Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen

Ray Nicolai called at four in the afternoon.By this time she had managed to find Taylor.The investigation office said he was on the street, so she called his BB button number and she waited there, but got no call back. "I hope you don't do whatever you're doing and come to Enshi Hospital," said Nicolai, in a steady tone that she found a little harsh.Probably fake. "I'll send you a car if necessary. What do you say?" "What do you want me to do?" "Come see what one of Ordell's gang did to Fallon. Then I'll take you to see the guy and tell me if you know him."

"Where are you?" He told her it was on the third floor, east side. Less than forty minutes after she hung up the phone, she walked towards him, who was standing outside the door of the nurse's office.She was wearing a man's shirt and jeans, and she carried a brown leather bag over her shoulder. "Thank you for coming," said Nicolai.She felt strange. He stared for a moment without saying a word, then walked away, and she followed him, down the corridor to the outside of a room with an open door, where two police officers in dark green uniforms stood.Nikolai nodded to them, and they stepped aside to study her.Jackie followed Nicolai inward, past the first bed, which was empty, and on the second bed lay a young black man with his eyes closed.There were two hoses attached to his body, one coming out of his nostrils and the other coming out from under the sheets to a catheter bag hanging by the bed.

"What happened to him?" "I shot him," Nicolai said, "after he shot Faron." Jackie turned from the bed where the young man lay to ask the Authority agent, "How is he?" "which one?" "Tyler. How is he?" "I want you to see this guy first. Do you know him?" Jackie moved closer. "do not know." "Have you seen him before?" "I don't think so." "Maybe once with Ordell?" She shook her head. "No." "I don't know," said Nicolai, "if this guy's one of those things: You've met before, you don't know him, but he knows you. Like Beaumont."

"Is he Jamaican?" "No, this is a fellow countryman," said Nicolai. "According to a police officer standing outside, his name on the street was Kuch. I found out the name, and the criminal court knew it quite well. His driving The license says his name is Huron Miller Jr., but I doubt anyone but his mother calls him Huron." Nicolai put his hand on Couch's shoulder and shook it. "Am I right? Open your eyes, I want you to see someone, she's here to see you." When Nicolai shook him again, Jackie saw the young man frowned and opened his eyes. "What the hell are you doing to me?"

"Do you hurt, Kuh? I swear to God, you hurt," Nicolai said. "I want you to take a look at this lady who came here and tell me who she is." She saw Kuch squinting at her and said, "Man, how did I know? You brought her here." Nikolai grabbed a lock of Kuch's hair and threw his head back violently, and Kuch immediately said, "Hey, fuck, let me go." His eyes were on Nikolai's face. Jackie watched them.Nicolai seemed composed.He said, "Somebody's going to come in here and rip your tube out. Did you ever think about that? Somebody just died in the hospital, man." The grim look of the policeman turned to her.It's time to leave.He took her arm and walked down the aisle toward the nurse's office.

"I hit him in the groin and got his 'plumbing' out of whack, but nothing serious. He might need surgery, they're not sure yet, otherwise he'd be fine in a few days. Out of the hospital. I'm conflicted about it. I hope he's dead." Jackie glanced at him, and he went on, "But I also want him alive so we can use him." "Did he work for Ordell?" "We're absolutely sure. I know he sold him guns." "What if he doesn't tell you anything?" "He'll talk. He's twenty years old, but he's been arrested seventeen times. We can make a deal with a guy like him. Whether he can live like a man in the future depends on how long he can keep his hands clean." done."

"Where's Taylor?" Jackie said. "Should I see him?" "Right now. His wife is with him," said Nicolai. "We went over and peeked in to see how he was doing.  … Faron was shot twice. One hit the femur, the bone Broken, the scientific name is the femur, right? Another shot through the iliac bone, bringing out a piece of broken bone." Nikolai's hand slid down to touch her buttocks. "Here's the bone. He'll be fine. The bullet went through the door of his car, slowing down a bit. Another one hit the buckle of his BB and changed direction."

"I tried calling him," Jackie said. "You're right, you want to talk to us." "I need my old job." "We all have our needs," said Nicolai. "Let's wait and see Faron first." He sleeps in a secluded room.Nicolai approached the bed and said, "Hey, partner, are you still asleep?" Jackie saw him open his eyes.His head was on the pillow, his hair was messy, and he looked younger, almost twenty. "Where's Cheryl?" "I think she's off to get some coffee." "They gave you a lot of painkillers, huh?"

Tyler's eyes closed and opened again, trying to make a smile. "Look who I bring to see you." Jackie moved toward the bed. "How are you doing?" So he looked at her and forced a smile. "I'm very good." This gave her a strange feeling that she was with friends.Nicolai sat her down first, and then brought another chair, both with wooden arms and foam cushions.She kept watching Tyler, who turned his face toward them, tired-looking, his right leg lifted a few inches under the sheet, his bare toes poking out from the end of the bed.An IV line ran from his arm to a clear plastic bottle hanging from a rack.

Nicolai leaned against the arm of the chair and moved closer to her. "Where were we talking?" "I need my old job." I also want a cigarette.She really wants to smoke one now. "Well, you know what I'm going to say." "If I can work, I can help you." "Maybe you can get on a plane and get away." "It's not worth it. What am I waiting for, a few more months?" "If I turn you over to the FBI, which I can do, it'll be a few more days." Maybe smoking is allowed in this secluded room. "How can you help me when you get back to work?"

"You need proof of Ordell Robbie, don't you?" "Oh, now you admit to knowing him." "You never asked me if I knew him." "We think you're trying to surprise us." "I bring money for him." "Really? Where did he get the money?" "He sells guns." "Did he tell you, or did you see him selling guns?" "If I'm going to help," Jackie said, "I have to get permission to leave the country and do it safely." "You are not demanding." "Ok?" "possible." "I'll tell you how to catch him, and you'll have to withdraw the drug charges against me." "You've already spoken to a lawyer." She took cigarettes and a lighter from her purse. "Ok?" "You haven't told me what I can get." She lights a cigarette. "He. You got Ordell." "Aren't you nervous?" "Of course I'm nervous." "I caught him, where is the evidence for selling guns?" "Money from selling guns." She didn't know what to use for soot red. Nicolai said, "Wash the ashes on the floor." And said, "Where's my case? I'm not customs, and I'm not fucking interested in your money. I need him selling guns Evidence. Possession of illegal weapons, stolen, unregistered firearms and unauthorized trade in weapons." His eyes fell to the bed. "Right, partner? We need to get ourselves a gift box with a gun wrapped in wrapping paper and ribbon." "That's right," Taylor said, so quietly they could barely make out the word. "She also delivered their drugs," Nicolai said, giving Jackie another look. "I'm not fucking interested in the forty-two grams of cocaine you were carrying. I can drop the case against you if you get me evidence of Ordell Robbie selling guns. You understand? " "All I can do is tell you what I know," Jackie said. "for example?" She hesitated, smoking a cigarette. "He already has more than half a million dollars in Freeport." "He did a good job." "If he makes another delivery, he will get more income." "Did he tell you?" "He trusts me." "That's good. It keeps you from getting shot." "He asked me to help him bring the money here." "Doesn't he know you can't leave the country?" "I told him I could get approval." "God!" Nicolai said, grinning. "So, if we let you go, we'll be helped too, right?" "You follow the line of money to track down." "I see. We marked the money before you left the airport. We followed you and watched you hand him the money. But what about my gun case?" "If he arranges a delivery, you know he has a gun." "Where?" "Right here." "If I let them ship the gun - otherwise he wouldn't get paid for it - we'd have more money, but my evidence is gone." "Excuse me, I have to wait a minute," said Jackie, holding up an unfinished cigarette. "I've got to get rid of this." She crossed the room to the bathroom and threw the cigarette down the toilet.It took her less than a minute.She came back and sat down, and asked, "What does it matter if you let him ship most of the guns and leave enough evidence for a case. Would that work?" "He won't personally escort it?" "He hasn't been to Freeport in recent months." Nicolai said, "Well, there's more money to come—" Jackie cut him off. "I know it's not your first interest. But why let the Bahamian government get the money? Won't they take his cash when he's arrested?" "If they knew where the money was." "The money you get is like a bonus," Jackie said.She smiled lightly at him. "I admit that I am trying to make my idea sound as attractive as possible.  …" Nicolai smiled back. "You're doing pretty well." "You know, I just don't want you to feel that such a large sum of money has not been claimed by anyone. I will use this money to buy you off..." "We didn't even think about it for a minute," Nicolai said. "I want you to drop the charges against me." "I'd like to do it," said Nicolai. "I'm telling the truth. But where's the gun? I don't want to keep coming back to this." She wanted another cigarette and took it from the floor. Picking up her purse, she immediately decided to wait a little longer. "Do you people also use makeup to handle cases?" "It's been like this all day." "What if you approached him pretending to be buyers and asking for a gun you couldn't buy in the store?" Nicolai glanced at Tyler. "Hey, partner, do you hear that?" He said to Jackie again. "We're working on the same idea, but in a different way. It's to provide him with heavy military weapons, some foreign goods." She said, "How do you do it? Just walk up to him?" "Someone needs to be introduced. So far, we haven't been able to find anyone who knows him directly." She said, "You're not referring to me, are you?" Nicolai shook his head. But she noticed a smile on his face, just a little.It's a secret.What was on his mind, he didn't intend to tell her. "It's your business," Jackie said. "I know."