THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

Janecek as he’d found him that first day. He’d killed every one of the monks who’d taken him in, leaving the monastery littered with their bodies in varying stages of decay, but when he’d looked up at Delano, he’d done so with the same innocence of any child. A hungry, lonely child.
    He looked up at Delano now with much the same confusion, as though Delano could make sense of his situation for him.
    Oh, Radak, you were just not strong enough.
    He cleared his throat. “I can’t say for sure how long it will be. Soon.”
    Radak’s hand clutched at Delano’s pant leg. “You must help me.”
    “I cannot.” Delano firmed his jaw. “Even if I wanted to, you are past the help of even the most sophisticated hospital, let alone what I could do for you here.”
    “Know that.” Radak coughed. “Just want … to make it … fast.”
    Delano felt a chill move over his skin, though the night was warm and still. “You want me to finish you?”
    “If you ever … loved me, you’ll do this.”
    Delano stepped back, out of his reach. “You ask too much!”
    Radak smiled. “Always did. At least … leave me … a gun.”
    “Dammit, I can’t do that.”
    “Begging you … don’t leave me … like this.”
    Son of a bitch.
    Blinking rapidly, Delano leapt out of the helicopter and strode to where the other waited. “The medical bag.” He gestured to the bag that rested on the gurney at Bartlett’s feet. “Quickly.”
    One of the men handed it to him.
    “You,” he said to Janecek’s pilot, “Get on there and get this bird warmed up.”
    The pilot circled the craft, opened the other door and climbed in. Delano boarded the helo again and knelt by Janecek, plunking the bag down.
    “You’ll help me?”
    Wordlessly, Delano tugged the bag open, found what he wanted — a multiple-dose vial of hydromorphone and a syringe — and put the bag aside. The chopper’s engines turned over and caught, and their whine began to build.
    Grimly, he drew up a massively lethal dose of the potent opioid, and looked down at the unsaveable man — the unsaveable child he’d tried so hard to save.
    Janecek smiled. “Don’t worry. If somebody has to … send me to hell … glad it’s you.”
    “Goodbye, Radak,” he said, but his words were all but drowned out as the chopper’s rotors began beating the air. Within seconds of the intravenous injection, Janecek went into full respiratory arrest. After a moment, Delano placed two fingers on Janecek’s carotid artery. No pulse. It was done.
    Gently, he closed the dead man’s sightless eyes. “May God have mercy on your soul, Radak.”
    He stood abruptly, turned and climbed out of the chopper, crouching low to avoid the whirling rotors, not to mention sparing his abused ribs. A crouching Ainsley darted in, grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from the helicopter.
    “What happened?” she shouted in his ear.
    “He’s gone.”
    “Thank God.” Her hands roamed his arms, as though to assure herself of his soundness. “How about you? Are you okay?”
    He knew she was alluding to his handiwork with the hypodermic. “Fine.”
    She didn’t look persuaded, but she let it drop, given the urgency of their patient’s situation. She glanced at the helicopter. “We need to get Bartlett loaded. What are we going do with the body?”
    “Strap him into a seat for the ride.”
    “What?”
    “He’s not our problem. After the pilot has done this med-evac stint for us, I’ll release him. The cadaver on board is his boss and his problem.” Without waiting for her reaction, Delano called Hayes over and instructed him. As they went about moving Janecek and loading Bartlett, he turned back to Ainsley. “You sure you’ll be all right?”
    “Perfectly sure. Devon should sleep for hours yet, and Lucy can watch over her. As for Eli—”
    “Eli needs his arterial blood gases run and a half dozen other tests. As soon as Bartlett is safely delivered into the hands of the trauma team, I’ll leave Hayes there and catch a lift back. If you can have the blood drawn and ready, I’ll run the tests as soon as I get back.” He glanced at the helo to see that everyone was now loaded. “I’ve got to go. They’re waiting on me.”
    “I know.” Ainsley reached up on tiptoe and pressed her mouth to his for a quick, hard kiss, taking care not to touch his injured ribs. Then she turned and dashed to the door, disappearing inside without a backward glance.
     
     

 
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