“Could be. You knew it was a possibility.” I wasn’t in the mood for what-ifs. Either he was being followed or he was paranoid and we shouldn’t patch him in.
“Yeah. No one’s approached me, but this is the part you might be interested in: Gerry’s getting nightly visitors.”
“What the fuck?” I bolted upright in my seat.Motherfucker. He hasn’t learned from the last time he approached the cartel for protection.The innocent were the first to be sacrificed. If Gerry had any more deals out in the wild, we wouldn’t see them coming until it was too late. It wasn’t as if he would ever tell us the truth.
“I’m not about to jeopardize my patch when I’m this close.” B pinched his thumb and forefinger together before looking away. His jaw clenched, and guilt flickered across his face. “I’ve got a high school friend who’s a nurse’s aide here.”
“Spit it the fuck out,” I bellowed. Suddenly, he’d grown a conscience.
“You don’t have to yell at me, old man.”
“Try me, and I’ll beat your fucking ass.” If he didn’t speed this along, I was going to reach over and strangle him.
“Gerry’s room is on the corner, so they’re sneaking visitors in through the side door after ten. The nurse’s aide I know said it’s always the same. A suit walks in first. The call girl stays in the hallway. He’s out in fifteen minutes. The girl spends the night, picked up before the next shift change.”
“You’re being watched.”
“Yeah. This would be a lot easier if Gerry would just die already.”
“Should’ve buried him in the backyard,” I muttered.
The cartel hadn’t vanished. They were reloading, and we wouldn’t see the barrel until they aimed it directly at us.
***
Elizabeth
My heels clicked on the linoleum floor as I passed by each closed door, the sound dragging behind me like chains.
“Oh, Ms. Elizabeth,” the nurse said, her head popping up over the counter. “I didn’t know you were visiting today. If I had, I would have brought you some of my mother’s banana bread.”
“Yes…plea…” I nodded, trying to find the words. “How’s…Ger…?”
She shook her head before gently leading me into a small conference room next to the nurse’s station. “I don’t know what to tell you, Ms. Elizabeth. He’s fighting the therapists.”
A chill crawled up my spine. I’d been to enough doctor’s appointments, therapy sessions, and even a cryobath facility to read between the words. Gerry was resisting his own fate, and the facility wouldn’t keep wasting its time. They’d kick him out and find someone else who was grateful for the opportunity.
It wasn’t the progress I was concerned about. Recovery wouldn’t save him—everything he had built had already crumbled. It was when a man became desperate that he was at his most dangerous.
I tried to thank the nurse, but she gave me a knowing look and left me in silence. Reminding myself that I was strong enough to bear this alone, I prayed for peace, but the dread coiled in my chest, tightening into an unbearable knot.
I couldn’t stay in the conference room forever. The kitten heels clicked as I walked farther down the hallway, each step sending a shooting pain up my leg until my lower back was on fire. The only cure would be an extra-strength pain reliever to knock me out.
At one point, walking in heels would have been second nature, but now they were an evil necessity. Gerry had complained at Christmas when I’d worn my pajamas in the clubhouse. He’d never seen me dressed down and had thrown a tantrum. If I came to visit, respectably dressed with flawless makeup, it usually bought me at least half an hour of regular conversation.
His room was the last one in the hallway, but even if it wasn’t, that wouldn’t stop him from flinging insults at me. He wouldn’t care who heard. Pulling my shoulders back, I stood straight, my body aching at the forced movement, and knocked. There was no answer.
I cracked the door, but the lights were off. “Hi,” I whispered, in case he was sleeping. There was still no response. I should have been worried, immediately flinging the door open, but this was just one of Gerry’s games. I was tired of playing, but I didn’t really have a choice.
Sticking my head through the opening, I saw Gerry’s shape in the bed. He was lying on his side, facing the window. “Are…you up?” I murmured, not wanting to wake him if he was napping.
“I am now.” Gerry rolled over, propping the pillows behind him before sitting up in bed. He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re the only one who visits me.”
“How…are…you?” I asked, trying to remain calm, but he wasn’t hiding his hatred.
“Did you let them write off their own father?” he snapped.
I stepped into the room, walking over to an overstuffed chair near his bed. “Didn’t…answer…” I pointed to myself instead of finishing my sentence.
