Satisfied with himself that the entire dose was rapidly rushing through the sickly body, he grabbed his black case, turned and walked back to the female meta, Esther. She was still lying on the ground where he left her. He strategically placed her fingers around the syringe he just used on the girl being sure her prints would be found all over it, including the thumbprint on the plunger itself. He then dropped it on the floor beside her.
He grabbed her arm and unbuttoned the cuff of her sleeve. With absolute irreverence, Oldham yanked her sleeve above her elbow. He slapped her arm looking for a healthy vein. Finding one, he retrieved a second syringe from his case. This one had a red cap he deftly removed. Finding the vein he was looking for, he slipped the needle into place injecting the woman with the contents of the syringe. He repeated the process of putting this syringe into her hand, making it look as though she dosed herself.
The final touch, he grabbed the folded, typed note from the black case. He left it peeking out of Esther’s breast pocket; sure it would be found and read by the right person.
Oldham grabbed his black case and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. Retracing his steps, he double-checked that he didn’t touch anything that could have collected his fingerprints. His final chore was to clean off the doorknob to the room itself. All this, he accomplished inside three minutes, just as he planned.
Everything went perfectly, he thought happily to himself, as he removed his gloves and slipped them into his pocket before he reached the first floor. He was smiling and whistling an unrecognizable tune as he exited the hospital and walked through the courtyard with the kind of bounce in his step that could have only been achieved by a well-planned and executed assignment.
44 The “Gift” That Keeps Giving
“Mom?”
“Yes, honey. I’m here.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m safe, Alik. I’m at Paulie’s still.”
“What?”
“Alik, listen to me. There’s been a development I need to talk to you about.”
“A ‘development?’ Are you crazy? Farrow is probably outside the house right now just waiting for you to try to get to your car!”
“That’s exactly why I’m not leaving the house, Alik.”
“Mom,…”
“You listen to me, Alik Winter. You’d better calm down because I need you clear-headed. Meg needs you clear-headed!”
Alik’s face was beet-red and that vein in his forehead was bulging, again. Creed and Evan watched Alik and listened to his one-sided conversation. It was clear things weren’t going as planned.
“What could possibly be so important that you are risking your life?”
“You, Alik. You and Evan and Meggie.”
Feeling a flash of shame, Alik looked down at his feet and listened.
“Ali, Maze was sniffing around on the trail where Creed told us he found Meg when she collapsed. He found something, Alik. Maze found the dart that poisoned Meg. Theo, Paulie and I are trying to decode the poison so we can make an antidote. Do you understand, me, Alik? I think we can use the original poison to create an antidote that will cure Meggie. If we can do this ourselves, we won’t need Williams.” Margo waited breathlessly for Alik to respond.
“Oh, my God, mom! How soon can you create the antidote?”
Both Creed and Evan’s faces lit up with equal amounts of surprise and confusion as they watched Alik talk.
“Well, that’s hard to say. I could really use Evan’s help with this. He’s faster at equations than any of us.”
Alik locked eyes with his little brother, his mind racing with all the new possibilities.
“Ali, can you get the plane to turn around? You can’t go to Germany, Alik. I’m so scared that Meg will die there. Maze finding this needle on a mountainside is truly a gift from God. We need to get Meg home, now!”
“We’re halfway across the Pacific Ocean now mom. We may have to land in California first to refuel, but we’ll get her home. I promise. I’ll bring her back to you, mom.”
Hearing this, Creed turned and hurried toward the cockpit. He needed to figure out what options they had with the remaining fuel. Even as he yanked the door open and stepped into the small, button-and-switch-filled compartment, he felt a surge of power that was wrapped in the bright light of hope. He was going to do whatever it took to get this family put back together.
“Captain Jacobe,” Creed’s voice was commanding.
“Um…sir, if you would please return to the cabin and press the red button, Missy will come help you.” The captain was unnerved enough what with the rough flight and now a passenger barges into his cockpit.
Ignoring him, Creed asked, “Does the plane have enough fuel to turn around?”
“What?”
Trying to remain calm, Creed repeated himself, “Does the plane have enough fuel to turn around?”
“Um,…” he stammered and looked over at his copilot. “Mr. Trainer, could you run that calculation, please?”