The ambulance arrived faster than I had hoped.
"How long has he been here?" A latino paramedic asked me.
"I don't know. I came back and found him like this."
"Does he have any medical conditions?"
"He has a heart... a heart..." I couldn't remember the name.
"What's his name?"
"James!" I told him with wild eyes. I attempted to enter the ambulance but they wouldn't let me.
"Sorry sir, you'll have to meet us as the hospital." After he told me which one, I ran to the garage and jumped into my car. I called Claire, James' wife, as I pulled out of the garage and headed towards the hospital.
"Claire, It's Duncan." I said trying to keep my voice as calm as possible.
"Duncan are you alright?" She asked me. I guessed that my calm tone did nothing to fool her.
"Someone broke into my apartment. James was hurt. I don't know all the details but he's headed to the hospital right now."
"Was he responding, was he talking at all?"
"He was conscious but wasn't making much sense."
"Alright Duncan, I'll be right there." After I told her which hospital he was being taken to, she quickly hung up the phone. I focused on the road. A thousand questions running through my mind. I arrived at the hospital and ran inside, all of this feeling incredibly familiar.
"Which room is James Yorke in?" I asked the woman at the desk.
"Are you family?" I rolled my eyes at that damn question.
"I'm not. I found him. He was lying barely conscious in my apartment. Can I please see him?"
"You need to be a family member."
I was calmed by the thought that Claire would be here soon. I sat down in one of the waiting chairs. This couldn't be! Not James. He was a perfectly nice man who had done nothing to deserve this. He was just doing his job and looking after his family as best as he could.
I was frustrated with myself. I should have known that dinner was a set up to get me out of my apartment. What the hell was he looking for? How much did he know? I felt the anger rise in my chest and forced myself to calm down. I had to keep a cool head and do the best I could to stay one step ahead of Derek. Tonight was proof that if I let my guard down, someone would get hurt.
"Duncan!" Claire exclaimed as she walked into the hospital. She gave me a hug, her cheeks were wet with tears. "How is he?"
"I don't know. They won't tell me anything." I told her. She let go of the hug and rushed to see the nurse. I stayed behind giving her some space and privacy. I saw her shoulders sag. The telltale sign that the news she had been given was not what she had wanted to hear. She came back towards me with fresh tears. "They are about to send him to surgery. They're saying he should pull through. I can see him before he goes in." She told me without taking a breath. "Thank you Duncan." She said before following the nurse.
I felt like shit. She shouldn't have thanked me. I didn't deserve it. I hadn't done anything worth thanking. I stepped outside and took a deep breath of the cool evening air. I removed my phone from my pocket. I dialled Gary's number.
"Hey." Gary said sounding tired and weary. "How'd it go?"
"It was a trap. He pulled me out of my apartment. His bodyguards ransacked the place. They hurt my doorman... My friend."
"I'm sorry Duncan." Gary replied meaning every word. "How is he?"
"About to go into surgery. They're saying he should pull through. But you never know."
"Alright. Duncan I know you're upset, but I need you to focus. Was anything missing from your place?"
"I don't know. I didn't really look. The place was a mess. The files and everything on him are... they're with you." I said feeling myself panic. I heard a loud noise coming from the other end of the telephone line. "Gary? What was that?"
"I don't know. Hold on."
"Gary?" I asked again. I could hear a loud knocking sound but Gary wasn't answering me. I dropped the call and ran to my car once again. I quickly kicked my BMW into gear and sped onto the streets of L.A. Traffic wasn't too bad, but I had to keep my focus. I maneuvered the vehicles in and out of lanes, hearing the angry honking sounds from drivers I was cutting off. I couldn't worry about them now. Gary might be in trouble.
I arrived at his office, not bothering to kill the engine before running out of the car and heading for the building. I could see the lock had been broken on the entrance to the building. I didn't bother waiting for the elevator and ran up the stairs. My heart was beating so incredibly fast, my lungs were burning. None of it mattered. I had to get to Gary. I couldn't let someone else get hurt.
When I reached his floor, I took a moment to get a breather and calm myself. I removed the weapon from my pocket once again, and slowly pushed the door open. I poked my head through and looked down the hallway towards Gary's office. It was quiet. I held the gun in front of me and walked slowly. The gun shook slightly in my quivering hands. I hated having to admit that I was scared. I didn't have a choice. I had to keep moving forward.
I reached the door of Gary's office, noticing the broken hinges of the lock. I pushed it open with my gun and looked through the opening I had created. I could see Gary held against the wall by one of Derek's bodyguards. The black one that was with Derek at Ago's.
"Where the hell are the files?" I could now hear him asking my friend.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Gary told him. I could see he was in pain. He had clearly been beaten. I felt a huge amount of kinship towards him at that moment. He was still in my corner.
"Get the fuck off of him!" I yelled as I pushed the door open and pointed my gun at Stamp's lacky. He looked over his shoulder, continuing to hold Gary up. He finally let him go, allowing Gary to slide down the wall. "Put your hands up." I demanded. He did as he was told as he spun around to look in my direction. He smirked at me. Which worried me more than anything. I had the gun pointed right at him, but something told me I was not in control.
That became wildly evident as I felt something hit me like a mack truck. I felt myself fly through the air and hit Gary's desk hard. I looked up in time to see Stamp's other bodyguard make a beeline for me. I tried to stand but I was too slow. The wind had been knocked out of me. Next thing I knew, his fist connected with the side of my face. I saw stars. I was dizzy. I felt nauseous. I felt pain as he hit me again. I tried to stay conscious. Feeling the darkness take a hold of me. I looked over and saw Gary. Derek's other man had returned his attention to him. I couldn't let things end like this. The one that had been beating me, said something to his partner. I saw an opening and took it. I swept his foot, while his attention was diverted, and saw him fall to the floor.
He grunted as his head hit the floor. I looked around and saw my gun a few inches away from me. I reached for it only to realize that the bodyguard working on Gary, had noticed what had been going on and stomped my hand with his foot. I cried in agony. He didn't move his foot away from my hand. I looked up at him and our eyes met. That smirk was still firmly planted on his face. He lifted his foot, ready to hit me again. Before he had the chance, I heard a loud thump, and watched in shock as he crumpled to the floor.
I looked up and saw Gary standing over him, holding his gun. He had hit him with the butt of it. He pointed the weapon towards the two men.
"Get out of my office." He shouted. The two men got up, holding their heads. I grabbed my gun which was still on the floor in my left hand. I sat on the floor, afraid of not being able to stand on my own. I leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths to avoid the nausea overtaking me. I did the best I could to level my weapon at the two men.
"This isn't over." One of them said.
"For tonight it is. Get out, before it's over for much longer." They looked at each other. Both plainly worried about how their boss would take this failure. They both scampered out of the office, leaving me and Gary alone. Gary kneeled down next to me. "You alright Duncan?" He asked me concern written all over his face. I looked at him and saw a nasty bruise on his cheek.
"I'm fine. You?" I asked as he helped me get up. I could feel sharp pain in my ribs, and worried something may have been broken.
"Nothing some sleep and scootch won't fix. Not my first dance." He said seeming a lot better than I was, even though he had taken much more punishment.
"I'm sorry." I told him.
"Not your fault. I knew what I was getting into. I'm gonna charge you for fixing the place up though." He said smiling and lightening the mood.