“Just follow my instructions. We want to have a nice conversation with this guy, okay? I don’t know what kind of security he has, but I’m not terribly worried.” Julio said.
“Why’s that?”
“I’ve got a plan.” He glanced over at her, grinned, and then focused back on the road.
Twenty minutes later, Kelly was standing in front of two large double doors. She rang the bell. Christine Wood, the former ER nurse, opened the door, a glass of champagne in her hand. She took a step back, a surprised look on her face. Kelly smiled broadly, “Hey, Christine!”
“Dr. Morales?”
Kelly pushed her way in. “Crazy, huh? I heard you two love birds moved down here and since so many doctors seem to be going on vacation, I thought I deserved one, too. So you on the payroll?” She winked at her.
Christine shook her head. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Oh, okay. Is that how you want to play it?” Kelly glanced around at the lavishly furnished foyer. “My, my, my. They paid you, or should I say Pierce, better than me. I am jealous.”
“Um.
Uh…”
“Speaking of, where is Pierce? Looks like the two of you are celebrating. I want in on it.”
Christine backed up and called out behind her, “Um, Pierce. We have company.”
Kelly took in the brightly decorated room and waited patiently for Brightman to show. She heard the slap-slapping of flip-flops behind her and quickly turned to see the man himself enter the room. Pierce’s shocked expression mimicked that of his girlfriend.
“Morales?
What the hell!?”
Kelly frowned petulantly, gesturing at the surroundings. “You know, I knew those asses from Frauen ripped me off. You end up in a fancy villa in the Caribbean. Pearson gets sent on a Mediterranean vacation—and, by the way, he hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Think he pissed them off like Hamilton did? Poor Joe could be fish food for all we know.”
Brightman
darted a glance at Christine and then back at Kelly. “Jesus, Morales. You’re nuts! I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t you?” Kelly asked, looking at him skeptically.
“Yes, don’t you?” Julio slipped silently into the main foyer through a rear entrance, his gun pointed at Brightman. Kelly quickly slipped hers from her purse and turned to Christine. “I’m a federal agent, Dr. Brightman. We know you were receiving kickback from Frauen Pharmaceuticals and were involved in a plan to push harmful drugs at unsuspecting young women via women’s clinics across the U.S.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t!” He was shaking his head vehemently.
“Right.
Look, we have a line on your bank account here in the Caymans, and the reason no one has heard from Pearson recently is because we’ve got him in federal custody and he’s singing like a bird. Frauen and its clinics have been under investigation for months. Your place is surrounded by federal agents. It’s time to man up and do the right thing, Brightman.”
Brightman
glared from Julio to Kelly and back again. “I want my attorney.”
“Of course you do,” Julio replied.
Julio reached into his back pocket with his free hand and walked over to cuff Brightman. Suddenly, the sound of crashing glass echoed throughout the house. “Take cover!” Julio yelled.
Kelly dove behind a couch as she realized they were being shot at.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
Ryan was trying hard to breath. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jeanine struggling to get closer to him. But Redding got to her first. Ryan tried to open his mouth. Speak her name. But he couldn’t.
He glanced towards Chloe whose terror-filled eyes were full of tears. Taylor was next to her sister, lying prone on the floor and shaking silently. There was also a baby, red-faced and trying to scream…to breathe, with tape over its mouth.
It was over. Ryan was certain. He closed his eyes, praying the end would come quickly for them all. Then he heard a shot. And a loud thud.
Across from where he lay, he opened his eyes. Gem Michaels standing next to a dark-haired man he did not recognize. The man held a gun in his hand. On the floor next to him lay Peter Redding. Dead, in a growing pool of his own blood.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
Glass was everywhere. Kelly didn’t know where the shots were coming from. Julio was with her, behind the couch. “They got Brightman,” he whispered. “I think he’s dead.”
Christine, screaming, had run upstairs.
“Oh my God.”
Kelly’s hands shook.
“Listen, stay low. The shooter is out by the pool. I think there could be two of them. Get ready, Doc. Shoot to kill, cuz they are. You go to the right in the kitchen and try to get a lock on anything that moves out there. But stay the fuck down.”
“What about you?”
“I’m going out there.” With that, he stood and started running towards the shattered glass, his gun firing.
Kelly darted into the kitchen and dove down behind a large butcher block, near the sliding glass doors. When she poked her head up, she could see a body on the ground outside. She heard a splash and saw two people fall into the pool. One was Julio. What to do now?
She sprinted through the open doorway towards a man on the ground, struggling to get up. His gun was close by. Kelly grabbed it, and kicked him hard in the ribs, trying to keep him down.
As she neared the pool, she could see the other guy had Julio under water. Kelly screamed and aimed her gun at him. The guy glanced up but didn’t seem phased that she was pointing a loaded weapon his way. “Stop, or I’ll shoot!” She yelled. But the man ignored her, and she could have swore he had a smirk on his face. “Fuck you, you stupid…!”
Something inside of Kelly snapped. She aimed, pulled the trigger, and fired. The guy flinched off of Julio and slowly slipped under the water, a dark trail of blood spiraling up behind him. Julio was gasping and coughing by the side of the pool. When he caught his breath, he came over and wrapped his arms around her. “You did good, Doc.”
Kelly stood there shivering as distant sirens approached the estate.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
Tony turned his phone on as soon as the plane landed in Los Angeles. He was praying Kelly had called. She hadn’t. He’d taken a huge risk flying to New York with Gem, not knowing what had happened to Kelly, but he also knew Gem was going to go on her own, and his gut told him she could be in danger. He also couldn’t sit still waiting to find more news on the doc. Eric had been in surgery for half of the evening the night before and too groggy to answer any questions that morning, so Tony had left it to Simmons and had prayed the entire flight home Kelly had been found.
There was a voicemail from Simmons. “Hey, man, Linden wants to you to get your ass here as soon as you land. He wants a detailed report because the shit is starting to hit the fan. The feds are here and climbing up his ass. They all want to talk to you. I also have news about Dr. Morales. Oh, and Eric Sorensen is awake and doing well.”
Tony turned to Gem as they walked slowly towards the plane exit. “The feds are at the station and they want a report. I think you better come with me.”
“You got it.”
He nodded and tried to stay calm. But once they were in his car, he placed an emergency light on top of the sedan and sped past traffic. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gem hanging on for dear life. She was a sport though, and didn’t say a word.
They arrived at the station and were greeted by Simmons, Linden, and two federal agents—Karen Ross and James Denae. Denae was tall, blonde, blue-eyed. His partner, Ross, was petite with short brunette hair and engaging hazel eyes. She shook Tony’s hand.
Linden looked pointedly at Gem.
Tony responded before Linden even had a chance to ask the question. “She’s been involved from the get-go. Listen, the rogue chemist from Frauen, the guy was there because they’d threatened his family, contacted her via e-mail and provided her with some key information to look into. She has a lot to contribute to the story. Everything you thought you knew about the Petersen murders in San Diego three years ago is wrong. All of this is tied together and this lady here knows more than I do.”
The agents looked at each other and nodded. The small group headed towards a large conference room at the back of the station. One they were seated with the door firmly closed, Gem started talking, beginning with Ryan Horner.
She paused briefly, “Speaking of Dr. Horner, have you guys been in touch? That poor family has been through hell.”
“Yes,” Ross replied. “We just received word that Dr. Horner is out of surgery and in stable condition. His wife is with him and we have field agents standing by to take their statements. That’s why we’re here with you…to provide the loose ends so we can piece it all together. We’ve already initiated a federal investigation. The Horners will be taken into protective custody until we can be assured of their safety.”
Gem nodded feeling relieved the family was finally safe and continued with her story. When she finished, the agents turned to Tony for his statement. When he got to Kelly and her involvement, he stopped. “Listen, what do you know about Dr. Morales? Is she okay? Has she been found?”
Denae
looked at Linden. “He doesn’t know?”
Linden shook his head, “No.”
“Know what?” Pazzini looked from the agents to his boss.
“She was located in the Cayman Islands. Dr. Morales took out a doctor named Brightman. And a couple of Redding’s henchmen.”
“What? What do you mean she “took them out?” In the Caymans? What the hell!?” Tony tried to keep from shouting as Gem reached out and touched his shoulder.
Linden quickly filled in the blanks. “She was with a former agent, Pazzini. It’s how the feds got involved. Apparently Julio Velasquez worked for the government in special ops for over a decade.” He looked over at Ross who nodded slowly.
“Yes. Former agent Velasquez was injured and decided to go into the private sector doing some security work. He was also a friend of the injured nurse, Eric Sorensen. Eric was the one who facilitated the contact between Dr. Morales and Velasquez.”
“Go on,” Tony said.
“Velasquez still has some contacts and he used them to trace Brightman to the Caymans. Dr. Morales and Velasquez confronted Brightman at his home. Seems he’s been on The Brotherhood’s payroll. Anyway, things got heated, then some fellows from The Brotherhood showed up on the scene. Velasquez and Dr. Morales managed to kill off the attackers. Brightman was killed in the melee,” Ross said. “We’re still looking for the other doctor, Pearson, for questioning. He was last seen on the French Riviera. We’ll find him, dead or alive.”
“She and Velasquez are on a chartered plane and headed back here. They are due to arrive in about two hours.” Ross glanced at her watch. “Around six-thirty.”
Gem squeezed Tony’s arm. “I told you. I told you she would be okay.”
Tony sighed and nodded. He finished giving his statement and shook the agents’ hands. They stood and Denae turned to Linden and Tony.
“We would like a debriefing with Dr. Morales, Velasquez, and a couple of other folks tomorrow morning. May we use the facilities here?” he asked.
“Of course,” Tony replied, and then walked out of the station and into the parking lot. He drove her to her car. Gem glanced at her watch. “Six o’ clock, Pazzini. You’ve got just enough time to make it to LAX.”
He smiled. “I’m on it!”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
The sun was beginning to set as Kelly and Julio’s flight taxied and the stairs were lowered down from the private jet. She had to squint in the bright light to make out the figure at the bottom of the steps as she looked out the window. She gasped when she realized who it was.
Tony
.
Julio over at looked her. “You okay?”
She nodded. “It’s the detective. Tony.” Julio was grinning broadly. “Did you know about this?”
“I made some calls. After we talked and all that went down back there, I needed to see if this guy was dirty like you thought. I could tell you were into him. And I hated thinking he was a bad guy, that he’d used you. But he’s not a bad guy. He’s clean, Doc. Squeaky clean.”
She stood up and headed to the stairs. Walking down the stairs, her stomach churned nervously. “Hi,” she said, reaching him.
“Hi? Hi?!” Tony grabbed her and hugged her tightly. “Oh my God. I was so scared. I didn’t know what to think.”
Kelly laughed nervously, “You? I thought, well…I thought you were in on it. I thought you were part of all of this.”
“Me?” He looked at her, stunned. “Why would you think that?”
She told him about the phone call she’d overheard back at her place, the morning before she’d been chased and fled to San Francisco.
He laughed outright. “That? Oh Kelly, do you know what that was?”
“Uh, no.
Obviously.” She was starting to feel irritated.
“I was talking with my dad. Boss is his nickname from way back. We were planning my mom’s surprise party! She turns 65 this year.”
Kelly felt the heat rise to her cheeks. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
He put an arm around her.
“I feel so stupid. I assumed…”
“She assumed the worst,” Julio said. He’d come up behind Kelly, reaching around her to shake Tony’s hand and introduce himself.
“Thanks, man. Thanks for helping bring these guys down and for taking care of Kelly.”
Julio smiled. “No thanks needed. Oh, and the doc can take care of herself.”
“Yeah.
I bet she can.” Tony was smiling so hard his cheeks began to hurt. “Hey, why don’t we go grab some drinks and have a little dinner? We can fill each other in on everything. We have a debriefing in the morning with the feds, but it might be good to wind down some, share notes.”
Julio shook his head. “You know, I think that’s a great idea…for you two. I actually want to go and see Eric.” On the flight back, they had received word that Eric was in the hospital, recovering from an attack at his apartment.
“Oh, we need to go there, too,” Kelly said.