In the Blink of An Eye by Jerry Baggett (ebook reader for surface pro TXT) 📕

A solid blow to Hans’s midsection. The ancient well casing exploded into the well. Hans Hempel flailed wildly. He stared back at Dick for a split second, then fell silently into the well.

Dick relaxed back down onto the ground, breathing hard. He studied the knife. He wasn’t sure if he should free it from his arm.

Samantha said, “I saw everything, Dick. We’ll need a tourniquet before removing the knife to prevent more bleeding. The cavalry’s riding to the rescue, maybe eight to ten minutes.”

Dick removed his belt and passed it to her. “Fate strikes in strange ways. You just killed the man that killed your mother.”

She pulled it tight around his arm. “I did kill that man, Dick, and I can’t stop trembling. Will it always bother me?”

“You killed to save our lives. There’s no question about that. We do what we have to do and try not to dwell on it afterwards. You heard what he said. That makes him the step-father you can’t remember.”

She smiled back at Dick. “I thought for sure he was going to shoot you before I could get the gun out. I’m certainly glad you have those nine lives, sweetheart. You’ve already used up several, just since I’ve known you.” She removed a small packet of tissues from her pocket and passed a wad to Dick. “Now, tell me something. What could bring Doctor Peyton all the way across country, unless he was here looking for Angel?”

“I think they were working together somehow,” he said.

She kneeled and kissed him on his cheek. “Don’t you think we’ve had enough excitement for one lifetime?”

He leaned against her. “After what we’ve seen today, I agree with you. Maybe we can catch a break soon. Even a darn hamster gets off the treadmill sooner or later.”

Chapter 44

Dick ended the lengthy conversation and tossed the phone on the bed. “I talked with Hunt about the deaths and what’s been going on here. Of course, he was ahead of us, getting the facts from local authorities. He wants to meet us at the hospital ASAP.”

“You’d better check into the emergency room first,” she said. “That wound must be looked at and properly treated by a doctor. My few sutures are only an emergency fix. You could lose your arm.”

He kicked his shoes off and relaxed in the hotel bedroom chair. “I’m too tired to rush right over to the damn hospital. The rental’s locked up tight in a storage facility. It should be safe there until we figure out what to do with all that gold and silver. Technically, it’s property of the trust. Our job is to keep it away from prying eyes and let the attorneys worry about what to do with it.”

“Dick. You smell like smoke and have soot all over you. We can’t visit the hospital with you looking and smelling like a fireman.”

He caught a whiff of her after-shower fragrance as she passed. Ouiee! I think we need to cuddle some, first.”

She laughed. “Don’t you dare come near me.” She tossed a hip in his direction. “I’ll pour us a glass of wine while you’re cleaning up.”

They found Hunt and another agent standing in the corridor outside Maria’s hospital room. “Agent Fox here is my security. An added requirement after our maximum pressure campaign.” He grinned at Dick. “So, you got stuck in the butt, and again in the arm. Better get it attended to. Take him on into the emergency room, Samantha. We don’t give out purple hearts here.”

The doctor didn’t visibly react. He was busy. He treated the wounds, gave Dick a heavy dose of antibiotic and rushed on to the next patient.

Hunt embraced Samantha with an arm around her shoulder. “You two should have been here earlier. Maria passed away about half an hour before you got here. She was weak but lucid right up until the end. After a visit from her son, she gave us incriminating information on as many as twelve more people connected with Harvey Marino and his organization.”

“That poor woman,” Samantha said. “She was so young, in the prime of life. Her young son’s now left without either parent.”

Hunt thought for a second, then continued. “She gave us names of people she believed had been savagely beaten or killed. One of those, the young woman you two found washed up in the surf. Harvey and Hans carried Maria all the way across country in a damn casket. That’s how they transported their victims.” He waited for Samantha’s reaction. Her face said it all. “You two were both in the cross hairs of Marino and his group. That point can’t be stressed enough, Dick. The organization may not be finished. We don’t know who or how many are left out there. They know about you and everything that happened at your family’s old plantation. Marino’s nurtured imagined hatreds since childhood. He used Grant and Samantha as symbols of everything he hated. Then, you stepped into the picture.”

Hunt cocked his head and thought for a while. “I’m convinced that Doctor Peyton has been the brains behind Marino for all those years. He’s the silent partner we’ve been looking for. Given time, we’ll connect him to the cartel in Mexico. He was a powerful figure in the business for decades, and well hidden.”

Hunt picked up Samantha’s hand. “Here’s the good news. Your kind and generous uncle, Thomas Grant Davis, did not kill your mother. Forensics found fingerprints on both fired and unfired shells in the revolver recovered inside that great big old stuffed toy of yours. Marino hoped to retrieve the weapon at some point before anyone else could. He lost track of your childhood belongings and became frustrated after your aunt’s home was sold. If he couldn’t kidnap you and have you lead him to the weapon, he planned on killing you.”

Hunt looked up