Chapter Twenty-Four Min

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: MIN

My plan is to camp out in Jessica's room. I'll be the line of defense between her and these assholes. But before I settle in, I take a tour of the hospital and each exit. The building has three primary exits. One leads out the front while the other two are in the back. One for the Emergency Room and the other for patient pickup and drop-off. I expect this is the one Billings will use. However, that's just a guess. He could plan to take her out of a staff side entrance. However, I think he'll follow the normal route. Any deviation could alert Jessica or draw unwanted attention to him.

The cops should cover all the exits, so he won't get her out of the building. However, I intend on making sure he doesn't get near her. Returning to the third floor, I wander about the halls until I spot Blankenship when he comes out of a patient's room. When he checks his watch, I check mine. I need to get into Jessica's room. Blankenship beats me to it. I consider my options. I could go in and take Blankenship down, but risk losing Billings. But Jessica's safety takes precedence. As I move toward her door, Blankenship comes out. He has a sick grin on his face that I want to remove. With my foot. A kick to the head ought to do it. However, I restrain and wait for him to turn away before moving closer to Jessica's room. I stand near the door when a nurse calls out to Blankenship.

"Doctor, I just spoke with Jessica's parents. They're on their way to the hospital. They should be here in about forty-five minutes."

"Forty-five minutes? They might not be done with the test by then. Call them and let them know. Tell them to come later."

"They can just wait in her room," the nurse argues.

"No. You should have told them to come later. There is no sense having them wait around. Call them and tell them to come later. You should have told them this when they called. What were you thinking? Nurses."

"He's such an ass," the nurse says. I assume Blankenship has left.

"He is and he's a nosy bastard, too. He's questioned everyone about Colin and Vivian Chambers. You'd think they owed him money with the intensity of his questions about where they could have gone."

I ponder Blankenship's interest in the Chambers as I push open the door to Jessica's room. Panic sets in when I see her empty bed. Where is she? Did they already sneak her out? I barely stop myself from jumping when the bathroom door opens and a pretty girl with damp brown hair steps out.

"Jessica?"

"Yes. I'm almost ready. Are my parents here?" She asks, glancing at me with a frown. "Where's the wheelchair? You don't look like a nurse."

"I'm not a nurse."

"Then who are you?" I see the first flash of fear and while I should feel guilty for putting it there, I know I'm about to make it worse.

"My name is Min Yan. I know you don't have any reason to trust me, but I'm here to protect you."

Her eyes widen. "Protect me from what?"

Taking out my bounty hunter's license, I show it to her. "I'm a bounty hunter from San Diego. I'm after several men who escaped from prison. One of which is Dr. Blankenship."

"Who?"

"Dr. Bishop," I correct myself, remembering that he's working her under his assumed name.

"Dr. Bishop escaped from prison?" Her eyes widening. "What did he do?"

"He's suspected of killing several women. The police in San Diego caught him, along with his accomplices. However, he escaped with help from a cop. These men are working with a group who kidnap and hurt young women. I was able to rescue one the other day. She's safe. I know they have others. I overheard Blankenship. Sorry, Dr. Bishop, making plans to kidnap you."

She shakes her head. "No, you must be mistaken. He's releasing me at three. My parents should be here any minute."

"I overheard him telling the nurses to delay your parents. He told the nurses he scheduled you for an MRI for your headaches."

"But I'm not having headaches," Jessica protests.

"It's a ruse. His accomplice will be the one with the wheelchair."

"What do we do? Should I hide?"

I had hoped to get her out of the room and away from danger, but I'm running out of time. "Grab your stuff. There's an empty room just down the hall. You can hide there until we have the men in custody."

Jessica nods and grabs the bag she placed on her bed. I see fear in her expression, but also determination. And a touch of anger. Good. Anger is good. She follows me to the door, but I hear someone on the other side before I can open it. We're too late. Shit.

"Hide in the bathroom. Don't come out."

While she does what I say, I move to the side and plaster myself against the wall, near the corner of the room. I'm hoping he doesn't immediately spot me. If I can get behind him, I can incapacitate him.

Using the wheelchair to push open the door, Billings backs into the room with a bounce to his step. "Hello, Jessica, my name is Noah and I'm your ride." He turns the wheelchair around, keeping his back to me. "Jessica?" When he glances toward the bathroom, I strike.

Springing forward, I jump on his back. Wrapping my arm around his neck, I wrestle him to the ground. Billings is a cop, so I know he's had some self-defense training, but my attack caught him by surprise. He's struggling to shake me loose, but I have a good hold on him. I feel him losing the fight to remain conscious as he claws at my arm. Luckily, I'm still wearing the leather jacket I wear when I ride on Babe's bike. I wear it to protect me from road rash in case we go down. Billings can't reach my skin. He's just about unconscious when the door behind me opens.

"What the hell is going on in here?"

I don't loosen my grip on Billings. Instead, I double down. I can't let him up. I'll be at a disadvantage facing off against both of them. However, I feel Blankenship move in behind me and grab my arm. He's pulling on me, which dislodges my grip on Billings. I feel Billings gaining strength as Blankenship wraps his arm around my neck.

I release Billings and focus my attention on the doctor. Snapping my head back, I head butt him as I plow my elbow into his gut. He bends over, grunting. Spinning out of his hold, I take a defensive stance. They both stalk toward me. Blankenship is holding his broken nose while Billings rubs his neck. I smirk at them both.

"You're going to regret attacking me, bitch," Billing snarls.

"Did I hurt you?" I sneer at him. "You'll get worse in prison. I hear cops don't fare well in prison. Your cell mates will have fun with you. I hear they don't like men who sell babies much either, Blankenship."

They glance at each other before glaring at me. "Who the fuck are you?"

"I'm the bitch who's taking you both back to San Diego. The cops will be here soon to take you both into custody. You can join your buddies Baumbach and Foster. We caught them earlier."

"You're the bitch who chased me at the hospital when we went after Oswald," Billings says.

"I am."

"Where's your backup? Or did the biker dump your ass?"

"He's on his way."

"Too bad he'll be too late," Blankenship says.

Billings lunges toward me as I pull out my knife. I swipe at him and feel immense satisfaction when he cries out in pain. However, with my focus on the former cop, the doctor takes advantage. Blankenship gets behind me and I feel a prick on my neck. Slapping my hand to the spot, I dislodge a syringe. I watch it fall to the ground, along with my knife. Whatever he put in there works fast.

I feel myself falling to the ground and that's all I feel. As if watching from outside my body, Billings lifts me up and puts me in the wheelchair. He tosses a blanket over my lap before moving to the bathroom door. He throws his weight against it until it splinters open. I hear Jessica's attempt to scream, but she's cut off. Someone grabs the chair I'm in and wheels it out into the hallway. I see the nurses and patients wandering the halls, but can't move or speak to ask for help. After a ride in the elevator, I barely notice someone picking me up and dumping me in the back of an SUV before losing conciseness.