a nice lady. You seemed devoted to her.”

“You have no idea.” His voice was soft, silky, but totally deadly. “I promised her that she wasn’t going to die, and here you come along and try to make a liar of me. That doesn’t please me, John Chalce.”

“You think I had something to do with it? Why would I do that?”

“Money. Drugs. A little of both? I don’t care about the reason. All I know is that Manuel Dorgal got to you.”

“I don’t know any Manuel Dorgal.”

“Yet I bet his name and number are on your cell phone.”

“How do you…” He stopped. “That’s not true.”

“It’s true. I took a long look at all the people trusted to care for Jane. You were high on my list of suspects. Let’s check it. Give me your phone.”

“No. You have no right to—”

But Caleb had already grabbed Chalce’s cell from his pocket and was going through the directory.

“Why me?” Chalce asked. “Why would you think I’d do it?”

“You’re so nauseatingly wholesome. That automatically sends up a red flag to me. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s nothing the least wholesome about me. I was going to steal your cell anyway, but you moved too fast today.”

“Steal?”

“It’s easy for me. I seem to distract people when I get near them.” He nodded. “Here it is. Manuel Dorgal.” He shoved the cell back to him. “I want you to use that phone right now.”

“Why should I?” he said defiantly. “Why should I do anything you want? This is all guesses and lies.”

“Why should you?” Caleb’s hands were suddenly on his throat. “Because I’m very angry with you. Because you might live a little longer if you give me Dorgal. Tell me what you were supposed to do after you killed Jane.”

“I didn’t kill her.”

“Don’t lie.” His hands tightened on John’s throat. “That annoys me, and you don’t want me annoyed any more than I am right now. Do you feel the blood pumping in the veins of your throat? So fast … Soon it will be even faster, and the pain will start.”

It was starting now, and so was the panic. He couldn’t keep his eyes from Caleb’s. “I … didn’t mean to kill her. Dorgal made me.”

“Liar. Tell me what you’re supposed to do.”

“Leave the hospital and call Dorgal. He has orders to personally validate the death. I think he wants to take pictures or something.”

“When?”

“Right away. Tonight. Though they might do an autopsy since the death was unexpected.”

“Completely unexpected,” he said grimly. “She was on her way back.”

“I had to do it. I was afraid.”

“You should be afraid right now.”

He was terrified. He had never seen anything like the ferocity that Caleb was showing him. And the blood was pounding, choking him, causing his eyes to bulge in their sockets. What was the bastard doing to him? “Please…”

“I’m going to take my hands away from your throat. You’re going to make that call. You’re going to tell Dorgal that everything went well, and she’s ready for her close-up. You’re going to sound absolutely normal, then you’re going to hang up. Do you understand?”

He nodded. “Anything you say. And then you’ll let me go?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I might exchange one murderer for another. But you won’t have a chance if you don’t do what I tell you.”

“I’ll do it.” He grabbed his phone from his pocket. “It was Dorgal who’s to blame. It’s not my fault.” His hand was shaking as he dialed Dorgal’s number. Two rings, and Dorgal picked up. “She’s dead,” John said. “No problem. I’m leaving for the airport now. Transfer the rest of the money into my account in Grand Cayman.”

“You’ll get it after I verify that you did the job.” Dorgal paused. “You sound a little breathless.”

“I’ve never done anything like this before. I’m glad it’s over.”

“I hate working with amateurs.”

“Just give me my money.” He hung up. He looked at Caleb. “Okay?”

“Good enough.”

“Then let me go.”

Caleb shook his head.

Panic. “You said that maybe you’d do it.”

“You told Dorgal that you were glad it was over. Did you think how Jane might feel as she took those last breaths? You didn’t care whether she lived or died as long as you got your money.” His hands closed on his throat again. “But I care, Chalce. Do you feel how much I care?”

Blood pounding.

Heart pounding.

Was he dying?

Darkness.

4:22 A.M.

The morgue was cool, almost cold.

The lights over the three metal tables brilliant and glaring.

And on one table, a figure covered by a white sheet.

Dorgal moved quickly from the door toward the table.

Shoot the damn photo and get out of here. The place was beginning to stir, and he’d noticed that there was a light on in the small reception office across the hall. He wouldn’t have risked going through with the damn verification if Santos hadn’t insisted. He’d said that it would be more effective if he could show Ling a photo of the actual body.

And he would show MacGuire’s body, and Santos would realize once more what a valuable asset Dorgal was to him.

Quick.

He flipped the sheet down and aimed his phone at that beautiful, peaceful face.

One picture.

Two.

Three.

Enough.

He jammed his phone back in his pocket and started for the door.

“Dammit, he’s getting away, Caleb. Do something!”

Dorgal froze.

What the hell?

He whirled back around.

Jane MacGuire’s eyes were open, and she was glaring at him. She said softly, “Surprised?”

He reached for his gun.

And tumbled to the floor as Seth Caleb sprang from behind one of the file cabinets and tackled him. “I was getting to it, Jane.” His fist crashed into Dorgal’s jaw. “I wanted him to get a little farther away from you.”

“I didn’t want to wait. I felt … violated.”

“Bitch.” Dorgal grunted. He was struggling wildly. “Chalce sold me out?”

“Not in the beginning. He didn’t know. I switched the poison you so kindly provided him.”

“Fool. I’ll kill him. I’ll kill
you.
” He rolled sideways and broke free. Suddenly, there was a knife in his hand, plunging at Caleb. He made contact, but Caleb slid away. And then the knife was gone, skittering across the floor toward the door.

The door was opening, and the knife was being snatched up by the man standing there.

“Get off him, Caleb,” Joe Quinn said grimly. “I want my turn with him.”

“Not now. We still have a use for him.”

“Tell that to Eve. She’s had enough of this charade. She wants someone to pay.”

“Later. Give me your cuffs.”

Joe reluctantly tossed his cuffs to Caleb. “He took the photos?”

Caleb nodded as he cuffed Dorgal’s hands behind him. “He was in a big hurry.”

“Santos will kill all of you,” Dorgal could feel the humiliation and fear tying his stomach in knots. Make a deal, then find a way to take them down. “He missed MacGuire this time, but he’ll get her the next. If you want to live, you need me.”

“Do I?” Caleb got to his feet and moved back toward the metal table where Jane MacGuire lay. “You’re right. You wouldn’t be alive right now if I didn’t have a use for you.” He looked down at Jane. “How do you feel?” he asked quietly. “Was it too much for you?”

“No.” She looked him in the eye. “Not exactly where I’d choose to spend the night. But it was necessary, wasn’t it?” Her gaze shifted to Dorgal. “He’s the one who gives the orders for Santos? He’s probably the one who arranged for me to be shot in the first place.”

“There’s a good chance,” Joe said. He looked down at the knife in his hand. “Maybe just a few minor but painful cuts?”

“No, not unless he doesn’t cooperate.” Caleb’s gaze had never left Jane. “We’ve got to get her out of here. Eve’s talked the doctor into ordering her to be slipped into an isolation room for the next couple days. Questionable, high-level contagion. Strictly limited access. As far as anyone but three members of the hospital staff on the ICU floor are concerned, Jane died of a drug reaction and remains here for the time being.”

“High-level contagion?” Jane repeated.

“Atlanta has the CDC. Lots of bad stuff. Even the hospital staff would be scared,” Caleb said. “A good choice.”

“Thank you.” Eve pushed open the door and came into the room. She scarcely glanced at Dorgal as she hurried past him on the way to Jane. “Hi.” She gently pushed a strand of hair away from Jane’s face. “How are you doing? He didn’t hurt you?”

Jane smiled. “No, I just held my breath when I heard him coming toward me, as Caleb told me to do. But then I thought he might get away when he started hurrying out, and I ruined my death scene.”

“She couldn’t resist expressing her displeasure with me,” Caleb said. “Only to be expected.”

Eve looked at Dorgal for the first time. “I would have been worried about his getting away, too. After all Jane had to go through for us to stage this little drama, I would have jumped him the minute he got near her.”

“I had to have the photos,” Caleb said. “That’s what this was all about, wasn’t it, Dorgal?”

“We need to make a deal,” Dorgal said. “Okay, you’ve got me, but I’m no good to you. Santos is the only one who can call off the killing.”

“Are you offering us Santos?”

“I can’t do that. Look, if you think that because you have me that you can bargain with Santos, you’re crazy. He doesn’t trust me. He doesn’t trust anyone.” He paused. “But I might be able to tell you where he’s located.”

“That’s no longer a valuable bargaining chip. Catherine knows where his compound’s located.”

“Then perhaps I can persuade Santos to—”

“I don’t believe that Santos is persuadable,” Caleb said. “Let’s call Catherine and see what she thinks, Eve.”

Eve reached into her bag and pulled out her iPad. “I promised I’d call her on Skype when it was over anyway. She was scared to death something would go wrong.”

“Skype?” Jane said.

“She wanted to see you,” Eve said. “Because she knew that she’d probably be forced to see Santos’s photos he received from Dorgal.” She made the connection. “Catherine. Everyone’s safe, and we’ve got Dorgal.” She turned the iPad toward Jane. “You see, she’s fine. In a few minutes, we’ll be taking her to a safe room in the hospital and tucking her in for the rest of the night.”

“Thank God,” Catherine said. “I’m sorry, Jane. I seem to be always putting you on the spot.”

“You’re trying to get me out of this particular spot. Stop giving yourself guilt trips.” Jane made a face. “And at least it was more interesting than lying in bed and feeling completely useless. Though when you called Eve and told her that you’d found out that Dorgal was heading for Atlanta and you thought that he and his henchmen were going to make another try at killing me, I admit I was a little shook.”

“I was tempted not to even involve you,” Eve said. “But Catherine said that she needed a reason to make Santos think that she was so terrified that she’d turn herself over to him on the condition he wouldn’t kill anyone else she loved.”