Free The Carolina Coup: Another Rwandan Genocide? (The Jeannine Ryan Series Book 4) by James E. Mosimann Page B

laptop.
    Bill?
***
    In Surf City Stew Marks’ phone vibrated.  It was his partner, Jack Marino in Wilmington.
    “Stew, were you asleep?”
    “No matter, what have you got?”
    “Zero, zip, nada!  The resident agency guys are helping me, and the locals are on the lookout, but there’s no trace of Hamm or Ryan.  Nowhere!”
    “Jack, look around Wilmington.  Hamm has to be nearby.  I’ll check North Topsail and Jacksonville.”
    “What if Hamm has gone inland.  We’d both miss him.”
    “Not likely.  At Wilson, Ryan was headed for the coast, and Hamm dumped his car here.  No, they’re trying to meet on the coast.  This is where we’ll look.”
    As Stew clicked off, he thought of the shapely redhead.  No Mr. Hamm you are definitely near her.  You’re nearby.
    His facts were wrong, but his conclusion was correct.
    Stew was hungry, but he would eat later in North Topsail.  He had several interviews there in the afternoon.  When done with those, he would take Route 210 off the island and go to Jacksonville.
***
    Hugh Byrd’s head throbbed.  The ceramic lamp in that damned doctor’s hands had left a thin red line of broken skin next to a swollen lump on top of his skull.  He headed for the sink and downed two Advil.
    He stepped into the living area where Tom Holder waited.  Hugh spoke.
    “Any trace of the doctor?  We have his car, he can’t be far.”
    “The neighbor across the way saw a guy jump from the deck.  She thought he was drunk or high on drugs.  She thinks we had a wild party.  The man ran off limping, towards the beach.”
    “Where could he go to treat his leg?”
    “He could treat himself, or there’s an Urgent Care Center across the bridge.”
    “Smets is a whiner.  He went to that clinic.  Let’s go.”
    “What about Ryan?”
    “Smets, first.”
    Byrd holstered his Glock.  Ms. Ryan could wait.  His beef with the doctor was now personal!
***
    The nurse at the Surf City Urgent Care Center was professional. When Hugh Byrd flashed his badge, she consulted her computer
    “Yes, we did treat someone with an ankle sprain last night.  His name was ‘Smets.’  He was treated and discharged just after midnight.  There’s no address.”
    Hugh smiled.
    “Thanks anyway.  You’ve been a big help.”
    Hugh turned to leave as a young doctor approached the counter and spoke.
    “Nurse, is Joe back with the ambulance yet?”
    “Not yet.  He took our ‘John Doe’ to Onslow Memorial in Jacksonville. It’s a long way.  It’s lunch time, maybe he grabbed a bite to eat.  Give him another thirty minutes.”
    “Let me know when he returns.  I have another transport.”
    Hugh Byrd returned to the nurse.
    “About your ‘John Doe,’ when did he arrive?”
    “Last night, just after midnight.  Two teens found him in the waterway.  He was transferred to Jacksonville this morning.”
    Hugh nodded to her and left.  Back in the car, he spoke.”
    “Smets was here.  Even better, we may have found Hamm.  Looks like Smets meant it when he said Hamm went overboard.”
    “Who do we go after?  Hamm, Ryan or Smets.”
    “Hamm is the most important, but if that ‘John Doe’ is him, he’ll be at that hospital in Jacksonville at least today and tomorrow.  He can wait.  We don’t know where Ryan is.  That rat Smets must be nearby.  I’ll settle him first.”
    He smashed his hand with his fist and handed Tom the keys.
    “You drive, I’ve got a headache.  There’s a deli back in Surf City near the traffic light.  Drive there.  I need to think.”
    Hugh touched his head gingerly.
    Damn you Smets .
    He closed his eyes as Tom drove.
***
    From his post across the street from the Surf City Urgent Care Center, Dr. Gilles Smets watched the Ford Excursion with Tom Holder and Hugh Byrd disappear down the street.
    Smets started walking.  He took out his phone and punched the number for GES in Northern Virginia.
    Denise Guerry answered.  Smets stammered.
    “I’m in trouble.