Chapter 4
She stared in disbelief at Talon. “Oh no. I’m not doing that again.”
“Doesn’t matter if you want to or not if somebody else is making that decision for you.”
“What could he possibly want from me? His partner already went after my brother.”
“We were wondering that ourselves,” Laszlo interjected. “Someone’s already taken somebody from every one of us, except for Geir. Three accidents have been linked directly to John Smith, but since he’s dead now, we’re trying to figure out if his partner is coming back for a second round.”
She stared at him. “This is just too unbelievable. Do you really think he’ll come after me?”
“He started with you and was sidetracked by your brother.”
“This is just too much,” she cried, throwing her hands in the air. “This doesn’t happen in real life.”
“It is happening.” Talon stood and walked to her. “And the sooner you realize it, the better. Obviously we don’t know if this other guy’s got plans for you, but it’s something we have to take into consideration.”
She shoved her jaw at him and glared mutinously. “If he was going to do something, he would have done it already.”
“Not necessarily. He could have been on a recon trip. Seeing if your house was secure. Checking if he can get in through a door or a window,” Laszlo said. “Studying your routine. Seeing how you get to work and when you’re off work and coming home.”
She shook her head. “That was all before. That’s why I asked Chad about it.”
“What was all before?”
“I was seeing the same person around the gym. At the grocery store. Following me. But, since Chad’s death, there’s been nothing. It’s like I’ve been in a fog since.”
“This will be a hard question for you to answer,” Talon said as he stepped directly in front of her. “Considering what you’ve been through this last year—how emotionally wrecked you’ve been, dealing with Chad’s death, the funeral arrangements, recovering, your parents in and out of the country, your separation and divorce—would you have noticed if you were being stalked?”
She stared at him, not liking what he suggested. “So you’re thinking that, because I’m such an emotional wreck, I would have missed it?” She gave it some serious thought, and then she shook her head. “I don’t think so. I was really concerned at the time that Chad might have died because of me and my stalker. So I was looking forward to catching the stalker behind me wherever. To relieve my guilt. But the stalking didn’t restart again.”
“So he’s changed his MO.”
She turned to look at Laszlo. “MO?”
“It just means the way he does things. We can’t say if you’re in danger or not, but the fact that somebody left the door unlocked and somebody left a window open makes it very suspicious.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You guys are just full of good news, aren’t you?”
“What we don’t do is stick our heads in the sand. Not now that we know six of us have all had people important to us attacked because of this asshole.”
“And you had no clue?”
“Not until we went to Norway, and then we began to put it all together. You have to understand. This dealt with different family members, different countries, different time periods over the last two years.” Talon raised his shoulders and held out his hands, palms up. “And most of us were in and out of the hospital, trying to recover from our own massive injuries. Who would suspect anyone of taking out our family members on purpose?”
“You must have some clue who’s doing this? I know some of your work was dangerous. Isn’t there somebody specifically who you pissed off?”
Laszlo shook his head. “We pissed off lots of people. But it wasn’t just us. Keep in mind, we were in the navy, on missions we were ordered to go on. Some of them were highly secretive. All of them were very dangerous. We helped governments go up and down. We rescued kidnapped victims. We helped move people to safety after insurgents fired on villages. We were involved in a lot of things. But for one person to target us specifically …”
“But why does it have to be one person?” she asked. “Maybe it’s a group. Maybe they sent over a special unit to take you guys out.” She thought it was a reasonable assumption and could see the men were at least giving it some thought. But she also recognized the moment it was dismissed as not being of value. She sighed. “Okay, so what if it is one person. That’s a lot of hate. Like I said before, to come after each and every one of you and then to go after family members, … this is somebody you know.”
“It’ll be somebody we know,” Laszlo said. “But what we don’t know is why he’s doing it.”
“That’s just not … It’s wrong.” She couldn’t come up with any better word. But to think somebody was targeting and had killed multiple people was just unbelievable.
“He’s also playing with us,” Talon said suddenly. “He rented a vehicle using as his middle name the nickname of one of us, the one man in our unit who died.”
She stared at him in confusion. “He used that name thinking maybe you guys would find out?”
“That’s what I figure,” Talon said. “He used it as a joke. Except we would understand it really was him. It’s partly how we put this all together.”
“And maybe he started doing that because you were so slow to pull it together,” she snapped. “Now it’s a case of him thinking, Finally you’re there, and you understand he’s there too.”
“Something like that, yes,” Laszlo said. “But, in our defense, you have to remember how we’ve been in and out of hospitals. Some of us were unconscious for periods of time. Many of us were not even physically capable of moving and had to learn from scratch how to do the simplest things. Our minds, in some cases, were very sharp, others not so sharp. But our physical bodies had taken a beating.”
“Do you think he understood how badly injured you all were?”
Silence. Laszlo and Talon frowned at each other.
“I don’t know,” Laszlo said. “I’m not sure how much information the hospital would have given out on our conditions. And, if people were constantly calling to find out, would that make them suspicious?”
“Not once the media got wind of it,” Talon said. “Because they called all the time, interested in the war stories of returning soldiers, especially the wounded warriors who had paid the biggest price for our country.”
“Who told you about Chad’s death?” she asked suddenly.
He looked at her and frowned. “I can’t remember. Why?”
“Because he wanted to hurt you – toy with you,” she said. “You were already recovering, and he killed somebody, but where’s the fun in it if you don’t know?”
She hated the brilliant anger that lit up his gaze. She could see his jaw locked down tight as he contemplated her words. It was almost like a blow to his heart, something she could see.
Laszlo leaned toward Talon. “Does that work?”
“It’s possible,” Talon admitted. “But I honestly don’t remember now. That was before the drugs wore off and my collapse. I remember shouting about Chad being dead. Then the nurse was there, me fighting her off. I was injected with something to knock me out. But, when I woke up, I remembered he was dead, but I didn’t know anything about the details.” He frowned. “I don’t think I had a phone.” He stared at Laszlo. “Why is it I never thought of that before?”
“Talon, we’ve had a lot of shocks the last few years. It’ll take a long time for all the bits and pieces to come back. Don’t knock yourself if you didn’t know ahead of time.”
“But, if you can remember now, it might at least give you a starting point,” Clary said. “And I highly doubt you’ve changed that much. The thing you always needed to do was have something to work on, a mission. I can see how revenge might have kept you all going, but this needs a whole lot more than vengeful thinking. This needs a plan.”
He was caught in the fog of memories, trying to figure out how he had first learned about Chad’s death. He wanted to say it was a phone call. But was it? And who would have called to let him know? He’d been swimming in and out of the pain, just surfacing enough to be cognizant of the nurses. His cell phone wasn’t even with him back then. He’d lost it in the land mine accident and hadn’t gotten a new one until months after his recovery. He’d been completely cut off from the world for a long time. He thought one of his friends had brought a cell phone in for him. But it wasn’t then—it was much later.
“I feel like somebody told me. Like I can hear the voice in my ear.”
“What does the voice sound like?”
He turned to Clary. There was something almost shocking about what was going through his mind. He turned to Laszlo. “It’s not possible, is it?”
He could see Laszlo’s mind working the angles, figuring it out himself. “I won’t say it’s not possible,” Laszlo said. “It would be diabolical. And that certainly fits.”
“I don’t understand,” Clary said. “Don’t race ahead on me here. I need to understand what you’re talking about.”
“I’m wondering if the asshole who had your brother killed walked into the hospital, stepped into my room, and told me in person,” Talon admitted. “I didn’t have a phone. My phone was destroyed in the land mine explosion, along with everybody else’s. I got a phone when somebody—I don’t remember who—brought me one weeks, if not months, after Chad’s death.”
“I had no phone either,” Laszlo said. “I ended up back in Norway, while I was recovering. But I was originally in the States for a good nine months, along with everybody else.”
“Were you all in the same hospital?”
Laszlo answered, “No. Our injuries were in different stages and needed different specialists. We were split up all over the place. I was actually in England for the first three weeks.”
“And I was shipped home. Here to San Diego.”
“Actually, no, you weren’t,” Laszlo said. “That was later. You were in Mount Sinai Hospital.”
“That’s right. I was sent to San Diego after I came out of the first major bout of surgeries but with many more ahead of me. At the time of Chad’s death, I was in San Diego though.”
“Yes, you were. And that was a public hospital, not the naval hospital, due to your particular doctor’s assignment there. And, even in the Intensive Care Unit, you certainly could have had visitors. You would have had family visitation. But only family at that time,” Laszlo said. “But that doesn’t mean our guy couldn’t have walked in as if he was your brother.”
Talon’s heart still had trouble reacting. “That would be just too unbelievable. So, he blows me up, has my best friend run down, then walks into the hospital, and tells me in person?” He stared at Laszlo. “How did you find out about your father?”
Laszlo frowned. “My brother told me.”
“That makes sense. But I didn’t have a brother to tell me. So this guy steps forward and tells me instead …”
“I would have told you myself if I could have reached you,” Clary said. “But I didn’t have any contact information for you. I found some older phone numbers in Chad’s things. But, when I called the numbers, they just went to voice mail.”
“Voice mail or just died off?”
“I don’t remember.” She shrugged. “At the time I tossed away the notes, thinking they were old contact information.”
“And they would have been. Even my most recent phone was lost in the accident in Afghanistan.”
“I had separate phones for business and certain missions,” Laszlo said. “Burner phones that couldn’t be traced.”
“The only way he would have gotten into the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital was if he had gotten permission.”
“And, if he got in, he would have had to show ID, to let somebody know who he was.”
“But who’ll remember if some relative showed up a year ago?” Talon thought a bit, then, with a smirk, said, “Nurse Ferguson will. She’s a dragon lady of a nurse. And she’s the one who wrenched me back from the brink of death again. She’s also the one who I tried to fight off. She wouldn’t let me go.” He stared out the living room window, saddened at the tiny mental window he’d opened into his past. Quietly, but with heart, he admitted, “I owe her my life.”
“Will she remember you?” Clary asked.
“She would certainly remember me and my downward slide. I’d think so anyway. But I don’t know if she’d understand what brought it on.”
“Somebody must have,” Laszlo said, “because you weren’t allowed any access to the outside world after that. When they realized you had no family or friends, surely that must have raised red flags?”
“It sounds like it’s time to contact her and see,” Talon said with a look at Laszlo. “We don’t have anything better to do this afternoon anyway, do we?”
He grinned. “This is partly what we came here for. If we can find answers, then you know that’s what we need to do.”
“Wait. I don’t want you just taking off and getting answers without keeping me in the loop anymore,” Clary demanded. “I might still have parents, but you were always one of my best friends. You were very important to Chad and me. I don’t want you walking away, thinking that another eight years is okay before you say hi again. Go do what you have to do but come back here for dinner. We’ll barbecue in the backyard. It’ll be like old times.”
Talon looked at her, knowing this would never be like old times ever again. And maybe that was a good thing. Because, back then, he’d walked away from her. And he knew that, if he ever got another chance, if she’d let him back into her life, he would never walk away a second time.
Talon parked the vehicle in the hospital parking lot and stared through the windshield for a long moment. He lifted his gaze to the huge building towering above them. “You know how badly I really don’t want to come back here.”
Laszlo nodded. “I don’t blame you. In this case, it could be made so much worse because of the information we might find out. On the other hand, any information is information we need. Given this asshole’s predilection for inflicting pain, I’d seriously listen to whatever that nurse has to say. I don’t see how it could not have been him. Especially if you don’t know how you did hear the information.”
“Maybe somebody told me. Maybe it was one of the nurses. Maybe I overheard something. I just don’t know.”
“And that’s why we’re here.” Laszlo hopped out of the Jeep Wrangler, slammed the door closed, and walked around to the front of the vehicle. “Come on. Let’s go. You gotta rip off that Band-Aid and get it over with. We already know she’s on duty this afternoon. It’s time to ask a few questions. If she doesn’t have anything to offer, then we can pick up some steaks and return to your girlfriend’s.”
That comment jolted Talon out of his thoughts. “Like hell she’s my girlfriend,” he groaned in a friendly tone.
Laszlo snickered. “Oh, I see, hear, and feel a lot of history between the two of you. That kind of temper doesn’t come from nothing.”
“I told you that I broke it off with her. She was better off without me. I couldn’t be who and what she wanted.” He wondered when he’d ever really believe it because he wasn’t sure he did even now.
Laszlo didn’t reply.
Talon figured that was a good thing. He didn’t want to have to punch out his friend for calling Talon a liar. Especially when it was the truth. Talon groaned as they walked up to the double front doors, both of them opening automatically in front of them. “Okay, so time may have changed a few things,” he said, “but it’s obvious she’s moved on. She got married.”
“And divorced. Remember that.”
“Oh, I remember it,” Talon said. “I’ve had a few relationships in the meantime too.”
“More than a few and none of them serious,” Laszlo pointed out. “You think we didn’t all notice? There was either a big hurt in the background or a big love just waiting to blossom again. Too often it was both.”
They approached the front desk and asked to see Nurse Ferguson. The woman smiled and made a couple calls. “She’ll be right down.”
Talon nodded. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it, and he knew she was waiting for them to arrive. He’d already called and asked if she’d give them a few minutes of her time. But it still wouldn’t be a terribly comfortable conversation.
They wandered the small front lobby room, noting the various dispenser machines for candy, coffee, and whatnot. He wondered what the world had come to when everything came in packages and boxes and cans.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared out the glass window, remembering the last time he’d been here. Thankfully, before he got too far down memory lane, a voice behind him asked, “Talon? Is that you?”
He turned to see the large robust woman who hadn’t let him die, even though he’d given her plenty of options to walk away. He grinned. “Hi, Helga. How are you?”
Her face split in a massive grin, showing a mouthful of white pearly teeth. She laughed. “Damn, it’s good to see you.” She walked over, put her hands on his shoulders, and eyed him critically from head to toe. “And you’re looking really good.” She stepped back and grinned again. “I am happy to see that. For a while there, I wasn’t so sure.”
Knowing he’d given her lots of grief, he inclined his head. “For a while I wasn’t either. But I do owe you my life many times over.”
She shook her head. “We lost you once or twice or came close to it. And I’ve seen lots of men hell-bent on making sure they didn’t survive for one reason or another, but I knew that, if we could just get you to turn that attitude of yours into something more positive, we’d whip the hell out of those injuries, and you’d be back on your feet in no time.” She stepped back again and looked at him, noting the hand. He held it out for her to see as he opened and closed the fingers. She nodded. “Looks like it worked.”
“Outside of a few setbacks,” he said, “it did work. And I owe you an apology for being such a shitty patient.”
She chuckled. “Now if all my patients would come back and say that, it would make my day so much better.” She turned to look at Laszlo and smiled. She held out her hand. “Helga Ferguson. Do I know you?”
Laszlo shook his head. “No. And I guess that’s my loss. I was in the same accident as Talon.”
Her sharp eyes missed nothing as she studied his stance and face. “You obviously recovered in a different hospital.”
“Several of them,” he said cheerfully. “I was never as cranky as Talon.”
“It’d be hard to be as cranky as him,” she said on a laugh. “Some men make good patients, and then there’s you military guys. Generally you’re just capital bastards when you’re flat on your backs, immobile and helpless. But understanding the whys and hows makes it a lot easier for us to deal with you. And, at some point, you’re back on your feet, strong as ever. And it’s always really good to see such progress. As delighted as I am to see you came for a visit, I’m sure there was a reason behind it because almost nobody comes back here voluntarily.”
“That’s too bad,” Talon said quietly. And he realized something he should have done a long time ago. “Because I do owe you my thanks. There were some days when I was pretty down. I didn’t think my life was worth living, and you never let me wallow.”
She shook her head. “Wallowing is not my thing. And normally it’s not yours either,” she said with more insight than a lot of people had. “So, what brings you here?”
“Remember when I heard the news about my best friend dying in an accident?”
She winced. “Yeah, we almost lost you there again. Not only did you fight us so bad but we had to knock you out. Then you didn’t want to come back to the surface again. You also had reinjured several of your wounds, tore out a bunch of stitches, and caused general mayhem. Why? What about it?”
“Any idea how I found out that news?”
She stopped, frowned, tilting her head as she studied his face. “I’m not sure I do. Why?”
“Because that friend of mine we now know was murdered,” he said, having difficulty getting the words out. “And now there is a question as to how I might have found out about his accident. I had no cell phone. I had no access to laptops or any electronic device. At the time I was still recovering, not capable of handling most of those things. I have no family, so nobody was, as I believe, allowed in to see me …” He let his voice trail off as she understood the problem.
“It could have been a nurse who told you,” she said cautiously. “Although I would have had that person handing in her resignation if she’d done that. You were very unstable. Your condition was still critical. Something like that could have killed you.”
“And that’s why we’re wondering if it was done deliberately,” Laszlo said. “As in potentially the man who murdered his friend wanting Talon to know his friend had died. Because what we’re learning is, with everything that’s happened, somebody is trying to inflict maximum emotional and psychological pain upon each of us who survived the initial land mine.”
They followed her to her office. As she walked in, she motioned to two chairs. “Sit down.”
They both took a seat. Talon looked around. “Did you have an office when I was here?”
“No, I’ve recently taken a slight promotion. A little less patient time, a little more paper time, and maybe a little less stress.” She shrugged. “But the jury’s out on that last one.”
He nodded in understanding. “As long as you’re happy.”
“That’s the bottom line,” she admitted, her gaze on the monitor as her fingers clicked away on the keyboard. “Okay, I have your file. Give me a minute while I quickly go through this.”
He could hear the occasional clicks as she flicked through page after page after page. He knew the file, if printed out, would be thick. His recovery had not been the easiest. On the other hand, he had recovered. So, given the condition he’d been in at the time, maybe it was a miracle after all.
She stopped on a page and read out loud. “It says here you received bad news.” She leaned forward slightly. “It says you had a visitor. The visitor disappeared after you crashed. Nobody had a chance to talk to him.”
“Any idea who the visitor was?”
“Visitors for the patients in the ICU had to have special permission,” she said. “Let me check further. Thankfully all these files are digital now.”
Talon sat quietly waiting, but he knew in his gut there wouldn’t be any record.
Finally she looked up at him around the monitor. “There’s no registered visitor.”
“Meaning?” Laszlo asked.
She frowned at him. “Meaning, he didn’t check in. He didn’t have permission to be here. That can happen, but it’s rare,” she said slowly. “Usually when we don’t allow close friends, like a girlfriend, to visit, they often try dubious means to get in to their loved ones. But you were under a pretty close suicide watch at that time.”
“So how would someone have gotten in?”
She admitted, “I don’t know. In theory, he shouldn’t have.”
“Unless he really wanted to,” Talon said. “And was skilled at getting into places where he didn’t belong.”