be more grateful. In fact, as soon as I can, I’m going to have another
double made.’
‘Exactly what do you mean by a `double’?’ Jack asked.
‘Are you people part of the Pittsburgh team?’ Horace asked. He looked
over at Laurie.
‘No, we’re part of the New York team,’ Jack said. ‘And we’re fascinated
by your case. We’re glad you are doing so well, and we’re here to
learn.’ Jack smiled and spread his hands palm up. ‘We’re all ears. Why
don’t you start from the beginning?’
‘You mean how I got sick?’ Horace asked. He was plainly confused.
‘No, how you arranged to have your transplant here in Africa,’ Jack
said. ‘And I’d like to know what you mean by a double. Did you by any
chance get a liver taken from some kind of ape?’
Horace gave a little nervous laugh and shook his head. ‘What’s going on
here?’ he questioned. He glanced again at Laurie and then at Natalie and
Warren who were still standing in the doorway.
‘Uh-oh!’ Laurie suddenly voiced. She was staring out the window.
‘There’s a bunch of soldiers running this way across the square.’
Warren quickly crossed the room and looked out. ‘Shit, man. They mean
business!’
Jack stood up, reached out, and grasped Horace by the shoulders. He
leaned his face close to the patient’s. ‘You are really going to
disappoint me if you don’t answer my questions, and I do the strangest
things when I’m disappointed. What kind of animal was it, a chimpanzee?’
‘They’re coming to the hospital,’ Warren yelled. ‘And they all have
AK-47’s.’
‘Come on!’ Jack urged Horace while giving the man a little shake. ‘Talk
to me. Was it a chimpanzee?’ Jack tightened his hold on the man.
‘It was a bonobo,’ Horace squeaked. He was terrified.
‘Is that a type of ape?’ Jack demanded.
‘Yes,’ Horace managed.
‘Come on, man!’ Warren encouraged. He was back at the door. ‘We got to
get our asses out of here.’
‘And what did you mean by a double?’ Jack asked.
Laurie grabbed Jack’s arm. ‘There’s no time. Those soldiers will be up
here in a minute.’
Reluctantly, Jack let go of Horace and allowed himself to be dragged to
the door. ‘Damn, I was so close,’ he complained.
Warren was waving frantically for them to follow him and Natalie down
the central corridor toward the back of the building, when the elevator
door opened. Out stepped Cameron with his Beretta clutched in his hand.
‘Everyone halt!’ Cameron shouted the moment he saw the strangers. He
grabbed his gun in both hands and trained it on Warren and Natalie. Then
he swept it around to aim at Jack and Laurie. For Cameron, the problem
was that his adversaries were on either side of him. When he was looking
at one group, he couldn’t see the other.
‘Hands on top of your heads,’ Cameron commanded. He motioned with the
barrel of his gun.
Everyone complied, although every time Cameron swung the gun toward Jack
and Laurie, Warren approached another step toward him.
‘No one is going to get hurt,’ Cameron said as he brought the gun back
toward Warren.
Warren had gotten within range of a kick, and with lightning speed his
foot lashed out and connected with Cameron’s hands. The gun bounced off
the ceiling.
Before Cameron could react to his gun’s sudden disappearance, Warren
closed in on him and hit him twice, once in the lower abdomen and then
on the tip of the nose. Cameron collapsed backwards in a heap on the
floor.
‘I’m glad you’re on my team for this run,’ Jack said.
‘We got to get ourselves back to that boat!’ Warren blurted without
humor.
‘I’m open to suggestions,’ Jack said.
Cameron moaned and pushed himself over onto his stomach.
Warren looked both ways down the hall. A few minutes earlier, he’d
thought of running down the main corridor toward the rear, but that was
no longer a reasonable alternative. Halfway down the corridor he could
see some nurses gathering and pointing in his direction.
Across from the elevators at eye-level was a sign in the form of an
arrow that pointed down the hall beyond Horace’s room. It said: or.