Robin Cook - Terminal

Janet declined. She watched as he took a long drink, shaking her head in amazement. “Sometimes I don’t believe you,” she said.

Suddenly they both heard a siren. Janet panicked and started back for the display room, but Sean restrained her.

“We have to get out of here,” Janet whispered urgently.

“No,” Sean said. “They wouldn’t come with a siren. It has to be something else.”

The sound of the siren built. Janet felt her heart racing faster and faster. Just when the siren sounded as if it were coming into the house, its pitch abruptly changed.

“Doppler effect,” Sean said. “A perfect demonstration.”

“Please!” Janet pleaded. “Let’s go. We got what you wanted.”

“We have to clean up,” Sean said, putting his drink down. “This is supposed to be a clandestine operation. See if you can find a broom or a mop. I’ll put Helen back together so no one will know the difference.”

Despite her agitation, Janet did as Sean asked. She worked feverishly. When she was done, Sean was still suturing the scalp back in place using subcutaneous stitches. When he was finished, he pulled her hair over the incision. Janet was impressed. Helen Cabot’s body appeared undisturbed.

They carried the tools and the cooler back to the casket display room.

“I’ll go out first and you hand me the stuff,” Sean said. He ducked and stepped through the window.

Janet handed out the things.

“You need help?” Sean asked. His arms were full.

“I don’t think so,” Janet said. Coming in had not been that difficult.

Sean started toward the car with his bundles.

Janet mistakenly grasped the edge of the glass before stepping through. In her haste she’d forgotten Sean’s earlier warning. Feeling the razor-sharp edge cut into four of her fingers, she recoiled in pain. Glancing at her hand she saw an oozing line of blood. She clutched her hand and silently cursed.

Since she was on the inside now, she decided it would be far easier and less dangerous to get out by opening the window. There was no need to risk getting cut by the glass again. Without thinking, she undid the lock and pushed up the sash. Immediately the alarm sounded.

Struggling out the window, Janet ran after Sean. She got to the car just after he’d stashed the cooler on the floor of the back seat. In unison, they jumped into the front and Sean started the car.

“What happened?” he demanded as he pulled the car into the street.

“I forgot about the alarm,” Janet admitted. “I opened the window. I’m sorry. I told you I wasn’t good at this.”

“Well, no problem,” Sean said as he turned right at the first intersection and headed east. “We’ll be long gone before anybody responds.”

What Sean didn’t see was the man who’d come out of the liquor store. He’d responded to the alarm immediately, and he’d seen Janet and Sean getting into the 4 x 4. He also got a good look at the license plate. Returning inside his store he wrote down the numbers before he forgot them. Then he called the Miami police.

Sean drove back to Forbes so that Janet could get her car. By the time they pulled into the parking area, Janet had calmed down to some degree. Sean stopped next to her rental car. She opened the door and started to get out.

“Are you coming right back to the apartment?” she asked.

“I’m going to head up to my lab,” Sean said. “You want to come?”

“I have to work tomorrow,” Janet reminded him. “And it’s been a tough day. I’m exhausted. But I’m afraid to let you out of my sight.”

“I’m not going to be long,” Sean said. “Come on! There are only a couple of things I want to do. Besides, tomorrow is Saturday and we’ll go on that little vacation I promised you. We’ll leave after you get off work.”

“Sounds like you’ve already decided where we’ll go,” Janet said.

“I have,” Sean said. “We’ll drive across the Everglades to Naples. I hear it is quite a place.”

“All right, it’s a deal,” Janet said, closing her door. “But tonight you have to get me home before midnight at the latest.”

“No problem,” Sean said as he drove around to the research building side of the parking lot.

“At least the Sushita jet hasn’t left Washington,” Sterling said. He was sitting in Dr. Mason’s office. Wayne Edwards was there too, as were Dr. Mason and Margaret Richmond. “I don’t believe Tanaka will make a move until the jet is here and available,” he added.

“But you said Sean had been followed,” Dr. Mason said. “Who was following him?”

“I was hoping you could enlighten us,” Sterling said. “Do you have any idea why someone would be following Mr. Murphy? Wayne noticed him when we crossed the Miami River.”

Dr. Mason glanced at Ms. Richmond, who shrugged. Dr. Mason looked back at Sterling. “Could this mystery individual be in the employ of Tanaka?”

“I doubt it,” Sterling said. “It’s not Tanaka’s style. If Tanaka makes a move, Sean will just disappear. There won’t be any warning. It will be smooth and professional. The individual who was following Sean was disheveled. He was wearing a soiled open-necked brown shirt and trousers. And he certainly wasn’t acting like the sort of professional Tanaka would enlist.”

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Dr. Mason demanded.

“We followed Sean and a young nurse out of the Forbes parking area around four,” Sterling said.

“The nurse would be Janet Reardon,” Ms. Richmond interjected. “The two are friends from Boston.”

Sterling nodded. He motioned for Wayne to write the name down. “We’ll need to investigate her as well. It’s important to eliminate the possibility of them working as a team.”

Sterling described following Sean to Miami General and his instructions to Wayne to follow the unknown man in brown if he came out first.

Dr. Mason was surprised to learn that Sean and his nurse friend had headed to the morgue. “What on earth were they doing there?”

“That was something else I was hoping you could tell us,” Sterling said.

“I can’t imagine,” Dr. Mason said, shaking his head. He again looked at Ms. Richmond. She shook her head as well.

“When the mysterious man entered the morgue behind Sean Murphy and Miss Reardon,” Sterling continued, “I only got a quick glimpse. But it was my impression he was holding a gun. That later proved to be correct. At any rate I was concerned for Mr. Murphy’s safety, so I rushed to the morgue door only to find it locked.”

“How dreadful,” Ms. Richmond said.

“There was only one thing I could do,” Sterling said. “I turned off the lights.”

“That’s a nice touch,” Dr. Mason said. “Good thinking.”

“I’d hoped the people within wouldn’t hurt each other until I could conceive of a way to get the door open,” Sterling said. “But there was no need. The man in brown apparently has a strong phobia of the dark. Within a short time he burst from the room significantly distraught. It was then that I saw the gun clearly. I gave chase, but unfortunately I was attired in leather-soled shoes, which put me at a distinct disadvantage to his running shoes. Besides, he seemed entirely familiar with the terrain. When it was clear that I’d lost him, I returned to the morgue. By then Sean and Miss Reardon had already departed as well.”

“And Wayne followed the man in brown?” Dr. Mason asked.

“He tried,” Sterling said.

“I lost him,” Wayne admitted. “It was rush hour, and I was unlucky.”

“So now we have no idea where Mr. Murphy is,” Dr. Mason moaned. “And we have a new worry about an unknown assailant.”

“We have a colleague of Mr. Edwards watching the Forbes residence for Sean’s return,” Sterling said. “It is important we find him.”