Michael Palmer - Silent Treatment

'Pain or answers,' Santana said. 'You'vegot a choice to make.'

'No, Ray. It's you who have the choice..'

Sean Garvey spoke to him from just outsidethe front door. He held a gun to Harry's head. They stepped into the room. Thehuge thug followed, roughly dragging Maura by the arm, then shoving her to thefloor. His gun was leveled directly at Ray.

'. . And you don't have a lot of time.'

'Raymond, you were careless seven yearsago,' Garvey said. 'And you were careless tonight.' Still holding his revolverto Harry's temple, he shuffled sideways away from the front door, until his backwas to the river. 'My man big Jerry, here, called the gatehouse to set up agolf game with his pal. And what do you know? No answer. Now then, get thatthing off Dr. Perchek's hand.'

Santana didn't move. 'You son of a bitch,'he said. 'How many of our guys did you get killed? How did you get paid? By thescalp?'

Ray glanced towards the door. It was onlythe slightest movement, but Harry caught it. So did Garvey.

'Don't try to pull that shit with me,' hesaid. 'There's no one out there, and you know it. Face it, Raymond. You tried,you lost. Now take that off Anton's hand.'

Santana again glanced towards the door — just a flick of his eyes. Then he reached over and loosened the screw. Perchekflexed his finger and the device clattered to the oak floor.

'A lot of the guys you sold out hadfamilies,' Ray said. 'Kids that had to grow up without a father. We worked forshit pay and took crazy risks because we believed in what we were doing. We alltrusted you. And you just handed us over one by one. I can understand him.' Hegestured toward The Doctor. 'He works for the highest bidder, whoever ithappens to be. He's a machine. But you. . you're something worse. You'rescum — a soulless, gutless traitor.'

'The tape,' Garvey snapped. 'Take it offhis mouth.' Santana complied, though not at all gently. 'You should have stayedback in Kentucky, or wherever the hell you were, Raymond. Everyone would havebeen much better off. Now we've got to run some sort of damage control in orderto keep my pet project up and running.'

'Is that why you broke Perchek out ofprison? To work for The Roundtable?'

'Let's just say that as soon as I got thehang of my new career in the health insurance business, I appreciated thepossibilities. Now, however, I need to find out who among my knights needs tobe taught a lesson in loyalty. Fortunately for us, I believe our friend Dr.Corbett can come up with that information. And coincidentally, we have just theman here who can help him do it. You will help, won't you Anton?'

Perchek smiled. 'It will be a pleasure.'

'So move aside there, Raymond. Big Jerrywill untie The Doctor. Harry, would you be so kind as to crawl over and takeDr. Perchek's place in that chair?'

Garvey placed his gun barrel at the baseof Harry's skull and forced him down to his hands and knees. Slowly, Harrymoved across to Maura, still on the floor. His eyes were fixed on Santana, whoremained crouched beside Perchek.

For the third time, Ray glanced minutely,almost inadvertently, toward the front door. Harry found himself beginning tobelieve there actually was someone out there. Sean Garvey clearly feltthe same way.

'Jerry, I'm sure our friend Raymond isrunning a scam, but just take a quick look outside, will you? Then untie thegood doctor.'

Harry heard the motion behind him as Jerrymoved to the front door.

Then suddenly, snarling with rage andhatred, Santana sprang from his crouch and charged his one-time boss. Garveyshot him at point-blank range — once, then again. Jerry whirled quickly andtwice fired into him from behind. But Santana's unearthly cry only grew louder.He collided chest high with Garvey, driving him backward through the screendoor and out on to the deck. Jerry lunged toward them, but Harry could see hewas too late. Santana, silent now, had his nemesis in a death grip. His legswere churning like a halfback's even though life had already left his body.Garvey hit the top of the waist-high guardrail just as Ray pushed off, and thetwo men flipped over the railing like toys. Garvey's scream filled the night.Then it stopped with the suddenness of a guillotine.

Jerry was staring at the spot where thetwo men had vanished when Perchek cried out his name. He spun around just asHarry dove from his knees for the corner of the table where Santana had placedhis gun. Harry grasped the butt of the pistol at the moment the killer fired.The edge of the table shattered. Harry rolled, then rolled again as a shotslammed into the floor behind him. There was pain in his chest, but he was farbeyond reacting to it. Then suddenly, he was on his belly, sighting down thebarrel of his gun at the chest of the man who was preparing to kill him. It washis recurring Nha-trang dream. This time, though, there was no youthful Asianface, no loud report echoing in his ears — only a soft spitting sound and aflash of flame. The front of the behemoth's neck blew apart, just above hisjersey. He flew backward, exploding through the plate glass window and on tothe deck.

Harry scrambled to his feet, prepared tofire again. But there was no need. The man lay motionless, blood spurting fromhis severed carotid artery. In just a few seconds, the spurting became atrickle. Maura raced to Harry's side. He slipped off his rucksack and took outa powerful flashlight. Together, they peered over the railing of the deck.Santana and Garvey, their bodies shattered, lay on the rocks a hundred feetbelow.

'Oh, Ray,' Harry murmured.

Maura quickly turned away.

'At least Ray's pain is finally over,' shesaid, stepping clear of the huge corpse, stretched out on a bier of brokenglass just a few feet away. 'He told me in the hospital that he didn't think hecould go on much longer. When he got the call about Perchek's fingerprint, he'dbeen thinking more and more about suicide.'

Out of Maura's line of sight, Harry bracedhimself on the railing until the boring pain beneath his breastbone began tosubside.

Damn. Not now.

'Perchek injected him with thathyconidol,' he said finally. 'Ray hated him. But Garvey was the one he reallywanted. Garvey was the one who handed him and the other undercover agents over.Listen, we ought to get out of here before the other guys at the main housecome over. We can call the police from my RV.' He left the railing and followedMaura back inside. 'Okay, Perchek, let's go. Mess with me in any way, and Iswear I'll kill you.'

'I can see that you are very good atthat,' The Doctor said.

Harry replaced the adhesive tape gag, cutthe rope binding him to the chair, and forced him facedown on the floor. Onceagain he noted that Perchek was powerfully built, especially through theshoulders and arms. And even with his revolver pressed against the man's spine,Harry still felt at risk.

'Tightly,' he said as Maura tied Perchek'shands behind him. 'Make sure his hands are relaxed. I don't want even a littleslack. Then take that gun on the floor over there. Be sure the safety is-'

'I know. I know.'

Harry pulled Perchek to his feet andforced him through the door. Across the room, bound and gagged, the guardwatched them go.

'Down this way, along the fence,' Harryordered in a whisper. 'Maura, keep your eyes out for the other two guys.'

They moved carefully through rain-soakedbushes and shrubs. Ten yards. Twenty. The fieldstone wall was easy to see now.

'There!' Maura whispered urgently.

She pointed at a figure moving stealthilytoward them across the lawn, gun drawn. Harry pulled the adhesive tape fromPerchek's mouth.

'Tell him to stop right there,' he said.Perchek said nothing. Harry jammed the muzzle into the base of his neck.

'Dammit, do as I say, or I swear I'll killyou right now!'