Chapter 25
Hugo
With my left arm tightly around Bess’s shoulders and my heart in my throat, I walk across the parking lot and into the hospital.
I’m not used to having to trust others, but the objective is to get inside the hospital as inconspicuously as we can, and I can’t do that with a gun in my hand.
We get a few curious glances as I walk us briskly through the lobby, to the elevators off the hallway at the other end.
Savvy made sure Ken was moved from the recovery room after his surgery, to a room at the far end of the second floor, making it easier to keep him secure.
Savvy said she’d keep the hallway clear so we could slip inside Ken’s room unnoticed.
What we hadn’t accounted for was the goddamn mayor picking that moment to tour the hospital with his investor buddy. Trust Don Merrick to fuck up our attempt to stay under the radar.
“Ah, Chief Deputy Alexander!” his voice booms through the lobby, turning heads. “What a coincidence. I had planned to stop by the station later for an introduction, but you’ve saved us a trip.”
On the other side I catch a glimpse of Savvy poking her head out of the hallway before she ducks back out of sight. She’s probably avoiding Merrick.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I pull Bess in tighter and turn us around. I’d only draw more attention to us if I tried to avoid the mayor.
“Mayor Merrick,” I bite off between clenched teeth.
It’s the first glimpse I get of his guest; a large, rotund man, I’d guess about sixty, decked out in dressy western gear, complete with snakeskin boots and bolo tie, wearing the largest fucking Stetson I’ve seen in my life.
I’d say more flash than substance, except the guy has got to tip the scales over three hundred pounds.
“Arlo, I’d like you to meet Silence’s finest, Chief Deputy Hugo Alexander.”
Merrick smiles wide, completely fucking ignoring Bess, who I’m keeping plastered to my side.
The guy holds out a meaty hand I can’t ignore.
“Arlo, is none other than Arlo Hudson, of Hudson Developments. He’s thinking about building a deluxe senior living community here in Silence, putting our little town on the map. I’m showing him all our town’s amenities.”
“Pleased to meet you,” I mutter under my breath, taking back my hand.
I’d like to know where he’s planning on putting that development, but that’s for later concern. Right now, I’d like to get Bess out of the open.
“It’s the old country charm that drew me here,” the man drawls in a thick Texan accent. “Hard to find that genuine character these days.”
Then his eyes drop to Bess. “And who’s this lovely—”
“We actually have an appointment we’re late for,” I quickly intercede, already turning us in the opposite direction. “Sorry to run. Nice meeting you,” I add over my shoulder as I rush Bess across the lobby.
Savvy is waiting and pulls us into a supply closet.
“What the hell was that all about?” she hisses, shutting the door and closing us into a space barely big enough to hold the three of us.
“Merrick’s big investor is a Texas developer wanting to put Silence on the map,” I share with a hefty dose of sarcasm. “The idiot might as well have put a spotlight on us, for fuck’s sake.”
I’m riled up, my hand rubbing Bess’s shoulder restlessly.
“Calm down,” Savvy orders. “You guys wait here for a minute. I’m going to make sure we’re still clear and will come get you.”
The moment she leaves, Bess turns to me and lifts a hand to my face.
“You good?”
I blow out a breath. “Yeah. But that could’ve gone sideways. Just so you know, I can’t stand that pompous ass of a mayor of ours. Not only is he a self-important baboon, but he’s the worst kind of misogynist as well. He didn’t even fucking acknowledge you.”
Bess snickers at my disgruntlement.
“He never has before, and I didn’t expect him to start now,” she calmly informs me. “Besides, this was one situation where I was grateful to be invisible, so don’t burst a vein on my account.”
She’s a constant surprise to me. Every time I make the mistake of thinking of Bess as small and vulnerable, she proves herself to be strong and resilient, and definitely a bigger person than I am.
I’m about to tell her so when a soft knock sounds on the door, and I hear Savvy’s voice say, “It’s me.”
When she fits herself into the modest space, she fills us in.
“It’s all clear, but we’ll forfeit the elevator and take the stairway,” she announces. “I’ll lead, Bess behind me. Hugo, you take the rear. Let’s go.”
I untucked my shirt so I have easy access to my weapon, which I shoved in my waistband when we got out of the Bronco.
Moving as the last in line, I have one hand on Bess’s back, and my other resting on the butt of my gun, my eyes constantly scanning for any person or movement that seems out of place.
We get to the stairwell without incident, to find Deputy Lloyd McCormick standing guard. My guess is, someone will be keeping an eye on the elevator too, monitoring anyone going upstairs.
This has got to be hitting the department’s overtime budget in a big way.
It’s been all-hands-on-deck for a while now.
Getting that extended budget approval by the county commission can’t come soon enough, because we desperately need to add some bodies to the schedule.
Unfortunately, that too will have to wait.
Ken’s room is the first on the right, closest to the stairwell.
Probably picked for the easy access and the option to keep him somewhat isolated from any other patients.
An agent I don’t recognize is posted outside the door, and one more is inside the room, along with Mancuso, who is in front of the window.
The vertical blinds are partially closed, keeping the light in the room fairly dim.
I only have a vague recollection of Ken Choi from the few times I encountered him when he was a teenager, and of course I’ve seen his mug shots, but I have a hard time recognizing the gaunt man semi-reclined in the hospital bed.
He’s not looking back though, his eyes are fixed on his sister, who hesitates a few steps into the room.
“I’d like to talk to my sister alone.”
Choi’s voice is raspy, like that of an old man.
“Can’t do that,” Mancuso states.
“Come on, man. Where are we gonna fucking go? Hover outside the door for all I care, just give me a few minutes.”
“Hugo stays,” Bess speaks up, reaching a hand behind her.
I grab on and take a step closer.
Choi’s eyes slide over his sister’s shoulder and land on me.
“You her man?”
“He is,” Bess answers firmly before I can.
Clearly she’s done with men talking over her head like she’s not there. Good for her.
“Fine. He can stay, I’ve got a thing or two to say to him, but the rest of you out.”
Savvy turns to smile at Bess.
“We’ll be right outside.”
Then she moves past us into the hallway. Mancuso no more than grunts before he follows, motioning the other agent out of the room as well.
It’s just the three of us now, and suddenly the silence feels heavy.
“The cop says I won’t be able to contact you after,” Ken addresses his sister. “Ever.”
“I was afraid of that,” she softly acknowledges.
He nods his head, looking at Bess with something that looks a lot like pain in his eyes.
“They want me to tell them everything I know, to be their rat and help them bring down the Squad. Mancuso says it may be the only way you’ll have a chance at a normal life.”
His eyes come back to me for a moment.
“You gonna be there for her?”
“For as long as she’ll have me,” I assure him.
Bess
“Is that what you want, Bess?”
His features become distorted from the tears filling my eyes.
“You want this life?”
I know he wants to hear me say it. To help him come to terms with what ultimately has to be his decision.
“I love my life,” I share honestly, moving around the bed to take one of his hands in mine.
The palm of his hand is callused, but I welcome the warm friction against my own. I file the sensation away to draw on as a tangible memory of the brother I’m about to lose again.
He glances down at our joined hands before his eyes come back up to meet mine.
“I’m sorry…I haven’t been much of a brother.”
He shrugs, his eyes sliding past me to the window, when they suddenly widen.
I’m just starting to turn around when Hugo yells, “Get down!”
At the same time I hear the sound of glass shattering, his heavy body hits my back, taking me down to the ground.
My ears are ringing and my cheek is ground into the linoleum, Hugo’s weight is robbing me of air, as I watch Ken drop to the floor on the other side of the bed.
Our eyes lock as chaos ensues in the room around us.
People rush inside. There’s yelling, the sharp crack of gunshots, and the sound of screams in the background.
I’m starting to get disoriented, no longer able to see clearly as I struggle to breathe. Suddenly the weight is lifted and Hugo rolls off me.
Or rather, is rolled off me, by Mancuso, who is wearing a grim expression.
“We need medical assistance!” he yells as he starts dragging Hugo out of the room.
I suffer a similar fate, when I’m grabbed under my arms and pulled into the hallway.
Savvy crouches down beside me, brushing the hair out of my face.
“Bess? Where are you hurt?”
Hurt? Am I hurt?
“I don’t…I don’t think so.”
I’m not even sure what happened back there, but other than maybe a few bruises, I don’t think I was injured.
I push myself up to sitting, and catch sight of Ken on the other side of the hallway, his back against the wall and his face even paler than before.
Mancuso is by his side. Then my eyes are drawn to a huddle of medical staff crouched over someone on the floor ten feet away, and those long legs sticking out look all too familiar.
“Hugo…” I mutter, trying to scramble toward him on hands and knees, when Savvy pulls me back.
“Let them work on him.”
“What happened? What’s wrong with him?”
“He was injured.”
“What do you mean?”
Then my brother speaks up across from me.
“Your man took a bullet meant for you.”