Across from Stone was a young woman, tall, young and well dressed. She was wearing sunglasses and she was maybe twenty-three or twenty-five, no more, thought Stone. Mrs. Randall saw Stone looking at the young woman and she leaned across to talk to him.
‘That’s Jennifer Madison,’ she whispered. ‘Guy’s personal assistant, she was so upset to hear how he died. She had a roommate, Rachel, I think that was her name, I never saw her but I was half expecting to see her, to support her I guess.’
Stone’s mind was spiraling at the mention of her name. No, there’s no way she’d be here, he thought, and he couldn’t possibly tell Mrs. Randall why, or anything else about her for that matter.
Everyone was now assembled around the grave, the Priest was standing in silence and their attention was caught by the arrival of the hearse. The vehicle was moving slowly and reverentially down the hill towards the graveside and came to a stop at the head of the line. The head pall bearer alighted from the car and put on his hat followed by the six pallbearers who did the same and moved to the back of the vehicle. They carefully, one hand at a time, removed the coffin until it was being held at waist height by the three bearers on each side. There was an inaudible instruction from the headman and in unison the bearers lifted the coffin until it was at shoulder level. There was another signal and with a deft turn of their feet the bearers placed a shoulder swiftly but firmly under the coffin. So still and level remained the coffin, that the wreaths of flowers and floral tributes laid on top, didn’t move an inch. Upon the final signal the pallbearers commenced walking the short distance across the manicured lawns to the grave.
Not one of the mourners assembled made a murmur, they watched in silence and respect for the deceased and for Mrs. Randall. Again, with military precision and care the bearers lowered the coffin onto the straps connected to the brass supports. They stood upright to attention, bowed their heads and withdrew to the hearse. Their job was complete.
Priest Michael O’Hanlon opened his bible and began the Canticle of Luke 1:68-79
Réquiem æternam dona ei, Dómine. (Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.)…
Stone could see Mrs. Randall dabbing a tissue to the corner of her eyes and her sisters stood either side of her, supporting her, locking their arms around hers. The weather, although a cool December day, had been kind, the sky was blue and there was very little wind. A crisp dry day was the best they could hope for at the onset of a New York winter and Stone was looking around admiring the scenery, such as it was with skeletal trees and naked borders, when the sight of a black 90’s series Lincoln Town car appeared over the brow of the hill.
Stone leaned over to Mrs. Randall and quietly asked, ‘Are you expecting anyone else today?’
‘No, I don’t recognize the car,’ she said.
Stone turned to look back at Mac, he’d already seen the car and he was opening up his Nikon camera, which he seldom went anywhere without. He stepped back a pace or two so he was shielded by the maple tree.
‘Look,’ said Rachel. ‘They’re all there around the grave. I can see him.’
‘See who? As if I didn’t know.’ Shadow nudged Chang’s arm but said nothing. He didn’t need to. Chang had already spotted their pray. He continued a little further, a little closer to where the mourners were stood, until he could see the person clearly. He lowered his side window down, just a few inches. That was all he needed.
Mac began to follow the car as it advanced, through the lens of the Nikon, he had a zoom attachment and was adjusting the focus when he saw the driver’s window lower down. He became a little concerned, ‘Brad?’
‘Yeah, I see it,’ he replied.
With one eye on the service and one eye trained on the car approaching silently down the hill, Stone stayed still so as not to alarm Mrs. Randall or the other mourners. He and Mac were now on full alert.
The car grew closer and closer and was now no more than thirty yards from the gathering.
‘You see him?’ asked Shadow.
‘Yes boss.’
‘See who?’ asked Rachel.
‘No one, sit back girl,’ ordered Shadow.
Mac, from the cover of the tree, flashed away taking numerous pictures of the car. He could not make out anyone inside, the dark windows and interior made it impossible, even on a bright day. As he looked through the viewfinder he thought he saw something poking out from the gap above the glass. It was only a millisecond before he realized exactly what it was and took his head away to shout. ‘B-r-a-d.’
Rachel couldn’t believe her eyes; she saw the barrel of Chang’s gun at the same time and looked across to the obvious target. She was almost too shocked to speak and simultaneously shouted out to Shadow and reached forward towards Chang’s arm, ‘S-h-a-d-o-w, what’s he d-o-i-n-g?
The shot rang out at the very second she reached and pushed his arm.
Stone was hit. He had had no time to take cover, it had been too far way for him to make out the gun, he simply reacted to Mac’s warning shout. It all happened so quickly and the shot took him by surprise. He fell to his knees grabbing his left arm.
Everyone, including the Priest, ducked to the floor in shock at the sound of gunfire and Finch instinctively drew his gun and crouched down taking aim at the car.
Chang floored the Lincoln and Shadow yelled, ‘Let’s get out of here, fast.’ He turned to Rachel and scolded her, she was fuming, angry that Shadow could do such a thing, she had only intended for them to check out the scene. Before Shadow could say anything she let loose at him. ‘Why the hell did he try to shoot Stone?’ Initially, Shadow was quiet.
Mac scurried around the other side of the tree to catch the car as it sped away trying to get a shot of the number plate. After it had disappeared from view he turned back towards Stone to see how he was.
Jennifer had bravely run around to help Stone and knelt down beside him to see what she could do. Bloom brought a chair over for Stone to sit on.
‘Hey, keep still,’ said Jennifer. She could see blood seeping through his jacket sleeve and the tear where the bullet had entered and feared the worst.
‘I’m okay, I’m okay, thanks, ouch,’ said Stone. By now Mac was crouching down also and was relieved to see that the shot had missed his body.
Jennifer eased off the sleeve and took out her handkerchief and pressed it against the wound, ‘You are lucky, it’s just a flesh wound, we need to get it patched up.’
‘Thanks, Jennifer? I’ll fix it up back at the hotel.’
‘A foot to the left and…’
‘Yeah, I get the picture. Mac, did you see who it was?’
‘No, it was too dark. Just saw the gun when it was poking out. I’ve a good idea though,’ said Mac.
‘So have I, I don’t need three guesses.’
‘Is it the guys that killed Guy? Is it?’ asked Jennifer.
‘Err… we can’t say for sure but…’
‘It is, isn’t it?’ she insisted.
Stone looked at Mac, he didn’t really know what to say, they didn’t know how much she knew. She had obviously been close to Guy, in a work capacity, and telling her about the past connection to the gangsters in the car wouldn’t help, he thought.
Jennifer tied the cloth around Stone’s wound and he carefully replaced his jacket against the cold and stood up. He apologized to Mrs. Randall and told them to carry on with the service.
Finch had been quiet since the shooting and put his gun back in his shoulder holster, and walked across to see how Stone was.
‘Perhaps you’ll believe me now that the killer is here in New York, who else you think would take a pop at me?’ said Stone to Finch.
‘I’ll follow up on it Stone, you’d better come in and we’ll make out a report. Mac did you get anything?’
‘I’ll need to get the shots printed up to see what we have.’
‘We have a guy that can work on them, Tariq Karimi, he’s a wizard, he’s got all the gizmos, bring them in in the morning okay, or send them t
o me,’ said Finch.
Mac nodded.
Stone stood up and went over to Mrs. Randall and her sisters to apologize that he and Mac were leaving for the hotel.
‘I was hoping you’d come to the wake this evening but I understand, please come in the morning Brad, will you? I’ve got something important to ask you.’
‘Sure Mrs. Randall, and thanks for the car, it really wasn’t necessary.’ Stone kissed her on the cheek and turned to go, Mac followed and after a few yards Stone looked around and called out to Jennifer who was standing by Mrs. Randall.
‘Thank you for your help Jennifer.’
Jennifer smiled and said, ‘It was nothing.’
Mac drove them back to the hotel.
Chapter 19
Chang drove out of the cemetery at high speed - the gatekeeper at the northern gate looked shocked but could do nothing to stop them as they turned onto Myrtle Avenue - he kept an eye open for the police on the way back, they were in luck, Finch hadn’t yet called the shooting in.
Shadow finally told Rachel, who was sitting looking out of the window and from her taut expression was obviously still in a rage, ‘You seem to forget that the guy, and Mac for that matter, were witnesses to Guy’s shooting. They could turn me in, and for all I know have already done so. I need to deal with them and quick.’
‘I should have known just how stupid it would be to get mixed up with you again. For your information Stone was arrested for Guy’s murder yesterday when he got in from Trinidad. Bloom says they have evidence and motif. Mrs. Randall bailed him out, but it ain’t over yet. This cop Ramirez has got it in for him.’ Rachel was lying. She knew full well that Maloof was up to something and that Stone had been sprung by Bloom, but she had to get Shadow off Stone’s case.
She was pretty sure he bought it.
Shadow was quiet for sometime thinking over what Rachel had said, ‘Bloom you say, might be a useful character. Keep me up to speed girl.’
Rachel said, ‘Take me home.’
Stone got first aid treatment back at the hotel; they cleaned and bandaged the wound which had stopped bleeding, but they told Stone that they thought it could do with some stitches. Stone brushed off their concerns saying he’d be fine, but thanked them for their help.
He and Mac had dinner in the hotel restaurant. They ate quietly and avoided discussing the problems which were obvious. They agreed on one thing though, they had to have a plan to deal with Shadow. They were convinced that it was he that was behind the shooting at the cemetery. Finding him and bringing him to justice was quickly becoming their number one priority.
Stone and Mac went back up to their rooms. It was already dark outside and as he had a thirtieth floor room Stone had left the drapes open. He couldn’t shut out one of his all time favorite views, the New York skyline at night.
Stone had bittersweet feelings. He was just one day away from seeing Laura but a continent away from Karla, who, due to work commitments, had had to stay behind in the Caribbean. She had meetings in Barbados and there was a possibility of a new project in Grenada to design a new civic center. Since the traumatic kidnap at the hands of the stalker, and the last minute rescue in St. Lucia, she had found that work was the best healer. Stone had wanted Karla to take some counseling but she had resisted saying she had put it all behind her. For the first two weeks she was able to vent her anger and release the hatred for her captor because she was dead and no longer a threat. There was a setback in her healing process when, to everyone’s surprise, not least her father’s, the stalker was found to be alive. Stone’s concern intensified for Karla and because there was substantial proof that the stalker was in the States and there was a watch on all international borders to prevent her entry into the country, he was fairly confident that she was in no danger. Nevertheless, for his planned one-week trip away from her he had installed round-the-clock, professional, armed security to shadow her every move.
Stone needed sleep, it seemed like his life was continuing to be just as eventful back home in New York as it had been in Trinidad. He settled back wondering whether he too needed round-the-clock armed security.
Chapter 20
Rachel couldn’t believe that she had allowed herself to be used by Shadow, again. She was at home and was sorting through a suitcase and came across the jacket she had been wearing when she left New York three months earlier to go back home to Trinidad. Things had certainly not panned out the way she had wanted them to and one love affair, two deaths and one failed kidnap later she was back where she had started.
She missed Randy, her brother, and regretted that in the short time she had spent with her father she’d managed to alienate him again, perhaps for good this time.
The jacket was crumpled and just before she threw it onto a pile for dry cleaning, she checked and emptied the pockets and found the card from a bouquet of flowers left by her sister at her mother’s grave. She’d taken it when she’d stopped by Maple Grove cemetery on her way to the airport for the flight to Trinidad.
She hadn’t seen Rebecca, her twin sister, since she and her mother left Trinidad when Rachel was twelve years old. A bitter dispute between her mother and father had divided the family ever since.
Rachel stared at the message on the card, it had brought a tear to her eyes that day and once more now, when she read it again.
Happy Birthday Mommy…
You are never alone…
I will be with you always
All My Love
Rebecca.
She turned the card over and saw the name of the person who had order the flowers from the florists. It was a man’s name, Mark Fielding. She flipped the card back over and there was a number for the florists, Rachel decided to call it and someone picked up.
‘Hi, can you help me please? I have a card from a bouquet of flowers bought by my sister who I’m trying to find, the buyer’s name was a Mark Fielding. I need to contact this guy.’
‘I’m sorry Ma’am it’s not our policy to give out…’
‘I know, I know, let me explain. The guy ordered the flowers for my sister, my twin sister. I haven’t seen her for almost thirteen years. I’ve had no contact, this is the first link I’ve…’
‘I wish I could help you Ma’am I really do but…’
‘Please find it in your heart to help me, there’s no other way I can get to her, all I need is an address. Will you…please?’
There was a short silence, the lady at the florists was thinking it over and decided there was no harm in helping her, she did sound quite desperate.
‘Okay, I shouldn’t be doing this, hang on a second let me check my book here…’ Rachel heard a clunk, she had obviously put the phone down and she could hear the lady thumbing through some pages and after a short while she picked up the phone again. ‘Ma’am, the address is, have you got a pen? The address is…1189, 34th Street, Brooklyn.’
‘Thank you so much, you don’t know what this means to me.’ Rachel ended the call and resolved to visit the address. She felt a wave of nervous excitement pulse through her and ordered her limousine. She fixed herself up and was so nervous she stumbled over chairs and dropped things clumsily because of her anxiety. She tried to calm herself down.
Maybe today will be the day, she thought, when she would be reunited with Rebecca.
Chapter 21
Stone’s second visit to the 113th precinct was in very different circumstances from the first. For starters he was in the front seat of a Porsche 911, not jammed in the back of a squad car between two overweight cops. Mac had driven because Stone’s arm was still painful and bandaged up. The gunshot wound, although primarily a superficial graze, had jarred his arm and there was probably some damage to the muscle, which he was determined to make light of, ‘he’d got more beat up falling off his bike when he was a kid,’ he told Mac.
Mac wasn’t convinced.
They was both dressed properly for the weather, and not, like Stone had been, as if pulled from a summer vacation c
ommercial, dressed in shorts and flowery shirt. He and Mac had on knee length overcoats and at six-five and wearing his Barbados shades, whatever the weather, Mac looked more like FBI than the FBI.
The first person they bumped into who gave them his usual ‘You’s criminals are all the same,’ glare, was Officer O’Reilly. He was an old fashioned ‘Guilty until proven innocent,’ type of cop.
Stone asked for Detective Finch and O’Reilly motioned towards the CID room, then thought better of it and escorted them down the corridor, up the stairs to the first floor. He opened a set of double doors and called out to Finch to tell him he had visitors. It was a little after eight a.m., Finch hadn’t been in long and was pouring himself a coffee.
‘Want coffee guys?’ asked Finch.
‘No, we’re good, thanks. We just had hotel breakfast.’ Stone patted his stomach as if to imply they’d overeaten.
‘Did you bring the memory card? I’ll get Tariq to take a look at the photos whilst I’m making out the incident report.’
Mac sat down next to Tariq’s desk and took out the memory card from his inside pocket and handed it to him.
Finch asked Stone how his arm was then ran through some personal details and wrote the body of the report, reading aloud, and Stone chipped in where necessary.
‘Does Ramirez know about the shooting?’ asked Stone.
‘Yeah, I reported into him after we left the cemetery but you can probably guess his reaction.’
‘Hmm the guy’s got me down as the killer of Guy Randall and until the real one walks in and slaps him on the face, I’m suspect number one.’
Tariq was scrolling through the shots taken by Mac and asked what he was looking for. Mac pointed to his pc screen and told him which car to zoom in on. Shadow’s car had crawled in front of the long line of limos and once Tariq knew which one he got to work.
DEAD MAN'S JUSTICE - A Place of Evil (Stone & McLeish Thriller Series of Stories Book 2) Page 8