As he sat in the small waiting room, Grandi realised that Gina was the last of a family link, and family links meant everything to him.
Now, because of this bastard, Frost, Gina was slipping away. Grandi’s fingers closed into fists.
Then the door opened and a tall, lean man came in.
‘Mr. Grandi? I am Doctor Vance. About your daughter...’
Grandi sat like a stone man, listening to the quiet voice.
Finally, Dr. Vance said, ‘I’m sorry, but I want you to know the facts.’
Grandi looked down at his clenched fists.
‘You are telling me there is no hope for her?’
‘She will live, but... no... there is no hope for her ever to be normal again. She has suffered massive brain damage. We can keep her alive on a machine. That’s all we can do. She could live for ten years, even longer.’
‘Just breathing?’ Grandi asked.
‘Yes.’
Grandi clenched his fists.
‘Then she’s better off dead.’
‘That’s not for me to say, Mr. Grandi,’ Vance said quietly. ‘It is my job to keep her breathing.’
‘You are quite sure there is no possible hope of her recovering?’ Grandi asked. ‘You are quite sure?’
‘No hope at all. The brain damage is massive.’
‘I want to see her.’
‘Of course. She is on the machine now. Come with me.’
He led Grandi down a long corridor, and into a room where two nurses sat at desks with control panels before them.
In the middle of the room was a bed. Gina lay under a sheet. Wires and tubes ran from her to the machine that kept her alive.
‘All right, nurses,’ Vance said curtly. ‘I’ll call you when I want you.’
Ignoring them, Grandi walked to the bed and looked down at his daughter. For the first time since he had lost his wife, he felt overpowering sorrow, but he kept control of himself. He stood motionless, regarding his last and only link with a family life.
He watched the slow rise and fall of Gina’s breasts, hidden by the sheet. He stared at the blank mask of her face and her half open, blank eyes.
‘She could remain like this for years?’ he asked, half aware that only Vance and himself were now in the room, and the nurses had gone.
‘Yes.’
‘You are quite sure?’
‘Yes. There is no hope for her.’ Vance walked around the bed and pointed to a red plug. ‘That is the connection to the machine. I must now leave you. I have other patients.’ He regarded Grandi. ‘If she was my daughter, I would pull out this plug and let her die with dignity.’
Grandi rubbed his hand over his sweating face.
‘Is that all I have to do?’
‘If the plug remains in, she will continue to breathe. If it is pulled out, she will drift painlessly into death. I’ll see you are not disturbed. It is your decision.’
He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Grandi pulled up a chair and sat by the bed. For a long time, he regarded her, watching the rise and fall of her breasts, then suddenly, he realised the hopelessness of it all.
‘At least, baby,’ he said, ‘you killed the bastard who fed you the drug. Now I’m going to kill the bastard who set you free, you poor, crazy little daughter of mine. He’ll suffer, baby, be sure of that.’ Getting to his feet, he bent and kissed her cheek, then walking around the bed, he pulled out the red plug.
He stood at the foot of the bed, his eyes on the rise and fall of her breasts, then after a while, and when the sheet became still, he put his hand against Gina’s face, then left the room.
As he walked across the reception lobby, the nurse at the reception desk said, ‘Excuse me, Mr. Grandi, there’s a message for you.’
Grandi paused.
‘Mr. Frost says he will be at the Orchid Villa if you want him.’
Grandi stared at her, then inclined his head, then walked on into the hot humid night.
As he was opening the door of the Rolls, a voice, out of the darkness, said ‘My name is Lu Silk. I work for Mr. Radnitz.’
Back at his cabin in Orchid Villa, Frost had one burning desire: to get the hell out of Paradise City. The whole setup had turned sour. His dream of owning five million dollars had gone up in smoke. He felt instinctively that Gina would never again be normal, and it gave him a sick feeling, that he had been responsible for freeing her.
He walked around the room, slamming his fists together. How could he have known she was a nut? How was he to have known that Amando was a brain-shrinker?
What a goddamn mess!
Now, he had to look after himself. He dropped into a lounging chair. He took out his wallet and checked on his money. You can’t live, you can’t move without money! He still had the four thousand dollars he had got for Gina’s ring, and another thousand. So, okay, he was worth five thousand dollars. Where to go? He had no transport. Too risky to take the Lamborghini. Grandi could nail him for stealing his car.
He looked at his watch. The time now was 23.15.
Tomorrow, he told himself, was another day. Getting to his feet he took off his jacket and tie, then walking over to the bed, he dropped on to it.
Tomorrow, he told himself, he would hire a car, and drive away. That would be the end of this stupid nightmare. Drive away to where? He was still wondering, still trying to make a plan for his future life, when he drifted off to sleep.
He came awake four hours later, hearing a constant tapping on the cabin door. He became immediately alert. His hand groped for his gun as he swung his legs off the bed. Holding the gun by his side, he walked to the door.
‘Who is it?’
‘Ross. Sorry to have woken you up, Mike, but there’s talking.’
Keeping the gun behind him, Frost slid the bolt, then stepped back.
‘Come on in.’
Umney came in, his charming, wide smile in evidence.
Frost kicked the door shut and slid the bolt. He looked at his watch.
‘For God’s sake! Do you know the time?’
Umney crossed to one of the lounging chairs and sank into it.
‘I could do with a drink.’
Frost slid the gun into his hip pocket.
‘What do you want?’
‘That’s a good question,’ Umney said. ‘No Scotch?’
‘Talk!’ Frost said. ‘What’s all this about?’
‘I like you, Mike,’ Umney said, smiling. ‘You are my people. The moment I saw you, I said...’
‘Skip the crap!’ Frost barked. ‘You like me as I like you! What are you here for?’
Umney made a grimace.
‘Don’t play so tough, Mike. I’m sticking my neck out coming here. I want to tell you something. I’m being a good friend.’
‘Okay, so tell me,’ Frost said, ‘and cut the good friend out of the script.’
‘It’s about Lu,’ Umney said.
‘What about him?’
‘A good question. Lu makes his money putting bullets into people, and he’s good at it.’ Umney made another grimace. ‘We all do things for money... that’s the way the cookie crumbles, but I don’t go along with it. That’s why I’m here, Mike.’
Frost tensed.
‘So... go on.’
‘This girl... Gina... died. She was on a machine that would keep her going for years and Grandi pulled out the plug.’ Umney shook his head, and his expression was sorrowful. ‘I’m glad I didn’t have to do it.’
‘Cut the crap, Umney!’ Frost said, ‘and get to it.’
‘Well, once she was dead, there was no money, was there?’
‘So, okay, there was no money. It was a foul up. So why are you here?’
‘Lu is a professional killer,’ Umney said. ‘He looks around for money. So he and Grandi got together. I felt I should tell you.’
‘Tell me... what?’ Frost said, staring at Umney.
‘A good question,’ Umney said with his wide smile. ‘Well, Grandi and Lu got together. Grandi needs you dead. He has got this bee that if it hadn’t been for you, his crazy daughter would still be screwing and swimming and having a ball. So he comes up with a proposition. He has hired Lu to knock you off. Crazy, isn’t it? I thought I’d tip you off.’ He rubbed his fingernails on his shirtfront. ‘The money is good... two hundred thousand dollars. We were after millions, but I guess two hundred thousand is better than nothing.’