Finally came that Go sound…
And he burst into sobs.
68
“You?” Kerri stared at no-not-Gina. The face was different, heavier-seeming and shadowed under the black wig.
“This is all Rachel’s fault,” the voice behind the gun whined. “She refused me. Started dating the whole world but rejected me. For that I could not forgive her - or her lovers or you, for trying to thwart me.”
With swooning horror Kerri realized that Charlie terrified in the hospital had reacted to Gina, not Frank. Had she really told Alex, Where could be safer? Armed cops all around. The killer was in the building all along. Wasn’t even looking hung over anymore. Well hey, she’s an actress.
Kerri moved back, wordless, her heart whamming.
“It’s Rachel’s fault Lauren had to die too, isn’t it?” Gina stepped closer, hideous under the wig. “I couldn’t have any witnesses! Now give me your gun. Turn on your safety and hand it to me, nice and easy, grip first.”
Give me your gun? The other victims had been shot without warning. Those hostile, blaming eyes wanted to say something.
“No,” Kerri hissed between clenched teeth.
“Then make no move because I’m a good shot, even better with this snazzier gun I bought from some pimp. Had to ‘cause I left my .38 under Gilbey’s pillow.” Gina gave a hysterical laugh. Then her face eased into a sly smirk. “Want to know why you’re not dead yet?”
Kerri breathed in, nodded. Her eyes darted to the dark stain below the armoire Gina had rushed to cover.
“It’s because I want you to hear who I really am.”
Not taking her eyes or her gun off Kerri, Gina’s free manicured hand pulled down her jeans that had never been zipped, revealing male genitals. She’d been planning to expose herself.
“I’m still transitioning, you see. My birth name was Eugene, a ridiculous name.” Her voice dropped, became more male. “Some great-grandfather war hero and a real man, Daddy Dearest loved to taunt.” The jeans pulled back up, then the zipper too; a practiced, one-handed gesture.
“This is a vindicating moment for me, as I’m sure you can appreciate.” The voice was calmer, self-pitying. The gun waved; the free hand pushed back a strand of wig.
“I started out pansexual - girls, boys, both, couldn’t decide what I wanted. It was a most painful adolescence. Then, just when I thought I’d truly found myself, decided who I was, Rachel attracted me” - Gina pointed to her crotch – “gave me a stiffy every time I stood near her. I can’t forgive her for that.” She stepped forward accusingly. “Nor can I forgive her for being the perfect Mommy who loves her child so much! That’s why I drew those angry houses - like what I had to grow up in. She threw all my hard work away. The surgery” – Gina thrust out her breasts - “the hormones, everything. My mother was repulsed from when I was twelve and experimenting. My father said I made him sick. He knew what I used this room for.”
“This was your room…” Kerri breathed, moving back.
“Of course! I did out calls, but here too I made money for my surgery. I’m so glad I said this room was Frank’s. I knew you’d get curious.”
Kerri just stared. Gina gave a regretful shrug.
“In my life I’ve been severely depressed, suicidal even, but I managed until Rachel.”
“Did you ever try to tell her?”
“No, I knew she’d recoil. Her preference for rich Scott Mullin was cruel – and Jed Stefan the snob! Cut me down before everyone, told me to give up acting, I was so bad. More cruelty! He made me despair. I could have been a great actress.”
Her lips stretched into a sneer. “I almost killed him sooner, you know. I snuck in and came so close; he was rehearsing all by his lonesome but then someone else came. I had to hide till they left together, but I had my yucks, oh yes.” The manicured hand twirled a black strand fetchingly. “Stole this wig! I hope that bothered him big time, and it’s such fun to wear.”
“Hey Gina.” Kerri stepped further back, placed herself under the half-window. “You were jealous of Scott Mullin? You’re an idiot. He was gay.”
The pallid face froze. “You lie! Oh you are good. Maybe you should have been an actress. Whatever, there’s more. Don’t you want to hear it before I…?” Gina glanced at her gun. “Hell, I should have bought a silencer for this. Oh well, it’s my father who’s going to kill you.”
Kerri said nothing.
Gina barked a man’s laugh. “His prints will be on this gun. Self defense, of course. Poor Dad, you were too aggressive going after your suspect. He never really left; I lied. Begged to make nice, said I had money he hadn’t known about down here, and money always wins, right? He’s suddenly so protective-”
Kerri’s phone chirped. Probably the only reception was under the half-window. In a lightening move she twisted, kicked Gina’s gun arm and reached for her phone; heard Gina’s gun clatter away and a little boy sobbing, “It’s Gina! The bad man!”
But Gina was on her, features enraged and wig flying, flinging her against the wall and tearing at her phone. Kerri gripped it, gasping, “Charlie help! Call Alex!”
Her phone flew from her. Trying to hold on to it cost Kerri her gun too as she reached for it and Gina grabbed it - but it slipped from her hand. She lurched across the floor for it. Kerri went after her, slammed her a good back leg kick, and the two of them fell. Kerri hit her head on the refrigerator, crying out. With a bang Gina hit the second tall door of the armoire.
It sprang open and Frank Wheat slid, then tumbled out. His body sprawled face down over both of them. His red-punctured back still oozed congealed blood.
The dark spot before the armoire. He’d been dead since yesterday.
Kerri scrambled out from under his heaviness, feeling dizzy. Feet away, she saw the glint of one of the guns and Gina crawling to it. She grabbed a brick, threw it at Gina’s head and missed. It hit the cracked cement. Shards of it flew up and Gina screamed.
“My nose, my beautiful new nose.”
In a fury she rolled back, bloody-nosed, her gun aimed at Kerri’s face…
69
Rachel was sputtering, hysterical. “Kerri’s being attacked. Charlie called her and she’s screaming for help. The killer is Gina.”
“Still got that line open?” Alex was out of his chair, sounding strangled. Charlie’s sobbing sounded in the background.
“Yes, we’re hearing it. Charlie recognized Gina from my phone’s pictures. He’s remembered. Officer Wald is here.”
Lennie Wald took Rachel’s phone. “I called Dispatch,” he told Alex. “Struggle in progress. They’re searching Blasco’s location.”
“I’ve got her phone’s GPS. Thanks. Calm Charlie.”
“Copy. Their doctor’s on his way.”
Alex was already racing for the stairs, calling Biggs and Murray doing on scene surveillance. “She’s in the building,” he shouted, reading his phone’s screen with Zienuc and Connor pounding down behind him. “Start with the basement.”
“We’re on it,” from Roy Biggs; and Murray, patched in, repeated, “Got it, the basement.”
Alex peeled out first, ahead of the other two. Speeding down Ninth, he called Dispatch.
“They’re just arriving,” said a worried female voice. “All available units.”
His siren wailed. Traffic cleared as he made it to West Sixteenth before remembering to breathe.
They’d patched him in to Charlie’s phone. The irony was gut-wrenching: he was hearing the struggle not from a police hookup, but from a little kid’s SOS phone. Kerri had told him how she’d explained it to Charlie: Even if you don’t talk your mom can hear everything around you.
He was hearing everything around Kerri. Her cry. Thud of a body hitting wood. A crash, another thud. Gina, angry but male-sounding: “My nose, my beautiful new nose.”
Gina?
Patrol cars had cleared ahead of his siren. Whistles blew; uniformed cops waved him on.
Alex tore through stop
ped traffic and a blur of red lights, then shot across Jane Street.
70
Sounds of help, on the other side of the door. Feet away, Kerri heard their footfalls in the basement; pictured them advancing, eyes darting, guns held forward.
Gina heard too.
She was sprawled full-body on Kerri, hand clamped on her mouth, gun pressed to her cheek. “They won’t find the door,” she hissed. “And if they do, I’ll shoot them.” Her nose dripped blood. A vile, warm drop of it fell on Kerri’s jaw. “Want to squeal for help, get them killed?”
Kerri flicked her eyes to the half-window above them and stared back, still seeing police lights, feet running past.
Gina sneered and shook her head. “If I want to look out at cop feet, I’ll kill you and then look. But I don’t want to look out. If they could see us, they’d already be in this great hidden place, right?”
Kerri glared at her.
“Nod if I’m right. Admit that I’m smarter.”
Kerri nodded, as much as she could with Gina’s hand clamping her face. So close, she heard basement doors open and close, voices announce that passageways were clear. There was a silence, then a shout and feet moved less stealthily. Noo… Radios came squawking back on and voices called, “Not here”… “Search Sparkes’s and Wheat’s apartments.”
Their footsteps receded, and their radios. Feet sounded pounding up the basement stairs, and Kerri’s heart froze. Her eyes flicked to her phone feet away. It had landed with a sickening clatter.
Gina leered, said louder, “You see? They’re gone. I more than win. I’ll sue the cops for killing my poor, innocent father you set up. You’ll be dead, and your prints will be on the gun that killed him, isn’t that perfect? With the money from my lawsuit - joy, I won’t have to work or whore and I can have that final surgery – the big one, get rid of these nasty things between my legs-”
Kerri’s knee came up hard, her back arching as with all her strength she whammed Gina’s testicles.
Screaming, she rolled off and writhed, one hand clutching her groin.
“Should have had ’em off sooner.”
Kerri twisted the other way and grabbed her phone. “I’m in the basement,” she yelled with her voice cracking. “Door’s behind the boiler shelves. Anyone copy?”
With a splintering sound the door crashed open.
Alex burst in with his gun drawn. Others surged in behind him, guns pointing. Gina who would have killed them writhed on the floor.
“We faked leaving, moron.” Alex kicked her gun away. “Thought you had the drop on us?”
The room filled, Zienuc down fast getting Gina’s hands into cuffs, Connor yelling her Miranda.
Alex helped Kerri up, and she lay her head on his shoulder. She was shaking, her squeezed shut eyes still seeing Gina’s gun in her face. Tears ran down her cheeks.
“I really wanted to kill her,” she whispered.
“Thank God for that kid’s phone,” he said raggedly. “If I want to look out at cop feet said where you were.”
He held her as others patted her arm, her shoulder. “Great job,” and “Maybe lie down? Ambulance is here.”
She opened her eyes to see Connor crouching to Frank Wheat, and Zienuc trying to move everyone out, make room for two gurneys.
“He’s in pain,” non PC Zienuc hollered. “Oh excuse me, she’s in pain. Jeez, sweetheart” – he toed Gina’s doubled-up knees – “You really should’ve had ‘em off sooner.”
71
“Got a surprise for you.”
Because she’d bashed her head, Alex insisted that she get checked so there Kerri sat, blanket over her shoulders, feet hanging off the end of the ambulance. An EMT was just nodding that she had no concussion, and a young cop stood before her, smiling and pointing. He was practically a silhouette in the glare of emergency lights, but Kerri peered past him, past teeming police and CSU activity to the yellow crime scene tape, and the crowd pressing against it.
She couldn’t believe her eyes.
In the crowd were two people waving wildly.
No, make that three.
A child was with them.
A uniformed officer held the tape up and all three ducked under, the adults stretching their hands out to the child in a too-big blue jacket who started running to her.
“Kerri! Kerri!”
Both hands went to her mouth and she burst into tears. Threw off her blanket, jumped down and went to hug Charlie, squeeze him tight while his little arms wrapped around her neck.
“You’re okay!” he cried, and Kerri cried too, not seeing the crowd go nuts, cameras flash wildly and TV van lights on them.
She pulled back, held his shoulders and looked into his eyes. “You saved me,” she smiled through tears. “You saved your mommy and me.”
He blinked, then beamed.
“Kid saves cop,” yelled a grinning EMT to the crowd, and a cheer went up, then chants repeating it. “Kid saves cop, kid saves cop.”
Jake Benton and Rachel were there too, reaching to her. Jake had just thrown a jacket over his scrubs, and Rachel’s blue robe showed under what looked like a borrowed coat. Kerri stood to hug her, gently, then turned to pull on her parka someone brought her. She was wiping tears, smiling too. She brought her hands back to hold Charlie’s shoulders as he clung to her.
“He went wild,” Rachel said, her eyes glistening. “When he heard you were okay he just tore out of the room wanting to see you. Officer Wald had a hard time catching him.”
“Kid saves cop, kid saves cop.”
Kerri took a second to look out at the crowd, confused. “How did they know?”
“I was hysterical.” Rachel mopped her cheek. “The whole hospital heard me crying to Alex that Charlie called you – we were hearing the attack. Nurses ran in, I told them more, now it’s all over Twitter.”
Charlie was pulling at her. “Mommy,” he piped. “Kerri said I saved you and her.”
Kerri bent to him again. Feeling that her heart would burst, she held his shoulders and looked deep into his eyes. “It’s true. You are a brave, brave hero.”
His eyes rounded in a child’s new awareness of himself.
And Jake leaned to her. “You were his cure all along,” he said softly.
Pandemonium, the scene was. Reporters were sneaking under the crime tape and surrounding with their cameras. A woman with a mike yelling How did it feel was escorted back where she belonged. Then Alex detached himself from Zienuc and Connor and came over.
More warm embraces, and Charlie jumped into his arms.
“Aww,” from the crowd as cameras flashed.
Holding Charlie, Alex tugged subtly at his too-big jacket, looking at Jake who nodded.
“Closest I could find in pediatrics. He would have run out in his pajamas.” Jake indicated Charlie’s feet. “Resisted those slipper socks, too. Soles are good, but he’s not keen on the candy stripes.”
Minutes later, they had Charlie perched on the end of the ambulance as an officer brought Alex’s duffel.
“My new red jacket!” he squealed as Kerri and Rachel, one-armed, helped him into it.
Alex rummaged, found little red sneakers and blue socks and helped him on with them. “Can you tie knots yet?”
“Soon!” Charlie beamed, wagging his feet, admiring his sneakers. He jumped up into the ambulance, peering around at all the equipment. Then, with his new red jacket zipped up he faced back out to the lights and cameras. His eyes were wide.
“Charlie, Charlie,” cheered voices.
He waved happily.
Then he jumped into Jake’s arms – “oof” - who cradled him, announcing that his car was near. “Officer Wald radioed ahead so we could park close.”
They all moved to a darker, quieter spot, where Rachel talked about the River Hotel where she and Charlie would be staying for a week. “After that, Jake’s going to help us find us an apartment.”
“My neighborhood has a great school and playground,” he said, tr
ying not to sound too hopeful. Alex and Kerri smiled. Uh-huh. Rachel was leaning on Jake and he was supporting her. They seemed so warm with each other, and Charlie, resting his head on Jake’s shoulder, completed a picture that tugged at the heart. He looked suddenly worn out from all the adrenalin.
“Past somebody’s bedtime,” Rachel said, ruffling his hair. “Say good night, Charlie.”
From Jake’s arms, the boy sighed a sleepy, “G’night.”
“Sleep tight,” both detectives said, patting him. Kerri was holding back a rush of tears.
He raised his head suddenly. “I’ve got a birthday soon.” His round eyes searched them. “Will you come?”
Count on it, they said, watching the three go. A female officer, assigned to see them to their car, turned back to Kerri and Alex, smiling as she lifted the tape.
Charlie waved.
72
Five weeks passed, then came the big day.
Alex had never seen it, and Kerri had only seen it once, so Rachel’s small new apartment all decorated was a surprise. Favorite photographs, lovingly wiped and cleaned, were up on the walls; favorite books – ditto – were tucked neatly into bookshelves that formed a room divider between the living room and a pretty dining area, now festooned with balloons, streamers, and a bright, hanging banner reading, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE.
Jake Benton greeted them with hugs, and Charlie flew into their arms. Let out an excited “Yeow!” as Alex raised him up in the air. “Hey buddy, how’s it feel to be six?”
“Awesome! Awesome!”
Kids from his new school ran around like rabbits. Rachel hugged and kissed them both, introduced them to other guests, mostly parents, and said she was already exhausted. “But it’s a good kind of exhausted, right?” she said feelingly, thanking them for the gift they’d brought. It was wide, a bit heavy and brightly wrapped.
“Why do I get the feeling Charlie should open this last?” she asked, hefting it.
Shoeless Child Page 22