Anticipation

by Terri Breneman

  “I don’t think so. Our crime unit is the best. I can’t see them making a mistake that big.”

  “Maybe the guy isn’t as bad now as he was when the shrink looked at him,” Vicky suggested.

  “I suppose if he got treatment, but that doesn’t seem likely.

  Phobias are pretty tough to overcome on your own, and Crown doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to read self-improvement books.

  Anyway, maybe I’m just looking for something to get a handle on this guy since he may be lurking around the corner. I mean, we’ve got his confession on tape. All we need to do is find him before he kills someone else.”

  Boggs tried to reassure her. “I’m sure Frank will find him.” Vicky agreed. “Frank is good. He’s a bastard, but he’s good.” She began fanning herself again. “Jeez . . . when is that furnace going to stop? Do you have a twenty-four hour maintenance number we could call?”

  “It’s on the fridge. Maybe if you call they’ll actually do something about this.”

  Boggs had been pacing around the living room when she sud-150

  denly stopped cold. “Hey. Didn’t the first victim have a maintenance malfunction? The security or something?”

  “Helen Carter,” Toni said. “The security system in her building had been malfunctioning for a few days. Otherwise, he would have never gotten in and out without anyone seeing him. Talk about dumb luck.”

  “Just wondering. I mean, don’t you think it’s unusual that your furnace is having a problem that they can’t seem to fix?”

  “Not until just now.” Toni looked around the room. “Now I’m more than a little paranoid. Maybe Crown is a lot more clever and devious than anyone thought. Maybe that’s how he got into their homes, by pretending to be a maintenance worker.” She was up and pacing around now. “Just think. I would have let in a maintenance guy in a minute, especially since this has been going on a while and I’m roasting in here. Maybe that’s what happened.” She looked at Boggs. “Do you remember if the others had problems with their buildings or anything?”

  Boggs shook her head. “I don’t recall anything else, but that’s not to say there wasn’t. I don’t think anyone was looking in that direction.” She glanced around the room. “Do you have some paper? Since we’re brainstorming here, let’s keep a list of things we want to check out.”

  Vicky hung up the phone and returned to the living room.

  “The guy said they’ve tried to fix it twice, but it doesn’t seem to take. He said there’s probably something wrong with the thermostat inside. He’ll try to get someone here within a couple hours.” She grinned. “I told him it was an emergency and I may have mentioned something about being a cop, otherwise we’d have to suffer with this crap all night.”

  Boggs filled Vicky in on their latest theory. She agreed that they would need to be careful. The constant hum of the furnace made Toni jumpy, but she felt safe with Vicky and Boggs in the room with her.

  “Back in a flash,” Vicky said, and Toni noticed for the first time that she was wearing a pancake holster in the back of her shorts.

  “Hey. Where are you going?”

  151

  Vicky turned and smiled. “Just a little detour to the powder room.”

  Toni was embarrassed and she was scared. She had two armed professionals guarding her in her own home and she was quizzing one of them about going to the bathroom. Jeez! This was beginning to get to her, and to top it off, the place was turning into a sauna again. She looked down at her coffee mug. “Maybe I should switch to something cold. Do you want a soda or some ice water, Boggs?”

  “Ice water would be nice. It is getting a tad bit sticky in here.” Boggs opened the dining room window about an inch. Just enough to let a slight breeze come in.

  In the kitchen, Mr. Rupert was lying on the cool floor next to his water bowl. Toni reached down to scratch his head. She got out a couple of glasses and filled them with ice. Then she took one cube and put it in Mr. Rupert’s bowl. He promptly got up and stuck his paw in the water, pushing the cube around. She shook her head and laughed, then filled the glasses. Back in the living room, she saw Boggs standing by the dining room table, looking at the blank wall. Toni stopped dead in her tracks. Boggs had removed her workshirt and was standing there in just her skintight white tank top and jeans. Her shoulder holster was clearly visible. She was looking at the sexiest woman she had ever seen.

  Boggs turned toward her and pointed to the wall. “What’s supposed to be hanging here?” she asked. “I noticed it the first time I came over. There used to be something here, right?” Toni just stared. Holy cow. Was this a fantasy or what?

  Boggs spoke again, but Toni didn’t hear a word. All she knew was that Boggs was coming toward her. Toni managed to let some strange sound escape her mouth. Her knees again felt a little weak.

  This was beginning to be a pattern. Boggs reached her side just as Vicky came back.

  “Toni, are you okay?” Boggs asked.

  Vicky was on alert. “What’s wrong. Did something happen?” Her hand automatically reached for her gun.

  152

  “I don’t know. I was asking her a question and she just stared at me. Didn’t seem to hear a word I said.”

  “Is she in shock?”

  “No, I’m not in shock,” Toni said. “And I can hear you.” She rolled her eyes.

  Both Vicky and Boggs let out a sigh.

  Boggs put her hand on Toni’s shoulder. “What happened? You looked like you were on another planet. Do you need to sit down?” Toni was too embarrassed to say what she had been thinking.

  “Well, I was just remembering something.” She noticed the concerned look on their faces. “No, it didn’t have anything to do with Crown or anything. It was just, it was a dream . . . kinda, I guess.

  I’m okay. It’s no big deal.” She was really embarrassed now.

  Boggs grinned. “Sit down anyway.” She ushered Toni to the couch, taking the water from her. “I was asking you what’s supposed to be hanging on the wall over there.” Vicky immediately went over to inspect the wall. “Hey, you’re right. There was a picture hanging here. What happened to it?” Toni laughed and went to the closet. “I took it down the first night you came over.”

  They looked at her and shrugged. Toni was still giggling. If nothing else, it helped to break the sexual arousal she was feeling.

  She retrieved the picture from the closet and hung it in its place.

  Vicky stepped back to admire it. “I think it’s gorgeous. Why on earth would you put it in the closet?”

  Boggs sat down in the center of the L-shaped couch, so Toni chose the end nearest Boggs, far enough away but close enough to be able to reach out and touch her.

  “I hadn’t met Boggs yet,” Toni explained, mainly to Vicky.

  “Sam had told me that an investigator would bring my fax over here. All I knew was that the investigator’s name was Boggs. The only other thing I knew was that this Boggs person was referred to as a hard-nosed investigator.”

  Vicky was now seated at the other end of the couch. Toni pulled 153

  her knees up in front of her and continued to tell the story to Vicky, who was now thoroughly enjoying the scoop.

  “Anyway, I thought it would be some old guy wanting to charm me with war stories. I looked around the living room and noticed a few items that might ‘give me away,’ shall I say?” Both Vicky and Boggs nodded in understanding.

  “So,” Toni went on, “I took a few books off the shelf and then noticed the picture hanging there. I was just putting it in the closet when the doorbell rang.”

  Boggs laughed. “The closet . . . how appropriate!” All three laughed. Vicky scooted closer to the center of the couch and leaned forward in a conspiratorial way. “What happened when the two of you met?” She looked at Boggs. “Did you know who she was?”

  “Not really, no,” Boggs said. She told Vicky about the elevator mishap. “I did begin to wonder why it took her so long to open the door. The
n she asked who it was, and I thought I recognized her voice. It took me a minute to put the two together.” Toni smiled. “The reason it took me so long was because I looked out the peephole first.”

  Vicky interrupted. “And the sight of her made you think twice about letting her in?”

  “No, no. I thought that she . . . um, well, no. I was just surprised,” Toni said.

  They were all laughing when the doorbell rang. Toni froze in place. Vicky and Boggs immediately shot up.

  Boggs motioned for Vicky to go to one side of the door, while Boggs looked out the peephole. Toni watched as Vicky pulled her gun from its holster. Boggs’s gun was in her hand, pointed to the floor behind her right leg. She took a deep breath and asked who was there.

  “Quickie Maintenance, ma’am,” replied the man. “I’m here about the furnace.”

  Boggs opened the door, keeping her right hand hidden behind her body. She stepped back to allowed him inside. Vicky was on the other side of him, her gun also behind her back. He was carry-154

  ing a tool box. Even though he wasn’t Crown, they obviously were taking no chances.

  “Sir,” Boggs said, “would you mind setting your tool box on the floor and stepping over to this table.”

  He looked confused. Vicky produced her badge with her left hand and spoke in a confident and professional manner. You’d never have known she was practically on the floor laughing only seconds before, Toni thought.

  “Metro police. Please, sir, this is just a routine precaution,” she said, pointing to the table.

  The man gently set his box on the floor and walked slowly to the table. Boggs nodded to Vicky and brought her gun into full view of the man.

  Vicky holstered her gun. “Sir, for your safety and ours, I’m going to pat you down for weapons.” He nodded and Vicky did a quick check. “Okay, sir. Thank you. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to have to check your tool box here.” While still under Boggs’s cover, Vicky looked through the box and appeared satisfied that it contained only the type of tools needed. She then nodded to Boggs, who reholstered her weapon.

  Toni hadn’t moved during this time.

  Vicky turned to the man. “I’m sorry about that, sir,” she said.

  “We’ve had some trouble in this area and we’re just being careful.” He nodded but remained standing where he was. He continued to look at Boggs, perhaps afraid she’d pull out her gun again.

  After a moment, Boggs said, “So, you’re here to fix the furnace?”

  He nodded again but didn’t speak. Apparently he was still in shock. Grinning, Vicky led him to the furnace, which was located next to the washer and dryer in the kitchen. Boggs stood in the doorway to the kitchen like a sentinel.

  It only took five minutes for him to replace the thermostat.

  Vicky thanked him and escorted him to the front door. After he left she locked up behind him. Vicky and Boggs turned to look at Toni.

  “Are you okay?” Boggs asked.

  155

  Toni smiled weakly. “Yeah, I guess it’s pretty bad when the maintenance man can scare the crap out of you.” She laughed. “I bet this was a first for him. It’s not every day you get frisked on your way to fix a furnace.” Even though she was joking, she was still scared.

  Boggs put her hand on her shoulder. “I know it’s a little scary, but it’s just routine. Vicky and I aren’t going to let anything happen here.”

  Toni nodded and smiled slightly. “It’s just that I feel like there’s nothing I can do but sit here like a stump. At least you two get to point guns at people and frisk them.”

  Boggs seemed to understand her helplessness. She picked up the pad of paper she’d been writing on earlier and handed it to her.

  “You’ll feel better if you do something. Let’s see if we can come up with some more things that don’t add up or that we want to check on. Maybe we can get a handle on this guy.” Toni gladly took the pad and began making notes, beginning with acrophobia. After a moment, she looked up. “Okay, what’s different about this case? Sometimes that helps me to find a pattern, like trying to distinguish cases when I’m writing a brief. If we find some kind of pattern, maybe that’ll help Frank find this bastard.”

  “Since we’re just kicking around ideas,” Boggs said, “and none of this will leave the room, something’s been bugging me. Why is it taking Frank so long to find this guy? He bragged about cracking this case and being able to read Crown like a book. That’s how he got the guy to confess so quick. Now he can’t find one lead on him? Doesn’t that sound odd to you guys?” Vicky thought for a moment. “Well, Frank is a real bragger, that’s for sure. But I saw him a couple days ago and I thought he looked like shit. His pants were all wrinkled and it looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Is there something else going on with him?” Both Boggs and Toni shrugged.

  “Not that I know of,” Toni said. “I don’t like him, but I will say that this whole case has taken a toll on almost everyone. People 156

  around my office are kinda off in their own worlds. It’s as though everyone is trying to keep busy and out of sight. Everyone seems drained, except Anne. She seems pretty good. Of course, she’s incredibly busy with all those meetings. Paul’s taking over her load and you can tell it’s wearing on him. He looked awful last week.

  And he was even vaguer than usual about what he wanted me to do. He just seemed, well, not right. Not like he was a year ago.

  Maybe he’s just preoccupied by all the extra work, I guess. Maybe that’s all there is to it.”

  Boggs frowned. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s this case and all the media hype, but I kinda agree with you. A lot of people aren’t acting like themselves. Probably I’m just looking at everyone too hard, but I don’t like coincidences. Frank has been a mess lately.

  He’s even been bitchy to Sam, and they’re usually pretty friendly.” She paused. “Then last Wednesday one of those clone attorneys bumped into me in the hall and dropped the file he was carrying.” Not sure what that meant, Toni looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

  “Clone guy. You know. Looks like he stepped out of a law school catalog? I think his name is David something or other the third.”

  Toni nodded. “Oh, I know the guy.” She grinned. “He’s definitely a cookie-cutter lawyer.”

  “Anyway,” Boggs continued, “he just glared at me. He didn’t apologize or anything. I mean usually he says something to me in the halls, but this time he didn’t. It was just out of character. Even Paul—he’s usually friendly, but Thursday when I took him my report he didn’t even look up from his desk. He usually reads it while I’m standing there and he always wants to talk about the case. And he was sweating. I’ve never seen him sweat before, even on the hottest day of summer. Anne must be really piling it on him, because he looked like he slept at his desk the night before. People just seem to be out of sorts lately. In fact, this is the first time Sam forgot to make a bet with me for tomorrow’s football game. Of course, I suppose with the party and all . . .” 157

  Vicky had been listening quietly, but now she seemed animated.

  “Okay, let’s list all we know about Crown.” She took the notepad from Toni and started writing. “Maybe this guy does have a pattern that Frank hasn’t seen. I mean, he picked him up fairly quickly. He probably didn’t even get that far into his profile. Maybe that’s why he’s having a tough time finding him again. The first time was dumb luck and now he has to do all the legwork.” Toni chimed in, “Crown, well, he’s a dropout and he’s never held a job longer than a few weeks. He detested his mother and referred to her as a whore. He’s afraid of heights. The only other thing I can think of is that his videotaped confession was completely monotone. It was as though there was no emotion. I think that’s weird because you’d think in a guy like this, there would be a lot of anger and frustration . . . and intelligence.”

  “I agree,” Boggs said. “I don’t know a lot about this kind of guy, but I’ve read about serial killers before. They always
seem to be smart.”

  “That’s right,” Toni said. “Look at Ted Bundy. He was charming and intelligent. A law student. No one who knew him had a clue, except for his girlfriend.”

  “Okay,” Vicky said. “This is some good stuff. Now what about the murders?”

  “All the women were very powerful and intelligent.” Toni tried to push the thought of Judge Haley from her mind and just concentrate on the facts. “All of them lived alone except for Judge Haley. I wonder where her husband was that night? Crown must have known she was alone. That was his pattern.”

  “Maybe he didn’t know she was married,” Vicky offered.

  “No,” Boggs said. “That would be out of character. It sounds like Crown knew enough about his victims to know when they would be home. Anyway, everyone in the city knows that Judge Haley is married to Mr. Newspaper himself.” Toni nodded. It was no secret. “Hey,” she said. “Here’s a quirk.

  Why did she let Crown inside? She knows what he looks like. Why wouldn’t she call the police?”

  158

  “Good thought.” Boggs popped a cracker in her mouth.

  “Maybe he was already inside. Or maybe she called some type of repair guy.” She thought a second, then shook her head. “No, that wouldn’t make any sense. It was nighttime and how would Crown know if she called anyway? That’s not it.” Toni had been drumming her fingers on her knee. She was frowning.

  “What’s going on in your brain there, girl?” Vicky asked.

  Toni grinned. “Oh, it’s stupid. I was just remembering this book I read a couple years ago. It’s nothing.”

  “Go ahead,” Boggs said. “What were you thinking?”

  “Well this cop was looking for the bad guy. The usual stuff, but it turned out there’s this copycat killer.”

  “And you think this could be the case here,” Vicky said.

  “Not really. But it would answer the question as to why Frank is having such a hard time finding this guy. I guess it’s really sorta Hollywood, but I was just reminded of the book when we were talking.”

  Boggs scratched her head. “It’s a possibility. Maybe Crown is dead. I can’t imagine Judge Haley would let him inside, that’s for sure. I wonder if there were any signs of a break-in or anything else out of character for this one.”