Houseboat

by Paul Shadinger

  Finally, BJ finished, and I decided to wander down and see if Sharon was home. I summoned the elevator and took it down one flight to her place. As soon as the door slid open, BJ took off towards the back of her apartment. Once she entered the bedroom, BJ started to bark. I’ve had BJ long enough to recognize what her different barks mean, and this was one I’d never heard. She was frantic.

  I moved as quickly as I could and shoved the door open the rest of the way. As I walked into the room, I could see legs sticking out on the far side of the bed, and after I crossed the room, I found Sharon lying in a pool of blood. I felt a sob tear from my chest. I felt her neck on the underside of her chin using my fingers. I could just faintly make out a very soft pulse. I fished my cell phone out of my pocket, called 911, reported what I had found and ended the conversation by telling them to hurry.

  When I heard the signal alerting me the EMT drivers were downstairs at the front entrance, I went to the elevator to send it down for them. When I passed through the kitchen to return to Sharon, I found the note on the counter. It read, “Leave me alone or YOU are next!” I knew who’d left it for me.

  The medics had already started working on her when one of them recognized her from the ER at the hospital. It seemed to me from that moment on, their efforts to save her stepped up a couple of notches. One of them had an earpiece, which also served as a microphone, and I could tell he was in contact with the ER personnel at the hospital.

  As they wheeled Sharon to the elevator, the medics continued talking back and forth with the ER room, getting them ready for her arrival. As the elevator door started to shut the EMT who knew Sharon from the hospital looked at me, and said, “I think she’ll be OK. The wound isn’t that bad and we got here in time. They’re ready for her at the hospital. Sharon’s gonna be fine, trust us.”

  And the elevator door closed, as I stood there with tears running down my face. I just could not bear the thought of losing her.

  Not now.

  Chapter 35

  I just stood there staring at the closed elevator doors. My mind was like a fuse box which had had too much power pulled through it. My fuses were tripped; the lights were out and there was nobody home.

  How long I stood there I had no idea. Eventually my brain started to function and I realized I needed to take some action, I had to do something. I pulled out my cell phone, and dialed Sakol. He answered on the second ring, just as he always does. I heard his familiar greeting, “You talk, I listen.”

  There was no reason to mince words and I told him straight out, “I just found Sharon in her bedroom and she’s been shot. The EMT people have been here and they took her to Harborview Hospital where she’s on her way to the ER. She was still alive when they took her away. I also found a note on my kitchen counter telling us to back off. I’m positive it’s Hollis.”

  Sakol abruptly told me, “I go. Call later.” The phone went dead in my ear.

  I headed down to the garage and got in my truck to head for the hospital. As always, BJ followed along. From my car phone, I called the cleaning service that takes care of my apartment and explained to them there was a problem in one of my units. I told them where to find the pool of blood, but I left out how it came to be there. I asked them to do the best they could, but I wanted the place cleaned up as soon as possible.

  As I drove to the hospital, I saw all of the Christmas lights decorating people’s homes and it dawned on me, this was Christmas Eve. It was not how I had planned to spend the evening. I am not a religious man, but I did ask God for a Christmas present for myself; I asked him to spare Sharon’s life. I know it seems selfish, but I wanted her back, alive and well. It seemed like a fair request to me.

  When I walked into the emergency receiving area, Nancy, one of Sharon’s nurse buddies noticed me. She came over and greeted me and all I wanted was to ask how Sharon was doing, but I was afraid to try and speak. I didn’t want to break down in front of her. Nancy seemed to know exactly what I was going to ask and she told me even though Sharon had lost a lot of blood, she was going to make it. The bullet had nicked a vein, but she’d made it to the ER in time.

  The next thing I knew I was sitting in a chair crying, and Nancy had her arms wrapped around me, holding and comforting me. I mean, I knew I loved Sharon, but until that moment, I hadn’t realized how deep my feelings had grown. I was discovering the idea of losing her was way too much for me to even comprehend. There were no words to describe how I felt; I was so grateful for Nancy’s words and that Sharon was going to pull through. I’d made an important discovery; I now realized how important she was to me.

  I heard the doors to the ER waiting room swoosh open and when I looked up there were two uniformed officers standing directly in front of me with Captain Frank standing in the middle.

  “Oh fuck!” I thought to myself, “Here I go. I’m off to jail.” I started looking around the room to see if there was a way to escape. My heart was pounding and I was positive the two officers with Frank were there to take me into custody. Instead, much to my surprise, Frank gave me a small nod and then came and sat down next to me.

  Placing a hand on my knee, he asked, “Evening Matt, how is Sharon doing?”

  I told him about going to Sharon’s place and finding her on the floor. He then asked me how I was doing. His concern was alarming me. This was not the hardboiled police captain I thought I knew. I wanted to ask, “Where’s the old Captain Frank? What’ve you done to him?” However, I wisely kept my mouth shut. I told him I was doing as well as could be expected considering everything that was going on.

  Frank pointed at the two officers still standing in front of us. “These two officers will be guarding Sharon. I’m assigning officers, twenty-four hours a day, until we catch that son of a bitch.”

  “How did you know about this?” I swept my hand towards the emergency area.

  “Sakol called me. He told me about Price and Hollis and everything they suspect them of doing. Sakol also told me you were the one who called in Jeff getting shot last night.”

  I just sat and looked at him for a while and finally I replied, “Frank, I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. I know Jeff L. was shot, but you ordered me to stay away from Jeff L. and Sakol. How could I be the one who called in about somebody shooting him?”

  Frank’s dark face lit up, as he smiled at me, “Yeah! Right! I forgot I told you that. Then it must’ve been somebody else who called it in. You always do what I tell you to do. Right?”

  I could feel my face covered with a big grin. “Yes, sir. It couldn’t have been me.” That was my story and I was going to stick to it, at least as long as I could.

  “Well,” Frank winked at me, “if you ever see the person who stuck around and then called 911, please tell that person thanks.” He stood and started to give instructions to the waiting officers.

  As he started out the door, I called to him, “Thanks for having some of your people watching over Sharon.”

  Frank took a step back towards me and with a rueful smile said, “I forgot to tell you, I know Sharon. I mean professionally. There is no way you could know this, but I ended up in the ER one night and she sat with me the entire night,” Frank’s face looked kind and gentle with his memories, “She’s really very special. I feel I owe her. There’s no other way, Matt but to take good care of her.” Frank tuned to leave, and then turned back around. He smiled at me and said, “Hey, Merry Christmas.” I nodded my head. As he stepped through the door, Frank called back over his shoulder, “See ya around.” I’d always had a soft spot for Frank, and now I realized why. Beneath that gruff exterior, there really was a heart of gold. No wonder everybody who serves under him thinks the world of him.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  I knew Sharon’s doctor and when he finally came out to see me, we were able to discuss how long they expected to keep her at the hospital. I thanked him for his time. Now that I had a few mo
ments I stepped outside to call Sakol. “You talk, I listen.”

  “It’s Matt.”

  “Not now. I call later.” As I hung up, I remembered I had BJ out in the truck, and she needed to be let out. I opened the door and she came barreling out. Then she proceeded go around and sniff the different bushes. As I stood there waiting for her, I suddenly remembered Lan, the stripper. A couple of things came to mind regarding her. The first was how safe she was since she knew all about Hollis killing Price. I also wondered if she could, or even would, tell me about Hollis. For some reason I thought she knew where he was hiding, that is if she was still alive.

  The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to me that killing Price had snapped something inside of Hollis. He was probably already a little crazy, and the thing with Price must have completely unhinged him. He was taking anybody and everybody out he thought was involved with the two of them. I knew Walter was safe, but I wondered just how safe I was.

  I got BJ back in the car and pulled out of the hospital parking lot, heading for the strip club. There wasn’t a very good chance Lan would be there since she preferred working days, but I wanted to try. If nothing else, I was hoping I could convince the bouncer to call her to see if she’d meet me somewhere. At this point, I was desperate. Just as I pulled into the parking lot of the club my cell went off, it was Sakol. “What’s up?” I asked him.

  “Bodies gone. Long day. Many problems. Sorry I not talk to you. Why call?” Sakol was back to Charlie Chan again.

  “Sakol, my friend over on the peninsula told me about a stripper named Lan who works at Robby’s. She knew Price, and I believe she knows Hollis as well, I am under the impression she might know where to find Hollis.”

  “Wait. I come. Where you?” I told him where I was, and he again told me to stay where I was. The club was decked out with holiday lights and it seemed a bit tacky for a strip club to have Christmas lights. I know it’s a bit small on my part, but it was what I was feeling. Sakol must’ve run every red light and busted every speed limit there was. It seemed I’d hardly hung up the phone and locked the truck when he came wheeling into the parking lot with his blue light flashing on top of his dashboard. He didn’t bother to properly park his car; instead, he just left it sitting in front of the entrance, the light still flashing on his dash. “She here?” he asked.

  “I haven’t been inside yet. Remember, you told me to wait.”

  “First time obey; nice.” I laughed.

  Once again, the wall of noise assailed us as we stepped in to the lobby. The same bouncer was standing at the front by the velvet covered chain. The one I had a problem with the last time I was there. As he stepped forward to collect our money, he recognized me. He then pointed to the door, and I could make out his lips saying, “Get out!”

  Sakol whipped out his badge and showed it to the bouncer. At the same time, he crooked one of his fingers signaling the bouncer to step outside the door. Once he shut the door, the noise dropped enough so we could talk.

  The bouncer started the conversation, “What the fuck do you guys want?” I didn’t think that being so aggressive with Sakol was a wise move on his part.

  For the longest time, Sakol just stood there staring at the bouncer. Finally, the bouncer snarled, “What?”

  “Give driver’s license.”

  “Why?” The bouncer’s voice was still threatening.

  I guess Sakol felt this dude needed to see “The Sakol” without the dumb cop routine. In perfect English, Sakol spoke in an intimidating tone, “Did you just ask me why?” The bouncer nodded his head. “Because I said so.” Sakol took a step towards the man. “Because, I can have you in lockup within an hour. Because I can smell the stink of fear on you. Because, I see in your eyes you have a record, maybe even a warrant out?” I watched in disbelief as the bouncer dropped his head. Sakol tapped his finger on the man’s chest, “So, if you have any hope of walking back in to that den of noise, you’ll cooperate with us. Do you understand?”

  It looked like somebody had pulled the plug on the bouncer; he actually seemed to shrink before my eyes. As he reached for his wallet the bouncer asked, “What do you need to know sir?” The big man was actually civil.

  I spoke, “The other day I was here talking to Lan. We believe she’s in danger. She might have known two men from back home. We believe they came to see her a few days ago. One of the men is dead and the other man killed him. Since the man we’re looking for has been killing everybody who knew they were in town, we think she might be in danger. Do you know where to find her?”

  The bouncer stood for a moment, and then his face brightened. “Wait here, I think I can find her address.”

  After he left, I asked Sakol why he’d dropped his Charlie Chan routine with the bouncer. “He balloon, need popped.” And his comment made perfect sense to me. The bouncer returned faster than I expected. “One of the other girls here is good friends with Suzie Wong, excuse me, that’s her stage name, she knows where Lan lives. Here’s the address.” The bouncer paused, and then added, “On the back of the paper is my cell phone, please call me and let me know if she’s OK?”

  Sakol smiled at the man, “Concern is good. We make call.” The old Sakol cop was back.

  After the bouncer had gone back in the building, Sakol looked at me, told me to leave my truck in the back of the parking lot and to come with him. I moved my truck and left the windows down just a crack so BJ could have some fresh air. I told her to behave herself, and that I’d be right back. She licked my hand and then curled up on the passenger seat. I got in the car with Sakol. As we pulled out of the parking lot, he flipped on his siren, and we headed off to the address the bouncer had given us.

  The apartments where Lan lived were attractive: surrounded by large trees with lots of green areas and a swimming pool located in the middle of the compound. We found her building. Her apartment was on the third floor. When we got there, we found the door to her apartment slightly ajar. I was really getting tired of finding front doors left open. I shuddered to think what we were going to find inside.

  With a sinking feeling I watched as Sakol carefully pushed the door open. Someone had trashed the apartment. The living room was in a state of total disarray with not one piece of furniture upright. Somebody had broken off a couple of the dining room table legs, along with tipping the highboy on its side, leaving broken dishes scattered everywhere. A small Christmas tree was crushed under the overturned couch. In order to reach the hallway at the rear of the apartment we had to climb over all sorts of stuff; at the end of the hallway we found the bedrooms.

  Lan was on her back on the bed, stripped naked with her feet and hands bound. Someone had given her a whipping with something that left marks all over her body and the bottoms of her feet were raw and bleeding. In addition to the beating, she had an ugly wound in her right side that was bleeding freely. There was blood all over the bed. Sakol stepped up to her, and put his finger on the side of her throat. He looked at me and said, “Call 911.”

  As I called the emergency number her eyes started to flutter open. When she saw Sakol, there was fear in her face. Once Sakol saw her eyes open, he started speaking softly to her, saying something to her in a language I didn’t understand.

  Lan closed her eyes, and took a deep shuddering breath. While I was giving the 911 operator instruction I went in the kitchen looking for a sharp knife. Once I found one I returned to the bedroom and started to cut away the nylons that had been used to tie her up. As I worked on her feet, in a voice so soft I almost couldn’t hear her, she started to talk to Sakol. She spoke to Sakol for a long time, and as he kept his ear just in front of her lips, he kept nodding his head as she spoke. Finally she stopped.

  After she lay there for a moment, Sakol gently gathered her in his arms, and started to speak to her again as he rocked her body. There were tears in her eyes, and once more, she started to whisper in his ear. Sud
denly she let out a sharp cry, her body stiffened and then relaxed. I watched, as Sakol gently moved his hand over her eyes, closing them. Lan was dead.

  Sakol held her for a long time, and I heard a couple of sobs and I also saw tears in his eyes. Something had been exchanged between them, and I could tell it had affected him. I grew concerned and finally I asked, “Sakol, are you okay?”

  He looked at me with tears in his eyes and nodded his head. “Yes, I’ll be okay. She was from my village. I knew her father. She recognized me, and she asked that I be the one to go to tell her mother and father she’s dead. I told her I would.”

  “I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else I could say to him. This was getting to be a very difficult day. Hollis’ body count was climbing fast.

  Sakol’s voice was soft as he reminisced. “I didn’t really know her. The last time I saw her she was a little girl, but her father was a friend. I had no idea they were in America. Her father and mother live up in British Columbia. She told me her father had helped Hollis and Price back home. The two men had been very helpful in getting all the family out of the country when things started to fall apart back at the end of the war. Her father was positive the invading forces would kill him and his family since they had helped Hollis and Price.

  “Hollis had been to her apartment several times. After he killed Price, he returned and told Lan about it. She said he was very upset, and swore he was going to extract as much vengeance on you as possible. He holds you responsible for Denny’s death.” I started to speak and then realized saying anything to Sakol about it was pointless.