“I saw her go in there, damn it.”
“Which way did she really go?”
“I told you.”
“What happened? You figure it ain’t healthy tangling with a brain case? Figure she might do you like she done them?”
“I tell you, I—”
“You’ve pulled this shit before, Kraus. Accidentally losing suspects.”
Kraus backed away, shaking his head.
“This time the sergeant’s gonna hear about it.”
“For Christsake, Jase…”
“Yeah, for Christsake,” he said, mimicking Kraus’s whine. “That babe killed two people, looks like. Snatched a kid, maybe killed it too. And she’s gonna be walking free and easy because you haven’t got an ounce of balls in your bag. Now you tell me which way she went, man, or your name’s going down engraved in shit. You hear?”
“Jase, you don’t under…” His face twisted. “I saw her, Jase. Saw her up close. I chased her okay. I saw her go over the fence. She… she had to use both hands on the fence, and she had the baby, so she bit into one of its arms and carried it in her mouth. Christ, man, it was like a dog carrying a bone. The kid didn’t… didn’t cry or nothing. I’m sure it’s dead, Jase, or it would’ve—”
“Get on with it.”
“See, I went after the gal and went over the fence… she was standing right there. Like she’s been waiting for me. Close to me as you are.”
“And you let her get away.”
“Jase, it’s not a her. It’s an it. I don’t know… maybe it was a woman once. Not anymore.”
“Just what have you been sniffing, man?”
“It hasn’t got eyes, Jase. Just a couple of holes. And its skin isn’t like skin… parts of it are smooth and like… I don’t know… like shoe leather. Other parts are all dark and shriveled and hard. ‘Cause I touched it. See, I didn’t know what the hell was going on, maybe it’s a guy in a mask or something. So I told it to put down the baby and turn around… I was gonna cuff it, see? But it just stood there, like it was watching me, daring me to go for it. And the head’s just like a skull, only there’s all this shiny red hair still stuck to it… the hair even moved like it was… I don’t know… just weird. Completely weird…”
“Then what?”
“Then I took out my cuffs and grabbed one of its hands. I never felt nothing like it. Like a dried-up old corpse, you know? Then the thing… it opened up its mouth and I saw all these teeth and I… I just backed off. I just backed off, Jase. You would’ve too. The thing’s not human, Jase. Or if it is, it’s been dead a long time, like years and years. I think it’s that mummy, the one that disappeared from the museum.”
“Bullshit. Which way did it go?”
“You going after it?”
“Fucking right.”
“Don’t, Jase. I’m telling you, it’s a goddamn mummy.”
“It’s a perpetrator, asshole.”
“Okay, okay. Fine. A perpetrator. Good luck. It went that way.” He pointed south down the alley. “I’ll go to the car, call in for backup.”
“You do that.”
Brown started down the alley at a trot, eyes searching. No sign of it ahead. It? Her! Kraus was out of his fucking mind. Seen too many horror shows. Either that, or he made up all that shit to get himself off the hook.
Only thing, the asshole hadn’t got enough imagination to invent stuff like that.
The gal did look pretty weird, what he saw of her in the house.
At the end of the alley, he slowed down and scanned the cross street, the shadows of trees along it, the lawns and houses.
That thing—that gal—could be anywhere.
Hiding in the shadows.
Waiting.
Then he noticed the street sign to his left. He ran closer to make sure.
The sign read, “Maple.”
Holy shit! Some bad action had gone down on Maple while they were in the Burger Palace. He didn’t know what. They got this call to see the woman on Ash as soon as they returned to their unit and checked in. Dispatcher was sending all kinds of units over to Maple, though. Sounded like a massacre.
Brown rushed across the street and entered the alley. Ahead of him, nothing seemed to move. He might as well keep going, though. This was the last block before the field. If it—she—headed that way, headed into the field, she might be easier to spot. Long as she didn’t hide in the bushes or something.
He walked swiftly, looking into the darkness of the carports, of gaps between garages, of shrubbery along fenced backyards. He was halfway down the alley when a gate swung open. He whirled around.
A dark, gawky figure. Something in its arms. A pale bundle? Or maybe…
His hand jumped for his pistol, drew it, aimed. Drew the hammer back with his thumb.
“Freeze, mother!”
“Don’t you mother me, nigger.”
A black woman. In a dark nightie. And the object in her arms was no baby, just a plastic bag.
Brown holstered his pistol. “I’m sorry, ma’am.”
“Lady can’t take out her junk, she don’t get jumped by a jive cop.”
“Here, let me get that.” He took the bag from her.
“Why, thank you.” Her voice sang with sarcasm. “What you doing out here in the middle of the night, if I might inquire?”
“Police business.”
“I didn’t think it was doggy business. But something sure smell not so sweet ‘round here… like onions. Or a deli that should be requiring some spring cleaning.”
Smiling politely, he dropped the sack of garbage into the can and shut the lid. “I’m not aiming to alarm you, ma’am, but there’s a murder suspect in the area.”
“It ain’t me, so I’ll haul my pretty tail right on out of here, thank you very much.” She spun away.
He watched her pass through the gate, and didn’t like the feel of being alone again. No one to watch his back. Now that’s not a good situation to be in for a cop.
He continued down the alley.
He was near its end when he noticed the pale shape on top of a garbage can. He squinted, trying to make out its features. Looked like a kid. A baby. Sitting naked on the lid of the can, arms hanging at its sides, legs straight out, head drooping.
Brown shook his head, grinning with relief.
Just an old, plastic doll someone was tossing out.
Hell, Reba might like a doll like this if it was in good condition. No point in letting it go to waste.
As he reached for it, he saw its light, wispy hair stir in the breeze.
“Oh, Jesus,” he muttered. “Oh, Jesus Christ!”
He drew back his hand quickly before touching it.
“Jesus.”
He staggered forward as a sudden weight struck his back. Pain lanced his head. He fell against the garbage can, toppling the baby. It tumbled. Its skull made a hollow cracking sound on the concrete apron of the garage.
Brown went down on top of it.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
It was going to be another of those nights. Loneliness worked at her bones. It became an ache inside of her that could no longer be endured. April Vallsarra turned on the bed, twisting the sheet in her hands.
Yes, there were tricks she used to while away the often-sleepless nights. But they were only tricks. Made her feel cheap. Ate at her self-worth.
She’d wake in the morning and rush to the shower, where she’d try and scrub away the sense of shame.
Never quite scrubbed herself clean of those particular memories. No matter how hard she worked with the soap.
Now here it was again. The hallway clock downstairs chimed away the early hours. April was lying wide awake in that desolate, lonesome place between late night and early morning. Those seemingly endless hours when the rest of the world slept soundly and she, April Vallsarra, lay wide awake and craving.
She craved companionship. A friendly voice. Sometimes she could hug a pillow and make believe that she hugged a lover.
Didn�
�t work tonight.
She shifted position in bed endlessly, trying to get comfortable. No result. The bed was hard right now. Even when she could lie still for more than a moment, she sensed that silence pressing down on her. Sensed too loneliness haunting the house.
Being blind was no bar to moving around the house at night in the dark. She did this now, walking from room to room, her negligee flowing. Even though she could not see them, she knew her father’s gold and platinum disks hung in their frames in the room of his den. She couldn’t bear to be in the room. She caught the faint scent of him there. It brought back too many painful memories.
Retreated to the kitchen. It seemed vast, an echoing, desolate place.
Moments later she found herself climbing the stairs. Blind from birth, she moved with confidence, never missing a step or blundering against the stair rail. She climbed quickly to the roof terrace.
The stars there would burn brightly above her. For a while she’d imagine what stars would look like, having never seen them. But she’d heard they were magical lights in the sky.
Wish upon a star.
She’d heard that phrase before.
She stood in the warm night hair. A gentle breath of wind tugged at her negligee. Air whispered around her naked calves. The floor tiles were cool beneath her feet. That coolness felt nice. What if I were to slip out of my negligee and lay on the floor? That cool hardness would press along the length of my body. It would feel wonderful.
The breeze came again. She heard the rustling of trees out in the canyon. They were whispering busily.
“What have you heard?” She found herself asking them. “What’s going to happen tonight?”
Angry, she clenched her fists.
Now that was the curse of loneliness.
Lonely people talked to themselves. They talked to pets. They talked to their TV. They even talked to the trees.
But who is there to talk to? I’m a blind girl. I live alone. I have no friends.
So what else is there for me to do?
“You could wish upon a star.”
She felt the grim smile on her face as soon as she made the flippant remark. Yes, she could. It wouldn’t do any harm. Wouldn’t do any good either. Nothing she did made any difference to her life.
Once, when she couldn’t make anything good happen, she decided she must make something bad happen. Anything to break the monotony. She’s pulled a knife from the block in the kitchen and cut her finger. Cut so deep she heard the blade scrape across bone.
So she had a choice now. Cut her body again.
Or wish upon a star.
She moved forward to the wall that ran around the roof terrace and looked up. Tried to feel the starlight falling on her face.
There was cool air, nothing else.
The stars would be up there, though. For a moment she allowed herself to believe in the fairy tale.
Wish upon a star. Then dreams will come true.
“I wish… I wish someone would come tonight. Someone who will change my life forever.”
The breeze blew harder. Trees rustled, branches creaked. The air moving down the canyon gave such a moan that she looked around startled. The moan sounded human.
No sooner had she composed herself than she experienced a moment of certainty.
Someone will come tonight. They will change my life.
The force of the premonition caught her by surprise.
Yes.
Someone would come.
When they did come nothing would ever be the same again.
“Please,” she whispered to the breeze. “Come soon.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
They only come out at night.
That’s what Grace told herself as visitors to their pickup in the parking lot became a stream.
First had been the German hooker that tapped on the window.
From a hundred yards away she looked great. Slim body. Long legs. Big, blond hair. Short skirt.
Close up.
Yeahhh-uckkk.
She looked as if she’d been pulled from a coffin.
Her teeth were as yellow as the whites of her eyes. She’d tried to cover blistering cold sores on her lips with lip-gloss that was a ghastly pink. Her throat wrinkled as a scrotum.
“You vonna do some business?”
“Pardon?” Cody had said.
“Vont business?”
“I don’t think—”
“Mebbe a threesome with your girlfriend there. We can make with the suckling pig, ya?”
“I’m sorry… no, we’re just staying here overnight.”
“Sleeping here in der lot?”
“Yes.”
“Good luck, honey.” She gave a dismissive shake of her head. “You’re gonna need it.”
Then she walked away, swaying her hips. The backs of her legs were a mass of bruises.
Next up, a laid-back Mexican.
“Okay, bro.” He pulled on a cigarette. “What’s it to be? Smoke, blow, or mainline.”
“We don’t want anything, thanks.” Again Cody, always the polite one. Never to cause offence.
“Suit yourself, buddy.” The Mexican shrugged. “Enjoy the view.”
As the time came up to one A.M., the people came and went. Hookers, rent boys, drug dealers.
This was Vices-R-Us.
“We’re never gonna get any sleep here,” Pix complained.
“It’ll quiet down soon,” Cody said. “Once they realize we don’t want anything from them.”
“For once I’m going to have to agree with Pix.” Grace nodded through the window to where two tall black women walked toward them with a six-year-old child in stilettos. “We’re not going to get any rest tonight.”
The child turned out to be a dwarf. Age probably around forty, dressed in black spandex, hair in pigtails. The three turned aggressive when they realized they weren’t going to be hired to turn some tricks.
The dwarf kicked the pickup door.
“This some kinda peep show?”
“Yeah, you got cameras? Is this TV?” The one in the Carma Miranda fruit hat was clearly a man; stubble bristled through face powder. “If we’re gonna be on TV, we want five hundred bucks a piece.”
“We’re not a TV crew. We only want to—”
“Come out here and I’ll scratch your eyes out, mister.”
“That pussycat next to you too.”
The dwarf sneered. “These people from the ‘burbs, they drive up here and watch people like us. Then they grope each other and get all horny.”
“Yeah,” said the she-male. “If you do that, we should get paid.”
“Sex ain’t free ‘round here, y’know.”
Cody held out his hands, placating. “We’re just spending the night here. We’ve got nowhere to stay.”
The dwarf looked at them shrewdly. “I know a place. Got entertainment too, if you know what I mean?”
“Here’s fine,” Grace said.
“Here’s not fine,” Pix muttered from the back.
The dwarf looked them over. “Hundred bucks a night. You three can watch while we—”
Grace said, “Please, we just want to sleep.”
“Sleep here ain’t cheap either.” The transvestite curled a crimson lip.
“Yeah,” the dwarf said. “Hand over twenty bucks and we’ll leave you to get all warm and snuggled up. How’s that sound?”
Cody held out his hands through the car window, a gesture of helplessness. “We don’t have any money. We can’t—hey… hey! My watch!”
“Cody. Cody! Stay in the truck. No… don’t follow them.”
“But they… shoot.”
“Great, oh, great,” Pix sang out. “You let a midget and two guys dressed as girls steal your watch.”
“They just grabbed it, I—”
“What’s for an encore, Cody, you big lummox, you gonna let someone steal your pants too?”
Grace turned on her sister. “Just shut up, can’t you?”
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“Why should I shut up? We’re thousands of miles from home. We’re out on the streets. We’re broke. Would anyone shut up when they’re up to their ears in this kind of crap?”
“It’s only temporary, Pix.” Cody tried to keep his cool.
“Temporary my butt.”
“I’ll find work tomorrow as an extra,” Grace said. “They pay by the day.”
“I’ll find work,” Pix mimicked. “The only work we’re gonna find is the same as these people coming up to the truck.”
Grace fumed. “Pix, stop causing trouble. Lie down… go to sleep.”
“Fat chance.”
“Try.”
“Yeah?”
“Please try, Pix.”
“I don’t see it myself.”
“Why not?”
“We’ve got more visitors.”
Cody sighed. “Oh, shoot.”
Two men walked up. One black, one white. Both big. Big as pro wrestlers. They wore T-shirts with the sleeves cut off to reveal their bulging biceps. Even though it was the middle of the night and dark, they wore sunglasses.
Pix slid down in the backseat. Just before she covered herself with the sleeping bag, she murmured. “These don’t look friendly.”
“Shhh,” Grace hissed.
“Betcha they’ve got guns. Betcha they start shooting at us.”
“For crying out loud, Pix,” Cody whispered.
“Just keep quiet, Pix. Please.” Grace turned to see the two men come up to the side window.
Just like the cop earlier, they made the turning motion with their fingers.
Wind your window down.
No way. Grace didn’t like the look of these men at all.
Muggers?
Rapists?
Or maybe they just shoot people for fun.
They made the turning motion again. Grace saw the chunky gold rings on their fingers.
“Best wind the window down,” Cody said.
“Cody? No.”
“Just a little,” he said. “If they have got guns, the glass isn’t going to stop any bullets.”
“Oh, Jesus, Cody.” A sob caught in the back of her throat.
This pair oozed pure menace.
She opened the window a crack. One of the men leaned closer until his lips almost touched the glass.
The man slipped his sunglasses down so his penetrating eyes could lock on to Grace’s.
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