Chapter 186

word count 1010

Algernon English ran the last few yards through the woodsy area and paused to catch his breath. This wasn't as easy as when he was a younger man. He patted his chest to make sure the key was still in his pocket. He could spy the Edsel ahead, a car not easy to hide, but he'd done it many times in his career. It was parked a few more yards ahead, nestled among the trees, right where he'd left it before sprinting to the gruesome Dr. Bigelow's office. That fellow, in the aftermath, had escaped Algernon's clutches, so he'd have to be careful until he could get clean away. The guy could be anywhere in these woods. But considering the medical man's size and girth, he wouldn't be moving fast.

He reached the vehicle without a hitch, turned the key in the ignition and followed his own tracks back to the road. His heart pounded the whole time. This had to be his greatest caper, snatching back a key that would lead to the Princess diamond not only from the clutches of an American mob, but from the very carcass that contained it, nestled in the mass of severed tissue and blood and acids, in the poor man's stomach. Algernon had sleuthed his way into the office, took out the guards, issuing a carefully placed knock out punch to each in turn, moving like lightning before either had a chance to react or make a sound. Next, he cracked the door to the examination room and waited.

It was an awful scene. The man had been alive when the doctor started cutting, his body strapped to the table, a towel stuffed in his mouth. His last words had been pleading for his life. Even now, the memory gave Algernon pause. In all his years, he'd never seen such cruelty as that issued by the maniacal Dr. Bigelow. But even the doctor didn't know what the key was for. The victim never gave up the information. But Algernon had a pretty good hunch.

As soon as he spied the doctor making the incision, he leaped in the room and knocked him out along with his nurse with two swipes and a pound or two. The key was his. The doctor was rousing as he fled the room.

He and Detective Miller had suspected the mob all along, considering Patricia's disappearance in classic mob fashion. And since her business was the gem, so might theirs be. He and Miller had gone through a group of mug shots in Miller's office, the locals who had been arrested before with known mob affiliations. Something about the salami fellow's picture ticked in Algernon's brain. It was that gut instinct he relied on. He immediately made it his business to tail the guy, checking out his last known address and tracking him down. He spent days watching the mobster go shopping, buy ice cream, and yes, go and do his mob business, but nothing about the diamond seemed involved. Algernon feared his instinct had steered him wrong. But in the end, he caught the mobster on that most important day at Ferrante's. And he followed him to the locker. He saw him put the gem in a half glass of coke, saw it all. He would have taken out the guy then and there, but once the fellow swallowed the locker key, things got a lot more complicated.

Once he'd followed the mobster back to the house to join the other thugs, Algernon thought all was lost and went home. What a surprise to finish at the hospital after being held for assaulting Detective Miller to run into the scene of the salami fellow being loaded into a vehicle. He'd jumped into his Edsel and began the chase. It wasn't easy to tail the ambulance inconspicuously with his old, pink, very distinctive car. But he was a professional after all. Soon all the pieces fell into place to snatch the key at Dr. Bigelow's. And now he was in the race of his life to get to the locker and procure the diamond. Truly, this was his greatest caper.

He called Winnie as he drove, putting her on speaker phone.

"Winifred, I'm on my way to get the gem!"

"Good heavens, Algie! What happened?" Her voice sparkled with delight.

"It was all pretty complicated, really. I'll explain later."

There was a pause, as though Winnie were hesitant to speak. "Algie, we are still giving it back to the Royal Family, aren't we?"

"Yes, of course, dear! I promised, and I am a man of my word." He noticed a car behind him advancing in an unusual manner, zig-zagging back and forth across lanes at alarming speed. "I've got to hang up now, Winnie! Trouble ahead!"

"Whaa..."

He disconnected before she could finish. The car was getting closer. He was being followed. A huge form huddled behind the wheel, but even so, the body language was unmistakable. The driver was intense, angry, and glaring at the Edsel like a man possessed.

"Oh, dear!" Algie murmured. "Looks like Dr. Bigelow is poised to attack." He hit the gas and took off flying.

*  *  *

Tory had crawled back into the sheets which were still warm from her recent encounter with The Machine. She wrapped herself up in them and sniffed the satiny cloth. It smelled like him, and sex. Glorious sex. Memories of the way he took her, hot and intense, warmed the lady all over again. She had to thank Stephanie again for introducing her to this stud.

Reaching for her cell, she dialed the number. It rang five or six times and continued. Snuggling in the sheets, she waited for it to go to voice mail. It didn't. The monotonous ringing continued. Finally, she hung up.

Funny, she has always been such a homebody and methodical at that. Not like her to forget to turn on her machine. Tory mused, but forgot about calling as more steamy memories invaded her mind.