“I’ll take some,” Vicky said, getting up. “I’ve got to run to the bathroom. Fill me up, will you? Hey, Toni. Do you mind if I take a closer look at your bed? I think I’m going to get a new bedroom set with all my overtime pay.”
“Be my guest,” Toni said. “I got a steal on mine at Furniture City.”
Toni handed her glass to Boggs. She couldn’t stop thinking about the characteristics of the killer. He had to be agile because he had left through a window at one of the victim’s apartments.
That ruled out Sam. And it had to be someone sho wouldn’t be out of place at the jail where Crown was released. That eliminated David. She closed her eyes and tried to get a clear picture of Crown in her mind. If it was Crown’s brother who did the killing, 220
then everything would make sense. Was there anyone who looked like him?
The man thought he heard someone coming up the stairs. He hoped it was Toni. He had decided he should kill her first. No.
Maybe he should kill Boggs first. He couldn’t decide. Then he realized it didn’t matter and he laughed to himself. Both would be fun. His hands tingled as he waited in the dark. He had positioned himself at the entrance to the walk-in closet. Since the closet was between the bedroom and the bathroom, he would have easy access regardless of which room she walked into. This was perfect.
He pulled the knife from his pocket and waited. It was almost too good to be true.
He heard someone reach the top of the stairs and head for the bedroom. Once she crossed the threshold she switched on the light. He watched Vicky look at Toni’s waterbed. When she leaned over to get a closer look at the drawers underneath he made his move. He clamped his cold moist hand over her mouth and brought the knife toward her neck. He felt her freeze. Then her arm jerked and it caught him off-balance. His knife missed its target and instead sliced across her forearm as she tried to struggle free. His strong grip across her mouth held her there. He again had her pinned against his chest. She tried to move but he was all-powerful, all-knowing. Nothing could stop him. He needed to get rid of her so he could complete his mission. She was nothing. She meant nothing. He wished she’d stop moving.
When Vicky’s arm had made contact with him, her blood oozed onto his jacket. He felt the warm sticky substance just as he positioned his knife on the side of her neck. He looked down at his arm and was instantly horrified. He stopped. There was blood on him.
This should never happen. He pulled his hand away, the one with the knife. With his other hand still covering her mouth, he looked at his blood-soaked arm. Rage filled him. His hands began to shake. With one quick movement he plunged the knife into her 221
side and then slammed her head into the corner of the wooden bedframe. She slumped to the floor unconscious, bleeding from the side and arm.
He again looked at his own arm, covered in that horrible sticky goo. His heart began beating faster and he started to hyperventi-late. He ripped his windbreaker off and threw it on the floor. It landed on Vicky’s face. His dress shirt was blood-soaked, so he tore that off. Wearing only a sweat-drenched T-shirt, he used a clean part of his discarded shirt to rub the blood from his skin. As the blood began to disappear, his breathing improved. He used the last clean piece of his shirt to clean his knife. Once the knife was clean, he felt much better and headed for the stairs.
He stood at the bottom of the stairs and listened. At first he couldn’t hear anything but the radio. Then he heard them laughing and it made his ears hurt. He’d been right. He knew he had been able to hear them earlier that night, laughing at him, and they were still laughing. They had no right to laugh at him. He was the great one. They had no respect, but he would teach them. He would teach all of them never to laugh at him again. Once the world understood his true destiny, they would very likely make it a crime for anyone to ever laugh at him. Yes. That would be appropriate.
He looked down at his hands. They were beautiful. He held his wonderful knife. He was ready. This was his last lesson and he wanted it to be memorable. He checked his knife. Perfect. They were still laughing. It was hurting his ears. He checked his knife again. He decided to take a few more pills before finishing this work.
Patty Green was in her car with the siren wailing. She had gotten the call from Captain Billings while at the hospital. He’d filled her in on the fingerprints and told her he was unable to reach Fred on the radio. He had tried to call Toni’s apartment but the phone just rang. Toni didn’t answer and the answering machine 222
didn’t pick up. There had also been no answer to Vicky’s cell phone and he hadn’t yet tracked down the cell numbers for Boggs or Toni. Patty flew through the side streets faster than department policy allowed. She was only minutes away.
Vicky struggled to regain consciousness. She would begin to come around, then the room would go black again. She found it next to impossible to breathe. Her arm throbbed and the wetness of her own blood was everywhere. There was a huge bump on her head. She tried to listen for any sounds from him, but all she could hear was her own labored breathing.
She crawled toward the dresser and pulled open the bottom drawer. It took a lot of strength. After several attempts, she was able to pull out a few pair of hose. She dug around some more and found underwear. She knew she had to stop the bleeding. Using her one good arm, she placed two pair of underwear on her arm and tried to secure them with the hose. It didn’t stop the bleeding, but it helped. She wrapped the hose around again and tried to make a tighter knot. This was next to impossible. Every time she tried to sit up straight, she would begin to black out. If only she could breathe better.
She knew the cut on her arm wasn’t too bad. She put another pair of underwear on her side and tied it with a pair of hose. This was pretty useless. She couldn’t get it tight enough. She was struggling to catch her breath. It was so hard to breathe but she had to get downstairs. She still had her gun in her ankle holster. Slowly, she crawled to the stairs. Several times the room started to go black and she would have to stop. She crawled down the steps backward.
The sound of screaming was horrible. She tried to move faster but couldn’t. She felt so weak. When she reached the bottom step, the room went black.
223
CHAPTER 23
Toni was sitting on the couch, still picturing Crown in her mind. Boggs came out of the kitchen and handed her the iced tea.
She remained standing with her back toward the stairs.
“What are you thinking about?” Boggs asked.
“I’m just trying to figure out who fits the mold,” Toni said. “I was thinking that the guy could be Crown’s brother, so I was trying to picture him and decide if anyone we knew resembled him.” Boggs seemed to be pondering this when Toni’s eyes got big and she screamed, “Paul!”
At that moment Paul burst into the room. He was running straight for Boggs, screaming at the top of his lungs and gripping his knife. He was across the room before Boggs could pull her gun and he slammed her to the floor. He continued to scream words, but only “stop laughing” was intelligible to Toni. She watched in horror as Boggs struggled with him. Paul’s knife sank deep into her thigh and then he yanked it downward. Boggs was pinned to the floor and Toni knew her gun was underneath her, useless at the 224
moment. Toni ran to the front door, yelling for Fred. What she saw when she pulled the door open made her gag. Fred’s head had fallen backward and his eyes were wide open. She could see he was covered in blood and very much dead. She ran toward him, though. She needed his gun. It wasn’t there. Terrified, she turned back to help Boggs.
In the apartment, Boggs was still struggling with Paul and it looked like he had cut her again. This time it was her arm. Toni wasn’t sure how bad, but Boggs was covered in blood. Paul was still screaming and Toni saw him raise his body to strike again. He had the knife. Toni ran toward him, screaming herself. She was only a few feet away when she saw Mr. Rupert. He was close to Paul and in an attack stance. Before Toni could reach him or Paul, Mr.
/>
Rupert leaped. Twenty pounds of angry cat landed on Paul’s ankle and Mr. Rupert’s teeth sank into flesh and bone. Paul screamed in pain and lashed out at the cat with his knife. But Mr. Rupert would not let go. He lashed out again. Toni screamed for Mr. Rupert and jumped in the middle. She barely felt the knife slice the back of her head.
Paul’s change in position and momentary distraction was all Boggs needed. She pulled her gun from its holster behind her back, but Toni was now in the line of fire. There were sirens in the distance, but it was clear they would be too late. Boggs struggled to move, but her leg wouldn’t cooperate. Her hand was covered in blood and she could barely hold the gun. Paul was blathering insanely and slashing at both Toni and Mr. Rupert. Boggs, still on the floor, rolled slightly to her left and fired. The sound was deafening. The kick of the discharge in her blood-soaked hand caused the gun to slip, but she regained control immediately.
Everything froze for a moment, then Paul fell on his back.
Boggs scooted backward and leaned against the wall. With her uninjured leg she kicked Paul. He didn’t move. There was a bullet hole in his chest. She assumed he was dead.
“Toni,” she whispered. “Are you okay?”
225
Boggs remained where she was. She was bleeding pretty heavily and had pressed her palm over the wound. It hurt like a son of a bitch. She’d never been hurt this bad before.
“Toni,” she called out louder.
“I’m okay,” Toni said, her voice faint, “but Mr. Rupert is hurt.” Just then Vicky appeared at the bottom of the steps. “Vicky,” she cried out. “Are you okay?”
Vicky blinked several times. “Is he dead?” she asked. Her voice was barely a whisper and it looked like she was having trouble breathing. The side of her shirt was covered in blood.
Boggs answered, never looking away from Paul. “I think so,” she said. “Are you hurt bad?”
“Just a little pooped, how about you?”
She grinned. “I’m okay.”
No one moved. Boggs kept her gun trained on Paul. The sirens were closer, about two minutes out, she figured. Toni cradled Mr.
Rupert in her lap. There was blood everywhere.
Patty was the first to arrive, racing inside, her gun drawn.
Captain Billings came in right behind her. Patty radioed for an ambulance and went to check on Vicky.
Boggs and Toni were still sitting on the floor. Captain Billings checked Paul for signs of life. There were none, as Boggs suspected. “I think you can put that away now,” he said to her. “He’s dead.”
She lowered her weapon and the captain took it from her as he made a quick check of her injuries. She was mostly worried about her leg. The other cuts didn’t seem too bad. Patty was still with Vicky. Two ambulances arrived.
“I’m not going to the hospital,” Toni announced. “Would someone take me to the animal hospital please?” Patty grabbed a blanket from one of the medics and gently placed Mr. Rupert on it. Toni was telling her how Mr. Rupert had saved their lives.
“I’ll take care of him, Toni,” Patty said. She looked at the captain, who nodded. “I’m taking him right now.” Toni said she didn’t want to let Mr. Rupert go without her, but 226
when she tried to stand she became dizzy and had to sit back down.
An EMT was right beside her now. She argued for a little bit, but finally agreed. Patty was out the door with Mr. Rupert before she could change her mind.
An EMT had just finished putting a pressure bandage on Boggs’s leg and the medic had already taken Vicky out on a gurney.
Boggs heard the siren as the ambulance rushed to the hospital.
The EMT looking at Toni’s injuries smiled. “Most of these aren’t too deep,” he told her. “But you’re going to need a lot of stitches in the back of your head.”
He bandaged several places on her arms and the huge gash on the back of her head. Both she and Boggs were loaded into the second ambulance and taken to the hospital.
Patty had arrived at the animal hospital within ten minutes of leaving the apartment. As she gently handed Mr. Rupert to the vet, she told him how this wonderful cat had attempted to save the lives of three people. She gave him her cell phone number. He said he’d let her know about Mr. Rupert’s condition as soon as he could. She headed to the hospital.
She found a nurse in the ER and asked for any information about Vicky, Toni or Boggs. The nurse on duty was not the friend-liest woman on earth and gave Patty absolutely no info. Frustrated, she paced the waiting room. After about twenty minutes, she received a call from the vet. He told her that he’d stitched up Mr.
Rupert and he’d be just fine. Toni could pick him up in the morning.
Captain Billings arrived a few minutes later. Patty told him she’d gotten nowhere with the duty nurse. He smiled and pulled out his badge, fastening it on his belt. He went to the desk and started talking to the nurse. Patty couldn’t hear what he was saying but it was obvious she was responding positively. Several times Patty saw her flip her hair and touch the captain’s arm. After a few minutes, he motioned for Patty to join them.
“Vicky is in surgery right now,” the nurse explained. “She had a 227
collapsed lung and a deep wound on her arm.” The nurse also told them that Boggs had a serious laceration on her thigh. There was a smaller cut on her arm that could be stitched down in the ER, but they would be sending Boggs up to surgery to repair the gash in her leg. She would need to be on crutches for a couple days, but hopefully no permanent damage. Toni’s cuts were mostly superficial, but the one on the back of her head needed several stitches.
Both Boggs and Toni were supposed to stay overnight for observation.
“Can we see them?” Patty asked.
The nurse looked at Patty and then Captain Billings. She smiled coyly at the captain. “Well, it’s against policy. No one but family, but in this case I guess it’ll be okay. Just a couple minutes, though.”
The nurse ushered them into one of the trauma rooms. Toni was lying on her side while a doctor was working on the back of her head. Her eyes were closed.
“Toni,” Patty whispered.
Toni tried to sit up but was stopped by the doctor. She looked panicked. “Is Mr. Rupert okay?”
“I just talked to the vet,” Patty said, and filled Toni in on his prognosis.
Toni looked relieved. “What about Boggs? And Vicky? And how is Anne doing?”
Patty answered her as best as she could and then noticed that Toni’s clothing was in a bag on the floor. It was covered in blood.
“Hey,” Patty said. “How about me going over to your place and getting some clothes for you? The nurse said you had to stay overnight.”
Toni looked down at the gown she was wearing. “Oh, that would be great,” she said. “And could you grab my keys and stuff?
They should be in my briefcase by the dining room table. I’d really appreciate it. I’m surprised they even treated me without my insurance card.”
“You came in by ambulance and the hospital was notified that officers were down. They probably won’t bug you for insurance for 228
another hour at least,” Patty said. “I’ll grab your things for you.
I’m happy to be able to do something.”
Patty and the captain stayed only a few more minutes before the nurse kicked them out of the room. She led them down the hall. Boggs was being wheeled out of a room as they approached.
Patty walked alongside her, giving an update on Toni and Vicky.
She promised to bring Boggs’s bag from Toni’s apartment before the nurse cut her off.
“She’s got to go up to surgery now,” the nurse said. “You can see her in the morning.”
Patty waved to Boggs as the elevator doors closed. She looked at Captain Billings. “I’m going to head over to Toni’s now, is that okay?”
“Go ahead,” he said. “I’m going to stick around.” Patty arrived at the apartment to find the crime scene
unit working on the area where Fred was killed. Bannon told her they had already taken photographs and blood samples from inside the apartment and prints were taken from the bedroom window. He told her it would be about an hour before he could release the scene. She saw Frank sitting in a grassy area across from the front door and she joined him there. “Hey, detective.” He looked up. “How are they?” he asked.
Patty filled him in. “How come you’re still here,” she asked.
“I thought I’d wait for crime scene to finish, then I’d lock up,” he said.
Patty saw a gallon-sized plastic jug next to him and pointed to it.
“Oh, that stuff,” he said. “I thought I’d clean up a little. That’s good for blood.”
Exhausted, Patty sat down next to him. This was the first time she had ever seen Frank act like a decent human being. They waited in silence until Bannon motioned them over. Silently they went inside.
The place looked like a disaster area. Aside from all the blood, 229
the place was littered with trash from the ambulance crew. Patty found a scrub brush and paper towels in the kitchen and grabbed a trash bag from underneath the sink. Together they scrubbed the dining room carpet and picked up trash. They found a blood trail going up the stairs and another large pool of blood in the bedroom. While Patty worked on the carpet, Frank cleaned the fingerprint dust off the window and went to look for something to patch the hole.
He returned a few minutes later with cardboard and duct tape.
“This should do until we can get a replacement glass,” he said. It was the first time either had spoken in almost an hour.
Patty stood and stretched. You could barely see the stains.
“This stuff works really good,” she said. “What is it?”
“I don’t know,” Frank said. “My sister is a nurse and she uses it for her uniforms. I went over and borrowed it while I was waiting on Bannon.” He smiled for the first time. “It does work, doesn’t it?”
They retraced their steps back downstairs looking for any spots they may have missed. Patty returned the scrub brush and tied up the trash bag. “I guess that about does it,” she said. “Thanks, Frank. I know Toni will really appreciate this.” Frank looked embarrassed and he merely shrugged. Without saying anything else he picked up his plastic jug and left.
Anticipation Page 23