This Girl Who Was A Ghost, page 21
part #2 of Near Future Series
“You find a good place to dock and tell everybody how innocent you are, or you could run and save your own neck. I don’t care which.”
He nodded. “I know an empty slip at the Chelsea Pier.”
Yeah, he was running.
Sammy searched the ship’s bow for Maria, then continued around to the other side, stopping by the container. She pressed her fingers against the container, feeling the low hum of dozens of voices.
The girl shrieked.
Sammy raced up the steps. In the middle of the deck was Purple Hawaiian, sitting up with a gun pointed at the stairs on the other side, body pitched to the side of his limp arm. Serban knelt by the steps and held the girl by the hair.
How many guns do these guys have? Sammy took a wide berth around Purple Hawaiian then charged from behind and pulled the gun free. He spun, legs bumping into hers. He kicked wildly and knocked her over. The gun squirted out from her grasp. He lunged for it with his able arm, but came up short. Serban raced over and stepped on the gun and kicked out with his other foot.
Sammy snatched his foot and yanked him down.
He landed on the gun and scrambled to get at it as if the gun were burning a hole in his back.
Purple Hawaiian held onto her leg, shouting he got it as though she were a fish.
Sammy pulled his hand off, snapping something.
Serban fetched the gun and waved it at her, asking where was it, but Purple Hawaiian was too busy moaning.
Sammy rolled out to the side of Serban and came up behind him. She grabbed his ankles and pulled them back. His arms shot out, bracing his fall, but he still held the gun. She jumped on his back and slammed his head on the deck. He raised the gun as she went for another head banging. She ducked just as a shot fired, reached up, and jerked his arm back. The arm popped and fell to his side like something dead.
Sammy threw the gun over the side and draped the tarp over her shoulders to keep from shaking. It felt heavy and rough on her skin with a moldy, salty scent, and it wasn’t doing much to keep her warm. A roll of thick rope was under the tarp. The girl watched her from the steps, her lower lip swollen.
Sammy nabbed the rope and tossed off the stupid tarp. “Blanket?”
The girl didn’t move, and Sammy couldn’t exactly gesture, so she marched past her and into the cabin. There was a sports coat over one of the chairs. She slipped it on and rolled up the sleeves. The coat came down to her knees. She must look like a kid in this thing.
The girl stepped aside when she spotted the floating coat coming toward her. Sammy tied the two guys’ feet together heel-to-heel.
“What are you?” Serban asked in English.
Had the girl told him, or was it the mention of the blanket? Sammy tightened the knots.
“I pay you whatever you want.”
Sammy walked up to the girl and tapped on the side of the container. “Can you open it?”
The girl pointed to the container. “Open?”
“Yeah, open.” She nudged the girl to the container’s doors.
The girl swung out the door handle and lifted up the locking bar. Sammy helped pull the heavy door open. Dozens of vacant faces stared out at them from within the darkness of the container. Fear and sweat brushed against Sammy like a hot summer breeze.
“Who are they?”
“Girls. Comfort girls.”
Sammy could only imagine what that meant. “Tell them they can come out.”
The girl waved them out, saying, “Come,” in Albanian. They emerged slowly like lost souls trapped too long in a cave.
Sammy marched back to the cabin and wrapped the blanket around her legs and feet, which felt like ice. She helped herself to some cheese and orange juice in the refrigerator. “Back to being hungry again.” She searched the suit jacket pockets and found a gold clip of twenties and fifties, had to be close to five hundred.
She tossed off the blanket and scaled the ladder to the helm. The pilot was puffing on a vapor as the city came into view. The girls were out and milling about the deck, giving a wide berth to the tied-up assholes. The tarp was stretched out by the corner against the stern with someone lying on it. When one of the girls stepped away she spotted Maria’s swollen face.
Sammy raced to her, startling the few she brushed up against. Maria stirred as if in the midst of a fretful sleep. The Albanian called out to the girls to free him, promising a bountiful reward. Purple Hawaiian threatened to kill them and their families if the girls didn’t untie them. Sammy grabbed him by the hair and pounded his head against the deck.
Half the girls were kneeling and praying.
Sammy fished out a phone from the jacket and dialed emergency services, then dropped it to Maria’s side. She traipsed through the scattered group to the other side and grabbed Cindy’s phone.
The boat slowed as it drifted into the pier. Cindy’s phone had a message from the transporter, noting the police would run a trace on the phone if she didn’t respond. Sammy clicked that she was okay, and it was just a misunderstanding. The transporter billed her for another trip. She requested the same transporter to pick her up, telling them that she lost a ring and thought it was in there. It was a twelve-minute wait, and she’d be billed for another two trips.
The pilot was off the boat moments after pulling into the slip. Sammy hopped off the boat and tied it to the dock. Maria sat up, looking groggy.
Sammy dashed back to the cabin, threw off the coat, and folded the money and Cindy’s phone into the blanket. She put a handful of ice into a towel and gave it to the girl to give to Maria. She jumped onto the dock and ran, searching for her ride back to the club.
Chapter Forty-Three
________________________________________
Sammy awoke from a nap on the sofa and heard Maria and Cindy talking by the door. She swung her feet to the floor. “You got my money?”
“She even wakes up as a hard-ass.”
“Must be from my empty pockets.” She did get over four hundred from the Albanian.
Cindy had the same worried look as before Sammy took a nap. “Sam said it was nothing.”
“I said I did a lot of running around, Cindy.”
Maria strolled to the back of the chair across from Sammy. “You do any swimming?”
“Yeah, I always take a late-night swim.”
Maria circled the chair and sat, running her fingers through her hair. “Must look like shit.”
“Did Cass blow a fuse?”
Cindy sat next to Sammy and jabbed her ribs.
“What?”
“They destroyed it,” Maria said.
Cindy’s mouth dropped. “No.”
Maria nodded. “Smashed to pieces.”
“Did it offer to do one last eyeliner before passing into the bot great beyond?”
“Sam!”
Sammy grinned, pinning her elbow to her side and pressing the tips of her fingers together, imitating one of the bot’s arms. “Come, Maria, I need to fix your face before my existence is terminated.”
Cindy nudged her. “You’re terrible.”
“Let me do one more lip gloss before I go.”
Sammy covered up as they both climbed on her, pushing and shoving.
Maria rolled back into her chair. “I’ll probably be fired. Cass was destroyed for non-Chasing News business.”
“It is news, isn’t it?” Cindy asked.
“I sent Jack the story captured on a phone. I doubt he’ll be able to use it.” Maria gazed up at the ceiling and let out a breath. “Not to mention I was rambling.”
“What you went through, I don’t know how you managed.”
Sammy looked from Cindy to Maria. “Are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess?”
“I went to grab a bite after the City Hall snooze fest, and when I came back, I found Cass in pieces. A guy with an accent came by and asked what happened, then I felt this sharp jab in my leg, and before I knew it I was doing dipsy doodles. The friendly creep kidnapped me and asked about the bugs and who else had access to them.”
“Why did he call Cindy?”
“He went through my recent calls.”
“Next phone you get, you leave her off your list.”
“Oh, Sam,” Cindy said, sounding as though she were protesting a Gladys mandate.
“It was her idea to put those stupid bugs under the table.”
Maria leaned her head back against the chair. “Won’t make that mistake again.”
“So you don’t know what happened on the boat?” Cindy asked.
Maria studied Sammy. “Ask Medusa what she was doing all that time.”
“Me? I was trying to get those assholes to lead me to you. Little did I know you were on a pleasure cruise.”
“She was locked up on some kind of slave ship, Sam.”
Sammy giggled at the thought of Maria playing the heroine in one of those corny movies titled, Maria, the Slave Girl.
“They were dealing in human trafficking. Either way, it’s not something to laugh at.”
“Sorry, but I can’t picture you as a slave girl.”
“I can give thanks to the demon or angel who freed us. None of the girls seemed to have reached a consensus.”
“Yeah, I always mix those two up.”
Maria smirked. “Maybe it was an avenging angel?”
“Did they find a broken violin?”
“One said the angel had the voice of a girl.”
Sammy sighed. “If you ask me, you should take Bernie’s offer to drive for him. You’ll be able to clear your conscience by paying me for all the work I’ve done.”
“You mean for all the running you were doing last night, or do I owe you for something else?”
“The something else was for all the work I did for you on Thursday. Should be double for having to endure Johnny’s lustful gaze.” Sammy shivered at the recollection.
“Why is it that anytime something unexplained happens, you seem to be involved somehow?”
“What strange things?” Cindy asked.
“The dead assassin who happened to be killed two blocks from your foster home, the Medusa running from the building where the assassin was killed, and last night where you just happened to be running around all night long chasing your tail.”
“It was your tail I was chasing.”
“Isn’t the Medusa the lady with the snakes on her head?” Cindy asked.
Maria nodded.
“What does that have to do with Sam?”
“Sam matched the description of the Medusa with a high probability.”
“You should’ve asked Cass what were the chances it’d make it to the end of the month. I bet it’d get that wrong too.”
Cindy leaned over Sammy, running her hand in her hair. “There’re no snakes here.”
“They only come out at night,” Sammy said.
Maria crossed her arms. “More than one witness saw snakes.”
“You know, the night Grinder drove me back from the club, he said he saw a snake by the dining room table.”
“That was me. I’m the snake girl, caught me red-handed.”
“That was the worst night.” Cindy stared blankly. “Johnny had to let me go, and I hadn’t seen or heard from you in over a week. Grinder thought the place was haunted.”
“Are there any ghostly figures also linked to me?”
“What about the phone someone left by my side, smart-ass? Dialed emergency services too.”
“I guess those angels and demons took one look at that shiner and figured if anyone needed a phone, it was you.”
Cindy poked Sammy.
“What? It looks like a volcano erupted on her face.”
“Sam!”
“Sorry, it looks fine. Don’t mind me.”
Maria stretched her back. “I have to go. Just wanted to stop by and see if you were okay.”
“We’re fine,” Cindy said. “Glad you’re okay.”
“The police took the phone that someone left me,” Maria said, giving Sammy an accusing eye. “Can I borrow yours?”
Cindy fished it out of her pocket and handed it to Maria.
“You might be running a little low on transporter credits,” Sammy said.
Maria took the phone. “From all that running?”
“Running and switching transporters while you were taking a cruise.”
Maria grinned, holding the phone up to her mouth. “Hello, Jack?”
“Maria?” Jack asked, sounding as though he was on speaker. “I’ve been trying to reach you all morning.”
“My phone was destroyed.”
“What about the phone you sent me the footage from?”
Maria swallowed. “The police took it. It was part of the crime scene.”
“The story’s blown up. When can you get here?”
“Blown up?”
“It’s got over ten million views in what, a few hours.”
Maria dropped to the chair, staring at the phone as if it had become something strange to her.
“Are you still there?”
“But I was rambling into a phone.”
“It was a bit raw, but that gave it authenticity.”
“Hope you cut out some of those close-ups of me.”
“Are you kidding? You looked like you were in a battle and came out the other end victorious. That’s gold.”
“You let it go as is?”
“Near the end you were repeating, so I cut some of that. I could’ve done a better job on the formatting, but I didn’t get this until I arrived at my office this morning.”
“But I sent it last night.”
“You used a different phone, so I wasn’t alerted.”
“Sorry, Jack.”
“We got the story. That’s all that matters.”
Maria glanced at Sammy. “Cass was destroyed.”
“I know.”
“It was while doing another project. The one you didn’t want to fund.”
Jack chuckled. “I suppose I’m funding it now.”
“You’ll fund it?”
“Come in. We’ll talk about it.”
“I have a partner on this.”
“Who?”
“A certain hard-ass I told you about.”
A long breath whistled over the phone. “Definitely come in and talk about it.”
“In about an hour?”
“I’ll be free,” Jack said.
Maria pressed the phone against herself and leaned over to Sammy. “Are you up for making a deal?”
“Me?”
“You’re my partner, aren’t you?”
Sammy stared at the phone. “He’s not going to want me.”
“Then we won’t do the deal.”
“Why?”
“Because I need you. You have a certain something that I haven’t been able to put a finger on yet.”
“Must be that glow,” Sammy said, glancing at Cindy. “Instead of moths, I get nuts and assholes.”
“So that’s a yes?”
Sammy nodded.
“See you in an hour, Jack.” Maria hung up and handed Cindy the phone.
“Isn’t this great?” Cindy said. “You’ll be working together.”
Sammy slouched back. “Don’t know if this is for me.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Maria said.
“Suppose I don’t like it. Then what?”
“Then it’s not for you.”
“If you have to go it alone then, I can’t just quit.”
“If we both do our best, we’ll have a dozen Jack types offering us deals. If you want to quit after filling your empty pockets, then I’ll muddle along.”
“I got pretty deep pockets.”
“You might just make enough to soften that hard ass.”
“Don’t want a soft ass either.”
Maria stood. “We’ll find a middle ground.”
Chapter Forty-Four
________________________________________
Sammy stood by the back wall of Jack’s office, wishing she could extend her fingers and hear what they were saying. She ran her fingers along the smooth beige wall, and muffled sounds emerged as she lifted her fingers off. She pressed the tips against the wall, hard at first, then soft. The soft touch brought hollowed voices as if Maria and Jack were at the far end of a tunnel.
“If you want to pay her as an informant, that’s one thing, but to make her a partner is another.”
“I don’t have two thousand, Jack.”
“You made her an offer and she declined. Walk away. I’m sure after a few days she’ll reconsider.”
“I don’t think so.”
“There are other informants, Maria. None of them will hold a ransom over your head.”
“She’s a story magnet, Jack. Just look how many stories she’s been involved with the last few months.”
“Which may give one pause in regard to her character.”
“Sure, she’s a tough kid, but there’s nobody else I’d want by my side with my back against the wall.”
“And she may be the one putting you in such situations. Case in point, your last story. It almost got you killed.”
“Are you talking about the number one story, Jack? The story where you had a sudden change of heart and are now considering funding?”
“I’m not saying it wasn’t a good story. It’s just that you may be taking too many risks.”
“I was just doing something you taught me. Maybe you’re the one I should be worried about.”
“Sam?”
Sammy jumped. Russo was standing by the door. “You scared the shit out of me. What are you doing here?”
“I’m looking for Maria. Jack said she’d be here.”
Sammy grinned. “Is it Maria now?”
“Where is she?”
“She’s talking to Jack.”
Russo stepped in, scanning the room. “What were you doing?”
“I was admiring how smooth these walls are. Jack has them polished like glass.”
“You were listening in, weren’t you?”
Sammy shrugged and plopped into the seat in front of the desk.
“Is she all right?”
“Are you asking about Maria or is it Santiago?”
