by Mimi Barbour
A knock at the door informed them that the crime scene investigators had showed up and were given space to set up their equipment. The medics also arrived and examined Darlene; her stamina had fizzed out, and she was now in the state of collapse.
Aurora stepped out of the way to let the others do their jobs. She looked down at her tear-stained blouse, where the first onslaught of Darlene’s weeping had happened the minute they’d stepped into the apartment. She’d chosen her nicest blue tailored blouse that morning, not quite sure why, and it now resembled the rag she felt like.
Standing took so much energy that she wondered if she’d fall flat on her face. Clutching the photograph and seeing the cocky smiling face of Darlene’s brother reminded her of how a real trooper acted, full of bravado and confidence and bullshit luck. Only this kid’s luck had run out.
“You okay, Aurora?” Kai’s soft voice in her ear straightened her spine and got her adrenalin flowing.
“I’m good. I need to see someone. Get one of the black-and-white’s to drop you off at the station.”
“You’re taking personal time? Now?”
“It’s none of your goddamn business.” She stalked toward the door until his hand on her arm steered her into the hallway, effectively putting a stop to her hysterics. A ringing in her head began, but he pulled her attention away before she could concentrate on what put it there.
“It is my business. We’re partners, remember? Where are you going?” His tone warned her to be careful.
She looked at the fingers still encircling her arm and then stared into his eyes, the intense blue, glacier cold. Time passed as she waited. Finally he let her go.
“To round up an old friend whose memory works well when he gets his palm greased. But he hates having cops around his place, especially male cops. So you can’t come with me. You gotta trust me on this.”
Seconds passed as he reflected. “Fine. I’ll grab a ride to headquarters and catch up with you there.” He gently massaged her arm before letting it go completely. A slight twinkle appeared.
Aurora’s surprise, evidenced by the look in her eyes, appeared before she lowered her head.
“You thought I’d insist?”
“You’re a cowboy. How the hell do I know how you’ll react?”
“With common sense—always.”
“Always? You sure?”
“Almost always.” He grinned, and walked back into the room where people were hard at work, trying to capture a killer with a fifteen-year-old boy at his mercy.
Chapter Seventeen
Aurora pounded on the door of the tacky apartment where her informant lived. The hallway of the derelict old building smelled of greasy pizza, pot, and piss.
“Come on, Luke! Get your behind outta bed and open up. It’s me, your sister, come to visit.” Whenever she ran him down at his place, as promised, she left all signs of her job in the car. No badge, or gun—just a girl looking for her brother.
The next door opened, and the frizzy-headed young fellow poked his head out. “Hey, Rory, he’s home. Seen him come in about an hour ago.”
“Don’t call me that. It’s Aurora, you big lug. You sure he’s here?”
“Yep. Had a late one last night though. Worked a double, so he’s most likely dead to the world.”
“Then give me his key. I forgot mine.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Come on Ray! I need to see him.”
“No way, man. He’ll kill me. I’m only supposed to use it in case of an emergency.”
“Would you consider me beating the crap outta you an emergency?”
“Well, when you put it like that… sure. I’ll get it.”
The two who lived next door to each other had formed an unlikely friendship over the years, and had first been introduced by Aurora. Ray, being the only one in the building who knew that Aurora carried a badge, kept it to himself.
Years earlier, his hacking ability had gotten him into a ton of hot water. When Aurora had seen his potential, she’d bailed him out of trouble on the promise that he’d move from the old neighborhood and into the apartment next to Luke. She’d even arranged for him to get a job with the department. Since then, he’d never failed her. And as far as she knew, he kept his nose clean. Still, he really believed she was Luke’s sister and never interfered when they spent time together.
He handed her the key. “Slip it under my door when ya leave. I wouldn’t want him to know I let you in.”
Aurora couldn’t tell him that Luke would already know due to the fact that she’d never had her own key. Luke wouldn’t allow it.
The living room, darkened with heavy curtains missing hooks here and there, was murky but cool. Squeals from the air conditioner in the corner set her teeth on edge, so she went over and kicked it once, then again. The proper humming sound that followed made her shake her head. The kid has enough money to buy himself a good appliance. Why the hell didn’t he?
Wearing only his boxers, Luke swung around the corner and yelled. “Don’t move! Put your hands up!”
“Luke, you better not be packing. Seriously.”
“What he hell, Aurora? You can’t just break into my place whenever you want. It’s my castle, man.”
“Quit changing the subject.” She turned around to see him placing something in the back waistband of his pants.
With her hand held out, she waited.
He pulled the toy gun from behind him and passed it to her. “I gotta have some protection.”
“I see. And this is really going to help? What? You figure on shooting the criminal with a cap?” She threw the amazingly accurate .357 copy on the spindle-legged coffee table.
Luke’s disgust at getting caught showed in his slouch and bad attitude. “Whaddaya want? And how did you get in?”
“Picked the lock. Hey dude, your eyes are glassy.” She stepped into his space and grabbed his chin.
“Hey, I’m straight edge. You know I don’t do drugs.” The belligerence in his stance became his best line of defense.
“Sorry. I’m tired. Listen, put on some pants. I want to talk to you. I’ll make the coffee.”
“I don’t want coffee. And I don’t wanna talk. What I do want is to sleep. So leave.”
She moved closer and stared him down.
He quickly added. “Please?”
“Think about it Luke. Would I be messing with you if it wasn’t serious? I need your help.”
“I don’t know anything. It’s been quiet, and I’m off until tomorrow. Come on Rory, I need sleep.”
“So… I need you. And don’t call me Rory.”
“Your partner Debbie calls you that all the time.”
“Ex-partner, and she’s been warned to stop pissing me off too. Never mind, let me explain what’s happened. Then you tell me if you want in or out. Get your pants on.”
The young man stomped into the bedroom and slammed the door. Two minutes later, he appeared with his long hair tied behind and a pair of jean shorts barely surviving their ride on his narrow hips.
He beat her by jumping into conversation before she had a chance to form a sentence. “It’s Rhondo, right?”
“Yeah! How did you know?” She handed him a mug of his favorite instant coffee with four lumps of sugar.
“He’s the only reason you’d break into my place rather than having me picked up.”
“You’re right, it is Rhondo.”
“What’s the creep done this time?”
“He’s taken a kid, a fifteen-year-old named Wayne. If we don’t find him fast, he’ll mess the kid up big-time.”
“Shit.”
“Give me something, Luke. Anything! There’s got to be word on the street with the new product he’s selling.”
“I got nothing, Aurora.”
“An address, a name, anything. Who’s he been seen with? Any women talking about parties coming up?”
“Parties! Hey! I overheard Joe Crawly ask the boss whether Johnnie Ross was going to
show up for ‘the shower.’ They roared like it was some big joke, but they changed the subject when they saw me listening. Didn’t make any sense at all.”
The ‘boss’ was big Mike, a Polack who ran his bar with a steel fist inside a velvet glove. No one messed with him or they were likely to end up in a hospital bed. He played by the rules—his rules. Kept his nose clean, didn’t take sides, paid for protection, and bossed Luke while making sure no-one else did. A strange man, but nobody’s fool.
“Johnnie Ross? Is that loser back in town?”
“Not so’s I know. You scared him pretty good. Word’s out that Earl wants to have a little talk with him if he returns. As long as Rhondo’s around, my money’s on Ross not stepping foot anywhere in the vicinity.”
“Mine too. After we made the deal with him, when he turned on Rhondo and gave us the party address last week, I figured on him disappearing. So when he did, I wasn’t surprised. We covered him in Reno to make sure he didn’t warn Rhondo. But then he skipped and no one’s seen him for the last week or so.”
“I took him for a rat-fink. Knew he’d squeal with a bit of convincing.” Satisfaction rang in Luke’s voice.
“You say they mentioned a shower. Do you mean like a party?”
“Yeah! It didn’t make any sense. Unless they meant some fancy place where people take showers. I don’t even know if it had anything to do with Rhondo. Just a gut feeling.”
“Can you find out? See if Rhondo’s involved?”
Luke emptied his mug and slammed it down on the table. Then he shook his head and groaned. “You want me to go back to work tonight?”
“I want you to go back, yes. Then I want you to find out anything you can and call me. I’ve got to help this kid, Luke.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll do it for the kid, but it’ll cost ya!”
“Doesn’t it always?”
***
While Aurora drove back to headquarters, she lightly banged the palm of her hand against her ear to stop the noise. The second time it happened, she became aware of what she was doing and wondered if other people had to put up with the tinnitus as much as she did. As if her brain needed to depressurize, it set the warning bells ringing.
Most times, it happened in moments of stress. In fact, she’d started using the phenomena as an indication to prepare herself for a shock of some kind. Crazy as it seemed, until recently it hadn’t let her down. But this time, the sounds were different, like a humming rather than a ringing. As if she’d overlooked something, and her subconscious wouldn’t let it rest.
What did I miss? She rewound her day, right up to the present, and frustration peaked. Nothing! Pealing around the corner, the tires screeching in reproach, she swung into the detective’s parking lot. After braking hard, then throwing the gearshift into park, she stopped the car.
Deep breathing settled her stomach somewhat, though the hunger pangs wouldn’t be assuaged so easily. Food! She hadn’t eaten all day. Must be why her nerves wouldn’t settle down.
She relaxed against the headrest, and her eyes closed. So much had happened in the last few days. Flashbacks of being with Debbie when the Ashton’s baby was born stood out and ranked as a memory she’d always cherish. The little human being had affected her deeply. His tiny fingers and toes and the searching stare he sent her way, as if he recognized her voice. So precious! So…perfect!
Then the remembrance of the time spent in the pub surfaced, and she knew she was smiling like an idiot. She glanced around quickly to see if anyone had witnessed her goofy behavior and was relieved to see that she was alone. She relaxed again.
Up to now, she’d resisted remembering the hot and heavy episode with Kai, but for a few minutes, she allowed herself to relive the sensations. Instantly, her breasts tightened, and the multitude of little pests in her stomach started up again, hammering and flipping around.
What is wrong with me? I can’t get hooked on a guy who has a death wish to fulfill, either by getting himself killed or ending up on death row for killing someone else.
The man was a total enigma. She’d seen his gentle handling of the victims and his coddling of the few moms he’d interviewed. Then later, Darlene had trusted him immediately, and he hadn’t take advantage of that trust, rather he’d been supportive and kind.
Not until he’d gotten her into the hallway had he lost his cool and shown some of the anger she’d sensed that flowed in his body and fed his hunger for revenge.
Rubbing her head against the leather headrest, she recognized that the ringing had returned with a vengeance. What the hell? Something about them being in the hallway, Something…
Shit! She slammed her hand on the steering wheel over and over. How could I have missed it? Wrenching her phone from her pocket, fumbling with the damn thing, she finally had it to her ears and rang through to the boys upstairs.
“Hey, Ham. Is Kai there? Tell him I’m downstairs waiting in the car. Tell him to get the lead out.”
“O-kay?”
“Tell him, I know where Wayne is.”
Chapter Eighteen
Kai didn’t like being left behind. He’d rather be the ‘leaver’. And for a bossy kinda guy like him, that’s usually how it worked.
While sorting through files, his mind again went back to his partner. The doll drove him crazy. So far, there hadn’t been a second in her company that his body didn’t announce its satisfaction or maybe he should say lack of satisfaction by being in a perpetual semi-hard position. Not comfortable, and not gonna happen.
The saints—or whoever it is who looks after the misguided souls in the world—had stopped him from taking her to bed. From tasting all those sensitive areas on her body that would have driven them both crazy. And from finding the hidden places in her heart that he knew he’d want to visit.
He knew that once he made that trip, he’d never be satisfied with anyone else…or with being alone. That kind of woman would become his new home, and he’d be lost. His goal aborted and his future changed forever.
He simply couldn’t let that happen, or he’d never know peace. Instead, he’d be looking back with regret and self-loathing for not following through on the promise he’d made while sitting beside his sister’s grave. For a guy whose soul lived in darkness, who’d made a pact with the devil, it was best to be alone. How could he make anyone happy?
Ham appeared in the doorway and put paid to Kai’s musings. “Morelli’s downstairs and wants you to join her. She says she knows where Wayne is. We’ll get a team together and be right behind you.”
Before he could question the man further, the space in the doorway was empty, and he heard footsteps racing in the hallway. He whipped up his gun and lifted his shirt to put it away, then hit the off button on his computer.
Racing from the building, he heard a car approach and looked up just in time. She’d swerved in front of him and yelled through the window. “Get in! We’re going to get Wayne.”
Chapter Nineteen
Kai entered first, and saw the poor kid curled on the floor and barely alive. From the looks of it, he’d fought hard and long, but it hadn’t stopped the beating or the rest of his torture.
Swollen and discolored, his eyes barely able to open, Wayne tried to put on a brave smile when he realized that Kai and Aurora had found him. “I knew you’d come.” Breathing harshly, he endeavoured to grin, but the torn lips had started to bleed and he stopped.
“I wish it had been sooner. Man, I’m really sorry.” Kai held the youngster’s hand, and his begging look toward Aurora had her using her phone to find out where the ambulance had gotten.
“They hit a traffic jam from road construction, they’ll go around and be here shortly.” She whispered the words, but Wayne still heard her.
“Hey, I’m okay. Just can’t move. Then it hurts. Don’t let Darlene in. I don’t want her to see me like this. She’ll worry all over me.”
“As soon as you’re on the way, we’ll get her and bring her to the hospital,” Aurora said wi
th a gentle note in her voice.
“I know you’re dying to ask what happened.”
“Hey, if you’re not up to telling us now, we can wait.”
Wayne’s hand rose to wave away Kai’s suggestion. “Earl laughed when I woke up and realized where we were. He bragged about having the key and knowing that no one would ever be smart enough to look in his old place. ‘Hell, I’m right under the cops’ eyes,’ he kept saying, right where…”
A cough choked off the rest of his words. Aurora’s careful touch, wiping the blood from his eyes, seemed to soothe, and the hacking sounds diminished.
The boy reached for Kai’s hand. “I’m scared, man. Can you stay with me?”
“Absolutely. I’ll be right here. Just hold on.”
The distant siren grew louder as it approached the building, and running footsteps heralded newcomers. Ham and his partner Roy showed up in time to stop the lookie-loos from being a nuisance.
Ham organized the team, while uniformed officers pushed people back and opened a path for the stretcher to get into the room unimpeded.
The voices of angry tenants could be heard in the background.
“What is it with this building?”
“I’m moving. This the second time in less than a week.”
Many used loud tones, fear lacing their voices.
Crime scene investigators showed up, and the picture-taking, finger-printing, and analyzing of trace evidence started. The yellow tape appeared, and so did Darlene.
Surprised to see her, Aurora stood and approached. Why the hell didn’t they send her for treatment?
Screaming, the girl had to be held back by two cops who had a fight on their hands. It wasn’t until Aurora stepped in to take over that she calmed down.
“He’s alive, Darlene. They’re getting him ready to take to the hospital. He talked to us.”
“I want to see him!” Darlene slapped hysterically at the hands holding her back.
“There’s no time. They need to take him now. Kai will go with him. Wayne seems to relate to him somehow, and he’s stronger when they’re together. You can ride with me, and we’ll get there just as quickly with the siren on. Go on now, get dressed.”
