BODY IN THE BOX a gripping crime thriller full of twists

by E. R. FALLON

  “Cooper? You all right? Call an ambulance,” she said.

  “Yeah, I’m okay.” Dino searched his coat for his phone. He made the call.

  “Detective Cooper. Jackson’s been shot. We need a bus to the Second Avenue House immediately.” Dino glanced at Henry’s kneecap, which was gushing with blood. “Better make that two.”

  Henry tried to crawl toward the doorway.

  “Stay right where you are, you fucker,” Dino said. Blood was still dripping out of his shoe and he winced.

  Terry’s eyes fluttered. He reached for his chest and placed his hand over Rebecca’s. “Am I dying?”

  Dino watched Rebecca gaze down at Terry and shake her head. She touched his hand. “No. You’re going to be fine, Terry,” she whispered.

  Dino choked back tears at the sight of them. Sirens screeched in the distance and came closer. He heard Rebecca asking him if he was all right.

  “I’ll make it,” Dino said. “We need to focus on him. Do you hear me, Terry, you’re going to live.”

  Terry attempted a laugh, but just coughed up small bubbles of spit mixed with blood. “I . . .”

  “Try not to talk, Terry. It’ll hurt too much,” Rebecca said gently.

  Terry turned his head slightly toward Dino. Tears formed in Dino’s eyes as he nodded in agreement, realizing for once that he had nothing to say.

  * * *

  A few minutes later, which seemed much longer, the ambulance arrived to transfer Terry to Grand Memorial Hospital in a gurney. After Dino’s persistence, the paramedics had agreed to allow him to ride along with Terry despite his own injury. Dino had muttered how his foot didn’t need any damn help and that they should just focus on his buddy.

  Rebecca watched the ambulance race away and hoped to God that Terry would be okay. Henry Riley, still moaning, and after an injection by the paramedics, muttering incoherently, was loaded into a second ambulance.

  “Make sure you strap him down good,” Rebecca told one of the paramedics.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” the paramedic asked her.

  “Me? I’m fine.” She went to get into the Crown Victoria that she and Terry had arrived in.

  She was glad she had insisted that she should carry the car keys.

  Captain Peters and a bunch of patrol cars arrived. Rebecca rolled down the window to speak to the captain.

  Peters leaned his arm against the window frame. “Everhart. Heard what happened on the scanner. Good work.”

  “Jackson’s on the way to the hospital,” she said. “Cooper’s with him. Henry Riley’s in the ambulance in front of us.”

  “Think Jackson will make it?”

  “He was hurt pretty badly. There was a lot of blood. He went into Riley’s room ahead of me. I keep thinking it could’ve been me instead. It should’ve been me. He’s got a family.”

  The captain reached into the car and patted her hand. “Everhart, you did what you had to do. Teamwork means someone always has to go in first, and Jackson, as the senior officer, went first. You did good work in there. You saved Cooper’s life.” He gestured to the uniformed cops gathering in the background. “I’ll have these guys canvass the place. You head to the hospital — I’ll send two officers there to keep an eye on Riley. Again, well done here today.”

  Rebecca nodded but didn’t thank him. She didn’t want the praise right now. She just wanted Terry to live.

  She took the car out of park and drove to the hospital.

  * * *

  When Rebecca walked through the sliding doors of the emergency room, she found that two uniformed police officers were already waiting for her. She shook their hands. “Detective Everhart.”

  They gently recoiled from her grasp, and when she glanced at her hand she noticed that it was caked with Terry’s dried blood.

  “Is Riley in the back?” she said.

  One of the officers nodded. “Yeah. They’re working on his knee.”

  “And how about Detective Jackson?” Rebecca braced herself.

  “I’m afraid he’s pretty bad,” the other cop said. “He’s upstairs in surgery now.”

  Rebecca thought out loud. “Someone should call his wife.”

  “Want me to do it?”

  “No, I’ll do it,” she said.

  “We’ll keep an ear out in case there’s any trouble with Riley.” He nodded at the back room where Rebecca could hear Riley complaining.

  She searched for her phone in the pocket of her bloody coat that she’d carried inside for some reason. Now she was glad she had brought it with her. She found Terry’s wife’s number. She had entered it a few days ago, just in case something ever happened. And now it had, only a short time later. She waited for his wife to pick up. The phone rang six times before an answering machine came on.

  Hi! You’ve reached the Jacksons. Terry, Tulia, and Jimmy. No one’s home right now. Please leave a message and we’ll call you back.

  Hearing their names on their home machine was heartbreaking.

  So, she didn’t have a cell phone number for Terry’s wife. The machine beeped and Rebecca spoke into it.

  “Hello, Mrs. Jackson? This is Detective Everhart. I work with your husband. Mrs. Jackson, I hate leaving a message like this, but I have no other way to reach you. I don’t know how to tell you this . . . Terry’s been shot. He’s in surgery at Grand Memorial Hospital. I can pick you up and drive you if you need me to. Either way, please contact me right away. I’ll be waiting for you at the emergency room entrance.” She left her number.

  She hung up and breathed in. Delivering bad news was the one thing she disliked about her job. She decided that if Terry’s wife hadn’t contacted her in a half an hour, she would call his house again.

  She found a restroom and washed her hands, then chatted with the two other cops for a moment. But she felt useless, just hanging around when Terry could be dying.

  One of the cops, aware of her concern, said, “Detective Cooper’s inside there, behind that curtain, if you want to see him.” He gestured to the door at their right.

  She looked at the cop for a second, wondering if he knew how she felt about Dino. Was it that obvious?

  “Maybe I’ll go in and see him in a while,” she said. “But now I really should stay put and wait for Detective Jackson’s wife.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Tulia arrived at the house and saw that Terry’s car was not parked out front. She eased her car into a space and gathered her purse. It had been raining heavily when she’d left Andrew’s place, but now all that was left of the storm was a trace of mist in the air there at home.

  When Terry came home later, she would surprise him. It was early yet, and she could still send Jimmy over to her sister’s house for the night. She would greet Terry at their door wearing nothing but the red negligee he’d given her for her birthday and she hadn’t worn once. She would order takeout from that trendy Japanese restaurant and put on some Etta James.

  She unlocked the front door and found a note from Jimmy on the table in the hallway.

  Mom and Dad

  Went to Dan’s house. Be back before 10.

  Love,

  Jimmy

  She wasn’t too pleased that Jimmy had snuck out without having told her earlier about his plans, but she was satisfied that he had the smarts to leave a note and that he’d said he loved them. She put her purse and car keys down on the table next to Jimmy’s note. Then she saw the button flashing red on the answering machine and pressed play to hear the message. She hoped that Andrew Falter hadn’t called. She would never forgive herself if she brought another dangerous man into their lives.

  Tulia listened to Rebecca’s message and gasped. She put her hands to her face. She began to cry, and then managed to compose herself enough to grab her keys and purse and run out the door. She might have left the door open. She didn’t remember.

  She sprinted across the street, not bothering to look for passing cars. Then she remembered her car was parked on the
other side of the street and turned back. She thought about Jimmy once she was in the car. She drove off, figuring she’d call him from the hospital — he could probably get a ride from Dan’s parents.

  She was sure she’d run over a pedestrian in a crosswalk or slam into a car in front of her at any moment. She knew she probably should have called Terry’s partner and gotten a ride, but she couldn’t wait. She wanted to be with Terry right away. She had to see for herself that he wasn’t dead. And if he was dying, she wanted to be there next to him.

  Tulia parked in front of the emergency room and raced toward the entrance.

  An attractive woman greeted her inside. “Mrs. Jackson?”

  Tulia nodded.

  “I’m Rebecca Everhart.”

  “Is Terry alive?”

  “Yes.”

  Tulia breathed out in relief. “My car. They’ll tow it if I leave it outside like that.” She gestured frantically to her car outside.

  “Here, let me take your keys. I’ll park the car for you. Don’t worry about it. Terry’s on the second floor.” Rebecca gestured to the officers. “One of these guys will take you up there.”

  Rebecca spoke to the cops. “Guys, this is Detective Jackson’s wife. One of you please take her up to where he is.”

  The younger officer stepped forward and took her arm. “Ma’am.” He nodded at her.

  Tulia walked with the cop down the endless hall to the elevator. When she glanced back at Rebecca, she saw that the detective’s eyes looked wet. Why did Rebecca seem as concerned as she was? The precinct was like a family, she saw that now.

  A surgeon was waiting for Tulia when she stepped out of the elevator car on the second floor. The sight of his somber expression worried Tulia even more. She didn’t want a hospital to be the last thing on earth that Terry saw.

  “Mrs. Jackson?” The surgeon’s voice snapped her back into reality.

  “Yes?” She quickly shook his hand. “Is my husband okay?” She was crying again and the cop handed her a tissue.

  “He’s doing much better, Mrs. Jackson,” the surgeon said. “We managed to stop the bleeding and have removed the bullet. He’s just been moved to the ICU. He’s heavily sedated.”

  Tulia hugged the surgeon and he patted her back.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  The surgeon smiled. “You’re welcome.”

  “If it’s okay, Mrs. Jackson,” said the officer, “I’ll leave you now and go back downstairs.”

  Tulia had forgotten he was there. “Yes, that’s fine. Thank you.”

  Terry was in the critical care unit. His eyes were closed. IV drips were inserted in two places on his body, and he was connected to a heart and breathing monitor. A small tube at the front of his chest drained the bullet wound of harmful fluids, the surgeon explained to Tulia.

  “He’s breathing on his own now,” the surgeon said. “When he came in he was in pretty bad shape. We had to intubate him.”

  “Is he in a coma?”

  The surgeon shook his head.

  “He’s going to live, right?”

  “He’s doing better,” the surgeon said.

  Tulia moved close to the hospital bed. “Can I touch him?”

  “Of course, Mrs. Jackson. I’ll be outside talking to his nurse.”

  Tulia reached for Terry’s hand when the surgeon left the room. As she adjusted the pillows behind Terry’s head, she wept. She had always known this moment could come but she had never really thought it would.

  “Oh, Terry. How do I tell Jimmy? How do I tell our son?”

  She put her head down on the bed railing and sobbed. She looked up when she heard a knock on the door.

  Rebecca was standing in the doorway. “Hi. I heard he was out of surgery.”

  Tulia tried to put herself together. “Please, come in.”

  Rebecca stepped into the room and stood at the other side of Terry’s bed. “Is there anyone you would like me to call, Mrs. Jackson?”

  “Call me Tulia.” She smiled as much as she could manage given the situation. “My son,” she whispered.

  “Would you like me to call him?”

  “Yes, if you can. He’s at his friend’s house still, I think. I don’t have their number.” Tulia tried but failed to recall the number of Jimmy’s friend Dan.

  “That’s okay,” Rebecca said. “I can get it. What’s the friend’s name?”

  “Dan, Dan Michaels. His father’s name is Dwight.”

  “Dwight Michaels,” Rebecca repeated. “I’m going to step outside for a bit.”

  Tulia nodded. She reached down to stroke Terry’s hand. His face seemed drained of color.

  “Terry, I’m so sorry I doubted our marriage’s strength.”

  She wiped away tears as she looked over her husband, immobile in the white hospital bed.

  “But when you pull out of this, baby, and you will, I know things are going to be different. I love you, Terry . . .” She stopped talking when she noticed his head moving.

  He grumbled a little and gradually opened his eyes.

  “Terry!” She touched his face. “It’s okay, baby. You’re in the hospital. You were shot. I’m here with you. Don’t worry if you can’t talk now, honey.”

  He glanced up at her with bright eyes and she smiled at him.

  “I haven’t been honest with you lately,” she said.

  Someday she would come clean to him about who she’d foolishly been seeing. But not right now. Terry didn’t need bad news.

  “Nobody’s perfect,” Terry said with a smile.

  It was just like him to joke at a moment like that.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Rebecca returned to the station that same night to work on the paperwork for the Lev Ilyin case. The boy hadn’t been claimed by anyone, but at least he had been given a name.

  She knew that Terry had a long road to recovery ahead of him, and most likely it would be months before he could return even to desk duty. But he had the support of his family and the station.

  She hadn’t stopped in to see Dino on her way down after calling Jimmy’s friend’s house. She had briefed the two officers who were assigned to keep an eye on Henry Riley, and then she’d left the hospital. She felt guilty — she was the only member of the team who had escaped the evening unharmed.

  Her phone rang. The station was fairly quiet at that time of the night. Those who had lives outside of work had already returned home to their families or were in the process of doing so. Many of her colleagues had stopped by her desk to ask how Terry was doing. Rebecca saw Dino’s name on her phone screen. She contemplated a moment before picking up.

  “Hello?”

  “Everhart, it’s me.”

  “How’s your foot?”

  “Good. I get to keep my toe. Why did you run off?”

  Rebecca switched the subject. “I’m glad your foot’s okay. I asked a nurse about you before I left. I wanted to make sure you were okay. I didn’t leave before I knew you were all right.”

  “Thanks.” Dino sounded pleased. “I just went up to see Terry—actually, one of the nurses wheeled me up to his floor.”

  “I’m sorry I missed that.”

  Dino chuckled.

  “How’s Terry doing?” she asked. “When I left he was starting to wake up.”

  “He’s doing much better. He’s even talking a little. He told me he felt like shit.”

  Rebecca beamed to herself. “That’s great.”

  “Are you stuck doing the paperwork?”

  “Yeah. Peters wants me to turn it in the first thing in the morning, ideally.”

  “That’s one of the perks of being injured. We don’t have to do the paperwork. Sorry we left you stuck with all of that.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’m glad you guys are okay.”

  “Hey, Everhart?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You know, I’ve been thinking. You’re the first woman I’ve considered retiring for.”

  �
��What?”

  “I mean, I’d give it all up to be with you.”

  “Dino, what are you . . .”

  “You don’t have to say anything right now. Just think about it, okay? Think about how maybe there could be an us.”

  “Cooper, you don’t have to retire for me.”

  He was silent. “I’ll be down at the station in the morning. I think. Either way, do you want to grab breakfast? Lulu’s?”

  “Okay, but I don’t think you’ll be coming down to the station with your foot injured so badly.”

  “I know, but I can’t seem to stay away from the place.”

  “It’s not going to be the same here without Terry — until he comes back.”

  “I know, but he’ll pull through,” Dino said. “He has a tough spirit. See you in the a.m.”

  Rebecca said goodbye. She gazed at the document in front of her and thought about what Dino had said. She enjoyed his company, and even though in the past she’d had a policy against dating co-workers, she felt maybe she could make an exception.

  * * *

  Dino’s nurse wheeled him over to the vending machine in the emergency room hallway. He stuck a dollar into the machine and got a can of soda. He was glad that the nurse had let him put his pants back on after he had insisted. There was no way he would have gone upstairs to see Terry with his ass showing through a nightgown, even if Terry was semi-unconscious.

  The nurse had told him she’d just started working at the hospital a few weeks ago. He looked over his shoulder and asked, “Do you mind wheeling me up to the second floor again? I don’t think I can make it that far on my own in this thing.” He gestured to his wheels.

  “You want to see your friend again, right?”

  “Yeah. I want to bring this to his wife.” He held up the cold can of soda.

  “I’m not supposed to let you leave just yet, but I guess it’d be okay for you to go up one floor again, since you’re a cop and all.”

  “Thanks. But please don’t go too fast.”

  The nurse laughed. They got into the elevator and on the second floor she wheeled him down to Terry’s room.

  Terry was asleep in the bed, his wife leaning over him, whispering into his ear. As Dino waited in the doorway with the nurse he wondered if he should just tell her to turn around and let Terry and Tulia be alone for a while.