chapter 161

word count: 1319

without so much as a word from boa,, the driver knew exactly where to take her.. the escalade meandered down some pretty rough looking streets before it came to rest in front of a large warehouse turned loft space.. under armed guard, boa exited the escalade,, slipped her pass key into the digital lock on the warehouse door and stepped into the dimly lit entrance way to the safe house..  

accompanied by manny,, her driver, and the cleaner that went by no other name,, they made their way up the scantily lighted staircase, where the driver nodded to boa, signifying that was the apartment the good doctor was being held in.. 

with a flourish in her walk,, and a smile on her face she entered the elaborately decorated loft space,, where she saw kevin stretched out on the italian leather sofa, asleep, as he awaited her arrival.. 

“wake up sleeping beauty!” she said as she prodded him with her sealskin handbag.. “time to get down to business here..”

kevin rousted,, surveyed his surroundings and then sat up.. “what the fuck is going on here boa?” 

“when you didn’t show up at the prescribed meeting,,  i sent one of the boys over to collect you.. i told you when you so forcefully cajoled me into meeting with you that i had a prearranged meeting, and therefore i had no time to come around and collect you myself."

“but jeez,, was it necessary to have the idiot drug me? you know i would have come along peaceably,, after all it was me who wanted to meet with you,, not the other way around.” kevin said as he rubbed the irritated injection site on the back of his neck..

“the idiot,, as you so deftly referred to him, said he found you on the floor of your office, quite disoriented.. tell me about that..”

boa took a seat there by giving the impression that she was truly concerned about what had happened to cause him to miss their meet up at the recovery room.. 

“ok.. let me start at the beginning here,, as it is all rather convoluted,, and even i am not quite sure exactly what lead up to that woman lying me out in my office.."

boa checked the time on her cell impatiently.. “can we just get to the point here??” she goaded him on.. 

“it all started with an emergency surgery i did this afternoon.. a kid was admitted in acute abdominal distress,, and the x-rays pointed to a foreign body located in the stomach.. everything looked rather routine,, till i opened him up,, and found the source of his distress was a fucking diamond ring.. and i am not just talkin’ your mama’s wedding ring here,, i am talking a rock!!”

“get to the point kevin,, i haven’t much time..” boa instructed him,, careful not to show any interest in the diamond what so ever.. 

“ok,, so since we were short staffed,, it was only me and gina, uhm, nurse o’houlihan in the o.r.  at the time,, well there was of course the anesthesiologist,, but he was so busy monitoring the patients vitals,, that when i announced the mass was inconsequential,, he took little or no note of what we had actually removed from the kids stomach..”

boa sighed loudly as if to emphasize the fact that this whole reenactment was boring her to death, as kevin continued. 

“so gina and i, realizing we had something amazingly valuable on our hands,, and no one was any the wiser, informed the family that the mass had been removed,, it was nothing of any consequence and the patient should make a full recovery..”

“and what may i ask does any of this have to do with me?” boa feigned agitation..

“well i sent gina off to pick each of us up an overnight bag,, with instructions to meet me at the recovery room at 7:15.. at which time i would have you and your cleaner there,, to eliminate her  from the whole scenario,, thus leaving you and i in possession of the diamond..”    

boa replayed the parking lot scenario,, and wondered if the woman the cleaner had disposed of was this gina, of which kevin spoke.. 

“well what happened after that is still a bit  confusing.. i dropped the diamond into a bottle of mercurochrome that i use as a paperweight on my desk thinking it was safer than keeping it on me,, and then wanting to maintain my usual schedule so as not to raise any red flags, i went for my post shift run.. when i got back, i was met at my office door by some british journalist,, or at least she said she was a journalist,, hot little number too i might add,, who said she was doing a story on effect the emergency surgery i had performed that afternoon had on the family,, and said she wanted to get my take on the situation..”

boa made every effort to impress upon kevin that she was clearly getting pissed..  she glared at him giving him the impression that this whole scenario was a total and complete waste of her time,, yet was inwardly rejoicing in the fact that she had possession of the bottle of mercurochrome,, and no one but her was any the wiser..

“long story short,, this little brunette job,, choked me out,, took the bottle of mercurochrome containing the diamond and left me on the floor,, which is evidently when your guy came into the picture,, spiked me,, and the next thing i knew,, i was here,, coming out of a funk."

“so then the whole story ends with you no longer in possession of the diamond,, and some brit looker  on the loose with it.. i fail to see where i fit into the picture..” 

“i am telling you boa,, this thing is a rock.. it’s worth millions if it is worth a dime.. the only other person that knows about it is gina.. we still need to take her out of the picture, so that when we locate the brit, the stone is all ours..”

“when??” questioned boa sarcastically. “don’t you mean if?? for all we know this little sweat meat has already boarded a plane with your precious rock and is on her way out of the country..” 

“well if anyone can find her,, it’s you, boa.. and believe me when i tell you it would be well worth your time and trouble to do so.” kevin attempted to stand,, found his legs still unable to solidly hold his weight,, and sat back down on the couch.. 

boa stood up,, “and this gina?? where can i locate her??”

“837 rockwell apartment 412.. if she’s not there she might have gone back to my apartment to wait for me since i never showed up at the recovery room.. she’s gonna be on edge,, but i think if you tell her i sent you,, she will be just greedy enough to follow you wherever you want her to go..”

“alright then,, i’ll look into it..” boa muttered as she headed toward the door,, and without so much as a glance back in kevin’s direction,, exited the apartment. 

she was met in the hallway by her driver,  manny,, and the cleaner who stood at the ready.. 

“manny, bring the car around.” she barked,, and he jumped into action..

“and you,” she said as she made direct eye contact with the cleaner,, ”this one,, and the skank.. get rid of them both,, they will be of no further use to us.”

secure in the fact that the cleaner would not only follow through on her direct order but also do so in such a way that would never implicate her involvement in any way,, she had just one loose end to tie up..

 gina o’houlihan,, and she would see to that little trifle on her own..

Chapter 160

word count 1113

Boa took another sip of from the fluted glass and exhaled in a long stream. Time to chill. It wasn't often she had an interlude to shake off her facade and become plain, simple Sally Blum, her birthright name and personality. Her feet ached. The expensive boots rubbed and were tight, especially on her right foot. The private room allowed her time alone to tug off the high-heeled boot and examine the source of her pain. A blister on her big toe had rubbed and broken. Raw pink skin surrounded by blood and shredded tissue was all that was left of the swollen spot. She wished she had something to put on it. Then she remembered the bottle in her sealskin handbag. Mercurochrome! She had thought a bottle of that stuff was an odd thing for the girl to be clutching when she took it away from Priscilla. But it did come in handy at the moment. The goop would stain her skin, but she had no plans for anyone to see her foot anyway.

Rummaging in the bag, she found it, carelessly opening the bottle, extracting the dropper, applying the red liquid without a second thought. Closing the bottle, she tossed it back in her bag. Pulling the boot back on, she took a cleansing breath and resumed her Boa persona. Her driver should be here soon. Time to get the show on the road. Her cell rang, indicating her limo had arrived and waited at the entrance.

“Let's go see the good doctor,” she murmured, strutting her stuff out the door. Her injured toe felt so much better after the quick treatment. That Mercurochrome was good stuff.



* * *

Back at the precinct, they had all gathered—Buzz, Trudy, Hank, Algie, Mrs. Dunn, John, and Lisa. The boys' parents had come in person to tell Buzz about the missing diamond ring. When they heard about the abductions, they stuck around just in case the diamond was related to the strange events. It was an unusual find, and they didn't know what to think of the ring. Maybe it fit in.

At the starting point, no one knew exactly what was going on. So they got to work, comparing stories. It was like a puzzle where each person's piece of information hopefully fit into a slot to comprise a final, sensible whole. They were determined to accomplish this task, step by tedious step.

The foremost event on all of their minds were the abductions. No one wanted to see anybody get hurt. And Gil, in particular, was a favorite of them all. His being missing filled the room with a somber atmosphere.

“So, we have two people abducted. Now for what reason?” Buzz asked. He was already missing Gil because the Machine was his best detective for hypotheses.“What do Priscilla and Gil have in common, and why would someone take them? What's the motivation here, folks?”

“Well, I don't know if it is related, but as we told you, we're suspicious of Dr. Collins pulling a large diamond ring from Elliot's stomach in his emergency surgery and, frankly, just stealing it. Maybe that ring plays into this.” That said, John put an arm around Lisa and waited.

Algernon stroked his goatee in uneasy movements. He noticed Winifred motioning him to step away and talk to her.

“Algie, we've got to tell them something to make them realize the diamond is, indeed, the issue. If we're going to get Priscilla back, and possibly the jewel, although for me that is now secondary what with human life being more important—we need them to be working with us in this rather than running willy nilly not knowing what to think.”

“Yes, of course. You're right.” Algernon patted her shoulder and returned to the group.

“I think I know for certain the gem might be at the center of this,” he said.  There isn't a Brit alive who is not fascinated by the missing Princess Diana diamond, as are Winifred and myself, and my beloved Priscilla. Priscilla told me she had heard rumors of it being around these parts and I know she was fascinated. Perhaps that ring the boys had is the very diamond ring that is missing from Her Majesty's collection. Perhaps Priscilla and/or Detective Bettencourt got too close to finding out it.”

“If that's true, one or both of them would have come in contact with this Dr. Collins. Hank, see if we can track him down,” Buzz said. Hank dashed off to do the boss's bidding.

Mrs. Dunn shot Algie a tiny smile. Then the older woman suddenly shuddered and her expression changed from contentment to one of dismay. Her eyes grew smaller and her face paled. Seeing her hands starting to tremble, Algernon rushed to her.

“What's wrong, Winnie!” he asked. “Oh, I knew you should have stayed in hospital!”

“Oh, Algie. I just had an icy rush like I'd stepped over an open grave. Oh, I bet something has happened to poor Priscilla!”

“Whatever do you mean?” he asked.

“Oh, I call it my sixth sense. I can tell when someone close to me is in danger. That's a given. But what I felt just now was so much more than the usual rush. I've never had such an intense feeling before.” Uncontrollable tears rolled down the old lady's cheeks. “Oh, Algie! This isn't good.”

Buzz, seeing Mrs. Dunn crying, rushed over. “Mrs. Dunn, what's wrong?” He asked in a manner nothing like his usual gruff demeanor. The big man was visibly shaken to see his housekeeper in such a state.

“Oh, Detective Miller, I just got an awful feeling about Priscilla.”

As the two embraced, Algie stepped aside and placed a call to Frank even though he knew it was fruitless. If he'd been taken, too, then all Algie could hope for was that the American was still all right.

Along the sidelines, Trudy heard Mrs. Dunn say “Priscilla” and something in her snapped. She hadn't gone through living with the sisters and everything else to have her man rushing off at the very mention of the name Priscilla.

“DAMN YOU!” she screeched. She hurled herself at Buzz and began pounding on his chest, knocking him off his feet.

“What the fuck!” he roared as the man fell backwards. With his weak knee, he couldn't keep his balance and thus pounded to the floor, and with Trudy falling on top of him. She landed straddling the fallen man in a compromising position.

“Oh!” she murmured, smiling with pleasure, rubbing her petite body against his in a gyrating motion. Until she realized Buzz was unconscious.

chapter 159

word count: 1374

as gil and frank tried to make head or tails out of the incidents surrounding what had taken place in the parking lot of the recovery room,, a letterbox size opening in the wall that separated them from the cab of the cargo van slid open,, allowing whoever was in in the cab to peer ominously into the rear of the van, yet remain indistinguishable to the two of them.. no sooner did it slide open,, it was just as quickly slammed shut.. 

“we got us a bit of a problem rudy,,” remarked the thug that was riding shotgun to the driver once he was sure the slider was securely closed and their privacy was secured in the sound proofed cab. “the two of ‘em,, their commin’ around..”

“eh, no biggie, ray“ replied the driver as he reached under his seat and flipped a hidden switch.. “that oughta take care of it.. the two of them ought to sleepin’ like a couple a babies in no time.. and don’t be opening that slider,, ya dimbulb,, or you’ll knock us all out..”

“got ‘cha.” responded ray,, disinterestedly.. “what da ya say we should pick up a sammich or somethin’ while we are waiting to hear back from boa.. i’m starvin’..”

*** 

meanwhile,, in the private office of mr. big located just off the noisy kitchen at silk, the big guy was busy giving boa the adulterated version of the situation surrounding the whereabouts of the precious gem.. he had already caught wind of her personal involvement in this little caper, as it were,, and was waiting for her to come off with the goods.. if she failed to do so,, although it would sadden him greatly,,  seeing as how she had proven herself to be much to valuable a commodity to have around,, if he had to eliminate her over a fricking chunk of pressure treated coal,,  so be it.. after all,, business was business..

“ok, “ boa  spoke up after mr. big had said his piece.. “let me make sure i have this straight.  as far as we know,, the last know whereabouts of the kids that shook the salami and his sidekick was new albany memorial hospital.. you had frank the skank on surveillance detail over there, until he was called away by british intel,, and at your suggestion that he maintain his cover with them,, he accepted their spur of the moment assignment,, thereby being taken into their confidence and was made privy to the  possible whereabouts of the stone.. seems they sent him over to subdue some nurse they had in their sights, and do a thorough rip through of her place, which unfortunately  came up empty..”

the big man remained silent as he nodded and with a circular motion of his hand encouraged boa to continue. he was generously reeling out the line,, hoping she would have the common sense to pull herself in,, but on the ready to hang her with it if the situation presented itself. 

“ so,, the team that followed up the skanks run through of the nurses apartment,  extracted any pertinent intel from the nurse, once she came too,, and then proceeded to clean up that little loose end.. fortunately,, before her untimely demise they were  able to extract from her the name of the last known possessor of the gem, which just happened to be, the one and only doctor kevin collins,, chief of surgery, at new albany memorial, who, as you well know,,  just so happens to be a personal friend of mine.. and as fate would have it, he had contacted me soliciting my help and advising me that a cleaner may be in order,, which is what brought myself and my posse to the parking lot of the recovery room in the first place..”

“go on my dear..” admonished mr. big,, quite pleased that she had thus far come off with the lead in to the information he was resolute in extracting.. 

“i believe it will please you to know,, that i have already received confirmation that the good doctor has been gathered up,, and is awaiting my presence in a secure location..”

“always one step ahead..” a pleased mr. big congratulated her on her foresight.. “i rest assured i can count on you to follow up on this in a timely manner and report back to me as soon as the location of the object in question has been secured..”

with that,, he motioned for her to stand up,, kissed her elegantly outstretched hand,, and dismissed her without so much as another word..  she had no sooner stepped out of his office when he motioned for leonardo, his top enforcer to step out from the cleverly disguised emergency escape door behind which he had been standing at the ready in the event boa was not forthcoming with the information mr. big came into this meeting expecting her to disclose.. 

“don’t let her out of your sight.” he commanded, as leonardo jumped at his command and exited thru the hidden passageway that would lead him directly to the rear entrance of the club undetected. once there,, he pulled his care around front,, took a parking space where he had an excellent view of the vip entrance,, and waited for boa’s car to pull around and pick her up. 

checking the time on her cell,, and realizing she had some time to kill,, boa stepped up to the bar in the vip room and ordered up a celebratory glass of their most expensive champagne..  all had gone incredibly well with mr big. she had not only lived up to,, but seemingly exceeded his expectations and felt secure in the fact that he would only be further pleased with her once she was able to get her hooks into kevin and secure the whereabouts of the diamond.  she took her flute of champagne and retired to one of the soundproof private dance rooms,, as she had a number of calls to place before her driver returned for her.. 

the first call she placed was to rudy, the van driver.. she had to make sure that frank the skank had been delivered to the appointed meeting place,, and they were successfully keeping that pesky detective that had most unfortunately been in the wrong place at the wrong time, adequately sedated until she figured out what to do with him.. 

“go!” rudy barked into the phone in lieu of a proper greeting. 

“update.” boa retorted knowing no introduction was necessary.. 

“we dropped the skank off at the loft.. had to let loose the la la juice on him and the dick as they started to roust before we had reached our destination,, so he’s still sobering up.”

“and the dick?” boa inquired.

“still out of it.. gave him another shot when we dropped the skank off, so he should be under the weather for quite some time..”

“excellent. stand by for further instructions.” boa disconnected the call before the driver even had time respond.

next she placed a call to her driver. “update!” she once again barked into the phone.. 

“the sweet breads have been successfully delivered into the hands of the butcher. they are currently being packaged for shipping..” the driver snickered into the phone,, finding humor in the fact that he had cleverly referred to that hot little brunette number they had offed in the rear seat of the escalade as ‘sweat breads’..

“just get to the fucking point!!” boa, not at all amused, was quickly losing patience.. 

“yeah, yeah,” the driver sputtered,, “just finishin’ up the cleanup.. outta be there in i’d say about twenty minutes.”

“make sure you are.” boa concluded the call abruptly,, and returned her attentions to her glass of champagne.

the only loose end at this point in time was kevin.. and she knew he would pose no problem.. after all,, it was he who had originally requested her help in this matter.. as it stood he had no way of knowing that she was any he wiser as to the existence of the diamond,, and she fully intended to keep it that way.. she would allow him to inform her,, to take her into his confidence,, and she had no doubt he would.. as she had seen to it,, that he had nowhere else to turn..

Chapter 158

word count 1165

Mrs. Dunn sat in her oh-so-practical Ford in the Recovery Room parking lot watching events transpire. One-by-one, victims of the notorious Boa were carted off. When she first saw Frank standing with the others, gun drawn and ready for action, she couldn't have been more surprised. Algernon had never told her Frank, the raucous American of their association, was on this assignment. Just another example of Algie's total disregard for procedure! And for her! When she saw Priscilla being shoved into the Escalade, a terrible fear gripped the older woman's heart. She had to find Algernon right away! Priscilla wasn't her favorite person in this world, but she didn't stand a chance alone against these scoundrels.

Algernon's Edsel had readily drawn her to the lot. The auto stood out when gazing from the highway like an albino buffalo in a herd of dark. She'd spied it as soon as she walked out of hospital and lazily shot a glance across the road. Now assuming Algie must be inside, she scurried into the busy restaurant. Once her eyes adjusted to the dim light, it was easy to spy him sitting with Buzz and the others. Buzz was the first to notice her from across the room.

“What the hell? Mrs. Dunn?” he shot out of his chair and ran to her. “I thought you were in the hospital, dear!”

“I signed myself out. Well, I didn't really sign out. I just left. Oh, never mind! It doesn't matter. Detective Miller—Detective Bettencourt and Priscilla are both in grave danger, I fear. I just saw both of them abducted in the parking lot. You've got to do something.”

By this time, she was surrounded by the others. Algernon, on hearing about Priscilla, jerked in surprise being obviously alarmed. Mrs. Dunn leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Frank, too, has been taken.”

Algie nodded slightly to acknowledge her words as Buzz addressed him.

“Don't worry, Mr. English. We'll get your wife back...”

Mrs. Dunn looked to Algernon and mouthed, “Your wife?” Algie held one finger to his lips in a discreet way to tell her to shut up.

Back around the table, Hank and Buzz grilled the housekeeper while Algie listened in, keeping his observations and plans to himself. Mrs. Dunn had wisely jotted down license plate numbers and descriptions which help Buzz get started calling it in.

Trudy sat quietly, feeling left out. Her usual jealousy raged at the idea of Priscilla's abduction being so important to Buzz. She felt about ready to blow.

***
Frank opened his eyes to feel pain ricocheting from the back of his head to the front. Even lifting his eyelids required easing past stabs of agony and shooting stars. He was in the back of a van, completely enclosed. Dark metal walls encased the cargo area with no windows. Not a good place for the claustrophobic, which he was. It was also impossible to know who was in the cab driving, or where they were going.
Thinking back, whatever happened must have been connected to that dark, sexy siren holding the gun known as Boa from the underworld of organized crime. Her legendary status preceded her. What a piece of work that lady was, and if you were in trouble, a character like that was always at the root of it.

A bump and a rustle indicated something had just moved in the dark van. His resources went on high alert. But before he could react, he heard a moan. His pulse quickened. He needed to wake up more, to figure out what was up. Fighting back the shooting pain in his head, he turned in the dim light to see a man beside him struggling to sit up.

“I didn't realize I had company,” Frank murmured, faking friendliness while trying to bolster his resources to fight.

The guy looked at him in surprise. “Sorry I didn't see you. Someone shot me up with one hell of a sedative. I'm still pretty groggy.” The fellow rubbed the back of his neck and winced.

“What's your name?” Frank asked. This guy didn't seem any more prepared to fight than he did.

“Gil Bettencourt,” he paused to look over Frank, a good long observation. “Homicide, New Albany Police Department. What about yourself?”

“Frank McCord. Used to be FBI. Just sort of a free agent these days though.” Yeah, this guy looked like a cop. He could spot one a mile away.

Gil arched one eyebrow in interest. “Did you get drummed out?”

“Nah, just sort of a mutual parting of the ways. I do better work on my own anyway. Fewer restrictions.”

“So, what—you work for hire? Private investigations and that?”

“Yeah.” He kept his answers short and sweet. His head hurt, but he'd persevered in talking with this Gil guy because he needed to know what he had, an ally or an enemy, whichever applied.

“So what the hell happened?” Gil asked.

Frank didn't want to give anything away. “Beats me,” he said.

“Well, in any event, we need to get out of this van.”

* * *
It wasn't certain which boy said it first, but once the idea was out, they all agreed. The pressure was too much. Knowing the ring Elliot had swallowed was big and beautiful and probably valuable...then his taking ill and needing to be rushed to the hospital, having emergency surgery, it was all too much for the little boys to handle on their own.

When the ring was still not accounted for by the time Elliot got home from the hospital that afternoon, the boys got restless. Back on home turf, the magnitude of the problem stepped front and center and wouldn't go away. The boys met in the bedroom and all agreed it was time to bring in their parents.

When John heard, his jaw dropped in surprise.

“Let me see if I got this straight. Erik found a diamond ring at the dump the other day. And Elliot swallowed it so no one could take it. And you thought that was what made him sick. But it hasn't turned up.”

“That had to be what the doctor removed!” Lisa blurted out.

“That's what we thought,” little Elliot added.

“I'd like to know what the hell is going on here,” John murmured. “I'm going to call that doctor, no wait! I'm going to call the hospital administrator, and maybe my lawyer.”

“I'm going to call my dad,” Lisa said. “I think the police should know about this.” She paused, the cell phone still in her hand. “Elliot, honey, why was that ring so important to you guys. I mean, so what if someone took it. Wouldn't that be better than swallowing the thing?”

The little boy blushed. “It represented our brotherhood,” he said. “As long as we had the ring, we'd always be together. We swore on it.”

“Oh, I see,” Lisa replied, and shot John a tiny smile.

chapter 157

word count: 1604

the words had hardly escaped gil’s lips, when he felt a sharp jab in the back of his neck and instantaneously,, everything went black.. 

one of the two green scrub clad males that had been unremarkably hanging out just outside the door to the recovery room,, seemingly just shooting the shit,, and having a smoke, expertly caught gill as he went down,, as the other, (the one who had so deftly snuck up behind him unnoticed, as gil exited the bar, and popped him with the powerful sedative while he was momentarily distracted by the distinct threat of gunplay that awaited him as he exited the bar) grabbed gil’s powerful legs,, and in one fell swoop, the two tossed him, like so much laundry, into the back of the waiting cargo van.. they immediately resumed their position at the door,, once again,, nonchalantly,,  lighting up a smoke,, and making casual banter..

 ‘foresight’ being her middle name,, boa would never have been so foolish as arrive at this mysterious rendezvous with the good doctor without plenty of muscle..  she had cleverly dispatched four of her most reliable enforcers to the point of rendezvous well before the scheduled meeting  under orders to “be ready for anything”..  and if their effortless removal of gill from the playing field was any indicator,, if they had followed her orders to the letter.. 

having just witnessed what could be mistaken as no less than the work of consummate professionals,, it was blatantly obvious to both frank and priscilla there was something going on here,, much larger than either of them had originally presumed..   

“i believe it is you that should drop the gun.." boa stated casually,,  as she cast frank a disconcerting smile, and with a slight nod of the head issued an unspoken order to the third of her trusty henchmen who stepped stealthily out from his dimly lit vantage point behind the dumpster.. priscilla swung her head around just in time to see him wielding a tire iron that he swung down heavily on the back of franks skull, reducing him to a pile of lifeless flesh on the asphalt parking lot before she could even issue a word of warning. 

within a matter of seconds,, the unmarked cargo van into which the two hard bodies (that continued to maintain their position just outside the recovery room door) had just tossed the chemically subdued body of the latino/american detective,, pulled up beside frank,, obscuring all view as the driver of the van,, and the mysterious tire iron wielding thug, added frank to the pile of fresh human cargo,, and sped off into the swiftly setting sun.. 

“you’ll never get away with this!” priscilla sneered as she addressed the seemingly detached woman who had never so much as wavered in her glance despite all the well-orchestrated devastation that was going on all around them.. boa remained perfectly poised,, her pearl handled revolver leveled expertly at priscilla’s pretty little brunette head.. 

without so much as blink of an eye, boa summoned a black cadillac escalade,, which slid silently up beside priscilla.. the was rear passenger door swung opened,, and a deep voice from some as of yet unseen individual, could be heard requesting her presence in the backseat of the in the escalade.. priscilla glanced tentatively into the vehicle,, where she her glance was met by the business end of a .45 semi-automatic, complete with silencer.. 

“just get the fuck in the car..” boa seethed as she, pearl handled revolver still trained expertly on priscilla, closed in and motioned her into the car..  

priscilla realizing that she was not in a position to put up any form of argument,, obediently took a seat on the strangely austere rear bench seat of the escalade,, as boa assumed her position of prominence in the luxuriously appointed  forward cab.. 

“drive.” boa admonished the driver,, who without hesitation eased the escalade to the street entrance of the parking lot,, where the he waited for further instruction before he dared ease the vehicle onto the main road.. 

without missing a beat,, boa turned to the cleaner that, now rested the silencer of his .45 thug style against priscilla’s porcelain white temple,,  “she has a little brown bottle of something. i want it..”  

the cleaner extended his free hand,, into which priscilla, begrudgingly dropped the precious diana diamond cleverly concealed in the ancient bottle of mercurochrome.. he immediately handed it off to boa,, who effortlessly tapped a button causing a thick black bullet proof window to rise up,, thus separating herself from whatever pedestrian activity might be going on in the seat behind her.. 

“hmm..” boa huffed in her signature style as she checked the time on her cell.. she was pleased to find out she had just enough time to make it to silk and meet with mr. big as previously arranged.. 

“silk.” she admonished the driver,, who obediently eased the luxurous vehicle into traffic.. 

not one to leave any loose ends,, and yet not having the time at the present to see to properly tying them up herself,, boa placed a call to a well trusted associate,, and issued a direct order to do whatever it took to locate and deliver to her one dr. kevin collins, asap..  

as the sleek black escalade approached the canopy at the vip entrance to silk,, boa tucked the still mysterious bottle of mercurochrome into her supple black sealskin handbag for safe keeping,, and lowered the dark privacy window between the front and rear seats of the escalade,, just enough to verify with the cleaner that the task at hand had been successfully completed.. with a silent nod of the head,, he assured her he had taken care of the situation to what he knew would be her satisfaction.. 

“get rid of it..” she pronounced disinterestedly, as she tapped the button., yet again,, and raised the dark privacy window just as the escalade pulled up to silk’s lavish vip entrance..

***

cleverly disguised as a part of the prominently hispanic cleaning crew at new albany general hospital, sergio clemente,  better known as ‘the surg’ in the circles in which he traveled,, moved undetected through the florescent lighted hallways of the surgical department, as he pushed an industrial size trashcan lethargically,, in front of him,, occasionally yawning to emphasize his bored familiarity with the tedium provide by the task he seemingly had at hand.. 

he rolled his bin down the hallway and then fluidly came to rest in front of the closed door on which the nameplate read, dr. kevin collins, chief of surgery.. he rapped gently on the door,, announcing his presence as he opened  the door with is latex gloved hand,, and stepped tentatively inside..  

a rather dazed looking dr. collins,, was seated on the floor, back resting against the leather sofa that sat facing his ornate cherry wood desk.. he held his head in his hands,, and coughed a bit erratically, as if he was trying to clear his throat before he looked up and noticed the janitors presence..

“help me,,” he whispered, as he reached out to the unknown janitor in hopes he would help him to the sofa.. “i’ve,, i’ve had an accident.” 

“take it easy,, el doctor,, take it easy..”  ‘the surg’ spoke in his best broken english,,  as he leaned in wrapped his capable arm around him,, and eased the good doctor off the floor and onto the soft leather sofa.. “i am help you..”

“thank you. thank you.” doctor collins half mouthed, half whispered as he took a moment to regain his composure.. 

“i am getting help?” ‘the surg’ suggested..

“no. no. i’ll be alright..” kevin whispered,, not wanting to bring any of this to the attention of the hospital staff.. how on earth would he even begin to explain what had happened without setting off numerous red flags??   

“water.” the good doctor whispered.. “can you get me some water?”

“agua, chure.”  ‘the surg’ nodded as he went into the bathroom and turned on the tap with one hand as he slipped a sedative filled hypodermic needle out of his shirt pocket with the other.. “agua, chure..” he repeated as he carefully turned off the tap, and reentered the office,, where he proceeded to plunge the hypodermic into the good doctors neck before he could even register what was happening.. 

with that,, ‘the surg’ methodically replaced the cap on the syringe,, and returned it to his shirt pocket.. he then stepped out into the hall to make sure he was not being observed,, quickly rolled the can into the office,, and pulled out the three plastic bags full of trash that were in the can when he rolled it out of the janitorial closet.. 

with little or no degree of difficulty,, ‘the surg’ hoisted the slumbering doctor into the can covered him with the waiting trash bags,, and quickly exited the office,, pulling the door closed behind him..

without hesitation he took his now filled to overflowing bin,, and rolled it methodically down the hall,, passed the double doors that led to the janitorial closet,, and into a waiting ramped van parked in the alleyway just behind the hospital.. 

as the driver eased the van out of the alleyway,, ‘the surg’ placed a call to boa,, who was presently embroiled in a heated discussion with mr. big himself,, and thus he was greeted by her curt voicemail greeting.. 

“go!” boa’s voice barked through the phone.

“makin’ a trash run later on tonight.” he spoke calmly into the phone.. “just let me know if you got anything that needs ta go.”