“Hi Sam,” she said. “Have you heard anything about the city council shooting?”
“They’re taking her to St. Joe’s. Why—?”
She didn’t wait for the rest of the question; she darted back into the hallway and hit the redial button on her phone. Megan’s voice sounded less winded, without the pronounced wheeze when she picked up. “They’re taking her to St. Joseph’s,” Amanda said. “You’d better get a cab to take you over there, unless Dr. Earl can—”
“She’s not around. No one’s around.”
“No one?”
“Dr. Earl’s Email sent me a message that she’s out of the country. Ms. Chiostro left a message on her machine that she and Akako are out of town for a few days. I tried Dr. Dreyfus, but his cook said he already left.”
“OK, so get a cab and I’ll see you there later.” Before she hit the button to hang up, Amanda added, “And make sure to keep calm, all right?”
“I’ll try. Thank you.”
Once she hung up, Amanda charged upstairs to Captain Donovan’s office. The captain had a stack of CD-ROM discs on her desk that had been taken from Jimenez’s apartment. Without looking up, she said, “You forgot the coffee.”
“I’m sorry, Captain, but there’s an emergency.”
“This is a police department; there’s always an emergency.”
“No, I mean one of my friends has been shot.”
“One of ours?”
“No, Councilwoman Napier’s chief of staff. Becky Beech. I don’t think you know her.”
“Beech? Fat girl, bossy, friends with Dr. Earl?”
“Yes,” Amanda said. She wondered how Captain Donovan knew Becky. She supposed it was probably from some city function, though how did she know about Dr. Earl?
The captain leaned back in her chair and nodded to Amanda. “Close the door, would you? Then I think you’d best tell me what’s going on.”
***
They once again rode in Amanda’s piece of shit car, the one she’d inherited from the younger of her brothers, Rick, who in turn had inherited it from his older brother Peter. Mom had never seen any reason why her children should have more than one car. Amanda had thought to replace it, but after her brothers died she decided to keep it for as long as possible so that some piece of them might live on.
Captain Donovan squatted down until they were at the corner, when she finally sat up, but still wore a concerned expression. She reached into her jacket pocket and prepared to light up a cigarette until Amanda cleared her throat. “Right, I forgot. Your friend with the asthma. Can I at least hold it?”
“Knock yourself out. So what are we going to do? Shake down more snitches?”
“No, whoever did this is going to be as afraid of anyone connected to the don as us.” Captain Donovan chewed on the end of her cigarette for a moment. “This couldn’t have been a sanctioned hit. The don’s people aren’t so stupid as to go after a city councilwoman. They know that would only bring more heat down on them.”
“Then who did it? Some random lunatic?”
“Maybe. Or maybe someone who wants to bring more heat on Vendetta’s organization. Someone who wants to muscle in on her turf while she’s in jail.”
“Great. That still leaves us with how to find the triggerwoman.”
“She’ll probably turn up in the harbor tomorrow morning.”
“Unless we find her first.”
“Unless you have a crystal ball handy I doubt that.”
“Then what are we doing?”
“Meeting a friend. Drop me off at Liberty Park.”
“What? Who are you meeting there at this time of night?”
“Can I trust you with a secret?”
“Look, if this is about your sexual preference or something—”
“It’s not that.” The captain shook her head. “I’ve been in contact with the Scarlet Knight for almost ten years now. I sent her an Email before we left. If she gets it, she’ll meet us there.”
“If she gets it? So you want us to hang around a park and wait for her maybe to show up?”
“You have any better ideas?”
“I thought maybe we could actually find this person.”
“How? By cruising around, looking in empty buildings?”
“If we have to.”
“I know Beech is a friend of yours, but you can’t get too personally involved. You have to treat this like any other case. We have every available unit already out looking for this woman. Maybe we’ll get lucky and someone will find her. If not—much as I hate to admit it—the Scarlet Knight can cover more ground than we can. So drop me off at Liberty Park and I’ll see if she shows up. Or maybe she’s already out there looking for this creep.”
“Fine,” Amanda grumbled. She didn’t want to drive to the park and wait around; she wanted to do something.
“After you drop me off, go to the hospital and see your friend. Consider yourself off duty for the next day or two.”
“With all due respect, ma’am, I don’t want to take a day off.”
“Tough shit, Officer Murdoch. Go to the hospital and see to your friend. I’ll let you know if something turns up.”
“Captain, please—”
“I know how you feel. Trust me. But this isn’t a movie or one of those damned CSI shows. You aren’t going—” Donovan stopped and Amanda soon realized why: a body dangled from a lamppost in front of the gate to Liberty Park.
Amanda stopped the car and followed Donovan over to the body. Amanda saw a blond woman, her face about the same purple shade as Megan’s got during her worst asthma attacks. Only in this case the woman’s chest didn’t move and her lifeless eyes bulged. The sweatshirt and jeans looked the same as those of the woman Amanda had seen on TV. A note pinned to the sweatshirt read, “More Will Die Until Don Vendetta Is Free.”
“I’ll be damned,” Captain Donovan said. “That was quick.”
***
Amanda stayed at the crime scene until the body was cut down and loaded into an ambulance to be taken to the morgue. By then a couple of detectives from homicide showed up and Captain Donovan began to bark orders. With everything under control, Amanda finally drove to the hospital.
She hurried into the emergency room only to find out from a nurse that Becky had gotten out of surgery and been moved up to intensive care. Amanda took the elevator up to the third floor, where she immediately ran into some of her fellow cops. “Sorry, ma’am, no one’s allowed in here right now,” a male officer she didn’t recognize said.
“I’m a friend of Ms. Beech.”
“Doesn’t matter. We got orders.”
With a sigh Amanda took out her ID. “I’m a cop too. Does that help?”
“No. Councilwoman Napier told us not to let anyone into the waiting room.”
Amanda took a step towards the officer. “Listen, buddy, I don’t care what she told you, I’m getting in there. Now, unless you want to be in intensive care as a patient, I’d suggest you get the fuck out of my way.”
“Yeah? Who’s going to make me? You?”
“That’s right.”
A woman cleared her throat and then Amanda felt a hand on her shoulder. “Officer Murdoch is with me,” Dr. Pavelski said.
“Excuse me, Doctor, but—”
“I’ll take responsibility for her,” the doctor said. The cops parted to let them through. Amanda expected to go straight to the waiting room, but Dr. Pavelski stopped a few feet down the hall. “Did Megan fill you in on what’s going on?”
“No. What’s wrong? Is Becky all right?”
“She made it through surgery. She should make a full recovery.” Despite that this should be good news, the doctor’s face looked anything but happy.
“So what’s the problem?”
“The bullet nicked her uterus. We had to do a hysterectomy. It means—”
“I know what it means.” Amanda’s mother had gotten a hysterectomy not long after Amanda was born to make sure she didn’t have anot
her “miracle.” Though she didn’t know Becky extremely well, she also knew how badly Becky wanted a child of her own. Amanda had seen the look in Becky’s eyes during the party to name her and Emma as Renee’s godmothers, the way Becky had stared so longingly as Akako held Renee. “Did you tell her?”
“Yes. She didn’t take it well.”
“That’s not surprising.”
“She won’t see anyone, not even Dan.”
“Really? Shit.” Amanda shook her head sadly. “Has anyone tried to get in touch with Dr. Earl? Maybe she can talk some sense into her.”
“We can’t get a hold of her in Russia.”
“What the hell is she doing in Russia?”
“She thinks Louise might have been kidnapped and taken there.”
“Louise, but she’s—”
“I know. Emma thinks maybe Louise was switched at birth. There’s some evidence to suggest she’s right.”
“Holy shit. Anything else I should know?”
“No, that about covers it.”
Amanda sighed and wondered how everything could have gotten so fucked up so quickly. “You think I could see her for a minute? There’s some news she should hear.”
“What sort of news?”
“About the woman who shot her. We got her.”
“I guess you can go in for a minute or two. Just don’t be surprised if she’s not exactly grateful.”
“I know.”
Dr. Pavelski led Amanda to Becky’s room; they avoided the waiting room where the others no doubt were still camped out. The doctor didn’t follow her into the room; she took a step back to let Amanda through the door. The door closed softly behind Amanda once she was inside.
The curtains were all closed so Amanda couldn’t see Becky clearly. She could see the woman’s stomach rise and fall beneath the sheets, but she couldn’t make out Becky’s face—at least not at first. Then Becky turned her head slightly so Amanda could see part of her face, though her eyes were still concealed by shadows to give her a skull-like appearance.
“I told her I didn’t want to see anyone,” Becky said.
“I know. This will take a minute,” Amanda said. She remained by the doorway. “The woman who shot you—”
“You mean the bitch who ruined my life.”
“Right. We found her this morning. She’s dead.”
“Good.”
Amanda wasn’t quite sure what else to say, so she fidgeted for a moment. Finally Becky snapped, “Is that all you wanted?”
“Yes.”
“Then go away.” Becky turned her head to indicate the conversation was over. Usually if someone did something like this, Amanda would have put up an argument; she would have threatened to make the offender need a few more surgeries, but she couldn’t in this case. Not only was Becky a friend, it was obvious from her voice that she was in a lot of pain. Not the physical kind so much as the spiritual kind. To cope with that was something Amanda had never been well-equipped for, especially after her siblings and father died.
“I’m sorry, Becky. I really am.”
“I know.”
Amanda nodded and then backed out of the room. There were only four other people in the waiting room: Megan, Dan, Dr. Pavelski, and an old woman who had to be Councilwoman Napier. Megan sat in the corner of the waiting room, her usually pale skin rosy but not purple, which indicated she had her asthma reasonably under control at the moment.
“Did she say anything?” Dan asked.
“Just that she wanted to be left alone,” Amanda said. She saw Dan’s face fall, his hopes of Becky coming around dashed. From what Amanda had seen, she wasn’t sure Becky would ever come around.
Chapter 14
The old man brought dinner out at sunset—stale dark bread for the humans and oats for the horse. He also brought a bucket of musty water for them to share. Emma thanked him in Russian; she didn’t feel overly hungry yet from the bumpy truck ride to the farm. Jim, who hardly ever ate anything, gave half of his bread to his new rat friend.
“You had better be gone soon,” the old man said.
“I understand. We don’t want to cause you any more trouble,” Emma said.
She ate only three-quarters of the bread before she tossed the rest to Jim’s friend. Below, the horse nibbled at his oats with an equal appetite. Emma suspected the horse wouldn’t be much longer for this world, which would leave the old man with no one but the rats.
The last time she’d come here, things hadn’t been much better, but at least the old man’s wife was still alive. She had shown Emma great kindness, had bandaged Emma’s gunshot wound and given her some new clothes to wear—clothes that had belonged to the couple’s daughter. She, like the old man’s wife, had died thanks to Bykov. Bykov, whom Emma had let go about his business for almost four years. If Markova hadn’t given her life to tell Emma about Louise, it’s likely she still wouldn’t have done anything about Bykov.
“You think about Louise again?” Jim asked.
“Sort of,” Emma said. “I was thinking that I promised her I’d clean up Rampart City. I never said anything about Bykov. I never cared about him, even though I knew all the horrible things he did.”
“You no can be everywhere.”
“That’s a cop out. How hard would it have been to for me to take a carpet here and put on the armor and kill him?”
“You not killer.”
“Maybe I should be.”
“You not mean that.”
“Why not? If I had killed him, he wouldn’t have taken Louise.”
“You not change who you are.” Jim put a hand to Emma’s left breast—to her heart. “You always same in here.”
“Jim—” He leaned over to kiss her. She gave in to return his kiss. He always seemed to know when she needed that affection, the comfort of his lips to ease her doubts. Maybe she didn’t really need Dr. Richman or years of therapy so much as to spend more time with Jim.
Before anything else could happen, she pulled away from him. “We should get moving,” she said. “It’s almost dark.”
Jim nodded to the rat in the straw that watched them. “He go too. He help us.”
“Sure. The more the merrier.”
Jim took Emma’s hand to help her down the ladder like a gentleman. Then he tossed the rolled-up carpet to her to take with them. She in turn helped him down the last two steps; the rat clung to his shoulder like a pirate’s parrot. Outside, she saw no lights on inside the house—electric or otherwise. The old man had probably already gone to bed. She wished she could properly thank him for what he’d done for them—or at least find out his name—but she knew that he didn’t really want that. He only wanted her to go away.
“Mekka lekka weep ninibaum,” she said to call the armor to her. When it came time to put on the helmet, she kept her hair down; this kept her in an Emma Earl state of mind. To find her daughter, she would much rather be herself.
At the bottom of the case she found something else she needed—the smaller case that contained the FLI and its controller. She tucked the FLI case under one arm before she shut the lid of the larger one for the armor.
“What that?” Jim asked.
“Something that will help us see if he has Louise in his house.”
“How far is house?”
“A couple of miles.”
He only shrugged at this; after they had walked so far already a couple more miles wouldn’t be too bad. At least they didn’t have to worry about the farmer shooting them this time. Emma took one last look at the house and waved goodbye in case the old man might be watching them.
Then they set out across the field; the gold boots that came with the armor kept out the snow. She offered her normal boots to Jim, but he shook his head. “They too big,” he said.
“That’s true,” she said. She looked down at how her tracks dwarfed his, as if she wore clown shoes. From what she’d seen in the future, Louise had those same feet, which would look even bigger on her shorter frame.
A rough trail led from the field, through another forest. Emma kept one hand on the hilt of the Sword of Justice in case they should encounter another bear or some other predator—including the human variety. Despite that he didn’t have a helmet that could see in the dark, Jim followed along without a problem; all that time in the sewers had probably given him good night vision. Occasionally he would whisper something to the rat on his shoulder, who in turn would squeak something back.
“Has he been in these woods before?” she asked.
“Not him. Friends.”
“Anything we should be worried about?”
“Wolves. Birds.”
“Not people?”
“No.”
“That’s comforting.” Emma kept a watch anyway with the night vision in her helmet visor. At one point she thought she caught a blur of movement, but it quickly disappeared. From the size of it, she figured it must be a deer. She tightened her grip on the Sword of Justice in case anything else showed up.
The moon had reached its full height when the forest began to thin out. She held up a hand to signal Jim to stop. “We not go?” he asked.
“He’s got a mine field leading up to the house,” she said. “My friend gave me a map last time. He’s probably changed the layout since then.”
While she told Jim this, she unpacked the FLI and raised her visor to slip on the glasses so she could see what the robotic bug saw. There was no way to preprogram a flight plan, so she would have to do most of the work to guide the FLI to Bykov’s estate and then find a way in. He had motion detectors, cameras, and other devices, but she doubted any of these would be able to pick up on the FLI.
“That find Louise?”
“I hope so.” She didn’t want to mention that it was unlikely Bykov would have Louise at the estate; he knew that would be the first place Emma would look. What she hoped to find was some kind of clue as to where he might have gone. Or maybe she could find someone to torture the information out of. She wondered if the rat treatment would work here too. Or she could let Jim deal with anyone they came across.
Tales of the Scarlet Knight Collection: The Wrath of Isis Page 120
