Reluctant Gemini
by
Lawrence Warren
Copyright 2011 Lawrence Warren,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0053-2
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Chapter One
Rudy sat up in his bed with a jolt. He sat motionless in the dark and listened. His hotel suite was silent, but he perceived he was not alone. His eyes strained in the darkness trying to find what had alarmed him. He slowed his breathing to be able to hear the slightest sound. He was now fully alert but sure something was not right. It was obvious to him that laying in bed he would be unable to properly defend himself if need be.
Slowly he moved to the edge of the king size bed and slid his feet to the floor. He rose and stood quietly in the dark. He was naked.
Without a warning, Rudy’s suspicion of an intruder was confirmed. A heavy fist came out of the darkness and slammed into his face. Instinctively, he stepped into the blow and swung his right fist at the unseen target. Rudy fell back against the wall and then onto the bed face down. He struggled to lift himself up to confront his assailant.
Before he was able to regain his composure the intruder tackled him from behind. The two men fought while the intruder tried to pull a knife from his jacket pocket.
“Kill the son-of-a-bitch,” shouted a second intruder from the darkness. “Get your ass over here and help me cut his balls off,” snarled the man on Rudy’s back.
Rudy could hear the hiss of a knife slicing through the air just as it cut across his left shoulder. The sting from the knife wound brought added determination and strength to Rudy’s fight. He rolled from under the intrude atop him and threw a quick jab to the man’s throat. The effect was instantaneous as the intruder fell to the floor gasping for air as his Adams-apple swelled shut and cut off his ability to breathe.
Rudy jumped up from the bed and raced across the room to the light switch and flipped it on. The blood was running freely from his cut shoulder and covered his left arm and bare chest.
He quickly turned to see the second intruder charging at him with the knife held at chest height. Rudy reached behind himself and switched the light off and then crouched down waiting for his attacker to storm by.
Again Rudy could hear the hiss of the knife as it passed over his head, missing him. Rudy jumped up jamming the top of his head squarely under the man’s jaw. The sound of the thug’s neck breaking was unmistakable as both men collapsed to the floor.
The room was silent again. Rudy took a deep breath and pulled himself to his feet. He flipped on the lights and surveyed the room.
The two intruders remained motionless. Guardedly, he retrieved the large switch blade knife from the hand of the man with the broken neck. Rudy walked to the bed and inspected the condition of the other intruder. Neither of the men were familiar, both were dead.
He glanced at the clock on the night stand and read the time out loud “2:45 A.M.”
He pulled the sheet off the bed and wrapped it around his cut arm. All he could do was stand there and wonder what this was all about. Why were these two goons here? Who had sent them to his room and how had they gotten into the suite without a key card?
He had no large sum of cash or valuables with him to steal. He recalled the command that the broken necked man had shouted out “kill the son-of-a-bitch”. For the attackers to be there to kill him made no sense.
Rudy glanced at the two bodies as he made his way to the bathroom to nurse his wounds to make sure no one was moving. The cut across his shoulder was bad and needed stitches. He had lost a lot of blood and needed immediate attention.
After clearing off the blood and applying a large bandage to his shoulder, he slipped on black trousers, a blue silk shirt and loafers. He would need to find the nearest hospital emergency room quickly.
He turned out the lights and hung the Do Not Disturb sign on the outside of the door handle. Rudy crossed the hall to the waiting elevator and stepped inside. The door closed immediately behind him and the elevator started down. He took a long look at the lighted numbered panel before deciding it would be best to push the first floor button instead of the Lobby button. It seemed in his best interest to leave the hotel without being seen. He would get off at the first floor, find the stairs, and walk down to the rear exit.
In two days he would be thirty years old. The young Spaniard had dark straight hair, pale blue eyes and strikingly handsome good looks. He was tall and lean and confident about himself. By his manners and dress it was evident he was a man of means.
He stood close to the mirrors and examined his clean shaven face. His left cheek was slightly swollen and bruised.
It occurred to him he was going to have to tell the doctor how he had come to cut himself. Telling the truth about the intruders and the fight was going to require too much explanation and it did not seem to be the correct time to do so. The police would surely be informed if he told anyone the truth. He would need to make up a reasonable lie before arriving at the hospital.
The elevator slowed to a stop and the door opened at the first floor. He stepped from the elevator. To his surprise, he was in a brightly lighted, large room with lots of busy people. The hotel’s first floor was a lounge and restaurant, now being cleaned by the hotel staff.
A short, round woman pushing a vacuum cleaner stopped and looked up at him and said in broken English “Sorry, we closed”. Rudy smiled and said “Thank you, I’m looking for the stairs”. She pointed to the far corner at two large wooden doors. The doors were marked with a lighted sign above them that read stairs. Again, Rudy smiled and said “Gracias”.
Rudy marched past the white linen draped tables to the doors and made his way out into the stairwell and down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs was a set of glass doors marked ‘Broadway Street exit.’
A doorman outside pulled the door open as Rudy approached. “Thank you, please hail me a cab” Rudy said. The doorman waved his white gloved hand in the air and a taxicab stopped at the curb. Rudy climbed into the backseat and instructed the driver to take him to the nearest hospital emergency room.
The ride was quick and silent, the driver had nothing to say, for which Rudy was grateful.
The large clock on the wall behind the nurse’s station read 3:30 A.M. as Rudy stood at the admission counter waiting for attention.
“Yes, what do you need”? The old nurse finally asked Rudy. “I’d like to see a doctor” Rudy replied. “Yeah....you and half of New York City would I’m sure” she mumbled under her breath. She handed Rudy a clipboard with an Admission sheet and said “Fill out both sides, then give it back to me”. “Oh”, she continued, “We only see emergencies here and we’re backed-up for at least two hours. Rudy pointed to his left shoulder and said “I have a deep cut requiring stitches”.
The wait was only about an hour when a nurse walked into the waiting room and called out Rudy’s name. “Rudolph Rodriguez”. Rudy stood up and followed her into another room and then into a curtained cubicle. “Sit on the gurney and remove your shirt” she commanded. Rudy did so without comment.
The nurse removed the bandage and tape Rudy had applied to his shoulder. The wound began to bleed as soon as the dressing’s pressure was released. She frowned upon discovering the severity of the deep cut. “How