Part 6 (1/2)
”Okay,” I said aloud. ”I need all the details. Where's he at, and what's the best way to get there without anybody seeing me along the way. Also, who's with him?”
”What do you mean?”
”Come on. He's obviously not going to just walk out the front door. There must be somebody picking him up. Unless he's taking a taxi or something.”
”You didn't see it?” Perry flicked away the cigarette b.u.t.t. ”On the service road, other side of the parking lot.”
”I didn't come that way.” I pointed to the street's brighter lights. ”After I talked to Mason, I came straight over here.”
”Huh.” Under the gray overalls, his shoulders lifted in a shrug. ”Thought maybe you'd scope out the scene a little bit. You know, see what was going on around here.”
”Good thing I didn't. If I'd done major reconnaissance, this guy would've been gone already. So tell me, what is it you think I should've seen?”
”Guy's got a whole crew.” Perry nodded toward the darkness past the other side of the hospital parking lot. ”Least half a dozen.”
c.r.a.p. This Plan B was growing more complicated by the minute.
”Are they inside?” I pointed with my thumb to the hospital building behind us. ”With him?”
”No ” Perry shook his head. ”Not the last time I checked. He got himself moved into a private room ”
”Private?”
”Money talks.” This time, he gave an appreciative nod. ”Guy's got some major bucks. Enough to get whatever he wants. Let's just say he's not exactly a charity patient, if you get what I mean.”
”Yeah, I do.” I looked up the side of the building, wondering if one of the lit windows was his. ”So what's he doing in this private room?”
”Making phone calls least I think so.” Perry shrugged. ”I only got a little peek in there. He's got one of those . . . what d'ya call 'em . . . flat things . . .”
”Tablet?”
”Yeah but not a big one. Little one handheld.”
Must've been something he'd had on him, when he'd been brought into the emergency room. Maybe in some kind of high-impact protective case if I'd had my phone in one of those, it might still be working, and I wouldn't have to use the c.r.a.ppy little burner that Mason had laid on me.
”Okay.” In my head, I started sorting out my possible moves. ”So he's up there, by himself. But you said he's got a team here? What're they doing?'
”I told you they're over on the service. They're unloading a car. You know those long trailers that race cars get moved around in? Like that.”
More stuff I was familiar with, from my brother Donnie's NASCAR fascination.
”What kind of car?”
”Muscle car. You know, something with a big displacement engine ”
”I know what a muscle car is, thank you.” I took a guess. ”It wouldn't have been a Dodge Challenger, would it? Like a new one?”
”You know . . . I think you're right. In the can, there's always a lot of car magazines floating around. Road & Track, that sort of thing. They're like p.o.r.n when you're locked up. That must've been where I saw one before.”
d.a.m.n this guy in the hospital, whoever he was, had a serious car predilection. Two Challengers? Just so he could have one as a backup? He wipes one out, and all he has to do is call his pit crew for them to bring the second one out. Kind of stylish, I suppose, in a testosterone-ridden way but we're also talking serious money here. Guys with that kind of bankroll didn't usually go chasing down people themselves. At least, not in my experience. They hired people to do the dirty work. For this guy to get into the action himself something deep and weird was going on.
There wasn't time now to figure out what it was, though. Muscle cars, pit crews, money whatever the deal was with this guy, Plan B still was to make sure that he wasn't going to be coming after me.
”So the whole crew's over there right now? On the service road?”
”Yeah.” Another nod from Perry. ”I snuck over there and took a look at 'em, just before you showed up. They had the hood up on the car, and they were working on the engine.”
Great if I didn't take out this guy, he'd have a completely tuned and tweaked ride, to come racing after me. My guess was that meant he was serious.
I had Perry give me the key code for the hospital's stairway doors. Taking that way, it'd be easier getting up to the fifth floor without being seen than if I used any of the elevators.
”Wait a minute ” A thought suddenly struck me. ”What about the security cameras? Place like this must be full of them.” Last thing I wanted was for my face to be captured on some hard drive.
”You're in luck,” said Perry. ”They're all dead.” He pointed to a spot beyond me.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw a camera mounted to the wall, just inside the loading dock's gate. The little red dot underneath the lens was dark.
”You're sure?”
”Yep.” Perry nodded. ”I looked inside the guard office. All the monitor screens are blank. Dead as a mackerel.”
That was convenient for me, but weirdly so. Maybe it had something to do with the Challenger guy he might've paid to have all the gear switched off so there'd be less record of whatever he got up to while he was here at the hospital. Didn't really matter, I supposed, as long as it worked in my favor.
”Anything else I need to know?” I wanted to get going and take care of this job, before the crew on the service road finished up and brought the second Challenger around to the front of the building.
”Don't know how useful it is for ya ” Perry b.u.t.toned the flap over the pack of cigarettes in his coverall breast pocket. ”But his name's Stinson.”
”How do you know that?”
”Heard him say it. When I stuck my head in his room, and he was answering his phone. Or tablet, or whatever it is. He said, Yeah, this is Stinson.” Perry shrugged. ”So it's his name. That's all.”
It didn't ring any bells with me.
But something else did. All of a sudden, a lot of things became clear, that had been ticking away at the back of my mind.
”All right.” I dug into my jacket pocket and held up the burner phone. ”You've got this number, don't you?”
He nodded.
”I need you to sneak back out there to the service road and check on how those guys are coming along on that car.”
A frown. ”Why?”
”I didn't say I needed questions, did I?” The phone slid back into my pocket. ”This is my job, and I'll do it the way I want, okay? I'll be heading upstairs, so as soon as you've got an idea about how long before they bring the car around to the front door, ring me. That's all I'm asking you to do.”
”Whatever.” He s.h.i.+fted the wooden handle from his shoulder, leaving the mop sitting in the wheeled bucket. I watched as he jumped down from the edge of the loading dock, then headed out into the dark.