Page 53 of Cross Down
A small nod. “I won’t lie to you,” he says, “it’s a setback, of course. We can’t take him off the ventilator at this point. In a day or two, we’ll try again. But I have to warn you, if we still have a problem then, we’ll have to take him back to the OR to figure out what the issue is.”
Bree says in a whisper, “Is he strong enough to go through surgery again?”
The doctor hesitates slightly, which tells Bree volumes. “We’ll have to see,” he says. “Any other questions?”
Bree looks to Ali and Nana Mama. “I think we’re all set for now,” Bree says.
“Good,” Dr. Smith says, standing up. “Alex is getting the best care in the world, I promise you that. Most likely, this is just a small bump in the road. If other questions come up, just ask one of the nurses to find me.”
He gives them a reassuring smile and leaves the room, and Nana Mama lets out a big sigh. “Ali, I have a hankering for a cool treat. Do you think you can show me the way to the cafeteria here so I can see if there’s ice cream?”
Ali’s face brightens. “Sure, Nana Mama. I know the way.”
He gets out of his chair and Nana Mama holds Bree’s hand a moment longer. “Can we bring anything back for you?” she asks.
Bree shakes her head. “Thanks, Nana Mama, but right now I can’t think of a thing.”
Alone now in the waiting room, she allows herself to sob for a few minutes, head in her hands, and then she stops, wipes her eyes with a tissue, and takes a deep breath.
So close. So very, very close.
Alex had been in danger before—he’d been shot at, threatened, nearly killed on a few occasions—but never anything as bad as this. Alex always joked that he was golden, a god (“NottheGod, butagod”), and that none of the enemies he’d collected over the years could hurt him, but Bree knows better.
Gamble again and again, and eventually the house—Death—will win.
Bree whispers, “You come back to me, Alex Cross. I’ll take you even if you are a mere mortal.”
The door opens, and a man wearing a dark blue business suit, a white shirt, and a light yellow tie comes in. “Ms. Stone? A moment?”
She’s confused but then recognizes the man: Jacob Springer, the hospital’s director of security. A number of hours ago, the two of them had had a heated but eventually reasonable discussion about how Bree had come to be carrying a weapon on hospital property and why she’d shot the fake nurse who called herself Mary Mullen. Springer knows Alex and is a former DC Metro Police detective himself, which helped defuse the situation.
So far, Bree’s security firm hasn’t come up with the woman’s real identity, even with the clue of the Big Red One tattoo on her upper arm.
“Sure, Mr. Springer,” Bree says.
“It’s about the woman claiming to be Mary Mullen,” he says.
“Right,” Bree says. “She should be out of the OR by now. Can I talk to her?”
He shakes his head. “I’m afraid you can’t, Ms. Stone.”
“Why not?”
“Because she died in surgery.”
Chapter
63
In Atlanta’s WestEnd, most of the streetlights are burned out. Waiting in a stolen black Pontiac G6 sedan are Humphrey, a former Atlanta cop who was let go after too many civilian complaints of excessive force, and George, a former Atlanta firefighter who lost his job after stripping the clothes off a rookie and tossing him into a firehouse shower as part of a hazing routine. (The fact that the aforementioned rookie was the nephew of a city councillor didn’t help George’s case.)
Each has an illegal sawed-off twelve-gauge shotgun in his lap. Inside the row house a few yards from them is a meeting of the local chapter of Black Lives Matter. The two of them plan to break up the meeting, and shotguns are the best weapons to use in close quarters. Pistols and submachine guns, while impressive as hell, can miss, even in a crowded room.
It’s not their plan; an anonymous person who seems to know and support their cause provided the money, the weapons, and the strategy.
The radio inside the Pontiac is on, and the president is speaking:
“My fellow citizens, I come to you tonight from this historic Oval Office, where so many of my predecessors have spoken to the American people about important issues facing this great nation…”
