The Old Enemy by Henry Porter (read with me .TXT) 📕

The line went dead. As usual, Macy had hung up without warning.

Samson walked round the room with a coffee in one hand and his phone in the other. Two calls to Anastasia’s number went straight to voicemail. He waited for a further half-hour then considered walking over to the hospital. There was only one thing to do that evening and that was put Hisami’s calculator and computer in Naji’s hands. He checked in with the Bird – everything was all right – and left the room to walk back to his own hotel.

At ten thirty Anastasia called and told him that Tulliver had been beaten unconscious in a side street in Tribeca and was still out of it. He was likely to recover but would be in hospital for at least ten days. He wasn’t carrying the item he had gone to New York to collect, however: that had just been delivered safely to its owner.

‘I need to take delivery. Should I come to you?’

‘It doesn’t feel right to leave now. Denis is responding to Angel – that’s the man who looks after the apartment in New York. Let’s do it in a couple of hours.’

‘Okay. Two things. First, do you have any proof of power of attorney? And, second, I want you to consider how we best handle Martin Reid. You know him better than any of us. Do we threaten him with what we know or do we seek to persuade him?’

‘I’ll think about that. Denis and I both have digital copies of the Enduring POAs for each other.’

‘Send it to Zillah Dee. I’ll need to take delivery of those items this evening.’

They agreed to speak in an hour or two.

Anastasia was used to the hush that descended on the corridors of the hospital in the evening, but the lone police officer was nowhere to be seen and she became convinced that Denis was in danger. They had killed one man in hospital who had been under police guard and she had stupidly told Reid that the doctors were pleased about Denis’s recovery from a minor operation, implying that he was conscious and very much on the mend. That news would have reached Daus. She called Special Agent Reiner to see if he could arrange for more officers, but didn’t raise him. She went to the nurses’ station but found no one in authority. Then she called Dr Carrew’s cellphone and told him she needed Denis moved immediately for his safety. Carrew became pompous about the hospital’s ability to keep her husband safe. After all, hadn’t they done just that when she went to Europe, leaving her husband to face a medical emergency by himself?

‘I’m not really asking you, Dr Carrew. I’m telling you that this must happen. I have good reason to believe that my husband is in grave danger, and we need to move him now. His right-hand man, Jim Tulliver, was beaten senseless in New York last night and is now also in a coma.’

‘But there are police officers watching the floor.’

‘I’m in the corridor and I can see no security whatsoever. I believe we need to move him right now. I am thinking only of my husband’s safety. Please hear me on this.’

She ended the call and went back into the room. Denis was still looking fixedly at Angel, who was chattering about his wife’s failure to notice she was pregnant with their third child. She peered at him and smiled. ‘Are you coming back to us, Hash? I do hope so.’

Angel said, ‘I know he is. I see it in his eyes.’

‘Angel, you give us hope.’ She went to the other side of the bed and sat down. ‘Hash, I need to move you. You probably can’t remember why you’re here, but the danger isn’t over and I want to make you safe until I get more security here.’ Angel looked alarmed and sat down.

They were there for another two hours before nurses and an overseer came to move the bed and all the equipment. While they waited she sent the POA to Zillah Dee and said that she needed at least two security guards at the hospital by morning to watch over Denis. The move was completed by eleven. Angel pulled up a chair and rested his head on a cushion to watch Hisami.

‘Are you going to be all right there?’ she asked him.

‘Maybe he will say something to me.’

‘I pray he does.’

She went to the nurses’ station and asked the duty supervisor not to update the change of room in the records until the morning. Without looking up from her screen, the woman said it would be impossible to ignore hospital procedures. Anastasia let her bag drop to the ground and told her about the millions of dollars Denis had given in memory of his sister to the health group of which this very hospital was a member. If the hospital wanted to continue to benefit, the supervisor would do this one thing for her husband – it was all she was asking. The nurse eventually agreed. Anastasia thanked her and walked away, not feeling particularly proud of herself. She phoned Zillah Dee and left a message reminding her about security. The POA was already in her inbox.

She took the elevator to the car park and headed for the ramp that led out to the street. As she exited she heard an engine start. She looked back. A Suburban parked in a bay at one end had its lights on but wasn’t moving. She dialled Samson and quickened her pace.

‘I have both items with me,’ she said.

‘Okay, share your location with me. I’m not far away from you . . .’

‘There’s someone in the garage. They’re watching me, I’m sure.’

‘Get out of there and find cover. There’s a park near the hospital. Go there.’

She ran in the direction of the park, where, from the rooftop of the hospital, Tulliver had spotted a hawk hunting for vermin. It wasn’t large, but it