The Destroyed

CHAPTER 20

A cleaner who knows what he’s doing always has a variety of contacts in the places he has worked: suppliers of weapons, local talent, information sources, and-though hopefully seldom needed-someone who could provide discreet medical services. On his previous job in Rome, Nate had been given the number of a Dr. Pelligrini, but had never had the need to call it.

That fact had just changed.

The phone rang four times before a man sounding hurried answered. “ Si?”

“I’m in need of a second opinion on a hairline fracture,” Nate said in English, reading the phrase from the notes on his phone.

The doctor paused, then gave him an address with instructions on where to park behind the building, and what to do when Nate got to the door. The man hung up.

As much as he didn’t want to waste the time, Nate knew they had to switch vehicles before they arrived at the doctor’s place. By now police all over town would have been notified to look for the cab. The last thing he needed was for it to be found parked at the medical facility where Quinn was being treated.

He called Daeng, brought him up to speed, and agreed on a quiet place to meet not far from their hotel.

Nate reached the rendezvous point three minutes later, but Daeng wasn’t there yet.

“Come on, come on, come on.”

He looked back at Quinn. His mentor was still unconscious, the makeshift bandage soaked with blood. Nate reached back and grabbed Quinn’s wrist, checking the pulse. Weak, but steady.

Just then a Volkswagen Golf hatchback with Daeng behind the wheel screeched to a stop next to the taxi.

Working quickly, the two men transferred Quinn to the VW’s backseat.

“You want me to drive?” Daeng asked.

“I’ll drive,” Nate said.

Daeng got into the front passenger seat and twisted around so he could keep an eye on Quinn.

Nate took the quickest route to Dr. Pelligrini’s office. The narrow alley that ran behind it was easy enough to find, though the white door the doctor had mentioned was more a faded yellow.

Nate jumped out, knocked three times on the door as he’d been instructed. For several seconds nothing happened, so he repeated the sequence. This time, just as he finished the last knock, the door opened, and a short, thin, balding man with tired eyes looked out.

“Dr. Pelligrini?” Nate asked.

“Yes,” the man said. “You’re the one who called?”

Nate nodded, and led the doctor over to the car. Daeng had already opened the back door.

Dr. Pelligrini took one look at Quinn and said, “Quickly. Bring him inside.”

Draping Quinn’s arms around their shoulders, Nate and Daeng carried him inside to a small examining room near the back door.

“Are you here alone?” Nate asked. The office was quiet and he’d seen no one on the way in.

“My nurse.”

“Trustworthy?”

The doctor scoffed as he started peeling the bandage off Quinn’s neck. “Of course. She’s my wife.”

Once the cloth was removed, blood welled in the wound.

“How long ago did this happen?”

“Less than fifteen minutes.”

“Do you know his blood type?”

“A-positive,” Nate said.

“Are either of you A-positive?”

Nate and Daeng shook their heads.

“Don’t you have any here?” Nate asked.

“Yes, we have it, but I like to replace, you understand?”

“Mine might not be the same,” Daeng said, “but you’re welcome to some of my B.”

“I’m happy to donate, too,” Nate said.

The doctor looked over at them. “I need some space. There’s a room down the hall where you can wait, but find my wife first and send her in here.”

“I’d rather stay,” Nate said.

“No. Out of the question. I must operate, and cannot have you here. You think I’m going to hurt your friend?”

“No, but-”

“Of course I’m not. Now, go, please. I need to get to work.”

Reluctantly, they left.

“I should move the car,” Daeng said.

“Good idea.”

While Daeng did that, Nate found the doctor’s wife-an unsmiling woman about the same age as her husband-behind a desk in a room near the front of the office. Once she was on her way, he went into the small waiting room, and made the call he’d been dreading.

“Nate?” Orlando said. Her momentary surprise switched instantly to concern. “What’s going on?”

“First off, he’s alive.”

“What happened?”

“He’s been shot, but it’s not life threatening,” he said, then described where the bullet hit. “I’ve already brought him to Dr. Pelligrini. He’s prepping him for surgery now.”

“How the hell did he get shot?”

“Ambush. I can give you the details later, but right now I’ve got to take care of a few things.”

“What are you talking about? You’re staying there!”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” It was more accusation than question.

“Mila,” he said. “Someone took her.”

“I don’t give a damn about Mila.”

“Do you think Quinn would want me to stay here? He came here because of her. If he wasn’t hurt, he’d be doing everything he could to find her. But since he can’t, I’m sure he’d want me to do it.”

“You can’t leave him alone.”

“What choice do I have?”

“What about the other guy?”

“Daeng? I’m going to need his help.”

“For God’s sake, you have to stay until he’s at least out of surgery! Mila Voss can wait that long.”

“I don’t know if that’s true.”

“I. Don’t. Care.”

He closed his eyes. “Okay, okay. We’ll stay until the doctor’s done, but the second he is, we’re leaving.”

“Fine. But you keep tabs on him even then. You understand me?”

“Yes.”

“And if anything changes, I want to hear about it.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll call you.”

“Mrs. Vu! Mrs. Vu!” Orlando called out as she rushed out of her office on the second floor of her home in San Francisco.

“Yes?” the Vietnamese woman called up from downstairs. She and her husband helped Orlando around the house, and took care of her son Garrett when Orlando was on one of her frequent business trips.

Orlando stopped in the doorway to her bedroom. “I have to go on a trip. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone.”

“When will you be leaving?”

“As soon as I’m packed,” she said. It would take her only a few minutes since she always kept bags at the ready. “Please ask your husband if he could drive me to the airport.”

“He’ll be waiting.”

Orlando retrieved the bag she wanted, threw in a couple of extra items she thought she might need, grabbed her laptop out of her office, and headed downstairs. True to his wife’s word, Mr. Vu was waiting by the front door, keys in hand.

“Another trip,” he said as he helped carry her bags out to the car. “Will you be gone long?”

Whether it was really there or not, she sensed a quiet rebuke in his voice. She knew he thought she traveled too much, and was away from Garrett more than she should be. Or maybe that was something she was just putting on him, her own concerns reflected in his innocent questions.

She pushed the thought from her mind. There was no way she could stay home today. While Garrett was her everything, Quinn was her everything else. And Garrett was doing okay, school going fine, no particular attitude issues. Quinn, on the other hand, was lying on an operating table, a gunshot wound just inches from his heart and his head.

There was really no question where she needed to be.

The next call came much sooner than Peter had expected, no more than six or seven minutes after the first.

“We got her,” Michaels said.

Peter could feel Olsen’s expectant gaze on him, but he kept his expression blank. “Yes,” he said into the phone. “Finding her is our top priority, so any reasonable expenditure is approved.”

Michaels got the message loud and clear. “I’ll call back in five.”

“Even twice that amount would be acceptable.”

“Ten, then,” the operative said and hung up.

“All right. I’ll expect an update soon,” Peter said into the dead air, then hung up.

“What was that about?” Olsen asked.

“I thought you were listening. Should have been pretty clear.”

Olsen stewed for a second. “They need to spend some cash.”

“You were listening.”

“What are they going to spend it on?”

“That wasn’t specified. They just needed to know what they were authorized to do.”

Olsen frowned as he looked back at his computer. “That kind of thing should have been set up ahead of time. You don’t really run the tightest of ships, do you?”

Peter rose from his chair. “I’m not running a ship at all. I’m running a real-world-adapt-when-necessary operation. If you don’t like it, you’re more than welcome to take over.”

He picked up his pack of cigarettes and headed for the door.

By the time Michaels called back, he was once again locked in the bathroom of the bar around the corner.

“You have her now?” he asked.

“Yes. I arranged for the use of a safe house south of the city.” He then told Peter what had happened. When he finished, he paused before saying, “The guy with her was definitely Quinn.”

“The one you shot?”

“Yes. My order was for a warning shot, but…”

“But what?”

“My guy’s adrenaline was running a little high. He pulled it, and the bullet hit Quinn somewhere near his throat.”

Peter was stunned. “Is he dead?”

“We didn’t stay to find out.”

“Well, find out now!”

“I’ll get right on it. What do you want us to do with the girl?”

What, indeed? That question had been swirling around Peter’s head since Michaels first called. Knowing now that Quinn was definitely involved didn’t make coming up with an answer any easier.

The problem was that what he owed clients like Mygatt and Green was nothing compared to what he owed people like Quinn.

He swore to himself. What he needed was more time and information so he could figure this mess out and decide how to handle things.

“Keep her wrapped up there for now,” he told Michaels. “And contact me as soon as you know more about Quinn.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll have to call in some extra help, though. I want to make sure we can cover this place around the clock.”

“Fine. I’ll call you back when I have more instructions.”

Peter disconnected the call, but didn’t put the phone away just yet. There was one person who might know where Quinn was, and if he was still alive.

After five rings, a prerecorded generic voice kicked in. “Please leave your message after the tone.”

He thought about hanging up, but instead waited for the beep to end, and said, “Orlando, it’s Peter. If he’s in any condition to talk, I need him to call me right away. Can you help?”

The only light entering the room came through the dime-thin space between the bottom of the door and the floor. Not daylight, though-weak incandescence from the other side.

Mila had no idea what was out there. A corridor? Another room? There was no way to know. She’d been instructed to leave her blindfold on until after they’d locked her in her cell.

Her room was equipped with a mattress on the floor and a plastic bucket in the corner, nothing else. When she walked it off, she determined it was eight feet square. There were no windows, boarded up or otherwise, and the walls were made of stone so there was no chance she could find her way through them.

It was becoming harder and harder to keep from admitting she’d failed. She wanted to believe an opportunity would present itself, and she’d be able to get away so she could finish what she’d started, but there was a growing part of her that was convinced she was done, that there was no way she would ever breathe free air again.

She knew how this was going to go. They would come in. They would question her. And, eventually, she would tell everything. She’d have no choice. Torture in the twenty-first century was a science. There were specialized methods now that always produce results.

Once she’d been wrung dry, they’d kill her like they’d meant to years before.

I can still get away, she thought, her defiant voice growing less convincing every hour. I have to. I have to destroy him.

If I don’t, no one will.