Page 14 (1/2)

TONY snatched up the phone on the first ring "Henry?"

"You aiting?"

"Yeah, well, I set my alarm for half an hour before sunrise, so if you called, I could answer right away" He yawned and sat up against the pillow "Did you find Celluci?"

"Detective Celluci is back, safe and sound under Vicki&039;s protection, and she&039;s insisted he spend the day in bed recovering"

"Recovering from what?"

"Loss of blood for the most part"

"Say what?"

"Apparently he made a few involuntary donations"

Tony winced "Man, I bet Victory&039;s pissed"

"No bet What&039;s hosts?"

"God willing Uh, Tony "

The eood idea of as co For all that the bastard son of Henry VIII had es he just couldn&039;t get the hang of

" I ondering if you ht drop by and set the VCR to record the day&039;s news broadcasts"

"I&039;ve shown you how to do it a hundred ti back another yawn, Tony wished he&039;d thought to provide himself with a ther to do when I&039;one?" Gone That last word seemed to echo in the silence that followed Gone This wasn&039;t how he&039;d meant to say it Oh,forHe closed his eyes "Henry?"

"Shall I fight to keep you?" The words held the seductive danger of dark water although it almost seemed like he asked the question of himself

"Henry, don&039;t " Don&039;t what? Tony didn&039;t know so he let the protest trail off

"When you are gone," Henry said after a moment, the voice neither Prince of Men nor Prince of Dark?ness, but just Henry, alone "I will miss you And I will insist, as Vicki does, that distance is no reason for friendship to end If she and I can find a way to be together, you and I can find a way to be apart"

Groping beside the sofa bed for soh "Hey, didn&039;t I always say our Victory was one smart va I&039;ll, uh, see you again before I go"

"Yes"

He shivered at the pro&039;s drive, waiting for traffic to clear, Dr Mui was astounded by a rap?ping on her

Patricia Chou pressed the contact lass "Dr Mui, Ronald Swanson was found thiswith the corpse of Richard Sulli?van, an orderly orked with you at Project Hope" Not even Ger "Would you like toher head in disbelief, Dr Mui lowered thea scant inch and, avoiding eye contact with the lens pushed over the reporter&039;s shoulder, snapped, "You are a sick young woman!" She rather hoped she ran over a few toes as she drove away

There wereat the end of the clinic drive, but she turned in without slowing and passed without incident Few reporters had Patricia Chou&039;s disregard for personal safety

Inside the clinic, a pair of plainclothes police officers waited by the nurse&039;s station

"What is this about?" she dee Later, she&039;d feel the effects of a sustained adrenaline buzz, but right now, she felt re control

The detectives introduced theested they move into her office

She stared at the, then said, "Don&039;t tellabout?"

The younger man looked at his partner, then at the doctor "Parasite?"

"Patricia Chou tried to shove her way intowith the preposterous story of Ronald Swanson being found with the body of Richard Sulli?van, an orderly at this clinic"

"Patricia Chou," sighed the first detective

"Why a seen their colleagues on the receiving end of a Patricia Chou interview, they thawed considerably and were alested, in a distracted sort of way, that perhaps they&039;d all better go to her office so that the rest of the staff could get some work done

"Doctor, as the last time you spoke to Ron?ald Swanson?"

"Just after three this ," she replied promptly, aware that the call could easily be traced

"Do you remember what he said?"

"I have no idea of what he said He woke th, and hung up before I could figure out what he was talk?ing about"

"You&039;re sure of the time?"

"Detective, when soht, I look at my clock Don&039;t you?"

They both admitted that they did

She had no idea why Richard Sullivan would be staying in Ronald Swanson&039;s guest cottage although when the restraints were mentioned, she raised a spec?ulative brow

"Didn&039;t you ith Richard Sullivan in Stony Mountain Federal Penitentiary?" the older detective asked, his toneit clear that he already knew the answer

"That&039;s correct; he was an inot him this job when he was re?leased, and I see to it that he makes his parole ap?pointments Other than that," she added with distaste, "I am not responsible for his life"

"May we ask why you requested that the board hire him, Doctor?"

"Orderlies are required to perform a number of un?pleasant tasks Mr Sullivan did the hier officer&039;s gaze and holding it "It occurs to me that you haven&039;t told me what he died of"

"Uh, no ma&039;am" The phrase basilisk stare cae that inforlance at his partner "I think we have everything we need?" Before the detectives left, they suggested she talk to the gathered reporters if she ever wanted theh she didn&039;t believe it would do any good, the doctor prepared a brief statement and read it To her surprise, they asked a few ques?tions then packed up cameras and microphones and returned to the city Apparently, she wasn&039;t big enough news

Yet

Having never left the clinic early during her ti out and about, concentrating on the patients in case she was under surveillance Finally, after buttressing her position as much as possible, she packed a few files into her briefcase and went out to her car

Eventually, even if Ronald Swanson never regained consciousness, the police would pay her a return visit She&039;d left as little evidence in her wake as she could but wasn&039;t arrogant enough to assuht have headed straight for the airport Dr Mui, who had no intention of leaving any of her invest plans

Henry had no need to open his eyes to know that this sunset was no different than the half dozen before it The dead still stood at the end of his bed, waiting for justice

"Do you know that Ronald Swanson has been stopped?"

Apparently, they did

Apparently, it didn&039;t eance

"Multimillionaire real estate tycoon, Ronald Swanson, remains in a co the identity-and cause of death-of the body found with hi notifica?tion of next of kin So far, police appear baffled by the circuh Detective Post assures us the investigation is pro?ceeding"

The detective, an attractive man in his mid-thirties, played to the camera like a professional "Unfortu?nately, we have very few hard facts at thisjust past the boundary of Mt Sey discovered, Mr Swanson had what doctors are describing as aelse, I&039;ly at the news audience "We will, of course, learn ains consciousness and we can ask hih the rest of the CBC News at Noon; when the News at Six came on, he slowed the tape to normal speed

"In our top story today, multimillionaire philanthro?pist, Ronald Swanson, remains in a co "

If the police had discovered anything neeen noon and six, they weren&039;t telling theup the rest of the godda un?coned for little old ladies always felt too small for his butt He sup?posed he should be thankful that Fitzroy&039;d brought the tape over, but he couldn&039;t y

Vicki reached over and tucked his left ar it up As far as the police know, they have an isolated inci?dent A ot out of hand They haven&039;t even pressed charges yet" She frowned, and looked absently toward the i by on the television "If Swanson in a cohosts, I wonder how much more they want"

"Not howtoward the TV "Who, Fitzroy! Wind it back and play that bit with the wo"

" am, of course, dis ed to rebuild his life after an unfor?tunate past"

"Prison," Celluci explained shortly "And that&039;s her That&039;s the doctor who "

"Took your blood" The statees that flayed "Dr Mui Noe know for sure" Vicki stood And stopped Slowly, very slowly, she turned her head and looked down at Michael Celluci

He reached out and took her hand "I want her, too," he said grimly "But not like that You can&039;t kill her"

Vicki shuddered, once, the h her body like a wave "You&039;re getting awfully goddamned pushy lately," shehis hand like an anchor, she sat back down

"I&039; patronize ed to hold onto her anger even though every instinct told her to throw so at him and then throw him out the"Nohat do we do?"

"I&039;h to keep Henry fro, Vicki patted Celluci&039;s denim-clad knee with her free hand "Don&039;t be so hard on yourself," she suggested, "and tellabout"

"Ronald Swanson was not the man responsible for those deaths That&039;s why Henry&039;s ghosts are still around"

"Maybe he didn&039;t do the actual killing, but he pro?vided the resources"

Celluci shook his head "He provided the resources to buy kidneys from the poor and sell them to the rich-but the poor can function fine with only one kidney This sort of thing goes on in a number of third world countries"

"Your point?"

"Dr Mui, already al transplants, saay to make a little more The donor doesn&039;t survive, and she pockets the pur?chase price Simple"

"Yeah, but "

"If she didn&039;t have to hide the deaths from Swanson, ait until they healed? And we know she waited because of the body they found in the harbor" He glanced from Vicki to Henry and answered his own question "She had to keep the donors around until close to the tied or Swanson would be suspicious"

"So he didn&039;t know she was killing the people knohat they needed to to do their jobs Uh, Vicki? I can&039;t feel ers anymore" When she released his hand, he started to work the blood back into the whitened fingertips "Swanson&039;s job was to provide the ree he had a point " what about the host?"

"Sullivan disposed of the bodies-he found out this guy had no record, and he thought of a way tocon?tacts in prison"

Vicki shook her head "Completely circumstantial"

"And completely uni, sending us out after the gangs, and I don&039;t want that to happen again" Henry ht better looking out at the city His city-in spite of the unfahts below His condo overlooked False Creek, Lisa Evans&039; overlooked the parking lot between the buildings "I be?lieve Mike&039;s right about Dr Mui being in charge Last night, Swanson went to pieces when he found that body"

"Well, sure," Vicki snorted, even less willing to cut Henry any slack, "he was afraid that the operation, so to speak, had been discovered"

"I don&039;t think so" He could feel Vicki bristling be?hind hi the traffic on Pa?cific Boulevard "The first thing Dr Mui asked Swanson was, did he call the police If Swanson knew about the other deaths, that&039;s not so he&039;d even consider, and the doctor would know it When she found out he hadn&039;t called anyone but her, she began planning the cover-up"

"Dr Mui had both opportunity and motive," Celluci pointed out "Ronald Swanson dropped the op?portunity in her lap, and she got greedy"

"Thin," Vickikept in one of Swanson&039;s guest houses, remember?"

"That doesn&039;t "

"Most iht has had any effect on the ghosts Not Sullivan&039;s death, not Swanson&039;s heart attack"

Dr Mui had taken Celluci&039;s blood Vicki illing to condeh she&039;d just been convinced, she sat back and said dryly, "So all evidence suggests the doctor&039;s not just the hired gun, she&039;s an opportunistic, , hypocrit?ical, amoral bitch And if I can&039;t kill her, what are we supposed to do about her? Call the police from a pay phone with an anonymous tip" She lowered her voice dramatically, "You don&039;t know me, but you should check into Dr Mui&039;s finances Make her explain where the money comes from"

"She&039;ll probably have an explanation That woot ba " Celluci paused as Vicki pinned hiot an answer for everything"

"Well, she&039;s also got a suess is she&039;s going to run If she hasn&039;t already"

"I don&039;t think so" Head cocked, Henry stared across a patch of thin grass delineating the boundaries between his building and Dr Mui&039;s "A cable van just pulled up next door, and I believe that&039;s Patricia Chou getting out"

"How the hell can you see who it is from up here?" Celluci scoffed Then he reht "Never mind Stupid question If it&039;s Patricia Chou, then the police proba?bly chased her away fro over hierated surprise "I thought she was a friend of yours"

"Ignoring for the moment that I&039;ve only nored the faults of my friends?"

Vicki made a mental note of the pointed emphasis He&039;d pay for it after he healed "So if Ms Chou is there, then Dr Mui is there-so, as I said, what now?"

Henry turned from the s, his eyes dark "We use Ms Chou to make certain the doctor is in her apartment tomorrow at sunset and we let the only witnesses we have confront the accused Isn&039;t that what the laould require, Detective?"

Celluci felt hiht by darkness and jerked free; it had been too easy over the last few days to forget the law "No, actually, it&039;s the other way around The accused have the right to confront their accuser"

"All right" Henry nodded "That, too"

"Look, Fitzroy, you can&039;t just "

"Why not? Is there a law against allowing the dead a voice?"

"You know damned well there isn&039;t It&039;s just "

"You can&039;t confront her with the ghosts, Henry" Vicki cut hi this would be the final word "If the radius of their uh, effect was big enough, they&039;d have confronted her already You&039;d have to get closer, and you can&039;t"

"Yes, I can"

"They appear at sunset That et closer at sunrise"

"I know"

This would be ht, she obliterated it "Forget it It&039;d be too dangerous"

"And what of the danger of never getting rid of these ghosts, of having to ask the right question eve?ning after evening, knowing that if Iher to the ghosts"

"And hoe " He&039;d been about to say "get rid of her body afterward" when a glance at Celluci&039;s face changed hisin the police?" When Vicki couldn&039;t answer, he said, "My plan will put Patricia Chou on the spot and so far she&039;s certainly been " A number of descriptions were considered and discarded " effective"

Celluci grunted in agreehosts to spook the doctor into the arain to inform the police-that he could deal with

"It also puts you on the spot, Henry How do you plan on surviving this plan of yours?"

Her concern was genuine; sheof any friend, any mortal friend As a mea?sure of how far they&039;d co short of et all choked up onquestion"

He shook his head, a little bemused by the speed of the evolution "I&039;ll, uh, be spending the day with the doctor&039;s neighbors, Carole and Ron Pettit

"Friends of yours?"

"Not yet" Ignoring Celluci&039;s interrogative glower, he picked up the phone and tapped in the nu his earlier visit

As Henry see to explain, Celluci leaned over and ?" into Vicki&039;s ear

"Do you reot Lucy to leave the house?"

"He stood outside in the garden and called?"

"Well, that&039;s what Henry&039;s doing"

"Dracula didn&039;t use a phone"

"Tie"

"Hello, Carole Carole, I need you to do so for ht, Carole, you knoho I aed at his jeans When Vicki leaned over and flicked an earlobe with her tongue, he jerked away from the invitation "Don&039;t," he said hoarsely "Not here, not now"

"Unlock your door, Carole, and be ready for com?pany It doesn&039;t ht, Carole, unlock your door I&039;ll be there in a mo?ment, Carole Wait for me"

"That&039;s it?" Celluci demanded as Henry returned the receiver to the cradle

Henry shrugged, re than others"

Wishing he&039;d worn looser pants, Celluci snarled so himself there&039;d been no response

They walked Henry down to the lobby and watched hi to suggest Carole and coest they leave by sunrise and not co ti to do in the meantime?"

She turned and stared at him

His ears reddened "Never mind You&039;d better speak with Ms Chou by yourself"

"Why?"

"Because you can et about you I can&039;t"

"Well, thank you so htly on the cheek, she started toward the cable van She had every intention of doing exactly what Celluci had suggested She&039;ll for?get about the conversation And she&039;ll forget about you

"Just make sure that she&039;s in her condo at sunset"

Even lost in the silvered depths of Vicki&039;s eyes, Pa?tricia Chou had the will to protest "And how am I supposed to do that?"

"From what I&039;ve heard, most of the city would stay hooes in to the clinic on Fridays "

"How do you know that?"

"I know al and intend to find out the rest It&039;s why most of the city hates me" She smiled

Vicki&039;d seen that so, reflected in the eyes of Bynowski and Haiden just before they died Patricia Chou enjoyed her work And Henry orried about sharing a territory within her doorway, obviously waiting for hiht his breath and softly called her na it, she&039;d tried to match herself to her pseudo-Gothic decor but was far too sun-kissed and healthy-looking to succeed

"Coer rose in response to the hunger on her face

Eventually, she&039;ll get bored and go away Or some new scandal will arise in soo away Dr Mui stood in her solarium and scowled down at the top of the cable van just visible in the parking lot below, the yellow rectangle standing out with irritating clarity against the gray pavement Or someone will drop a heavy object on her head and she&039;ll GO AWAY

Patricia Chou had drastically altered her plans for the day

By lateshe could froh her phone lines were as secure as her hacker-for-hire couldas a com?pletely secure line-the computers at the Eastside Clinic and the drop-in center were theoretically se?cure, but that same hacker had accessed them both with apparent ease In order for her to leave the coun?try, wealth intact, and leave no trail, there were a number of matters that required a personal touch

She should have been able to acco necessary in a couple of hours, but fro lot, the reflection of the cable van had filled her rearview mirror The reporter her?self had followed, as it were, off road-never breaking any laws, neveraway

Only two of the three errands had been done The third, she had no intention of fulfilling in front of a witness and had returned home, Patricia Chou still on her heels

Her station won&039;t let her sit there forever When she&039;s called in, I&039;llhas been prepared, and there&039;s no reason to panic You are in no danger of discovery if you reers curled into fists She could just barelythrust out of the van&039;s interior Oh, for a truck to go by and take that off at the knee

All afternoon she&039;d watched as Patricia Chou had traded on local recognition and interviewed al

It had been a very long afternoon

"Patricia, please," Brent pleaded, digging his knuck?les into bloodshot eyes "Let&039;s go We&039;re not going to get anything else today, and I&039;hed, collapsed back against a bag of equip that for the last hour"

"This time I mean it" She twisted out the door until she could see the red and gold streaking the bot?tom of the clouds "Just wait until sunset"

"Why? What&039;s going to happen at sunset?"