Murderer's Row

by Rashad Freeman

  “What the hell did you just say?”

  “Nothing…hold on a sec,” Harper suddenly said.

  “What do you got?”

  There was no reply, just a crisp snapping and popping.

  “Harper?” Sal called again.

  Still there was no answer. Sal started to pace and scream into his radio. He charged towards two other officers and started yelling at them. “Get down there, find out what the hell is going on.”

  “Sal!” Harper’s voice buzzed again from the radio. “You’re gonna wanna see this.”

  Sal grabbed a flashlight and headed into the sewer. Wasting no time he charged ahead and met up with Harper and three other officers. They were standing in a circle, their lights shining on something floating in the water.

  “Tell me you didn’t get me down in this crap for nothing,” Sal griped.

  “Look,” Harper said and pointed with his light.

  Sal followed the beam down into the water and gasped. Floating, partially submerged in the brown sludge was Benny’s body, or what was left of it. He was shredded and slashed, his stomach gashed open. One of his eyes was missing and his hand had been ripped off.

  “Jesus,” Sal mumbled.

  Benny’s lips were curled into a painful snarl. His face was battered and bruised like he’d been beaten with a hammer.

  One of the other officers made a gagging noise and covered his mouth. Harper turned to Sal looking for some sort of direction. Sal, a veteran of the force, was visibly shaken and took a minute to compose himself.

  “Um, we…we need some more officers down here. Harper, get a team and sweep the tunnels…be careful,” Sal instructed. “You two, secure this area and set up a perimeter for forensics to work.” Sal turned and started heading back towards the surface. “Neil send Tony and his team down here and bring another six uniforms,” he said into his radio.

  Sal climbed out of the dark hole and scampered onto the street. He looked across to the ambulance where Henry was still sitting. He was frazzled and looked lost. The paramedic handed him a soda and he took a sip and leaned against the door.

  Sal stormed across the street like a bull. He slapped the can out of Henry’s hand and slammed him into the ambulance.

  “You took that kid down there and got him killed!” Sal shouted. “You and your love for the Goddamn story. I hope you got a good one this time.”

  “Officer!” a voice shrilled in the air.

  Sal turned around to a slim, red headed woman charging across the street. She had a look in her eye that made Sal release Henry’s collar and step back.

  “Is this how you treat your victims?” Agnes growled.

  “Excuse me ma’am, this man—” Sal started.

  “This man is lucky to be alive. This man is a victim, a victim of a crazed lunatic that you and the rest of the NYPD have yet to find,” Agnes shook her finger as she spoke.

  Sal was taken aback. He couldn’t think of what to say so he simply stood there with his mouth closed.

  “Detective Sal is it? I believe you’re the same officer that assaulted him earlier. Expect to hear from our attorney you overzealous, power hungry bastard,” Agnes roared and poked at Sal’s chest. “This will not be forgotten,” she finished then turned to Henry.

  “Henry…Henry it’s me,” Agnes said and placed her hand on his shoulder. “I came as soon as they called.”

  Henry shivered at her touch. He turned to her then burst into tears. “Agnes, Agnes they killed him. They took him and they killed him.”

  “Shh, shh,” Agnes replied and pulled him into her. “Is he okay to leave?” she asked.

  “Well I might have—” Sal started to respond.

  “I wasn’t talking to you,” Agnes snapped then turned back to the paramedic.

  “He took a pretty good whack on the head, but he’s stabilized. If he complains about any head pain or starts to feel dizzy, you need to get him to a hospital immediately.”

  “I understand,” Agnes replied then cast a side look at Sal. “I don’t know how you were taught to conduct an investigation, but when I’m done with you, you won’t be able to get a job cleaning up the shit down there.”

  With that, she stormed off holding Henry by the arm. She lowered him into the car and closed the door. Casting another evil look in Sal’s direction, Agnes stepped into the driver’s seat and drove off.

  Henry didn’t say a word as they made their way towards the apartment. Agnes would look over and shake her head from time to time. Henry could feel her scornful gaze pressing in on him.

  When they finally made it home Agnes pulled the car up to the curb and put it in park. She looked at Henry with an ominous glare in her eyes and clicked her teeth. “I told you to be careful,” she said harshly.

  CHAPTER 19

  THE BREAKDOWN

  “Rosario, what the hell are you doing here?” Steve asked.

  He was standing over her desk with a stern look on his face. Eve was rapidly banging on the keys of her computer. She looked up, rolled her eyes and then went back to work.

  “Eve, the mayor’s on his way down. You shouldn’t be here. He demanded you stay home for at least a week, the funeral was two days ago.

  “What else should I do Steve? Someone else dies every other day and the mayor wants me to sit at home and pout. I’m fine,” she said dismissively.

  Steve looked around the office then bent down so only Eve could hear him. “Look, this isn’t healthy. I know you feel like you have to do something, like you have to find this guy. But you need to heal Eve. You need to take time for you.”

  “Goddamn it Steve,” Eve yelled and jumped to her feet. “I don’t need any fucking time. I don’t need any fucking sympathy. What I need is to get back to my job and you people get the fuck out of my head!” her voice reverberated throughout the office.

  Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared. The mayor had just entered the door with the leaders of his taskforce, right in time to catch Eve’s maniacal outburst.

  “Everything okay here captain?” the mayor asked accusingly.

  Steve slowly stood up and turned towards the front of the office. He sighed and started to walk towards the mayor.

  “Mayor Greenberg,” he said and held out his arm.

  The mayor raised an eyebrow and hesitantly shook his hand. “Steve I expect a tight ship around here. And what is detective Rosario doing back so early anyway? She should be home resting.”

  Before Steve could warn him the mayor crossed the floor and headed to Eve’s desk. She was still on her feet breathing heavily. Her eyes red with anger, her jaw slammed tight like a bear trap.

  “Detective, let me once again express to you my condolences. I know that you, more than anyone, want this fugitive brought to justice and I can assure you he will be. But please go home, lie down and relax. You’ve done fantastic police work, my task force can take it from here.”

  Eve cut her eyes. “This is my case,” she mumbled under her breath and took a step towards him.

  “Not right now detective, rest, take a vacation.

  “Fuck you!” Eve snarled and pressed her face into the mayor’s.

  “Excuse me?” the mayor retorted as his expression changed from friendly to completely hostile.

  He leaned into her, stretched his arm out and shoved Eve in the shoulder. Charging forward he grabbed her by the collar and yanked her closer. “Excuse me!” he said again.

  “No excuse me,” Eve replied as she ripped herself free and straightened up. “Get the fuck away from my desk and let me do my damn job. I don’t need some vacation and your yes man task force is fucking pathetic.”

  “Now you look here you little bitch,” the mayor started.

  He’d just got the words out of his mouth when Eve’s fist plowed into his face. Red droplets sprayed into the air like an exploding tomato. The mayor stumbled backwards and fell over a desk.

  “Rosario!” the captain yelled.

  Before anyone could gr
ab her, Eve had cleared the desk and landed on top of the mayor. She sat on his chest, pinning his arms to the ground. Like a savage gorilla she began to rain down blows, smashing into the mayor’s face with deadly purpose.

  Steve sprinted across the room and grabbed the back of Eve’s shirt. With one hand he snatched her into the air and tossed her onto the floor. “Rosario, have you lost your fucking mind!” he screamed.

  As soon as Eve hit the ground she was back on her feet. “Fuck you! Fuck all of you!” she wailed.

  Steve tried to grab and restrain her, lifting her off of her feet as she kicked her legs and flailed her arms. She screeched and yelled obscenities, clawing at the captain like a beast.

  “Calm down Eve,” the captain demanded.

  He struggled to keep her from breaking free as she drove her feet into his knees and knocked over chairs.

  “Eve, it’s okay. Let it go,” the captain whispered into her ear.

  “I’ll kill him. He’s not taking me off, this is my case. This is my fucking case,” Eve roared.

  “I know Eve, I know,” the captain kept saying softly.

  Eve slowly gave up her fight and stopped kicking. She panted and her body went limp. Steve lowered her to the ground and she crumpled into a ball. Like a banshee she screamed and bellowed in an ear piercing tone.

  “Why? Why Steve, why did they take him?”

  Steve knelt down and placed his hand on Eve’s shoulder. He started to wipe the tears from her face, but they kept coming.

  “It’s okay Eve. I swear it’ll be okay,” Steve said and ran his hand across her head.

  Behind them the mayor was being helped to his feet by his team of cronies. His face was covered in blood and his lip was swollen and split down the middle. One of his men held out a handkerchief that he snatched and attempted to clean his face.

  “Steve just what the hell are you doing?” the mayor yelled.

  Steve helped Eve to her feet and shot a glance back at the mayor. Ignoring him, Steve picked Eve up and started to walk her towards the door.

  “Where do you think you are taking that woman? Arrest her immediately,” the mayor demanded.

  Steve stopped in his tracks. “What do you want me to do Ronald? Her husband’s dead, she’s been through enough.”

  “That woman assaulted me. I want her in handcuffs!” the mayor sputtered.

  “Assaulted you?” Steve repeated. “I saw an officer protect herself, or maybe I didn’t see anything. You really want to go on record that you attacked a female officer and got your ass kicked?”

  The mayor bit his lower lip and fumed. He glared at Steve then turned to his small entourage and flicked his hand. “Let’s go,” he snapped. “She’s out Steve you hear me, off the case for good.”

  CHAPTER 20

  THIS MOMENT WILL CHANGE YOU

  A loud knock snapped Eve out of her sleep. She rolled over, sighed and rubbed her eyes. Tussling with the blankets she fell off of the bed and flopped onto the floor. She moaned then stood up and stretched.

  Her blue denim jeans were stained with food from a day ago. Her tattered t-shirt was screaming wash me and the pink socks that covered her feet could’ve stood up on their own.

  The sun beamed through the curtains like razor sharp blades. A clock on her nightstand flashed 3:30 PM. On the floor was an empty pizza box and a half-finished twelve pack of beer.

  There was another loud knock and Eve groaned. “I’m coming,” she yelled.

  Staggering through the living room, Eve made it to the front door and wrenched it open. Agnes was standing on the other side holding a box of Chinese food and a bottle of wine. She gave Eve an awkward glace then raised her eyebrows. “You look like you could use a friend,” Eve declared. “And a bath,” she mumbled under her breath.

  Eve swung the door open and stepped to the side. Agnes walked into the foyer and scanned the house. It looked like a tornado had whipped through it.

  Piles of clothes were strewn over the couches. Empty food containers were scattered about the floor. There was no indication that a single woman lived there, it looked more like a frat house or a den of angry Tasmanian devils.

  “Well, I guess bathing and cleaning has become optional,” Agnes sneered. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

  “I appreciate you coming over Agnes, I really do. But I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine, now into the shower,” Agnes demanded as she nudged her towards the bathroom.

  Eve sighed and shook her head, but didn’t resist. She made her way into the bathroom and closed the door.

  “I better hear some water running Mrs. Rosario, or I’m coming in,” Agnes said as she tapped on the door.

  Eve laughed and turned on the shower. Begrudgingly, she took off her clothes and climbed in. The water hitting her was like a dose of reality and also a reminder of just how much she’d lost.

  Marc was gone. And no matter how much she tried to ignore the empty feeling, it was always there. Like she’d lost her arm, or her leg, a piece of her was missing and without it she was incomplete.

  The job had taken her mind off of things, it numbed her to the pain. Now that it was gone she was left with nothing but the reminder of her loss.

  Eve finished showering and quickly got dressed. She opened the bathroom door and stepped out.

  “Much better,” Agnes said.

  Eve suddenly began to cry. She fell to her knees as tears streaked down her face. “He’s gone Agnes, he’s gone forever. I lost my husband, the mayor took me off the case and the captain suspended me. My whole world is ruined.”

  “Oh sweetie,” Agnes said and knelt down next to her. She placed her hand under Eve’s chin and tilted her head so they were staring into each other’s eyes.

  “I miss him so much,” Eve sobbed.

  “Of course you do,” Agnes replied. She pulled her into her embrace and squeezed her tightly.

  Eve cried into her shoulder as Agnes rubbed her back. “There, there,” she said in a low tone.

  Agnes slowly rocked back and forth. Eve grew quiet, her heavy breathing the only sound she made. Agnes closed her eyes and let her mind wander.

  She was taken back to a time nearly thirty years ago. A female officer was holding her much like she was holding Eve now.

  “It’s okay,” the officer said, trying to console Agnes. “We’ll find them, I swear we’ll find them.”

  Agnes was tucked into a ball on her apartment floor. Her face was wet with tears, her arms covered in bruises.

  “They…they raped me,” she stuttered. “I just want to die. Kill me, please kill me,” she pleaded to the officer.

  The woman grabbed her face firmly and lifted her head. She rubbed the tears from her eyes and wiped her hair to the side. Then she looked her in the eyes and said something Agnes would never forget.

  Agnes opened her eyes and looked down at Eve, the officer’s words from so long ago echoed loudly in her head. She stroked Eve’s hair and wiped her face. Eve sniffled then looked up at Agnes.

  “Eve listen to me,” Agnes started. She grabbed her by the sides of the face and steadied her head. “This…this is a moment, a pinnacle moment in your life. Don’t run away from it, don’t deny it. Embrace it with open arms. Let it change you and accept whatever comes from it.”

  Eve stared into Agnes’ face as a sense of clarity washed over her. The emptiness of Marc’s death was still there, but she felt something else now too.

  “Marc is gone, there is no denying that. But what you do, what you do now is what will define you,” Agnes finished.

  Eve straightened up. She sniffled and took a couple of deep breaths. “You’re right…you’re right,” she said. “I know exactly what I need to do. I’m gonna find that son of a bitch and I’m gonna kill him.”

  “You’re gonna do what?” Agnes asked.

  “That fucker that took my Mark and ruined my life, I’m gonna find him and put a bullet in his head.”

  “But…but you’re no longer on
the case,” Agnes stuttered.

  “I don’t give a damn about the case. I’m gonna find him and when I do, he’s dead.”

  “What about the mayor? What about your captain?”

  “Fuck the mayor!” Eve screamed. “And the captain, maybe the captain will help me find him, I know Sal will.”

  Agnes was stunned. Suddenly Eve had gone from a crying heap of hair to a vindictive angel of vengeance. There was a look of batty determination in her eyes and Agnes knew she wouldn’t stop until she found the murderer and put an end to them.

  “I don’t think this is healthy,” Agnes finally said after staring into space.

  “It was your idea,” Eve retorted.

  “It most certainly was not.”

  “You said to embrace it, to let it change me. Well that’s what I’m trying to do. My husband is gone Agnes and God do I miss him. I’d give anything to get him back, but I can’t. This…this is what I can do. This is what I know how to do. I don’t care what I have to go through, I don’t care how long it takes. I’m gonna find him and I’m gonna fucking kill him.”

  Agnes stood up and walked towards the door. Her face was grim and defeated. She moved slowly with an awkward gate and at the last minute turned back and looked at Eve. “Well looks like you have your mind made up. No need for me here anymore, you seem better…more focused,” Agnes said softly. She turned the handle and pulled the door open. As she stepped onto the porch she shot Eve one last glance then mumbled, “What makes you think it’s a guy?”

  CHAPTER 21

  PLANTING SEEDS

  Henry stared in the mirror and tried to remember the man he thought he was supposed to be. His bloodshot eyes glared back at him. They judged him, measured him and saw to the core of his soul.

  “Coward,” he whispered, or his reflection whispered to him.

  Today would be his first day back at the office, his first day facing reality. Up until this point Henry had been living in a whiskey bottle avoiding the sun like a vampire.

  “Hurry up Henry or you’re gonna be late,” Agnes yelled from the kitchen.