John Locke - Lethal Experiment

“Curly.”

“You remember that?”

“Like it was minutes ago,” I said. “I’m still not convinced it wasn’t.”

“Let’s stay on track. Okay, so Callie stood watch in the hall, waiting until someone exited the room next to you on the far side. When the guy ran out to join the re drill evacuees, Curly broke in, dragged you into that room and called 911. While waiting for EMS, he got your clothes and luggage and put them in the new room. We were lucky, turns out the guy next door to you was alone, a businessman.”

I could see where this was going and didn’t like it.

“What happened to the businessman?”

“Callie needed his ID and other information for the preliminary report. So she followed him down the steps. When they got outside she struck up a conversation with him.”

Lou paused to make sure I caught the implication.

“When was his body found?”

“Sometime the next day.”

I shifted my body in the bed and thought about the way I plow through life, the wake of bodies I leave behind. I instinctively touched my hand to my chest.

“You okay?” Lou said.

“Surprisingly, yes.”

Lou continued: “EMS got to the hotel about the same time as the firemen, and put you on a gurney. By then, Callie was back in the room and she followed along and climbed into the ambulance with you. Curly was in his car by then, following you. Callie let them drive a few minutes, pulled a gun on the EMS guy in the back and made them stop the truck. Curly pulled up, got out of his car, put a gun on the driver, and Callie made the EMS guys load you into Curly’s car. He drove you to the air ambulance while Callie shot the EMS guys. She ditched their bodies and drove their vehicle to the airport, where she was met by the second cleaning crew. They did their magic on the EMS truck, drove Callie to the FBO, where she boarded our jet to fly here. She beat you here by half an hour, but you were in the medical chopper getting the best care possible. The Chopper landed, and you’ve been here ever since.”

I said, “I assume the first cleaning crew did a good job on the hotel?”

“By the time they finished, you couldn’t prove humans had ever entered it.”

“Where did Darwin fit in all this?”

“See, that’s the thing. Callie called me because she was afraid Darwin would blame you for Tara’s death. She wanted me to arrange a meeting so she could tell Darwin what really happened, and why.”

“And you said?”

“I told her she and Curly were never there.”

“So Darwin thinks I killed Tara?”

Lou nodded. “He thought you killed her and then got the heart thing because you’d been close to her in the past. Remorse, or whatever.”

“So why didn’t Darwin have me killed?”

“See, Darwin was getting ready to kill Tara anyway.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He had already approached me about having you do it.”

All this could have been avoided , I thought.

“What stopped him from giving me the hit?” I said.

“He thought you might be too close to her. He wanted to try someone else.”

“There was no one else capable of killing Tara.”

“That’s what he found out.”

“Who’d he send?”

“A couple of mafia guys. After that didn’t work, I told him I’d talk to you about doing it.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I was about to, but that whole thing came up with Afaya, and he told me to wait until you got back from Dallas. Then you wanted to spend a few days with Kathleen and Addie, so I put it off .”

Timing is a funny thing. But this explained why Tara wanted to kill me. She thought I’d been sent to finish the job the mafia guys botched.

“So Darwin thinks you told me to kill Tara, and I did. So he’s happy?”

“In general,” Lou said, turning to open the door.

“What does that mean?”

Lou turned back to face me.

“He didn’t like the part about you being out of commission all these years.”

No surprise there.

“What does Darwin know about my heart issue?”

“He backtracked. He found the doctor that treated you after the Camptown incident…”

“Dr. Hedgepeth.”

“Right. And Hedgepeth led Darwin to the psychiatrist…”

“Nadine Crouch.”

“Right, and, if you’ll raise up and look over my shoulder…”

“That’s not necessary,” Dr. Nadine Crouch said, entering the room. “I’ll come closer.”

Chapter 41

“ What are you doing here?” I said.

“This might come as a surprise to you, Donovan, but I’ve worked for Homeland Security longer than you have.”

“What?”

“I was on the payroll before the helicopter brought you from Camptown.”

“Dr. Hedgepeth personally recommended you. Are you saying he’s with Homeland too?”

“No. When you arrived at the hospital, Darwin was in close contact with Dr. Hedgepeth. He got the results of your tests before you did. When Hedgepeth decided you might require psychiatric evaluation, Darwin told him to recommend me. He felt it was best to use an in-house psychiatrist.”

“Your practice just happened to be in Newark?”

“Philadelphia. We had to move my practice to Newark to accommodate you. We worked a deal with Agnes Battle, the child psychologist, to sublease her back office.

My mind was swimming, but I’m a great detail guy. “The antique coat rack in the office seemed out of place. Was that yours?”

Dr. Crouch laughed. “Funny you should notice that. Homeland gave the office a complete makeover. When Agnes realized the coat rack didn’t go with it, she gave it to me as a present. I felt obligated to keep it.”

“So you’ve known all along what I did for Homeland?”

“Not specifically. Darwin told me almost nothing at first. He wanted me to report your comments to him. But he filled me in just before your last visit.”

“I remember thinking at the time that you were awfully astute, for having known me such a short time.”

“I’m still astute. For example, I can see that you’re handling your current situation with an amazing degree of calm.”

“How did you know I’d be conscious today?”

“I didn’t. I’ve been waiting a long time for you to wake up.”

“How long have you been here?”

“I arrived a month after you did.”

I laughed. “They paid you all this time to wait for me to wake up? That’s hard to believe.”

“I’m stationed here because of you, but remember, I work for Homeland, so I’ve got other duties and responsibilities. Of course, you’re quite an asset to them, and now that you’re awake, you’re my main concern.”

“How much have they told you?”

She looked at Lou. “As far as I know, everything.”

Lou said, “She knows most of what you’ve done for us. She’s got a general understanding about your work with Sal. She has specific knowledge about the contracts you fulfilled for Victor, and the thing with Tara.”

“Well, that’s all in the past,” I said.

“Is it?” Nadine said.

“According to you guys, I’ve just lost three years of my life. Three years I could’ve been with Kathleen and Addie. Three years I could’ve spent building my relationship with Kimberly. Yeah, I’m done. I’m done with all this bullshit. I’m going to get out of this nuthouse, marry Kathleen, and be a proper father to Addie.”

Dr. Crouch looked at Lou. “Should I leave?” she said.

Lou frowned. “I’m going all in. You definitely need to stay.”

“Lou?” I said. “What do you mean, ‘all in?’ Talk to me.”

Lou asked Nadine if she had a mirror in her purse. She produced a compact and gave it to him.