Skeleton justice mm-2

by Michael Baden

  What had once been a thin man, wearing a baseball cap with a ponytail extending out the back of the hat, slid out. Sam thought he saw a ghost-his ghost. Instead what he was looking at was the real killer of Boo Havrek.

  The dogs began to howl.

  The door opened once more and the Costellos returned. Between them, they pushed a large cage on wheels.

  They stood aside. Travis screamed.

  "He's a little cranky. He hasn't eaten," Elena said.

  Manny looked into the eyes of an abused, angry, and restless pit bull. It stared back, its small gray eyes as flat and emotionless as a shark's. Hard to believe that this creature was from the same species as Mycroft. Now Manny understood the plan. She and Travis would be left alone and unprotected to be tortured by this animal while people watched on the Web cam, powerless to help them.

  "Wait!" Manny screamed. "You can't leave us here with that, that… We've never done anything to hurt you. I would have helped you with your cause if you had just come to me and asked."

  "I'm sorry that you and Travis have to suffer," Dr. Costello said. He looked sad. The nervousness had returned. "So often, the innocent do."

  Manny sensed his weakness. Elena was ferocious, but Manny felt she could prevail with Dr. Costello. "We can still work this out," Manny pleaded. "I'll help you file a lawsuit against the government."

  "The time for that is long past." Elena waved her hand while groaning in disgust. "To get what, lip service-skeleton justice? This is the only way. The right way."

  Elena stepped up to the cage and checked what appeared to be a timer attached to the door. The white-and-brown dog lunged at her hand, but she didn't react. "He's not that big. Freak said he wasn't a great fighter. He won't kill Manny and Travis, just as the dogs they used on our parents didn't kill them. These two can survive the bites. This was our plan. To show the world the torture our parents suffered."

  Dr. Costello nodded. Manny couldn't be sure if he was agreeing or convincing himself.

  "This is wrong," Manny said, trying one last time to convince him. "This isn't justice; it's pure cruelty. It's not what your parents would want to avenge them."

  "You can't know that." Elena's voice, low and steady now, chilled Manny more than her screaming had. "You don't know our parents. We never knew them. They're nothing more than decaying flesh and bones to us. But we have vowed to keep their souls alive for them, for us, and for all others like us. You preach justice. Can you guarantee you could get us true justice, Ms. Manfreda?"

  Manny averted her eyes. She had no answer.

  "We will do this. The others want to forget about the Dirty War, pretend it never happened. We will finally make the world see."

  "The Costellos' apartment and the veterinary office are both empty," Pasquarelli reported by phone. "No one's seen them since yesterday afternoon. We're watching all three airports and the train stations."

  Jake nodded without much interest. He knew the Costellos wouldn't try to escape before they carried out their final plan, whatever it was. Finding them mattered to him only if it led to finding Manny… alive. "Any information they left behind to indicate where they're holding Manny and Travis?"

  "Our computer guys are searching the office computer, but so far it seems to be strictly business. At home, it looks like they used a laptop, which they must've taken with them. There was some ash residue in the kitchen sink, and the smoke alarm was disconnected-they probably burned some papers before they left."

  Meticulous. He hadn't expected anything less. Elena Costello's purchase of the Nixon coffee mug using her own name was the only mistake they'd made so far. Any forensic psychiatrist would say it was her way of getting caught-purposely. So that the world would know of her accomplishments, and she would be glorified. The twenty-first-century version of Jack the Ripper. But implicating Travis instead of Paco in the bombing was a more mundane blunder. But they'd made that error work to their advantage, milked it for even more publicity. As his mentor used to say, the hallmark of a professional lay not in never taking a misstep, but in knowing how to recover from it. Jake knew he couldn't count on the Costellos to trip themselves; he would have to trap them.

  As soon as he hung up with Vito, the phone rang again. The caller ID indicated it was Sam, who was obviously reporting in from Paterson.

  "Hi-what've you got?" Jake said.

  "I found Freak."

  "Already? Fantastic!"

  "Not so fantastic for him. He's dead," Sam said.

  Jake's grip on the phone tightened. The Costellos were tying up every loose end, eliminating every person who might intentionally or unintentionally disrupt their plan. Manny seemed to be part of their plan. But when they were done with her, what then? "What happened to him?"

  "Shot through the back of the head, apparently while he was getting food for his dogs out of this shed. There's blood and brain matter everywhere."

  "Where are you? What's all that noise?"

  Jake listened as his brother described the house in Paterson and the condition of the dogs. "The local police are here. We're waiting for Animal Control and the morgue meat wagon to arrive," Sam said.

  "Don't let them move the body," Jake said, already out of his chair. "I want to see it in situ."

  "But the Passaic County ME will be handling this case," Sam said.

  "I don't care who has jurisdiction. Just don't let them move the body until I get there." As Jake swiveled his chair to leave, the phone rang again. Caller ID blocked-a Pederson trademark. Damn it-he had to take this call.

  Elena knelt at Manny's feet and started untying her legs. A surge of hope energized Manny. If they were to be moved, she might have an opportunity to escape. Then Manny realized what was really going on and the hope fizzled out. Elena wanted them to be able to run from the dog-it would make for a better show.

  Manny watched Elena work and considered her options. She could wait until Elena was untying Travis, then kick her hard in the head. If she could knock Elena unconscious, she might stand a chance of reasoning with Dr. Costello. It was a long shot, but-

  A sensation of being watched made Manny look up. Dr. Costello had his gun trained on her. Amazing how that small black object drained the strength from her legs.

  With Travis's feet untied, Elena pulled out a cell phone and dialed. "Dr. Rosen? Are you sitting in front of your computer?"

  Manny could feel her heart rate kick up a notch. To hear Jake's name spoken, to know he was on the other end of that phone. "Jake!" she screamed.

  Elena waved at her in annoyance, like a mother hushing her clamoring children. "Never mind who this is," she said into the phone. "You need to go to this Web site: www.the-disappeared-dot-com. You will be interested in what you see there."

  Manny looked up at the camera. Could Jake see her now? Hear her?

  "Dr. Rosen?" Elena coughed, then continued. "Do you see what I see? Good. Then you also see the list of other people you must get to tune into this Web site, starting with Lucinda Bettis and the others, as well as the Sandovals. And expect your phone to start ringing. Because we've sent an e-mail from the Vampire to every news outlet in the city. And we've given your phone number as the contact person. Only you can explain why this is happening."

  Elena paused for a moment as Jake responded to her, careful to stay out of range of the camera. "Well, I think you understand why I can't tell you where they are, Dr. Rosen. But you're a clever man. That's why we chose you. I'm sure you'll rescue them… eventually."

  Then Elena grabbed her husband by the arm and pulled him out of the room.

  The door to safety slammed shut.

  They were alone with the pit bull.

  Jake cradled the phone to his ear, all the while staring at his computer screen. This must be what it's like to suffer from visual agnosia, that rare condition in which your visual acuity is perfectly good but you can't make sense of what you're seeing.

  He had first thought the voice directing him to this Web site was pulling a hoax, but
he had checked it out just to be safe. And now, instead of the blank screen or porn site he had expected, he saw with horrifying clarity the woman he loved and her client, hands tied behind them, in an empty room with a large cage that had some kind of animal in it.

  And this was apparently a live feed. When Manny shook her head on the screen, that meant that at the very same moment she was shaking her head in a room where he could see her but not find her. When she had looked up and stared directly into the camera, straight into his eyes, her terror had been as immediate as if she were sitting across the desk from him. His heart felt crushed by it. He slammed down the phone as if that would end Manny's fear.

  Jake couldn't bear to look at Manny and couldn't bear to look away. But there were words on the screen, too, running in a column beside the streaming video. He dragged his eyes there to read the text. As he read, the bile rose in the back of his throat. The Vampire was planning on torturing Manny and Travis and broadcasting this live over the Internet for all the world to see. And this monster expected him to participate in the spectacle, provide the color commentary for an act of madness. Well, forget that.

  He'd see to it that this live feed was blocked and deprive the Vampire of the publicity he craved. He'd shut down this Web site, and then he'd find Manny. Jake reached for his phone again, but before he could lift the receiver, it rang.

  It was the same woman. "Hello, Dr. Rosen. By now you understand what is happening here."

  "I understand, and I'm not participating in your madness."

  "Don't make that decision until you know all the ramifications, Doctor."

  A knot of dread tightened in Jake's gut. "What do you mean?"

  "You have one hour in which to contact each of the Vampire's victims. Tell them to log on to the site. Your friend the detective can help you with all the phone numbers you need. Once there, they must click the 'Contact' button to send an e-mail that verifies their presence. Do the same for the Sandoval family. Once everyone is watching, the show begins."

  "And if I don't?"

  "Then Ms. Manfreda and Travis Heaton will be executed with a single shot to the head before your eyes. You have sixty minutes from the end of this call."

  The phone clicked off.

  Manny could see Travis's arms trembling, his eyes wide with fear. He went into another spasm of coughing. Her own throat was raw and she felt like crying, too, but she couldn't. She had to remain calm, make a plan. Hysteria wouldn't help them.

  Manny glanced up at the camera. Jake was watching, but so was Elena. Even if she couldn't think her way out of this mess, Manny wouldn't give that woman the satisfaction of seeing her fall apart.

  Could Jake see what was in the cage? Did he know what was happening here? Or would he not understand until the timer released the door and the dog charged out? She looked down at her bare legs and arms. Now she understood why Elena had made her wear this ugly dress. She was totally exposed, totally vulnerable.

  "What are we going to do?" Travis asked in a soft voice. "Are we just going to stand here and wait for the door to open?"

  "Don't panic. That's the most important thing." Manny tried to speak with confidence, but inside she was shaking. Being attacked by an animal, eaten alive. It was as if Dr. Costello had sensed her worst fear. Couldn't he have chosen something else to make his point?

  She looked around the room. Surely the door must be locked, and there was only the one window, heavily barred. And absolutely nothing to use as a weapon. Except maybe the cage itself. Could they use it to bludgeon the creature, even if they couldn't force it back inside? Did she have it in her to kill a dog, even one that was trying to kill her? In a way, the dog was a victim, too. Some say pit bulls aren't inherently vicious. But there was no mistaking that this dog had been crossbred to be bigger, and trained to kill. It had been mistreated and punished from birth to turn it into a crazed fighter. She felt sorry for it, but she couldn't undo the damage.

  "Why did they untie our legs but not our hands?" Travis asked.

  "They want us to be able to run from that thing, even though there's no place to hide, no way to escape. It'll provide more excitement." Manny twisted her hands. The rope was definitely loose. It was as if they had been tied to hold them still just long enough for the Costellos to get away and the cage to open. Everything had been planned for maximum drama.

  "If we could get these ropes off quickly, we might be able to use them to tie the cage shut before the timer springs the lock." Manny's voice sounded choked and uneven to her own ears, like it had years ago at her first trial. What she wouldn't give now to have her terror inspired by a two-hundred-pound man in black robes instead of an eighty-pound dog with teeth so big, they jutted out of its mouth.

  She'd seen bigger dogs, but she'd never seen an angrier one. Lean and muscular, the dog circled endlessly in the cage. It probably hadn't been out in days. Mycroft went bonkers whenever he was cooped up on a long car trip. Imagine what this much bigger breed, which craved exercise as much as food and water, must be feeling. It wanted out, and when it got out, nothing would stop it from venting its manic energy.

  The look on the dog's face drove every rational thought out of Manny's mind.

  "Do you think we can gang up on it?" Travis asked.

  Manny glanced over at him, and for a terrible, selfish moment she was glad that Dr. Costello hadn't taken her plea seriously and released the boy. A terrified, weakened kid wasn't going to offer much defense, but it was reassuring not to be facing this thing alone.

  Manny thought about what Travis had said. "If one of us can distract him, the other might be able to subdue him. But whatever we do, we can't run. Running will just incite his instinct to hunt."

  "So if we just stay still, it'll leave us alone?"

  Travis sounded pathetically hopeful, the way she used to when she begged her father to promise lightning could never strike their house. Just say it and make it so, Daddy.

  Her father used to tell the reassuring lie. Manny couldn't. "Let's work on getting our hands untied."

  They backed up to each other and Manny worked by touch to pick open Travis's bindings. As she struggled, they talked.

  "Why did you circumvent your electronic bracelet, Travis? Where did you go when you left your apartment?"

  "I went to meet Paco. We weren't supposed to talk at school or phone each other, but I knew he had information he needed to tell me. I managed to pass him a note at school and told him where to meet me-a Laundromat down the block. I never made it there. Elena and Frederic grabbed me."

  "Why did they want you?"

  "From what I could figure out, they were still working out the details of the Webcam." Travis looked up at the camera lens, which captured their every move. "I didn't understand what they were planning, but I heard the word camera over and over again. I think they were afraid that if the police and the FBI kept interrogating me, they'd figure out the bombing was linked to the Vampire too soon. They had to buy time until they got this"-he gestured to the cage-"set up."

  "I wish you hadn't been so loyal to Paco, Travis. I could have helped you if you'd told me the whole truth." Travis let out a quiet sob, and Manny regretted her words. This was no time for recriminations. "How many minutes have passed?" she asked as she unraveled another knot.

  "About five, I think."

  They paused in their conversation. The only sound was the steady tick of the timer.

  And the click of the pacing dog's sharpened nails.

  With the help of the police and the FBI, Jake met the Vampire's demands. The audience was tuned in. Manny and Travis would not be executed.

  Vito had also mobilized a crew of computer geeks to track the transmission and see who owned the Web site, but Jake had little hope that they would be able to work fast enough to do Manny any good. Anyone clever enough to come up with this scheme would know how to cover his electronic tracks. The experts might be able to suss him out eventually, but they didn't have days to rescue Manny and Travis; they had
only minutes.

  Jake had never felt so helpless, so close to panic. He couldn't let fear get the upper hand, or he would be of no use to Manny whatsoever. He used the only resource available to steady himself: scientific method.

  He called Sam and updated him. "I can't leave my office and go to Paterson now. I need you to be my eyes and hands. That body may contain evidence that will help us find Manny."

  "What do you want me to do?" Sam asked.

  Jake felt a swell of gratitude for his brother. They could sit around for hours arguing for sport, but in a crisis, Sam followed orders without question. "Look at his clothes and skin. Describe any foreign material you see there."

  "Well, he's wearing destruction jeans and a T-shirt, and the jeans have a lot of white dust on them from the knees down. Like he knelt in something, or walked through it."

  "Collect some of that and bring it back to me."

  "Jake, I don't happen to have sterile specimen-collection envelopes on me."

  "Improvise. Scrape it onto a clean sheet of paper and fold it up. It doesn't have to be sterile."

  "Okay, I'm using a receipt from my pocket. Got a sample. What else?"

  "Take a crisp dollar bill and use the edge to scrape out some of the material from under his nails," Jake directed.

  "Done. That it?"

  Jake sighed. That body might be a treasure trove of information, but he could use only what could be analyzed quickly. "Yes. Get back over to my office as fast as possible."

  Knowing that the Sandovals and the Vampire's other victims were also watching, Jake sat in front of his computer screen and waited to see what would happen next. He clung to the hope that, having their undivided attention, the Vampire might be satisfied with just delivering a message.

  Manny was untying Travis's hands. He wished she would have had the kid untie her first; she would be most useful free. He could hear the low murmur of their voices, but the audio quality was poor. He figured the microphone must not be near them. He wished he could shout encouragement or directions, but of course they could not hear him.