Poison Touch by Richard B. Schwartz

Author:Richard B. Schwartz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dark Harbor Books
Published: 2022-04-20T04:17:00+00:00

FORTY-SIX

As Gwen drove, Tom worked his iPhone. “North northeast, convenient to San Antonio and not all that far from Austin. The nearest serious hospital is in New Braunfels. Pricey homes, lovely views, significant acreage. It’s where I would locate, if I were Fox.”

“Close enough for business, far enough away to help him stay under the radar,” Gwen said. “Mahmud or one of his friends may have helped with the down payment, but Fox probably could have swung it himself easily enough.”

“I’m thinking it’s a step deal, at least as Fox understands it. Mahmud says, ‘You do this for us and we’ll do something for you, maybe help with the instrumentation and the casework, cover the mortgage for a couple of months.’ Fox figures that if he scratches their backs now they’ll scratch his as well. Of course, they could simply use him and abuse him. Once he’s outlived his usefulness to them they could cut their losses and move on.”

“Depends on whether they’d need him in the future,” Gwen said. “Maybe he becomes the surgeon of choice or runs the surgery of choice for all the little wayward bomb throwers in North America. Dangerous, though. Once they thought that the Bureau or Homeland Security had figured it all out Pigeon River would be toxic.”

“Right,” Tom said, “they’re probably playing him and he thinks he’s playing them.”

The facility was easy enough to find, as was the local commercial realtor. Gwen’s contact in the Director’s office had called with the contact information and the realtor, a man named Sandy Kingman, had agreed to meet them at the site. He was dressed for the restaurants that require ‘casual chic’ clothing and weighted down with cell phones, pagers, and clipboards. He drove a metallic silver Lexus RX350. When they asked about his client he responded promptly.

“A nice young man,” he said, “a representative of the corporation.”

“Executive Health,” Tom said.

“That’s right,” Kingman answered. “They were looking for a site for their operation somewhere in the hill country. I told them that I had the perfect place for them.”

“Did you ever meet with any other representatives of the company?” Gwen asked.

“No, I didn’t. He checked out the facility, took a lot of pictures and told me he’d be back in touch. He called about a week later and we started the negotiations with the seller.”

“Could you describe the man?” Tom asked.

“Yes, his name was Hardison. Bob Hardison. Tall, thin, clean-shaven, about 30 or 35. Athletic-looking. Said he was a golfer.”

“Texas accent?” Tom asked.

“No, not that I remember,” Kingman said. “I figured they were an out of state concern.”

“Did they ever show you any information on the company?” Gwen asked.

“No, not really. That’s all between them and their mortgage company. I just show the properties and try to sell them. I can refer buyers to some local lenders, but a big outfit usually has its own sources of funding. Not my business. So long as the seller gets his agreed-on price and I get my commission, we’re happy here.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.