Murderer's Row

by Rashad Freeman

“Eve,” another man said with excitement in his voice.

  “Uncle Bobby,” Eve responded. “I need a favor. I need to check out a couple sections of some sewer pipes. It’s for this case I’m working on.”

  “Let me know when and I’ll set it up.”

  “That’s the thing, I’m heading there now,” Eve said timidly.

  “Figures. Alright give me the addresses and I’ll have one of my guys meet you down there.”

  Eve read off the addresses and they settled on a place to meet. After a few minutes of casual talk Eve said her goodbyes and hung up the phone.

  With a twinge of anxiety, she cranked up the engine and pulled onto the road. The throaty V-8 belched loudly as the car accelerated into the night. The busy streets of New York were calling and Eve felt a tiny streak of reckless abandon course through her veins.

  Thirty minutes later Eve pulled onto the curb of 59th Street. She stepped out of her car into the cool night air and closed her eyes. Her ears soaked in the sounds of the city she loved. The symphony of horns and growling engines could’ve been a lullaby. The whoosh and whirling of life in motion was like no place else.

  Grinning, she opened her trunk and grabbed a navy blue jacket and two flashlights which she stuck into her waistband. She looked at the sheet Tony had given her and headed off towards a manhole on the sidewalk.

  It was a little after eight o’clock and the sun was making its final descent into the horizon. A reddish-orange glow streaked across the sky, giving way to a starless canvas. Ahead there was a section of the sidewalk roped off with caution tape and orange cones. Standing next to it was a lanky, dark-haired man with an orange security vest.

  Eve weaved in between the busy crowd and stopped in front of the hazard cones. She surveyed the manhole covering then looked up to the awaiting sanitation worker.

  “You must be Detective Rosario,” the man said and extended his arm.

  Eve gripped his hand lightly and offered a courteous smile. “Thanks for meeting me on such short notice.”

  “Oh, anything for Bobby, he’s a real good guy.” The man bent down and slid the heavy metal covering to the side. “You can call me Mickey by the way” the man continued. “Let’s get you down in that hole.”

  Eve looked down at the open manhole skeptically and then back up at Mickey. She took a deep breath and shook her hands out. “Any rats down there?” she asked.

  Mickey laughed. “Of course there are. You sure you want to do this?” he asked and raised his eyebrows.

  “Yeah…yeah I’m sure, let’s just do it,” Eve said in an uncertain tone.

  “Okay,” he said and handed her a folded map. “This is the schematic for the system. We are right here,” Mickey said and pointed at a spot on the paper. “Now if you follow this all the way down it connects to the river here and here. These are the intersections you had listed.”

  Eve nodded as she followed his finger across the map.

  “I’ll be up here if you need anything, but don’t go running down any of these other tunnels. It’s a maze down there and if you get lost it’ll be hell to find ya.”

  “Got it,” Eve replied and began to step into the manhole.

  “Oh! One more thing, take this,” Mickey said and handed her a small, black handset. “Be careful down there, sometimes you gotta watch out for more than just rats.”

  Eve shot him a wary look then stuffed the radio into her pocket. With a deep breath she summoned up her confidence and started to crawl down the ladder.

  Step by step she moved further into the blackness until her foot hit the wet concrete below. It was dark and smelled like trash under the summer sun. A foot of water covered the ground and as Mickey promised Eve could hear the faint squealing of rats up ahead.

  She clicked the flashlight on and swept it from side to side. The glow only penetrated fifteen feet in front of her, but that was just enough to keep her sanity. The tunnel ahead of her was nearly twelve feet high and just as wide. Several other tunnels connected along the sides and ran off for miles disappearing into shadows.

  Sloshing forward, Eve waded through the filthy water. She consulted her map every few seconds, afraid she’d get lost in the darkness.

  Tony had mentioned that the sewer water was being treated by some company, but Eve was certain that couldn’t be true. The liquid she mushed through could hardly be called water. It was thick and soupy, full of chunks of debris and unknown organic matter. Eve tried to keep her head up and not focus on the slop that she was wading in.

  “Shhh, detective, shhh, you there?” Mickey’s voice suddenly erupted from her handset.

  Eve fumbled into her pocket for the radio. The static cracked and fizzed loudly and she jumped, dropping her flashlight. With a splash it fell to the ground and cut off, enveloping her in a carpet of gloom.

  “Shit!” she snapped in a high-pitched tone.

  She reached into the murky, brown water with a frown on her face. The floor felt like slime, slick and gooey with a snot-like consistency. Eve poked around blindly cursing into the darkness.

  Something rippled in the water behind her and she spun around. Her foot shot forward and she fell backwards fully immersing herself in the grimy stream of sewage.

  Eve gagged on the trash ridden water and jumped to her feet. She wheeled around, gasping and wiping the putrid vile from her face. Trying to see anything in the nebulous shaft was impossible.

  In a panic, she drove her hands through the sludge blocking out the repugnant smell. She scooped through the water until her fingers clasped a hold of the hardened aluminum flashlight.

  With slippery fingers she clicked the light on just as the water exploded beside her like a boulder had fallen. Eve whipped her pistol out, frantically swinging from side to side but there was nothing there.

  “Detective…shhhhh…can you hear me?” Mickey called again over the radio.

  Without moving her eyes, Eve reached into her pocket and pulled out the handset. “Mickey, yeah I’m here. Everything is fine.” She pushed the radio back into her pocket and continued scanning the water. Ripples floated ominously across the surface, but Eve didn’t see a thing.

  “Rats, it’s just rats,” she mumbled to herself.

  With one last look, Eve tucked the gun back into her holster and started heading down the tunnel. She moved more cautiously now, checking over her shoulder every few steps. Her flashlight felt like a lifeline, a beam of hope warding off the consuming darkness.

  “Detective,” the handset squawked again. “They never told me why you came down here anyway.”

  Eve grabbed the radio and thought for a moment before speaking into it. “How long you been with the city Mickey?”

  Mickey let out a chuckle. “Seems like my whole life, going on seventeen years now.”

  “You ever see anything weird down here?”

  “Tons, aint nothing but weird down in them gutters,” Mickey laughed.

  “Well, I guess that’s what I’m looking for, something weird,” Eve said then tucked the radio under her chin as she consulted her map again.

  There was a tunnel to her left and one to her right. Both were dark and intimidating like the throat of some maleficent beast waiting to take her into its belly. The sewer groaned and croaked, filling the darkness with eerie sounds that made her hair stand.

  Eve looked at the map and then at the tunnel to her right. Bracing herself, she swallowed the lump of fear that had grown in her throat and lifted the radio to her mouth. Her heart pounded like a drum, echoing in her ear.

  “Mickey,” she whispered.

  “Right here detective.”

  “You sure this tunnel you marked is where I need to be going?” Eve asked.

  “Bet my life on it.”

  Eve sighed and then turned down the shadowy corridor. Water splashed with each footstep echoing into the drab channel. She could hear something up ahead of her; the sound of water churning, like a river before a waterfall.

  “I think I found i
t Mickey,” she said into her handset.

  She took another step and then a large object splashed into the water behind her. Eve turned, but before she could shine her flashlight something rammed into her. The flashlight spiraled out of her hands and she flew backwards and slid across the ground.

  She scrambled to recover, but someone grabbed her by the hair and smashed her face into the wall. Eve cried out in agony as she groped around in the darkness. She kicked her leg back and it slammed into the attacker’s stomach and they keeled over letting out a dull groan.

  Rolling onto her hands and knees, Eve crawled across the slimy floor. Blood oozed from her nose and mouth as she huffed trying to catch her breath. She looked up and saw the flashlight floating a few feet away and dove towards it.

  The stranger surged forward again and kicked Eve in the face like a soccer ball. The pain was blinding, snapping her head upward like a rubber band. Instantly her body went limp and she fell forward into the water. Her vision flickered and then there was nothing.

  CHAPTER 6

  RECOVERY

  “You think she got a look?” a man with a deep voice asked.

  “Hard to say,” someone else responded.

  Eve tried hard to discern the muffled voices, but couldn’t put a name to them. She could hear them talking, but it was like listening to a conversation from another room.

  Slowly, memories started to creep back into her mind. She had been attacked by someone, someone in the sewers. Oh my God! Am I dead? She thought.

  She could feel her body, the touch of cloth against her bare skin. She could feel her limbs, her mouth, her eyes, but couldn’t move them.

  Her head swam in pain. Her face stung like she’d been attacked by a swarm of killer bees. Death couldn’t be this painful.

  Yet, somehow she didn’t know if she was alive. She felt like she was floating on a cloud unable to come down. Voices shouted and yelled morphing and molding into one another like cheers at a baseball game.

  Eve was lost, searching for a lifeline when suddenly her eyes opened to a blinding light. A voice barked at her, sounding clearer and clearer until it was all she could hear.

  “Eve, Eve can you hear me? Come on, that’s it, open your eyes Eve,” a man said as he pointed a small light at her.

  Eve blinked and tried to clear her vision. Slowly the room materialized around her, the images becoming sharper and sharper. She was lying in a hospital bed, although she had no idea how she’d gotten there. She’d seen the rooms of the NYU Langone Medical Center before, but never as a patient.

  “How do you feel?” the doctor asked.

  Eve groaned and brought her hand to her face. “Sore,” she mumbled. “What the hell happened?”

  “Ya got your ass kicked kid,” Sal said from the doorway.

  Eve looked up and grinned. Sal was standing on the other side of her bed. He had a worried look on his face, but smiled back at her all the same.

  “You’ve got a mild concussion, a couple of bumps and bruises, but you should be okay,” the doctor said then nodded and turned to leave.

  “What do you remember?” a familiar voice asked.

  “Captain,” Eve said.

  He was standing near the door. After the doctor passed he walked to her side and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Marc is on his way,” he said.

  “I remember being attacked,” Eve started. “I was down in the sewers following up on a lead and somebody jumped me.”

  “Did you get a look at them?”

  “No…no it was too dark. I dropped the light, I couldn’t see a thing. How did I get here?”

  “Mickey found you down there. Good thing he did too, you were unconscious drinking up all the sewer water,” Sal laughed.

  Eve made a gagging sound and then turned back to the captain. “We’re close, they were down there. I’m onto something Steve.”

  “Don’t worry about that now Rosario. You’re gonna be home for a few days and when you get back Sal is with you every step of the way,” the captain replied.

  “No offense Sal, but captain I can take care of myself.”

  “Obviously,” he laughed.

  Eve made to object, but the door swung open and Marc rushed into the room. He gazed at her from the doorway momentarily before darting to her side.

  Eve’s face was swollen and red. Her lip was busted and she had scratches across her forehead.

  Marc leaned over her bed and lightly placed his hands on the sides of her face. He kissed her gently and whispered to her. “Are you okay?”

  “We’ll get out of your hair detective. Marc good to see you again,” the captain said as he shook Marc’s hand.

  After saying their goodbyes Sal and the captain walked into the hallway.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow kid,” Sal said and closed the door.

  Eve stared after them then turned to Marc and started to cry. Marc hugged her and she buried her head into his shoulder.

  “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, I love you,” Eve sniffled into his t-shirt.

  “It’s okay,” Marc said as he consoled her.

  “It’s not okay,” Eve cried.

  “It will be. I promise,” Marc said in a soothing voice. “What…what happened tonight?”

  Eve wiped her face and took a deep breath. Slowly she recounted what happened as Marc listened intently. He didn’t say a word until she was done.

  “You’ve gotta get this bastard Eve. But the captain’s right, you need backup. You don’t have to do everything alone.”

  “Maybe,” Eve said. She reluctantly agreed, nodding her head and groaning. She rolled unto her side and pulled the cover over her face. Minutes later she was snoring.

  For the next few hours Marc sat in a small chair near the window and watched Eve sleep. He passed the time flipping through the hospitals three stations and playing solitaire. Every so often a nurse would come to check in on them, but beyond that it was silent.

  By the end of the day the doctors finally released Eve and Marc eagerly chauffeured her to their home on the other side of the Hudson.

  They lived in an expansive house on Albemarle road in an affluent neighborhood known as Prospect Park South. It was far beyond anything Eve could afford on her salary, but being a successful neurosurgeon, Marc was more than able to pick up the slack.

  With Marc’s help, Eve slowly stumbled into the house and took a seat on the couch. She was sore and still a bit groggy, but thankful to be alive. As Marc ran back outside to get her things out of the car Eve’s cell phone started to ring.

  She reached across the couch and grabbed the phone, recognizing Tony’s number on the caller ID. “Hello,” she answered.

  “Eve, are you okay? I just heard what happened.”

  “Yeah Tony, I’ll be fine,” Eve replied.

  “I just…you know, it’s kinda my fault you went down there.”

  “Tony don’t start that. I’m a police officer; I go where the case takes me. You did a good job and you were right. Someone was down there and didn’t take too kindly to me looking around.”

  “That’s good, or not good. Sheesh Eve you could’ve been killed.”

  “Don’t be such a drama queen Tony. I’m alive.”

  “Well I’m glad you’re okay,” Tony said. “I’ll let you get some rest detective; I just wanted to check in on you.”

  “Thanks Tony. Keep looking for me, I’m gonna need your help if I ever wanna solve this case.”

  “Will do. The tox reports should be in tomorrow so I might have some news sooner than you think.”

  CHAPTER 7

  OLD DEBTS

  Henry pulled into the courtyard of the Hilton and stopped at the valet. A young kid with jet black hair and two earrings took his keys and handed him a ticket.

  “Keep it close,” Henry said. “This should be quick.”

  The valet nodded and Henry walked into the hotel checking over his shoulder as he went. He bypassed the check-in desk and headed to the elevators. As he pre
ssed the call button, his phone began to buzz in his pocket.

  “Hello,” he said as he brought the phone to his ear.

  “Just checking on our date night, I’ve got the movie picked out and a bottle of wine just waiting to be drank,” Agnes said with excitement in her voice.

  Henry groaned and looked at his watch. “Shit! I totally forgot. I’m stuck at the office finishing up this report on the newest murder.” He paused and stared at the elevator. “I…I can just wrap this up and head home now.”

  “Nonsense, go ahead and finish your work. If you make it home in time we can watch it then or just do it another night,” Agnes said with the slightest hint of depression in her voice.

  “Are you sure? I can leave now.”

  “No, no honey. Just try to be quick.”

  “I love you,” Henry said.

  Agnes said the same and then they both hung up the phone. With a ding the elevator doors rolled open and Henry stepped into the cart. Sighing, he pressed the button for the 10th floor then leaned against the wall.

  Agnes placed her cell phone into her purse and frowned as she stared out of the window. From across the street she could see through the glass doors of the hotel and into the lobby. She watched as the elevator carrying Henry closed and started rolling upward. Fuming, she started her car and sped off.

  “I didn’t think you’d show,” Kathy said and opened her room door. She was wearing a purple, sleeveless dress with black high heels. It was the perfect combination to show off her toned arms and long tanned legs. She licked her lips and flipped her flowing, blonde hair back, exposing her breasts that were hardly contained by the dress.

  “I didn’t think I would either,” Henry replied.

  Kathy stepped to the side and Henry walked in and closed the door. He walked past the bed and took a seat at a chair near the window. Kathy dimmed the lights and eyed him curiously.

  “So you wanna do this standing up or what?” she asked jokingly.

  “About that,” Henry started. “Look, we can’t keep doing this Kathy. This has to stop.”

  Kathy laughed and stepped in front of Henry. She slid her leg over his thigh and sat on his lap. Wrapping her hands around his neck she leaned forward and whispered into his ear.