Dr. Death by Nick Carter - [Killmaster 100]

the sleep-awkward figures. But here, some were twisting in pain. Moans came brokenly from here and there. The odor was even worse than in the west wing. Diaz went down the aisle to the man in white, looked at him closely, then lifted his head by the hair.
    "Jorge," he said roughly. "Jorge. Wake. The
Señor
wishes to speak with you."
    Jorge's eyes opened slightly, he looked up at me in an out-of-focus way, then his head fell back on his arms. Part of his left cheek was gone, exposing the white bone.
    "Aiee," he mumbled. "So pretty. And so brave, to come to work with lepers. So pretty."
    Diaz looked at me and grimaced.
    "Drunk," he said. "He uses his pay to get drunk every night."
    He lifted Jorge's head again, and slapped him roughly across the rotted cheek. Jorge gasped in pain. His eyes flew open and focused.
    "You must talk to the
Senor,
Jorge," said Diaz. "He is from the
policia,
the Customs police."
    Jorge stared at me, keeping his head up with an obvious effort.
    "Policia?
What for?"
    I moved beyond Diaz and flipped my I.D. at Jorge.
    "For information," I said. "Information about who was being hidden here, by whom, and where they went when they left here."
    In spite of his drunkenness, a crafty look crept into Jorge's eyes.
    "Nobody hidden here. Just lepers here. Contagious. Very dangerous. You shouldn't be here."
    I decided to handle Jorge a little differently than Diaz.
    "There's a reward for the information," I said, slowly and clearly, pulling out my wallet. I saw Jorge's eyes widen slightly as 1 extracted five twenty-dollar bills. "One hundred dollars. Paid immediately."
    "Aiee," Jorge said. "I would like to have so much money, but…"
    "There is nothing to fear. No one will ever know you told me except Diaz. And Diaz knows better than to talk."
    Jorge's eyes were fastened to the money in my hand. I slid it across the table. Jorge licked his lips, then suddenly snatched the money.
    "I do not know who they were," he said rapidly, "but they were not Latinos. There were three of them. They came in one night and locked themselves into an empty room at the back of the wing. For more than two weeks they did not emerge. A leper with an arrested case brought them food twice a day. It was also this leper who had sterilized the room the night before they arrived. Then, one night, they left as suddenly as they had come. The leper disappeared also, but later we heard that his body was found a few blocks away. He had been strangled."
    "Did you get any idea of where they went from here?" I demanded.
    Jorge hesitated.
    "I am not sure, but I think — twice, when the leper went into the room with food, I think I heard one of the men say something about Martinique."
    Something clicked in my brain.
    Martinique. The volcano.
    Suddenly a door opened in the wall beyond Jorge. Through it stepped a figure clad as I was, in sterile gown, mask, cap, and all the rest. Jorge half-turned, looked, then grinned.
    "Buenos noches, Senorita,"
he said. Then, to me, some of the drunkenness coming back into his voice. "So pretty, such a pretty little
chinita,
and she comes to help the lepers. Just arrived today."
    Chinita.
Chinese girl.
    Over the surgical mask, double-lidded Oriental eyes looked straight at me.
    All too familiar double-lidded Oriental eyes.
    "Welcome to the party, Carter," she said.
    I stared at her grimly.
    "For you, Li Chin," I said, "the party is over."
    I moved toward her. She held up one hand.
    "Don't make a mistake you'll regret," she said. "We have…"
    Her voice died in mid-sentence, and I saw her eyes widen suddenly in alarm.
    "Carter!" she shouted. "Behind you!"
    I spun. Jorge's bottle missed my skull by inches, shattering on the table in his hand. My karate chop slammed toward the base of his neck a split second later, and it didn't miss. He toppled to the floor like a felled log. Even as he was falling, I heard Li Chin's voice again. This time it was flat, hard, and deadly calm.
    "The door," she said. "And to your