“Duck,” Carter said calmly.
“What?”
Carter smiled and waved the gun they had taken from Anton Stephens.
“Duck down… please.”
Stone folded forward as best he could. He felt Carter leaning on his back to steady his aim. Almost instantly, there was a squeal of tires and a crunch as the Toyota wildly backed in to a street sign. Carter patted him on the back, and he sat up just in time to see the dented rear of the SUV as it raced after the BMW. They watched helplessly as the two cars negotiated the traffic circle and sped out of sight. Linda was gone.
“Jesus!”
Stone looked around at the damage in the car. The sound of fast approaching sirens did not bode well.
“We need to move — and quick!” Carter said, pointing to the left, “My car’s just over there.”
They left the wrecked Audi stranded on the sidewalk and walked as casually as they could towards Carter’s car. They even remembered to stop at a pay station and validate Ed’s parking ticket. Three minutes later, they were on the main road and driving inconspicuously away from the carnage. The black BMW and the dented Toyota were long gone.
“We have to find Linda,” Stone said, almost to himself.
“We will, I promise. But for now, we need to find somewhere to hold up, and we need to get you cleaned up. Your face is a mess.”
Carter was driving. Stone pulled down the sun visor on his side, and looked in the vanity mirror. His left eye was puffy and swollen from his fight in the restroom, and the right side of his face had several glass chips embedded in the skin. There were more than a few blood smears on his hands and sleeves.
“You should see the other guy,” he said dully, picking at the glass with his fingernail.
“I’ll head for the service area on the M4. You can get cleaned up, and then we can get some fresh clothes and something to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You’ll eat,” Carter said firmly, “Linda would want you to.”
Two hours later, cleaned and fed, they were discussing their next move over a second cup of coffee, when Ed’s phone began playing a tune, to report an incoming call. He stood and walked to the comparative privacy of the window seating at the front of the café. Stone watched his friend listening to the caller and nodding involuntarily. He thought it seemed like a one-sided conversation. As the call finished, Carter snapped the phone shut and strode back to the table.
“Let’s go!” he said as he walked right by.
Stone dropped a handful of notes on the table and waved for the waitress to keep the change. He jogged after Carter, catching up with him at the car.
“What is it?” he asked.
“That was the hospital.”
“Oh, God! It’s Megan — is she OK?”
“She’s better than OK Eric; she’s awake,” Carter smiled, “and she wants me to bring my laptop.”
The Fixer sat back in his soft leather office chair and steepled his fingers, as he considered the woman glaring daggers at him from the other side of his desk. Up close, Linda Smart was spectacularly good-looking. With her trim figure, short blonde hair, and dazzling green eyes, her beauty was almost breath taking. Leaving her physical qualities aside, there was something else about her, which caught his attention. The Fixer had known several attractive women in his life. In his experience, they usually brandished their looks like a magic shield. Something to deflect the unworthy and attract the wealthy. However, this woman seemed to wear her beauty as casually as a pair of old jeans. It was almost as if she didn’t know, or didn’t care. Somehow, to The Fixer, that made her even more attractive.
He gave her a casual smile.
“So you’re Linda Smart.”
“And you’re an ass.”
“Tut-tut Linda, that’s no way to talk. Can’t we agree to get along?”
“Yes — if you agree to stop breathing.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. It’s not going to happen,” he replied confidently.
“I bet Helen Atkins thought that when she woke up this morning.”
He nodded and pulled a sad face.
“Poor Helen — she didn’t realize that she had outlived her usefulness.”
“You’re a cold bastard — I’ll give you that much.”
He stared at her openly, delighting in how she shifted uncomfortably, under the irresistible energy of his gaze. The Fixer knew that he could force her to be nice to him. He could make her satisfy his desires, but he decided to remain patient. He had stolen another man’s property. She was his now, and she would remain that way. He had plenty of time. Like a cat with a mouse, he decided to play with her. He wanted to sweeten his appetite for the main course that would follow.
“Tell me about Eric Stone,” he said calmly.
Linda gave him a cold smile.
“He’s going to find you, and when he does he’s going to kill you. What more do you need to know?”
The Fixer shrugged nonchalantly.
“What attracted you to him?”
“What?” Linda asked, stunned by the unexpected question.
He spread his hands defensively.
“Humor me. I’m fascinated by the human psyche.”
She shrugged.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
“Alright, I’ll bite — he’s a good person.”
“Oh, you mean ‘weak’.”
“No, I mean exactly what I said. He is good and kind and handsome, and I love him.”
The Fixer snorted.
“Oh please — what can you possibly know about love?”
“I know what I like, and it isn’t an arsehole like you.”
“Sticks and stones — sticks and stones!” he chided.
“Give me a stick, and I’ll break your bones,” she threatened.
“Do you know? I believe you would.” His smile suggested a hidden subtext. “Nevertheless, you will soon grow to love me.”
Now Linda snorted.
“You’d better kill me now.”
“I’m not going to kill you, Linda Smart. I’m going to marry you.”
She reeled backwards in shock.
“Oh my God! You’re totally certifiable!”
“You may be correct… ” he conceded, “But the fact remains that you will willingly become my bride. I have… chosen you.”
She shook her head in disbelief.
“Never — ever — going to happen.”
“Oh… but you’re wrong Linda Smart. You see, I happen to know that a woman like you does not respond to good looks, or money. However, you will become helpless in the presence of power. And I have real power.”
The fixer leaned forward in his seat.
“Allow me to demonstrate.”
And in that instant, for Linda Smart, nothing would ever be the same again.
Although Megan was sitting up in bed when they arrived, she looked pale, and her head was heavily bandaged. There were tubes and wires connecting her to several medical monitoring devices that seemed to randomly click and peep without an obvious reason. The policeman guarding the room gave Carter a stiff smile and a respectful nod. Then he politely stepped into the corridor, followed closely by a matronly nurse.
Before coming up to the ward, they had stopped at the hospital gift store. Carter bought flowers but Stone opted for a big box of chocolates. Megan was happy to see the boys, and delighted with the chocolates. She immediately pushed her oxygen mask up and devoured several soft centers in quick succession.
“That nurse is a Communist, or a Nazi, I can’t decide which,” she mumbled between mouthfuls. “Because of my ‘blood pressure’ I’m on a low fat diet — as if that’s going to make me feel any better!”