Too Little, Too Late

by Marta Tandori

  “Paul, Ms. Stanton!” Irving Johnson stood up to shake their hands. “What a pleasant surprise.”

  He was casually dressed in shirt and slacks, his sleeves rolled up. The desk was littered with papers and files and his laptop and desktop were both on. The clutter on his desk and the two computers emphasized the obvious. Irving Johnson was a busy man.

  “May I offer you some refreshments?” he asked politely, slipping into his role of the perfect host. “Some coffee, perhaps.”

  “We’re good, thanks,” Paul replied for the both of them. “Eve and I can see you’re busy so we won’t take up too much of your time.”

  Irving smiled expansively. “My wife was feeling under the weather today. I wanted to be near in case she needed me.”

  Paul got straight to the point. “Irving, have you heard from your brother lately?”

  “Leo?” He looked at Paul in surprise. “I haven’t spoken to my step-brother in years. Why are you asking me about him?”

  Eve spoke up. “Several months ago, a homeless woman was killed by a hit and run driver. You may have heard about it on the news.”

  Irving leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin intently. “Yes, I seem to recall hearing something about it.”

  “The car used in her hit and run belonged to a man called Paco Ramierez,” Eve continued, carefully watching Irving’s face. “Mr. Ramierez was a former employee of your brother’s.”

  “So you think there’s some connection between my step-brother’s ex-employee and this woman’s death?” asked Irving in disbelief. “I’m not sure what this has to do with Leo or either one of you, quite frankly.”

  Paul chose his next words carefully. “Forensics found a piece of torn photograph wedged between the passenger seat that had both the dead woman’s fingerprints on it as well as your stepbrother’s.”

  “And now my mother’s missing and Sigi seems to think that Leo may have had something to do with it,” Eve added.

  Leo’s carefully schooled features were unreadable as he stared at Eve. “How is it that you happened to speak with my mother?”

  Eve met his gaze head-on. “Sigi had been asking for my mother and when the Foundation couldn’t locate her, they called me instead.”

  “I see.” Those two words carried a great deal of meaning. It was as if Irving Johnson now recognized the brevity of the situation. “As you may or may not know, my step-brother and I have never been close,” he told them, “and unfortunately, we pretty much severed all ties to each other when we had a falling out a number of years ago.”

  “Over your wife,” Paul noted.

  Irving’s features became guarded, less cordial. “Yes.”

  “Perhaps he’s spoken to your wife recently?” Eve asked helpfully.

  “I doubt that very much.”

  “Maybe we could ask her?” she pressed.

  “As I told you before, Livy’s under the weather,” he told them firmly, “so I’m afraid she’s not up to speaking with anyone.”

  “We can come back later,” Paul offered, equally firm.

  Irving stood up, his face an unreadable mask. “I’m afraid I’ve got to get back to work now. One of the maids will show you out.”

  “That’s all right, Irving, I’ll speak to them.”

  At the sound of the woman’s voice, they all turned towards the study door. If Irving Johnson’s wife was feeling “under the weather”, she certainly didn’t show it. She was probably in her late fifties but carried it very well. Soot-black hair was secured at the nape of her neck and her thin form was sheathed in a silk dressing gown.

  Irving got up and went to his wife, the concern apparent in his eyes. “Livy, what are you doing out of bed? I thought we agreed that you were going to rest today.”

  “Stop fussing, Irving,” she told him impatiently.

  “Mrs. Johnson, has your ex-husband contacted you recently?” Eve asked, skipping all efforts at decorum.

  “Yes, he did.” She hesitated for a moment, not meeting her husband’s gaze. “He called yesterday.”

  Irving was taken aback. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “Because you would’ve been upset,” she told him, her hands clenched together in agitation. “I hadn’t heard from Leo in years and then suddenly, out of the blue, he calls.”

  “What did he want?” asked Paul, unconsciously perched on the edge of his chair.

  “At first, I wasn’t sure,” she admitted. “I thought he’d been drinking because nothing he said made any sense to me.”

  “What exactly did he say?” Eve prompted her.

  Olivia Johnson began pacing the room. “He rambled on about us being together again. Then he talked about our baby—” She forced back a sob with the back of her hand and refused to let Irving comfort her. “—And then he said something about meeting up with me at the palace with the swans.” She looked at them in confusion. “I had no idea what he was talking about. Like I said, I thought he was drunk.”

  “Are you sure that’s what he said?” Irving asked skeptically.

  She nodded, clearly perplexed. “Is Leo in some kind of trouble?”

  No one said anything.

  “Oh my God, what has Leo done?”

  “We believe your ex-husband may have been involved in the hit and run death of a homeless woman a few months back,” Eve told her.

  The older woman slid onto a settee, a stricken look on her face.

  “There was an article in Variety yesterday,” Irving announced suddenly, “about my purchasing the Swanson Estate for Reinhart.”

  “And the grounds of the estate have swans,” Paul remarked somberly.

  “That’s it! That’s the place where Leo wanted me to meet him – at the Swanson Estate,” she confirmed.

  “When?” asked Eve, urgency adding a sharpness to her voice.

  Olivia Johnson’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Later today.”

  CHAPTER 43

  “The property’s monitored by closed circuit television, both the grounds as well as the entrance,” Paul told the small group gathered around a blueprint of the Swanson Estate.

  “We’ll have to assume he took out the security guard and that he’s monitoring the feed,” Warner told them grimly.

  Cassidy was equally glum. “And with 32,000 square feet of space to play with, where would he hide them?”

  They were silent as they stared broodingly at the blueprint. They were in the mobile command unit down the street from the Swanson Estate. Eve was verging on the brink of exhaustion, yet fought for control.

  “I say we lead a frontal attack through the main gate,” suggested the commander of the special task force. “We can be in the house in a matter of minutes.”

  “You still wouldn’t know where to look and my mother could be dead by the time your men were able to reach her,” Eve reasoned.

  “I agree with Eve.” Paul stared at the blueprints of the house. “It would be too risky.”

  “You’ve got to do something.” Eric looked at the two detectives worriedly. “Our baby’s life is at stake, not to mention the fate of the mother’s.”

  “We’re doing everything we can, Dr. Devane,” Warner reassured him automatically.

  “Let’s assume he’s monitoring the security cameras,” the team commander speculated. “He would have to have his hostages close enough to keep an eye on them as well as the security cameras.” He looked at Paul. “That narrows the playing field down, doesn’t it?”

  Paul scanned the blueprint, pointing to the north end of the house. “The security monitoring station is here,” he told them. “The closest possibilities would be the north kitchen, the wine cellar, the screening room or the bowling alley.” He looked at Eve. “The kitchen’s too open but any one of the other three would be within easy access to the monitoring station.”

  “How many levels are we talking about?” asked Warner.

  “Two,” replied Eve. “The security room is on the main level, as is the bowling
alley, but the wine cellar and screening room are on the lower level of the house.” When the others looked at her in surprise, she was quick to add, “I was the listing agent on the property.”

  Cassidy, who’d been studying the map, looked up thoughtfully. “There are no cameras inside, right?”

  Paul shook his head.

  “Well, what if we drop two teams onto the roof and have them go in through the upper floor? One group can do a systematic sweep while the other group does a search of the bowling alley, the wine cellar and the screening room,” Cassidy continued.

  “It’s a possibility.” The team commander rubbed the stubble on his chin. “But my men would need time to bypass the alarm,” the commander reminded them.

  “How much time?” asked Warner.

  “No more than a few minutes.”

  “Are you talking about a diversion of some kind?” asked Paul.

  Warner nodded. “And I think I’ve got just the right diversion,” Warner announced. He turned to his partner. “Get Olivia Johnson on the phone.”

  “Commander, you’d better come and take a look at this,” one of the technicians suddenly exclaimed. “I think we’ve got a problem.”

  All of them crowded around the television monitor before letting out a collective groan. News crews and photographers were setting up along the perimeter of the street, just down from their trailer.

  “Damn!” the team commander swore under his breath. He turned to Warner. “We’ve no time to lose!”

  ***

  “Your mother had no right to take Sonja!” Kate spat at him when he came back into the room. This was the fifth time he’d disappeared and come back. She suspected that he was on the lookout for the police. “She was my daughter and I loved her!”

  “You dumb bitch!” He slapped her face with a vicious backhand. “You just don’t get it, do you? Had you kept her, she would have continued to pose a threat to the precious Weaver coffers and my brother’s pathetic political career.”

  “I didn’t give a damn about your family’s money,” Kate told him, tasting blood in the back of her throat. “All I wanted was for Karl Bauer to own up to what he had done.”

  “And what an incestuous lot we are! Father had you and then he and Irving fucked you. You had Maria and then I fucked her.” He laughed hysterically. “Nothing like keeping it all in the family—”

  “No!” Kate stared at Leo in horror as the significance of what he just said sunk into her weary brain. “Then that means that Liz—You sick, perverted animal—Maria—that was my Sonja!” Kate had reached the end of her limit as devastation engulfed her.

  Rina suddenly grunted several times in rapid succession through the tape covering her mouth. Leo went over and checked between her legs. He began undoing his belt buckle.

  Kate barely noticed.

  “The head has crowned,” he told her in a monotone. “I need to get ready.” He pulled off his shirt, followed by his pants. When he went to remove his underwear, Kate tried turning her head but that proved futile when he came and stood directly in front of her, grabbing a fistful of her hair so that her face was directly in his crotch. There was a purple rope tied around his scrotum and penis that restricted their circulation, making them bulge against their binding.

  His attention was suddenly claimed by the strange primeval noises coming from Rina. Her breathing was ragged as she fought for air in between each contraction. Her heaving body contorted as it struggled to deliver the life inside of her.

  “Look, she’s about to give birth,” Kate implored half-heartedly. “Untie me so I can help her!”

  “No!” he barked. “I don’t want you touching that baby.”

  The baby’s head was almost entirely through her vaginal opening as Leo slipped an armband on. The cap soon followed. “I’m ready now.”

  Kate shook her head in horror. The armband had a swastika and the cap was part of a uniform worn by Nazi soldiers. “You’re crazy,” she whispered in fear.

  He went to the basin under Rina’s feet where her fluids were collecting. Dipping his fingers into the bloody liquid, he stood in front of Kate and imprisoned her head while drawing the outline of a swastika on her forehead. “Our father was a Nazi. We’re part Nazi. You can no more deny that than I can—”

  “Don’t you dare include me in your twisted perversions!”

  He ignored her outburst. “This child will soon be our salvation.” The look he gave her wasn’t human as he briefly touched his swollen genitals.

  The room filled with a series of deep-throated grunts as Rina began bearing down. Leo put on a pair of latex gloves and picked up the hunting knife lying on the table.

  “What are you going to do with that?” Kate demanded.

  Leo ignored her question as he went and squatted behind Rina, his hand cupping the back of the baby’s bloodied head. Two more primeval grunts were torn from Rina’s throat before the tiny human was thrust from between Rina’s legs in a bloody gush of fluid, directly into Leo’s hands.

  “It’s a boy.” It was a statement devoid of any emotion.

  Kate held her breath, fearing he would drop the baby. It was slick with mucous and blood and he struggled to get a hold of it. Taking the knife at his side, he cut the umbilical cord after tying off the baby’s end with a shoelace he’d pulled from his sneaker. Opening the baby’s airways with some Q-tips, he carried the baby over to the small table, where he wiped it with a length of paper towel before wrapping it in an old dish towel he’d found in a corner of the cellar.

  Whether Rina had been aware of the fact that she had just delivered a boy was difficult to tell. Her head was slumped forward, her eyes closed, in a semi-conscious state as exhaustion overtook her.

  “Rina, hold on,” cried Kate, hoping to get her attention. She turned to her captor. “She’s had the baby, now let her go.”

  “It’s not your choice to make,” Leo told her as he counted the baby’s fingers and toes.

  “You talk about salvation,” Kate spat out at him, “yet you’re willing to let the source of your salvation die!”

  This seemed to get his attention. “You have it wrong, Sister Kate.” He pointed a finger at Rina’s semi-conscious form. “She’s not the source of our salvation.” Before Kate realized what he was about to do, he took the knife and plunged it into Rina’s stomach. “She was merely the instrument to achieve it!”

  “No!”

  But it was too late. Rina’s body jerked twice before going limp. Eyes stared back at Kate unseeingly. In the space of a few short minutes, Rina was dead.

  “You animal!”

  “Why? Because I killed her?” he asked. “I’m no more crazy than you were when you did it.”

  Kate went still. “What are you talking about?”

  “I was there that night you came to our house to see Father.” Leo’s eyes gazed at her unseeingly. “The bastard was drunk, as usual. Neither one of you saw me on the other side of the library door.” His eyes suddenly focused and stared at Kate with laser-like precision. “I saw you pin him down until that bastard choked on his own vomit.”

  As his words sunk in, Kate began to shake. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  He leaned forward until he was less than an inch from her face. “Don’t worry, Kate. Your secret’s safe with me.” Reaching for the baby, he gently pulled out the baby’s left arm.

  “If you hurt that baby, I’ll kill you!” Kate yelled, to no avail.

  Using the sharp blade of his hunting knife, he gently punctured the baby’s delicate skin, making it bleed. He smiled in satisfaction. Removing his gloves, he dipped his finger into the blood before walking over to Kate. “Exorcizo te, creatura aquae, in nominee Dei Patris omnipotentis, et in nominee Jesu Christi, Filii ejus Domini nostri.” Very carefully, he drew the symbol of a cross over the dried swastika on her forehead. He stood back to admire the effect. “Be patient, Sister Kate. Salvation is within our reach.”

  The time for screaming had
long passed. Kate knew for certain it was only a matter of time before she met the same fate as Rina. Strangely enough, she no longer cared. She had lost the will to live.

  CHAPTER 44

  “What do you mean the police can’t find her?” asked Eve in desperation.

  Paul shrugged. “Warner says she told her maid she was going out but didn’t say where.”

  “This is insane!” Eve’s shoulders slumped forward as she cradled her head in her hands. “My mother’s life is riding on Olivia Johnson and she’s all but disappeared.” She looked at Paul. “I don’t suppose she’s answering her cell phone.”

  “I doubt it.” Paul rubbed wearily at the day-old stubble covering his chin. “I have a feeling old Irving has probably hidden her away somewhere far from her brother’s reach.”

  Eve and Paul and Liz and Otis were sitting in Paul’s car, grateful to be out of the small confines of the command center trailer. The stress had taken its toll on Eric and Brooke had driven him home despite his protests.

  “We’re wasting precious time waiting around while they try to track her down,” Eve remarked bitterly, “especially if she’s in hiding.”

  “And all Leo has to do is turn on a television and see all the cameras and reporters outside the gate,” Liz added.

  “Maybe the cops have another plan,” Otis suggested, “or maybe we need to come up with one.”

  “Like what?” asked Liz and Eve in unison.

  “Creating a different diversion,” he answered.

  “Any ideas?” Paul asked.

  “What about going through the service entrance at the back?”

  Paul gave him a suspicious look. “How do you know about the service entrance?”

  “Where else do you put out the trash?” he asked reasonably. “When I first came to this town, I used to go through people’s trash to make some extra dough. Did you know your neighbor two doors down is a rock star with amazing garbage? I could probably make a fortune on eBay hawking his used condoms alone.”

  Paul was quick to interrupt. “I think we get the picture.”