No Mercy

by Torbert, R. J. ;

  “Help me!” she said. “Someone is trying to kill me, please help me!”

  “Hold on,” the captain said, “how do you know this?”

  Linda dragged him to the hall of mannequins outside the party and showed him the male head. “He's missing the white mask! The Ghost Face mask.”

  The man looked at her like she was crazy but still tried to calm her down. “Ma'am, we have a doctor on board, let me take you to him.”

  “Oh, fuck you!” she screamed as she ran down the opposite hallway.

  There was a door half open so she entered. In the room it was a young couple making out on the sofa in full costume of Robin Hood and Maid Marian. Before Robin could say anything Linda left the room not sure of what she was going to do.

  She started to walk slowly toward the center of the ship when the famous white mask appeared all the way at the other end. Linda stopped in her tracks as she began to cry. “Stop, please stop!” The masked figure started walking slowly toward her as she backed up, taking a few small steps before turning around and running to the hallway exit and up the emergency stairs. She didn't even notice the three guys dressed as the three Stooges in full character.

  “Hey, Moe, it's a sexy cop.”

  “Never mind.” Curly received a slap.

  Even Larry had a comment.

  “That's what I call a wardrobe malfunction.”

  Linda ran up two flights of stairs and asked a sexy zombie if she knew where the purser's office was. The pretty zombie pointed to the third level as Linda ran to the center of the ship, where the spiral staircase was. She reached the third level within seconds in her bare feet and found the purser's office empty. She stood there not knowing what else to do, when an announcement came over the ship's speakers. It was in a whispered inflection but loud enough to be understood: “No Mercy.”

  She left the purser's office not knowing where to go or what to do, but her heart was pounding so hard she started looking for the doctor's office. Her thoughts ran wild as her hair was now soaking wet and she was shaking with fear. She crept slowly down the hallway and even jumped when a door opened. She decided she needed to get back to the party because it would be safer with the large crowd. Slowly, with her head turning constantly and her breathing getting harder, Linda made it back to the costume party. Her shirt was only closed at the bottom two buttons, so most noticed that depending on how she moved, her breasts were exposed, but she was sweating so hard with stress, physical activity, and emotion she didn't give it a second thought. Once inside the party she found the man dressed up as the captain again.

  “I'm sorry,” she said, “I need help to get off this ship.”

  He looked at her with a puzzled expression.

  “We are over three and a half miles from shore and we are not scheduled to arrive back until tomorrow evening.”

  “I would do and pay anything to get off this ship,” Linda said to him. “I'll even pay for a helicopter to come here and take me back. I have a family emergency.”

  The captain looked at her and said, “$3,000 for the helicopter expense and $10,000 for me.”

  Linda nodded her head. “Deal, just get me out of here.”

  “How do I know,” the captain said, “that you won't screw me? You don't have the money on board. I need some collateral and the key to your room back at the hotel with the number.”

  Linda moved closer to him. “You can come with me to my room. I have cash there, and honey, if you get me out of here I will definitely screw you as well as . . .” She grabbed his crotch.

  The man dressed as the captain nodded as Linda gave him her room key with the number. She had no choice if she wanted to get off the boat. “Let me make a phone call. I will tell them you have an emergency with immediate family and you will pay for the expense. Get your story together.”

  “How long?” Linda asked.

  “It will take at least a couple of hours,” the captain answered.

  Linda was afraid to leave the party and realized something had happened to Brian. She was mingling throughout the crowd and party for twenty minutes when “Alone in the Dark” by Mystic Strangers came on. Her heart started beating faster. She tried to drown out the lyrics, but she couldn't. She pushed herself through the crowd to find the ladies' room.

  “Move!” she kept saying. Finally, she found the ladies' room and went inside. She could still hear the song behind the door, but she couldn't hear the lyrics, which was good enough for her.

  She went inside the stall, and before she could shut the door behind her a hand reached out, grabbed her hair, and in a second snapped her neck. Linda Tangretti died almost exactly the way Kate Summers and Alicia Hudson had died in the music clubs. Her death was a full circle of the deaths she was responsible for.

  Linda's body was picked up and put in a wheelchair that had already been placed outside the door. The mysterious figure dressed in a mirror mask pushed the chair past the Halloween figures hallway. Still the Ghost Face mask was missing. The wheelchair was pushed to the elevator past the spiral staircase to the second level. Once the elevator opened, Linda's body in the wheelchair was pushed to her room. The chair was steered all the way to the balcony as her body was picked up and thrown over the side of the vessel. The killer went over to the bed and picked up all the torn apart photos that had been placed there for Linda. The mysterious figure touched each photo and said “For you” before tossing them over the side with the Ghost Face mask that was taken from the mannequin. The figure left the room and went back down to the party and disappeared into the crowd.

  The helicopter arrived in two and half hours, and “Captain” Bob Langer could not locate Linda Tangretti. The expense was building as the helicopter was waiting. Finally he decided to get on the copter himself. It took twenty-five minutes to land about five miles from the hotel as Bob put the $3,000 on his credit card. He went straight to Linda's room and the key didn't work.

  “Bitch!” he said out loud. She had given him the wrong room number just in case he betrayed her. Bob was relentless as he discreetly tried the door key to each of the bungalows. The more doors he tried, the more upset he was getting. All he kept thinking about was the $3,000 on his credit card. One hour later he was still checking the doors until finally it worked.

  He entered the room and looked behind every nook and cranny until he looked under the bathroom sink. Inside a shoe box was a stack of $100 bills totaling $82,000.

  Bob didn't want to waste time so he drove back to the helicopter pad and paid another $3,000 to be brought back to the ship plus the charge for the wait time for the helicopter. As he flew back, Langer was getting his thoughts together as what his alibi would be if Linda Tangretti ever came back for the money. He hadn't even thought about it till now. He was swearing at himself thinking about how many people knew and saw him take the helicopter back and forth. He was back on board by 1:00 am, which was only an absence of two and a half hours. He walked around the ship to try and find Linda but gave up after another hour. He reported to the real ship's captain that it was a false alarm, that the person needing medical attention was OK, and that the passenger did not leave the ship. It wasn't a lie, and Langer hoped there would be no more questions. All he cared about was that he felt like a different person with $82,000 in $100 bills in his possession. It’s true, he thought, it takes money to make money, thinking about the $6,000 already spent.

  NOVEMBER 1

  Since Linda and Brian paid in advance for the entire trip, no one thought twice about it when they did not check out. Left in their room was their only set of clothes they brought before changing their clothes. It was not that unusual for people to leave things in their rooms. Since everyone was in costume, no one missed them the next afternoon when the ship was returning to port. By this time, most everyone only had a portion of their costume on and was so hung-over or tired, no one cared about the way they looked. Only those
concerned about their identities in front of strangers kept their costumes fully intact. The vessel hit port at 5:00 pm Sunday, and Bob Langer was in a good mood saying good-bye to the passengers hoping they had a good time.

  It was a gorgeous day in Bermuda. Barbara just came out of the ocean, dried herself off, and laid in her lounge chair as she stared out into the beautiful blue ocean.

  “Hello, Barbara,” the man behind her spoke. She looked up to see a chiseled, good-looking man with dark sunglasses and a bathing suit.

  “Yes?” she said. “Who are you?”

  The man looked at the ocean, then took off his sunglasses as he spoke to her. “Barbara Sherman, wife of former FBI agent Robert Sherman. My name is Paul Powers, and you and I have much to talk about.”

  NOVEMBER 18

  The Priority 1 Task Force was fully intact except for Bud, who was under strict orders to stay at home. Both Deborah and Rachelle took turns checking in on him over the past few weeks. Paul also kept in touch with him by phone on almost a daily basis and was returning to work the Monday after Thanksgiving. While Paul was away, he sent Rachelle a text once a week, but she never replied. She had accepted their life together was over and felt it made no sense to prolong the inevitable. It was difficult for her to check on Paul's apartment upstairs, and each time she did she would take some of her belongings out of the place until everything that was hers was eliminated. There were photos of her and Paul on the bureau and night table, but she did not touch them. Her friendship with Deborah grew closer as they both remained loyal to Bud in his time of need. She knew Deborah loved him, but she was worried she too would fall victim to a broken heart to a cop. She was there for her, and Deborah continued to visit the jail with Rachelle to visit Madison a few times a month.

  Lindsey Wilkerson was insistent with her parents that she needed to be involved with Bud and Justin Healey. While she was only fourteen, her intellectual prowess made it much more difficult to hold her back from the lives of the two Suffolk County officers as well as Rachelle and Deborah. She would go over to his new home at 116 South Street and keep him company by playing games or getting into one of their famous debates that was amusing to everyone. The most recent had Rachelle and Deborah beside themselves. Bud was sucking on a couple gummy bears as Lindsey was explaining why she could not be hypnotized, which is common in people who are left-brain-dominant. Bud would argue with her that it made no difference but Lindsey was adamant.

  “You will find, Detective Johnson,” she said with a wink, “that most lawyers, mathematicians, judges, and lab scientists are left-brained people and that we are very logical people.”

  Bud shook his head. “And you read this where?”

  “Never mind,” Lindsey answered. She no longer liked to show she remembered exact times and dates, but she did enjoy her banter with Bud. “There are exceptions as in all things, but this is a fact.”

  “OK,” Bud answered as he gave her a hug. “I believe you.” He looked at Rachelle and Deborah and crossed his eyes as they both laughed.

  Detective Lieutenant Cronin had just hung up the phone with ADA Ashley regarding the transfer of undercover reporter Gary Reynolds from Bedford Hills to go to the Riverhead facility with Detective Ellyn Baker. Both of them would be there for one month to get close with the inmates and find out what they could about the doctors giving out prescriptions for cash. They had worked it out that the transfer of Reynolds was now safe. Baker couldn't wait for the assignment and was chomping at the bit.

  Detective William O'Malley accepted a temporary transfer to Priority 1 while Powers was on his leave of absence, but Cronin was going to try and pull strings to keep him with the task force until his retirement, which he insisted would happen within the year. Justin Healey was back at his role as George Lynagh's partner and occasionally would tease him about what he called “Lynagh's Luck.” It seemed no matter what happened during the past few years, he came out unscathed. Officer Chapman was back on normal duty and was showing the ropes to Officers Dugan and Frank's replacements and what was expected of them at Priority 1.

  Al Simmons, Madison's attorney, came by for a visit and told Cronin that the therapist was a big help for Madison and the nightmares were becoming much less. He also requested to see if Madison could have Rachelle spend Christmas Eve with her sister and a correctional officer.

  Cronin looked up at Simmons and spoke.

  “On the other side of the bars in her jail cell?”

  “Yes,” Simmons answered. “She was alone last Christmas, and I don't think spending a couple of hours with her only family should be an issue, do you?”

  “Gina,” Cronin said to the speaker, “please have ADA Ashley stop by in the morning.”

  “Yes, sir,” she replied. Cronin looked back at Simmons and told him he would try and see what he could do through the proper authorities. The attorney nodded as he shook Cronin's hand and left the building. Cronin thought how lucky Madison was to have Simmons for an attorney. Then again, $300,000 missing from the briefcase that Phil Smith had from the night he was killed was a help. His thoughts stopped him from paperwork as he asked Gina to bring him the folder on what they had when Phil Smith was found dead in the barn eighteen months prior.

  NOVEMBER 19

  ADA Ashley was in Cronin's office at 9:00 am sharp.

  “The request for Madison Robinson's visit on Christmas Eve will have to be reviewed by our office in conjunction with the commissioner at the jail. Regardless of what we or anyone else thinks, she is a criminal. We have to be careful.”

  “Yes,” Cronin replied, “however, she was allowed to serve out her term there to be near her only family. So it's quite a contradiction if it's not allowed. I can just see the papers now: Vigilante Killer Kept at Jail to Be Close to Family Is Denied Christmas Eve Visit.” Ashley nodded with amusement at Cronin's sarcasm.

  “We will do what we can to make it happen.” He started to walk away but turned back. “Any news on the search for Brian Branca and Linda Tangretti?”

  “No,” Cronin replied. “I have a feeling they are long gone.” He looked down at his papers as Ashley tried to get a read on his facial expression.

  “Gone?” or “Long gone?” Ashley asked. Cronin looked up for a second as Ashley waited for an answer. He didn't give it to him. Instead he changed the subject.

  “Powers is back Monday. I would like to keep O'Malley on our task force until he retires. He deserves to retire from Priority 1. It's only a year, and since he's been with us for three months already I don't think his precinct commander would mind breaking in some younger blood over there. His experience is an asset here.”

  Ashley nodded. “What about Powers?”

  “What about him?” Cronin replied.

  “He goes on leave of absence while Johnson is out on disability. Are you going to keep him in Priority 1?”

  “There is not a team better when the two of them are together. Powers will get down to business Monday and Johnson will return January 3. In the meantime our team will hold things together. Bud not coming back till after the New Year is another reason we need to have O'Malley stay on.”

  Ashley looked at Cronin and waited for him to look at him. “Is Face of Fear going to be over and out before the end of the year?”

  “I gave you a promise, didn't I?” Cronin replied.

  “Yes, you did,” Ashley said. “Have a nice Thanksgiving if I don't speak to you.” Cronin nodded as he looked over the folder of papers related to the killing of Phil Smith during the Face of Fear Investigation.

  Detective Sergeant Paul Powers returned to work Monday, and the six weeks he was absent only made the heart grow fonder from his coworkers. He was in better shape than when he left and his tan had heads turning from the female officers. He walked into Cronin's office and was there for twenty minutes.

  Paul walked over to Cronin's desk and shook his hand.

&n
bsp; “Nice to see you, sir.”

  His boss stood up and put his left hand on top of both their right hands.

  “Please sit down,” Cronin said. “Bring me up to date. How are you doing?”

  “I'm feeling good and ready for things to get back to normal,” Paul replied.

  “Normal,” Cronin said, “what an interesting word.”

  “It's pronounced normal, and it means not abnormal; regular or natural, but I think that's a good thing.”

  Cronin shook his head.

  “Yes, whoever thought that good meant normal?”

  “I'm ready for things to be the way they were,” Paul replied.

  Cronin nodded again.

  “So you are ready to put everything in the past and look toward the future.”

  Paul looked at him with a bland stare. “The past is the past. That part of my life is over. I just want to move on.”

  “Do you want to tell me what you have been doing for the past seven weeks?” Cronin asked.

  “Well, as you know, two weeks of it was locating Barbara Sherman.”

  “And?” Cronin asked.

  “She knew he had a policy and their marriage was over. She thought once he was pronounced dead and he got his money they would split it and go their separate ways. She had no part in any of it. Let's just say she fell into a pile of shit luck by ending up with everything from the policy. Why did you have me track her down?”

  “I wanted to be sure,” Cronin said, “that she was just lucky and not an accomplice in all of it.” He leaned back in his chair and looked at Powers before speaking again. “Your charts and the Sherman connection, how did you find out?”