by M. Z. Kelly
“Removed?”
“Cut out.”
“What about a message? Was there a message left, like in the Powell case?”
“Yes, it was written on a headstone, something about the shadow of darkness being cast from the earth.” I took a breath. “It’s pretty bizarre.” He didn’t respond to what I’d said. “Are you still there?”
I heard him sigh. “Yes, Madison, I’m here.”
“Well, what do you think?”
As he answered, it occurred to me that his voice was changed. It was full of concern, but also maybe something else—resignation. “I think you’re dealing with a sadistic serial killer. He has a compulsion to kill that’s been unleashed again and he will stop at nothing to fulfill that desire.”
TWENTY-NINE
The basement door swung open, and Mary saw a man appear. He was the same man who had come after her and Colleen when they ran from the house. Colleen was huddled on some blankets, and Mary saw her shrink back as he came down the stairs. He carried a tray of food, which he set on the table, under the single light that illuminated their prison.
“This is your last meal,” he said, turning to them. A thin smile found his lips. “Soon, you will burn in hell.”
When he was gone, Colleen went over to the table, seeing there were a couple sandwiches and some fruit. “We should eat,” she told Mary.
Mary sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m not hungry.”
Colleen walked over to her and sat down. “Are you scared?”
“Of course.” Mary looked up at her friend. “Aren’t you?”
Colleen’s gaze moved away. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t, but...” She met Mary’s eyes again. “I’ve lived my beliefs, and I believe there is a better place than this.”
Mary’s chest rose and fell. “Maybe.”
“You don’t believe, do you?”
Mary shook her head. “Why would God let this happen to us? I don’t understand.”
Colleen smiled. “Maybe God has a plan.”
“A plan?”
Her friend’s smile was still there. “There may come a time when you have a chance to get away again. If that happens, don’t hesitate. Run for your life.”
“What do you mean?”
Colleen reached over and touched her hand. “Don’t lose faith, Mary. Like I said, maybe there’s a plan.”
As Colleen stood and went over to the tray of food, Mary had no idea what she meant. All she did know was that soon she would burn to death. That was the only plan that seemed real to her.
THIRTY
Max and I were forced to spend the next day in Precinct Blue, watching videotaped scenarios of officers confronting and arresting suspects. We then had to write reports summarizing the action. We were told our reports would eventually be evaluated and graded by a team of brass.
The task was boring and repetitive, since we’d all spent hundreds of hours writing reports while on the job. We decided that our temporary reassignment to Central Records the following week might be a welcome break.
Late in the day, while Max and I were cloistered in a small office finishing our final reports of the day, I told her about my latest conversation with the shadow detective. “Holmes wouldn’t give me any specific information about his background, other than telling me that he had years of law enforcement experience and was interested in doing the right thing.”
“You think we can trust him?”
I thought about her question. “I think so, at least as much as we can trust anyone. But it’s still a mystery to me how he found out about our interest in the Remy Powell case.”
“Do you think he could still be active in law enforcement, maybe even with the department?”
“I don’t think so. He sounds older. Maybe he’s retired, missing law enforcement work and solving cases. It might even be that he worked for the FBI.”
Max brushed her hair out of her eyes and exhaled. “I guess we can use all the help we can get.”
“There’s something else. Holmes said our suspect has a compulsion to kill that’s been unleashed again. Before he ended the call, he said it’s possible that we’re looking for someone who was recently released from prison, or from a hospital.”
“Maybe I can get Rosie to do a search, find out if there’s anyone who’s committed similar crimes in the past who’s recently been paroled or discharged.”
I rubbed the knots in my neck. I was exhausted after lying awake most of the night thinking about our case. I dreaded the thought of spending my night working as a caterer to try to get information on Alex Puig and his manager.
“It’s worth a try,” I said. “Holmes also said that he thinks we’re dealing with a sadistic killer. I’ve got a feeling we’re going to see more killings before he’s caught.”
“And, as far as you know, the department still hasn’t tied the Binghamton killing to Remy Powell?”
“Apparently not. I heard Carl Sutton is supposed to be charged with the murder today.”
There was a knock on our office door. Laverne Piper opened it, smacked her gum, and said, “Ten minute warning. We’re supposed to meet with the lieutenant back in the squad room before calling it a day.”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Not sure, but Rita said something big is breaking.”
After she was gone, Max said, “Maybe we’re all being paroled out of Blue and we’re going back to our regular assignments.”
“And maybe Santa Claus just landed on the roof.”
A few minutes later, after we had all assembled in the squad room, and Lieutenant Dennert addressed us, I was reminded why I no longer believed in Santa Claus.
“I will be retiring at the end of this week because of health issues,” the lieutenant announced. “My replacement will be Lieutenant Corker, who is being reassigned from the forty-third precinct.”
I was unable to suppress a groan, causing several people to turn and look in my direction. Corker had been the lieutenant who was responsible for me being reassigned to Precinct Blue. He was a bigoted, misogynistic asshole. And those were his good qualities.
“Is there something you would like to add?” Lieutenant Dennert asked me.
“I just...” I took a breath and tried to compose myself. “I want you to know I’m sorry that you’re leaving. I’ll miss you.”
***
“I look ridiculous,” I said, coming out of my bedroom later that night, wearing my Uptown Catering outfit. I saw that Thorndike’s niece, Katerina, was with my friends. She was also dressed in a maid uniform. “What’s going on?”
“It was Mojo’s idea,” Amy said. “He saw her in the hallway and invited her...” She regarded Katerina’s skimpy outfit. “...for obvious reasons.”
“I could be using some extra money,” Katerina said. “I hope it is okay that I come.”
“Of course,” I said.
“Katerina looks hot,” Max said.
She glanced down at her outfit. “But I feel like my body’s trying to escape from a tourniquet.”
“It’s only for one night,” Amy said. “You look fine.”
Amy had a lean, supple body. She looked good in her outfit, but I felt like the slutty maid ordered up for a bachelor party. I slumped down on the sofa, lamenting my fate. “I don’t really feel up to this. Do you think you could get along without me tonight?”
Amy pulled me up by the arm. “Don’t be ridiculous. What’s the matter with you?”
“We got word that Precinct Blue is getting a new lieutenant,” Max said. “He’s Madison’s old boss.”
“He’s the biggest jerk in the department,” I said.
Amy went over and got her purse off the counter. “You can cry in your Cheerios later. We’re supposed to meet Mojo in front of Bobo Calderon’s place at eight-thirty.”
As she drove us to Manhattan, I asked Amy if there was any word on Sophia.
It was Amy’s turn to feel sorry for herself. “My client is still missing,
my paycheck could be history, and I’ve got the biggest pervert in existence for an employee.” She glanced over at me. “If something doesn’t break soon, I might not be able to pay this month’s rent.”
“Maybe I could help,” Katerina said from the back seat, where she was sitting next to Max. “I be giving you my paycheck for tonight’s work.”
Amy glanced in the mirror. “That’s very sweet of you, hon, but you’ve got enough problems having to live with Thorn...with your uncle.”
“Speaking of him, where is Lola?” Max asked. “I haven’t seen him lately.”
“He be visiting his mother for a few days. They both be coming back soon.”
“You mean his mother will be visiting for a few days?”
“No. She will be staying with us. Lola miss her.”
Max rolled her eyes. “Lord help us all.”
We met up with Mojo, who was with Sophia’s godfather on the street in front of Bobo Calderon’s apartment building. We went over and said our hellos. Armando was wearing a fake beard and glasses, something that Amy commented on. “You sure Alex isn’t going to recognize you?”
“I only met him twice, he hardly pay attention to me,” Armando said. “He big piece of shit.”
“Just remember, if he’s at tonight’s party, keep your temper under control. I don’t want any problems.”
While Amy was talking to Armando, I saw that Mojo’s eyes were fixed on Katerina’s short, tight outfit. “You look amazing,” he said to her.
“Rein it in, Casanova,” Amy said, cutting her eyes to her employee. “What’s the plan?”
I had the impression it took all Mojo’s willpower to take his eyes off Katerina. “We have a van full of food to take upstairs and set up. The party starts at ten.”
“Ten,” I said. “Max and I have to work tomorrow. What time does the party get over?”
Mojo gave me one of his trademark lopsided grins. “I’m told some of Bobo’s events last all night.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“I’ll find a way to get you out of there by midnight,” Amy said. She looked at Mojo. “Let’s get this party started.”
We spent the next hour moving food from the van to Calderon’s apartment upstairs. The modern penthouse flat had a magnificent view of the city and was expensively furnished.
As we waited for the guests to arrive, I told Amy and Max, “Maybe we should become boxing managers. It must pay pretty well.”
“I got a feeling the titty bar also helps pay the rent,” Amy said, as the elevator doors opened, and a group of guests began arriving. “But yeah, maybe it’s time to think about a new gig.”
The partygoers consisted of several men and a bevy of beautiful women, some who I thought I recognized as dancers from Bobo’s club as I went over and served drinks. My suspicions were confirmed when a couple men disappeared into the bedrooms with the women a few minutes later. I saw that Mojo was preoccupied, chatting it up with Katerina. I had little doubt that he had the same thing in mind for her.
I went over and said to Mojo, “I need help with serving. Katerina’s going to work with me.”
Katerina and I walked away to his protests, as I said to her, “You need to keep your distance from Mojo. He can’t be trusted.”
“Maybe you are right,” she said. “He tell me he got something he wants to show me.”
I sighed. “Believe me, you don’t want to see it. Stay away.”
We went over and joined Amy, Max, and Armando, who were placing appetizers on a tray.
“Any sign of our marks?” I asked Amy.
She shook her head. “I hope this night isn’t a waste of time.”
A few minutes later, the elevator opened again and a large party came into the flat. As they got closer, I recognized Alex Puig and his manager. They were surrounded by beautiful women, but brushed past them and went to a heated outdoor patio, where they were alone.
I glanced at Amy. “What do you think?”
“I think they need a drink.”
Amy and I took trays with drinks and lobster brie dip outside, with Armando following behind. As we walked over to the men, it was obvious they were in a heated exchange. Amy touched my arm, and we stopped a few feet away, listening.
“The situation needs to be taken care of,” Bobo said to Puig. “As soon as possible.”
“I do things in my own time,” Puig said defiantly. “Don’t tell me what to do.”
“I’m just trying...” Bobo’s gaze came over to us. “What is it?”
“We have drinks and appetizers,” Amy said, as we walked over to them.
The two men were quiet as we set the food and drinks on the table in front of them. As we were walking away, I heard Puig say to Bobo, “Let’s talk about the money.”
“I’ve already told you, it’s been invested. As soon...”
Amy and I turned back to the two men, seeing that Alex Puig was using the skills that he was famous for. He knocked Bobo to the ground and began pounding him with his fists. That was apparently Armando’s cue to join the fray. He jumped on the two men, his fake beard coming off during the scrum.
Amy grabbed my arm, pulling me away from the fight. She borrowed a line from an old sit-com as we made our way back inside the apartment. “I think we better get out of here before we got a lot of ‘splainin’ to do, Lucy.”
THIRTY-ONE
“Everything is starting to come apart,” Sophia whispered to her sister when she got her on the line. “Alex beginning to suspect that Bobo been stealing his boxing purses.”
“It took him long enough,” Maria said. “It’s exactly what we anticipated.”
Sophia took a deep breath and released it slowly. Everything that was happening had taken years to plan, but it was now moving so fast that she wasn’t sure they could control the outcome.
Images of her childhood assaulted her senses as her sister tried to bolster her spirits. She and Maria had been playing in their back yard one day while their parents were away. That’s when they heard their little sister screaming. They’d run to the front yard, where they saw members of the guerilla group taking Tatiana away.
That day had signaled the end of all their childhoods. She had been eleven when she’d been taken, along with Maria and Tatiana. Their adolescence had been spent working in the jungles for the people’s revolutionary army against the government.
It would have been laughable, if it hadn’t been so sad. The revolution they supported had been ostensibly financed with drugs, but the profits had all been stolen. Manuel Calderon’s drug cartel had been in its infancy then. Bobo, the man who would eventually inherit his father’s empire, didn’t even know that she and her sisters had spent their childhood harvesting the coca leaves and refining them into the product that had made him and his father a fortune. Even Bobo’s enforcer, Alex Puig, the man who had shot and killed Tatiana during her and Maria’s escape from their jungle prison, was unaware of the truth.
Sophia had later married Alex as part of the scheme she and Maria had developed to pay back her husband and Bobo for Tatiana’s murder. The rest of the plan, to steal both Alex’s and Bobo’s remaining fortunes, was now in play.
“I’m getting closer to finishing setting up the dummy accounts and sending Bobo’s money to our offshore account,” Maria said, causing Sophia’s thoughts to surface. “Unfortunately, his inheritance isn’t what we had hoped for.”
“Why is that?”
“Since the revolution ended and the government made peace with the resistance, the drug trade has been drying up. There’s also competition for Bobo’s territory. That’s why he been needing money from Alex’s accounts.”
“Alex is unpredictable. I’m worried he could do something stupid, even kill Bobo. You heard what happened last night.”
“Yes. Let me try to speed things up on my end. What’s the latest with your PI?”
“Armando’s working that end of things. When everything is over, she can testify that Alex
was abusing me and is dangerous. It should seal his divorce and give me what little is left of his fortune.”
Maria didn’t immediately respond and Sophia wondered if the call had been dropped. She finally heard her sister say, “Everything we do is for Tata. God rest her soul.”
THIRTY-TWO
We heard from Mojo that the party at Bobo Calderon’s apartment broke up shortly after the fight ended. Puig had confronted Armando about being there, but Sophia’s godfather had convinced him that he was just working the party for extra money and was looking for his goddaughter. Puig denied knowing Sophia’s whereabouts, and Armando was eventually allowed to leave.
We weren’t sure exactly what had started the fight, but, when we got home, Amy gave us her thoughts on the matter. “I think the situation that Bobo was talking about to Puig when we walked in was him killing Sophia,” Amy said.
“But why would Bobo have an interest in that?” I said. “I think there’s something else going on between them, and it involves money.”
“Maybe Bobo is skimming from Puig’s boxing purses, like I suggested before,” Max said.
“He talked about the money being invested,” Amy said. “Maybe he meant the investment is in his drug dealings.”
I yawned. “Whatever he meant, it sounds like things have definitely gone south between those two.”
“I be going to bed now,” Katerina told us, heading for the door. “I not used to staying up so late.”
I walked her to the door and said goodnight, adding, “Remember what I said about Mojo. If he calls, hang up. If he comes by, lock your door and don’t let him in.”
“I remember. I stay away from him.”
After she was gone, Amy said, “She’s a sweet girl. I’m going to have a little chat with Mojo about staying away from her.”
“I think that’s a good idea. He was hitting on her all night.” I headed for the bedroom. “See you both in the morning.”
Despite my exhaustion, I had trouble falling asleep. After a half hour of tossing and turning, I gave up on sleep and decided to surf the Internet, my thoughts turning to my mother.