Chapter 3
THREE
Sometimes a person does things in life they never thought themselves capable of before.
Scaling a mountain, swimming with sharks, jumping out of an airplane, or closing a big business deal.
Most people will never kill but that’s what I’m prepared to do.
I have nothing to lose, and I’m about to find out just how far I’m willing to go, but it’s certainly far too late to turn around.
Things have been put into motion, and it’s not just me caught up in this.
I approach a woman in her mid-thirties, a pleasant smile on her face. I mimic the expression, even letting it touch my eyes. A nameplate on her desk identifies her as Pamela.
“Hello, can I help you?” Pamela asks with a tone balancing kindness and authority. She’s the gatekeeper. Behind her is the office of the most powerful woman in the building. Megan Beal, the chief executive officer of Founders Hospital.
“Yes, I’m here to speak with Ms. Beal.” I offer a smile, this one more tentative.
“I’m sorry, but she’s currently unavailable. I can schedule an appointment for you at a future time. I’d just need your name and what you wish to discuss.”
A cold sweat washes over me, and my stomach churns. I wrap my fingers around the handle of the gun in my pocket. Coming here, I knew that would be her answer, even why Beal is unavailable, but Pamela is my ticket inside. “I need to speak with her. It’s urgent.”
A smile again. This one, patronizing. “As I said, she’s not available.”
Voices have me turning to look over my shoulder. Two doctors are walking down the hall, their stethoscopes dangling around their necks, the instruments swaying with their gait. They round the corner out of sight. I didn’t want it to come to this but am prepared to do what I must.
My heart pounds as I pull my weapon, just enough to direct her gaze there. “I’m not asking.”
Pamela’s face goes white while her mouth gapes open and shut, open and shut, open and shut. It’s like she’s locked in fear and shock. I can’t take the risk she’ll do something stupid.
“Don’t even think about screaming,” I say clearly, slowly, and at a low volume. “Now, I’m only going to ask nicely one more time. I need to speak with Ms. Beal. Is she in this hospital?”
Pamela is nonresponsive. Her facial expression, her body language. I’m not even sure if she’s still breathing. It might be a few seconds, but the passage of time stretches out painfully so.
“Pamela,” I prompt using her name, hoping that will jolt her out of her daze.
Pamela nods.
“Take me to her.” I don’t need to make a display of the gun again. Pamela’s gaze is fixed on the pocket where I had lifted it from a moment ago. “Come on, no need for you to get hurt.”
Pamela stumbles to her feet, her long legs unsteady like a newborn foal.
“Just act normal. We’ll walk side by side.” I force a smile again. My heart is beating so fast, I hear it behind my ears.
She walks to my right where I have the gun in my pocket.
We pass some doctors and medical technicians, all in their distinguishable uniforms. One woman smiles brightly at Pamela and glances at me, cocking her eyebrow.
I turn to Pamela, hoping my movement is discreet enough, but I need to censor her response.
I don’t like what I see. It’s a flicker, a transference between the two.
I tighten my grip on the gun, about to pull it out, but the other woman keeps walking.
I don’t dare to look back to see if she’s been alerted.
If she has, all of this could fall apart before it begins.
Pamela continues to take me down the hallway, leading me to the large boardroom. She puts her face in the door’s window, and CEO Megan Beal dismisses her with a wave.
“Open the door,” I seethe while I nudge the gun into Pamela’s side. “Get us inside, or they’ll be mopping you off the floor.”
Pamela is trembling as she reaches for the handle and cracks the door.
Beal shoots her a glare and tosses a hand of surrender in the air, motioning for a board member to keep us out. But I push Pamela into the room and roll in quickly behind her, leaving my back to the door and blocking the exit.
“What is the meaning of—” Beal’s mouth snaps shut as her gaze goes to the gun in my hand.
Same too for the rest of the eyes in the room.
Twelve faces, mostly strangers, though I wager every one of them is powerful and corrupt.
Except one. A red-cheeked twentysomething seated next to Beal at the head of the table.
Her fingers are suspended over the keyboard of a laptop.
No doubt the minute-taker for this meeting, a boring and thankless job I’ve done before.
Beal goes for the phone on the table in front of her.
“Go ahead. It won’t do you any good, because in five minutes or less, this entire hospital will be locked down. And soon the phones won’t work either. Same for your cell phones. Put them on the table. Now.”
The suits scramble to pull them from their pockets and concede to my direction. It makes me feel powerful, but I let that emotion roll over me. I don’t want to lose focus.
I take slow, cautious yet confident strides toward Beal, but talk to the room. “If one person goes for the door or leaves, I will shoot everyone who is left. Got it?”
Mumbles of acknowledgment echo around the room. All but one person is ready to do as I say. Beal is looking at me like she pities me, and anger heats my chest. I shake her. “You understand?”
Her pretty face contorts into an ugly mask. “What do you want?” Asked with an impatient tone, like I’m a bug she can easily swat away. It’s like the gun in her face doesn’t even exist.
I press the muzzle against her forehead. Yet, still, her expression barely falters. An arrogant show of strength, no doubt. “It’s up to you. You have the power to decide how this is going to go, but I will be heard.”
My voice is overridden by one coming over the speakers, and suddenly the lights shut off and emergency lights rise in their place. The sunlight coming through the window takes on more power, but I need to close the blinds.
I head over to the window and slide them shut and turn around to face everyone. A smile touches my lips when I go to speak. “You all might as well get comfortable. You’re going to listen to me and listen good, or people will die.” I take out my walkie-talkie to update the rest of my team.