In Plain Sight Read Online Free PDF Page A

his slackened body on the bed and roughly turned him over. I closed the cuffs around his wrists until I felt bone stop the mechanism. Killing Igor would bring too much heat down from both the cops and the Russians. Hurting him would have to do. The beating wasn’t severe enough to do him any serious harm; the further damage to his psyche was another story altogether.
    I checked the nurse’s pulse and found her to still be soundly out. I left her where she was and creaked the door open. The halls were dark and empty save the sound of two women talking somewhere down the corridor. I tilted my head out, but I couldn’t see the owners of the two voices. I looked back at the nurse on the floor behind me and watched her stillness. It wouldn’t last forever. If she made enough noise coming to, or anyone peeked in and saw her — the hospital would be in lockdown fast.
    â€œFuck,” I said under my breath. I pulled the gun from under the coat and gripped the barrel. I walked over to the nurse and looked at her closely. She was beaten up, but she would live. I dragged her body behind the other side of the bed so that no one would prematurely rouse her from her concussed dreams either.
    I turned off the lights in the room, eased the door open again, and saw that the hall was still clear. I walked down the corridor, away from the voices, and took the first stairwell I saw. I took the stairs down to the main floor and found another set of stairs leading to the parking garage. All at once the steps were concrete and coated in chewed gum and grime. The light fixtures followed suit and became suddenly more sparse and cheap, offering light only on each landing. I took the first exit into the parking garage. The lot reeked of urine and mildew, and I breathed deep, enjoying the scent of the city. Even in someone else’s clothes and wanted by both sides of the law, I couldn’t shake the nostalgic smell of the city. Fuck freshly baked bread, it had nothing on the city air.
    I walked through the rows of cars, down the ramps, to the exit. There were no security guards, only an electric arm to guard against anyone trying to sneak out without paying for parking. I didn’t even break pace, just ducked under the arm and strode to the crosswalk. St. Joseph’s was just outside downtown and close to everything. It was a short walk down St. Joseph’s Drive to James Street. The road was busy with young people making their way into the downtown core for fun on Hess Street or in the dozens of pubs located on every other block.
    The streetlights were on, and I was sure that the stars were out above the layer of constant pollution in the sky. I put a kilometre of distance between the hospital and myself before stopping on the curb. I waited two minutes for a cab to come down the mountain access, past the hospital, on its way to drunken downtown fares. I stepped out in front of the cab and got in the back while the cabby got over his shock.
    â€œYou can’t jump in front of cars like that! You’ll get hit!”
    â€œTake me to the north end of Wentworth.”
    â€œSeriously, what the fuck were you thinking?”
    â€œDrive to Wentworth, or I step out in front of another cab.”
    â€œFine, asshole. Whatever.”
    As we drove, the cab driver ran through the list of pedestrian-initiated accidents he had seen. I didn’t participate in the conversation. Once I saw that his dashboard clock read 11 : 38 , I just kept my eyes peeled for an open store and for Ave Maria. As we clocked down Wentworth, I saw empty storefront after storefront. I almost missed Ave Maria; its old dark brick camouflage blended into the city too well. I let two streets go by before telling the cabby to turn off the road onto a quiet side street. We made two right turns before making our way behind Ave Maria. I watched the alleys and side streets as the cab got closer to the Volvo. One hundred metres away from the car,