“Agnes,” Henry groaned. “You’d forget your head if you could. Do you want me to go?” he asked and reached for a towel.
“No, no. Go ahead and finish your shower. It’ll only take me a sec.”
Henry nodded. “Okay, just be quick and Agnes, stay away from the river.”
Agnes rolled her eyes then left the room. Moments later she was in her car driving down the dark, rainy streets of the city.
Steam rose from the pavement like a geyser. Cars whooshed and hissed as they sped in all directions. Even with the rain the night was busy, the night was always busy.
“No good. You were never anything,” Agnes said to herself as she drove. “Damn you. Damn all of you. I won’t let you beat me. I won’t let you win.”
Agnes fumed and squeezed the steering wheel. She looked into the rearview mirror and stared at herself then suddenly gasped. The flash of blue and red lights twinkled angrily behind her and sent a jolt through her heart.
She glanced down at the speedometer that read sixty miles an hour then pressed the brakes. Cursing under her breath, she pulled towards the side of the road and stopped. “Damn it, Agnes.”
She waited anxiously as the officer stepped out of his car and made his way towards her door. A feeling of overwhelming anger boiled within her, threatening to explode at any minute. She clenched her teeth and punched the dash repeatedly.
“Go away!” she growled then turned her head.
The officer tapped twice on her window and she rolled it down with a sinister grin on her face. Drops of rain pelted against the door and landed on her arm. Agnes looked up at the blonde-haired officer and smiled.
“Sorry, I hadn’t realized how fast I was going.”
“License and registration please,” the officer replied.
“Certainly.” She handed the officer her ID and slowly licked her lips. “Officer Sullivan, is it?” she asked. “I’m in an awful hurry.”
“I’ll be back,” the officer said dismissively then walked off.
Agnes scoffed and rolled the window back up. She tossed her purse back onto the floor then began to wrap her fingers against the steering wheel.
It felt like hours passed before the officer made his way back to her car. Once he did, he handed her the ID and leaned forward. “Look, Ms. McCall, just slow it down okay? It’s dark out here and wet.”
Agnes flicked her hair and grinned. “Thank you so much, Officer Sullivan.”
“It’s just Daniel ma’am.”
“What?” Agnes asked in surprise.
“You can just call me Daniel. Anyway, enjoy your night and keep it under fifty,” Daniel nodded his head then walked off.
Agnes sat in her car staring at nothing as the officer dodged rain drops and sped to his car. She was shaking frantically, running her hands through her frazzled hair. “Damn you Daniel! You won’t win, you won’t get away,” she grunted.
Still mumbling nonsense, Agnes opened her door and quickly followed behind the officer. “Daniel,” she called softly.
He turned around startled, but didn’t’ look angry as he answered her. “Ms. McCall, is everything okay?”
“Yes, yes…sorry to alarm you, Daniel. It’s just, well I was wondering if you could help me?”
“Ma’am?” Daniel asked.
“It’s really silly. I forgot to stop and get gas when I left the house and now, I can’t get my car to start. Is there any chance you can give me a ride to the nearest gas station? I think there’s one around the corner on 59th.”
“We’re not really supposed to do that, Ms. McCall. I can call someone for you.”
“It’s just right around the corner, less than two minutes I swear,” Agnes replied. She flicked her long, red hair back and beamed.
Daniel was a young officer. Only a few years removed from the academy and not immune to female persuasion. Although he tried to look away, her shirt had become wet from the rain and stuck to her breasts, showing off every curve of a body that kept it together well.
Even at fifty, Agnes was still capable of wooing most men. She pressed her advantage and leaned forward exposing more of her breasts. “Please Daniel,” she pleaded.
Daniel huffed then tilted his head in agreement. “How far on 59th?” he asked.
“Just around the corner,” Agnes gleamed. “Let me grab my purse.”
Minutes later she was sitting beside Daniel in his patrol car as they rode down the slick streets. They turned onto 59th and Daniel glanced at Agnes with an amused look.
“You’re really persuasive, you know that?” he declared.
“You’re a sweetie,” Agnes responded.
Daniel blushed and looked ahead for the gas station. Suddenly, Agnes broke into a fit of hyperventilation. She desperately gasped for air as her body convulsed and shook. She hacked and made choking sounds, tossing about in her seat.
“What…what’s wrong?” Daniel asked and slammed on the brakes. The car came to an abrupt stop near an empty side street.
Daniel leaned across the seat and grabbed Agnes by the shoulders. Her eyes rolled back into her head and her body went limp. “No, no, no!” Daniel screamed.
He opened the car door and jumped out. Darting through the rain he ran to her side and flung the door open. She spasmed and whipped about. Her arms flailed in the air and her head jolted back and forth.
“Don’t do this,” he cried.
Daniel grabbed her around the waist to pull her from the car. Without warning, she lunged forward and buried a needle into the back of his neck.
“Not this time,” she whispered in his ear.
Daniel let out a muffled grunt and collapsed forward onto Agnes. Straining, she turned him over and slid from under his body. Moving quickly, she pushed his legs into the patrol car and closed the door.
Agnes took a quick look around and then jumped into the driver’s seat and pulled back onto the road. She continued down 59th Street for a few minutes before pulling into an abandoned lot surrounded by a broken chain-link fence.
Agnes parked the car and stepped out into the night. The ground was still wet but the rain had stopped. The air was cool and a light wind blew against her face.
In front of her was a small brick building with a dark colored metal door. A dim floodlight provided the only illumination, showing a paved walkway that had been overgrown with weeds.
Agnes followed a narrow path towards the building. While much of the sidewalk was covered this part had been cleared recently. As she reached the front Agnes pulled a bronze key from her pocket and unlocked the door. She disappeared inside and moments later returned pushing a gurney towards the patrol car.
Lowering the gurney Agnes pushed Daniel onto it and strapped him down, making sure he was secured tightly. She then rolled him into the building and left him just inside of the door. Brushing the golden locks from his face, she kissed him on the forehead.
“Sleep for now, Daniel. We’ll have time to catch up, plenty of time to catch up.”
Grinning, she turned around and walked outside then locked the door behind her. With a look of satisfaction, she stepped into the patrol car and drove off.
Agnes was cautious as she moved down the dark streets. She maintained a slow, deliberate speed until she made it back to her car.
She pulled behind it and parked, looking from side to side for any suspicious onlookers. The sidewalk was nearly empty and the streets were just as barren. No one even batted an eyelash.
Leaving the keys in the ignition, Agnes opened the door and stepped out of the patrol car. She grabbed the radio from the console then closed the door. With a last look over her shoulder, she walked back to her own car and drove off.
Wasting no time, Agnes sped back to the abandoned lot. As she walked into the building, she could hear Daniel screaming from inside.
“What the fuck! Let me out of here now!” he yelled.
Agnes opened the door and walked into the small building. Daniel was still firmly strapped to the gurney
although he was tossing his head around like a maniac.
“Shut up,” Agnes said and closed the door behind her.
“What the fuck are you doing? Where the hell am I?” Daniel asked with a shaky voice.
He looked around at the steel pipes that ran across the ceiling. There were gauges and meters in boxes on the wall. Steam hissed into the air obscuring his view of anything else.
Ignoring him, Agnes grabbed the handles of the gurney and began to wheel him off towards an elevator at the far end of the room. She pressed the call button and looked at Daniel in amusement as he struggled to get free. As the doors rolled open, Agnes stepped onto the elevator and pulled Daniel behind her. She pressed a small white button on the wall and the cart began to descend.
“Ms. McCall…Agnes what is going on?” Daniel asked in a softer tone.
“You think you’re so smart, don’t you? Just leave me alone. That’s all I wanted you to do,” her words seeped with venom.
With a ding, the elevator stopped and Agnes began to roll the cart out. They were now underground standing on a long concrete path. A yellow guardrail ran the length of the walkway as far as Daniel could see. On the other side of the railing was a stream of water twenty feet wide. It was cloudy and grim, rolling slowly away until it disappeared into the darkness.
Agnes wheeled the officer down the concrete path until they came to a steel red door. She took out the same bronze key and slowly unlocked it. With a grunt, she pushed it open and pulled Daniel inside.
“Please, Agnes, for God’s sake. Please, just let me go.”
“Shut your damn mouth!” Agnes shot back. She slammed the door and flipped on a light switch.
“Hello? Is somebody there?” a shaky voice called out from the shadows.
“Hello, who is that? Where are you?” Daniel responded.
As the humming UV lights above him flickered on, Daniel caught a glimpse of the room. He was in some sort of command station. There was a control panel and monitors towards the front. Above him, more thick steel pipes twisted and bent, running into the darkness like an endless maze. To the side there were three more gurneys, just like the one he was strapped to.
Daniel’s heart skipped a beat as horror gripped him around the neck with its cold, hard fingers. There were men lying on each gurney. They were all in their early fifties and were hooked up to IV’s and monitors like a hospital. Two of them were asleep, but one man had awoken and was screaming for help.
“I found your replacement Daniel,” Agnes said and ran her fingers across the screaming man’s head.
“I…I told you, my name’s not Daniel. I’m Richard. Please, just please let me go,” he pleaded.
Agnes let out a chilling laugh and looked back to the officer. “You all think you’re so damn smart. I told you I was stronger than you, I told you I’d win. Now you’ll be here, here to watch.”
She opened a cabinet behind the row of tables and took a plastic bag filled with a translucent substance. She hung it from the drip pole and attached it to the Richard’s IV. “Time for you to go, Daniel,” she said to herself.
“No, please no more!” Richard yelled as the liquid rushed down the tubes then into his veins.
As the unknown substance worked into his system his face suddenly went slack. His head relaxed back onto the gurney and his arms went limp. His eyes however, remained open and alert.
“I know you can still hear me. I know you can feel this,” Agnes croaked and slapped him hard across the face.
“Agnes, please don’t do this!” the officer shouted from behind her.
“Shut up, Daniel! You’ll have your turn.”
Agnes snatched the IV from Richard’s arm and blood squirted onto the floor. She unhooked him from the other devices and pulled his gurney towards the door.
“Help! Someone help us!” Daniel started to scream over and over.
Agnes laughed. “You think someone can hear you? You think someone cares?” She strode across the floor to the control panel and opened a drawer beside it. She withdrew a deck of playing cards and a black marker.
Carelessly, she scribbled something on the front of it then shoved it into Richard’s pocket. With Daniel still screaming for help, Agnes wheeled Richard out of the room and slammed the door.
She rolled the gurney next to the yellow guardrail and then started to undo the restraints across Richard’s chest and legs.
“Sooner or later it’ll take you all. I’ll be free, you hear me? I will be free!” Agnes said angrily.
She pushed him closer and turned it so that Richard’s feet were facing the rail. Agnes walked around him and stared over the railing into the murky water that crawled past them. The wide stream was barely moving, creeping by like a long, black slug.
Smiling, Agnes looked back into Richard’s eyes and laughed. “You’re scared, aren’t you? You should be. This will not be quick.” Agnes rubbed the side of his face then turned and walked back into the room.
“What the fuck did you do to that man? Where is he?” the officer barked as she stepped through the door.
Agnes didn’t respond. She rolled his gurney to where Richard’s had been and then took another IV from the cabinet. “This will help you sleep,” she said.
“Don’t touch me! Stay the hell away from me!” Daniel yelled. He twisted and wiggled as much as he could.
“You’re going to make me miss,” Agnes replied calmly as she tried to jab a needle into him. “Ah, got it.”
The needle poked into his forearm and Daniel grunted in pain. Agnes quickly placed a piece of tape over it and then started the IV drip. Daniel tossed and yelled for a moment longer then passed out.
Agnes pressed wires to his chest with adhesive pads and hooked them up to the monitor. With an unexpected gentleness, she rubbed his head and whispered, “Sleep for now, Daniel. Soon you’ll have your turn.”
Leaving him asleep, she strode to the other side of the room and pressed a red button on the control panel. There was a loud churning noise and then a whoosh. She nodded her head in satisfaction then walked back outside.
The stream of water had transformed into a blistering surge of waves. They rushed past her and disappeared around a bend. A red emergency light flashed over her head, a warning of the waters impending danger.
Agnes stepped beside the gurney and placed her hand on the rail. “Now you can be set free,” she said and pressed a small yellow button with her foot.
The front of the gurney started to incline, tilting Richard towards the pounding water. His feet slid down a few inches and then the gurney stopped moving.
Agnes stepped to the side so that she was face to face with him. She ran her fingers delicately across his nose and over his lips.
“I could’ve loved you, you know?” she said with a quivering voice. “My sweet, sweet, Daniel.”
Richard couldn’t move, he couldn’t talk or even blink his eye. But he could feel and hear everything. He was a prisoner, like he’d been all along. For the last month she’d held him captive and now it was all about to end.
His eyes started to water as the certainty of his death grew nearer. Agnes glared back at him and while her words were affectionate, her eyes told a different story. There was a loathing, a sense of complete hatred that she looked at him with.
He wished he could scream, but all he could do was plead with his eyes. Begging her to spare him, begging her to see he wasn’t this Daniel that she continued to call him. But the look she gave him, he knew there was no hope.
“Bye Daniel,” she suddenly said and the gurney lurched forward. Richard’s helpless body flipped over the guardrail and splashed into the raging water. And just like that he vanished beneath the surface, swept away like the others that had come before him.
CHAPTER 3
ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE
“Tony is looking for you,” Sal said in a raspy low voice.
Detective Rosario passed him in the hall with a cup of coffee in one hand and the Wal
l Street Journal in the other. Her heels clicked loudly across the slick tile floor as she raced into work.
“Good, I could use some good news. You hear from the captain yet?”
“Not yet kid, but I’ll buy you some time if I can.”
“You’re a lifesaver, Sal,” Eve winked.
“Tell me about it. Just remember me around Christmas and put a good word in for me with that aunt of yours.”
Eve laughed. “I’ll get to work on that.”
Sal gave her a fake salute then headed off down the hall. Eve shook her head and set her coffee onto her desk. A stack of papers slid off and fell onto the floor, shooting in different directions like broken glass. Sighing, she bent over and started to grab them.
Her work area was a nightmare. Piles upon piles of manila folders stuffed with paperwork lined the desk. The three-foot-wide table didn’t have an inch of uncovered space. For some reason, Eve liked it that way. The madness that others saw had a pattern, a sense of order to her.
Eve dug through the mountain of clutter and pulled out a black Dell laptop. She propped it on top of the wavering pile and turned it on. Yawning, she took a sip of her coffee as her eyes scanned the office.
Cubicle style desks were spread out at five foot intervals. A string of interview rooms lined the back wall. People frantically buzzed all around her, the office always in a constant state of panic.
“Rosario,” a deep, baritone voice called.
Standing at the front of her desk was a large dark-skinned man with a bald head, dressed in gray slacks and a white dress shirt. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows exposing his massive forearms and thick, gold watch. He looked like an NFL linebacker, but had the face of a TV spokesman with a warm smile and inviting eyes.
“What’s up captain?” Eve asked and cut her eyes towards Sal.
He mouthed the words “sorry,” and took a seat at his desk.
“You tell me,” the captain replied. Bodies dropping all over the damn city, I need an update. The mayor’s office is up my ass.”
“Actually bodies are only dropping in the Hudson. I got it contained for you cap’.” Eve said with a grin on her face.
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