The Pretty Ones

by Robin Mahle

  Her glassy eyes, stained from running mascara, turned to him and blinked slowly.

  “Go easy on her. I need to see what’s taking so long on the scan.” The doctor stepped away.

  Kate and the detective slowly approached the frightened and sedated young woman. He looked to Kate and nodded.

  “Hi, Kimberly. I’m Agent Reid with the FBI. I know how difficult this will be for you, but do you think you can answer a couple of questions for us?”

  She blinked her eyes once again and her lips parted. “I’ll try.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

  “Did you see the person who attacked you?”

  The young woman nodded.

  “Would you be able to give us a description of him?”

  Her eyes floated between Kate and Sharpe. “Yes.”

  In that moment, the doctor pushed his way inside. “I’m sorry. I need to get her on an operating table right now!” He looked to Kimberly. “We’re going to take you into surgery now, okay?”

  Two nurses arrived to assist the doctor in moving the gurney and began to roll her out into the corridor.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Kate asked.

  “He got her spleen. She’s bleeding internally.” The doctor moved to the front end of the gurney and helped get her into the hall and they rushed Kimberly into the operating room.

  “God damn it.” Sharpe shook his head. “If she dies, he’s going to get away.” He slammed his fist on the metal tray table. “Fuck!”

  “We should see if the others have had any luck with the man who found her. He’ll be able to give us something. We don’t know what he saw yet,” Kate said. “Besides, she’s going to be in surgery for a while, I imagine. We can come back when she pulls through. Because she will pull through.” Kate placed her hand on the detective’s shoulder.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  They arrived at Leimert Park, where lights flashed, patrol cars lined the street, and yellow tape surrounded just about the entire northern boundary of the park.

  “I see them over there.” Kate stepped out of the car and began walking toward them.

  “Hey.” Sharpe followed behind her. “What I said back there, at the hospital? I didn’t mean to sound…”

  “I know you didn’t.”

  “What are you doing here?” Nick asked. “I thought you were at the hospital with the victim.”

  “She’s in surgery. Right now, they aren’t sure if she’ll make it. It’s too early to tell,” Kate replied.

  “You talk to our witness?” Sharpe moved in.

  “Yeah. He’s sitting over at the ambo.” Nick tossed a glance over his shoulder. “He didn’t see much. Saw a guy in a grey hoodie and ball cap.”

  Sergeant Moore and Dwight soon approached.

  “Any luck with the victim?” Dwight asked.

  “She’s in surgery. Don’t know how it’ll pan out,” Sharpe replied. “So our guy over there, could he give us any more details? Height, weight, hair color? Is he blonde?”

  “Says it was too dark,” Moore began. “He mostly saw him from the back side. I guess the suspect did turn for a moment, but he didn’t get a good look at the guy. He took off in a shot.”

  “One good piece of news, though; he saw the car the guy was driving,” Dwight replied.

  “Plates?” Sharpe seemed to have a glimmer in his eye.

  “No. Says he took off like a bat out of hell. Just saw that it was an older Honda CRV, white.”

  “Better than nothing,” Moore said.

  “Okay. Moore, stay here and see if you can get him to give us anything else. Try to get him to nail down a height and approximate weight. And help CSI with whatever they need. I think it’s best if we all head back to the hospital and wait for Kimberly to get out of surgery,” Sharpe said.

  “Sounds like a plan. Thanks for getting us out here, Sergeant,” Nick replied.

  “No problem. Glad to have the help.” Moore began walking toward the ambulance where the witness remained, sheathed in a light blanket.

  “I got room for you both. Hop on in.” Sharpe pulled open the driver’s side door and stepped in.

  Kate soon followed and Nick and Dwight slipped into the back seat.

  He pulled away from the curb and turned around, heading back toward the hospital. “I should probably take you all back to the station so you can get your things and go get some rest.”

  “We’re staying here with you,” Kate said. “We can be of some use, if we can just talk to her.”

  “You’ve got yourself a pretty damn good team, Agent Scarborough.” Sharpe peered through the rear view mirror.

  “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  Kate glanced through the side view mirror and raised her lips into a thin smile. What the detective didn’t know was that the team, their perfect little well-oiled machine, was about to be disassembled for parts. And a man whom she loved, but didn’t know if she loved enough, or in the right way, was going to leave. And everything was about to change whether she was ready for it or not.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  They returned to the hospital and, upon further inquiry, discovered Kimberly was still in surgery.

  “How much longer?” Sharpe asked the nurse.

  “I can check with the doctor. I don’t know.”

  “Please. If it wouldn’t be any trouble.”

  The nurse nodded and left them standing in the waiting room.

  “She has to pull through,” Kate said. “For her sake and for the sake of God knows how many other potential victims.”

  “I don’t know about you guys, but I need a coffee,” Nick said. “Kate, you want to come with me?”

  “I’ll take one,” Dwight replied.

  “Same here, please,” Sharpe added. “Thanks.”

  The two disappeared from view as they made their way to a kiosk that sold coffee and light snacks.

  “You want anything to eat?” Nick stared at the items inside the glass case. “None of us have had any dinner.”

  “I should eat something. Just to keep up my energy.” Kate peered inside the case. “Maybe the giant cookie.”

  Nick smiled. “Really?”

  “Yeah. You got a problem with that?”

  “No, ma’am.” He turned his attention to the cashier. “Four coffees, a banana muffin, and one of those giant chocolate chip cookies.” Nick retrieved his wallet. “I’ll let the Bureau pick this one up.”

  A few minutes later and the coffees were placed on the pick-up table along with the food.

  “Thank you.” The cashier handed Nick his receipt.

  “Let’s sit down a minute so you can get a head start on that cookie.” Nick walked over to a few chairs that lined the wall. “How you holding up?”

  “All right. Just tired. But we’re all tired.” She bit into the cookie.

  “It was a good idea coming here. You made the right call. Even if it was at Aguilar’s suggestion. By the way, you heard from him? I half-expected to see him at the news conference the captain held earlier today.”

  “He texted me and said he was coming but couldn’t get out here before the conference. I expect him here first thing in the morning.”

  “Great. Haven’t seen him in a while.”

  “Now you’re just being facetious.” She patted his knee.

  Nick looked upon her face, her eyes, her hair. He appeared to marvel at her mere existence. “I’m so sorry I’ve made a mess of things.”

  She pulled the cookie from her mouth just as she was about to take another bite and met his gaze. “You didn’t. If anyone did, it was me. I made decisions that affected not just me, but you too. And I failed to see what those decisions did to you and to us, until it was too late.”

  Nick raised an index finger and pressed it gently against the corner of her lip. “Cookie crumb.”

  Her eyes brightened for a moment. “Thanks. That would’ve been embarrassing. We should probably get these guys their coffees.” Kate stood up.

  “
Yep.” Nick pressed his hands against the arms of the chair and rose to his feet. “Don’t want them to get cold.”

  As they emerged from around the corner, Kate spotted the doctor speaking with Dwight and Detective Sharpe. She cast a worried glance at Nick and they both hurried their steps.

  “You’re back. The doctor here was just telling us that Kimberly pulled through.” Sharpe’s tone was much lighter than when they had arrived. “She’s still in recovery, but we can talk to her when she wakes up.” He turned back to the doctor. “Thank you. We appreciate the update. More than you know.” After the doctor left, Sharpe continued, “Doc said it’ll be a couple of hours before she wakes. You guys should really try to get some shuteye. You all don’t need to stay here. I can stay. Your hotel isn’t too far and when she wakes, I’ll give you a shout. There’s nothing more for us to do right now. I’ve already put out a BOLO on the white Honda.”

  “Without a plate number?” Kate asked.

  “We had to do something. It’s all we’ve got right now. Go on. Get some rest. All of you. It’s been a shit day and I know damn well you’re tired. I’m going to stretch out here on the sofa and catch a few z’s myself until she wakes.” He reached for the drink. “Thanks for the coffee.” He waited a moment longer when it seemed they still hadn’t made up their minds. “Well? What the hell you waiting for? Get the hell out of here and get some sleep. None of you will be any good if you can’t keep your eyes open after she wakes up. Now I’ll see you in a couple hours.”

  It seemed that was the last Sharpe would say on the matter as he walked toward the two-seater sofa in the waiting area and proceeded to lie down, but not before gulping down all of his coffee.

  “I guess we’ve just been handed our orders,” Dwight said. “There’s a cab outside.”

  CHAPTER 17

  The doctor hovered over Sharpe, who was still curled up on the utilitarian sofa in the waiting room. It took a moment for the detective to realize he was being watched and soon opened his eyes.

  “Detective? You asked me to let you know when Kimberly was awake. She is and you can talk to her now.”

  Sharpe pulled upright and placed his feet on the floor. Still feeling groggy, he looked at the doctor. “She’s awake?”

  “Yes. All I ask is that you keep your questions brief. She needs to rest.”

  Just as the doctor was about to leave, Sharpe stopped him. “Doc?” He stood up and walked toward him. “Did you do a rape kit?”

  He nodded. “No results yet.”

  “Thank you.”

  “She’s in room 368.”

  A final nod and Sharpe retrieved his cell phone. “Agent Reid? I know it’s still early, but Kimberly’s awake. Can you and your team head back now?” He started down the hall. “Great. See you in a few.”

  Sharpe walked to the nearby kiosk for another coffee. He wanted a clear and alert mind and, right now, his mind was neither of those things. The time had just passed five a.m. and the sun still sat below the horizon, but its grey morning light shone through the hospital windows.

  After finishing his drink, Sharpe walked into the men’s room to splash water on his face. Upon his return to the waiting area, he spotted the feds’ approach. “You made good time.”

  “I don’t think any of us were actually sleeping,” Kate said. “How is she?”

  “I haven’t been in to see her yet. Just grabbed a quick coffee. But I’m ready to go back when you are.”

  “Agent Jameson and I will wait here,” Nick said. “I think it would be too much for all of us to go in there.”

  “I agree. We’ll keep it brief,” Kate said.

  “Doc said the same thing. Let’s go see what she knows.” Sharpe led Kate beyond the doors and toward Kimberly’s room.

  “Do we know if sexual assault took place?” Kate asked as they approached the victim’s door.

  “They used a rape kit. It’ll be days before we know if he left behind DNA.” Sharpe pushed open the door and carefully stepped inside. “Kimberly? It’s Detective Sharpe. We spoke earlier?”

  As they entered the room, the young woman turned her head slowly in their direction.

  “Hi, Kimberly. You remember me? This is Agent Reid; she was with me as well just before you went into surgery. Would it be all right if we asked you a few questions?”

  Her eyes closed and her head bowed.

  “I don’t want you to have to rehash all of the events. For right now, we would just like for you to tell us what your attacker looked like,” Sharpe said. “Did you see his face clearly?”

  Kimberly nodded and in a soft, hoarse voice, she spoke, “I saw his eyes. Brown.”

  “Can you give us an idea of how tall he was? Would you say under six feet?” Sharpe pressed on.

  She nodded.

  “Was he white?”

  Another nod.

  “Hair?”

  “Brown. Long and curly.” Kimberly paused. “That’s all I remember.”

  “That’s good enough,” Kate said. “You should get some rest.” She placed her hand on top of the young woman’s. “I’m so sorry this has happened to you. We’re going to do everything in our power to find the man who did this, okay?”

  A thin smile appeared on Kimberly’s face. “Thank you.”

  “I’ll be back later, after you’ve had a chance to rest and hopefully start to feel a little better. I’d like to see if you can talk to our forensics artist. He can put your description into a sketch so we can get it out there and have a better chance at finding this person.” Sharpe held her gaze. “Thank you, Kimberly.” He nodded to Kate and the two left the room.

  “What do you think?” Kate said as they stood in the hall outside the girl’s room.

  “Her description matches the one Raquel Garcia gave.”

  “But not the blonde synthetic fiber found on one of the victims.”

  “No.”

  “I’d like to get back to the station and start taking a look at Raquel’s online presence. We should be able to glean some information from that. At least give this young woman a chance to rest for a while.”

  “And we still have a description of the car from our witness. We can pull CCTV surveillance video from the area and try to get a plate number,” Sharpe said.

  The two reemerged in the waiting area where Dwight and Nick remained.

  “How’d it go? How’s she doing?” Nick asked.

  “She’s shaken up, but she described the same person as Raquel Garcia,” Sharpe said. “We’ll get a sketch artist down here later and see if we can get something on paper.”

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Dina turned toward the clock on her nightstand and shut off the alarm minutes before it was set to go off. She’d been awake for the past several hours, since Andre had come up to bed. The sound of the front door opening awoke her and she walked to the front window and spotted Andre’s car in the drive. But who had come in? She had contemplated going downstairs, but only moments later, Andre entered the room and she pretended to be asleep.

  Her mind raced with theories. Had he been gone and, if so, why? Where did he go? But rather than confront him, she continued to feign sleeping and thought of the possibilities of why she had heard the door open. There were a host of reasons and yet, none would settle her mind on the matter. Andre had been acting strangely in recent weeks. Distant, unattached and unaffected. She’d inquired about his behavior, but he merely shrugged it off as work distractions.

  With a heavy sigh, Dina rolled quietly out of bed. She had the early shift today and it was four a.m. The rest of the house wouldn’t awaken for at least another two hours. Her scrubs lay folded in a dresser drawer and she retrieved them on her way to the shower. It was there that she tried to consider what it was Andre had been doing at night, after work, and any chance he could get to be alone. Had he been seeing someone? Someone from work?

  She tried to shake the thoughts from her mind as she pressed the towel against her wet skin and stepped out of the shower a
nd onto the cold vinyl floor. Her wet hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and she pulled on her dark green scrubs. Dina emerged from the bathroom and switched off the light. Andre still slept and so she quietly padded across the room and through the doors.

  She felt along the banister and walked down the stairs, assisted by the light of the moon that still shone in the sky and a street lamp that burned across the street from their house. Once she reached the bottom step, Dina turned toward the family room. She noticed Andre’s computer resting on the side table. Walking into the room, she approached his laptop and placed a hand on top of it. Nothing. She peered at the lights in front and it only showed that it was charging. It didn’t appear as though it had been in use. Then again, he’d come up to bed at least two hours ago, so what had she expected? Still, she couldn’t bring herself to open it. Something stopped her. Perhaps there was still trust there, or perhaps she had been afraid of what she might find just beneath the surface.

  In the end, deciding against probing further, she made her way into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee and make a quick couple of slices of toast. Sitting at the dining table with her breakfast prepared, Dina reached for her cell phone to catch up on the news. That was when she saw it. Another attack. Only this time, the woman had survived and was in the hospital. And someone had witnessed a car drive away from the scene.

  Dina’s face appeared stunned as she set her mug on the table and continued reading. “A white older model Honda CRV was found leaving the scene,” the article read. “Oh my God.” She stood up and walked to the front window and peered through to see Andre’s car on the driveway. A 2004 white Honda CRV. “No. No, no, no. No way.” She dropped the blind and stepped back in a daze. “It’s a coincidence,” she continued to whisper.

  Dina walked toward the staircase and held the railing as though it was there solely to support her weight while she considered the impossible.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Inside the 77th Street precinct, several reporters waited. Among them was the man who’d been an acquaintance of Marc Aguilar. The man who’d ultimately been responsible for Kate offering assistance to Sharpe. As she approached from a rear entrance, she looked for Marc, whom she’d expected to also be here, but had yet to see him.