Shep bit back what he wanted to say. “Well, she wasn’t, and now Bo Lambert is going to kill her if we don’t find her first.” Something was coming back to him, something he had pushed to the back of his mind as unimportant at the time. “Sean took a report from Eulah Mae Simpson about a new tenant in her building. He moved in around the time Ryan started doing crime scene duty.”
“I know where Eulah Mae lives,” Monte said, “and I’m right down the street. I’ll meet you there. Park on St. Thomas and Felicity. The building is the second one from where Smith was found.”
Shep immediately dialed the captain. “I think he’s got her in the St. Thomas. Two buildings behind where we found Smith’s body. I’m down the street now.”
“Wait for backup,” the captain ordered. “I’ve got units on the way now.”
“She’ll be dead by then.” Shep hung up and pressed on the gas, using only his flashing lights. He didn’t want the siren to give him away as he got closer to the complex.
Ryan looked around the St. Thomas apartment, amazed the room was tastefully furnished, as if a normal person lived there. Bo caught her staring. “Nice place, huh? Kudos to the drug dealer that used to live here. He had a very refined sense of style.” Bo shoved her to the sofa, still pointing the gun at her. “You’re going to be caught, you know,” Ryan said, surprised that her voice
didn’t reveal the desperation she felt. She had to thank Nurse Tammy for that one. “I’ve got eight million dollars. Nobody will ever catch me.” Maybe if she could keep him talking, somebody might figure out where they
were. “So was Chad working for you?”
“Of course. Why do you think Chad went out with you in the first place?” Bo asked with a superior tone. “He never would have looked twice at a girl like you. I knew how much he could hurt you. And I knew you’d never tell on him.”
“You don’t know anything about me,” Ryan answered.
Bo smirked. “I know you better than you know yourself. I studied you for a long time before I decided your fate. Way before I ever started working at the D.A.’s Office. But I think we’ve really talked this thing to death. If you’re hoping somebody’s going to find you if you yap long enough, you’re wrong. Even Chad didn’t know where I was taking you.”
Ryan looked around the room, trying to figure out what Bo’s plan might be. “Maybe there’s some way we could work this out. There’s got to be something you want.”
He began pacing. “The only thing I want is to finish what I started. I’ve thought about this a lot. You’ve had all the chances you’re going to get.”
Ryan thought that this might be the time to react. She had to decide. She could try to make it to the door and hope to outrun him, or she could go for her gun and hope she got it before he shot her.
As if reading her mind, he grabbed her by the hair and jerked her from the sofa.
She instinctively brought her knee up between Bo’s legs as hard as she could. He winced and released her hair, but didn’t fall, and didn’t drop the gun. It was a bad move.
He shook his head slowly. “That was so stupid. I was going to take my time with you, but now I think I’ll just hurry up and get it over with.”
He brought the gun to her temple.
Ryan braced herself for the explosion, realizing she should have been spending the last few seconds praying and asking God’s forgiveness for her sins so she could still get into heaven.
Then Bo laughed. “I’m really enjoying this too much to end it so soon.” He pulled the gun away from her head, and roughly shoved her down to the floor.
He began pacing again, and then walked across the room to the entertainment center, the gun still in his hand. He picked up a CD case off of the shelf and looked closely at it. “Do you want some crystal meth?”
Ryan didn’t answer. She was trying to figure out a way to reach up under the loose pant leg without him seeing her. A second later, she felt a hard kick in the stomach.
“Don’t you dare ignore me. I asked if you would you care for some crystal meth. I expect an answer.”
“No, thank you,” she whispered, trying to catch her breath.
He walked back to the entertainment center and put the CD case down with a sigh. “Too bad you don’t want to party before you die. But since you don’t, I’ll just kill you now.” He pointed the gun at her.
She curled her body in the fetal position, and turned her back to Bo. “I think I’m going to throw up,” she lied.
Bo laughed. “Oh good, I get to watch you vomit before I kill you. What fun for me. Not that I haven’t seen it before. Remember that night I gave you a ride home? You probably don’t, since you were trashed beyond belief. I was so nice to you. I even helped you into your house, to your bathroom, so you wouldn’t puke all over the place. It’s how I got the key to your back door. You’ve made this whole thing almost too easy.”
She made a gagging noise as she curled her knees to her chest, and slowly reached with her right hand under the elastic at the bottom of the left leg of her pants. A second later Ryan had the gun in her hand, hidden between her knees. Bo walked back and stopped, standing behind her, his gun still pointing at her.
“I hate to end this so soon. But eventually those buffoons at the police station might figure out where we are, and I would hate to get into a big dramatic car chase.”
By the look in his eyes, he saw the gun just as she raised it. They fired at the same time.
A single explosion sounded, and a circle of blood appeared on the front of Bo’s shoulder where the bullet entered, a red stain spreading outward from the center, across the pinstripes of his shirt.
Bo’s gun only clicked. God was looking out for her. Bo’s gun had misfired.
“You shot me?” He looked at her incredulously, and then touched his own blood with his hand and looked at it, perplexed. “You bitch. You had a gun hidden on you the whole time? I never would have thought you could be that clever.”
She stood up, her hand trembling violently, and took a step backwards, trying to put distance between them. She had just shot him, but he wasn’t acting as if he was hurt.
Ryan kept the gun trained on him. “I figured out you were the murderer. I’m not only a better attorney than you, I’m also smarter. You didn’t set this trap for me. I set it for you. Now put the gun down.”
He pulled back the slide of the .45, making Ryan realize that Bo’s gun hadn’t misfired — he didn’t have a bullet in the chamber. His eyes showed a glimmer of disbelief. And then his expression changed to one of awareness.
Ryan knew she wouldn’t get lucky twice. She fired again, hitting him in the chest, watching as he fell to the ground on his back. The gun fell from his hand.
He clutched his chest, blood streaming through his fingers, as his eyes closed. “You fucking cunt-faced bitch.” He was gasping for air, blood bubbling from his wounds. Despite his profuse bleeding, Ryan felt as if he might jump back up at any moment and try to kill her.
She could hold him until somebody came. She looked around for a phone, wishing she had thought to tape her cell phone to her other leg.
“I gave you every chance to be nice to me,” he said, his words choppy. When he opened his eyes, Ryan saw no fear in them. She hoped he wasn’t going to grab for his gun. He was just a foot away from it. He could still shoot her.
She took a step closer to him, determined to overcome her fear long enough to kick the gun away. She took a second step. He stared up at her, a deranged smile on his face. He wasn’t dead. His chest was still rising and falling, a raspy, labored sound coming from his mouth.
“All women are cunts,” he said, still smiling as his eyes darted to his gun, a foot away on the floor. His hand jerked. Ryan wasn’t sure whether he was reaching for the gun or if the sudden movement was a spasm.
She didn’t wait to find out. She pointed her gun and squeezed the trigger, firing three more rounds into Bo’s chest.
“I just wanted what I deserved,”
Bo rasped, blood now trickling from his nose and mouth.
Ryan sank to her knees. “And that’s exactly what you got.” She crawled away from Bo’s bleeding body, watching intently as his eyes finally closed, a demented grin frozen forever on his lips.
She sat on the floor, watching for any sign of life from Bo, praying that he was really dead, knowing she had one bullet left in the gun if he should open his eyes again. She wondered if she should sit there and wait for the Calvary, or if she should get the hell out of Dodge and find help on her own. Her question was answered when she saw Shep in the doorway.
Shep pulled up to the complex, right as Monte was getting out of his own car.
“Please God, let her still be alive,” Shep said out loud.
Before either man had a chance to move, a series of gunshots filled the air. They both drew their weapons and rushed to building 23. The breezeway was eerily quiet.
Ryan sat on the floor, Shep’s revolver in her hand. The room smelled of burned gun powder. “Shep?”
Bo Lambert’s body was lying near the center of the room. Shep ran to Ryan, and felt her for injuries. Monte went to Bo’s body, checked for a pulse and shook his head at Shep. He then picked up the gun with the edge of his shirt, smelled it, and frowned.
Shep took the gun from Ryan’s hand. “Everything’s okay, baby.” Ryan seemed to be in shock. He hoped nothing had happened to her. “It’s all over.”
“Lambert sure won’t be hurting anybody else,” Monte said, but he was still frowning.
Ryan shook her head and her eyes filled with tears. “He was going to kill me. He killed all those people. And he was responsible for everything Chad did to me.”
Shep helped her stand up. “I know he was, baby. And you don’t have to worry about Chad Lejeune ever again either.”
Monte looked over at him but didn’t say anything. Shep knew Monte would never mention what Shep told him about Lejeune to anyone.
The sound of sirens grew closer.
Shep pulled Ryan close to him. “Did he hurt you?” He noticed blood on her shirt. “You need to go back to the hospital.”
“I’m okay. Can you check on Edie? He said she was in the trunk of his car. And Eulah Mae.”
“We’ll check on both of them.” Shep didn’t want to tell her that Edie and Eulah were likely both already dead.
A minute later, the captain rushed in, followed by what seemed to be the entire Sixth District police force. The captain grabbed Ryan in his arms.
Doug was already there to transport the body to the coroner’s office. He stared down at Bo’s lifeless form and said, “Most of the women I know only carry pepper spray.”
Ryan pulled away from the captain. “Bo tried to kill me.” She was shaking uncontrollably. “He wouldn’t stop. Even after he was shot. He kept moving. Like a cockroach.”
“Well, he won’t be coming back to life now,” Doug said. “I promise.”
“I had to shoot him,” she said. “I didn’t have a choice. He was going to kill me.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, baby,” the captain said. “Everybody knows that Lambert was a killer. Nobody’s going to blame you for defending yourself.” The captain glanced around the room at everyone, as if daring them to disagree.
“I killed him,” Ryan said, seeming barely able to comprehend what she was saying. “Bo Lambert was my brother. And I killed him.”
“I just can’t believe one of our own was that screwed up and nobody knew it,” Doug said grimly.
Shep followed the captain and Ryan out of the St. Thomas apartment.
JUNE
Ryan walked up the steps of the Sixth District Station, careful not to trip in the new Monolo Blahnik spiked-heel mules. They had replaced the Ferragamo’s lost to the St. Thomas. That project had taken enough from her.
She waved at the officers in roll call, drawing a disapproving look from the sergeant when one of the men whistled. She smiled, glad she had decided to wear the low cut Ralph Lauren dress.
Shep was waiting for her in the SID office. “You look good enough to eat,” he whispered in her ear. “In fact, I think I will.”
She smiled up at him. “Good. I have something special planned.” She opened her purse, knowing when Shep looked inside, he would see some black lace, a can of whipped cream and the John Mayer CD. “I need some serious stress release. I’ve had the most tedious day.”
“I would have thought your first day back would have been exciting,” Shep said with a worried look. “Especially your first day in Strike Force.”
“I guess some things aren’t as important as I thought,” she answered.
“What about getting Gendusa back from Kellie?” he asked. “That had to feel good.”
She shrugged. “It wasn’t as big a thrill as you’d think.” Then she sighed. “I wish I knew about Edie. Work doesn’t seem right without her. Every time the phone rings I expect to hear her voice on the other end. I keep thinking that since Bo didn’t kill Eulah Mae, maybe he didn’t really kill Edie. Maybe she’s alive somewhere, still waiting to be saved.”
Shep put his arms around her, squeezing her in a quick hug before letting her go. “They might never find her, Ryan. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but I have to be honest with you. You can’t keep waiting for her to show back up, as if this was some kind of joke. You’ll only drive yourself crazy.”
“I know.” She paused. “Do you think if I would have been nicer to Bo, none of this would have happened, and Edie would still be alive?”
“Absolutely not,” he insisted. “You can’t blame yourself for whatever the hell went through Lambert’s psychotic mind. No matter how nice you would have been to him, it wouldn’t have been nice enough.”
“If I had just told somebody back then that he needed help —”
“You were only four years old. You didn’t understand what was going on.”
“Even after everything he did to me, I can’t help thinking that he was still a victim,” she answered. “The things that he went through —”
“Ryan, do not make excuses for him,” Shep interrupted, his tone suddenly harsh. “He tried to kill you.”
“Did he really?” Ryan asked. “Why wasn’t his clip loaded then? It just doesn’t make sense.”
Shep shrugged. “Maybe he was just trying to scare you with the gun, and he planned to kill you with his bare hands. I doubt we’ll ever know what he was thinking. The only thing I can tell you for certain is that he’s a killer, plain and simple. Nothing you could have done would have changed that.”
She clasped her hands together tightly in front of her. “Daddy said more or less the same thing, in between his rants that I should move back in with him and mama.”
“I’ve already told you my place is plenty big enough for both of us. Or we could start looking for a new place.”
She shook her head vehemently. “I’m not being chased from another apartment. And I don’t know what everyone’s so worried about. If nothing else I’ve at least proven that I can take care of myself.”
Shep smiled. “Just don’t break into a chorus of I Will Survive right now, okay?”
Ryan narrowed her eyes at him. “I think I saw Monte when I came in. I bet he won’t make fun of me.”
Shep grabbed her hips and pulled her body against his. “I never doubted for a second you could take care of yourself. Hell, you could probably take care of both of us. But I don’t feel like talking about Carlson right now. At this particular second, I’m more interested in your sleeping arrangements for the night.” His look made her blush. He nibbled her ear and whispered, “Why don’t we get out of here.”
Her stomach fluttered from his breath in her ear. “Only if I can sing I Will Survive in the car,” she answered.
“You can do anything you want,” he said, his tone suddenly serious. “I mean it, Ryan. Just tell me what you want, and I’ll do my best to make you happy.”
She put her head on his chest for a second, and
then grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the door. “Good. Because I’ve got some very specific things in mind for you tonight.”
Down the hall, they ran into Monte.
He looked Ryan up and down and winked. “Looking hot, babe. Can you spare a smoke?”
“I quit smoking again,” she told him. “Cold turkey.”
He looked surprised. “Good for you. How’d you manage that?”
Shep looked annoyed at the conversation, but Ryan gave Monte an evil grin. “You just have to find a better focus for that oral fixation.”
Monte grabbed his chest. “All that wasted on a fag like Chapetti.”
Shep relaxed and smiled, holding up Ryan’s hand for Monte to see. “And she also quit biting her nails.”
“Damn,” Monte said. “Chapetti must be the luckiest man in the free world.”
“Absolutely,” Shep agreed, as he and Ryan walked out of the station.
At the top step, Shep stopped and finally gave her a long, hot kiss.
Her day was definitely improving.
RUTH
Her mother had named her Ruth. She had been called so many different things in the last twenty years she was surprised she even remembered her given name. Names didn’t matter to Ruth anyway. for the past three years she had been Edie Guilliot, and no one had found out. Well, Jacob had known, but the whole thing had been his idea to begin with.
Jacob had a whole lot of ideas, although being dead wasn’t one of them. Ruth had always known that if someone else didn’t kill Jacob, she would eventually have to do the honors herself. It was the only way to get Jacob’s money, and, for Ruth, it had never been about anything other than getting the money.
Jacob had been right about one thing, though. Past inequities had to be resolved. Why should Jacob have so much, when Ruth had so little? They were, after all, blood. And she had suffered every bit as much as he had.
She watched from a block away, through a pair of Jacob’s high-power binoculars, as Ryan and Shep left the police station, Shep’s arm around Ryan’s shoulder. Ryan smiled, and then they kissed. Ruth sighed happily and smiled with them.
Ruth wanted to find some way to thank Ryan, for getting rid of Jacob for her, and for being her best friend, even if Ryan had never figured out that they were sisters.
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