CHAPTER 9
She gasped and opened her eyes with a flash of lightening; struggling to take off her oxygen mask.
“You might want to go easy there.”
She followed the voice and was surprised to see detective Nathan standing by the window just opposite her bed. She looked around, taking her time to study her environment. She put her hand behind her head and took her mask off easily.
“What do you remember?” he asked coming to her bed.
“Antonio.” She whispered, trying to sit up.
“Lay still. You seem to get into a lot of trouble all the time.” He added, closing the newspaper in his hand and setting it on the bedside stool.
“How did I get in my room?” she asked puzzled.
“Antonio” he replied shrugging.
“Antonio?” she asked in confusion.
“Well, and the doctor.” He added.
“What happened?” she asked as she managed to sit up despite all the warnings to lay still.
“Antonio found you passed out under a table at the diner down the road. Do you remember how you got there?” he asked, taking out his notepad and pen.
“Yes…I went to eat out so I could apologize to Antonio like you earlier suggested.” She spoke slowly, rubbing her head; there was a low ringing bell-like sound in her head.
“Like I suggested? Never mind. So did you witness the incident that took place at the diner?” he asked again, scribbling with his eyes fixated on his notepad.
“Not exactly. Where is the doctor and Antonio?” she asked stretching her feet against the bed frame.
“The doctor should be back any moment; he was called in from the hospital. He said he would be brief.” He explained.
“And Antonio?” she asked again, looking at him.
“Left to have a change of clothes and a good bath. He’s been here with you for the past three days.” He added again, taking a second off his notepad to eyeball her.
“Three days?” she opened her eyes in shock.
“Yes. Dr. Wills will give you the details; I am only the detective.” He responded returning back to scribbling on his notepad.
“Where is my phone?” she asked again, looking around her.
“Here” He replied, opening the bed side drawer and pulling out her phone before handing it to her slowly.
“The man at the diner; is he—?” she stammered in a somewhat indistinct manner.
“Dead? Yes, he is. Did you know him?” he asked keenly, very interested in her response.
She gasped and swallowed. Exhaling again before opening her mouth to speak, she replied, “Life is such a weak, fickle thing.”
“I see you knew him.” Detective Nathan added.
“Not exactly”; she started as she unlocked her phone and scrolled through her photos and then handed him the phone, “That’s the man, right there. You can zoom in for clarity; sitting opposite him is my boss," she said in panic.
“So your boss, former boss, and this man seemed to be having a conversation and sharing drinks minutes before his death and you happen to have this on your phone, how?” he cleared his throat, drew the wooden stool close to her bedside and sat on it anticipatorily.
“I saw him while I was waiting for Antonio to come over to my table but he was moving fast; I followed him because I wanted to discuss how he unjustly terminated my appointment and maybe inform him of my decision to sue if I do not get my job back; found him sitting with the young man in the photo and he really looked familiar. I backtracked, hid by the soundbar and took photos of them. Imagine my shock when Antonio and I got to his table and he was dead with my boss, gone.” She ended in a whisper.
“Your boss seems to have his hands in a lot of dirt," he said, nodding.
“What’s going on?” she asked; she heard her front door open slowly and then close again. She listened for a few seconds then turned to him again, “What have I been missing on?” she asked again, waiting impatiently for answers.
“Oh thank God you’re awake. We were so worried.” A frail, elderly, plump looking man with bald head and a thin voice said weakly, walking in through the door.
“You must be Dr. Wills.” She sounded so unsure.
“Yes, my dear.” He replied with a weak smile.
“Thank you for looking after my health, Detective Nathan told me a lot—”
“You have been out like a light for the past four days; your blood pressure has been a cause for concern. Lay down now, let me check some of your vitals, see if you’re good to go.” He interrupted, placing his briefcase on the table and opening it to reveal, several medicines and medical devices.
“Hey, I didn’t hear you come in.” Elisabeth said as the room door opened and Antonio walked in with a bandaged arm.
“Hey, you are alright.” He whispered, moving close to her.
“Yes I am. I was so worried about you; you have a broken arm” she squeezed her brows in worry.
“It is not broken, just a little dislocation. I’m okay. It will be removed in a few weeks.” He assured, running his other hand over the bandage to emphasize his point; she smiled at him, she knew what he was doing.
“You seem stable enough; your vitals seem good too but you’ll need to come for an appointment at Bretford as the detective informed me that this isn’t the first time you have been found unconscious.” He scribbled some notes down and handed her the paper, “Call that number when you get to the hospital; your appointment date is written on the paper as well. Take a lot of water, less calories, more fruits and vegetables; don’t worry much about anything and if that becomes too hard, see a therapist. I would also recommend you stay around a loved one from now on.” He added, locking his briefcase.
“I doubt I can remember all that.” She shook her head slowly.
“Don’t worry doc, I go her.” Antonio said.
“Any headaches, body pains?” Dr. Wills asked her, staring down from his glasses that rested firmly on his nose bridge.
“No. I’m okay, thank you.” She replied, smiling.
“My work here is done then; I will see you both at the hospital. I think it would be great if you brought your wife to the hospital.” He added referring to Lisa.
“Uhm…she isn’t my…sure, I will. Thank you so much.” He stammered slowly, looking at Lisa as she laughed lightly.
Detective Nathan cleared his throat loudly, “Sorry to burst your bubble but I have questions to ask and information to pass.” He folded his arms in front of him.
“It seems the diner would be opened up again sooner than we expected," he said to Antonio.
“The diner is closed?” Lisa asked, visibly disturbed by the information.
“It’s just until the investigations are completed.” Antonio chipped in.
“Mr. Romero was seen ordering for a bottle of red Scottish win from the bar over the counter; that’s one wine that is never stocked at the bar. It must have been a conspiracy; the bartender was definitely in on this one. The wine seemed to have been poisoned earlier before the order.” He explained.
Lisa reached for Antonio’s hand and held on to it tightly.
“I told him about the photo earlier; I knew it was the man from the photo that got killed. I knew that wine was not something we sold at the bar. Turns out your boss contracted Jerry, the bartender and the diner’s. We don’t know why your boss would want the man dead.” Antonio added.
“Oh we know why he would want him dead. Turns out all the ownership papers at the firm were bought and falsified as well, from another company. Mr. Romero knew about this but went ahead to involve the police when he found out his dealer was selling the same documents with similar falsifications to other companies because the company originally owning the documents had made a report and he thought involving the police before he was found out would put eyes away from him. His dealer, upset with what he had done, threatened to expose him but you see, Mr. Romero was a cunning man so he asked that they met over drinks and called a truce. They did but he killed the dealer.” He explained, the words bounced off his tongue as fast as possible.
“Who is this dealer?” Lisa asked trying to keep up.
“I believe his name is Lincoln King.” Nathan replied staring down as he waited for the message to register with Lisa.
“Lincoln Kin—” she whispered, stopping abruptly in shock.
“I’m sorry.” Nathan expressed wholeheartedly.
“That’s not my brother, right?” she asked in disbelief.
“I’m afraid he is.” He responded coming closer to her in a bid to calm her down.
“How can that be?” she asked, her eyes fixated on Nathan.
“I had my team search his beach condo, east from here and a lot of paperwork were recovered, false and authentic and some that we are yet to understand as well. It makes sense now that when he broke into your apartment, he threw down your study. He wanted to get rid of any remaining evidence of the paperwork. The papers that got missing from your firm, that was you; you brought them home, we have established that before. Linn obtains these documents sometimes by fraud other times by purchasing them and then he sells them on the local site, after falsifying them, to a few unsuspecting companies and others who are aware of the business; he does all this under a fake web account, with false details. I’m so sorry to break this news to you, most importantly in this manner.” He sat on her bed gently, trying not to offend her.
“You knew this all along, didn’t you?” she asked, smiling, concealing her pain.
“I had a gut feeling it was him, but every man is innocent until proven guilty.” He replied taking her other hand.
“So my brother is gone?” she asked in disbelief.
“I’m so sorry.” Antonio said, lost for words.
Elisabeth stared into the void as her mind traveled back to the argument she had with Linn; she felt terrible. Maybe she pushed him too hard, she could have handled it better, exercised a little patience and pulled him close instead of pushing him away all the time. She blamed herself for the depth of all the atrocities he'd committed. If only she had not been so distant. She wondered if her mother had heard the news. How much could her frail mother take? Linn was not anyone’s special child, but Elisabeth knew her mother loved him so much, and the thought of breaking the news to her was overwhelming. She felt Antonio’s tender loving hands on her shoulders trying to soothe her pain but this pain ran too deep. Tears welled up in her eyes but wouldn’t pour down; it was as though crying wouldn’t cut it so her tear gland became dysfunctional but she needed the relief that came from crying.
“I’ll take my leave now. I leave her in your hands; please be kind to her” Detective Nathan said to Antonio as he stood to his feet and quietly made his way out of the room.
“Hey, I’m here. I won’t leave unless you want me to.” Antonio whispered pulling her close to himself as he heard her sniffle; he patted her on the back and put his head on hers, stroking her hair continuously as she stared in the distance; a heart full of pain and a body, pale and tired.