by Tom Barber
She glanced at the stack of Leann’s photos from the case-file, which had been placed to one side on a table, images on paper all that was left of her friend.
‘The moment we met, Leann and I hit it off. A lot of girls never attempt to leave, either out of fear or because they get used to the life and enjoy the extra money, but Leann was as desperate as me to get out, maybe even more so. After she did those three months at Rikers, it occupied her every waking thought. So we started making plans.’
‘How were you going to do it?’ Shepherd asked.
‘It was risky but we began keeping back tiny amounts of money so Carlos and Alex wouldn’t notice; it took a few months but we built up a reserve. Enough to escape and set up somewhere else.’
She exhaled.
‘In August we were ready, financially anyway; we figured if we waited any longer Carlos or Alex might discover what we were planning. But we couldn’t leave just then.’
‘Why not?’ Archer asked.
‘Because Leann was addicted to painkillers. She knew she had to get off them before we could go anywhere so she checked herself into rehab where they couldn’t get to her. That really pissed them off, especially as she was one of their best earners, but there was nothing they could do. Four weeks later she came out clean.’
She paused.
‘I met her at the clinic in a cab and took her home; this was it. No more waiting. We knew we had to leave immediately before Carlos and Alex discovered she was out. We were so excited. The taxi dropped her off at her place then took me back to mine so I could pack. She was going to come pick me up half an hour later in her car. Then we’d be out of here.’
She took a deep breath.
‘That was the last time I ever saw her.’
Silence filled the room. Beside her Archer was taken back four weeks, seeing the young blonde walking towards her car, making her escape.
Seeing the fear on her face that split-second before she was shot.
‘I don’t know how Carlos and Alex found out she was bailing but they did what they threatened to do if one of us tried to leave,’ April said.
She paused.
‘And now all the other girls have disappeared. Leann wasn’t the last to die. She was the first.’
THIRTY
‘Since Leann was killed, we started calling round to make sure everyone was OK,’ April explained. ‘Yesterday was my turn and some of them weren’t answering their phones. They weren’t at home either. I checked. By midday, I couldn’t get hold of four of them. By sundown, it was eight.’
She paused.
‘This morning, there were just three of us picking up. A few hours ago, one of them, Cece, called me; she was shit-scared and said Kelly had stopped picking up her phone. But while we were talking, she was attacked. I heard her scream.’
She paused.
‘After that call cut out, I ran back to my apartment meaning to pack a bag and disappear. But when I got to my door, I saw a paper clip I always push in the gap under the door handle lying on the floor. I saw someone do it in a cop show once; you never know what kind of whack-jobs might find out where you live.’
‘Smart,’ Shepherd said. ‘So that’s when you ran.’
She nodded. ‘When I saw that paper clip lying there, I kept going down my corridor and went down the fire escape into the alley. I crept back down to the edge of the building and saw two people, dressed in white overalls and ball caps. They ran out of the building and were looking around. I think they were searching for me.’
The moment she mentioned the white overalls, the reasons surrounding the ten women’s sudden disappearances suddenly became a lot clearer. Shepherd swore quietly. Hendricks remained silent. Ethan and Marquez glanced at each other but said nothing. April looked down at the table.
Beside her, Archer glanced up at Lister’s photo on the big screen, the dead woman holding the placard with her name and ID number on it, the two shots of her two accomplices beside her.
Ten missing women.
Two people, dressed in white overalls and ball caps.
Then he had a quick image in his mind of what they’d found in Santiago’s bathtub.
‘They killed Cece and Kelly, didn’t they?’ April said, looking up at the photos. ‘Just like they did Alex and Carlos. Just like they tried to do to me in the bar.’
No-one replied, everyone in the room realising that they’d just stumbled upon something far bigger and more complicated than two shot police detectives and a single murdered escort.
‘We can send someone round to collect your things,’ Shepherd said, breaking the quiet. ‘You’re safe now.’
‘But my friends aren’t, are they? Where the hell were you guys four weeks ago?’
‘We weren’t dealing with the case then. Someone else had it.’
‘So it takes ten more of us to die for you to actually do something about it?’ she snapped back.
Shepherd didn’t reply. She paused and caught her breath, taking a few moments.
‘It’s not your fault. I’m sorry.’
‘So are we,’ Marquez said. ‘And we only got our hands on this a few hours ago. But we’re gonna do everything we can to find who’s doing this and why. I promise.’
Across the room Hendricks had remained silent while listening to April; now her account was over he stepped forward, rummaged through the Leann Casey file and withdrew the piece of paper with the known associates on it. Pulling his phone, he dialled a number and stepped out of the room, his voice audible from the walkway as he connected with CSU and requested teams be dispatched to the addresses of the girls to check them out.
‘Could they still be alive?’ Ethan asked those remaining in the room as they heard Hendricks make his request. ‘Just because those two were at your apartment building doesn’t mean all the others are dead.’
‘I guess we’ll find out,’ Shepherd said quietly.
At the table beside April, Archer glanced up at the CCTV images of the two suspects who’d lye-bathed Goya, Santiago and possibly ten more women.
‘Jesus Christ,’ he said quietly. ‘We have to find these guys.’
*
Across the city, the two men were patching themselves up at the East-Side warehouse they used as a base to mix the lye solution and store their vehicles, the car they’d jacked to get out of the Upper West Side now abandoned across the hangar.
Both were severely pissed off, not only because April Evans had slipped through their fingers but because street CCTV and cameras from inside the bar would have crystal clear images of them by now. They knew they couldn’t wear ball caps inside that upmarket bar without standing out like sore thumbs, but the bar hadn’t had cameras at the rear of the building and they’d already located an exit they could use to get April’s body out so they hadn’t expected it to be a problem.
Once they’d found her, they’d assumed the rest would be easy, but then that cop had turned up.
They’d also realised that with the fight in the bar and the chase that followed, cameras would have captured them without masks or their baseball caps. For the first time since they’d started all this, they’d be identifiable. And as well as their van, the NYPD would probably have their IDs already or would do very soon, which meant that one mistake was threatening to unravel years of meticulous planning. Like roaches when the lights came on they’d scuttled for cover but were now feeling the intense spotlight of attention focusing right on them. Reloading his silenced FN.45 pistol, the bigger man swore, furious. He didn’t like to lose; it didn’t happen often.
‘How the hell did that son of a bitch know she was at that bar?’ he said.
‘Who gives a shit,’ the smaller man replied, pulling away the gauze on his cheek and spitting out blood. ‘I’m getting the hell out of here. Forget leaving at midnight; I’m splitting right now.’
‘No you’re not,’ the big guy said. ‘We’re not done.’
‘I don’t give a shit. We need to get out while we still can.
’
‘Have you suddenly forgotten the whole reason we’re here? And who you are?’
‘You think I could forget that?’
‘We don’t leave until we close it out. We’ve waited too long for this. There are still four of them left. Five if you include that son of a bitch who survived the shotgun blast.’
‘The cops have our faces, on camera,’ the smaller man said slowly, raising his voice and emphasising the words. ‘It’s not going to take them long to find out who we are, if they haven’t already. They’ll be crawling all over us soon.’
‘We’ll be careful.’
‘These people aren’t dumb. They’ll track back and make connections.’
‘Forget the cops; what about the hooker? You think we can just leave without taking care of her? She knows too much.’
‘She doesn’t know shit. We’re safe enough.’
‘She and the bitch who got shot in the car park were friends; they were thick as thieves. Who knows what they talked about? Leann knew a lot. April Evans is dangerous.’
The smaller man paused, trying to stay calm, his body sore from that asshole cop slamming him around the restroom. Inhaling and exhaling slowly, he breathed through the pain, trying to focus and not let it cloud his judgement.
‘We can’t leave without taking care of the whore,’ the big guy repeated, seeing his words were having an effect. ‘Not to mention the other Prizraki. We’re in this together to the end, right?’
The smaller man nodded slowly. ‘Shit. You’re right.’
‘I know. I usually am.’
His partner smiled, calming down. ‘So what now? How are we going to get to the bitch?’
‘It’s being worked on,’ the larger man replied, taking his phone out of his pocket and motioning with it. ‘But we’ve got an hour to kill. The last few Priz are all holed up in the club and it doesn’t open until 10pm.’
‘So what are we going to do until then? Lay low?’
‘Get some revenge on that son of a bitch who killed Nina and did this to us.’
‘The pretty boy cop? How?’
The bigger man smiled. ‘Think about who got shot in the car park the night all this shit started.’
‘The prostitute, the cop-’ He paused. ‘And his girlfriend. Holy shit.’
His partner nodded.
‘Detective Alice Vargas. And she’s not behind security at any police station. She’s still at St Luke’s hospital.’
THIRTY ONE
Once April finished her account, the detective team separated. Asking CSU to call the Conference Room back the moment they had anything from the missing girls’ apartments, Hendricks went downstairs to check on his wife, kids and the others involved in the night’s events as Marquez called the hospital to get a report on the gunman and speak to Josh to get an update on Michelle’s condition.
Upstairs, Shepherd and Ethan were still inside the Conference Room talking with April, Shepherd going over the main points again and making sure he hadn’t missed anything that could prove to be useful, as Ethan ran the two suspects’ faces through every system at his disposal, searching for IDs.
Standing on the wooden walkway and taking the opportunity of a moment alone, Archer looked back into the Conference Room at the red-headed woman. She was only eight years younger than him but life had dealt them a very different set of cards. No wonder she was scared; if he’d been ten seconds later in getting to the bar or had checked the other place four blocks south first, there would have been a very different outcome.
As he watched her talk with Shepherd and Ethan, his thoughts turned to her friends, the ten missing women, and the three people they were ninety nine percent certain were responsible for their disappearance. Archer had encountered evil on many occasions in his time as a cop, men and women who’d had no value for human life, but dissolving their victims’ bodies and then flushing them into the sewers was a new one on him. Totally outmatched, the women wouldn’t have stood a chance.
And that really pissed him off. Turning and looking down at the pit below, Archer saw all the investigation team’s family members gathered, people who would most probably have died tonight if not for Isabel and Melissa’s interventions. Hendricks was down there reassuring them, making sure they were coping in the aftermath of what had happened.
Isabel was with Josh’s eldest son, who was listening to Hendricks closely, but she’d spotted Archer and was looking straight up at him, not paying attention to what the Sergeant was saying.
She smiled and gave him a wave, both of which he returned.
As he did so, he felt a pang of guilt. She had no idea that Vargas had been so badly injured. The morning after the shooting, when Vargas’s condition was still critical and Archer had literally only just scrubbed her blood off his hands, he’d gone home, picked the girl up from his neighbour and taken her to Josh’s. He’d told her that Alice had been forced to go back to LA to visit a sick relative, which was why she’d left in such a hurry.
He’d blundered through the explanation, exhausted and stressed, but Isabel was young enough to have taken it at face value, trusting him implicitly. He still wondered whether that had been fair of him. The only person in the world who arguably cared more about Alice than he did was Isabel; did she deserve to know the truth even though he was just trying to protect her?
Was it his right not to tell her?
With the little girl still looking up at him, Archer heard some movement from the Conference Room and turned as Shepherd approached, having just left Ethan with April. As his Sergeant joined him on the walkway, Archer glanced past Shepherd at April who was looking at him uncertainly. He gave her a quick thumbs up, which seemed to reassure her, but just like Isabel downstairs she kept her gaze on him. Her account had taken a lot of honesty and courage to tell. He liked her for it; she’d not held anything back, even though it can’t have been easy telling a roomful of cops what had happened to her.
‘Talk about a goddamned Pandora’s box,’ Shepherd said, standing beside Archer and looking over the railing at the people below. ‘We decide to take a look at this case to make sure Homicide nailed the right two guys. Now we find two more victims and possibly another ten.’
‘Any word on the surviving gunman?’ Archer asked. ‘The guy in surgery?’
‘Not yet.’
Archer swore. ‘They moved on our families within twenty minutes of Lister getting shot. They had those addresses so damn fast and that info is confidential. It had to have come from the Department.’
‘But who?’ Shepherd said.
‘Christ only knows.’ Archer glanced at him. ‘Where did that social worker show up from?’
‘Palmer? She was working with the 114th.’ He read Archer’s mind. ‘Don’t worry, I had Ethan run some background checks. She’s kosher. Born and raised in Brooklyn, father was a doctor, mother worked in social care, third generation Europeans. She’s been working for the Polaris Project for almost two years. She’s legit.’
Archer smiled. ‘Been screwed over too many times not to be suspicious.’
There was a pause.
‘Jake told me what went down in Rikers,’ Shepherd said. ‘I can’t believe Royston put you in there. He’s a real piece of work.’
‘That’s one way of describing him. And now he’s got even more to use against me; I fired Josh’s weapon inside the bar and the Park.’
‘It was self-defence and protecting a witness. I’ve got your back.’
‘That’s if I’m still a part of your team by midday tomorrow.’
Shepherd didn’t reply. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly and continued to look down into the pit below.
‘Isabel still living with Josh?’ he asked, looking at the little girl.
Archer nodded, following his gaze.
There was a pause.
‘You ever make the same mistakes with your kids that your father did with you?’ Archer suddenly asked.
Shepherd thought about it; smiled rueful
ly and shook his head. ‘Some of mine make his pale into insignificance.’
Archer suddenly realised what he’d said. ‘Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.’
‘I know. It’s OK.’
Pause.
‘What’s worrying you?’
Archer considered the question. ‘By the time my dad died, I hadn’t seen him in over ten years. He left the UK one night when I was sixteen and never came back. I can forgive but I can’t forget it.’
Shepherd glanced at his detective, following his gaze to Isabel. ‘You think you might do the same thing? Abandon her?’
‘I’d never walk out on her.’
‘But?’
‘I know how it feels to see someone you care for walk out the door and never come back. And you know what this job’s like; life insurance companies aren’t exactly fighting each other to sign me up. After everything she’s gone through, what happens if she gets attached and something happens to me?’
‘What’s the alternative; keep her at a distance?’
‘Maybe.’
‘To that kid, you and Alice are the best parents she’s ever gonna have. Better than her original set, that’s for damn sure. And she needs you right now; Alice has been gone a month.’
He looked down at Isabel, then to his own son.
‘Parenthood isn’t about DNA. What matters is how much you’d do for that child. And you showed six months ago in that building how far you’d go for her.’
Archer didn’t respond. Shepherd turned to him.
‘My advice? Stop keeping yourself distant from her, otherwise one day she’ll be the one who leaves. And once that happens, after everything she’s been through, she’ll never come back.’
Archer didn’t reply. A few moments later, the two men became aware of movement down the walkway, the sound of high-heeled shoes clicking on wood; turning, they saw Theresa Palmer walking towards them. The last time Archer had seen her had been at Santiago’s apartment, just before he’d received the call from Isabel, but a hell of a lot had happened since then.