carried the knife to the master bathroom and shoved the door open with his foot where he found no sign of a disturbance. He laid the pistol on the sink top and dipped a finger into the blood along the edge of the knife. It was not yet dry. In his estimation it was about two hours old. The blood was along the cutting edge and not covering the entire blade. It had been used to slice he thought, not to stab. For a moment his thoughts flashed back to his dark hotel suite and the swishing sound of the knife blade slicing through the air and across his left shoulder. He tried to find some similarity between the two events but couldn’t. For one thing, the knife was all wrong. This was a tool found in a kitchen, not a killer’s companion.
He placed the knife in the sink and ran cold water over it and his hands. He dried his hands on the white bath towel hanging on the towel bar so he could put the pistol back in his waistband and then he picked the knife back up. At that moment he could hear the telephone ring in the other room. Rudy rushed to the night table beside the king size bed and hesitated for a moment before picking it up. “Hello,” he answered.
“Hello....who is this?” asked Pamela in surprise.
“Pamela...Pamela is that you?”
“Yes, who is this?” she asked again more sternly.
“It’s Rudy,” he replied with a hint of relief.
“Rudy?...what are you doing in my house?”
“I came to warn you that you may be in serious danger. I’ve been looking for you for hours. I went to the hospital and they said you hadn’t checked in so I came here.”
“Did Inez, my housekeeper let you in?”
“No....no one is here. I let myself in.”
“Rudy, Inez is my live-in, she has her own room. She wouldn’t be out this late at night by herself.”
“Yes, that’s why I needed to see you, to tell you to be very careful. Today two men came to my hotel suite pretending to be policemen. They abducted me and took me up into the mountains more than 200 miles from here. They were going to kill me but I was able to get away. I think they are now after you to get to me. Your house has been ransacked and Inez is not here.” The telephone was silent.
“Rudy is Inez going to be okay? What can we do? Pamela was panicked.
Rudy tried to think of something encouraging to say, “I don’t know....I hope so. Whatever happens, we’ll share it together. Please do not go off with anyone you are not absolutely sure of, even if they show you a badge and claim to be policemen. Where are you now?”
“I’m on the west side at Saint Mary’s Hospital. I’ve been working with the emergency crews tending to the casualties form this morning’s train wreck. I’ve been here all day. “That’s why I’m not at General, but I should be there in an hour or so.”
“Will you still be getting off at five o’clock this morning?” he asked.
“Yes, I’d like to think so.”
“I think it’s best if you do not come home for a few days, until we can figure out what to do next. I’ll pick you up in the morning.”
“Okay....and Rudy....if you see Inez, please have her call me. I’m worried about her and I’m the reason she was to stay at the house today. I had plans to fly to St. Louis on Monday. I asked her to pack a few things for me and she gave up her weekend off to do it. I feel so bad....I have to get back to the emergency room. I’ll see you in the morning,” she hung up the phone.
Rudy felt relieved that she was okay and that he would be seeing her soon. He wanted to hold her and tell her that he wanted her beside him forever. In time, he thought, in time.
Rudy was brought back to reality by the ringing of the cell phone in his pocket. He placed the butcher knife he was still holding on the night table and fished the cell phone out of his pocket and held it to his ear. “Carlos...Carlos, answer me,” the hoarse voice demanded. A cold chill ran up Rudy’s spine as he recognized his Uncle Juan’s voice. Carlos was one of the two big men that tried to kill him that afternoon. The same Carlos his Uncle had ordered to bring a sword to his hotel that morning. Rudy said nothing and laid the cell phone on the night stand. He was confused and bewildered. He needed to think things through. He needed to have a plan. It was going to be difficult eluding Juan and all his resources, but he had to make sure Pamela was safe. He turned and walked out of the bedroom and down the wide staircase to the front door. He opened the door and paused....what had he told Uncle Juan that morning about Pamela? He tried to remember if he told him any little details about her. In what way had he implicated her that she too was now a target? She and Inez were innocent bystanders, now in danger because of him. He had to protect them at all cost.
He slammed the front door shut behind him and ran to the street hailing a cab. Within a few minutes he was back at the hospital parking garage and sitting in the front seat of the Lincoln. He would need a car, but not this one. Juan would report it stolen as soon as he learned from Carlos that Rudy had taken it. He had to ditch the Lincoln and get another one before picking Pamela up in the morning. He started the car and drove to the Ritz Hotel and collected his luggage from the Bell Captain’s station. He then drove out to the airport. He could hide the Lincoln at the long term parking lot and he’d have no problem getting a rental since the booths were open all night. He thought about the gun and wondered if it was too much of a liability to be caught with or would it be better to leave it in the Lincoln’s glove box. He would change clothes in the front seat of the Towncar in a dark parking spot, then rent a very plain sedan. He would need to return to Pamela’s house and pick up her luggage and then rent an out-of-way motel room before picking her up at the hospital. By 5:00 A.M. he was waiting outside of the emergency room entrance in a white Ford rental.
The automatic double doors opened to let four women leave the hospital. Pamela was one of them. Her youth and beauty could not hide the stress of the last 20 hours. She looked tired and depressed. Rudy lowered the power window and called out to her. A smile crossed her lips and she appeared to have had a moment of freshness. She hurried to the driver’s side of the car and asked, “Have you heard from Inez?”
“No...no I haven’t. I’ve been busy with the car and picking up our luggage. We can drive past your house to see if there is any change, if you’d like.”
“Yes, I would like to do that.” With that said, she lowered her face to his and kissed his lips. “Good morning, it’s good to see you,” she added.
“Buenos días, it’s good to see you too.”
Opening the car door he stepped out and took her hand leading her around the car to the passenger side to help her in. He was quickly back in the driver’s seat and pulling away from the hospital parking lot. “We can drive past your house, but we must be very careful not be to be seen by anyone who might be waiting there. I now know who’s behind this and they will stop at nothing to get what they want. They plan to kill me, and if you or Inez get in their way, they will kill you too.”
Her eyes filled with tears as she took his hand in hers. “Why is this happening?” she asked through tears.
“Because money makes men do bad things and lots of money makes bad men do evil things. You and Inez just had the misfortune of meeting me. It’s that simple,” Rudy said while trying to smile.
“Oh Rudy....please don’t say that, don’t even think that. You’re not the one causing us this trouble, someone else is.” Tears were now freely
