The Solomon Curse

Remi pointed at a brightly painted two-story building on their right as they neared it. “That’s got to be it—Sedgwick’s.”

“Seems like a lot of people outside, don’t you think?

Remi took a hard look and nodded. “Keep going, Sam. That looks like trouble.”

Several dozen tough-looking islanders were thronging around the store entrance, which was protected by steel roll-up shutters. Several of the men had machetes, and one had a crowbar, his intent clear. Sam accelerated and gave the crowd wide berth, continuing on toward the road that led out of town.

“Maybe the manager isn’t being overly paranoid,” Remi conceded as she watched the men in her side mirror. “That looks like looting about to happen, doesn’t it?”

“I wonder where all the police are? We’re only, what, six blocks from the station?”

“Maybe they’re eating breakfast? Or dealing with other problems?”

Sam applied the brakes. “This looks bad, Remi.”

Thirty yards ahead, several hundred islanders were milling around a makeshift barricade. Black smoke belched from a drum by the side of the road, and two sedans were wrecked nearby. Their windows had been smashed in and glass dusted the surrounding pavement.

As they slowed, Remi cried out, “Look out.”

A rock completed its arc and smashed into the windshield on the passenger side, starbursting instantly in a shower of safety glass.

CHAPTER 32

Sam gu

“Are you okay?” Sam asked, daring a glance at Remi.

“Yes. Just some glass on me. But no cuts.” She hesitated. “What are we going to do?”

“Get off the road. Somewhere safe.”

“The hospital’s right there. They have guards, don’t they?”

Sam didn’t need to be coached. He made a hard left, aware that the crowd was ru

“This is crazy.”

Sam nodded. “It is. Let’s get to the hospital and wait for the authorities to show up. This strikes me as parasites looking for an excuse to cause mayhem. That will only last until the cops arrive and then it will lose its fun value pretty quick.”

“And if they don’t arrive?”

“That’s a whole different problem. But right now I have to believe these are isolated incidences. That looked to me like a bunch of poor islanders trying to figure out how to get free computers, using the MP’s murder as a pretense. Which is way different than the kind of social outrage that was apparently present during the riots in the mid-2000s.”

“Let’s hope you’re right.”

They arrived at the hospital, where a security guard raised the gate to admit them and then froze when he saw several bicycles and an ancient motor scooter leading a ru

“Is there some kind of security barricade for the entrance?” Sam asked the terrified-looking guard. He seemed not to understand Sam’s question. Sam turned, his eyes roaming over the few patients waiting in the emergency room area, and then Dr. Vanya emerged from the rear of the ER, a puzzled expression in place.

Sam explained to her what was happening in a few short sentences and she sprang into action, barking orders to the guard and the staff as she hurried to the doors. Sam helped her free a thick cloth ribbon that ran floor to ceiling along one side of the entry and they lowered heavy set of steel shutters designed to protect the hospital in big storms.

They moved to the side windows and barely repeated the procedure before the first loud thumps pounded against the steel.

The security guard and the nurses hurried to the rear of the building to lower the barricades there, and after a few minutes a tense Dr. Vanya declared the building secure. Vanya eyed the Fargos as the frightened patients looked to her for reassurance and then used her cell phone to alert the police that the hospital was under attack. When she hung up, her face was tense.

“You’re lucky you made it in. After the last riots, we fortified the hospital so it could withstand a direct hit from a Category 5 hurricane. Those entry shutters wouldn’t budge even if you ran a car into them. We’re safe—for now.”

“Won’t the police put a stop to this?” Remi asked.

“That’s the hope. But it could take a while, depending on how stretched they are,” Vanya warned. “In the meantime, I have patients I need to attend to.”

Another loud crash sounded from the front entrance, but the metal shutters held. Sam lowered his voice and tilted his head toward Vanya.

“Might not be a terrible idea to push any metal desks and cabinets that are nearby to create another barrier just in case that one gives.”

She shook her head. “If they manage to get through the shutters, a few obstacles in their path won’t stop anyone.”

A woman rose from one of the waiting room benches and approached Dr. Vanya, obviously distraught. “Doctor, I’ve been waiting an hour. It’s Lilly—my daughter’s gone missing. You know how sick she is. We need to do something.”

“What do you mean, gone missing?” Vanya demanded.

“She disappeared yesterday. She’s the third one in my village in the last month. And she needs her meds. You warned her about taking them on time . . .”

Vanya led the woman to a remote area of the waiting room and spoke with her in low tones. Another thump echoed from one of the windows, but it lacked the violent urgency of the previous blows. The crowd was probably tiring of the sport and deciding what easier targets might be in the vicinity before the police arrived and dampened their fun. Free tablets and TVs held far more allure than being arrested for trying to break into the area’s primary health care facility.

The woman’s voice rose in pitch, and even across the room her hysteria was obvious. “But, Doctor, she’s sick. I can’t just wait to see if she returns. Too many of these kids are disappearing and we never hear from any again. And now my Lilly . . .”

Vanya said something unintelligible and led the woman back into the treatment area.

“How are you doing?” Sam asked, settling down on a bench next to Remi, the heat in the room rising now that all the doors and windows were shut.

“I’m fine. But that was too close for comfort.”

“With any luck, this will be over soon.”

“I don’t feel very lucky right now,” she said.

Vanya returned five minutes later followed by the woman, who seemed calmer. When she sat down heavily at the edge of the bench, Sam realized she had probably been given a tranquilizer—her lids were heavy and her movements hesitant. Vanya took a seat across from Sam and Remi and exhaled a frustrated sigh. “I hope the police arrive soon. The construction company never got around to installing air-conditioning in any of the areas but the patient treatment rooms. Makes for an ugly afternoon.”

“Is she going to be all right?” Remi asked, indicating the woman.

“Oh, I suspect so. She’s worried about her daughter. Fourteen. Seems like she’s run off. They do that at that age around here if they can’t take the rigors of adolescence. You know what it’s like—they meet a boy, decide they’re tired of going to school and working all day, then coming home and having Mom and Dad order them around . . .”