Chapter Four – Danger Ahead
OOOOOO
Judith stood up and stretched lazily. The second day of the seminar was finally over. There was a dinner party gathering later but she didn't feel like going. It wasn't that she hadn't had a wonderful night the day before but she'd met everyone now, compared notes and talked about various cases and updated some old colleagues in their recent breakthroughs in modern virus prevention. Now it was time for her to do the sightseeing of the city. She couldn't wait to get out of the large room and find a pay phone so that she could try to hail Ken and Dave again.
"What do you say about the dinner party?" John asked, trying to hide a yawn unsuccessfully.
"No, I don't feel like it at all," she confessed.
"Excuse me," a doctor in his early fifties said politely as he walked up to them. "I believe that we have met before. I'm Doctor Phillips."
John frowned slightly. "Yes, as I recall it was you who oversaw the containment of the mysterious virus that broke out about three years ago," he said.
Phillips reached out to shake their hands. "Yes, that's right. And you're Doctor Meredith and Doctor Kaufman," he stated.
"I have a feeling this is not just a social visit," Judith said carefully.
Phillips shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not," he concurred. "A man was brought in yesterday with high fever, muscle cramps, shortness of breath. I've done every test I can think off and I'm down to the conclusion that he's contracted some kind of virus. Unfortunately, we can't determine the strain from which it originated from. The only thing I do know is that the man has recently been abroad."
"I see," Judith went right on to it. "Well, take us to him and explain more on the way," she said.
Phillips nodded. "You might want to check in with the police department as well," he suggested as they began to walk down the corridor. "I've had some detectives here from homicide. They claim they found the patient's caretaker dead two days ago and are eager to question him."
Judith froze. "Do they know that your patient has contracted some kind of virus and that the caretaker might have been infected too?" she asked worriedly, afraid of another epidemic.
Phillips sighed and absentmindedly scratched the back of his neck. "According to the coroner she died of other causes but they're testing her blood for any kind of foreign body as we speak," he answered.
"The last time we worked over here we had help by Detectives Starsky and Hutchinson," Doctor Meredith said.
Phillips pursed his lip into a thin line. "I don't think they would be able to help you," he let on cryptically.
Judith and John looked at each other in incomprehension.
"Why?" Judith managed.
"I'm afraid that Detective Starsky is on medical leave. Quite frankly, I am amazed that he's even alive after the shooting seven months ago. As for Detective Hutchinson I believe he's taken a leave of absence in order to help his partner," he returned. "I hear certain things from my colleagues every now and then," he added.
Judith swallowed taking in the bad news delivered to them and felt her blood run cold. She must have turned pale because John gently placed a hand on her shoulder, looking very concerned.
OOOOOO
Captain Harold Dobey gave the door to another department head's door a sharp knock before entering.
Captain Samuel Marks jumped slightly where he was sitting behind his desk, having been abruptly pulled from his sleep.
"You should go home to your wife Marks," Dobey said with a nod toward the door.
"You were at the same meeting as I was yesterday were you not?" Marks said as he straightened in his chair. He saw Dobey nod. "Good, then you heard the chief and his rant about the failure on our part to bust the entire Octopus Corporation."
Dobey sighed. "We obviously didn't get all eight arms," he muttered as he sat down opposite the other captain. "Have you got anything?"
Samuel nodded thoughtfully. "Pepe. He's connected, or rather he seem to be the head of what's left of the organized operation of the dealing and stealing that the Octopus Corporation enjoys so much. However, we thought that by busting Mr. Han two months ago after an extensive joint undercover operation with the FBI, we would effectively shut them down."
"You don't want to go for Pepe?" Dobey asked curiously.
"I do but I'm not sure that's a wise thing to do," Marks replied. "If we're missing something again then…" he left the sentence and its meaning unfinished for Dobey to work it out.
"Mr. Irish," he said slowly.
Marks eyed him intently. "I heard the suggestion from Detective Hutchinson earlier," the captain confirmed. "Considering that Starsky and Hutchinson almost singlehandedly brought Gunther to court and got him sentenced I have deep respect for their hunches and informants."
"Well, it came a little too close back then," Dobey returned. "Detective Starsky literally died before being brought back again."
"He's right, you know, Hutchinson. The trouble is that the evidence that might, and I say might, connect Irish to the Octopus Corporation's shady operations are circumstantial at best. In other words – we can't bring him in."
"Too bad," Dobey muttered dourly.
Marks narrowed his eyes as he studied the much larger black man opposite him. "I can't do anything about Mr. Irish but I can rattle the cage a bit. There's supposed to be a large gathering tomorrow at noon. I have enough Intel and officers to organize a little welcome committee. Maybe I even get lucky and manage to bring in most of them," he said carefully.
Dobey raise a questionable eyebrow. "You're asking for my opinion?" he asked.
Marks nodded gravely.
"Go and get Pepe and his henchmen," Dobey returned without hesitation.
OOOOOO
Tracy had been shown to the waiting room and ordered to stay away for a little while. The irony in that lay in the fact that she walked past that waiting room every day while at work and sometimes sat down with worried relatives to give them support.
She chuckled to herself thinking it was crazy she was still at the hospital at all. She couldn't put a finger at it but Daniel Gordon was special somehow. She didn't know him, she'd heard a few things from Jo-Anne, but that was all. Also, Tracy's friendship with Jo-Anne was complicated. They'd met when they were in kindergarten and then it had been on and off. They'd been the best of buddies at high school but then they'd grown apart a little by little and the last time they'd met they'd gotten into an argument.
Tracy closed her eyes to rest for a while unable to stray her thoughts from the good looking man lying in the hospital bed.
Several hours later she was awoken by a soft knock on the doorframe behind her and she slowly blinked tired eyes open only to stare at a woman clad in a white doctor's coat, a dark brunette with a sleek body and unruly curly hair.
"Hello," the woman said in a friendly manner, her voice soft as she sat down next to Tracy in the sofa. "I'm Doctor Judith Kaufman, specialist in viral medicine. I usually work in Alabama at the country wide research and information center for infectious diseases."
"I'm Tracy Coressy, staff nurse, currently working here at Memorial," she replied wearily yet worriedly. "I wasn't aware that Daniel was in such a bad shape that…"
Judith put on a kind smile as she waved her hand in the air. "No, don't look so worried, Miss Coressy, the main reason I'm in on this case is that I was in the neighborhood so to speak. I was attending a conference here in Bay City," she explained.
"Oh," Tracy said sheepishly yet relieved. "Then what can you tell me about his condition?"
"We're rerunning the tests Doctor Phillips ordered on him and ordered a few new ones but we can't really say yet what he's suffering from," Judith let on.
"Surely you must have some clue?" Tracy said.
The young doctor nodded. "We are following up on a few leads but at the moment all we can do is to treat his symptoms. Now, his body is responding rather well so far, therefore I see no immediate reason for concern," she said carefully.
The nurse nodded absentmindedly and started to chew on her lower lip.
"Hey," Judith said kindly. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about Mr. Gordon?"
"I'm afraid I don't know much about him," she said humbly.
"From what I hear from Doctor Phillips you've been talking to him almost the whole night," Judith replied.
Tracy nodded and shifted in the sofa so that she was fully facing the doctor who appeared to be in the same age as herself. "Have you ever met a person for the first time in your life yet it feels like you've known each other for a lifetime?" she asked seriously.
"Yes," Judith said kindly.
"It's crazy really. I feel connected to him but I don't know him," the staff nursed explained, feeling like a complete nut.
Judith gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze.
"His caretaker was a friend of mine so I know the basics. Actually what I'm going to tell you sounds like a fairytale of some kind," Tracy said, almost apologizing. "Daniel had it all. He had the looks, still has, and he had the money, the car, and the girls. Always got everything on a silver platter and never had to do anything in order to get things. He turned into a brat, conscious of his good looks and charm. However, Daniel lacked excitement in his life and got into drugs. His parents disapproved of his actions and didn't come to bail him out when things started to turn nasty. Daniel was furious and had a fall out with his parents. Then I'm afraid I don't know any details but after six months they started talking to each other again, on the phone as Mr and Mrs Gordon was away in business, and decided to reunite."
Judith didn't know why but she felt a sense of dread creeping over her at the dramatic pause, the woman next to her made.
"Mr. and Mrs. Gordon never came back. Their bodies was never found but witnesses claim they saw the helicopter with the company logo crash while on a scouting round in the wilderness – they were prospectors," Tracy said darkly.
Doctor Kaufman gasped as she realized who Daniel Gordon really was. "Gordon Enterprises," she exclaimed. "It was all over the news – the Texas business manager and prospector assumed dead in helicopter crash," she said, her voice hollow.
Tracy nodded sadly. "Daniel never really got a proper chance to talk to his parents, to make up or to say goodbye. The newspapers and magazines in Texas stalked him, watched his every move for several months after the accident," she said.
"He wasn't ready for the kind of responsibility and didn't have the strategic mind to run the company his father had started but before he realized that the company was in bad shape. He sold what was left of it and together with the fortune he'd already inherited he was listed as one of the wealthiest men in Texas," Tracy explained.
"I bet he didn't have to look far for the girls," Judith remarked.
"He enjoyed himself, only did what he wanted, and didn't care for anyone else. Took up on his shady acquaintances and once again got into things he couldn't handle. He plunged into depression, partied whole nights, had a new girl every second day," Tracy said and then added. "The last part was what Jo-Anne told me a year ago after a night out. She told me how disgusted she was and that he deserved what fate had given him. Then in the next sentence she basically told me he was kind and giving, a person full of regret."
Judith nodded carefully. "Maybe he was?" she suggested.
Tracy sighed. "In a way Jo-Anne was a gold-digger that took a glass too many or gambled out of her league. I think that at first she only intended to take care of Daniel because she thought she would benefit from it," she replied as a way of explanation.
"Did she?" Judith wondered aloud.
"I don't know. According to the police she was found dead under a bridge in the outskirts of the city. Apparently she had a couple of dollars in her boot that matched the serial numbers missing from Daniels' account," Tracy returned darkly, her voice bitter.
"She took out money from his account?" Judith asked curiously, condemning. "Or did he give it to her?"
Tracy shook her head. "I don't know. I just remember the conflicted look on Daniel's face when the police came to tell him that she was dead and that she had been found with money that belonged to him," Tracy rubbed her tired eyes and then turned to fix Judith with an angry glare. "They even suggested he might have something to do with it."
Judith frowned. "Do you have the names of those officers?" she asked.
"Detective's Long and Cassidy," she returned in a clipped voice.
OOOOOO
"I'm not sure I like this," Starsky said looking somewhat put out as Hutch donned a bullet proof vest.
Several detectives with various designations had gathered in the squad room, some of them being prepped with radios others with listening devices while the rest of them checked their guns and other gear.
"I thought you would be pleased to sit this one out Starsk," Hutch teased lightly as he finished strapping his gun to his shoulder.
"Would love some action," his friend returned, not the least amused.
"Everyone set?" Captain Marks asked as he came into the room.
There was a chorus of yes greeting him.
"You all know what to do so let's not waste any more time. Let's bring them in and cut off some more tentacles of the Octopus," Marks said.
"Hey," Starsky said as Hutch moved to exit the room with the others. "Don't do anything stupid without me."
"Dave Starsky," Marks said with a grin. "I'm sorry I can't invite you."
"Understandable Captain. Just take care of my partner here. I would hate to be teamed with someone else," he said seriously.
OOOOOO
To be continued
/I'm so sorry for the delay in posting this. It wasn't my intention to keep you waiting this long. I hope you're still with me.