Near Death (A Jake Townsend Science Fiction, Action and Adventure, Thriller Series Book 1) by Hale Richard C

Author:Hale, Richard C [Hale, Richard C]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Suspense & Thrillers
Publisher: Three Thirty A.M. Publishing
Published: 2011-10-24T04:00:00+00:00

Part 2

40

January 18, 2010 – 11:37 a.m.

Orange Park, Florida

Peter arrived at the lab as an ambulance pulled out of the parking lot, its siren wailing and lights flashing. Peter wondered who was inside. The last thing he had seen on the monitors was the gaping hole over the body of their test subject, Frank.

He didn’t see any noticeable damage to the outside of the structure and the only emergency vehicle that had responded had been the ambulance. It looked to Peter like his job would be easy. He walked to the front entrance of the lab and, since the door was standing wide open, strolled right in.

Jake was on the phone. The lab assistant, Teri, was sweeping up what looked like broken glass and the new girl, Maddy, was hovering by Jake listening to one side of the conversation.

“Yes, Mrs. Lucas,” Jake was saying into the phone, “they’ve taken him to St. Vincent’s Medical Center.” He nodded in response to something the person on the other line said. “Yes…in Riverside…No, he wasn’t awake. They had to perform CPR on him when they arrived. They got his heart beating again, but he was still unconscious when they left.”

Jake turned and saw Peter standing in the entranceway. A look of shock, and then anger spread across his face, but he turned back to continue his telephone conversation.

“I’m very sorry, Mrs. Lucas, I don’t know what happened…Yes ma’am…No ma’am…I will. And please let us know how he is…Ok…Bye,” and Jake hung up.

He whipped around and strode briskly toward Peter. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m here to assist you with damage control,” Peter said.

“Damage control? What the hell are you talking…?” He paused, a knowing look crossed his face and then he continued, “You’ve been spying on us again. We didn’t find all the bugs did we?”

Peter kept his face stoic, and chose to ignore Jake’s questions. “The General will be here in about two hours. I’m to detain all of you here until his arrival.”

“We’re not staying. We’re leaving for the hospital. Now.”

“My orders are to keep you here.”

“I don’t care what your orders are,” Jake yelled. “I just had a man’s heart stop in my lab and I’m concerned about his condition. I’m going to the hospital, and Teri and Maddy are coming with me.”

Peter looked at Jake and was about to say something, but thought better of it. He was supposed to be in damage control mode, as the General ordered, so forcing these three to do something they didn’t want to do might make things worse. It wasn’t that he was worried about being outnumbered, or in physical danger, he just felt a different way might be better. He decided to try a more tactful approach.

Peter held up his hand in a placating gesture and said, “Calm down, let’s think about this for a moment. Has there been any major damage to the building or surrounding structures?”

“What? No!” Jake said.

“Have the police or media been alerted to the situation?”

“No.

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