Seat of Power by J. S. Chapman

Author:J. S. Chapman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: men's adventure series, political thriller series, espionage, spies, conspiracy, assassination
Publisher: Weatherly Books
Published: 2018-07-05T00:00:00+00:00

24

Severn County Hospital, Maryland

Sunday, July 6

JACK WAS PULLED from the respirator, discharged from ICU, and wheeled into a private room. A nurse took his vitals while the resident physician informed him he was lucky to be alive and kicking.

“We’ll keep you under observation for a few days, just to make sure everything is okeydokey.” Prior communications had consisted of sign language on Jack’s part and dictates on Dr. Chatterjee’s part. Having set the boundaries of their relationship in which the good doctor held all the power and the patient none, Chatterjee was a bit more optimistic this morning. The patient would survive, it appeared, and furthermore, would experience few if any lingering effects. “You overdosed on a cocktail of drugs, but probably you already figured that out, being the smart-ass I know you to be.”

Jack was known to be dense sometimes, but not now. The world had always been slightly out of focus, like watching a parade of strangers pass him by on a busy street and wondering where they came from and where they were going, each wrapped up in their own worries or happinesses, each the center of their own universes, and each disappearing behind him as if they had never been. Considering the psychedelic trip he had taken and his descent into temporary madness, he understood something about those thousands of strangers. None gave a damn whether Jack Coyote lived or died.

His throat still sore from the breathing tube, it took a while for him to get the words out. “What was in the cocktail, Doc?”

“I thought you might be able to tell me. No? Well, that being the case ... preliminary lab tests indicate a combination of club drugs. MDMA, gamma-hydroxybutyrate, Rohypnol, Ketamine.”

“Translation.”

“Perhaps you’re acquainted with one or more of their street names. Ecstasy, GHB, nitro, roofies, K, special K, super K, vitamin K, kit-kat, keets. Need to hear more? I didn’t think so. We’ll know more when the full toxicology report comes back.” He checked his watch.

“Don’t let me keep you, Doc.”

There was nothing to do but sleep, smile at the nurses who stared at him with a mixture of curiosity, fear, and loathing, and watch cable news. The scandal of a government worker having killed his co-worker in a cold-blooded frenzy fueled by sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll was the lede on every channel. The commentary went on ad nauseam, ignoring riots in Italy, a typhoon in Miramar, another war in Iraq, renewed tensions between America and Russia, the latest outbreak of violence in Israel, the disappearance of a jetliner over the Indian Ocean, a madman opening fire in a Florida mall, a revolution in Bolivia, and a widespread heat advisory. Though the media had struck with its usual fury, developments were not forthcoming since much of the evidence was being withheld. Finer points surrounding the incident were vague, prompting everyone from garbage collectors to politicians to opine theories. Supposition, hearsay, gossip, and guesswork became the mainstay of talk shows and news segments. The story was eventually spun into a romantic tumble that got out of hand.

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