Unnatural Acts

by Stuart Woods

  A black Lincoln sat idling at the curb, and a driver in a black raincoat opened the door for them.

  “Antoine’s, please, Ricardo,” Abney said, resting his hand on Viv’s knee.

  Her impulse was to break his wrist, but Viv sat still for it.

  45

  ROSIE WAS at the wheel of the squad car, staying a little back from the black Lincoln, when the radio on the seat beside her came alive. “Viv? It’s Bacchetti.”

  She picked it up. “It’s Rosie, Lieutenant. Abney went for Viv, no surprise.”

  “Where is she?”

  “In a chauffeured town car just ahead of me, going to a restaurant called Antoine’s.”

  “Restaurant? That wasn’t part of the deal!”

  “I guess our man feels that he owes a girl a good dinner before molesting her.”

  “She won’t be safe.”

  “Relax, boss, it’s a public restaurant.”

  “I want you inside, where you can see them.”

  “I can’t do that. He already knows what I look like, and I told him I had a date when I left Sardi’s.”

  “Then you’ll be on them when they leave for the apartment.”

  “I will, boss, don’t worry.”

  VIV WALKED into Antoine’s with Abney and looked around. It must be good, she thought, because it’s packed. “Looks like we’re not going to get a table,” she said.

  “Not to worry,” Abney said, as a headwaiter approached.

  “Good evening, Mr. Abney,” the man said. “Your usual table is ready upstairs.”

  Abney took Viv’s arm and steered her toward the stairs. “It’s nicer up there,” he said.

  “I need the ladies’ room,” Viv said, not sure what to do.

  “There’s one upstairs.”

  At the top of the stairs they turned left, and she could see a room ahead. They walked into it, and it seemed to be a comfortable sitting room. Their table had been set at the center, and behind it was a large sofa. Uh-oh, she thought. “And where is the ladies’?”

  “Just over there,” Abney said, pointing at a door.

  Viv let herself into the powder room and locked the door behind her. She fished her cell phone out of her bag and pressed the speed dial button for Rosie’s phone. Nothing happened. “No signal,” Viv muttered to herself. She stood on the toilet. Still no signal. No part of the small room would produce one. Well, she thought, she still had the panic button on her wristwatch. She peed, flushed the toilet, then looked at herself in the mirror.

  “You dead in there?” Abney shouted.

  Viv opened the door. Abney had opened a bottle of champagne and was holding out a flute to her.

  “To new friends,” Abney said. He sipped from his glass, then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

  Viv tried not to flinch. “I’m starved,” she said. She reached for her cell phone. “Mind if I make a quick call?”

  “It won’t work here,” Abney said. “Antoine has the place electronically blocked. He hates cell phones.”

  “Well, I guess that makes for a quieter dinner,” she said, wondering if it would block the panic button, too.

  “Have a seat,” Abney said. “I’ve already ordered for us.”

  “How nice of you,” Viv said as he pushed her chair under her.

  Dinner was three courses, and it was good. Abney kept filling her champagne glass.

  “So, Viv, what brings you to the big city?”

  “Just a vacation,” she replied. “A friend of mine lent me her very nice apartment while she’s on a European vacation.”

  “Sounds nice.”

  “It is. I’ll give you a nightcap there when we’ve finished dinner.”

  “Maybe,” Abney replied.

  She had thought that he would jump at the opportunity. Maybe this was going nowhere.

  THEY FINISHED DESSERT, and Viv began to wonder if she had drunk too much. “You have a heavy hand with the champagne,” she managed to say, but she slurred her words.

  “You’ve had only one glass,” Abney replied. “And half a martini at Sardi’s.”

  “Then why am I so …” She couldn’t seem to get the words out.

  Abney got up, took her by her left wrist, and led her toward the sofa. “Let’s get comfortable,” he said, then he pushed her arm behind her, pulled her to him, and planted a big kiss on her lips, grinding his crotch into hers.

  Viv could stand up, but she didn’t seem able to resist him. Then she felt a hand under her dress, and, in one strong motion, Abney ripped off her panties. She tried to protest, but the words wouldn’t come. Then she was on her back on the sofa. He kept the grip on her left wrist, over the watch, and undid his trousers with the other hand. Viv’s right hand was pinned under her own body, and she couldn’t get it out. She wanted to scream.

  IN THE CAR, Rosie got on the radio. “Lieutenant Bacchetti?”

  “I’m here, Rosie. What’s happening?”

  “They’ve been in there a long time. Have you got a male detective nearby? I want to go in, but I ought to be with a date, in case Abney sees me. I don’t want to blow this.”

  “I’m two blocks away, in my car, and I’m on the way.”

  “I read you,” she said.

  VIV’S ANKLES were over Abney’s shoulders, now, and he was fumbling to get inside her. She made a monumental effort to move and managed to get one foot against his shoulder and push.

  “Hold still!” Abney snarled. “Don’t worry, you’re going to enjoy it.” His face was flushed, and he was breathing hard.

  Viv started to struggle again, and he put his free arm across her throat and pressed hard. She couldn’t breathe, and she thought she felt something in her throat snap. Then she passed out.

  ABNEY FELT her go limp. “Shit!” he said aloud. He didn’t want a rag doll; he liked the resistance. Then he froze. She wasn’t moving, didn’t seem to be breathing, either. He reached for her throat to get a pulse and found nothing. Swearing, he got up and pulled up his trousers, then went to the rear door of the room and looked down the stairs. It was clear.

  He went back to the table, slung her handbag over his arm, then went to the sofa, pulled her up into a fireman’s carry, and left through the back door, down the stairs to the alley.

  DINO PULLED UP, and Rosie was out of the car, waiting for him.

  “Let’s go,” Dino said.

  “Don’t rush,” she said. “We don’t want to call attention to ourselves.”

  They walked into the restaurant, and the headwaiter approached. “I’m afraid it’s going to be another forty-five minutes before I’ll have a table.”

  “We’ll just have a drink at the bar,” Dino said. They took two stools, and Dino looked around. “I don’t see her,” he said. “Do you see Abney?”

  “No,” she said. “They’re not here.”

  Dino called the bartender over. “I was supposed to meet Ed Abney here. Have you seen him?”

  “Sure, he’s in the upstairs dining room,” the bartender replied, nodding toward the stairway. “But he doesn’t like to be disturbed when he’s up there.” He winked for emphasis. “Can I get you a drink? He won’t be much longer, if he’s true to form.”

  Dino grabbed Rosie’s hand. “Come on!” he said, and ran for the stairs.

  46

  DINO RAN down the upstairs hallway and tried the door: locked. He knocked. “Mr. Abney?”

  “God knows what’s going on in there,” Rosie said from behind him.

  Dino knocked again. “Mr. Abney, it’s the police. Open the door.” No response. Dino pulled his weapon, took a step back, and kicked the door open, splintering the jamb. Rosie followed him in. There were dishes and glasses on the table, but the room was empty.

  Rosie opened one of the two other doors in the room. “Powder room,” she said.

  Dino opened the other door and found the back stairs. “Let’s go!” He ran down the stairs, pushed open the fire door, and stepped outside. He found himself in an alley a
nd it was raining. There was a dumpster and half a dozen trash cans scattered about.

  “He’s got a car,” Rosie said. “The shortest way is back through the restaurant.” She tried the door, but it had locked behind them. “Shit!” she yelled. “We’ll have to go around!”

  They started down the alley at a run, but as they ran, Rosie heard a sound like a car alarm, muffled as if from a garage, but there was no garage in the alley. “Wait!” she yelled at Dino, then she turned back, looking around.

  “What is it?”

  “I hear an alarm. Viv was wearing a wristwatch with a panic button.” She ran to the dumpster and pushed up the lid. Viv was lying inside in a pile of garbage, her eyes glazed.

  “Give me a hand,” she said to Dino. Together, they lifted her out of the dumpster and laid her on the wet tarmac.

  Rosie produced her cell phone and called 911.

  “I can’t get a pulse,” Dino said, bending over Viv and gently moving her hair from over her face.

  “We need an APB for Abney’s town car,” Rosie said.

  Dino got on the radio. “License number?”

  Rosie sighed. “I didn’t get it, and there are a million black town cars in this fucking city.”

  DINO PACED up and down the hallway outside the ER, talking rapidly into his cell phone. “Rosie, do you know Abney’s address?”

  “He lives in a hotel on the West Side, the Broadway Savoy.”

  Dino got back on the phone. “Abney lives at the Broadway Savoy, on West Forty-sixth, west of Eighth Avenue. If he’s not there, try his office.” He made a beckoning motion to Rosie.

  “West Forty-fourth, a couple of doors west of Sardi’s.”

  Dino relayed the name and address. “The charge, for now, is assaulting a police officer.” He hung up.

  “I could kill myself, not getting the license plate,” Rosie said. “That’s rookie stuff.”

  “It might not have helped,” Dino said. “There are too many town cars.” He sat down on a steel chair in the hallway.

  “What the fuck are they doing in there?”

  A young doctor in green scrubs pushed through the doorway, followed by Viv on a gurney. “OR four,” he said to the orderly. “I’m right behind you.” He turned to Dino. “She’s been drugged. We won’t know what until the tox screen comes back, but it’s probably some sort of date rape drug. They’re everywhere. She’s also got a partly crushed trachea, so she’s headed for surgery. The drug may have saved her life. It slowed her respiration and heartbeat. If she’d been conscious and had panicked, she might not have been able to get enough air. OR four is on the third floor. I’ve got a reconstruction surgeon on the way in. She’ll be okay in a couple of hours. Gotta go.” He turned and ran down the hall after the gurney.

  Dino sat down again. “I should never have let you two do this thing.”

  Rosie sat down beside him. “We didn’t count on the restaurant, and once we knew about it, we didn’t count on the upstairs room. From what the bartender said, it was a regular stop for Abney.”

  “He threw her in a fucking dumpster, like she was garbage,” Dino said.

  “He must have thought she was dead, or he would have finished her off.”

  Dino looked at her. “If you tell me she got lucky, I’ll transfer you to the Bronx.”

  THREE AND A HALF hours later, a man in scrubs walked into the surgery waiting room. “Who’s the lieutenant?”

  Dino stood up, and so did Rosie.

  “Detective DeCarlo is in recovery and out of the woods,” the surgeon said. “I replaced about two inches of her trachea.”

  “Replaced?” Dino asked. “With what? A plastic tube?”

  The surgeon shook his head. “The real thing, from a cadaver.”

  Dino’s face fell. “From a cadaver?”

  “Don’t get all creeped out, Lieutenant, it’s a standard procedure these days. We transplant bone, cartilage, all sorts of body parts. It works. Her injury was below her voice box, so her speech won’t be affected. She’ll be on her feet in the morning and out of here in a few days.”

  “Thank you,” Dino said. “Send the bill to the police commissioner.”

  “There won’t be a bill,” the surgeon said.

  DINO AND ROSIE were there when Viv came to. The nurse allowed them to stay long enough to speak to her, then threw them out.

  Dino got on his cell phone. “Have we got Abney? Why the hell not? Hang on.” He turned to Rosie. “Where does Abney hang out?”

  “Sardi’s upstairs, but I doubt if he’s there this late. That’s all we got on him.”

  Dino spoke into the phone again. “Check the upstairs bar at Sardi’s, if it’s still open. Add to the APB that the suspect badly injured a female cop.” He hung up. “Maybe somebody will shoot the son of a bitch,” he said.

  47

  DINO AND ROSIE were at the Bright Lights, Ink, office at the stroke of nine a.m. He showed his badge to the receptionist. “Is Mr. Abney in?”

  “No, he normally doesn’t arrive until around ten,” she replied.

  “Who is his secretary?”

  “Margie Quinn.”

  “Where does she sit?”

  “Through the double doors, across the big room to the corner office. Her desk is just outside his door.” She reached for the phone.

  Dino put his hand on hers. “Don’t,” he said, “and when Abney arrives, act normal, you understand?”

  “No, I don’t understand,” the woman said.

  “I have a warrant for his arrest,” Dino said. “There’s room on it for your name, too.”

  “I understand,” she said.

  “Let’s go, Rosie.” Dino pushed open the double doors and entered a large room with more than a dozen cubicles. He walked around them and came to Margie Quinn’s desk and showed her his badge. “Come with me,” he said, and pushed open the door to Abney’s office.

  It was big enough to hold a large desk, a conference table, and a sitting area with a sofa and a pair of chairs.

  “What is this about?” Quinn asked.

  “It’s about Mr. Abney,” Dino said. “How long have you worked for him?”

  “Twelve years,” the woman replied.

  “Then you know what this is about.”

  She bit her lip. “What do you want from me?”

  “Sit down, Ms. Quinn,” Dino said, pointing at the sofa.

  She did as she was told. “Has Ed Abney ever put his hands on you?”

  She looked away.

  “How long ago and how often?”

  “The last time was a week ago. A couple of times a month for the whole time I’ve been here.”

  “You must be very well paid,” he said.

  “I am, but at first, it was a love affair. I know now it was never that, but I’m single and I have a daughter in a good private school. There aren’t any other jobs this good out there.”

  “Last night, he tried to murder an NYPD detective,” Dino said. “I have a warrant for his arrest and another to search this place.”

  “Good God,” Quinn said, and buried her face in her hands.

  “First I need information: Abney isn’t at his residence, and he’s not here. Where else would he go?”

  “He has a place in the Hamptons,” she said, getting up. “I’ll write down the address.” She went to the desk and came back with a slip of paper.

  Dino handed it to Rosie. “Call it in,” he said. “Tell them I want two detectives over here, in case Abney comes in, and I want a police helicopter on the West Side pad right now, fully fueled.” Rosie left the room and went to Quinn’s desk to use the phone. Dino turned back to Quinn. “Where else?”

  She shrugged. “I can’t imagine. His apartment, the office, and the house out there are his world, except at night.”

  “Where at night, besides Sardi’s?”

  She got a pad and wrote down a dozen restaurants and bars.

  “Who’s his number two here?” Dino asked.

  “He do
esn’t have a number two. He doesn’t trust anybody else to help run the place.”

  “You know,” Dino said, “off the record, if I were you, I’d put together a few people here and make Abney a lowball offer for the business. He’s going to need the money for lawyers.”

  “That’s not the worst idea I ever heard,” she said.

  “If Abney calls, everything is normal,” Dino said.

  “I get you.”

  “If he comes here, my people will take him in, but my guess is, since he didn’t spend the night at his apartment, he’s in East Hampton.”

  “I think that’s likely,” Quinn said. “If he is, he’ll call in about ten and start giving orders. I’d better let everybody know to expect that, or they’ll say the wrong thing when he calls.”

  “I’ll leave that to your judgment,” Dino said. He followed her out of Abney’s office and helped her climb onto her desk.

  “Listen up, everybody!” Quinn yelled. People stood up at their desks and looked over the partitions at her. “The police are here, and for good reason. I’ll explain that later. In the meantime, if Ed calls in, everything is as usual, got that?”

  Everybody nodded. “I want Pierce, Williams, and Cohen in Ed’s office right now.” She got down from the desk and went back to Abney’s office. The three others came in, looking curious.

  Dino stood in the door and listened.

  “Listen to me carefully,” she said. “Ed is going to be arrested before the day is out, and you can guess why. This time, he’s not going to get away with it. I think the four of us can buy this business cheap, as soon as he realizes how much trouble he’s in. He’s going to need cash, and quick. Who’s game?” Three hands went up. “All right, let’s talk about your 401(k)s and mine,” Quinn said.

  Dino closed the door and went out to the reception room, just in time to meet the pair of detectives who were arriving. He gave them their instructions, then turned to Rosie. “Let’s go. I’m taking you to the Hamptons.”

  “Why, boss,” Rosie said, “I didn’t know you cared.”