"I am the one he wants. I am number one. I kept the others on board, except for that bitch, Krump. Alden likes fucking old broads—she would do anything he asked. I cleaned up everyone's mess, and I was the one who killed that nurse, Saperstein. Danny and Beck took out Randy and that wife-beater. But the morons couldn't work the frame-up. I had to go in with the evidence to incriminate Elizabeth. Your girlfriend is a super surgeon, but she leaves her stuff around. Swiping hair ties, straws and spoons was easy. She's also old-fashioned, cute little white underwear with pink bows. It was easy switching hers out for new ones. When you didn't kill Satanta, I snuck into that hellhole and took him out." Hailey was indignant.
"The entire place blew sky-high," Martin spat.
"That was unintentional. The propane tank was full, and, well, you saw the reaction."
"That reaction killed six innocent people and injured a bunch more."
Hailey griped, "Oh, how can I forget Lola? Indira was chicken. All she had to do was put her in her pocket and walk away. You would be so distraught, too weak to function. She thought if she kept needling you about how much care she needed, you'd give up. Even when she gave her the nitrates to turn her blue, you doubled down and added more help."
Anger ran down Martin's back. "Lissa? Did you see her?"
Her voice flattened, "No."
"Poor little one had a boot print on her back. Which one of you stepped on her? Who stood by while Clay's rage tore her almost in two?"
Hailey blurted out before Boyd could stop her, "Not me, Hal and Boyd messed up everything."
"What did they mess up? Tell me what Boyd did," Martin coaxed.
Boyd backhanded Hailey. "Don't say another word, you tramp."
Keene shoved Boyd. "The kid was a throwaway. Some drug dealer's spawn. Hal let Jenner destroy her like he did to Hank Price. We dumped Price in the same ditch when we couldn't get to the hog pen."
Martin's stomach rolled. Hogs ate anything.
Keene frowned and continued to divulge the secrets, while he and Gafford held Boyd back. The men began to turn on each other. "Tim and Boyd couldn't tell they weren't dead. Bad enough the farmer found the kid, your brother found Price. Trip and Locke didn't have the stones to shoot him in the head. And the girl, Beth saved her too," Keene spat.
"Then Dufour, he demanded the hit on Randy. Talbot backed him. Who knew Randy had some scruples? When he found out about Viola's pregnancy, after she died, he threatened to out Dufour. That screwed us. There was no one to admit the prisoners to the floors—we needed an attending. Hillinger was helping us, but it's not like you can advertise, and he hasn't admitted a patient in years. Indira couldn't admit adults. Keys agreed to turn a blind eye, but he wouldn't hurt a fly," Hailey said.
Martin swallowed hard.Keys.
Gafford added a punch to Martin's gut. "It was the perfect set up. We were making a mint from the films when everyone cooperated."
"What happened if they didn't?"
"They died. No one looked too hard. Except for Beth. She had to go," Hailey continued.
"Who made that decision?"
Hailey gave him a perverse smile. "Who do you think? She was the governor's daughter. She's like a friggin' cat. The poison was supposed to be foolproof until you saved her again."
"Foolproof to whom?"
"Henrietta, Krystal, Pietra, Indira, and me," Hailey was now on a roll. "Alden, Tim, and Keene picked the prisoners. Some starred in the movies, and some fed the other pipeline. Talbot giving us Beth's pads was a godsend. The pills were another big moneymaker. Cecile tracked the indigent deaths at the jail—that was an unlimited stream of identities. Who would complain? The kiddie and violent gay porn Clay, Hal and Boyd made broadened our audience. We added a limited inventory.
“That was until Homeland stuck its nose into things. Brynn couldn't stop it. We had to move that off the server. Hal triggered a fire alarm in the server building, and after the building emptied, Danny, Beck, Trip, and Irvin protected the door. Cecile went in, took the listing out, and used her skills to steal card numbers of heavy spenders. A sporadic purchase would never be noticed, and Brynn got praise for finding the catalog."
"The children? Where did they come from?"
"Here and there. Orphans. Junkie’s kids. Not hard to find people who wanted to sell their kids.”
"The bomb?"
Trip joined them. "It was meant for you, asshole. We knew Beth was in the ICU. Talbot figured you or one of your people would move her car—he wanted revenge."
"Who planted the charges?"
"I did with Danny. Again, you screwed us up. I had to put a bullet into the secondary switch. That was a helluva shot." Trip patted himself on the back.
