Chapter 152

word count 1219

Dr. Collins bent over the boy's supine body with scalpel in hand to begin the laparotomy. He made a quick incision as blood oozed along the line he cut.

“Sponge, Nurse O'Hoolihan,” he said. “And don't lets those boobs of yours get in the way.”

“Oh, don't worry,” replied the nurse. “I'm keeping them free and clear anyway for fear you bump them, and not accidentally, doctor.”

The physician chuckled pushing aside layers of the boy's abdomen to make his way to the stomach. Another incision and he could probe the gastric contents.

“So far, so good” he murmured. “OH, look at this!” He said the three words slowly for emphasis. The nurse handed him forceps and he reached in and pulled up a shiny object. He studied it in the light before dropping the ring in a silver tray. It landed with a clunk.

“Well, I guess we've found our foreign object. Now let's make sure there's no damage or perforations to the stomach.” Even as he probed the gastric walls, Dr. Collins marveled at what a beautiful jewel that diamond was.

* * *

Algernon English hung up the phone after speaking with Mrs. Dunn and pondered. Things were a right ruddy mess, they were. He didn't see how he could pull out Priscilla at this point without it all seeming suspicious. How many “relatives” of Mrs. Dunn could there be to show up and fill in. And at this point, now knowing the underworld was involved, he felt the need for more agents on this assignment rather than just the one. “Ah, I know what to do,” he murmured. Should he run it by Mrs. Dunn first? Nah, he thought. She wouldn't go for it, and he saw no other way to go. What she doesn't know, as they say...

* * *

As they rushed to the surgical unit, dodging nurses and orderlies, Gil and Hank shot each other worried glances. They could only hope the two women were behaving themselves. Their hopes were dashed as soon as they heard yelling. The three of them, Gil, Hank, and Buzz ran the final lap. Buzz was by far the fastest and the angriest. His teeth gritted and red-faced, he arrived first.

Trudy was being held by two uniformed cops while Priscilla stood hands on hips and confrontational. When she spied Buzz, she softened.

“Detective Miller, how nice to see you!” she purred.

He ignored her, pushing his way toward Trudy. “Trudy, I don't understand,” he said. “The last time I saw you, you'd changed. You were dignified, mature, ready for a 'new you.' What happened, babe?” Even as he spoke, he unconsciously clenched his fists at his sides in frustration.

Priscilla saw his anger and made note. She would love to see that sort of brutal intensity in the sack. She liked her men rough. Very rough.

“I'm sorry, Buzz! It's just that the WHORE OVER THERE was threatening to take ya away from me. She was being nice to Adam and giving me the evil eye.”

On hearing Adam's name, Buzz remembered the main reason he came and looked around for the boy. Adam, Erik, Lisa and John were seated along the side wall, as if pretending to keep as much distance as possible away from Trudy and Priscilla.

He rushed toward Adam and even as he walked, he noticed the boy cringe at the sight of him. He paused mid-step. His heart crunched. Is this the effect he had on the boy? Rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand, he turned around. He noticed Priscilla's eyes on him. She turned away. During all of this, Trudy had been carrying on, trying to free herself from the cops' grip.

Buzz let loose a heavy sigh. His life was fucked. Really. Totally fucked. He wanted to make a life with Trudy, but she kept reverting back to a wild woman. No one tried harder than her to behave, but it appeared to be hopeless. His girlfriend was a nut job. His boy was terrified of him. Could it get any worse?

He made his way to Trudy again to try to calm her down. But she was worked up beyond what he could control, her fists waving while she yelled. The two burly cops held onto the woman.

“You WHORE! He's my Buzz! Stay the hell away or I'll kill ya!”

“I'm just his housekeeper, darling. I don't know why you're accusing me of being more than that.”

Buzz backed off and leaned wearily against the wall. He studied Priscilla with a lazy eye. It was better than listening to Trudy. Where were those security officers when you needed them. He needed for them to be the bad guys and haul Trudy away, rather than himself. His glance went up and down studying Priscilla's curves, and he felt an unusual pleasure at seeing how shapely she was. Trudy was skinny with straight lines except for her boobs, and they were manufactured, so to speak. Priscilla was a hot one. He could tell. She'd be a superb screw. Maybe...

Trudy was still at it. “I HATE YOU” she bellowed.

Priscilla sighed. The woman could make you weary. She spied Buzz standing alone and considered wandering over to make her play. That was when an arm wrapped around her shoulders and swung her around. Next she got a fat kiss on the lips. Feeling a beard scratching against her chin, she went rigid. Oh shit!

“Hello, wife!” the gruff voice uttered, loud enough for all to hear.

Dammit, she'd have to play long. “Algie, my darling. What brings you here?”

“Well, my dear. My trip is finished and I have time free, so I thought I'd come and stay a while with you. A man belongs with his wife. Does he not?”

Trudy stepped back in shock, nestling backwards into the arms of the cops. Buzz, Hank, and Gil were equally dumbfounded. They stood looking on.

“May I speak with you privately?” Algie murmured in her ear. She nodded.

“Let's go have a cuppa,” she said loud enough for the others to hear.

Later, in the restaurant, she got Algernon up to date with the situation.

“I talked to the boys, but I couldn't get anything out of them. Honestly, I don't know which one of them has it, or where he is keeping it for that matter.”

“Well,” Algie said, stroking his goatee, “...in the tape from the junkyard, it is little Erik holding the gem. But that's not enough to go on.”

“The one boy, Elliot, got sick which is a curious thing. He had to go to emergency surgery for a foreign object in his stomach.”

It hit quickly. Priscilla and Algernon looked at each other in shock. “The ring!” they said in unison.

When they arrived at the surgery unit, the doctor was coming out to speak to the family.

“We found a foreign object. The good news is Elliot should be fine. I'd like to keep him overnight for observation, however. The object we found was of no consequence. Unidentifiable matter. No need to worry about it any further.”

Nurse O'Hoolihan stood to the side. Her heart was going pitty-pat. They were going to be rich.