Courting Death - Carol Stephenson [68]
“What are you doing here?” a familiar male voice demanded.
I spun to face the back of the room where Damian Quint stood by a steel cart packed with tubs. Rather than his usual Palm Beach look, he wore surgical scrubs, and a mask hung around his neck. He reached behind his back and pulled out a gun.
I held up my hands to show I wasn’t carrying anything. “Take it easy, Damian. You need to evacuate everyone in here.”
“Right.” He advanced down the aisle. “And run straight into the arms of the police? I don’t think so.”
“Can’t you smell the gasoline? Claire Whitman thinks the organs of her baby are here. She plans to set the building on fire.”
“Claire’s home safe and sound under heavy medication.” Damian reached me and pointed the gun at my head. “What have you done with Chang?”
“I haven’t done anything with him.”
“Bull. He was out here readying the next shipment.” Then the man’s nostrils flared. “What the hell? That is gas.”
From behind I heard a swish and a draft of cold air rushed past me. “Drop the gun, Damian.”
I turned. The door of a walk-in unit stood wide open. Brian Whitman held a gun. Anger darkened Quint’s face, but fear also flickered in his eyes. “What do you think you’re doing, Brian? Where’s Lee?”
Brian stepped away to reveal the crumpled form of Dr. Chang lying inside the cooler. Obviously responding to the greater threat, Quint swung his revolver toward Brian and away from me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another cooler door open. Claire stepped out. “Look out,” I cried, but she fired.
Quint screamed, dropping his gun. Raw flesh and blood blossomed across his upper arm. Clutching the wound, he sagged to his knees. I stepped toward the pistol, but Claire pointed her gun at me. “Don’t move.”
Quint peeled his lips back at Brian. “You two-timing son of a bitch.”
Brian wore a glazed, feverish expression. “I tried to tell you two, but you wouldn’t listen. Then you savaged Rebecca’s body.”
Claire whimpered but maintained her stance.
Sam had once said you could tell when someone is about to kill. You sense the person getting ready to squeeze the trigger, and that signal was coming loud and clear from Brian.
I spoke in a calm tone. “You killed them all in revenge, didn’t you? Depp, Hassenfeld and the two truck drivers.”
“Yes. They all denied being the one who removed her organs, but I knew it had to be one of them that did Damian’s dirty work.”
“Make Damian tell me where Becca’s organs are, Brian, so I can set her free,” Claire said in a low, fierce voice. I didn’t know what kind of medications her husband had used on her, but his wife clearly was beyond any bonds of sanity. Her fragile grip on reality had snapped.
“Why did you want me here, Claire?”
Her eyes darted to me. “Brian said we needed to make it look like you did it.”
“For God’s sake.” Despite his gray pallor, Quint managed an arrogant smile. “Didn’t you know your attorney is sleeping with the cop investigating the organ operation? She probably called him before coming here.”
I merely nodded. Claire hesitated and then strode toward him, striking the gun against his good shoulder. “Tell me where Rebecca’s heart is or I’ll keep putting bullets into you until you do.”
I stepped in front of the automatic Quint had dropped. Claire bared her teeth. “Don’t take another step or I’ll blow out your kneecap.”
“Brian’s using you, Claire.”
Tears streamed down her face. “No, he’s not. He’s been avenging our daughter.”
“Have you asked him why her body was mutilated in the first place?”
“You shut your mouth.” Brian started toward me but a low groan from the cooler drew his attention. Chang shifted slightly. Brian brought the butt of his gun down on Chang’s head. The doctor subsided.
“Damian, do you want to tell Claire what her charming husband and his frat buddies have been up to?”
The man swayed. “Since you’ve figured it out, why don’t you tell her?”
Hoping not to push her over the edge, I kept my tone even, conversational. “Brian and his college pals have been running