Everything on Milo hurt from head to toe; he felt like he'd been hit by a truck and a large one at that. Gritting his teeth, he tried to sit up a bit in the hospital bed. He felt the room swimming around him so he didn't sit up too far. His mouth felt like overused sandpaper, he wagered he had been out of it for quite some time. Closing his eyes he tried summoning enough strength to recall the last thing he remembered. Just then Remington came through the door and over to his bed all without making a noise.
Remington didn't know if he was alseep or not so he just sat there in silence. Sensing a presense Milo opened his eyes. Noticing Remington he immediately smiled.
"Xenos," he said in a scratchy, underused voice. "I should have known you wouldn't be far. How long have I been out?"
"A few days mate, you gave us quite a scare I'll tell you that. How are you feeling?"
"I'm sure it's about as bad as I look, if not worse. The doctors were by to see me and made me promise to rest as much as I can. Easy for them to say hey Xenos?"
"Milo, don't get any ideas about trying to do too much to quickly, you have been roughed up pretty badly and I don't think you should do anything that would set you back. Do you remember what happened to you? How you got in to such a bad car accident?"
"Car accident? What accident Xenos? The last thing I remember was...oh yes, I was at the villa and encountered two of Mr. Sutton's employees. They were not in the least happy to hear that I would not be selling the painting to their boss. As a matter of fact, they went to great lengths to change my mind. To put it mildly they tried to adjust my attitude but you know how stubborn I can be Xenos. I told them that they were wasting their time, I wasn't selling the painting to Sutton no matter what they tried to do. The last thing I remember is feeling a hard, painful blow to my head. I don't remember anything after that except waking up to find a beautiful woman standing over me in a white uniform. Ah, she was a vision of lovliness indeed." He winked.
"Uh how about putting the libido on hold eh? I mean you've been beaten to a pulp, kidnapped, stuffed in a car and rolled down a hill to be left for dead. Surely you can think about romancing your nurse later?"
"Beauty should never go unnoticed. Even if I'm flat on my back doing so. I can't believe those bastards tried to kill me and make it look like an accident. I knew Mr. Sutton wouldn't take my selling the painting to someonelse well, I had no idea he'd try to have me killed for it! What am I going to do my friend?"
"You are going to concentrate on getting better and out of here Milo. Laura and I were checking out some leads, trying to piece together what the hell happened to you. Since you remember everything, it won't be too difficult to point the finger at Sutton. We just have to find those thugs that tried their best to kill you and make them confess. I don't want you worrying about this Milo, we will nail Sutton to the proverbial wall for this I swear it! By the way, I was going to call your family and tell them about your accident. Do you want me to call them for you?"
"No Xenos, they would just worry themselves crazy, it's best that they don't know if at all possible. Then again, you know my mother, she has this "sense" about things. She will probably call me to say she had a vision that I was in trouble and is worried about the life I lead. That is always a lead in to her "you need to find a nice woman and settle down speech," Milo shuddered. "I tell you Xenos, the way I feel right now, I think I just may take my mother up on her advice."
Remington playfully tapped him on the chest. "I agree. You did get rather close to checking out didn't you. Not to worry, we will handle this, you just concentrate on getting better and that is an order!"
"Yes sir!" Milo stifled a yawn.
Remington could tell the conversation, being his first since he gained consciousness, was taking a toll on him. He patted Milo's shoulder fondly and ordered him to get some rest. He told him he would pop round to check on him later in the day. Milo nodded immediately drifted off afterwards.
Remington stopped by to chat with the authorities before heading home. He wasn't surprised to see Laura there, nose deep in a suspect book. Walking up behind her, Remington kissed her on the neck. Laura jumped a bit but it wasn't the out of her skin reaction he'd tried to get out of her. She smiled up at him then went back to the book.
"Ah Laura, do you always let would-be strangers come up and kiss you on the neck without so much as a shriek of surprise?"
"Why yes, I do Mr. Steele, if I can smell their cologne before they reach me and surmise that it is in fact someone I wouldn't mind receiving a kiss from," Laura turned around to give him her full attention.
"Someone?" Remington asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.
"Only one. You," Laura quickly corrected.
"That's much better Miss Holt, now what are you up to besides scanning picture books for would be bad guys?"
"Well that's about it. I'm waiting for the police database to find a match to the fingerprints I lifted off the car. I was just perusing this book to see if our bad guys happen to be in here as well. So far I haven't come up with anything. I wonder if our killers stick to bad deeds in the U.S., this book is the listing for International suspects. Luckily they have a computer system here that can access the United States' criminal database if we need to. If not, we'd be looking for a killer in a haystack. How is Milo Remington? Was he awake when you got there?"
"Yes, he was actually," Remington looked elated. "He confirmed our suspicions Laura; he wasn't involved in a car accident until after Sutton's men got to him. They were trying to persuade him to sell the painting to their boss. He doesn't recall what happened after he received a blow to the head. I'm telling you Laura, I can't believe Sutton would be this careless, to have a trail leading back to him that could put him behind bars. But then again, I don't know if Sutton is just a plain business man that has gotten greedy or if he is a seasoned killer used to getting what he wants. What I do know is that Milo is now conscious and he will be able to point the finger directly at Sutton."
"Are we sure Remington? We can't be one hundred percent certain that we can prove Sutton's henchmen were acting on his request. We may have a hard time proving it unless those goons said as much to Milo. We are better off finding the guys that tried to kill him because until we do, it will be Milo's word against Sutton's."
Remington frowned. "You have a point. Something just occurred to me that has me a bit concerned. By now Sutton knows that Milo is alive and that he can ID his two men for his attempted murder. In my book that makes Milo..."
Her eyes bulged. "A sitting duck!" she finished for Remington.
###
"We've got our men Miss Holt," Office Logan walked up and handed Laura the photographs and police files on the two men they were looking for.
Laura took the files. Remington filled him in on what Milo had said and about their concerns for their friend's safety.
"We'll get some officers over to the hospital immediately to make sure nothing happens to your friend so don't worry."
Laura and Remington exchanged glances, quickly thanked the officer for his help and rushed out of the station.
"We've got to get back to the hospital, I'd wager that Sutton has already figured out he is better off with Milo out of the picture permanently! We can't let him try anything Laura, we can't!"
"I agree. Lets hope we get there in time to make certain Sutton doesn't succeed again. The police are in route as well so we should be safe."
Remington gave her a look that spoke volumes. It said "when are we ever safe?"
Laura was scanning the files Officer Logan had given them when she heard a funny note in Remington's voice as he said her name.
"What's the matter?" She looked up.
"Oh nothing out of the ordinary, just that we are being followed by a ominous looking van."
"Laura looked over her shoulder. "Well try to lose it!"
"Gee Laura, I would have never thought of that," Remington said as he increased his speed.
The driver in the van realized they'd been spotted. Speeding up he closed in on Remington's jeep. They were just about on the rear bumper when a passenger rolled down the window and began firing shots at the jeep.
"Wonderful, we are being shot at, again! Really Laura, we've got to get into the habit of carrying a gun with us on vacation for just such an emergency," Remington said dryly.
"This is no time for jokes Mr. Steele."
Who's joking?"
Annoyed she looked over. "Remington, they are trying to kill us and right now we are sitting ducks on this straight road. There, up ahead, turn right," Laura shouted.
Remington did as she suggested, the van picked up the pace and flanked their jeep. Remington swerved over and rammed the van in an effort to get them to back off. Laura screamed a warning as the driver aimed at them. Remington immediately slammed the brakes on to get behind the van. He saw his chance and switched gears to take a steep incline on a dirt road. The van tried to persue but was having difficulty on the rough terrain. They saw their opportunity ebbing so they started shooting again, this time in an effort to stop the jeep. The passenger was able to blow out the back tire. Remington heard the blowout and tried his best to keep the jeep from flipping over.
"Now what!" Laura said holding on for dear life.
"I'm going to try to keep the jeep steady as we coast down this hill, we've got to try to make a break for it, hopefully they will follow the jeep awhile before they figure out we're not in it."
"That's your plan, we jump?" We're going to break our necks!" Laura yelled.
"Laura, we don't have time to debate this. I don't like the alternative so dammit woman, jump!" Remington yelled as he undid his seatbelt and braced himself to jump over the seat without opening the door. Laura did the same and hesitated only a second before she followed Remington's lead and jumped.