Page 34 of Burke (The Haven #2)
B urke walked into the hospital, smiled at the woman at the reception desk, then headed up to Shirley’s room.
He passed one of the nurses who just smiled at him but kept on going, realizing that it was visiting hours, or at least after visiting hours, so only friends and family would be allowed.
He’d already covered that, at least he hoped he had, and didn’t want any nurse to be worrying about something so simple.
It shouldn’t be an issue, although he understood why the hospital had to have such rules as part of their system.
It made sense to restrict the number of people who came and went, but he wasn’t prepared to let Shirley be all alone in there, not if he could do something about it.
As he neared Shirley’s hospital room, one of the nurses from behind him called out, “Who are you visiting, sir?”
“Shirley.”
“Shirley,… the one with the gunshot wound?” she asked in confusion.
“Yes,” he said, stopping and recognizing her from before. “That’s all right, isn’t it?” he asked, as he continued to walk backward.
She frowned. “Yes,… but I thought her fiancé was already here.”
He stared at her. “What? No.… That would be me.”
“Somebody came by to see her earlier, and I noticed he was directed to her room.”
“Don’t you guys keep an eye on things like that, especially with a gunshot victim?” His footsteps automatically picked up, moving faster and faster.
She just shrugged and replied, “It depends on who they are.”
He wasn’t even sure what that meant, and she probably wasn’t sure either, but, as he raced forward, he realized that meant Shirley had a visitor who was most likely somebody she didn’t want to see.
He slowed as he approached her hospital room door from the side.
He heard voices, not voices that gave him any sense of calm.
A man spoke to her, his tone suddenly turning hard, even as Burke approached the doorway.
He stepped inside just as the man lifted his hand.
With shock he saw a handgun pointed directly at Shirley, and she cried out, even as the gun fired, but she rolled to the side, and Burke hit the gunman a split second later.
Both men went tumbling down, but Frankie came back up in a fighter’s stance.
Burke rolled out, kicking the gun from his hand.
Frankie rolled off to the side, grabbing for the gun, as Burke was on his feet and heading toward the newest threat on her life.
As Frankie bounced back to his feet, the gun now turned in Burke’s direction, he heard Shirley call out in shock, but Burke was already moving, trying to nullify the threat, not pointed right at him now.
It was all he could do to get out of the way in time, but he did, as the gun went off a second time, shooting harmlessly into the floor.
He knew that would bring security running, or at least he hoped so.
It was the wrong time of night for very many people to be here, but there should at least be somebody interested in keeping people safe. Burke wasn’t sure what the hell was going on, but he was looking at the man who was on his feet yet again, with the gun in hand and a smile on his face.
“Well, dang, I guess you’re the missing Burke, aren’t you?”
Burke stared at him and then glared. “Are you Frankie, by any chance?”
The other man nodded. “Yeah, that would be me,” he confirmed, with a cheerful smile.
“Too bad you showed up. I didn’t have anything against you, not personally at least, not like somebody else we know, but that’s just too damn bad for you.
” Then he laughed, a wolfish laugh, but then the smile fell away.
“I’m just trying to get the hell out of here, so you can either get out of my way or you can take the next bullet. ”
Burke just smiled at him and said, “How about neither?” With that, he lunged forward, ferociously kicking the handgun free with his prosthetic, while Frankie jumped, swearing at him.
“Ain’t no fucking way,” Frankie yelled, kicking back at Burke. “I’m not staying in this hick town and paying the price for that bitch,” he muttered. “She’s sheer poison.”
“She’s the poison you hooked up with,” Burke stated calmly, as the two circled each other.
“And that’s supposed to mean what?” he asked. “You were there before me.”
“Yeah, and so were a lot of other guys,” Burke noted. “That’s just how she rolls.”
“And yet she holds it all against you.”
“I’m the one who walked away from her, and apparently I’m not allowed to do that in her book.”
“She’s causing me all kinds of trouble now,” Frankie shared, “so I’m not sticking around.”
“Of course not,” Burke noted, with half a smile. “Nobody who’s about to lose everything is planning on sticking around.”
“I’m not losing shit,” he declared, glaring at him. “She’s just plain trouble, and she likes this life a little too much.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” Burke said. “It seems as if maybe you do too.”
“No,” he argued. “I’m all about making smart decisions, and she is not a smart decision.”
“Too bad you didn’t see that a little sooner.”
“You’re not kidding,” he admitted. “I should have seen it, and I should have run for the hills, but it was fun while it lasted. Until I realized just how much she had against you, but I’m still not exactly sure why.”
“Neither am I,” Burke replied. “All I can tell you is that she doesn’t like being the one left behind.”
“Yeah, I know that,” he acknowledged, with a smile. “I told her, if she came back for more revenge on you, I was walking. She didn’t believe me, so guess what? I’m walking.”
“Well.… you’ll try to walk, but you came in here with a handgun, intending to kill an innocent woman, and why? Hasn’t Shirley already been through enough?”
“Maybe, but that’s not my problem. It’s all about self-preservation at this point, and you know that too.”
“Maybe,” Burke conceded, “but that would also mean you must take out Silvia.”
“I considered it. I really did.” He laughed.
“The trouble is, she’s under lock and key.
So anything she says right now isn’t likely to go anywhere.
It’ll be her word against mine, and, since I won’t be around, she’ll have all kinds of tales to tell, but she’s not exactly in a position of good standing with the cops herself,” he pointed out.
“So I doubt they’ll believe very much of what she says.
It’ll all just come across as her being sour and looking for a scapegoat to cover her own crimes,” he stated, with a smile. “Not my problem.”
Burke looked at him and tilted his head. “That might have worked if you had left town, but you didn’t. You came after Shirley instead.”
“Oh, and I suppose you won’t let me pull that off, right?” he asked in a mocking tone.
Burke smiled at him and shook his head. “No, I won’t. She’s been to shit and back already and doesn’t need any more of that from you guys.”
“Oh, as if you care,” he said in a mocking tone.
“Maybe to you it’s nothing,” Burke noted, “but Shirley and I have both suffered from that crazy sister of hers, and I’m pretty well done with that.”
“Yeah, anybody who sticks around Silvia is looking to get in trouble,” he noted. “I don’t know where she’s going next, but you might want to confirm it’s not in your direction.”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” Burke stated. “I’ve already got quite a bit of evidence against her.”
He shrugged. “Don’t really care if you do or you don’t. Just keep yourself away from me, and we’ll get along fine. But if you don’t…” He turned and caught a glance of the gun on the floor beside him.
Burke repeated, “And if I don’t?”
As Frankie took a step toward his weapon, Burke immediately shifted his weight.
“Look, hero. I’m taking that gun, and I’m going. If you want to stop me, you can try, but it won’t go well for you.”
“Oh, I’ll stop you,” Burke vowed, with a smile. “It won’t be a case of trying . It’s about time for you to pay the piper, along with your girlfriend.”
“I didn’t do nothing to you,” Frankie snapped. “Just let me leave, and it’s all good.”
“Except that you just tried to take out Shirley,” he pointed out, glaring at Frankie. “The fact that you came after her here means you’ll come back later and try again.”
Frankie frowned and then shrugged. “No, that’s just a bad deal for me now.”
“It’s more than a bad deal,” Burke murmured. “You can’t be trusted.”
“That’s part of the problem now because you don’t know what you can do and what you can’t do,” he said, with a cocky smile, “and I’m not about to sit here and let you ruin the rest of my life.
I already went through hell with that bitch, and I’m done wasting time and energy on the bitch’s sister, even if she does have some money. ”
But even as he said that, he took a dive toward the gun on the floor. As soon as he bent down, Burke sent him a hard high kick, hitting him square in the jaw and sending him flying backward, where he dropped and thankfully stayed.
A slow clapping sound came from the doorway.
Startled, Burke turned to see Detective Martin and one of the doctors standing there. Burke glared at him and asked, “What kind of security are you running in this place anyway?”
“I wasn’t planning on running any security,” the doctor replied, frowning at him. “Honestly, I wasn’t thinking that we needed any.” He looked down at the gunman and asked, “Who the hell is he?”
Burke looked over at Detective Martin and pointed. “That’s your suspect, Frankie.”
“Not Frankie,” he countered, with a chuckle.
“His name is Francois,” he stated, with an exaggerated accent.
“And he is wanted on all kinds of charges.” Richard kicked the gun farther away, then pulled out his own weapon and checked to see if Frankie was out.
“He won’t be going anywhere for a while,” he declared, with a delighted smile.
“And this is a collar I am more than happy to accept your help with.”
“Yeah, well, it would have been nice if you’d been here a little sooner.”