Jon Talton - The Pain Nurse

“A little fighter.” Chambers used the sleeve of his lab coat to wipe the trickle of blood from his nose. “Get your hands off her, Sir Galahad.” Will had reached out to touch Cheryl Beth. He slowly pulled his hand back into the confines of the wheelchair.

Chambers loomed over her. “She talked to you! She gave you something!”

“No.”

“She did. She gave you something before she came back to the hospital.”

“She didn’t! And don’t you think you’ve made me cry, you bastard. I cry when I’m mad!”

“What did she give you?”

“Nothing.”

“Where is it?”

“What?” she yelled in frustration.

“Have it your way.” Chambers pulled out the gun and approached Will. He felt the steel against his temple. It was smooth and surprisingly warm.

“Don’t hurt him!” she said. “You want to know what she did that night? You really want to know? She said she was afraid she might lose her job and she didn’t know who to talk to. But then she slid next to me and held me, crying. But then she kissed me. She had her hands all over me and kissed me, told me she wanted me to come home with her, she didn’t want to be alone. I freaked out and left. That’s what happened. When she left word for me later, I was afraid she was going to start all over again.”

Chambers seemed momentarily confused. “Well, I’ll take you with me and we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other and talk. I’ll find out where you put it.”

Dodds said, “It’s all over, Chambers. We know everything. We have a warrant on you. We know about the cabin at Rabbit Hash. Make it easy on yourself.”

Chambers gave a low chuckle, the dimple in his chin deepening. “Spoken like a true professional. But you don’t know much of anything.” He laughed louder this time, watching the gun as if it would share his mirth. “You know what? They told me I wasn’t smart enough to be a detective. That’s what the bastards said. But here I have the two supposedly best detectives in the Cincinnati Police, and you’ve been five steps behind me all the way…”

“So you killed Christine,” Will said, “just like you killed the others.”

“Now you’re only four steps behind.”

“But Christine was a hit,” Will said.

Chambers stared at him, unsure of whether to put away the gun again. He kept it in his hand but let his arm fall. Will continued, “It’s ‘just business,’ you said. You were paid to kill Dr. Lustig. You framed Judd Mason. But since you’ve always been a narcissistic fuckup, Marion, you couldn’t do a simple job. You had to imitate what happened on Mount Adams. You think you’re an artist. You had to give this one your signature strokes, right, Marion?”

Chambers’ right cheek twitched at the mention of his given name.

“You wanted to get back at us, get back at me,” Will said. “You killed two women to cover up the murder of your ex-wife. You took their ring fingers as trophies. You killed Christine for money, but you didn’t close the loop.” He fought to control his fear, make his voice speak in a slow disdain. The deep anger he felt made it possible. “Marion, Marion… Something’s still out there and your masters want you to get it.”

Chambers leaned casually against the wall near the door. “I have the right to remain silent.”

“It’s about SoftChartZ,” Cheryl Beth said. “That’s it. Josh Barnett gave me his business card tonight. He wrote a little note on the back. It’s the same handwriting that was on the threatening note I saw with Judd Mason.”

“You’re pretty good, honey,” Chambers said. “The software is hopeless. They can’t make it work, and when that comes out the company is done.”

Will said, “SoftChartZ needed the continued cash flow coming in from the hospital while they were frantically trying to debug the software. They needed this to look like a success, so they could win contracts from other hospitals, keep it going.”

Chambers clapped very slowly. “Very good, Detective Borders. Why else would their stock be a hundred dollars a share? All these morons buying into the future of digital medicine. My ass. The lady doctor realized it was a sham and she was going to go public. They had a problem and wanted somebody to solve it. Good old Berkowitz told Barnett to talk to me. Berkowitz just thought they needed help with a security breach.”

“Kind of funny,” Will said. “The software company hired a hit man with a bug inside his fucked-up hard drive.”

The low chuckle rumbled out of Chambers’ chest again. “They offered to pay me in stock. I took cash, and it’ll be offshore waiting for me. Unfortunately, they’re pretty sure the doc made a copy of some incriminating documents and gave them to someone for safekeeping. Obviously I’ve got to get them back to get paid. What are you doing, Borders?”

“It’s hot.” Will undid his necktie and tossed it to the floor. He didn’t want Chambers to use it later to choke him. Chambers wasn’t paying attention. He returned to the shelf, put down the SIG and retrieved Dodds’ nine millimeter Smith & Wesson.

“Do be comfortable,” he said. His tongue flicked out of his mouth. “I lied. I wanted the two of you down here tonight so I could kill old Dodds here. You know how many cops eat their service weapons. The despair of the job and all that. And I was going to take a little road trip with Cheryl here and get the information I need. Hell, if I was in the mood, I was going to stop by your room,” he looked at Will, “and smother you with a pillow. Sleep apnea’s a real problem. Then I’d be free and clear. It was all going to be nice and neat, no loose ends. Mason would still be in jail for killing the lady doctor. But you had to show up again, Borders.”

Will fought back the panic smashing against his chest. “I just have an asshole detector and have to follow it, Marion.” Chambers glared at him with hate, his eyelid nervously fluttered, and suddenly Will felt a strange calm inside himself.

“After I take care of Dodds and handcuff Cheryl, you and I are going to settle up,” Chambers said. “This will be pleasure, not business.”

He strode to Dodds, chambered a round in the pistol and, using the gloved clown hand, brought it up to his temple. At that instant, Will used every molecule of his adrenaline to launch himself out of the chair. With a sharp exhale, he shot straight out toward Chambers, who desperately tried to re-aim the gun at Will. But they were now too close. Will’s legs started to give way- damned legs, damned spinal cord! -but not before he fired a savage uppercut with the heel of his hand.

It connected with the base of Chambers’ jaw with a snap and bony crunch, and he lurched backward onto the floor. The nine came out of his hand and slid all the way to the door. Will fell forward like a bag of potatoes, breaking his fall with his hands. He fought to disentangle himself from the footrests of the wheelchair. He relied on his strong right leg, using his right foot as a hook to catch the left and pull it free. Then he was flat on his belly, trying to crawl an eternal distance to the gun.

“Will, watch out!” Dodds yelled. Chambers was on his hands and knees, slowly shaking his head. Then he stood and advanced on Will. “I’m gonna kill you,” he slurred. His shadow was over Will when glass shattered. Chambers wobbled to the side. Cheryl Beth had grabbed the Tiffany lamp from the desk and struck his head. But it was not enough. He delivered a brutal backhand and Cheryl Beth careened into the wall, hitting her head. Her eyes were closed and she didn’t move.

Pain exploded in Will’s side and a second later another kick came. Bright lights flashed around the edges of his eyes…he thought he was going to throw up. He fought to breathe. The foot came again and Will deflected it, getting the surgical footlet in his hand. Then his scalp erupted in fire. Chambers pulled him up by his hair and smashed him in the eye. He went momentarily blind, felt dizzy, and his cheek and eye socket burned in agony. Something felt loose in his face. Chambers was cut and bleeding from the lamp. The look in his eyes was the devil’s, the last look those women saw, that Theresa saw.