by Alexie Aaron
I no longer heard anything clearly. I knew someone was yelling. I felt hands pulling me away, unlocking my fingers from the ropes. I just couldn’t move. Lights, lots of lights, illuminating the bizarre story that this double murder told. Tony wanted to hang this on Miles. Miles should hang for the murders of Carl and Cheryl. But Miles didn’t kill them. Manfred and Tobias, were they still alive? Harry’s voice kept repeating in my head, “it’s the old farts, it’s the old farts.” Miles’s voice, “What’s the problem?” Mine, “are you a fainter?” “What’s the problem? What’s the problem?” The doctor’s cool, bored tone. “Spurned his love. He won’t try to kill Miles, Manfred and Tobias again. He will try to kill Ms. Fin-Lathen.”
I felt something warm about me. Light in my eyes. Carl’s eyes, happy with the anticipation of performing. How could he play with a mic stand in his chest? I saw Cheryl dancing around in my orange halter top. Her face pressed into mine. “Where did you get your shoes?”
My face was wet again and again. My eyes must have exploded. Again and again. Burning, cooling, burning, cooling. Lights, fingers at my eyes. Faint sounds, real sounds. More lights, stingy tears. Why was I crying? I was not crying over my shoes. Let her have my shoes. No more fingers. I will give you the damn shoes. “No!” Stinging in my arm. Lights, fingers, cool air, haze. I couldn’t reach my shoes - where were my shoes?
“Cin. Cin,” Harry’s voice.
“Come on, don’t leave us!” the finger’s voice.
“You can have my shoes. No more fingers!” I heard my own voice above the waves.
“Cin, what shoes?” Harry asked. “Is she coming around?”
“Lord, look at those eyes. She’s in anoesis.” Lights, fingers talking?
I looked at the fingers and followed them up to a face. Ed. Not Cheryl, Ed Novak. I squinted my eyes. “No pliers?”
He smiled. “So you remember me? We’re on the way to the hospital. Can you tell me what you got in your eyes?”
“Spray. Datura, devil’s trumpet, around Miles’s neck. Tell them, very bad, very bad poison.”
Ed moved away and was communicating with the hospital. Harry’s face replaced his. I tried to reach up and brush his curls, but my arms wouldn’t move.
“Hey there, Cin. How are you feeling?” Harry’s voice was soft.
“Stuck.”
“We had to restrain your arms. You were freaking out. Fighting us.”
Harry’s head disappeared, and Ed poured something in my eyes.
“Sorry, Hon, but I have to keep these flushed. Here, hold her head to the side,” Ed instructed Harry. “Keep running this through both eyes. Come on, Hon, keep your eyes open,” he coached while he started calling out numbers.
“Harry, tell him to stop calling me Hon.”
Harry smiled weakly. Then nothing. White fog. The fog was moving. No I was moving. The fog was ceiling tiles, lights, tiles, lights, a rhythmic clicking, and lots of noise. Voices, Ed, women, men, Ed, a hand coming to my face.
“Ms. Fin-Lathen, can you hear me?” an odd visage questioned me.
“Yes, where’s Harry?” I tried to rise up. Hands held me securely down.
“Harry? Your son?”
“Yes, Harry’s my son. Where is he?” I said slowly. “Why is it so hard to speak?”
“We gave you valium. Are you sleepy?”
“No, just slow.”
“Harry is outside,” a female voice said.
“Could you ask him where the car is?”
“Don’t worry about the car, Ms. Fin-Lathen.”
“You don’t know Harry,” I said. My breathing was getting harder. “I am having trouble breathing.”
“Can you stay awake? I don’t want you to sleep. We think you were sprayed in the face with a dilution of sap from datura stramonium.”
“Devil’s trumpet,” I said calmly. “There was devil’s trumpet around Miles’s neck.” I turned my head. “Miles?”
“I don’t know anything about Miles, sorry. The paramedic was quick to flush your face and eyes with saline. You were delirious. Kept fighting, I understand. We’re going to clean you up, check out your blood, and check out your eyes. If you respond well, then we will see about letting you go home with Harry.”
I suffered mutely through needles, and when they finally took off the restraints, it was only for a urine sample. A large male nurse moved me to a dry gurney. He propped up the back and removed what was left of my clothes.
“Ouch, some sunburn. Let me get some cream for that.” He disappeared, and the realization hit me that I was topless, sitting here with my gravity-challenged breasts hanging out.
He came back, and I put my mind somewhere else as he applied the cream and gently dressed me in a hospital gown. My head began to pound, and I just wanted to sleep. The thought of my baby abandoned in that parking lot, alone and frightened, this kept me awake. Alex, Noelle, I wondered if anyone called them? For the briefest of moments Father Michael flashed in my brain. I owed him something, but I couldn’t remember what. I would deal with that later but not before I found my car.
They wheeled me into a room on the second floor, and, only after some pleading, let me go to the bathroom. I was still attached to an IV that I don’t remember asking for. I wheeled it in with me. I closed the door and sat down. Wait, I got up and pushed my panties down. Nope, wasted effort. Where the hell was my underwear? I sat back down, peed and took my time standing up. I wheeled myself to the sink and tried to wash my hands. The male nurse ended up drying me off and lifted me up and put me in bed. Warm covers were pulled up.
“I am going to check your vitals. Then your son Harry can come in.”
“I didn’t catch your name.”
“Brent.”
“Thank you for the lotion, Brent. Could you do something about the lights? It’s like the full sun is drilling into my head.”
“Does your head hurt?”
“Hurt doesn’t begin to describe it.”
“I will call the doctor about the headache. Your eyes are still fully dilated from the effects of the poison. When I can, I’ll wander down to optical and score you some sunglasses. Until then, let’s lower the lights. There how does that feel?”
“Better. Thank you.” I leaned back and rested my head. I raised my arms, very happy that I could do so but dismayed by the bruising around my wrists.
“Knock, knock?” Harry’s timid voice called from the hallway.
“You can come in, son.” Brent picked up my chart and left us alone.
Harry just stood there at the end of the bed. His shirt was undone. He pulled his sleeves over his hands but not before I saw the scratches on them. Harry reached behind him and pulled out a flattened piece of canvas that had once been one of my shoes. He put it on the tray table.
“What is it with you and shoes?” He stepped back down to the end of the bed and cocked his head to the side as he looked back at me.
I cocked my head and looked back at him. “Do I look that bad?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, I left you. I ran to get Tony.” His face was tense. Harry was obviously very stressed out.
“I asked you to. No, I remember demanding you to. I’m the one that got me into this. Please come over here. I could really use a hug.” I held up my arms weakly.
Harry climbed over the end of the bed and right into my arms. I held him tight. I cried, and he cried. I didn’t release my hold until Harry’s sobs stopped.
“I almost lost you.” He held me so tight. “I told them I was your son, otherwise they would have thrown me out.”
“You are my son. I claim you Harry under the rules of finders keepers.”
“What am I going to tell Alex and Noelle? You got hurt, you almost died, and I was supposed to take care of you.”
“When things calm down, talk to them. They will tell you that it is virtually impossible to take care of me. Noelle left the country, and Alex took off running to Tallahassee. Luke abandoned ship. I am too much trouble, Harry,” I sai
d calmly.
“You’re just saying that,” he said as he sat up and got out of bed, grabbed the visitor’s chair and dragged it over. “But I love you for it.”
“Shhhh, just be quiet for a while. We can talk about this later.”
He murmured something I didn’t catch as a cloud of sleep stuffed my ears with soundproof cotton, and I returned to the land of nod.
~
“Ms. Fin-Lathen?” Brent’s voice whispered in my ear.
I opened my eyes. “Yes, Brent?” I whispered back.
“The police are here.”
“Where?”
“Down the hall in the waiting room.”
“Can you keep them from coming in?” I said as my eyes adjusted and saw a comatose Harry sprawled over the chair.
Brent followed my gaze and smiled big. “I can for a while.” He took a blanket out of the closet and covered Harry up. “I’ll be back in a half an hour.”
“Thanks Brent,” I said and fell back asleep, comfortable with the knowledge that my knight in shining armor was half my age and wore tennis shoes.
Chapter Nineteen
Brent came in and roused us. Harry yawned, pulled some blanket fuzz out of his hair and headed into the bathroom while Brent took down my vitals. I was calming myself, putting up all the storm windows. Harry, having washed, came over, and Brent managed to contain my medusa snakes into a braid, securing it with the lace supplied by Harry from my mangled tennis shoe.
We heard them long before they arrived. Ed pushed his way past Tony and grabbed my face and checked out my eyes. There was a wicked scratch along his cheek. I had a sick feeling I did that. “That was some trip you were on!”
“What are you looking so happy about? Looks like I maimed you for life. Sorry about that.” I smiled weakly.
“Hey, I lost Cheryl but not you, sister. You hung in there and fought.” He nearly danced as he walked. “That’s it. I’m out of here. Bye, Hon.” He waved as he left.
I looked at Harry and he raised his shoulders. “I’ll tell you about it later.”
Sergeant Dave and Tony looked horrible.
“Don’t tell me you lost my car,” I accused.
Tony’s face eased up. “Dudley has your car.”
“You gave my car to Dudley Do-Right? Are you mad at me?” I winced.
“No, but couldn’t you have waited? Did you have to run headlong into an ambush?”
“Ease up on her, Tony,” Dave cautioned. “She was only trying to save Miles.” He pulled up a chair. “Sit,” he commanded Tony. “Harry, could you find me another chair?”
“Sure, just don’t gang up on Cin while I’m gone.” Harry left the room, not without looking sternly at the men in the room.
Dave came over to the bed. “Cin, Harry had a rough go of it.”
“I know. Are both of them dead?” I asked already knowing the answer. He nodded. “Who?”
“Officer Tom Bradley. Young guy never knew what hit him. Curare. He was taken out as he left the building. Then Miles. The necklace was to let us know what the killer was going to use next. You ran in, and he was all too pleased to spray the poison into your eyes. We heard a car speed away as we ran. You were still on your feet when we got to you.”
“Interesting, the use of a spray poison this time. Why?” Tony asked.
“Another message,” I sighed.
“And that would be?”
“I think I’m so observant, but I am too blind to see.” I punched the bed, forgetting I was still attached to the IV. It jiggled a bit but didn’t fall. “I’m so tired of this. I just want to have someone tangible to fight. I feel like I’m an ant running around hoping I won’t get stepped on.”
“Or poisoned,” added Harry, dragging in a couple of chairs.
“So what happens next?” I asked the room.
“We have to find the killer or killers first,” Dave, aka Captain Obvious, stated.
“We’re looking for Manfred and Tobias. They supposedly took an evening gambling cruise with their wives. Doctor Sanders wasn’t home. Brian is missing, and Billy was playing jazz in front of thirty witnesses,” filled in Tony.
“I can help you out with Brian. It’s a full moon tonight. Check out the Boy Scout Park north of Jupiter. I understand that’s where the Celtic Irons hang out.”
“How do you know so much about this coven?”
“I know his wife. I believe they are both wiccans,” I explained.
“We messed up with Miles,” Tony started. “He was a target, not a suspect.”
“I don’t understand. Why did the cop, er, officer get killed?” Harry asked.
“He was in the way. The killer had to kill Miles. Miles was a failed attempt. The killer can’t stand failure,” Dave supplied.
“So Cin is still in danger?” Harry asked.
“I’d say so. I think we better get a hold of your family.”
“My family is here.” I nodded at Harry. “We’ll decide when to tell the rest what has happened. Do you understand?” I said sternly. “My daughter and ex-husband can’t possibly get here for two days. My other son Alex can be here in seven hours. But he would be a sitting duck for the killer. Harry, do you have any ideas?”
“Can she leave here?”
“If the doctor releases her. Why?”
“Because she’s too vulnerable here. He, or they, could already be at the hospital. We can’t go to her house because they could have already rigged the house. I will have to take her to my place.” Harry took a piece of paper from Tony’s ever-present clipboard. He wrote something down. Handing it back to Tony he said, “Have Dudley bring the car directly there, put it in the garage and close the door. Here is the key. Tell him to wait in the house. He can return with whoever drives us up there. Until you find Manfred and Tobias or Doctor Sanders, I am going to hide her there. I will contact the family and let them know what’s going on. It will be up to them to do what they want to do.”
Tony looked over at me. “This fine with you?”
“Harry is in charge, gentlemen. It should be an interesting ride.” I smiled.
Tony got up to leave.
“I have to arrange transportation. I’ll be right back.” Tony left.
Sergeant Dave got up and sat on the edge of the bed. “Well, Cin my dear, you had quite a time of it.” He looked over at Harry. “Both of you.”
“It’s only because I am - how did that bozo profiler put it?”
“You’re beautiful, original, humorous and...”
“Hungry.” They looked at me oddly. “Well I am.”
~
Harry had Nurse Brent bring in some tea and Jell-O. He and Dave were munching on some vending fare by the time Tony came back.
“Sorry, I made a few phone calls. I had an officer run the key over to Dudley. I didn’t want him coming here with the car. That car stands out. Not too many blue ones around. I asked Martin County to look in on the witches and make sure Brian was with them all night.”
“Any word on Doctor Sanders?” Dave asked.
“Nothing as of yet. Botticelli is a trifle miffed at me right now.” Tony blew air out his nose.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I said he wasn’t worth crap. Seems to me that Buslowski and the two of you have a better handle on this then he does.”
“We’re more personally involved. I’m worried about the others in the band, in particular Bernice,” I said with concern.
“The funeral is tomorrow,” Tony reminded me.
“Find a way to cancel it. Or we will have more funerals,” I said weakly. “I have one more request. Can one of you take Harry shopping?”
“Sure, why?” Dave asked.
“Because I don’t want to risk sending anyone home. I don’t have anything to wear out of here. I’ll give you and Harry a list and my credit card. Nothing fancy.”
~
By the time Harry had returned with my clothes, the eye doctor had given me the bad news. The poison had been i
n my eyes long enough to cause some permanent dilation. I would be light sensitive for some time, if not forever. The extent of the brain damage wouldn’t be known for a while.
“So you’re saying that I am going to look and act like I’m high?” I asked. “Might as well go back to college, so I can fit right in.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Please, this isn’t a death sentence. I happen to like wearing sunglasses at night. And as far a brain damage, I was doing a good job of it myself with Irish whiskey,” I said.
“You’re a remarkable person,” the doctor said.
“She sure is,” Dave said from the doorway.
“How much did you two hear?” I asked.
He made a face and showed me a space of two inches with his fingers. “Basically all of it.”
“Harry teach you to eavesdrop?”
“Hey, now. If I don’t eavesdrop...”
“You’ll never hear anything,” I finished. “What did you buy me?” I asked, holding out my hands.
“I bought the clothes. I had the married man pick out the underthingeys,” Harry said as he plopped down in the chair.
“That was a unique experience that I don’t want to repeat.” Dave wiped his brow.
“And we bought you some shoes!” Harry announced.
“Well, not exactly shoes,” Dave cautioned.
Harry stood up and reached into the handle bag and pulled out pink, fuzzy bunny slippers. “Watch this.” He tilted the shoes and the bunny’s eyes lit up.
I started laughing. Dave gave Harry a high five. Brent walked in and tossed me the wrap around post-cataract-surgery sunshields. I put them on.
“I guess I am styling now. Century Village, here I come.”
“I‘ll have the hospital release you. I want to see you back here if you experience any of the symptoms on the sheet Brent will send along with you. Otherwise, see you in thirty days. Good luck, Ms. Fin-Lathen.” The doctor shook my hand and left.
“What happened to Tony?” Dave asked.
“He’s putting together a decoy car. He really feels that the killer may be out there. I think he hopes to lure him into a street with a long cul-de-sac and block it off. Voilà, instant jailbird. Anyway it will take the heat off of us.” I sighed.
