Michael Palmer - The Last Surgeon

Nick freed himself from the branch and sank to eye level in the chilly water, which was only two or three feet deep at this spot. Bit by bit, details of his flight from the killer came into focus.

Hesitant to leave the water despite his chill, he pushed himself downstream. The rain had stopped, and moonlight had broken through the clouds in places. Thirty or forty feet ahead were the roots of a huge fallen tree.

He let go of his hold and guided his body toward it. The tree was hollow. The opening was barely big enough for him to fit through, but Nick managed to squeeze his body inside. No sooner had his feet disappeared into the moss-lined opening than he heard Koller pass by, at most five feet from him.

“I’ll find you, Doctor. And I’m going to make you watch what I do to your pretty girlfriend. You hear me? I’m going to make you watch!”

Nick breathed fresh air using a rotted-out hole in the trunk. He could hide out inside the log, but hypothermia was now a serious concern. Nick closed his eyes. He listened. Then he waited.

Thirty minutes was probably too long to survive in this cold. There had been no sign of Koller for at least the last ten. Nick shivered violently. He had to move soon, before his body began to shut down permanently. Another five minutes and he slipped out the other end of the log. He floated with the current, praying that Koller had abandoned the search. The water slowed considerably. After another ten minutes, virtually helpless and barely conscious, he saw the lights of passing traffic.

It took every bit of his will and remaining strength to crawl toward them.

Waving his arms on the side of the road, he watched with growing dismay as car after car zoomed past.

Why aren’t they stopping?

His teeth continued snapping together like a jackhammer.

Please, stop! I’m in trouble!

Every muscle in his body ached. He no longer had the strength to stand. Suddenly a Ford pickup truck slowed and then pulled to a stop in front of him. Responding to a burst of adrenaline, Nick rose and ran over to the truck. The old man behind the wheel sized him up.

“You okay, son?” the man asked.

“I… could use a blanket and a ride,” Nick said, through chattering teeth. “But first, do you have a phone I can borrow? It’s very urgent.”

The man considered the request, then tossed Nick a blanket he fished out from behind his seat, and handed Nick a cell phone.

Jillian was probably in Koller’s control. But he could still reach Junie. With his hands shaking, he could barely dial her number. On the third ring, he gratefully heard his call being answered.

“Thank God you’re there,” he said, not even waiting for her to say hello. “Junie, we’ve got big trouble.”

“That we do,” Koller’s voice responded over Junie’s phone. “Big trouble indeed.”

“Goddamn you, Koller! If you’ve hurt Junie, I swear…”

“Zip it, Doc. I’m nowhere near the woman. But obviously, I had calls to her cell forwarded to me, so I do know where she is. She’s unharmed… for the moment at least.”

“The RV has scheduled stops all over Baltimore and D.C. Police will be looking for her when it doesn’t show.”

“Actually, the whole evening’s been canceled already. Dr. Saunders, that’s who’s listed for tonight in the log book, knows all about the mechanical problems you’re having with the RV. In fact, you yourself told her-at least she thinks it was you. As we speak, that woman is visiting each stop to break the bad news to your patients.”

“This isn’t over, Koller. Not by a long shot.”

Nick could no longer tell if he was shaking from cold or rage. The old man, as easygoing as his faded denim jeans and button-down cowboy shirt, sat patiently in the front seat of his pickup, keeping a watchful eye on his cell phone and Nick through the open passenger door.

“You know something,” Koller replied. “I sort of wish that were true.”

“Believe me. It is.”

“No. It is over, Doc. And you’ve lost. You just don’t realize it yet. But I must confess, you’ve impressed me.”

“I hurt you, too. A big hurt. And I’m going to do it again. Next time it’ll be a hammer to the mouth. I have a score to settle with Ramsland, too.”

“Now, don’t you start naming names there, Nicky. Or whoever’s phone you’ve borrowed will be none too pleased to have helped you out.”

“This is between you and me, Koller.”

“You bet it’s between you and me. Do you know how many contracts I’ve executed in my career?”

“I know what you did to Saul and Noreen. Belle Coates too.”

“The answer is, I’ve lost count. But suffice it to say, it’s an impressive number. And do you know how many of those marks have managed to hurt me?”

“A monster like you has no feelings.”

“Oh, wrong again, Doc. I have plenty of feelings. The point I’m making here is that after all those people I’ve taken out, you’d think at least a couple of them would have left a scratch or two behind. But there you’d be wrong. Turns out you’re the first to, how should I put it, nail Franz in any way. For that I commend you.”

“Where is Junie? Do you have Jillian too? Tell me, you bastard!”

The old man slid across the cab and poked his head out after hearing the commotion.

“Everything all right out there? I’m afraid you have to be moving on before long. My daughter’s got dinner waitin’.”

“Tell whoever that is you’ll only be a minute,” Koller instructed. “You and me have some business we need to discuss.”

“Everything is okay, sir. Thank you. Just another minute and I should be all set.”

“No worries, son,” said the man. “At my age, time is something I might not have in bulk, but I got no trouble giving away.”

“Now, Nick,” Koller said, “I want to offer you a deal.”

“No deals.”

“Really? Even when I have something precious that you want? Two things, as a matter of fact. And you have a couple things that I very much want, too.”

“Which are?”

“The DVD… and your life.”

“You won’t get either.”

“I think I will. Let’s get down to business, shall we, because you don’t have much time.”

“Nobody else dies, Koller. I won’t let it happen.”

“I’m afraid that’s an option that is well out of your control. It’s not if you’re going to die, Doctor, or your two friends… it’s how .”

At Koller’s words, much of Nick’s bravado faded.

“What are you saying?”

“Give yourself over to me, the last DVD, too, and I promise that when I kill you and the ladies, it will be instant and painless. A single shot to the base of the skull. Oblivion in an instant. You won’t even know what hit you. But should you refuse me, should you give me any further trouble, I will torture Ms. Coates and Ms. Wright in ways so horrible you couldn’t possibly imagine. And I’ll enjoy it. I always do. Then I’ll burn them alive, Nicky. But I’ll take my sweet time doing it. Piece by piece until they’re nothing but cinders. That bus of yours will be their incinerator.”

Clearly, Koller was relishing the description.

Nick began to shake. “You wouldn’t dare,” he managed, with no authority whatsoever.

“You’re a doctor. You know the degree of pain I’m talking about. And the ladies’ miserable, agonizing deaths will be on your head, too. I’ll make sure you have souvenir photos of the aftermath and give you ample time to think about what you did to them before I do something similarly creative to you.”

Nick froze at the words. Tears of helplessness and sheer anger blurred his vision.