Mrs. Tesla moved forward a step.
The ambulance doors slammed open. Someone lay flat on a stretcher, but she couldn’t tell if it was Tesla. At the head of the stretcher was Edison. So, the man inside must be Tesla.
It was a good sign that they’d come in with the siren on. Didn’t they turn the siren off if the patient died?
A man and a woman in EMT uniforms slid the stretcher out, unfolded its wheels, and pushed it toward the door.
Tesla’s eyes were closed, and he was completely unconscious, which was probably a good thing. Otherwise, he’d have panicked about being outside. A blood-soaked bandage covered his head, he was strapped to a backboard, and an IV ran into his arm. He looked dead.
Mrs. Tesla was already moving toward the gurney. “My son.”
“You’ll have to move to the waiting area, ma’am.” The EMTs didn’t even look at her as they rushed forward.
“Is he alive?” Mrs. Tesla’s words boomed out toward them. She had the practiced rich voice of someone used to working onstage.
“He came to in the ambulance, answered some questions.” The man by Tesla’s feet gave her a quick smile. “They’ll do the best they can with him inside.”
The dog jumped out of the back of the ambulance and started after them. He held something metal in his mouth that jangled when he walked.
“Edison!” Vivian called, and he stopped.
The two EMTs whooshed through the doors and disappeared inside. She gestured to Dirk, and he followed them. His police badge would let him stay closer to Tesla in the hospital than she could. He couldn’t go into the operating room, but he could stand outside in the hall.
The dog looked between her and the disappearing gurney, a question in his eyes.
“You can’t go in there,” she told him. “Heel.”
The dog trotted over and put his head against her leg. Dried blood was caked on his muzzle, his paws, and his chest. His master’s blood. She positioned herself between the animal and Mrs. Tesla. Tesla’s mother didn’t need to see that.
She leaned down and took the object from his mouth. It was a giant key ring full of dozens of keys. She’d seen it before and knew that Tesla considered it irreplaceable. He used it to get through various locked doors underground. He’d probably used one of the keys to get into the basement of the hotel where he’d been attacked. She clipped it to her belt. “Good boy.”
Mrs. Tesla hadn’t moved from her station by the door, although she had sagged against Hollingberry. She looked as if she’d aged years in the minute since she’d seen her son go by.
The two EMTs came out the door and jumped into their ambulance before Vivian could corner them with her questions.
She called Andres Peterson, Tesla’s dog walker, and arranged for him to come get the dog and keep him until further notice, then walked over to Mrs. Tesla. Edison stayed close.
“Would you like to go inside, ma’am?”
Mrs. Tesla’s dark eyes met hers, and for an instant Vivian saw the fear there, but the woman blinked, and the expression was gone.
“Can we bring the dog in?” Hollingberry asked.
“He’s wearing a service vest. They can’t keep him out,” Vivian answered.
“Why didn’t he save my son?” she asked. “There’s not a mark on the dog.”
Vivian swallowed and told her all that Dirk had been able to find out. “My understanding is that the dog was shut inside of a wardrobe, knocked the door off the hinges, and went for help. He probably saved Mr. Tesla’s life.”
Mrs. Tesla crumpled to her knees and wrapped her hands around Edison. The dog was usually standoffish when he was in his vest, but right now he seemed to need Mrs. Tesla as much as she did him. He leaned into her embrace, then licked the tears off her cheeks.
Vivian looked away, not wanting to intrude on a private moment.
Chapter 33
Ash ground his teeth in frustration. After sending his last enigmatic text, Quantum had gone offline. He’d ditched his phone, and he wasn’t in any of his favorite online hangouts. Ash had sent men to his house and work, but Quantum wouldn’t be as easy to find as Geezer had been. Meanwhile, Joe Tesla had been badly wounded, and Ash still didn’t know where or what the device was. Quantum had said it was the Oscillator and that he had it in hand, but who knew how trustworthy he was?
So, here he was in the back of his limo on his way to the hospital to pretend he cared about Joe Tesla. If the wounded man was still alive, he might be able to give clues about what he’d found. Ash fiddled with his secure phone, hoping to find traces of Quantum, but the clever man stayed hidden. Instead, he verified that news of Joe’s accident had been posted on the Internet, so he could say that’s where he’d found it out. He found an article on the New York Post’s website: Multimillionaire Brained in Hotel Where Ancestor Died. If Joe ever read it, he’d be angry at being mentioned next to Nikola Tesla, and he wouldn’t like the use of the word brained either. Delightful.
“Shall I circle the block, sir?” His limo driver had parked and opened the door before Ash even noticed.
“I’ll text you when I need you.” He was out of the car and halfway across the sidewalk before he heard the door close.
It didn’t take long to find Joe’s room in a long corridor. Two people stood guard outside — a man and a woman, both around six feet tall. No chairs for them. They stood practically at attention. Retired military.
He approached them casually, like a man who didn’t expect trouble.
“I’m sorry, sir, but you can’t go beyond this point.” The Amazon had a gun visible under her jacket, and she stood like someone who knew how to use it.
“It’s OK,” Ash said. “I’m a close friend of Mr. Tesla.”
“You have my sympathy, sir, but you’re not going through that door.” She took his arm, and he tried to shake her off, but she wouldn’t let go.
The man who’d been stationed on the other side of the door looked over at them as if ready to intervene to help her out, maybe tear Ash’s head off if necessary. He wouldn’t be bullying his way into the room. New tactics were called for.
“Let’s start over.” Ash held out his hand. “Mr. Alan Wright. You may have heard of me.”
The woman did not shake his hand. “Vivian Torres. If you’re lucky, you haven’t heard of me either.”
Ash was irritated. He was well known in New York and one of the richest men in the world. “I’ve known Mr. Tesla for many years, and I’d like to see how he’s doing.”
“I understand that, sir.” She planted herself between him and the door and forced him back a step. “But only family is allowed in at this time.”
He thought of making a scene, but his efforts might be better spent looking into this Vivian Torres, seeing what leverage over her he could find online. Fighting a long game instead of a skirmish here. “Is he going to be OK? Is he conscious?”
“I’m afraid I can’t answer those questions, Mr. Wright.”
“Is Edison all right?”
Her expression thawed by half a degree. Nobody could resist a man who cared about dogs. “The dog is fine. And I’ll inform Mr. Tesla of your visit when he wakes up.”
So, Joe hadn’t regained consciousness yet. A good sign.
He tried to imagine Joe Tesla without the use of his magnificent brain and felt no pity. He’d had his chance, and he’d squandered it. He could have done great things.
Maybe he still could, but given the worry on Ms. Torres’s face, that was no longer a certainty.
Chapter 34
Vivian looked through the glass at Tesla in his bed. He’d been tested, admitted, and brought to this private room hours before. His mother sat in the room’s only chair. Hollingberry had pulled it up next to the bed and fussed over her for a while, but had recently left to get everyone coffee. Mrs. Tesla held Joe’s hand, her eyes never leaving his face.