“What the hell?” he blurted. “He was mine.”
“Yours?” the woman responded. “I lured him out here.”
It had been love at first sight. Jerry had helped Vicki stash the body, but not before giving it a few stabs. He had waited while she changed into fresh clothes. She then produced baby wipes for them both to clean their hands and arms. After, the two headed back into the bar for a drink. Jerry and Vicki had been inseparable ever since.
37
We walked uphill from Union Square to the Starbucks at the corner of Sutter and Powell. The sign on the door said they opened at five in the morning. Surely they had to arrive sometime before store hours.
Inside the coffee shop, we faced a buzz of early morning commuters all wanting their caffeine fix before they faced the monotony of their office jobs. I walked up to one of the employees, a teen girl who was busy wiping a table. Lately, wherever I saw teenagers doing something, I wondered if one day my two kids would do that. It entertained me.
“Excuse me,” I said, producing my identification. “Is there a manager I can talk to?”
“Uh, yeah.” The girl swallowed before running off.
Kang and I stood quietly before he suggested getting a coffee. “I’ll take a cup of hot water.”
He slipped into line while I waited. Everyone had their faces buried in their smartphones, and the few who didn’t were yacking away on them. It made me feel a little self-conscious that I didn’t have something to do on my own phone.
A few seconds later, a woman in her early thirties approached me. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail, and a pen was tucked behind an ear. “How may I help you, Officer?” she asked. Her tone was even and her face looked tired.
“It’s Agent. My name is Abby Kane. I’m with the FBI, and we’re investigating a crime that took place in Union Square early this morning.”
She scrunched her eyebrows and followed that up with a breath of disappointment. “What does that have to do with my store?”
Uh oh, looks like I drew the short straw and ended up with the bitch. “What time do you and your staff usually arrive in the morning?”
“Jenny—that’s the girl you talked to earlier—and another girl got here at four-thirty this morning, same time I did.”
Kang returned and handed me my cup. I nodded my thanks. “I’d like to continue talking to you while my partner here talks to Jenny and the other one, if that’s okay.”
The store manager took a deep breath, and her face remained flat. “It’s not, but I can spare a few.” She then turned to fetch the girls.
“Boy, I’m glad you’re taking that one,” Kang said, raising his eyebrows.
“She and her minions arrived here at four-thirty this morning. They might have noticed something on the way in.”
Kang nodded and took a sip of his coffee. We split off from each other when the manager returned.
“How do you arrive to work?”
“I catch the number three bus and get off at Union Square, then I walk the one block to the store.” She couldn’t have sounded more disinterested if she tried.
“Were there other people around when you exited the bus?”
“You mean in the square?”
No, dipshit, on the moon. “Yes, in the square.”
She tilted her head to the side, and her eyes went blank for a moment before answering. “I was the only one who got off the bus. There were maybe a couple of people around, across the street. I guess they were walking to work. But it’s not my job to conduct a census every morning when I arrive.”
“Is there a problem, miss?”
“Yeah, if you haven’t noticed, it’s rush hour here, and every second I’m here talking to you is a second longer someone has to wait for their coffee. Next time, I’ll come to your job when you’re slammed and tell you to stop so I can discuss the intricacies of brewing coffee with you.”
She was barking up the wrong tree, and I wasn’t in the mood for any backtalk. “All that hot air escaping your mouth—not helping your situation. So either answer my questions, or I’ll handcuff you right now and drag your sorry ass down to my office and question you there.”
She folded her arms across her chest and relaxed her shoulders.
“Anything about these people pop out as different or unusual?” I continued.
“No.” She shrugged. “I had my iPod on and wasn’t paying attention.”
That’s how people get mugged. I shifted my weight to my left foot. “Did you notice the large heart at the corner?”
“Sure, it’s only been there since the beginning of the year.”
My eyes latched onto hers, and I lowered my voice. “Do not test me. Last warning.”
She eyed me for a moment before giving me a slight nod. I suspect she tried to think through whether I could legally handcuff her and haul her in. Another remark and she would have found out. “Did you see anything on it, or a person near it or walking away from it?”
“No.”
I took out my phone and produced the picture of our mystery woman. “Did you see this woman this morning?”
Her eyes slowly shifted to the phone. “No, she doesn’t look familiar.”
I hope Kang is having better luck than I am. I pocketed my phone. “Were you the first to arrive this morning?”
“I’m the manager. I have the keys.”
I’m the manager. I have the keys. I want to make everyone else in the world hate their lives as much as I hate mine. It took an extraordinary amount of effort not to sigh audibly and throat punch her. “Thank you for your time. Let me know if you remember something else.” I left my card with her and walked toward Kang as he wrapped up his interview with the second of the two girls.
“You moved through both girls fast.”
“The first one was a waste. I think she was stoned.” I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he gulped down the rest of his coffee.
“And the second?”
“Nothing,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
I never got around to making my tea and Kang had already left the coffee shop. When I caught up with him, I grabbed him by the arm and slowed him down. “What’s wrong? You’ve been in a funk all morning. If you didn’t realize it, I’m the one that interviewed Medusa.”
He shrugged and looked everywhere except at me. “Eh, what’s it to you?”
“What’s it to me? We’re partners. I need to know that your head is in the game. But that’s not all; I really do want to know what’s bothering you.”
“It’s nothing.” His distant look continued for a moment longer before he looked my way. “I’m sorry if I’ve been obnoxious this morning. I’m bothered that we’re running into dead ends and now there’s another body on top of the two I already have.”
“Could have been four,” I said with a smile.
Kang finally cracked and laughed as his shoulders relaxed “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Well, I’m glad the Kang I know is back. I missed him.”
“Did you really?”
I punched him in the arm. “Of course I did. I need someone to tease.”
The case was a headache for us both. The last thing I wanted was for us to contribute to that.
As we turned to walk back to Union Square, I spied a homeless person across the street. He was lying in the doorway of a business that had not yet opened. He might have seen something if he’d been there all night. I motioned for Kang to follow me, and we crossed the street.
It wasn’t until we were closer that I realized I mistook his squinting for sleeping. He watched us until we stood in front of him. To break the ice, I reached into my purse, took out the remaining half of my Ghirardelli chocolate bar and handed to him. He hesitated at first, looking at the chocolate, then back at me. I leaned in closer, still holding the bar out in front of me. “Go on; take it.”
He cautiously reached up, took the candy from my hands, quickly removed the paper and bit into it, t
hough his eyes never left us. His wrinkles cut deep into his leathery skin and barely moved as he chewed. When he reached up and brushed a chunk of matted hair out of his face, it fell right back.
“What do you want?” he finally spoke, propping himself up a bit.
“Have you been here all night?” I asked.
“What’s it to you? I’m not breaking any laws.”
“No one said you were. We only want to talk.”
“You a cop?” he asked. His eyes shifted to Kang and then back to me.
I showed him my identification. “I’m an FBI agent. My name is Abby Kane. What’s yours?”
“People call me Simon Says.”
A chuckle escaped Kang’s mouth. “What? Like the game?”
Simon shot Kang a look. “Hey, Long Duck Dong, you on a school field trip?”
“I’m a detective with the San Francisco Police Department,” Kang shot back.
“I’m a detective with the San Francisco Police Department,” Simon mocked in a teasing voice.
“Don’t mess with me, pal.”
“Don’t mess with me, pal,” Simon continued, but this time, he added a lisp and pushed timidly away with his hand. I nearly burst out in laughter, but kept it together. Time to separate the children. I waved my hand between them, breaking the staring contest. “Both of you cool it right now!”
Simon took another bite of the chocolate. He still had Kang in his sights.
“Simon!” I said loudly. “Pay attention to me, okay?”
He shifted his eyes off of Kang and onto me.
“You see that large heart down there?” I asked, pointing toward Union Square. “Did you see anyone messing with it last night or early this morning?”
Simon looked down the street, and his eyes went vacant. I thought I had lost him, but then his beady gaze found me again.
“Someone vandalized it,” I continued. “We’re looking for a woman.” I held out my phone so he could see the picture of our mystery woman. “Did you see her, Simon?”
He squinted again, slowing his chews as he concentrated on the picture. “I saw her.”
“Where, Simon? By the heart?”
He shook his head. “I saw her the other day. Over there,” he said, pointing across the street to a diner.
“You saw her go inside?”
“No, she stood near the building, peeking around the corner. Then she got on the number two bus.”
“You remember the time?”
“It was near sunset. I don’t know exactly when.”
“You did a good job, Simon. Thank you for your help.”
He held out his hand and rubbed his thumb and index finger together and, for the first time, cracked a smile. Surprisingly, he had all his teeth.
“I see everything that goes on around here. I got me a photogenic memory. That’s why they call me Simon Says.”
I took a twenty out of my wallet and handed it to him. “Well, Simon Says, do me a favor; don’t spend that on booze.”
“How about breakfast? My treat,” he said with a wink as he waved the bill back at me.
I smiled. “I’m on duty. I’ll have to take a rain check.”
As we walked away, Kang mentioned that the buses were equipped with cameras. “If we can locate the bus she boarded, we’ll know what stop she exited at.”
“Good call. I’ll get Agent Tucker started on that.”
“So, uh, does every man you meet ask you out?” Kang asked, with a chuckle.
“Of course not,” I said, putting my cell phone up to my ear. “You haven’t.”
38
When I got to the office, I received a text from Tucker. He had identified the buses on the route that afternoon and was working on securing footage from the surveillance systems. We were making progress. Keep squeezing, Abby.
Back at my desk, I closed my eyes. I could feel the beginnings of a headache percolating and I wanted to head it off before it gained traction. I dug into my desk drawer, and removed a bottle of aspirin and shook two into my hand. I must have been dehydrated, because in the break room, I gulped down water like a dog after a Sunday run in the park. I need to get more sleep, I told myself, but really, I knew sleep wasn’t the culprit. It was the case.
I returned to my desk determined. I picked up the photo of my mystery woman and stared at her. It may be slow and hard, but we’re getting closer to finding you. My gut had that tingling feeling—the one I get right before I turn the corner on an investigation. I knew if we kept on closing down the angles, we’d find our way. The question was, would we find her before she struck again?
I had a feeling she wasn’t done yet, that she believed she had more work to do. A body in Fay Park, one near Pier 39, another in Muir Woods and now a fourth in Union Square. All these locations were popular attractions in the city. Did she have a grudge with San Francisco? Was she wronged in the past and this was her payback? What’s driving you?
The other thought that had snuck its way in to my head was the abrupt change in Kang’s demeanor. I had sensed earlier in the morning that he had doubts about the investigation and how it was being handled. I won’t apologize for making my case my priority, but I did believe Piper’s killer was responsible for Kang’s previous victims and the owner of the heart.
Kang had seemed like a straight-up guy from the beginning. Sure, I gave him a hard time, but I could see that he was one of the good ones, someone who believed in police work and did the right thing. I also had the impression that he liked me, and we worked well together. I appreciated having a partner instead of flying solo.
But still, why the attitude? It had come out of nowhere. It’s not like he was an a-hole from the beginning. I genuinely felt I could count on Kang to work with me and not against me—unlike so many men I had encountered in the past. I had to hope he would continue to trust me.
I sent Tucker a text, asking for an update. While I waited for a reply, I headed to the break room again, this time for some hot water. I passed a slew of empty desks—a lot of agents were still out in the field. Some days, the office is a madhouse, and others, it’s a ghost town. I wonder what everyone is working on.
I removed a pinch of tea from my canister and dropped it into a mug filled with hot water. I watched the water turn color as the leaves settled on the bottom. I placed a napkin over the top of the cup to keep the heat in so it could steep and took a seat at one of the tables. A few seconds later, my phone beeped. The text from Tucker read, “Still looking.”
I thought more about our mystery woman between sips. It seemed so strange for a woman to be this violent. Removing a heart? That was serious stuff, not something I’d expect from a female killer. A man? Yes. To get at the heart, one has to actually pry the chest apart. I’m not saying a woman couldn’t be as vicious or possess the physicality needed to do the job. I’ve seen them chop people into pieces like their male counterparts, but they always had a partner in those crimes. Did my mystery woman have a partner?
Just then, Reilly entered the break room. He didn’t see me, as I was tucked away in the corner. I watched him head straight for the soda machine and feed a dollar bill into the slot. A beat later, a Pepsi rolled out the bottom. It wasn’t until he turned around, bottle pressed against his lips, that he noticed me. “Abby. I didn’t see you there.”
“I’m small.”
He took another sip as he walked over to my table and sat.
“You know that will rot your teeth.”
“Yeah, that’s what I hear,” he said before taking yet another powerful gulp. “How’s the Cotton Candy case coming along?” he asked as he swallowed the burn in his throat.
“Slow and hard.”
He nodded. “The partnership with those detectives working out okay?”
“Sokolov was put on another case. It’s just Kang and I. We’re working well together and making progress.”
“Good to hear. Let me know when you get a break in the case.”
He pushed back from the tabl
e and stood. I watched him tilt his head back and guzzle as he exited the room.
I finished the rest of my tea and stood up to return to my desk when my phone notified me of an email from Green. He said the heart belonged to a young male, fairly healthy, no obvious signs of disease or substance abuse. From the deterioration of the tissue, he approximated that the heart had been out of the body for about ten, maybe eleven hours by the time it was reported to the police at six thirty in the morning. I copied and pasted that part of the email and sent it to Tucker and Kang, leaving the other half of Green’s message for my eyes only.
He wrote that he enjoyed our coffee date. I had to admit, I’d had a pretty good time. He asked if we could meet again, maybe for lunch or even dinner. At first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make it lunch, let alone dinner, but then I realized I had spent the same amount of time with him at a coffee shop and it had been fine.
Deep down inside, I knew Green had a crush on me. I didn’t want to lead him on, but I did enjoy our conversation and wouldn’t mind talking with him again. I found him interesting, and I honestly didn’t feel like I had given him any indication that our relationship could be anything more than friends. But I knew how men operated: return a smile and suddenly they think I want to give them head. Is that what it’s come to? I have to watch who I smile at, or else I’m on the hook for head. Sheesh.
39
I was still at my desk when Tucker showed up a few hours later. He had an intense look plastered over his face, but his approach showed signs of weakness in the knees. I appreciated his seriousness, even if I made him nervous.
“What’s the news?” I asked.
He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and removed his cell phone. A moment later, a video clip played on the screen.
“We found her. Not only that, but I believe we found our victim as well.”
I grabbed his cell phone and studied the footage. There was no doubt in my mind that the person entering the bus through the rear doors was our mystery woman.
[Anthology] Abby & Sei Thriller Starter Page 13
