Page 94 of Broken Wheels

They weren’t going to find any of his prints.

Mordaunt strolled along the hallway until he reached the room. He paused at the door, listening.

No voices.

Perfect.

Mordaunt pushed open the door and stepped inside. The small room contained a bed, a couple of chairs, and the usual monitoring equipment that beeped and whirred. The room’s only occupant lay in the bed, on his side, his back to the door. The red hair was unmistakable.

He walked toward the bed, reaching into his pocket for the case. “Good afternoon, Mr. Cross. I’m here to give you your shot.” He inserted the needle into the vial and removed about 10cc.

Malone rolled over to face him. “Funny. I’m not due any shots. Especially since we told everyone to stay away from this room. So whoever you are, you’re not a nurse.”

Mordaunt stilled. “Very good, Dr. Malone. I’m relieved to find you here. I was starting to worry I hadn’t gotten it right. That would be a terrible blow to my reputation.”

To Mordaunt’s surprise, Malone smiled.

“Thank you for coming.” His gaze alighted on the syringe. “Just so we’re clear? On the first date, I think etiquette says to bring flowers.”

Mordaunt held up the small but deadly object. “I’m impressed. Humor in the face of adversity. Well, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid we’ve come to a parting of the ways. The boss is going to be over the moon when I tell him you’re dead.”

“I don’t suppose you’re going to be foolish enough to spill the beans before you kill me? You know, like in the TV shows? Because I’d love to know exactly who the boss is.”

Mordant smiled. “You’re right, Dr. Malone. I am not that foolish.” Malone’s brief chuckle took him by surprise, and he stared. “Something amusing you?”

“Haven’t you wondered why they left me in this room? I mean, I told Dixon you weren’t an idiot. You would’ve guessed I wasn’t in the other one as soon as you saw the security guys.”

“Which was exactly what I did. I wasn’t about to walk into that room and be taken down before I even reached the bed.” Mordaunt was growing impatient. Time to finish this before the idiot thought to yell for help. Besides, the conversation was starting to give him a bad feeling.

This was not how he’d anticipated the task to go down.

“Yeah, we knew you’d figure it out, so we set up a two-pronged attack.”

“Attack?” Mordaunt sneered. “You’re not exactly in the best of shape to stop me, are you?”

“No—that would be my job” came a voice from behind him. Mordaunt spun around, only to have the syringe knocked from his grasp and a punch delivered to his solar plexus with all the delivery of a Mack truck. He went flying backward, his head smashing into the metal bed frame, and the world started spinning.

Before he could get up, the door opened and three guys entered, heading straight for him.

Malone’s boyfriend watched as they cuffed him.

“Doc said you’d know he was in another room. He also told everyone to wait for my signal. Me?” His smile was grim. “I was hoping you’d show up, just so I could kick your ass.”

Mordaunt listened in dismay.

Maybe Vreeland wasn’t the only stupid one.

Dix had to admit, Chalmers was a damn sight more patient than he would have been. At least they had a name for their would-be assassin, but that was the result of Chalmers doing a lot of digging. It was as if someone had taken steps to erase the existence of one Gregory Mordaunt, thirty-two. Yet another military man who’d left it all behind and apparently gone into business for himself. According to what Chalmers found, he commanded a hefty price tag for hits.

Who’s paying for this one?

The small consultation room, with its table and four chairs, wasn’t the ideal location for an interrogation, but it was the best they could do in the circumstances. Chalmers’s badge granted him a lot of leeway.

Speaking of Chalmers, he seemed to finally be running out of patience.

“Let me ask again.” Chalmers pushed the words through gritted teeth. “Who paid you to come after Dr. Malone?”

Dix was sure Mordaunt would have folded his arms if he could have. He set his jaw. “For what must be the two hundredth time, I’m not talking without a lawyer.”