Cusp of Crazy: Nick Stryker Series, Book One, Shallow End Gals

by Vicki Graybosch

  Tanner opened the door to Casey’s apartment and nearly started to cry. The CSU staff and the police had left quite a mess. It was a very visible reminder that Casey was gone and in grave danger. Tanner rolled up his shirt sleeves and opened the broom closet door. The least he could do was to get her apartment ready for when she came home.

  Nick entered the squad room and began to file the evidence report for Carl. Nick took the knife out of the evidence bag and held it up to the light of the room. The entire knife was caked in blood. He was pretty sure the only prints that would be found would be those of Sirus. Wayne walked over and took a seat at Nick’s desk.

  “That was a great piece of work in there. I just wanted you to know I feel like I am learning my job all over again. Thanks.” Wayne rapped on the desk top and walked back to his own desk.

  John walked into the squad room with a large sack. He glanced around, saw Jen and walked over. “I figured you wouldn’t have time to get a decent dinner. I brought you meat loaf sandwiches.”

  Jen glanced over to Nick, who smiled. Jen kissed John’s cheek. She whispered, “How many?”

  John smiled, “Ten. Plenty for everyone.”

  Jen held the bag up. “Who wants a homemade meatloaf sandwich?”

  Soon they were all eating. John asked, “Is that a murder board?”

  Jen looked nervous. Nick answered, “Yeah, for what it’s worth. It’s supposed to help us sort things out.”

  John nodded and kept staring at the board. “Do you always have so many names there?”

  Sam laughed, “Carl said it looked like a Chicago phone book.”

  John just said, “Wow.”

  Nick told Jen he was going back to interview Eric. Jen immediately stood.

  “I’m going with you.”

  Nick shook his head, “I’ll do better with Eric alone. Have someone from downstairs in evidence lockup come get this knife, and see if there is a patrol available to take Sirus home.” Nick looked in John’s sack. “Anyone care if I give Sirus the last of these sandwiches?”

  Carl pulled up in front of Casey’s building. Nick would be arriving soon and he wanted to talk to Eric first. Carl knocked on Casey’s apartment door. He heard a vacuum cleaner running inside. Nick had said Casey was missing. Tanner opened the door. Carl showed him his badge. “Has Miss Thurston returned home?”

  Tanner answered, “No. Why?”

  “I heard the vacuum. You must be Tanner?”

  “Yes.” Tanner thought the cop had a strange expression on his face. He didn’t like it. “Do you need something?”

  Carl thought a moment and asked, “Have you seen Eric Watson this evening?”

  Tanner answered, “No.”

  Carl nodded. “I’ll stop back later if I need you.”

  Tanner both locked the door and slid the dead bolt in place. It was getting bad if even the cops looked scary. He turned the vacuum back on.

  Carl knocked on Eric’s door and waited. He knocked again. Nothing. Suddenly a huge man appeared from nowhere and landed a crushing blow to the back of Carl’s neck. He fell to the ground and moaned. A searing pain shot through his side and he realized the man had kicked him. His monsters stirred. His pain was fueling their rage. Carl grabbed the man’s leg and twisted. He realized it was Eric. Eric screamed and lunged for him. Carl’s monsters lunged back. Eric fell to the wall and bounced back with unnatural speed. He landed a series of blows to Carl’s head.

  Eric stood over Carl. Blood was everywhere. Eric felt for a pulse. Carl growled and began to rise. Eric chopped the side of Carl’s neck and moved his knee to press into Carl’s chest. The hall was silent except for Eric’s heavy breathing. Eric grabbed Carl’s wrists and pulled him to the end of the hall. He opened his secret door, pulled Carl to the other side and disappeared into the walls.

  Tanner shut off the vacuum. He thought he had heard something in the hall. He unlocked the door and peeked out. The hall was long and dark toward the end. Tanner was not going to leave the doorway to go exploring. He shut the door again and relocked it. He was going crazy.

  Casey heard the cement wall move open. Eric was dragging a large man by his wrists. The man’s face was covered in blood. Blood had soaked his shirt. He looked dead. Casey moved to the back of her cell, terrified. Eric looked crazed. He was huffing and moaning like an animal.

  Eric dragged the man toward the large machine and began strapping him into the harness. Eric handcuffed the man’s wrists behind his back. The man moaned and growled. Eric punched him hard in the head. Blood gushed from the man’s nose.

  Casey screamed, “Eric! Stop! What are you doing?”

  Eric couldn’t hear her. He was in a blind rage and had a single minded mission. Casey watched in terror as Eric walked to the wall and pushed a big button. The chains from the machine began to tighten and the man was being lifted from the floor. He started moaning again. Then his head turned violently to look behind him. He began to scream and struggle with the harness.

  Casey screamed, “Eric! Stop!”

  Eric reached up and moved the arm of the lift to swing the man around the corner. Casey saw the machine’s lift arm start to lower the harness. The man’s screaming kept getting louder. Suddenly he screamed as if he was on fire.

  Casey screamed at the top of her lungs. “Stop!”

  Eric slowly turned and looked at her.

  Casey pleaded, “This is a mistake! Stop it, Eric. Please!”

  Eric hit the button. The lift arm began to rise. Casey kept pleading, “Eric, please. Please stop.” Eric’s facial expression suddenly changed.

  Casey pleaded again, “You can’t do this. This is a mistake. Please, Eric. For me!”

  Eric moved the arm of the machine back to the starting position. The man was covered in beetles and blood. He was squirming and screaming within the bondage of the harness. Eric brushed the beetles from him and stomped on them. He lowered the man to the floor and cuffed him, still in the harness of the machine, to a hook in the wall.

  Carl abruptly stopped screaming when he saw Casey in the cell. He stared at her. He didn’t feel the pain anymore. His monsters were protecting him after all. Casey had protected him. Foolish girl.

  Eric kept brushing the beetles from him and killing them. Carl stared unblinking at Casey until his head dropped forward.

  Casey gasped, “Eric, is he dead?”

  Eric stood up and looked at her. He was crying. “No.”

  John was fascinated with the squad room; the people, the murder boards, Jen. He was so proud of her and what she did. Jen reminded him that it was getting late. That maybe he wanted to go home. John chuckled, “I get it. No place for an author, right?”

  Sam offered, “That is our problem, an author. See that name on the board, Rachel Sarrin? Gotta figure out who it really is.”

  John kept staring at the name and then he scribbled it down. John asked Jen, “It’s obviously a pen name, but usually authors pick a name that sounds sexy or important. Not Sarrin. Wait a minute, the name Carl is on your board. What’s Carl’s last name?”

  “Harrisen.” Jen pointed to the nameplate on Carl’s desk. She really wished John would go home.

  “Ha! It’s an anagram!”

  Jen asked, “It’s a what?”

  John smiled, “You know, where you take the letters of one word and make another word?” Jen’s blank expression matched Wayne’s and Sam’s. John continued, “Take Spiro Agnew, as an example. You can make the phrase ‘Grow a spine’ from the letters in his name. Or postmaster also spells stamp store. Stuff like that. Rachel Sarrin is Carl Harrisen.”

  Silence.

  John looked around the room. “This here is what’s called a stunned silence. I think I just heard an ant fart.”

  Jen grabbed her phone to call Nick. Wayne jumped up and yelled, “Holy Jesus!”

  Sam dialed the Chief.

  Jen looked panicked. Nick wasn’t answering. She left a message. “It’s Carl!”

  Jen looked at Wayne, �
��Where did Carl say he was going?”

  Wayne answered, “He didn’t. He knew Nick was leaving to talk to Eric.”

  Jen checked that her gun was ready and so did Wayne. They both ran past John.

  Jen yelled back, “Carl is going after Nick.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Nick knocked on Casey’s apartment door first. He expected Tanner to be there. Tanner opened the door. He was relieved to see that it was Nick.

  Nick asked, “Any word from Casey?”

  Tanner shook his head. “Nothing yet. I just told that other cop the same thing.”

  Nick looked around, “What other cop?”

  “Ugly dude with a unibrow.”

  Nick was now sure that Carl was the author. Little things had been adding up. Mostly subtle gut instincts that told Nick that Carl had a serious problem. Nick had baited Carl by stating that Eric knew more. Carl’s request for Nick to process Sirus was a ploy that allowed Carl to get to Eric first. Nick prayed he hadn’t put Eric in danger.

  Nick checked his gun, “How long ago was he here, Tanner?”

  Tanner swallowed in fear, “Not more than half an hour or so. Do you need me?”

  Nick shook his head, “Lock this door and only answer to me. Got it? You just met the author.”

  Tanner nodded, locked and bolted the door and moved a heavy chair up under the doorknob. Tanner couldn’t believe he had been talking to the author. He was the guy that cut his brake line and had threatened Casey. The crazy that swore to make Casey suffer.

  Nick pounded on Eric’s apartment door. No answer. Nick waited a minute more and knocked again. He then leaned back and kicked the door in. The small apartment looked like any old lady’s home. Lace on the windows, layers of patterned throws on overstuffed furniture. Nick heard a television in the far room. He held his pistol in front of him and inched his way down the hall.

  A perfectly clean full skeleton of a woman was propped in the bed, dressed in a nightgown. There wasn’t a trace of flesh left on the bones. Her hands were on her lap holding a remote control. A bedside table held a dinner tray with a sandwich, a glass of milk and a plastic rose in a vase. The television was on and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ was playing. Nick looked around the room. Eric had been keeping the room spotless and his mother’s skeleton dressed in fresh clothing. He still brought her meals and kept the television on her favorite programs.

  The closet door was open. Nick walked over and saw the back wall of the closet opened to a cavity in the wall. His flashlight illuminated a long dark passageway in the wall. Nick dialed Jen.

  Jen answered on the first ring, “It’s Carl!”

  Nick answered, “I know. He’s here at Casey’s building. He’s after Eric. There is a secret passage in a bedroom closet of Eric’s apartment. I’m going in.”

  Jen said, “Wayne and I are almost there.” The line was dead. Jen didn’t know if Nick had heard or not. She looked at Wayne, “This isn’t going to be good. Eric and Carl are both crazy. Bad crazy. Nick is inside the walls of that building looking for them.”

  Wayne moaned and put an extra clip in his belt. “I hope to God that Nick is as good as they say he is.”

  Jen pressed the accelerator hard. “I hope so, too.”

  Eric had gone to the passageway that had the grate to the street. He had left his skateboard there and needed to ride a while. Clear his mind. Casey had begged him to stop. She had looked at him as if he were a monster. Was he a monster? He was protecting her, why couldn’t she see that?

  Eric slipped through the grate and felt the crisp night air on his sweaty brow. He took a deep breath and tried to force himself to calm down. He shouldn’t have listened to her. He should have just kept that man in the beetle box. He decided he would tell Casey the man was dead. Then she wouldn’t care about the beetles. He could stab the man when Casey wasn’t looking. She would understand later when he had a chance to reason with her.

  Nick moved his flashlight in front of him as he quickly moved through the cavity. The scaffolding and ladders were proof that Eric had utilized every square inch for surveillance of the tenants. Nick stopped to slide a piece of wood up that obviously had been added to the wall. It opened to reveal a sightline to the main hall. At the end of the hall a crack of light peeked from the corner. Nick pushed on the wall and it easily slid open to reveal another long, perpendicular hallway. It was a maze. The sounds of the tenants’ televisions and the smells of their cooking filled the cavity.

  Eric had built his own fort inside of these buildings. At the end of the hall was a large cement block wall. Nick ran his flashlight along the floor and saw the glint of a metal track. At the corner, about midway up the wall a piece of wood protruded from the blocks. Nick grabbed the wood and slid the entire wall six feet to the side.

  He was staring eye to eye with Casey.

  Eric turned the corner of the block and stopped. Nick Stryker’s car was practically pulled onto the sidewalk in front of the building. Eric began to tremble. “No. No.” His mind was screaming, “What is he doing here?” Eric raced up the front steps to the building and down the hall to his apartment. His apartment door had been kicked in and someone had moved mother’s bed tray. “No! No!” Eric paced in front of the television. What should he do? Nick wouldn’t understand.

  Eric entered the closet passageway and ran toward Casey. Maybe she could explain to Nick that he had only protected her.

  Casey started crying when she saw Nick. “Please, hurry, get me out of here.” She pointed to the wall where the key hung from a hook. Nick saw Carl lying on the cement floor covered in blood. He was strapped into some kind of harness and handcuffed to a hook on the wall. Nick opened the door for Casey and walked over to Carl. Beetles were crawling out from his clothing.

  Casey volunteered, “Those are flesh eating beetles. Look around the corner. Eric had this machine drop him in there.”

  Nick stepped around the corner and couldn’t believe his eyes. A six foot aquarium was half filled with beetles and bones. Nick felt for a pulse on Carl. He was still alive. Nick decided to leave him until he had Casey to safety. He grabbed Casey’s arm and looked her in her eyes. “No matter what I say, you do it.”

  “Got it.”

  “Tanner is in your apartment. I’m going to get you there.” Nick pulled his pistol and started guiding Casey back through the maze of cavities. He was hoping to find the entrance to the hall with the grate to outdoors. His instincts told him to keep heading west.

  Carl opened his eyes and wiggled his fingers. He twisted his torso, so he could reach into his back pocket. He found his handcuff key and unlocked the handcuffs. As he removed the harness, he felt as if he was having an out of body experience. He felt no pain even though he was covered in blood. He watched a pair of beetles chew on his forearm. He felt strong, single minded. It was his monsters. They were in full control now. His body was but a vessel to propel them, his mind no longer needed as a convenient place to hide.

  He stood and stomped his feet. Dozens of beetles fell to the floor. Casey. Nick. They both were his for the taking. Carl didn’t realize how broken his body was from his fight with Eric. He walked bent sideways from broken ribs and his left leg had a slight drag. Blood seemed to be oozing, like sweat, from every pore of his body. He felt no pain. He felt invincible. He had one thought. Find Casey, find Nick and kill them. His rage formed a blinding light around him other than straight ahead where his monsters needed to see. They would take him to his prey and he would survive. He would blame the deaths of Nick and Casey on Eric. He would be a hero. What a wonderful ending for his book.

  Jen and Wayne ran up the stairs of the building and down the hall to Eric’s apartment. Jen arrived in Eric’s mother’s bedroom first. She jumped back at the sight of the dressed skeleton.

  “Oh, geesh. I didn’t need to see this.” She headed for the closet door and signaled Wayne to follow. All the while she was mumbling, “I don’t want to go in there.”

  Wayne grabbed her shoulder
and made her jump, “Let me go first.”

  Jen shook her head and said, “Nick trained me. I can hold my own.”

  Wayne answered, “Maybe I was afraid of someone coming in behind us, huh? Think of that?”

  Jen appreciated that Wayne was trying to keep her calm. Jen held up her index finger. She had heard something in the wall next to her. She froze. It was someone running a vacuum cleaner. Wayne and Jen both exhaled and continued their way on through the cavity.

  Nick and Casey turned the corner to another long hall. They were nearly to the end when Eric seemed to drop from the sky directly behind Casey. Nick grabbed Casey and tossed her behind him. “Run, Casey! Now!”

  Casey didn’t want to leave Nick alone, but she had promised to do whatever he said. Running sounded like a very good idea. Nick yelled to Eric, “Lieutenant!”

  Eric was in a full psychotic frenzy. The reference to his military title only briefly slowed him. He yelled after Casey, “You have to stay. You have to explain.”

  Nick wasn’t sure what Eric was talking about, but now Carl stood behind Eric. He looked like a monster from a freak show. Nick dove to push Eric aside and yelled, “Eric, look out!”

  Just as Nick shouted a shot rang out from behind him and hit Eric in the chest. Wayne had shot Eric. Jen had taken Casey to safety. Eric started to slowly slide down the wall of the cavity. Carl leaped over Eric and Nick and kicked Nick’s pistol from his hand. It flew down the hall and rested at the feet of Wayne. As Carl charged toward Wayne, Wayne fired again and missed. Carl lunged forward, grabbed Wayne’s neck and slammed him into the brick wall like he was a toy. Carl turned and faced Nick.

  Nick and Carl stood six feet apart from each other. Nick could only see raw animal rage in Carl’s distorted face. It wasn’t Carl at all. Whatever it was had inhuman strength and it wanted to kill him. Nick prepared his mind. This would be a fight to the death. Carl had a hundred pounds on him; and the power of crazy. Nick had his training. Wayne lay barely conscious as the two forces, Nick and Carl, slammed, punched and choked their way farther and farther down the hall.