Page 313 of The Black Trilogy

“Are you sure?”

“I think I’d know if I’d been injured.”

Or would I? Hmmm. A plan started to form in my mind. It seemed to be working at somewhere close to full capacity now, which meant I had all sorts of devious ideas popping up.

Making an effort to sound really blonde, I turned back to the doctor.

“On second thoughts, I feel a bit dizzy. A checkup mightn’t be a bad idea.”

I swayed for effect, and he helped me to an uncomfortable plastic seat.

“Sit there, ma’am. I’ll come right back with a wheelchair.”

As soon as he’d disappeared inside, Nick put his hands on his hips. “What the…? You’re not dizzy. You don’t even know what dizzy feels like.”

“Yes, I do. The first time Black took me up in a stunt plane, he did six barrel rolls followed by a loop-the-loop, and I got dizzy then. Just trust me. I know exactly what I’m doing.” At least, I hoped I did. “Can you get hold of Damon Belcourt at the DEA and ask him to meet me here?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “I’ll call him. Anything else?”

“Yeah. You can pick out a nice black outfit to wear to my funeral. And stop rolling your eyes.”

Before Nick could come up with a smart answer, the doctor reappeared and wheeled me into the hospital. He parked me in a cubicle, checked my vital signs, then peered down at me.

“How many fingers am I holding up?”

Three. “Er… Two?”

“What day is it?”

“April.”

“What state are you in?”

I looked at my blood-spattered clothes. “Not a very good one.”

“I meant which American state?”

“Oh. Kansas?”

He scribbled notes on my chart. “I’ll get the nurse to come in.”

Satan’s assistant duly arrived, poking and prodding hard enough to bruise. I may not have been in pain when I arrived, but she soon rectified that. By the time she’d finished, I had a new career as a human pincushion and Belcourt was hovering beyond the curtain in his cheap grey suit. Super.

“Stay in bed,” the nurse ordered. “I don’t want you fainting. I’ll be back once I’ve checked on another patient.”

Time for a little chat with my new favourite agent.

Over a cup of really bad coffee, I outlined the events of the night, leaving out some small parts, like the secrets hidden under my house, but laying out my theory about the attack being linked to the drugs case and possibly Black’s death.

Belcourt rolled his eyes. “You never do things by halves, do you? This is too big for me to deal with on my own. I need to call my boss.”

“Well, get on with it, then.”

I listened while he gave his superior an abbreviated version of what I’d just said. After a short pause, he hung up. “Crane’s on his way over.”

Great, we only needed a couple more people and then we could have a party.

Before Agent Crane arrived, Seth’s wife did. I needed to speak to her, and I couldn’t say it was something I looked forward to. Seth was a real family man, and he’d been married to Carla for just over four years. A shotgun wedding, he always joked, although he doted on his wife and son and never stopped talking about them. I’d met Carla a few times when she brought Justin over to swim at Riverley, and she’d been blessed with such a sunny disposition I hadn’t liked her at first. How could anyone be that nice? But I soon came to understand that was just the way she was.

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