Stacey

  "Good." Iris looked at Toni and smiled. "We got her ass now."

  "We also cleared the platform," the sergeant said.

  "Good."

  On the platform, Iris saw a sea of blue uniforms. She smiled and nodded her head. She instructed the sergeant to post a body in front of every door. She told the conductor that on her signal she wanted him to open the left-hand side of the train. Five seconds later, the doors on the left-hand side of the conductor opened. The conductor made an announcement for everyone to remain calm.

  The left-hand side of the train was clear. No Stacey. Iris’ heart banged against her chest plate. She’s on the right side for sure. She gave the conductor the signal to open the right side. Iris and Toni walked the second half of the train the same way they did the first, looking at every single face. At one point, in the second search, Iris grabbed a teenage girl by the wrist, then she started rubbing the sides of the girl's cheek. She was looking for old duct tape marks or a gold and diamond bracelet.

  An angry man with a bald head stood up and demanded to know what was going on. He was told, by Iris, to shut the hell up and to sit the fuck back down. Iris’ erratic behavior unsettled everyone on the train. Her eyes were as large as saucers as she searched the faces of every passenger on the train. There were grumbles and angry looks as Iris and Toni made their way through the cars. At the last car, a middle-aged woman raised her hand. "Are you all lookin' for a teenage girl?”

  Iris almost ran into the pole trying to make her way over to the woman. "Yes, yes we are."

  The middle-aged woman pointed to a pile of clothes that were lying by the door. "She undressed right in front of everyone, and then she took out some clothes that she had in her backpack and she put those on."

  "How did she get off the train?" Iris asked.

  "She had a transit worker's key." Iris walked over to the door and slid it open. She peered down the dark tunnel and shouted, "I'll get you, Stacey! I'll get youuu!"

  Chapter 59

  OUTSIDE, THE DOWNPOUR had stopped, and the sun was fighting its way through the clouds. Iris had suggested to Toni that they should stop by the apartment building that Stacey had ran into. Iris’ face was twisted in a mask of anger when she stepped out of the cab and stared at the building. “Dammit!” she shouted. Iris and Toni entered the building, five minutes later they exited the building. Iris was carrying an official New York Knickerbockers breakaway warm-up suit. Toni held a full-length raincoat and rain cap in her hands. She searched the pockets of the raincoat.

  Inside one of the pockets, Toni removed a Ziploc bag. "Look at this." Iris snatched the Ziploc bag from out of Toni's hands.

  Toni frowned.

  Inside the bag were an assortment of fake mustaches, an array of different colored contact lenses, a curly brown hairpiece, and two bags of peanut M&M's. Iris looked at her partner.

  The detectives stopped by Ming's Chinese Restaurant. "When did you hire that delivery boy?" Iris shouted at Tina Ming as soon as she entered the restaurant. Iris’s anger was palpable.

  "What happened? Did he mess up your order?"

  "No, he didn't mess up our order," Iris said, mocking the young woman. "The damn food was poisoned! One of our comrades died," Iris said as she slammed her fist down onto the counter.

  "Whoa, Iris," Toni said. "We don't know if it was the food. Morrison could've died from something else—"

  "It was either the food or the duck sauce—"

  "No, it could not be the food, I cooked it myself."

  Iris glared at the confused looking woman. "Then it was the sauce.”

  "The food was not poison, I swear to God." Tina began to hyperventilate.

  Toni approached the woman. "Take it easy, Tina.” Tina’s complexion started to change. Toni ran behind the counter and returned with a brown paper bag. "Here, breathe into this." Toni grabbed Iris by the arm and pulled her away from Tina. "Iris, please, control your anger," she whispered. "You're scaring that poor girl to death." Iris looked over at Tina, who was crying while she breathed into the paper bag. "Let's just take it easy on her, o.k.?"

  Iris stared into Toni's eyes. "Damn Mother Teresa." Iris walked over to where Tina was sitting. "Look, I'm sorry for all that yelling. It's just that..." Iris squeezed the bridge of her nose and shook her head. Tina stared at the detective. "It could've been the duck sauce. Iris said.

  "Yeah, it could've been." Tina removed the bag from her face and walked into the kitchen. When she returned, she was carrying a large plastic bag full of duck sauce. "Here, the duck sauce that he used came from this bag."

  Iris took the bag. She removed a small packet of duck sauce, then she removed a small knife from her pocket and punched a hole in the plastic. "This stuff smells funny...here, smell this,” she said to Toni as she passed the packet over to her. Iris looked at Tina before she said, “Did your delivery guy work back here?”

  “Yes, I hired him the day before yesterday.”

  “Again, I apologize for my outburst."

  Toni patted Tina on the shoulder and told not to worry.

  Chapter 60

  WHEN IRIS AND TONI finally returned to the mobile command unit, Agent Cannon was not there. Iris slammed the door behind her.

  "We almost had her," Toni said as she made her way toward her desk. Both detectives were upset.

  "We fucked up, Toni." Iris threw a right cross, then a left. "Goddammit!" She began to pace up and down the command unit.

  Toni placed the Ziploc bag that she found in the pocket of Stacey's raincoat on top of her desk, she placed the bag of duck sauce on her desk also, then she sat her tired body down in her swivel chair. "I'll get that duck sauce test before the day is out." She sneezed and sniffled, then she removed two tissues from the Kleenex box that was on her desk and blew her nose.

  Iris kicked her swivel chair, then she rubbed her ear before she'd removed her hearing aid. She stared at it; frowning. It was because of Stacey McHill or was it her sister, Jannifer, that she had to wear the damn thing. One of them slapped her across the face with such force that Iris lost most of her hearing in her left ear.

  Iris’ head was pounding. She sat down, placed her elbows on top of her knees, and buried her face in her hands. "Fuck!" Iris shouted as she jumped out of her chair and began to pace again. "In the span of two weeks this...psychopath, this freakin’ teenage maniac has killed...what...forty-six people, not including that scumbag Billy Madison? Oh, I almost forgot about the two correction officers at Tanawan. That's what?” Iris asked as she stared at the ceiling and pretended to count on her fingers. "Forty-nine people in two weeks. We've got every agency in the freakin’ alphabet lookin' for this girl." Iris kicked her swivel chair again.

  "She's on a rampage," Toni said. “She had the audacity to pretend that she was one of us, working right under our noses, and now this brazen attempt to poison us."

  Iris placed her hands on Toni's desk, then without warning she slammed her fist on top of it.

  Toni noticed a trickle of blood sliding from her partner's right nostril. "Iris, your nose is bleeding, here." Toni handed Iris a Kleenex. "You're going to drive yourself insane, and sit down, please. You’re driving me crazy with all this pacing." Iris glared at Toni. She snatched the Kleenex from her hand. She looked over at Agent Greg Morrison's desk. "Oh, that's fifty people she's killed."

  Iris had to admit to herself that chasing Stacey McHill again was a freakin’ nightmare. The teenager's uncanny ability to change her appearance was absolutely mind-boggling. How do you catch somebody like that?

  "She's becoming too dependent on her disguises, Iris, she's bound to trip up soon," Toni said. Iris looked at Toni.

  "It's like she’s taunting us—" Just then, Agent Cannon walked into the mobile unit. Cannon didn't expect to see Iris and her partner back at the unit so soon; he pushed the bottle of E&J brandy deeper into his coat pocket. "What the fuck happened?" he shouted. "You didn't catch her?" Agent Cannon marched toward Iris. His long index finger pointed at
Iris’ face. "How in the hell could you have fucked that up?" He glanced at Toni. "You two super cops let her get away twice." Cannon moved closer to Iris, invading her personal space. "You were, what, five, ten seconds behind her when you two ran the hell out of here, and you let her get away, then you let her slip out of your hands at 138th Street," he shouted incredulously. "You fuckin' idiots!"

  Chapter 61

  IRIS WAS DISGUSTED with herself. If she hadn't fallen she would've caught the teenager. "All right, all right!" Iris shouted back. "She got away." Iris tried to walk away from Cannon, but he grabbed her by the arm, stopping her in her tracks.

  "Don't you fuckin' turn your back on me." Iris could smell the alcohol on Cannon's breath. "You stupid little, bitch!"

  At that moment everything began to move in slow motion for Iris; she could've counted the spittle that flew from Cannon's mouth, heading in her direction. Her whole body shook. Toni shot to her feet.

  But it was too late.

  With blinding speed, Iris had struck Cannon on the left side of his face with her elbow. Cannon's eyes rolled up into his head before his body slowly pitched toward. "Iris! What the hell...you knocked him out!" Toni shouted. Iris took a step backward in order to catch the FBI agent. She gently lowered his body to the floor. "You've done it now," Toni said as she stared at Cannon, then back at Iris.

  "He..." Iris stood up. "He was all in my face, Toni, what was I supposed to do?"

  Toni stared at her partner, then she shook her head. Iris glanced around the command unit, then she had a brilliant idea. She ran over to Toni's desk and picked up the Ziploc bag that Stacey had left at the building that she'd escaped from. She then proceeded to dump the contents on the floor, right next to Cannon's fallen body.

  "What are you doing?" Toni asked, dumbfounded.

  "Just watch and learn my dear girl, watch and learn." Iris looked down at the array of items: contact lenses, the bags of Peanut M&M's, the fake mustaches, and the brown hairpiece. She picked up the M&M's and the hairpiece and placed them on her desk. Afterward, she looked at Toni and winked. Iris then dropped to one knee and began tapping Cannon on the cheek. "Cannon, Agent Cannon, are you all right?" Iris tapped him on the cheek a couple more times. "Cannon!"

  Chapter 62

  THE FBI AGENT SLOWLY regained consciousness. He mumbled something.

  "Are you all right? Here, let me help you up." Iris grabbed the agent by the arm and pulled him to his feet; Toni helped.

  "I...eh..." Cannon stumbled as he tried to balance himself. "What the hell happened?"

  "Come on, Cannon," Iris said. "Have a seat." Agent Cannon sat down at Iris’ desk. He rubbed his jaw.

  "You passed the hell out, man. Scared the shit out of us. Are you sure you're o.k.?" Cannon’s eyes had a faraway look to them.

  "You just dropped, bam! Just like that.” Iris glanced at Toni. "The side of your face slammed into the desk as you fell..." Iris checked Cannon's face. There were no bruises, nor was there any blood. "...but you look o.k." Iris handed Cannon a bottle of E&J brandy. "This fell out of your pocket." Embarrassed, Cannon snatched the E&J from Iris’ hand. "Not enough solid food in your tank and the lack of sleep is a bad combination when you mix it with that stuff. You should take better care of yourself," Iris said as she stared at the man. She patted him on the back and said, "So what were you saying about the M&M's?"

  Cannon didn't know what Iris was talking about. "The M&M's...?"

  "You were saying something about tracking the serial numbers."

  Cannon shook the cobwebs from out of his head. "Yeah, we should definitely check the serial numbers."

  "O.k., we're on it." Iris turned toward Toni and winked again. Toni covered her mouth with both hands to keep the laughter from exploding from her throat as she ran toward the restroom. She didn't make it. The laughter ripped from her lips as she pulled open the door.

  "What the hell is her malfunction?” Cannon asked.

  "I've got to admit that when your face slammed into the desk..." Iris covered her mouth and lowered her head. Cannon glared at her. "Look, I'm gonna get started on checking the numbers on these M&M's. Like you said, we might get lucky and pinpoint the area where they sold," Iris said.

  Cannon blinked his eyes and rubbed his jaw.

  Toni walked out of the restroom.

  "O.k., you do that, Detective," Cannon said. He checked his watch. "I think I'm gonna call it a day."

  "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Iris said. “Cause you really look beat up."

  Laughter exploded from Toni’s mouth again as she ran back into the restroom.

  Chapter 63

  AFTER THEIR TOUR HAD ended, Iris had called her sister—who was still hiding out in Queens with Pam and the baby—to remind her to keep an eye on everything and to be wary of strangers.

  Iris and Toni had stopped by the hospital to visit Casper. The nurse on duty had warned the detectives that their friend was severely depressed after learning that he'd lost a testicle, and that he was frightened of anyone who entered his room.

  Iris and Toni walked into Casper's room. The big man had a strange look in his eyes, fear. Iris approached Casper's bed and immediately went into a conversation. "Remember when that girl got a look at your face and ran into the wall?" This was Iris’ way of letting Casper know that she was the real Iris. "Take it easy, big guy, it's me," she said as sat down on the edge of Casper's bed. Casper smiled at his friend. His amnesia was only temporary.

  "How are you doing, Casper?" Toni asked.

  The detectives talked for over an hour before they decided to leave. But before they did, Casper said, "She's the devil, Iris, and it's going to be hard to catch the devil."

  Iris was on the phone with a representative from the Mars Snack Food Corporation in Hackettstown, New Jersey—the distributors of M&M's. Iris wanted to know which store had received a shipment of peanut M&M's with the numbers: 313-CL-HKP-05? She was told that the shipment with that code number was sent to Jamaica, Queens four days ago. Unfortunately for Iris, the representative was not able to give her the exact location of the store.

  "There's thousands of stores in Jamaica, Queens, that sell Peanut M&M," Toni said. "How in the world are we—" Iris stared at Toni. "What?"

  "You're not using your detective senses, Toni. Where was the truck found, the one that Stacey stole after she killed the transit worker...in Jamaica, Queens...?" Iris removed her smartphone from her shirt pocket. "Let me show you something." She pulled up Google map. "The truck was found on the corner of Sutphin Boulevard and Liberty Avenue..." Iris spoke into her phone: "How many grocery stores are there in a three-square blocks radius of Sutphin boulevard and Liberty Avenue?" Iris’ smart phone told her that there were thirteen grocery stores in a three-block radius of Sutphin Boulevard and Liberty Avenue. "Voila! That narrows it down," Iris said with a smile.

  Twenty-five minutes later, Iris parked her Durango on Liberty Ave and Sutphin Blvd. She and Toni conducted their search on foot. They showed Stacey McHill’s photo to all the store owners, no one recognized the twin.

  The detectives stood under a Plexiglas at a bus shelter on Sutphin Blvd. "We're going to need more help with this, Iris, if we’re going to widen our search.” Iris leaned against the Plexiglas and rotated her left foot. She did not answer Toni because she was too busy staring at every face that walked by. "She's around here somewhere. I can feel it." The Q-8 bus pulled up next to the bus shelter. As the passengers stepped off the bus, Iris stared at every one of them.

  “Fuckin’ crazy ass lady," a female passenger mumbled.

  Iris looked at her partner.

  "Oh, hell no!" Toni barked. "I know darn well you're not thinking what I think you're thinking." Iris smiled.

  "You’re crazy, Iris. You want to go from door-to-door in the three-block radius, don't cha?'

  "It won't take long—"

  "Are you freakin' crazy, lady? No, no, no, tomorrow we'll get Cannon and some of his FBI buddies to conduct that kind of searc
h."

  Iris looked at her watch; it was 7:34 pm. "Yeah, I guess you're right.”

  At that same hour, Agent Cannon was sitting in a bar in Harlem. He’d worn the same clothes for the last two days, and soap and water hadn't touched his skin in that same amount of time. His eyes were bloodshot, and little pouches hung underneath them. Cannon paid for his last drink and stumbled out of the bar. The reason for his disheveled appearance: his boss had chewed him out again and threatened his career. Stacey McHill's escape was an embarrassment. The pressure was starting to get to Cannon. He wanted so desperately to apprehend the teenager. He'd promised the Deputy Director that this would be a piece of cake. Cannon shook his head at the words he'd used: "A fuckin' teenager, are you kiddin' me? A piece of cake." He sat inside his Hyundai and played with the catch on his holster as he mused...snap open...snap closed...snap open...snap closed...

  The next day when Iris and Toni entered the command unit, Cannon was already there. The toilet flushed, and Cannon stepped out of the restroom. He was patting his face with a paper towel. Iris had brought him up to speed concerning the Peanut M&M's. Toni snickered when she saw Cannon. The way that Iris had knocked him out and the clever way she cleaned it up was classic.

  "So, you've pinpointed the area," Cannon said as he rubbed his hands along his recently shaved face. "Where's your map?"

  "Here," Toni said. "I'll pull it up." In a couple of seconds, Toni had the area on her screen. "This is the area where we believe Stacey is living."

  "Yeah," Iris chimed in. "She's definitely in this area. I want you to get some of your FBI buddies together. We should do a door-to-door search of that entire area."

  "Good idea, Williams. I'll make the call right now," Cannon stared at Iris.

  "What?" she asked. At that moment her desk phone went off. "Double 0 command unit three, Williams here."

  "I think that girl you're lookin' for is living in my basement."

  “What? Who is this?" Iris motioned to Toni to get a pen and paper.