He wasn't disappointed. Now he was inside, moving along the side of the office suites. He could hear voices. He didn't know who was talking, but he thought he could hear a female voice.
"Shut up!"
He stopped. It had to be Detective Ash. But who was she talking to? Why would she be telling someone to shut up? He moved slowly, watching his feet as to not step on something that would break the silence. He came to the main office doorway, which opened into long hall passing each of the nine offices. He stepped into the hall, took six steps, and peered around the doorway into the first office. It was empty, but it shared a wall with the Royal Party Room, and Marcus saw movement in his old room. The movement could be seen because there was a three-foot hole that had been torn out of the wall when the Royal Knights of Greenwood decided one drunken night that they needed to expand their lair and began kicking and slamming into the thin walls. Stevie Walker finally succeeded when he found a long metal electrical conduit pipe and speared it through the wall…then someone else kicked the hole and made it grow, and eventually the hole grew to become three feet in diameter before the Knights tired of the game. Yes, the party was going on in the Royal Room, but the Royal Knight was not there to preside over the festivities…yet.
He slipped to his hands and knees and slowly crawled into the room, moving to his left to stay away from the hole. He inched his way forward until he was leaning up against the far wall, sitting next to the hole. He could hear everything. He pulled off his pack, quietly unzipped it, and removed his Olympus. He inserted a fresh memory card, and turned the camera to the video setting. Then he rolled over on his stomach and leaned forward, laying the edge of the camera onto the opening of the hole. He pressed the button and began recording. With the dim light, he couldn't make out much…but at least he'd get everything on audio.
***
John stood still, waiting to see what would happen. He realized that Bell didn't see him; he was too far to Bell's right and Bell's attention was fixed on Megan. John kept watching as Bell eased his gun back into its holster and slithered up to Megan, like a snake to a bird's nest. As he watched, John witnessed Megan physically shrink before his eyes. Maybe it was Bell's large shoulders next to Megan's small frame, but no. It was a physical reaction to being within ten feet of the man, and even though she held the gun and he didn't, she was more afraid of the cop standing on his feet than the known killer lying on the floor. Then John saw Bell lean over and whisper something in Megan's ear. He couldn't tell what was said but he could see Megan's body tense up. Bell leaned in again, but not as far, and this time John could hear the words.
"Do it. Shoot him."
Almost in unison, both John and Isaac asked the same question.
"What?"
Bell's head swung around and he caught sight of John. He pulled his gun and pointed it at John.
"There you are," said Bell, menacingly.
"What are you saying to her?" John asked, taking a step closer even though Bell had a gun pointed right at him.
"Maybe you are a part of this thing after all. Yeah, that's it. I found you here—with Graham. I could make this work."
John looked past Bell at Megan, who held her gun on Isaac, but was looking past Bell at John, seemingly paralyzed.
"You're crazy. Megan, read him his rights."
Bell took another step toward John, his gun now less than six feet away.
"Who the fuck are you to give orders? I'm the ONLY one who gives orders here!"
From behind Bell, Megan said, "You have the right to—"
"No!" shouted Bell. And Megan stopped.
"Leave her alone, Gerald," yelled John.
Bell swung his head once again toward John. "Gerald? We're on first names now, Doc? You think you can step into my world, take my girl, and I'm just going to look the other way?"
"She's not your girl."
"Oh, but she is. Very much so. I took her under my wing when her husband died. I supported her. I gave her strength. I breathed life back into her. She's a great cop and a great detective and she works for me, and only me. There's no room for you, Doc. No room."
***
They forgot about Isaac. As the others were having their crazy talk and the lady cop was watching from the grandstands, Isaac was slowly slinking to his left, to the door…just fifteen feet away.
CHAPTER 77
Before Isaac could get more than a couple feet away from Megan, Cop Number Three arrived. Andy rounded the corner, his gun drawn, only to find Bell facing Dr. Randall, and Megan looking away from Isaac Graham, who seemed to be attempting a getaway. But none of them saw him. They were too involved in their own standoff.
"Yes, this just might work out," said Bell. "You just got in the way." Bell turned back to Megan and noticed Isaac had moved. "Shoot him!"
Megan looked back at Isaac and quickly adjusted her gun and stance, then said, “You have the right to remain silent."
"Shoot him," Bell repeated.
"If you choose to waive—"
"No. Shoot him!"
"Keep going, Megan. Finish the rights," John said.
Andy stood transfixed. Was he actually hearing what he thought he was hearing? There were too many guns drawn and too many chiefs barking disparate orders. What the hell was going on?
"—this right…" Megan’s voice grew louder to match Bell's thundering growl.
"No, shoot him now!"
Isaac sat still on the floor, looking confused by all the yelling and orders to shoot him, shouted, "No, please don't!"
"Do it!" Bell shouted.
"Anything you say…"
"Gerald!" Andy shouted, stepping farther inside the room, his gun drawn on Bell.
"Please," cried Isaac.
"can and will be held…"
"Kill him now!"
"Detective Bell," shouted Andy.
Megan, shouting even louder, "against you in a…"
"Goddammit Megan, I said…"
"court of law. What!" Megan screamed, turning her gun onto Bell. Her scream was so loud that a group of pigeons rose as one off their roost above and could be heard flapping around the cavernous warehouse, until they finally settled onto another perch. Detective Anderson raised his gun on Isaac, stepping farther into the room as his eyes darted from Megan and Bell to Isaac and back to Megan again.
"What are you going to do to me, huh?" asked Megan.
John took two steps toward Megan.
"Get back," said Andy, spotting John's movement.
John froze. Then he stepped back. Andy shot a glance at Isaac, who was staying put, still with a most confused look on his face. Join the club. Andy hoped whatever was going to happen would happen fast because there was a shitload of other officers surrounding the building and some of them were going to be here soon.
It had to happen fast.
Megan pushed forward, her gun in Bell's face. "You going to push me over a desk, huh? Into a closet? You going to drag me into the bushes behind the supermarket? Pull my hair back till my neck almost snaps? Call me your personal whore? Punch me in the stomach?" Bell took a step back for each step Megan took forward.
Jesus Christ, thought Andy. She's going to kill him.
"Megan, stop," John said.
Ignoring John, she continued, "What are you going to do to me this time, Detective Bell?"
Bell opened his mouth. "Doc?"
Megan pushed her gun forward to within four inches of Bell's nose.
"Don't you say a fucking word," she snorted.
She began to tremble. Her gun quivering in her unsteady hands.
"You don't get to say ANYTHING!"
The word "ANYTHING" was shouted again and echoed twice before fading away, to be replaced by the sound of Megan's labored breathing. Then Megan spoke again, but it was no more than a whisper.
"Drop your gun."
Bell didn't move.
"I said drop your gun."
Andy took his eyes off Megan, checked Isaac, and then said, "Bette
r do it, Gerry."
Bell slowly leaned forward, keeping his eyes on Megan, and laid his gun on the cold concrete floor.
"I should kill you. I have thirteen years of reasons to do so."
John couldn't wait any longer. He felt he had to move now and find a way to get between Bell and Megan. He took one step forward…but he was too late.
CHAPTER 78
Just as John took the step, Bell did something that for thirteen years had always worked for him. It was one of two signals to Megan that began not long after Russell's death, when he indeed took her under his wing and consoled her, slowly gaining her confidence. Back then he spent much of his time off talking to her and letting her cry on his shoulder. Then one night he got her drunk, which wasn't hard because she had started drinking more after Russell's death…and he made his move. After that night, she was in his control. She gave herself over to him. Did what he said, no questions asked. The sex started out like anything else. But Bell wanted to experiment more and more, and he still had his hidden camera in the basement. Then, one night, he brought the camera out and set it up right in front of her. Megan stayed quiet as he worked to get it just right, as she tended to do during these sessions— a word Megan used to identify her time with Bell. Up until then, she had no idea that he had been filming the two of them. Up until then, she had no idea he had filmed Russell and her on the night, two years before, when they came back to his house after drinks at the bar. Once the camera was set up and the lighting just so, Bell turned to Megan and did the same thing that night that he was about to do now. And for so many years—that's all it took to control her.
The signal.
But over time his hold on her began to wane, changing dramatically one day when Megan called an electrician to come to her place to install a new bathroom fixture. His name was Nick. He was twenty-eight years old, and he was cute. He reminded her of Russell. It took him less than an hour to pull out the old fixture and install the new one, and Megan watched him work throughout the whole process. He was quick to smile and he oozed personality. Something Bell didn't have. He talked with her while he worked, asking considerate questions, listening to her answers, and before he finished, she decided she wanted him. Four hours after he finished installing the light, he was pulling on his pants, packing up his gear, and heading home, leaving a very satiated Megan behind. The next day, she felt more alive than ever, and she found herself looking around her house for other things to fix or remodel. Six months later, she had four men on rotation.
But she learned how to hide it all from Bell, because she was still under his spell. But he was wearing on her. Not long after that, she began taking pills to help her sleep. Then some to help her stay awake. The years went by and she survived by focusing on her job, but all the while living three lives. The hardened detective, the whorish Bad Girl who slept with whoever could take her mind off Bell and her life without Russell, and the little girl who gave herself over to Bell. And through it all, there was always the signal. The one that told Megan, you're mine. The signal that said, you will do what I say or I just might pull out all those video tapes and leak them onto the Internet, or worse, pass one around the office—or mail one anonymously to your mother-in-law to let her see her dead son doing the dirty deed.
It was a threat she'd heard more than once. He backed it up once by uploading a short clip of the two of them to a web site and showing it to her online. Although it wasn't apparent who was in the clip because of the lighting and the angle of the shot, she knew it was her and Bell…and it scared her to death.
And because of that one short video clip, Megan never disobeyed him again.
Ever.
Until now.
With John and Andy standing each to one side of them and the Bedroom Killer lying on the floor just ten feet away…Bell looked into Megan's eyes, his arms spread out wide to show he meant her no harm, and prepared to give the signal. He looked straight into her dark-brown eyes until he knew he had her undivided attention.
Then…he smiled.
A wide, ugly, hyena smile.
It had to be the strangest thing John and Andy had ever seen. Because Gerald never smiled unless he wanted Megan to perform some sex act on him. That was always her signal to begin. But now, the sight of his smile sent shock waves through Megan, like the compression wave of a roadside bomb…and it brought her mind to a sharp focus. In a flash, Megan holstered her gun, reached up and grabbed Bell by his shirt collar, and brought her right knee up into his groin like a New York City Rockette kicking her heels up high during a "New York, New York" finale. The room echoed from the sound of her knee connecting with his package, and they all jumped as a whoosh of air left Bell's abdomen, dropping him like a dead cow on the slaughterhouse floor. But Megan wasn't finished. She took a step back and slammed the toe of her right foot into his ribs. She did it over and over again, shouting, "I hate…you…you fucking…pig…you don't…deserve…"
Before Megan could finish her soliloquy, Andy's sharp ears caught the footsteps of other officers approaching and shouted to John, "Get her out of here."
John rushed in, grabbing Megan from behind. He was doing his best to control her, but she wrestled free and got two more kicks in before John dragged her away. She continued fighting.
"Megan. Megan, no. It's me. John."
She kept screaming, "I hate you, you filthy pig! I fucking hate you!”
Then as quickly as it began, it stopped. Megan relaxed, her heart pounding. But it was really just the beginning. John's medical training told him she was on the verge of really losing it. Just as it happened two days prior, an honest to God nervous breakdown was starting. She crumbled into John's arms, trembling and sobbing. He held her up, trying to get her to walk on her own.
Andy rushed over to Isaac and ordered him onto his stomach, grabbed his arms together, and cuffed him. He stood him up and pushed him against the corrugated steel wall. It clanged. As he was frisking Isaac and reading him his rights for a second time, he heard the footsteps getting closer. Andy just wanted to hand Isaac off to Kennedy or whoever was about to come round the corner and then come back and deal with Bell.
But he was too late.
As Andy turned to walk Isaac to the doorway, he spotted Bell on his knees, sucking in air and reaching for his gun, which was still on the floor in front of him. Megan forgot to kick it away before she started kicking Bell.
Bell screamed, "Randall!"
"Look out!" cried Andy, shoving Isaac out the office door. Then, like an Old West gunfighter, Andy reached to his left, gripped the handle of his gun and, clearing the holster, raised it up, leveled it off, and aimed it toward Bell.
The uniformed police officers, who were less than fifty feet from the doorway, would later report seeing Isaac Graham, his hands cuffed behind him, get shoved out the doorway toward them, followed by the sound of six gun shots in quick succession.
CHAPTER 79
Homicide Detective David Anderson stood prone in the firing position he'd been trained to take whenever he practiced shooting his gun.
But this wasn't practice.
He slowly returned his gun to its holster as he stared down at Gerald, lying sprawled on his back—three gunshots wounds through the left side of his torso, and one completely through his neck. The neck wound was spilling the most blood, a new spurt with each pump of his soon to be failing heart. He was dead, or soon would be once enough blood left his body.
The uniformed officers spread out. One called on his radio, Shots fired. Another, a female officer, grabbed Isaac scooting him far away from the door and hopefully away from any stray bullets that might still be coming. Crouched down and pressed tightly against the outer office wall, the others shouted from around the corner—their guns drawn.
"Detective Bell! Detective Anderson!" they shouted. "Are you all right?"
Andy snapped to his senses, ripped his radio from its belt clip and called, "Eleven ninety-nine. Eleven ninety-nine. Officer down." Then he releas
ed his radio button and called out, "All clear."
Three officers came in, their guns still drawn but pointed downward, slowly surveying the scene, looking to the left, the right, and then down at Detective Bell on the floor.
"Oh no," said one.
"Oh, my God," said another.
The third cop pulled a pair of latex gloves out of his utility belt and snapped them on, then dropped to his knees and placed his fingers over the neck wound, stemming the flow of blood.
"What happened?" he asked, looking up at Detective Anderson.
They all stared at Andy, who was still looking down at Detective Bell, with blood pooling around his body. Andy quietly uttered the words, "I shot him."
The three officers stared from Bell to Andy, and then Andy slowly began to hand his gun to the officer standing closest to him.
"This is evidence," he said.
The officer gently pushed Andy's hand back toward the holster. "Let's leave it in the holster, Detective, and I'll take the whole thing."
Andy nodded and re-holstered his gun, clipped the strap over it, then pulled the holster assembly from his shoulder and handed the entire gun and holster to the officer.
"Andeeeeeeeee!"
Four heads turned in unison toward the call. Andy, knowing whose voice he just heard, ran through the room first, passing Bell just where he'd died, and out the door at the other end of the room. The other three officers followed. When they came out the door and around the corner, they found John and Megan on the floor.
The Bedroom Killer Page 26
