Key West Gone into the Night

by Elizabeth Hilleren

  It was like a splash of cold water in Harris’ face. He closed his eyes then opened them.

  “I gotta find out about Stephie.” He turned and left.

  Amy and Sharkey both thought the same thought. “He’s back in police mode.”

  “I’ll see if I can get the doctor to talk to him.” Amy moved quickly down the hall, passing Harris who was leaning against the wall outside her cubicle in emergency.

  She went in and asked the doctor to see Harris. “That’s his ex-wife.”

  The doctor rattled off a series of orders, then turned and walked towards Harris.

  “Mr. Harris, I understand that you are Mrs. William’s ex-husband.”

  “Yeah, I’m all she’s got now.”

  “We have an operating room getting ready. The bullet appears to have done damage to her internal organs. I must warn you, she may not make it. She’s awake but groggy. You can see her for a few minutes.”

  “Thanks.” Harris followed the doctor back into the cubicle.

  Harris went to her side, took her hand, and leaned down. “Stephie?”

  “Burt…I’m sorry.”

  “Hey, none of that ya hear? You need to keep all your strength for getting better. I’m right here and I’m not goin’ anywhere. I’ll take care of you. You concentrate on coming back to me.”

  “I’ll try…”

  “Don’t try. Do it, Baby.”

  “We have to get her to surgery,” said the O.R. nurse.

  “Okay.” Harris turned and headed for the waiting room upstairs.

  Sharkey checked with the charge nurse and was told that Mr. Polly was in room 232A and could have visitors.

  Sharkey showed his badge to the officer outside the room. “I need to talk to him.” The guard smiled and nodded. Sharkey tapped on the partially closed door.

  “Yeah.”

  “Mr. Polly, I’m Detective David Sharkey.”

  “What do you want? You get that bitch that shot Rita? She dead?”

  “Fortunately for you, no. You’re looking at the death penalty if she dies. In the meantime,” Sharkey said, “you’re under arrest for the attempted murder of Stephanie Williams.” Sharkey then read him his Miranda rights. “You understand your rights as I have read them to you?”

  “Yeah. She killed my Rita. Now what am I gonna do?”

  “Stop answering personal ads?”

  “That first guy was a joke…giving us half the money. I want a lawyer. Now.”

  “I bet you do. You can use that phone on the table next to you.”

  “I don’t know a lawyer.”

  “Then the court will appoint one for you.”

  “I want that.”

  “I’ll arrange it.”

  “I ain’t saying nothing more.”

  “As you wish.” Sharkey turned and walked out.

  “Keep a good eye on him. In fact, you should cuff him to the bed. Be in the room if anyone goes in.”

  “Will do. Take care, Detective. It’s going to be a long night.”

  “That’s for sure.”

  Jenny was waiting for him in the main lobby.

  “How is she?”

  “She’s going into surgery. Hard to tell yet. Could be a coin toss.”

  Amy came over to where they were standing. “Harris is pretty down.”

  “I’ll go talk to him. You might as well get some sleep, Jenny. Tomorrow will be a busy day,” Sharkey said.

  “Okay, thanks.”

  Harris was sitting in a lounge chair, rocking.

  “Harris, how are you holding up?”

  “This doesn’t make any sense. Those two Neanderthals are not Hispanic.”

  “No.” Sharkey looked at Harris.

  “I need to talk to the kid. It doesn’t make sense. How could they be related to Vasquez? Javier said Vasquez always uses his own people.”

  “Well, you have a point there. Why don’t you go to the holding room here and call him?”

  “Okay. Thanks. I’ll be back.”

  Sharkey poured himself a coffee and bought a candy bar. He sat down in a chair and tried to think.

  Harris pulled Javier’s number from his wallet and called from the hospital phone.

  Javier answered like he was fast asleep.

  “Hola.”

  “Javier it’s Harris. We have an emergency and I need you to wake up and tell me what I need to know.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Does Vasquez have any Americans working for him here in Key West?”

  “I don’t think so. He only has clients, but they are representing his business contacts.”

  “You ever heard the name Polly? Rita and Kirk Polly.”

  “No. He has his people that travel with him, all Hispanic. He’s not a trusting man.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  “Is everything, all right?”

  “No. But this doesn’t involve you. Get some sleep. I’ll be in touch.”

  “All right. Be careful.”

  “I will. You, too.”

  Harris went back to Sharkey and sat down close to him. He spoke in a low voice. “He says that Vasquez doesn’t employ Americans. He brings his people with him.”

  “So, maybe the Pollys were working it alone. They may have a friend at the motel who just happened to have seen the kids being taken.”

  “It’s a long shot, but I bet I can get it out of Polly,” Harris said, his eyes bright.

  “I’ll do it,” Sharkey said. “You need to take care of yourself and let me handle it. You need to keep Stephanie going.”

  “You’re right. I got bigger fish to fry.”

  “Right. Hang in there. I need to get the report written up and submitted.”

  * * *

  Sharkey finished typing up the report on the shootings and for some reason, his stomach was rejecting the thought of another cup of coffee. He went down to the lounge and drank down a small carton of milk and headed for the back door.

  What a day, he thought, everything is wrong. Harris is right. The Pollys must have been working alone. There’s a connection there…but what? How did they know about the abduction of the kids? I’ll have to do a background check.

  He pulled his car into the garage and headed for the house. Camie had left the light on in the kitchen. He smiled. There was a note on the refrigerator letting him know that there was roast beef and gravy inside. He reached in and took a beer out along with the food. Suddenly food looked good. He made himself a hot open face sandwich.

  He sat at the newspaper while he ate, trying to clear his mind. Then Camie’s arms wrapped around his shoulders. “Hey,” she said softly, over his shoulder.

  “Hi, my sweet. Long day, bad night.”

  She slid into the chair next to him. “You said you’d be late.”

  “I know. We had a shooting. One of the victims was Harris’s ex-wife. She’s in the hospital, not in good shape.”

  “Oh no. I can’t imagine how he’s coping with such loss.”

  “He’s on the edge, but I watched him shift into cop mode.”

  “It’s got to be so hard for him.”

  “She was in surgery when I left. Doc said going in that it was not looking good.”

  “Finish eating and come to bed and get some sleep before tomorrow.” She put the dishes in the sink and took his hand. “Just sleep. I’ll make sure you’re up by seven.”

  “Thanks, I don’t know what I would do without you.”

  Saturday Morning

  Sharkey set Jenny on the background search of the Pollys as soon as she came in. “I need personal information on them. Where do they work, who do they work with? We’re looking for anyone related to Rita and Kirk Polly.”

  “I’m on it,” she said. “You get some rest?”

  “A few hours. Enough that at least I can handle coffee again.”

  Jenny looked at Sharkey. “I’ll put a rush on this.”

  “I needed it yesterday…”

  Sharkey called Harris’
cell.

  “How’s it going?”

  “Rough. She’s in ICU and resting…doesn’t look good.”

  “Okay. You hang in there.”

  “Yeah. I got Amy.”

  “Call if there’s any change.”

  “Will do.”

  Sharkey called Sloan to see how Alex and Cynthia were doing.

  “Hi, Sharkey. Dad and Cynthia are much better this morning. I saw Harris. Can I do anything?”

  “No. He just has to hang in there. Amy’s with him.”

  “I’ll be by later and make sure he has food and support.”

  “Good idea. I’m up to my eyebrows.”

  “I’ll keep in touch,” Sloan said.

  Frank Demonte was next on Sharkey’s list.

  “Frank, you get the bullet out of Rita Polly?”

  “I sent it to ballistics and a report to you. Bad night,” Frank said. “How is Mrs. Williams?”

  “Touch and go.”

  “Damn. Okay, later,” Frank said. “Oh, I’ll be finished with the autopsy and send you the report. Toxicology should come through any time now.”

  Sharkey looked up the address for the Pollys and wrote a search warrant request then took it to his favorite Judge.

  He then drove over to the small house that was their residence. Their street was much like an alley with small houses facing the narrow road. The frontyards were gravel parking spaces. He parked a few houses down and walked back. There was a Volkswagen parked on the street in front of the house.

  He knocked on the door and a young woman opened the door, looked at him and asked, “Who are you?”

  “I’m Detective David Sharkey. I have a search warrant for this house.”

  “My parents aren’t here. They didn’t come home last night.”

  Sharkey figured the girl to be not much more than twenty.

  “I work nights, so I don’t where they are.”

  Sharkey asked to come in.

  “Your name is?”

  “Cindy Polly. You can wait for them if you like.”

  “I don’t need to. I know where they are. I’m afraid that your parents are at the hospital.”

  “What?”

  “It’s serious. Your dad is not badly hurt. I’ll take you to him.”

  “What about my mom?”

  “She didn’t make it. I’m sorry.”

  She sunk down into a chair and started to cry. “No. no. no…how did this happen?”

  Sharkey offered her a hand and walked her out to the car after locking the door. “Let’s go see your dad. Is that your car?”

  “Yes.”

  He gave her his handkerchief and helped her into the car. “I know this is very hard for you.”

  She nodded and dried her eyes. “Thanks for the ride. Dad will be there for me.”

  Sharkey nodded.

  Sharkey guided her to the room where her father was watching the morning news. She flew into his arms and Sharkey backed out and called for Human Services to come and help Cindy Polly with arrangements.

  He stopped by the waiting room and checked on Harris.

  “It’s just waiting now. Not looking good,” Harris said.

  “I’m so sorry, Harris.”

  “Yeah, me too. I just didn’t know where she was…I shouldn’t have let her leave my house that night.”

  “In the frame of mind she must have been in, I doubt if you could have stopped her without getting an assault charge.”

  “Yeah, she was always headstrong…always.”

  “I have a lead to follow up. I’ll check back later. You stay strong.”

  “Will do,” Harris said, then sat back down and rested his head in his hands.

  Sharkey’s cell sounded.

  “Sharkey, it’s Jenny. Cindy Polly works at the Sands Inn Motel.”

  “Yeah, I just brought her to the hospital to be with her dad. He’s under arrest. I have a warrant to search his house. If you want to join me, we can do it together.”

  “I’ll head over now. I have the address. See you there.”

  * * *

  The charge nurse came to the waiting room door.

  “Mr. Harris, Mrs. Williams is asking for you and Amy. She came through the surgery and it appears the bleeding is stopped. The next twelve to twenty-four hours will be critical to her recovery.”

  Amy and Burt walked hand in hand into her room. A tangle of wires and tubes surrounded Stephanie. Her eyes opened and she turned her head to look at them.

  “I…” she spoke softly, and Harris moved closer to the bed. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I have long...”

  Harris picked up her hand and held it.

  “I’m glad you have Amy. Be happy and find your boys and love them and they will grow up to be good men like you.”

  “You’re not going anywhere. You’ve got to be here for them too. You’re a fighter. Fight to see those boys again.”

  “Don’t let that man get away with our boys…”

  “I won’t. I’ll take care of them. You need to rest. We’ll stay here with you.”

  Amy took her other hand. “Together.”

  “Together…” she said softy. She closed her eyes and seemed to fall asleep.

  The heart monitor was keeping a steady beat. Her blood pressure was low but that was to be expected, Amy thought. She has a chance. Nothing like a little drama.

  “Burt, honey, she’s sleeping and her monitor is steady. Let’s go get some food. You need to keep your strength up and she needs to rest.”

  “Okay. So, she isn’t on her way out?”

  “The more rest she gets the better,” Amy said.

  “I thought she was a goner. You think she meant what she said?”

  “I believe she knew what she was saying. You need to eat.”

  * * *

  Sharkey and Jenny met at the Polly house. Sharkey used the key that the daughter had given him to enter the house.

  “Nice little house,” Jenny said as they entered a small but very tidy living room.

  “Yeah, must be the daughter. Oops, could that be misinterpreted as judgmental?”

  Jenny laughed. “Yeah. You think the charges of attempted murder of Stephanie Williams will hold up?”

  “Yes, we had him dead to rights, gun in his hand. The second murder charge is depending on how tightly we can link the syringe to Rita. Alex’s testimony will help. We need to keep Alex alive. I’ll take the parents’ bedroom and you do the living room and the girl’s room. We need to be thorough. Check those vents and closets.”

  “Got you,” Jenny said.

  Sharkey went over the bedroom, finding brochures for a Caribbean Cruise, and places to stay in Mexico, on the bedside table. He checked the dresser and the closet, going though shoe boxes and a few boxes of off-season clothes. He checked the floor heat registers and behind the pictures on the wall looking for a safe.

  Jenny called to him from the daughter’s room. “There’s a cut-out in the carpet in the girl’s room under some storage boxes.”

  Jenny recorded each step of the process of getting into whatever was below it. He pulled the carpet square up and saw a matching floor cut out. He took out his knife and slid it under the crevice and lifted the edge, then shown a light down on it. There was a shoe box. Opening the box, they found five thousand dollars in cash.

  “Got it,” Sharkey said. “Another nail for the coffin. You had the eagle eye today. This is great.”

  She grinned. “By the way, I almost forgot. I found the timesheet for the daughter at the Sands Inn Motel. Her timecard showed that she was working that night at the front desk.”

  “I’ll question her further this afternoon. She was pretty broken up over the death of her mother.”

  “Human Services is keeping an eye on her and helping with the necessary paperwork for her mother. Karen said she’d stay with her until we find out what she knows.”

  “Good. I’ll check with Karen and see if she is composed enough to talk. Let’s get this
box to evidence.”

  “See you back at the station. You want me to talk to the daughter?”

  Sharkey smiled. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll be around after I take the evidence in. See you at the station. I’ll bring lunch this time.”

  “How about burgers and shakes?”

  “You got it,” Sharkey said, giving her a salute. She saluted back.

  * * *

  Sharkey was driving to the station when Harris called.

  “Stephanie okay?”

  “Yeah, she is. The nurse says she’s stable but very weak. The next twelve hours will tell. No telling yet if she’s going to make it. I called because our kid wanted to talk to you.”

  “Oh yeah? He wants to help? I’ll find a meeting place and call him,” Sharkey said.

  “Keep me in the loop.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Sharkey called the number that Harris had supplied.

  “Hola,” Javier said.

  “This is Harris’s partner, Detective Sharkey.”

  “Thanks for calling. Did Harris tell you what I want?”

  “Yes. Is there a safe place?”

  “Yes, cross the bridge and go a mile. You will see a sand colored house with a mini-van in the driveway. It’s a new rental. No one has seen it.”

  “Good. When?”

  “Now, or as soon as possible.”

  “I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”

  Sharkey called Jenny. “Take the interview of Cindy Polly. I’m following up a lead and will be off the radar for a few hours.”

  “No problem.”

  He called dispatch and said he would be off the radio and phone for up to two hours. Sharkey followed the instructions and easily found the house. A tall, young man answered the door.

  “Detective Sharkey?”

  “Yes. Good to meet you, Javier.”

  “Come and sit please.” Sharkey sat down in the chair across from Javier.

  “I asked to see you after reading about the shooting last night.”

  “You think that Vasquez is behind it?”

  “No. Vasquez would have nothing to do with a shooting like that. He didn’t kill Susan or Carl. I’m sure of that. He isn’t going to do anything that will bring attention to what he’s doing.”