'You saw the cars in the lot. He's waiting for his opportunity,'' Dallas said.
At almost nine o'clock, the bar was still teeming. The jukebox was blaring-Elvis was singing about his blue suede shoes-and the customers had to raise their voices to be heard over the music. Had Michelle not been at the end of the bar by the phone serving customers, she wouldn't have heard
She put die receiver against one ear and held her hand over her other ear so she could hear the caller. She still had trouble understanding and walked into the storage room. Cherry Waterson was on the line, calling from the hospital. The woman was hysterical. Michelle couldn't make any sense out of what she was saying and finally demanded that she put a nurse on the line.
Thirty seconds later, after giving the nurse orders, Michelle hung up the phone and ran to Noah. 'We have to go to the hospital now.'
Noah didn't need to hear the details. The look on Michelle's face told him it was serious. He dropped the bar towel, whistled, and motioned to John Paul. They followed Michelle into the kitchen.
'What's the problem?' her brother asked.
'I need your car keys,' Noah said.
'John Patrick got in the way of a dart. It's imbedded in his chest,' she blurted as she unlocked the back door and opened it. 'Gotta go.'
John Paul tossed Noah the keys.
Michelle grabbed Noah's phone and was calling radiology as she walked. Noah shouted to John Paul just as he closed the door, 'Call Theo. He's on his way here. Tell him where we're going.'
Preston had pushed his way through the throng and was now hovering close to Jake Renard, pretending to study the sign-up sheet tacked to the wall. He strained to hear every word as John Paul told his father what had happened. The second he heard that Michelle was on her way to the hospital and that John Paul was going to call Theo and tell him to meet Michelle there, Preston set his glass down on the bar and headed for the door.
Across the room, one of the old men was telling Monk a fishing story. He'd invited Monk to join him and his friends at the table, but Monk stayed where he was so that he could watch the parking lot through the front window.
'I sit all day at a computer,' he said. 'What were you saying about that speckled trout?'
The old man shook his head because Monk obviously hadn't been listening, and then once again launched into his story from the beginning. Monk nodded a couple of times so that he would appear interested. When he saw Noah and Michelle get into an old pickup, he immediately headed for the door. The old man shouted something to him, but Monk ignored him and kept going. His hand was in his vest pocket.
Out in the parking lot, Preston was walking to his car with his head down in case Michelle or the FBI agent happened to be looking back. Monk caught up with him.
'Where are they going in such a hurry?'
'To the hospital,' Preston answered. 'And Buchanan's on his way. If Clayborne drops the doctor off, then we can get Buchanan and her there. It shouldn't be crowded this time of night. Most surgeons operate early in the morning.'
John changed the plan. When Preston called him and told him the news, he said, 'Dallas and I will wait in the car in the hospital parking lot and grab Buchanan when he arrives. If he gets there ahead of us, Dallas will go in and lure him out. You and Monk go in and keep tabs on the doctor. When she's alone, you grab her and meet us like we planned.'
'Screw that,' Preston shouted. 'I heard her brother say she's going to operate on some kid. I think we should do her there. We'll get the FBI agent too if he hangs around.'
John gritted his teeth. 'Are you out of your mind?
Do you know how many people will be in there with her? For God's sake, use your head. We want to make this look like a professional hit on Buchanan, remember? And we want the police and the FBI to think the doctor got hit because she was with him.'
'What about Clayborne?'
John considered the question for several seconds and then said, 'If the agent gets in the way, you're going to have to kill him too.'
'My God, if anyone could hear us…' Dallas raged.
'Shut up,' John snarled. Then he continued his conversation with Preston. 'What kind of car is the doctor driving?'
'An old red pickup truck.'
John punched the end button and dropped the phone in his lap as Dallas muttered, 'Slow down. The hospital is right around the corner.'
He realized he was speeding and slowed the rental car. 'What was Preston arguing with you about?' Dallas asked.
'He wanted to go in shooting.'
'How did this get so screwed up? You're talking about killing two, maybe three people, and I'm going along with it.'
'We don't have any choice.'
'The hell we don't. We could pack our bags and fly to the Caymans. We could get the money now, split it three ways, and then disappear.'
'We have to have Cameron's death certificate to get the money.'
'Monk could get it to us.'
'How come you're feeling guilty about killing strangers, but you aren't having any trouble with killing Cameron?'
'He became a dangerous liability.'
'Exactly,' John said. 'And so have Buchanan and his friends. Let's finish this tonight.'
'I think we should call the whole thing off.'
'No,' John shouted.
'It's out of control,' Dallas shouted back. 'And it's all your fault, you bastard.'
John's hand gripped his gun. He had the nearly overwhelming urge to put the barrel against Dallas's temple and pull the trigger.
He took a deep breath instead.
'Don't you dare fall apart on me,' he said. 'Look, there's Preston's car. He and Monk must already be inside.'
'The parking lot's almost empty. That's good.'
John was craning his netk to see the doctors' lot. Then he smiled. 'There's the pickup truck.'
'Clayborne obviously didn't drop her off and go back to The Swan. He's inside with her.'
'Then he's in the game.'
'Pull in next to that purple van behind the line of trees.'
John swung the car into the spot, pushed the button to bring the window down, and turned the motor off.
Dallas reached into the backseat for a black wind-breaker and put it on. The pocket contained a small semiautomatic.
'I'm trying to go over every possibility in my head,' Dallas said. 'Buchanan and the doctor shouldn't be difficult. Clayborne's
going to be the tough one. He's trained, and he'll be looking for trouble. If it goes bad and Preston and Monk and I have to hit them inside, he'll go down shooting, and he'll try to take us with him.'
'Then you'll take him out first. Remember, the element of surprise will be on your side. He won't see it coming.'
'But he'll… anticipate.'
'You're going to be able to lure Buchanan outside.'
'I'm just saying that if something goes wrong then-'
'Look,' John said impatiently. 'Monk will be thinking the same thing you are. You and he can maybe get Clayborne between you. Preston can get Buchanan.'
