The Frenzy War

by Gregory Lamberson

  “How could I forget? I lived that story for two months.”

  “I called Colleen on my way over here—”

  “You did what?”

  “As the arresting officer, it’s appropriate for me to make certain inquiries about my convicted felon.”

  “You’re dangerously close to stepping over the line, mister.”

  “Here’s a news bulletin for you, Mrs. Mace: when my family’s concerned, I hop, skip, and jump over that line like it isn’t even there. We have a beautiful little girl at home who needs her mother.”

  “That little girl needs her father too, and I didn’t stand in your way when you accepted your current mysterious assignment, which, I might add, you’ve told me nothing about.”

  “Colleen told me that Gomez requested you do the interview.”

  “He insisted on it.”

  “Why do you think that is?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I spent even more time on camera covering the Full Moon Killer than you did?”

  “Or maybe he sees this as the perfect opportunity to strike back at me by hurting you.”

  “You’re being ridiculous. Security will be through the roof; the station’s legal team is making sure of it.”

  The server returned with Mace’s drink. “Are you ready to order?”

  “Yes. I’ll have the number seven, and my wife will have the number nine.” They always ordered the same thing.

  Cheryl raised one finger. “Just a moment. I think I’ll have the number four instead tonight.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The server departed.

  “You’re not doing that interview,” Mace said in a blunt tone.

  “The hell I’m not.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  “What are you going to do, arrest me?”

  “You’re being stubborn.”

  “And you’re being unreasonable, not that it will do you any good. This isn’t 1950.”

  “If you’re determined to go through with this, I’m going to be there.”

  “As the arresting officer? How quaint. Here’s a news bulletin for you, Captain: I don’t care. What’s a little more quality time between a husband and wife?”

  Mace searched for a retort but came up empty-handed.

  “Now, why don’t you tell me all about your first day on your new job?”

  The ring tone of Willy’s cell phone sounded at quarter after seven. Checking the display, he answered. “What is it, Lieutenant?”

  “Start calling me Ken now that we have the same rank,” Landry said.

  “Maybe once I start feeling like a lieutenant.”

  “I’m knocking off for the night.”

  “Aren’t you the fortunate soul?”

  “Candice is holding down the fort. Any idea how long you and Williams are staying at it?”

  “At least until 2100 hours. We’ve had a little activity here but nothing major. Two lookouts replaced the two out front, and I spotted two more in the back.”

  “Do you want me to have Shelly and Norton cover the rear?”

  “No, thank you.” He glanced at Karol. “We’ve got it under control.”

  “Tony’s having dinner with Cheryl, but he’s coming back. Call me if you need anything.”

  “You got it.”

  “If you two pull a late night, adjust your schedule accordingly tomorrow. Just keep me posted.”

  “Copy that.” Willy set his phone down. “Landry says if we stay up all night we can come in late tomorrow. Guess what we’re doing?”

  Karol smiled. “Surprise me.”

  Willy raised his eyebrows. It was the first time all day Karol had flirted back with him. “Heads-up,” she said.

  Willy looked out his window as a taxi parked at to the curb outside the funeral home. The lobby lights in the building went dark, and Gabriel, Raphael, and a third man exited the building. “The Domini boys. Who’s that with them?”

  “I have no idea,” Karol said. She raised her camera and took several shots as Raphael locked the door and shook hands with the other men. Then Gabriel and the unidentified man got in the taxi, which drove off. Raphael walked in the opposite direction, passing the lookout stationed on that side without saying anything to him. “Our orders were to follow Gabriel if they both left.”

  “Yeah.” Willy started the engine and pulled out of the parking space, his head darting in both directions, searching for the opportunity to make a U-turn. “Hold it.”

  “What?”

  “Raphael’s coming back.”

  Karol looked out the windshield. “What the hell?”

  Raphael returned to the funeral home and unlocked the door.

  “Maybe he forgot something,” she said.

  The two lookouts followed Raphael, who opened the door and went inside.

  “Uh-huh,” Willy said with a skeptical voice.

  Raphael punched a code into an alarm pad and turned on the lobby lights. Then he and the lookouts retreated from view. A moment later, the lobby lights turned dark again.

  Willy backed into the parking space. “If you ask me, Raphael’s keeping secrets from Gabriel. Maybe he’s running a late night card game: werewolf poker or something.”

  They sat in silence, waiting. Ten minutes passed.

  “They’re not coming out,” Willy said. “And they left that front door unlocked.”

  “Not exactly the actions of werewolves hiding from their slayers,” Karol said.

  “More like the spider inviting the fly to be supper.”

  “What should we do?”

  “Sit tight and see who shows up to be supper.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Mace walked the two blocks from the Fifth Precinct parking lot to the building on Mott Street in cold darkness. Manhole covers spewed steam into the frigid air. The rest of his dinner with Cheryl had been strained, and she took a cab home to Brooklyn.

  The memory of his last interview with Rodrigo Gomez burned strong in his mind. The Full Moon Killer had confessed feeling kinship with the Manhattan Werewolf, and Angela Domini had confirmed to Mace that Gomez was a repressed Wolf, even though Gomez didn’t know it at the time. Gomez had thanked Mace for arresting him, for the good of society. It had been a striking change from when Mace had arrested the serial killer and testified against him in court. Who knew what other metamorphosis had occurred within Gomez’s brain and body over the last two years? If he had come to understand his true nature and had learned how to transform into a Wolf hybrid, conventional security could not protect Cheryl from him.

  Mace used his key to unlock the front door of the building, punched a code into the alarm pad for the second door, and crossed the narrow lobby to the elevator, glancing at one of two security cameras that covered the lobby. He boarded the elevator, which rose, and wondered where this investigation could lead. If his team located the cell of Torquemadans and took them alive, were they signing the men’s death warrants by turning them over to the government? He understood the need for a covert task force, but no matter how he rolled the term around in his mind, it equated to a secret police force. He wanted to protect the Wolves as much as possible, but he did not like the idea of being the equivalent of the KGB.

  I have to control the situation, he thought as he exited the elevator. His key card admitted him to the squad room, and he made his way into the office area.

  Shelly and Norton sat facing each other, slouched in their seats.

  “There he is,” Norton said with a tired smile.

  “You know, you two don’t have to wear suits,” Mace said.

  “Actually, we do,” Norton said with a hint of resignation. “But you don’t.”

  Mace shrugged. “It’s a hard habit to shake.”

  “I’d have no trouble doing it,” Norton said.

  Candice came out of the office, her coffee mug in hand.

  “Long day, Detective Sergeant?”

  Candice made a noncommittal expression. “Not really. I sho
uldn’t start feeling it until after nine.”

  “Well, you’re not scheduled to start until four tomorrow. Even if you come in early, I don’t want to see you before noon.”

  She smiled. “Oh, you’re going to deny me all that OT at my new pay grade?”

  “Yes. How did everyone do today?”

  Norton tapped a stack of papers. “I’ve got a long list of all the Catholic churches in New York City, nearby New Jersey, and surrounding areas of New York within a one-hundred-mile radius, with contact information for each.”

  “And I’ve generated a list of seventeen hundred single males from other countries who have entered the US alone over the last three weeks, either by plane or boat,” Shelly said. “I hope to cut that list down to two hundred tomorrow by using certain determining criteria. I assume you want me to trace their travel and hotel records to further eliminate those we show are nowhere near New York City.”

  “You read my mind.” Mace looked at Norton. “I want you to start knocking on church doors.”

  “It’s against bureau protocol for a special agent to conduct a potentially dangerous investigation alone,” Norton said.

  Mace knew that Norton wanted to keep an eye on things in the office. “That’s fine. You and Shelly work on the list of foreigners together tomorrow. When you’re finished, the two of you can go church hunting.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  “I got nowhere with the alarm company,” Candice said.

  “They swear none of their people with access to the Lourdes’ alarm code would violate company policy by sharing them.”

  “Which means they’re either lying or wrong,” Mace said. “Or their system was hacked.”

  “They claim their security’s airtight.”

  “There’s no such thing,” Shelly said. “A sophisticated cyber terrorist can break into any corporate system on earth. Even the bureau’s mainframes have been hacked.”

  “Keep at it, Candice,” Mace said. “It’s too soon to let them off the hook.” He looked at the feds. “You two should go home or wherever it is government types go after work. I don’t know yet what time Willy and Karol are knocking off, so I’d like to know the two of you will be on hand in the morning if Landry needs you.”

  “We were just waiting for you to get back,” Norton said.

  “I know it must be strange working with such a small unit.”

  “Not for us. It’s usually only the two of us, wherever the bureau sends us. It’s sort of a luxury to be part of a team working out of the same space.” She stood. “Let’s go, partner.”

  Shelly rose as well.

  “Good night,” Candice said in a sweet tone Mace knew to be insincere.

  “Good night,” the special agents said, making their way out front.

  Mace watched them leave. When he turned to Candice, she rolled her eyes without saying anything. He walked her back to her office. “Is Night Watch Command set on the protocol?”

  “Yes: you, me, and Landry will take turns catching any calls after 0100 hours. Whoever receives the call will tell them who else to call. You’re up first.”

  “My wife will appreciate that.”

  “We received a memo about her interview tomorrow. You must be excited.”

  She spoke in such a monotone that Mace wanted to laugh. “I plan to be there.”

  “In that case, your wife must be excited.”

  “We’re equally excited.” Mace went into his office and unlocked his briefcase. The first item he took out was a framed photograph of himself with Cheryl and Patty, which he set on his desk. The second was a framed photo of Detective Patty Lane.

  At 9:20 PM, Willy’s cell phone went off, and he checked the display. “Fearless leader,” he said to Karol, pressing the phone against his ear. “Go ahead, Captain.”

  “Put me on speaker,” Mace said.

  “Copy that.” Setting the phone on speakerphone, he set it in the hands-free cradle beneath the dashboard. “We’re all ears.”

  “I’m getting ready to leave, and I just wanted to check on your status.”

  “Oh, we’re good. No complaints. We’ve been burning a lot of gas staying warm, though. Raphael and his boys haven’t shown their faces since they went back inside two hours ago.”

  “Maybe they’re spending the night.”

  “Like they’re hitting the mattresses, goombah style? That doesn’t make sense. Why station lookouts outside during business hours unless you know you’re a likely target, and if that’s the case, why wait inside for a RPG to take your asses out? I gotta figure they think someone’s out there watching them, and I don’t mean us. That unlocked door is an open invitation to the unwelcome wagon.”

  “Do you see anyone else out there?”

  “Negative. But I also gotta figure that assassins who carry swords are closet ninjas.”

  “Do you need relief? Me and Candice could take over.”

  “Oh no you don’t. We haven’t had OT in months, and now that I’m a looey I need to upgrade my wardrobe. As long as we feel it’s worthwhile, we’ll hang tight. If our spi-dey sense tells us we’re wasting our time, I’ll have patrol increase their drive-bys just to be safe and we’ll go home. We’ll use Karol’s vehicle tomorrow. If this is going to be an ongoing stakeout, maybe Landry can find us an interior site? It is December.”

  “I’ll mention it to him. You two have a safe night.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Good night, Captain,” Karol said.

  “Good night,” Mace said.

  Hearing Mace hang up, Willy blew air out of his cheeks. “Why don’t you get some sleep? There’s no point in us both staying awake.”

  “You’ll get no argument from me. Give me an hour and a half, then I’ll spell you.”

  “You got it.”

  Karol reclined her seat, and Willy switched on the radio and located a slow jazz station.

  Valeria awakened with a start, her alarm clock beeping nearby. Moonlight shone through the wide window in the room she occupied, and for a moment she felt disoriented, unsure of her location. Then she saw the empty cot beside her that Eun had slept in before suffering her injuries. Fumbling in the darkness, she switched off the alarm, her senses confused by the erratic sleeping schedule.

  She got out of bed, flipped on the overhead light, which cast dingy light over her concrete and metal surroundings, and dressed in her loose-fitting combat outfit. Sitting on the edge of the cot, she pulled on her rubber-soled boots. When she stood, she secured her gun belt around her waist and strapped its holster around her leg. Realizing the importance of layered clothing in winter, she slipped on a down vest and snapped it up. She took her duster from its hook and then picked up her Blade of Salvation from where it leaned in the corner and slid it into the long pocket she had sewn inside the duster. Opening the door, she flipped off the light and stepped into the cold corridor, leaving the space heater running in her room.

  As Valeria neared the dining room, she resisted the urge to rub her arms in response to the shivers rippling through her body. She opened the door and saw Michael and Henri packing gear into black bags on the table. Each man had suited up for combat.

  “I made espresso,” Henri said.

  “No, thanks.” She never drank anything before a mission. “It’s easier for you guys to relieve yourselves on the fly than it is for me.”

  Michael picked up one of the bags. “Are you ready?”

  Nodding, Valeria put on her duster.

  “Let’s go.”

  Henri picked up the other bag, and the three of them exited the dining room and rode the freight elevator down to the ground floor. In the loading bay, Henri pressed the garage door button and the door rattled open, providing them with a view of the parking lot.

  “Let’s take an SUV tonight,” Michael said.

  Willy snapped awake. He had not intended to fall asleep. Karol slept with her head on his arm, one hand on his leg.

  11:10 FM, he thought. Shit!
<
br />   The funeral home remained dark, and no one moved on the sidewalk. He gave Karol a gentle shake.

  She sat up, blinking.

  “I dozed off.”

  Karol gave him a disapproving look. “You should have woken me if you were too tired to stay awake.”

  “I didn’t mean for it to happen. You wore me down last night.”

  “We have no way of knowing if Raphael’s gang left or if anyone else went inside.”

  “We could always knock on the front door and see if it’s locked now.”

  “That would be great for our cover.”

  “I’m going to walk around the block and see if those lookouts are still out back. Sit tight.”

  Switching off the overhead dome light, he opened the door and got out, breathing cold air. With his hands stuffed into his coat pockets, he walked to the corner and crossed against the light. Traffic was sparse, with few pedestrians in sight. He cursed himself again.

  First night on the new job and I screwed up.

  As soon as he could no longer see his SUV or the funeral home, he broke into a jog. He slowed to a walk before he reached the next corner and crossed the street. Turning right, he saw the bodega, closed now, and no sign of the lookouts.

  They must have gone inside.

  Approaching the dark bodega, he looked across Thirty-second Street. A black SUV occupied the alley, facing him, its headlights turned off. Willy’s heartbeat quickened. Crossing the street, he took out his cell phone. The SUV was empty. When he reached the mouth of the alley, he looked from side to side. No civilians. Raising his cell phone before his face, he photographed the SUV’s license plate. Then he called Karol.

  “Talk to me,” she said.

  “No lookouts and there’s a black SUV parked in the alley.” He read the license plate number to her. “Call it into Candice, will you?”

  “Copy that.”

  Willy closed the cell phone and slid it into its holder. No sooner had he removed his hand from the device than it vibrated. He pulled the phone free and saw Karol’s name on the display.

  What the hell? She couldn’t have run the license plate so fast. He answered the phone.

  “We’ve got company,” Karol said. “A man wearing a long coat just crossed the street. He’s going down the steps to that passageway.”