The hunt, p.5
The Hunt, page 5
He also owned the mountains that surrounded his erotic amusement park, pure wilderness where he had installed trails just for himself. He loved what he did, and he’d screw anything with a hole, but once in a while, he just had to get away.
He opened the car door. “This way.”
The kid was even slower on a crutch. His patience was wafer thin, but it wasn’t her fault. He waited, unlocked the building, and turned on the lights. She followed him to the elevator. Donatti inserted a key and looked into a metal square for pupil recognition. The doors opened. They both stepped inside. The girl began to shake. He said, “I’ll take good care of your mom.”
There were tears on her cheeks. She said, “Can I have my phone back?”
“Not yet. It may have a tracker on it. And I don’t want you talking to your dad until I know what’s going on.”
“I promise I won’t. Can I have a new one so I can talk to her?”
“Not right now. The truth is that your mom isn’t going to be doing much talking for a while. And when she gets out of the hospital, she is going to need her rest.”
The doors opened and Donatti, once again, went through the high-tech security. After he heard the clicks, he took out the key to his son’s room and let them both inside. Gabe had set up his area as a suite. The Steinway sat in the living room, along with Donatti’s cello, and there was a small sitting area with a TV. The bedroom held a king-size bed and not much else. But it did have a walk-in closet and an en suite bathroom.
Donatti dropped the bags on the floor. “I want to settle you here so everything will be ready when your mom gets out of the hospital. Tomorrow, when you’re rested, separate out your mom’s things from your things.”
“Why? Won’t Mommy be staying with me?”
“No, darling,” Donatti said. “Mommy will be staying with me.”
CHAPTER 3
ANYTHING?” DONATTI ASKED.
“No, sir,” Giraldi said. “Everything’s been quiet.”
“That’s good.” He shook his head. “You two go back to my office. One of you watch the door, the other watch the elevator. You’ve been on since what? Ten?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So, you’re done at six. Do you mind doing overtime?”
“Not at all, sir.”
“Who’s on after you?”
“I think it’s Bacon and Millard.”
“Tell them to start at ten. I think you’re going to have to do ten-hour shifts until I figure this out.”
“It’s fine.”
“Good. I’ll check in with you before ten.” He took out the car keys and threw them to Giraldi. “Go.”
The men got up and left, leaving him alone for the first time since this entire ordeal began. He sat down and threw his head back. Too wired to sleep, but too tired to do anything useful, he just sat and waited. Fifteen minutes later, the double doors opened. He stood up and then sat back down. It was the chief sheriff; the man also worked for him. Glorified security guard. Basically, his job was to calm down drunks and take ODs to the ER. Bill Saverhall was about six feet with a gut, but he had strong arms and was good with managing people without handcuffs. Anything really physical, Donatti and his men took care of themselves.
“Hey, Bill,” Donatti said.
“Chris.”
“What’s going on? What are you doing here?”
“One of your clients might have overindulged. They’re pumping his stomach.”
“Do you have a name?”
“Richard Feller.”
“He’s been here before. He should know better. Thanks for letting me know.”
Saverhall looked at the floor. “I understand you’ve got a team working on a female who was beat up.” Donatti waited. “Relation to you or …”
“My wife … ex-wife.”
“You were married?”
“I was.”
“Does she live here?”
“No.”
“How’d she get here?”
“I took the jet to Los Angeles and picked her up.” A pause. “Where is this leading?”
“Chris, I’m sorry. You can fire me if you want, but I need to see your hands.”
Donatti gave off a sour laugh. “You think I did it?”
“You go all the way to Los Angeles to pick up your ex-wife who was beaten badly? There are better hospitals in L.A. If you were me, what would you think?”
“Fair enough.” Donatti held out his hands. He had had a manicure yesterday morning, so his nails were perfect.
“Flip them over.” Saverhall nodded. “Thank you. I need to see your arms, sir.” When Donatti stared at him, he said, “She had skin under her fingernails.”
Off came the jacket, exposing his forearms and his piece in its shoulder harness. Donatti was surprised. For years, Saverhall had overlooked a variety of illegal drugs and all the weapons. Something about a beaten-up woman must have gotten to him. He raised his shirt, exposing his abdomen around his gun harness. “Satisfied?”
“One more thing. Your feet.”
“This is getting to be a pain in the ass.” Saverhall waited, and Donatti took off his boots and socks. Saverhall looked at his toes and nails and then nodded.
Donatti said, “You want my DNA while we’re at it?”
“Chris, I’m sorry, but I’m only doing my job. I don’t know how you feel about this woman, but she is your ex.”
“She called our son. Our son called me. She wanted out of L.A. and I came for her.”
“Nice of you to do that for your ex-wife.”
Donatti smiled. “Never figured me for a nice guy, huh?”
“Sorry to inconvenience you.”
Donatti waved him off. “We’re square. Go home to your wife … Marquetta, right?” Just then, the double doors opened again and a doctor emerged, face mask dangling like a monk’s collar. “I gotta go.”
Drew Jamison had been an ER doc on staff for four years. Single guy and good-looking—dark and well built. He often took advantage of the employee discount. The girls and boys got paid the same whomever they serviced. Donatti made sure of that. It was good business and prevented sexual harassment lawsuits. He had drilled it into anyone who worked for him.
Never give it away for free—not even to the boss.
Donatti jogged over to him. “Tell me good news.”
“There’s a lot of good news,” Jamison said. “First of all, her cranial pressure is normal. Her pupillary response appears fine. She was able to follow some simple instructions.”
He exhaled. “That’s good.”
“Yes, it is, but brain swelling sometimes happens later. We’ll have to watch her, but she’s okay at this moment. Her jaw was dislocated and she has some loose teeth in back. We wired everything so her mouth is stable. That can probably be removed in three or four weeks. She isn’t eating anyway.”
“Anything else?”
“She has two broken bones in her right forearm. The radius has a hairline and the ulna has an incomplete fracture that was threatening a complete break. We put her arm in a cast to the elbow. She also has three broken right ribs, which will take time to heal too. She was vomiting a little blood, but that should be okay.” A sigh. “The main problem is her kidneys. She’s pissing blood, which is not good, but what I’m concerned about is a condition called rhabdomyolysis, which can be life-threatening. It happens when the kidneys are damaged. She has to be watched.”
“But she’ll be okay.”
“She has to be watched, Chris. If her kidneys start failing, that’s bad. This hospital is small. You know that. She should be somewhere bigger with more services. But since she is here, I suggest you get someone to watch her twenty-four seven. We’re busy and it would be terrible if something got overlooked.”
“I’ll watch her.”
“You don’t want to camp out here. The rooms are small, Chris. You can barely fit a chair in there.”
“Put her in a double room with two beds. I’ll watch her. Discussion done, Drew. When can I see her?”
“In about an hour. She’s out of it. When she wakes up, she’s going to be in pain. I’ll have to see what we can give her that doesn’t affect her kidneys. Problem is almost everything affects the kidneys. But I’ll do what I can.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Can’t mess up with the boss.” Jamison bit his bottom lip. “It’s nice that you’re such good friends with your ex.”
“We’re not friends. Straight men can’t be friends with women. At some point, we all want more even if it didn’t start out that way. We’re always thinking, I wonder what she looks like naked. And if you don’t want to fuck her, she certainly isn’t your friend.”
The doc raised his eyebrows. “I don’t think she’s going to be interested in sex for a while.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“Have you seen what she looks like?”
“Of course I know what she looks like. I brought her in. She’s a wreck. Hopefully she won’t always be a wreck. But either way, she’s still my baby. So in about an hour?”
“About.”
“I’m going up to my office. Have someone buzz me when she’s been transferred.”
“No problem, sir.”
“That’s what I like to hear, Drew. No problem.”
THE FIRST TIME I remember being awake, I saw snippets waltzing through my head like movie trailers. I heard noises, and then minutes later, it went dark.
The second time I was awake, I felt something itchy on my nose, and as I reached to scratch, something hard bonked my face. Immediately, my head started to throb. I attempted to open my eyes, but all I saw was darkness. I tried to talk, but I couldn’t move my mouth. Panic set in as pain spread over my body. I supposed that I was making sounds, because a male voice shushed me, telling me it was okay.
“You’re in a hospital.” The voice was echoing. “Your eyes are swollen shut and your jaw is wired. Your right arm is in a cast. You have a few broken ribs. But you’re safe and you’ll be okay.”
I didn’t answer, breathing in shallow gulps.
“Are you in pain, angel?”
The voice was familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.
“Do you remember what happened?” he said.
Gabe’s voice, but not exactly. And then it started coming back in detailed flashes. “Juleen!”
“She’s safe. I have a guard on her.”
Okay, now I knew who he was. And yes, I was in pain. Lots of it. I started to cry.
“I’ll get the doctor.”
I heard him leave. I tried to open my eyes again but couldn’t. I raised my right arm and it felt incredibly heavy. Oh yeah, arm in cast. I raised by left arm and opened an eyelid. Light coursed through my pupil and I could make out a space with objects that began to spin around me. Nausea oozed from my pores. I began to cough and then gag.
“Sit up, sit up.” Chris was holding me as I bent over and began to retch. He pulled back my hair as I vomited. “You’re okay, baby. Doc is here.”
I heard them talk to each other. The male voice said, “Not much blood here. That’s good.” To me: “Terry, can you hear me?”
I nodded.
“Do you know where you are?”
“Hospital.” My voice was thick. My jaw was sore. I was talking strictly by moving my lips in front of my teeth and my tongue in back of my teeth. It was really weird.
“Are you in pain?”
“Yes.” It came out as a hiss.
“I’m going to give you something to take the edge off, okay?”
I nodded. I felt my nose itch again and went to scratch it. Heavy arm—that one in a cast. The left arm went to my nose and something was stuck in my nostrils. I tried to pull it out, but someone stopped me. “That’s your oxygen tube, angel. You have to leave that in.”
Okay. So that’s what was itching me.
I heard a panicked beeping. Chris said, “You have to keep your arm straight, Terry. Every time you move it, your IV crimps and the machine beeps.”
I felt something alternately tightening and loosening around my legs.
Okay, I knew what that was. Intermittent pneumatic compression.
A moment later something tightened above the cubital fossa on my left arm. Beeps followed the release of the tension.
Blood pressure cuff—check.
IPC—check.
IV—check.
Oxygen tube—check.
Catheter? I felt something down there. Check again.
I could hear my heartbeat, slow … steady.
Heartbeat—check.
I didn’t know what the doctor put in my IV, but within a minute, all went black.
The third time I roused, I still couldn’t open my eyes. But I heard one voice in conversation with itself until I realized it was Gabe and Chris talking to each other. It was the first time in over a decade that the three of us had been in a room together.
And people say miracles are only in fables.
I was trying to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t make out the words. The dialogue was on digital delay, a reverberation of each sentence that overlapped the next one, which made it virtually impossible to understand. I must have groaned, because the talking stopped.
“Mom?” I felt someone take my hand. “Mom, it’s me, Gabriel. Can you hear me?”
I nodded. I tried out a smile but didn’t quite get there. I squeezed his fingers. I think I must have asked about Juleen because of his answer.
“She’s fine. Chris set her up with violin and Spanish lessons.”
Okay, I thought. Spanish is good.
“She’s doing okay. She asks about you, but we both don’t think it’s a good idea for her to see you until you’re a little stronger.”
The more awake I became, the more pain I felt.
Somebody, please knock me out.
I must have groaned, because Chris asked if I was in pain.
I nodded.
Doc came in a minute later, pain subsiding, lights out.
It was like that for a while. Each time I woke up, I could manage a little more time before things became overwhelming and I needed to sleep. Sometimes I heard people talking, not realizing that I was listening. Bits of speech here and there, some of it positive.
Good vitals.
Good bloods.
Swelling subsiding.
Kidney function improving.
Kidney function improving? What was wrong with my kidneys? No matter, because whatever was wrong, they were on the mend.
I had no idea how long I’d been hospitalized. It seemed like forever. This alternating pattern of wakefulness, nausea, pain, and slipping back into darkness. Sometimes the room was almost silent except for the clicking of a keyboard. Sometimes I could feel Chris’s presence. Sometimes the room felt devoid of anything alive, including myself.
But I was getting better. I remember the turning point was waking up with the ability to open my eyelids without manual help. Slits of light came through, and I was actually able to recognize things without the room spinning. I could cock my head and see hospital monitors. I could turn my neck to see a body from the shoulders down, sitting on a chair with a laptop. If I craned upward, I could see a face in intense concentration, eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses fixed on the screen, hair playing peekaboo with high cheekbones. There was a wide mouth, a prominent chin, and thick light eyebrows arched over what I knew were brilliant blue eyes. White hair that still held streaks of the blond that once was.
He was as gorgeous as ever. Probably as charming as well. How else do you get women to whore for you? Once, I had been deeply in love with him, the only boy—well, man now—I had ever passionately loved. That had faded but wasn’t completely gone. What hadn’t faded were the memories of why I’d left him—twice. In today’s vocabulary, he’d be designated as a toxic male, which really was a nothing label. It certainly didn’t explain the scope of what Christopher Donatti was capable of doing. He was a violent man, abused as a child and abusive as an adult. I had stuck it out with him for a long time. Then a serene man and an unplanned pregnancy convinced me to make a hasty retreat. Devek had been kind, especially in the beginning, a quiet lover but not a particularly good one. I thought I had wanted calm and tranquility, but sometimes you needed a little wind to make the boat sail.
I wasn’t sure what crises had turned Devek into a gambler once again. His family had told me that chapter had passed. It could have been pressure from his stressful job as a cardiac surgeon. It could have been his desire to keep up with his older brother, who controlled the family fortune. Or it could have been the addictive rush that was missing in his life. It played havoc on the family. He lost everything. He started to owe money. Lots of it.
He was looking for insane ways to get out of debt. Some of his half-baked ideas included me, others included Juleen. Of course I wouldn’t agree to anything. So I left with my children.
I was sure that Devek had sent over the two goons to retrieve Sanjay and Juleen and take them back to India. I didn’t know if beating me up in the process was part of the plan. I couldn’t picture him doing that to me. But I was very bad at reading men. I had made terrible choices. I could have blamed it on my father—my mother had died in childbirth—but the truth was I had a brain. I just didn’t use it when faced with the Y chromosome.
Chris was still working on his laptop, oblivious to my awaking. When I said hey, he jerked his head up.
“Hey there.” He took off his glasses and closed his laptop. “How are you?”
How was I? I wasn’t sure.
“Are you in pain?”
