Oh. She forgot. She already was dead.
Shit.
Meredith turned her attention to the camera, trying to turn the damn thing on so she could view the pictures and then delete them. Ricky’s fingers were so big, thick and cumbersome it was hard to maneuver them over the tiny buttons and levers. Finally the device whirred to life and Meredith pressed the review button. Nothing. No pictures. She wasn’t an expert on digital cameras, not having purchased one yet, but Karyn was a photo buff, always showing Meredith her latest pictures in her camera’s viewfinder. Meredith remembered Karyn talking about putting in a new memory card to store more pictures. Yes…that was it. The pictures were stored on the camera’s memory card. Now Meredith just had to figure out how to access it.
After what seemed like an eternity she found the menu item that allowed the user to switch between the camera’s memory and the removable memory card. She switched it to memory card mode. Nothing. Just a blank screen. Frustrated beyond belief, Meredith opened the compartment that housed the memory card. The chamber was empty.
Alicia! That conniving little bitch had already removed it.
And that meant Meredith had failed…she’d failed Jack.
All the pent-up fear, disappointment, hope and despair came crashing out of Meredith in a gush of tears. There she stood, six-foot-whatever of naked solid muscle and she was bawling like a baby.
And the sobbing noise emanating from Ricky’s vocal chords wasn’t very pretty.
“Stop it. Stop it right now,” Meredith chastised herself as she hiccupped and gulped for air. “Standing here blubbering isn’t going to help Jack or Karyn.” She swiped Ricky’s meaty paws across her eyes and down her cheeks. She had to get that memory card from Alicia before the bitchy little larcenist sold the pictures and skipped town.
With a deep cleansing breath, Meredith bolted from the alley and broke into a run—disregarding the flapping thing between her legs.
That’s when she heard the police siren.
Chapter Ten
“Officer, I can explain,” Meredith said as she stood spread eagle with her hands up against a brick wall.
The cop snickered. “This ought to be good. Muldoon,” he called to his partner still in the squad car, “get over here.”
Meredith peered over her shoulder to see the tall skinny cop who’d stopped her and his roly-poly sidekick exiting the car. “I live just down the street,” she explained, “with my girlfriend and she kicked me out after we had a fight.”
“And so you decided to prance around the city in your birthday suit, huh?” Muldoon said. “Yeah, sounds logical to me. What about you, Kravitz?”
“I say this guy’s strung out on dope.”
“No! No, I’m not on anything. Honest. She locked me out, officers. All my clothes are in the apartment. I was just…just trying to find something to cover myself with when you showed up.”
Kravitz nodded. “In the alley? You figured you’d roll some poor old bum and steal his clothes.” He huffed. “What a prince.”
“Look, this is serious.” Meredith growled in frustration. “I’m going to be completely honest with you because time is of the essence. My girlfriend and I are criminals. We took compromising photos of a celebrity and we were planning to sell them to the highest bidder. But I had a change of heart and tried to talk her out of it. That’s when she kicked me out. If we don’t stop her she’ll skip town and the guy’s life will be ruined.” Meredith turned to look at the cops, covering Ricky’s cock, which had shrunk to the size of a cashew, with her hands. “Please, you have to help me get those photos before someone’s life is destroyed.”
The cops looked at each other, devoid of laughter. “Full name and address,” Kravitz said, flipping out a small pad of paper and a pen.
“I’m Ricky and she’s Alicia. Um…” What the hell were the last names Dev had mentioned? Meredith drew a blank and frowned. “I don’t remember the last names and…” she looked skyward and gulped, “I don’t know the address. But I remember which building it is.”
Muldoon shook his head. “Doesn’t know his name or address. What, are you just outta kindergarten or something? Or are you just trying to be funny?”
“It’s complicated,” Meredith said. “Dev, help me here, please,” she whispered, looking skyward again and then, realization dawning, shifting her gaze down to the ground. “Just give me their names and address.”
“You’ve got to be kidding, pumpkin,” Dev’s chuckling voice oozed. “I’m not the good guys, remember? You’re on your own…and I’m enjoying every agonizing minute of it.”
“Damn,” Meredith mumbled.
“See,” Kravitz said, “he’s talking to himself. I told you he’s on something. I say we haul his ass in.”
And that’s when Meredith started to cry again. Fat, wailing, unattractive sobs that shook her big manly body.
“Aw Jesus Christ,” Muldoon said. “Knock it off.”
“Please, officers, I know it sounds strange and I know it seems like I’m drunk or on drugs but you have to believe me. I’m telling you the God’s honest truth and we’re wasting precious time. For God’s sake, please help me.”
The cops looked at each other. Muldoon yanked a handkerchief from his pocket. “Here, quit crying and clean yourself up.” He turned to his partner. “Maybe we should check his story out.”
Kravitz shrugged. “Why not. It’s a slow morning anyway.”
“It’s just a few buildings away,” Meredith offered hopefully. “That one, I think.” She pointed. “No, wait. It’s that’s building. Yeah, I remember the ornately turned scrollwork flourish embellishing the wrought iron gate.”
“You hear that?” Muldoon said. “He’s a queer.”
“I am not,” Meredith protested. “And I’m not a lesbian either.”
“Naw, I just think his brain is fried,” Kravitz offered. “I’ll escort nature boy here on foot, you can follow in the squad.” Kravitz jangled a pair of handcuffs and Meredith blanched.
“Cuffs? You’re going to handcuff me?” Her chin quivered and she cried harder.
Muldoon and Kravitz exchanged rolling-eye glances.
“He seems harmless enough,” Muldoon said.
“I won’t cause any trouble,” Meredith said. “I promise.” She wiped her eyes and blew her nose then extended the handkerchief to Muldoon, whose lip curled.
“That’s okay,” he said before getting back into the car, “you keep it.”
They’d only gone a short distance when Meredith gasped and pointed. “That’s her! That’s Alicia, standing at the curb!” Meredith broke into a full run with Kravitz right on her heels.
“Hold it, kid,” Kravitz was shouting. “You can’t go running around the streets of Portland like that with your dick hanging out.”
“Alicia! Alicia, stop!” Meredith screamed, well, with Ricky’s deep voice it was more of a bellow. “I need that memory card.”
“Just stay away from me, Ricky,” Alicia yelled back. She reached into her purse and then braced her arm close against her side, her hand outstretched.
Meredith was less than a hundred feet away from her now. She heard Kravitz yelling something in the distance but her adrenaline was pumping so hard and fast she couldn’t focus on whatever it was he was saying. The only thing that mattered was getting the card with Jack’s photos.
“I’m warning you, Ricky. Don’t come any closer. Don’t make me hurt you.”
Meredith hesitated only a fraction of a second. Whatever Alicia was holding looked too small to be a gun. It could have been a small knife, in which case Meredith knew she could overpower her easily. But whatever it was, she sure as hell wasn’t about to wimp out now and risk Jack’s future. She kept advancing toward Alicia.
“I’ve got the cops with me, Alicia. They know everything. Give up the memory card.”
“You’re not gonna fuck this up for me, Ricky, cops or no cops.”
Meredith was close enough now to see the tears
streaming down Alicia’s cheeks. A few more feet and she’d be close enough to grab her. And then she heard a couple of pops and felt something hot invading her chest.
Her gaze dropped to Alicia’s trembling hand then and she saw the petite derringer, still pointing at Ricky. Well sonuvabitch. What do you know about that…it was a gun after all.
It was getting hard to breathe, but she kept on running. And then she heard another pop and felt liquid fire burning in her lungs. It felt like she was moving in slow motion, almost like running through a sea of molasses. Ricky’s body was buff and strong and in shape—his body wouldn’t let her down. Not now. It couldn’t. She had to save Jack and Karyn. Nothing else mattered. She watched as a late-model sedan came to a screeching stop at the curb. The passenger door swung open and Alicia scurried in. The car burned rubber, fishtailed and then raced out of sight.
No. No! She was so close. It wasn’t fair! Meredith tried to scream out Alicia’s name again but nothing but warm liquid came out of her mouth. Meredith saw the squad with Muldoon at the wheel speed by, siren blaring, in hot pursuit. Kravitz caught up with Meredith, holding his side and gasping for breath, just as she fell to her knees on the pavement.
“I’m getting too old for this,” Kravitz wheezed as he got down on his knees and supported Meredith. “Damn it, kid, I yelled out that she had a gun. Why didn’t you get down when I told you to?”
Meredith had been so intent on getting the memory card from Alicia that she never heard Kravitz’s warning over the pounding pulse in her ears. Kravitz seemed like a nice man. She wanted to tell him it wasn’t his fault. She wanted to explain everything to him, the whole sordid story, but she felt herself drifting in and out of consciousness. She slumped to the side and Kravitz cradled her, holding Ricky’s injured body in his arms.
She heard him talking on his phone or radio or whatever it was. Something about backup. Something about an ambulance. She did her best to point in the direction of Alicia’s getaway car and then she managed to gurgle out the word please.
After that, everything went black.
———
It was the steady beeping that roused Meredith. Or maybe it was the voices. She didn’t know where she was…or whose body she was in. She had tubes sticking out of her and it hurt to breathe. She must be in the hospital. This time, unlike the time she’d stepped into a nonexistent elevator car and plunged several stories before landing, Meredith knew she was dying. She could feel it. Sense it.
And she’d failed. She remembered that. Alicia still had the memory card with the photos.
“His name is Richard Scholl. Goes by Ricky. He’s one of the security guards at the Northwest Passage Hotel downtown where you’re staying.”
That was Kravitz the cop. Meredith recognized his voice.
“Yeah, I recognize him. But why does he want to see me?”
Jack. That was Jack’s voice! Meredith tried to call out his name but it just came out as a moan.
“Claims he was trying to stop his girlfriend, Alicia Gonciarz, the hotel maid who found you, from having some compromising photos of you published. Ever since we brought him here a couple of hours ago he’s been asking for you.”
Meredith sensed it when Jack neared her bed. She could feel him, smell him. She opened her eyes and looked up at Jack. He looked drained and tired and stressed. And it was all her fault.
“Is he going to make it?” Jack asked. Meredith didn’t have to see Kravitz or the doctor she’d heard in the background shaking their heads no, because she already knew she was going to die. She just needed to hold on long enough to talk to Jack. If she could just explain…just apologize…
“Hey, Ricky. It’s me, Jack McKenna. I hear you’ve been asking for me.”
“Jack,” Meredith whispered with great difficulty. “So sorry…love you…Meredith.”
She saw Jack’s eyebrows knit. “What about Meredith, Ricky? Do you know where she is? Is she all right?”
“That your wife?” Kravitz asked.
“My ex-wife. I’ve been trying to contact her ever since…well, for the last few hours.”
“It’s…me…I’m M—” The admission choked in Meredith’s throat. Damn. Dev had stuck to her guns and wouldn’t allow Meredith to tell Jack who she really was, even now. She felt a fat tear escape and trickle down the outside of her cheek. Crying made breathing more difficult. She had to stay calm. She swallowed hard and tried again.
“She…sorry…loves…you. Loves…Karyn. Meredith…so…sorry.”
“Ricky, how do you know about my ex-wife and her friend? How did you know she did this to me?”
“Did what?” Kravitz asked.
“Nothing,” Jack said. “It’s not important.”
“Apparently it is,” Kravitz said, “to the kid, anyway.” Kravitz hiked his thumb toward Meredith. “Important enough to risk his life.”
“Gentlemen, you’re overtaxing my patient. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Meredith’s pain-riddled chest burned with panic. “No! …Stay.”
“It’s okay, kid, we’re not going anywhere,” Kravitz said. “You just settle down now and try to keep as comfortable as possible.”
“Alicia…” Meredith whispered.
“Don’t worry. We called in plenty of backup and caught her and the driver.”
A pleasant sense of elation blanketed the pain in Meredith’s chest. “Memory…card?”
“It’s at the bottom of the Willamette River. Muldoon said she was one helluva feisty little firecracker.” Kravitz chuckled softly. “Near beat the hell out of him while he was trying to cuff her. During the scuffle the memory card flew out of her hand and off the Burnside Bridge. Trust me, nobody’ll be seeing those pictures now, kid, so you can rest easy.”
“Thank…you…God…Jack, Karyn safe…” Meredith’s eyelids fluttered closed.
“Ricky,” Jack said, “what about Meredith? Please, Ricky. Is she okay? Has anyone hurt her?”
As she looked up and Jack and saw the concern in his eyes—the love for her in his eyes—Meredith’s entire being filled with a soothing comfort unlike anything she’d ever known before. “Meredith okay…happy…never better.”
And when she closed her eyes this time, she was aware of her spirit lifting from Ricky’s body. The next thing she knew, she was floating near the ceiling of the hospital room and looking down at Ricky, Jack, Kravitz, the doctor and a flurry of medical people scurrying around. The monitor she’d been hooked up to had straight-lined, with a steady, uninterrupted tone.
Ricky was dead.
She was dead.
Jack was safe.
Karyn was safe.
And Meredith had never felt happier or more content.
Chapter Eleven
Meredith held out her hands and studied them through the fog-like mist surrounding her. They were her hands, not Ricky’s! She latched on to a hunk of hip and pressed her thumb and fingers into the ample flesh, delighting in the suppleness where Ricky’s hips had been slim and unyielding. It was probably the only time she could ever remember actually being happy to feel that excess padding. Next she fastened her hands to her breasts, squeezing them just to make sure they were really there. And finally, clamping her hand against her crotch, a squeal of unbridled joy tripped past her lips at the confirmation that there wasn’t a pulsing cock there instead of a nice soft pussy. Yes! She was back in her own wonderfully soft, round and curvy female body.
“I’m all woman again. Thank you G—”
Her words were cut off when a strip of duct tape clapped across her mouth.
“I’m profoundly disappointed in you, Meredith. I had such high hopes for you.”
At the unmistakable sound of Dev’s voice, Meredith froze. Something had gone terribly wrong if she was still stuck in this hell hole with the Queen of Vexation. She took in the familiar surroundings as the haze cleared and tore the tape from her face, wincing at the sting. “What am I doing back down here? I thought I was going
to—”
“Don’t say it,” Dev commanded, jabbing an accusatory finger at Meredith. “Do not let me hear the H word come out of those lips.”
Four pieces of duct tape promptly slapped across Meredith’s lips in crisscross fashion. She ripped them off, grumbling in frustration. “Stop doing that!”
“Only when you stop invoking those infuriating words.” Dev folded her arms across her chest, thrusting her chin into the air like a stubborn child.
“Okay, Dev, I’ve really had enough of your immature fun and games. I thought you and I were finished…so why am I here instead of…” Meredith silently hiked a thumb heavenward. If she had to spend much more time with devil-woman and her warped sense of humor she’d probably go insane.
“Standard technicalities, darling.” Dev strutted leisurely, circling Meredith as she dragged from a ruby-encrusted cigarette holder. Meredith watched as the train from Dev’s killer red-beaded gown swept the marble floor. “There are particulars which must be tended to before your reprieve is final. That is…if it’s final. I haven’t decided if I want to let you go just yet.”
Before Meredith had a chance to open her mouth in wailing protest, a resplendent bolt of lightning flashed and thunder roared overhead. With a narrow-eyed glare, Dev angled her face up and shook a fist into the air.
“Damn! I was just teasing her. You never let me have any fun anymore!” She took another drag from the jeweled holder and curls of smoke streamed from her nose. “Sometimes this job really sucks,” she grumbled, returning her attention to Meredith. “I need a drink.” A quick flick of her wrist and her fingers encircled the stem of a glass containing a six-olive martini, which Dev promptly guzzled.
“So that means I made it?” Meredith asked cautiously. “I’m getting out of Hell?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” Dev answered with a dismissive wave and monumental sigh. “And whatever you do, don’t gloat. Gloating will definitely extend your stay.”
Meredith breathed an audible sigh of relief. “So what happens next? What do we have to do?”
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