Chapter Thirty

 

Dirk exited the conference room, grabbed another Dr. Pepper from the half melted ice on the beverage table, and walked toward the front door of the hotel. He noticed an employee behind the desk.

“Is the manager around?”

“That would be me, sir,” the man replied. “Is there a problem?”

“Not at all. I just wannah say thanks for the Dr. Pepper.”

“Excuse me?”

“You know, the free drinks for the group in the conference room down the hall,” Dirk explained. “Dr. Pepper’s my favorite. A lotta places don’t serve it.”

“The customer is always right,” the manager thought. He had no idea what the man was talking about. “Neither do we, but ah . . . You’re welcome sir. Come back and see us again,” he said as Dirk pushed through the revolving door. He had only half heard the last remarks of the hotel manager as his phone began to ring. He looked at the caller ID on the face of his phone, and determined it was Johnny Hobson again.

“Johnny my man, what’s up?”

“Dirk, thank God you’re still alive. Listen—”

“Johnny, you have gotta quit taking this super spook stuff so seriously.”

“Dirk, shut the fuck up!” Johnny screamed.

Dirk pulled the phone away from his ear.

“Listen, Dirk, the contract on you has been pulled. I just got a call from both of my prospective clients canceling the deal. They said they were too late.”

“That must mean I’m not worth killing after all.”

“On the contrary. It means you’re already dead!”

“I guess this proves cell phones work in heaven.”

“Dirk, is there any way you can get to Midway airport pronto? I know a mechanic there who will hide you in his hangar. I bring him a few goodies that you can’t normally get in this country when I’m in town. He owes me a favor.”

“Yeah man. I’m on my way,” Dirk said. “Just don’t forget the booze and the babes. I’ll call you when I get to the airport for directions to the hangar.” He hung up the phone. “What a worrier that guy turned out to be,” Dirk thought.

Dirk placed his knee against the steering wheel as he used one hand to fasten his seatbelt while holding on to the Dr. Pepper with the other hand, and drove down the street. He fastened the belt, took another sip of the soft drink, and then suddenly flashed back to the comments of the hotel manager has he left the building.

“Neither do we . . .” he recalled the manager saying in response to his remark for serving Dr. Pepper. For some reason that worried him more than anything Johnny had just said on the phone.

It was rush hour, and the traffic was crawling along. Something in his reporter’s instincts told him file his story now. Perhaps it was the tone in Johnny’s voice, or the fact that he had even agreed to meet him at Midway, or even more importantly why was Johnny willing to go to the expense of flying a G-550 jet all the way to Chicago to get him. Dirk picked up the phone and called the one person he knew he could trust to carry out his instructions if something did happen to him.

“Mercy Hospital Intensive Care, Nurse Jackson speaking.”

“Marvella, it’s Dirk.”

“Yes sir. How may I assist you?”

“Marvella, listen closely. I may not have a lot of time.”

“Yes sir. That’s correct.” She pretended to answer an unasked question as she looked around the ICU reception area to ensure no one could hear her.

“If something were to happen to me, I want you to call Wayne Bankhead. He’s the attorney for two of your patients, Mr. Warren Manton and his daughter Katerina.”

“We have the ability to accomplish that.” She continued to speak in guarded phrases.

“Tell Mr. Bankhead to contact Larry Mansk at my TV station in Charlotte and have him check my voice mail at work. We use it to file stories remotely when we’re away from the office. The two of them will know what to do if something happens to me.”

“Dirk, you knock dat ‘If I ain’t around stuff’ off.” Marvella whispered into the phone.

“Marvella, I don’t mean to worry you, but I need your help . . . I gotta go. Hopefully, I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Well, you better. What do you mean calling me and talking about . . .hello . . . hello?” Marvella removed the phone from her ear and realized Dirk had hung up.

“Lawd, please watch out for dat boy today,” she prayed as she returned to duties at the nurses’ station.