Page 30 of Resuscitation
Wayne nodded furiously. “What do I need to do?”
“Just your job, Wayne. Get on the radio and tell them it’s all clear here. The ambulance crew thought we were coming here, but they called back to say they got it wrong, we were headed in the other direction to?—”
“Potsdam,” he supplied eagerly. “That’s where cops would go if someone was shot.”
“Good, that’s good.” He nudged him with the butt of his rifle. “Okay, tell them just like that.” Wayne reached for the radio handset, but Brick pressed the rifle butt down on his hand, pinning him to the desk. “Think, Wayne. Would they expect you to call on the landline or radio? After all, it’s not an emergency, just passing on information.”
“Landline.” Brick nodded permission. Wayne’s fingers shook as he raised the handset and dialed. Brick tapped the speaker button.
“Dispatch, what’s up, Wayne?” came a man’s voice.
“Hey, Neil. Just wanted to give you a heads-up. Our medics called back, that SUV with your possible injured officer was headed to Potsdam, not here. Wanted to clarify so you didn’t waste units sending them our way.”
There was a brief pause that had Brick worried, but then the dispatcher came back with, “Potsdam, right? Forwarding the info now.” The sound of typing came over the line. “Did they say which road?”
“Route 37,” Wayne said. “I’ll let you go now. Sure you guys are swamped with the storm and all.”
“Yeah, you’re lucky the clinic’s about to close for the night. Be safe headed home, the roads are slick as shit.”
“Thanks.”
Brick hung up the phone for him—sounded like these two were about to exchange cookie recipes or the like. He’d noted the clinic hours from a sign in the waiting room—so no attempt at a secret message or some such shit there. “Good job, Wayne. One last thing. The clinic’s supposed to close in a few minutes. Do you have a routine for that? Like call all the ambulances in or alert anyone, set an alarm that a security company is expecting to see activated?”
Wayne shook his head vehemently. “They just lock the doors and turn out the lights. I mean, there’s an alarm. There’s still valuable stuff in the building. But it gets set by the security guard when his shift is done, and that isn’t until midnight.”
Brick frowned at the man. Hard enough to make him squirm. “And?”
“Oh, the EMS side of things? My shift also ends at nine when the clinic closes. Used to be when we had an ER here, someone came to relieve me, but now all the calls just go through the county. So, I just lock up and leave, too.”
“But there’s an ambulance out.”
“The medics have their own key codes, come and go when they need. Won’t be for long, we’re closing down in a few weeks. They’re trying to get the ambulance and all the gear donated to the volunteer fire department here in Eastfork, but?—”
Damn, this guy loved to talk about his job. But Brick had heard more than enough. While Wayne was prattling, Brick shifted position to stand behind Wayne, drew his pistol from its holster, and put two in the back of the man’s head.
The gunshots were like sonic booms in the tiny room, rattling the windows. Brick’s ears rang, so he felt more than heard steps thudding across the concrete floor of the ambulance bay, raised his gun as the door to the dispatch office was jerked open, only to see Leon standing there.
“What the fuck, man!” Leon was shouting when Brick’s hearing cleared. “Give a guy a bit of warning, why don’t you?”
Brick had totally forgotten about Leon, assigned to stay outside with the SUV and watch for any cops heading their way.
“Guy was a loser,” Brick said, nudging Wayne’s body to the side as he ripped the landline from the wall and used his rifle to smash the radio. Leon joined in, enthusiastically destroying the other communication equipment.
After, Leon grinned back at him, inhaled a lungful of smoke from the cigarette he held, then crushed the butt in the ground. “Thought we were undercover as cops.”
“Already blew our cover, shot a guard.” Brick jerked a thumb at the building interior. “Boss wants you to go help Tyson. He’s got a bunch of hostages in the waiting room, needs them guarded.” He considered the other man, remembered Leon’s propensity for unnecessary violence. “Needs them safe and sound,” he clarified. “We might need them for bargaining chips.”
Leon side-eyed the doorway and nodded slowly. “Yeah, but we all know Connor’s a goner.” He grinned at his sick rhyme. “Why don’t we just grab the rubies, get the hell outta Dodge?”
Exactly Brick’s plan—only not including Leon. “Mercer’s got the rubies stashed. Until we know where, he’s the boss.”
“The temporary boss, you mean.” Leon winked. “So, keep the hostages alive until we find the gems and can blow this joint? No witnesses left alive, right?”
“No witnesses,” Brick agreed. He just omitted the tiny fact that in his mind, Leon was also a witness, already good as dead along with everyone else in the building.
ChapterFifteen
Friday,February 13th, 8:53 P.M.
