Killing The Blood Cleaner (21 page)

“It’s not very deep, I’m going to get it loose,” he said as he secured the rod and prepared to jump into the water.

“Jack I wouldn’t do that. The water is not deep, but the gators like to hang out at these oyster beds also. They like the trout just like we do,” Tacy said with concern.

“So they’re like the bad boys at the ATMs in Atlanta. I don’t see any gators and it’s not very far,” Jack said as he jumped overboard and swam toward the tree branches.

“Jack, we can move the boat,” she said as he swam away. At that moment, her float was again underwater. She yanked her rod and began to reel. Jack was now at the sandbar busily untangling his line from the branches. The fish on his line began to jump and flap in the water. It was a much larger fish than the two others and it was splashing wildly. She watched as Jack freed his line from the tangle and began swimming toward the boat with his prize trout held over his head. Tacy continued to reel her fish which was now jumping also. Jack was in the open water an equal distance from the shore and the boat. He was also about five yards from Tacy’s fish in the water.

Suddenly, from behind the oyster bed Tacy saw a flash of movement. There was a huge splash and then her line went limp. She then heard another ponderous splash.

“Jack, there are two gators out there. Get rid of that fish,” she screamed.

Jack looked over just as a huge alligator head surfaced about fifteen yards away with Tacy’s trout embedded in its teeth. The gator’s mouth opened wide and in one gulp the fish was gone. Jack threw his fish directly at the gator’s head. It landed a few feet to the right. The fish struggled for a few seconds in the water and then disappeared in the jaws of a second alligator. Jack turned and calculated the probabilities between swimming to the boat or the shore. He selected the boat and began to swim.

Tacy had by now grabbed the rifle and was inserting a clip with trembling fingers. She undid the safety, aimed at the head of the largest gator and squeezed the trigger. She heard a metallic sound and felt the trigger freeze with a jam in the mechanism. “What do I do, Jack?” she cried, but Jack was too busy swimming toward the boat to hear. She looked desperately around the boat and her eyes fixed upon the flare gun.

In the water, the two alligators were not quite done with the fish and were moving slowly and carefully toward Jack’s splashing white form in the water. Their reptile eyes, just above the water, followed Jack carefully. Jack could see the boat as he turned his head to breathe in his frantic freestyle toward the boat.

Tacy aimed the flare gun directly at the largest of the two gators. The flare shot out over the water in a stream of fire and then disappeared into the water near the alligators. Seconds later it floated to the surface still burning. Its hissing fire was all that was between Jack and the alligators. Tacy then reached into the boat’s cooler and ripped open another gator treat and threw it into the water. It landed several yards from the alligators, but in a different direction from Jack. Between the first flare and the stench of the gator treat the gators stopped their movement toward Jack for a few seconds. Tacy reloaded the flare gun and again aimed directly at the nearest gator to Jack. Amazingly, the flare landed directly on the gator’s snout and proceeded to burn and crackle with much greater effect than the previous flare. The large gator shook his head and sneezed from the smoke, dunking his head underwater. The gator then turned toward the shore and away from the boat, followed by the second alligator.

In a few seconds Jack lay panting on the floor of the boat. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Tacy said as he lay there, arms outstretched.

“God, I need a beer,” Jack said meekly, still shaking from his close encounter with the reptiles. Tacy patted his head and went to retrieve a beer from the cooler. Even in his weakened state Jack could not help noticing as she moved about the boat in her red bikini. Exhaling, he sat up as she returned with his beer, also bringing one for herself. She sat down next to him, her long legs extended.

“Here is to escaping the jaws of death!” she said, clinking her bottle to his. Jack took a long pull on the beer. His shivering had now stopped and Tacy’s closeness was beginning to have a major reviving effect on his physical condition.

“Tacy, I must say, I don’t get many days like this in Atlanta. I am glad you learned to shoot a flare gun somewhere. Was that part of cheerleader training?” Jack asked, smiling as he put his arm around her.

She responded by running her fingers through his wet hair. “I was so afraid those gators were going to eat you. But I can see your strong will to live was able to pull you through,” she said, looking directly at the bulge in his bathing suit. “And if they had eaten you, it would have taken months for me to find someone to replace you,” she continued, as she moved her face closer to his.

Jack needed no further invitation. He pulled her close and kissed her eagerly, running his hands along her back. She responded passionately, her tongue pressing into his mouth. His fingers quickly undid the strings holding the top of her bikini. He ran his tongue across the tops of her now unencumbered breasts, noticing that they were completely tanned.

“Let’s get these little whales off right now!” she said as she tugged at his bathing suit, pulling it down to his thighs. He wriggled free and reached out to embrace her.

Suddenly, both of their cell phones rang with the distinctive tone of the prison emergency system. “Dammit!” Jack yelled as he stood up to grasp his phone which was near the seat. He stood naked in the sun and pressed the button to answer. As he talked, a boat flew by loaded with the camouflaged security officers.

“Better get dressed for emergency call Doc!” he heard Captain Jamison yell as they hooted and waved. Jack held on to the side as their strong wake made the boat move sideways.

“Yes, I understand it is an emergency. I am on my way to the prison. I’m out on the river. I’m about a mile past Highway 189 Bridge. Yes, she is with me. We will meet you there,” Jack said as he looked around the boat for his clothes. Tacy laughed as he hung up the cell and floundered about.

“At least, I wasn’t the one exposing myself to the security staff,” she said with a smile as she fastened her top and retrieved her clothes. “Something bad must be going on for them to pull everyone in. This only happened once last year,” she said as she dressed and positioned herself behind the steering wheel. “Get the anchor and we will get moving.”

Jack stumbled back toward the stern and reached to pull the anchor up, clumsily knocking it against the side of the boat which caused Tacy to grimace. He then carefully stowed it on the floorboards near the stern and took his seat.

“When you say bad, what do you mean? What happened a year ago?” Jack asked.

“A year ago the inmates took over a building and set fire to a storage shed. There were six stabbings, four of them serious. Two of those were officers. Probably, the staff on-site could have handled it, but they wanted us there when they took back the building in case there were a lot of folks hurt,” she responded.

“Sounds delightful,” Jack said as she started the boat and pulled back the throttle.

“It wasn’t too bad. I left the prison at about one in the morning,” she said. The wind blew her hair back as she accelerated the boat. She kept the boat in the middle of the river, the deepest part, to avoid any sandbars on their run. Jack settled into his seat and continued to sip on his beer as he watched the scenery go by.

In about fifteen minutes they arrived at a sandy beach near a bridge over the river. Leading to the beach was a gravel road on which was parked a white prison van with its blue light slowly flashing. Tacy cut the throttle and eased the boat toward the beach. At the edge of the water was a telephone pole which had been sunk into the edge of the beach with a large steel ring on the side.

“I’m going to take it in slowly toward the pole. You jump out and we will tie the boat to the post and lock it with a padlock. Maybe the boat will still be here when we get back,” Tacy instructed.

Jack gently jumped out into the shallow water and pulled the boat toward the post. The door of the van opened and a blue uniformed officer waved at them. After Jack had pulled the boat onto the beach, Tacy jumped out and secured the boat with a chain and padlock to the post and ring.

“Let’s take the rods and the gun with us or else they might disappear,” Tacy said as she handed Jack the rods, taking the gun herself. In a few seconds they were seated in the van and were rapidly accelerating toward Georgia Maximum Security Prison.

TWENTY-EIGHT

As the van approached the prison, a black billowing cloud of smoke could be seen behind the Administration building. “Looks like the inmates are having a barbecue,” the officer said as he pressed the vehicle up to the prison gate which opened quickly before them. A fire truck idled at the entrance of the prison with its red light slowly flashing. The officer pulled the van onto the sidewalk near the entrance to the Administration building. He parked the van and led the way to the security doors. With a wave to the officers inside, both the sally port doors popped wide open on both ends of the tunnel, allowing the group to rush inside the prison.

“At least the inmates aren’t in the Administration building or they wouldn’t be opening all the doors at once. They can only do that in an emergency,” Tacy yelled as they ran down the tunnel.

“Great, a rule bending super emergency,” Jack said, running along with the group. As they ran through the tunnel, Jack noticed that the red lights of the security cameras were all dark, and thought briefly that this seemed unusual. Once through the tunnel, the security officers inside the prison rushed them into the Medical Unit.

Jack and Tacy looked around in surprise once they arrived in the Medical Unit. It was quiet except for the whirring clicks from the white enamel overhead fans. They were the only medical staff in attendance. Softly, in the distance, could be heard sounds from the courtyard.

“Where are the injured folks?” Jack asked the officer had who had escorted them.

“Oh, there are plenty of those. The inmates have taken over the library and law library. They barricaded themselves in there. Apparently they knew as well as we do that the library is designed to be a safety area if there is a disturbance on the courtyard. They made a bonfire of library books. There have been some inmates stabbed. Luckily, the officers got out. We will get the injured inmates when we take the buildings back. Unfortunately, they had let one of those boogers from M building in the law library. He will be difficult to get back into the box. That damned Kirk has probably already fucked and killed some law library clerks,” the officer replied.

Suddenly the noise from the courtyard increased. Shouting and screaming could now be distinctly heard. “Sounds like they are taking the building back right now,” the officer continued.

“We better get ready. We need to get the ambulance bay open,” Tacy said as she looked around. “Is it just me and the doctor for medical staff? What happened to Nurse Griggs?” Tacy continued.

“She was in a car accident. Contusions and bruises mostly. We were going to pull you in because of that, but then the riot kicked off and the Warden decided to bring you both in.”

The sounds of the courtyard had now ceased but were replaced by the siren of an ambulance as it approached the ambulance bay. Tacy walked to the ambulance bay and opened the doors as the vehicle began to back up the ramp. She could see two other ambulances with red lights flashing, coming through the gates toward the Medical Unit.

The officer’s radio crackled and he responded quickly, “Ten–four, we are ready. Bring them up,” he said, pressing the black button on his walkie-talkie.

“There are three injured on the way. One of them is that asshole, Kirk. Hopefully somebody stabbed him good,” the officer said as he opened both doors to the Medical Unit. “I’m sure they’ve got plenty of security on him.”

Jack and Tacy moved about and opened the doors to three examining rooms. Tacy unlocked the supply room and began pulling bandages and other equipment in preparation for the arrival of the injured inmates.

It was only a few seconds before a crowd of officers arrived with the three inmates on stretchers. Jack and Tacy stationed themselves in the hallway at the entrance to the Medical Unit as they arrived. The first in the line of stretchers was inmate Thompkins, minus his red panties, completely naked with blood streaming from gashes in his face, chest and legs. He was contained in the stretcher by a canvas strap which held him in place. It did not take much examination by Jack and Tacy to determine that while his wounds were no doubt painful they were for the most part, superficial and not life-threatening.

“He beat me and raped me!” Thompkins screamed as he pointed back to Kirk in his stretcher, fifteen feet behind in the hallway. Kirk glowered back, surrounded by four officers.

“You tell them that and I will kill you, maybe some officers too,” Kirk snarled in a low voice as he was carried past Jack and Tacy in the hallway. The officers, busy moving Kirk into the Medical Unit, did not appear to hear his comment.

“Mr. Thompkins, we need to do a rape test on you and get you bandaged up,” Tacy said calmly as she gestured to the officers to remove Kirk to an exam room. Kirk had several stab wounds, two of which appeared deep, and a very bloody nose.

Inmate Thompkins blinked and shuddered, realizing that he had made a serious mistake in reporting Kirk. “No rape kit, Miss Tacy. We got in a fight, that is all.” Tacy looked over at Jack, hesitating as to what to do.

“Let’s clean him up. We can’t force him to take a rape test. But Kirk is a different matter,” Jack responded.

The doors to the Medical Unit closed as the final inmate was admitted. Tacy and Jack took a quick look at the inmate law clerk, Jimmy Richards, who attempted a smile between grimaces of pain caused by a small gash on his stomach. “Kirk was burning the law books. I thought he would burn us all up, it took so long for the officers to take back the library. Thompkins did manage to nick Kirk a little, but it didn’t do him much good,” the clerk said as he was moved to the third exam room.

“We have three to clean up and send to the hospital. But since Mr. Kirk has been accused of a sex crime we need to take a sample of his blood,” Jack said to the officer in charge who was standing in Kirk’s room.

“You know Kirk won’t agree to it and Thompkins is denying it happened. I don’t know?” Tacy said hesitantly to Jack in a low voice.

“I’m the doctor and I will take full responsibility,” Jack responded firmly.

Tacy turned and entered the examination room which contained inmate Jimmy Richards and closed the door. Jack moved into the room containing Kirk after retrieving a syringe and three blood sample ampoules from the emergency cart.

“Mr. Kirk, we’re going to get you cleaned up and get a little sample of your blood. We will have you to the hospital in no time,” Jack said calmly as all four officers held Kirk to the examination table. In his wounded condition they were easily able to restrain him.

“I ain’t agreeing to no blood!” Kirk screamed as he attempted to wriggle free. The officers tightened their grip as Jack inserted the needle in his arm.

“Just relax and let’s get this done the easy way,” Jack continued as he filled the three ampoules with Kirk’s dark red blood. Jack again noticed the red light on the security camera was dark above the scene as Kirk struggled helplessly. Jack then cleaned and bandaged the wounds and prepared Kirk for the ambulance ride with a large gauze patch over his nose.

The ambulance crew arrived and secured Kirk to another stretcher. They quickly removed him to the waiting ambulance with two officers riding inside the cargo area. “You shithead! I’m going to fuck you up and that whore, Tacy,” Kirk screamed impotently as he was taken away.

“That will be quite enough, Mr. Kirk,” Jack commented dryly as the attendants closed the door to the ambulance. By this time, Tacy had finished the preparation of inmates Richards and Thompkins and the ambulance attendants moved them quietly to the waiting ambulances. As inmate Thompkins was wheeled past he looked at Jack for a second with a small tear in his eye. “Thanks, Doc.”

The entire response had taken about twenty-five minutes. Jack and Tacy watched the three ambulances make their way past the gates. As they watched, the security contingent departed, shutting the white metal entry doors to the Medical Section behind them. Tacy and Jack were now alone with only the quiet sound of the whirring metal fan overhead. “Well, you are now a combat veteran,” Tacy said stepping closer to Jack. He could smell the lusty fragrance of her insect repellent as she came closer. He stepped toward her and put his arm around her back. His other hand ran lightly over the short blonde hairs of her forearm. “The way you smell like bug spray and the river is turning me on,” he said, moving in to kiss her.

She pushed him away and walked toward the white metal doors to the clinic. With a click she locked them and turned toward him. Slowly she began to unbutton her white coat. “I do think we have earned ourselves a little treat,” she said, tossing the coat on the floor. She then proceeded to unbutton her camouflage shirt revealing the top to her red bikini below. Slowly, she undid the strings on the red bikini top and tossed it on the floor. She kicked off her sandals and added them to the pile. “I am ready now for my own personal physical, doctor.”

Jack stared at her, slightly amazed. He looked around the room and then listened for a second. The only sound was the overhead fan. “I guess I need to get into the spirit of correctional medicine,” he said as he removed his white coat and began unbuttoning his shirt. He watched hungrily as Tacy slid down her jeans and then pulled on the red strings of her bikini bottom.

“Those damn whales again,” she said, laughing as he stepped out of his khaki pants to reveal his blue bathing suit once again. He quickly removed it and tossed it on top of the pile of her clothes.

They stood there for a second or two under the bright clinical lights looking at each other. “No erectile dysfunction prescription for you today, young man,” she said, stepping forward. As they came together their touch seemed to be amplified by the previous attempt in the boat, and by the starkness of the clinic environment. For perhaps an hour, they rolled on the floor, pressed up against the walls, climbed aboard the rolling stretcher and chased each other in and out of the examining rooms. They came to rest in the third examining room, together on the examination table with reams of examination paper shredded on the floor and running up the wall.

“Now that was a thorough physical,” Jack said, sitting up slowly from the examination table, slightly out of breath. He looked around at the table on the other side of the room and noticed the ampoules of Kirk’s blood. “We must not forget these. They were difficult to get,” he said, jumping off the table and picking them up.

“Why did you force him to give a blood sample?” Tacy asked languidly as she watched Jack from the examination table.

“Science, my girl, science,” Jack said as he stood naked before her displaying his prize samples in his outstretched hands. “The first one is my legal excuse. There was a claim of a sex crime, objectively verified by the observation of a naked victim with visible injuries. The samples were taken with only the minimum amount of force necessary to maintain positive control of the inmate under circumstances where we had probable cause to believe that he had recently committed a violent sexual assault,” Jack continued.

“You have certainly learned the legal terms of the Court Order. But inmate Thompkins said he wasn’t raped and refused the rape test,” Tacy said.

“A mere technicality. We have a known homosexual, lying naked, with obvious trauma injuries, who claims to have been raped and then recants. Also corroborated by the threats of inmate Kirk. I think that is enough to get the sample,” Jack said. “And of course, since force had to be used, we needed to get enough for three samples, in case there was any loss or destruction. Again, we are conservatively using force only once, rather than having to return for later samples. Besides, this is Kirk, who all the world hates, even the inmates. Now that we have these two extra samples they should be used somehow for the greater good. So I’m sending them to my friend Dr. Clayton at the CDC on Monday. They will check it out and see if there really is something special about Kirk. The first sample will, of course, be dutifully logged and sent with the requisite form to the Crime Lab.”

Tacy watched as Jack strolled naked out of the examination room, placed the samples in the Medical Unit refrigerator and picked up an overnight package from the Nurse’s station. She hopped off the examination table and went to retrieve her clothes. “I think you maybe should have been a lawyer. And that is good since you can be sure Kirk will complain to the Warden about the blood sample and probably also file a lawsuit. He filed a lawsuit claiming excessive force when he was restrained after killing Dr. Bridge,” Tacy said as she went to the pile of clothes and dressed herself.

Jack padded about picking up his clothes which were more scattered. Within a few minutes he was also dressed, right down to his white jacket. He looked over at Tacy as she finished adjusting her outfit. “You are a wonderful lady and that was an incredible time we had together.” He kissed her and felt her strong arms around him.

“There is plenty more available,” Tacy said softly as she unlocked the doors to the Medical Unit and they stepped out into the hall, closing the doors behind them. In the Medical Unit, the red lights on the various security cameras continued unlit and dark, while the cameras continued to record the now empty area and the low sound of the overhead fan as they had since the entry of the first inmate.

In the Warden’s outer office, a freshly printed fax lay unnoticed in the output tray of the fax machine on the credenza behind Darla Cooper’s desk.