This Girl Who Was A Ghost, page 22
part #2 of Near Future Series
He gave her one of those hard-cop stares.
“She got a bump on the head. Her makeup bot was smashed, so be prepared.”
“I saw the video.”
“And you came anyway.” Sammy studied Russo. “Who said cops had hearts of stone?”
Russo pulled the other chair out so it was facing Sammy. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about the concert hall case.”
“It’s been settled, and I don’t have to testify.”
Russo shook his head. “It’s looking like it’s going to court. The guy you hit with the violin is pressing charges for assault.”
“So it’s okay that he tried to kill me?”
“It’s an intimidation tactic to prevent you from testifying.”
“It’s working.”
“They’ll know more in a few days.”
“With the laughing hyena on the job, no wonder nothing turned up. Why don’t you handle it, Russo?”
“It’s not my case.”
“So you don’t care if I skip the trial.”
“Of course I care.”
Sammy folded her arms. Typical cop response.
Maria walked in with Jack right behind her. “What’s he doing here?”
“He called, genuinely concerned about you,” Jack said. “It’s a good idea to keep the police in the loop.”
“I’m fine, Russo. You can go now.”
Russo stood. “What happened?”
“Read the report. I’m sure you have connections.”
“I’ve read it. That’s the biggest lump of bullshit I’ve ever heard.”
“Jack, do I have to stand here for another cross-examination?”
“Sergeant, she spoke to the police on this matter.”
“You’re okay with this, Jack?”
“There’s an inherent risk to investigative reporting. A great deal of good was done here today.”
“What about tomorrow? Are you going to be so lucky then?”
“What risks I take or don’t take are up to me, Russo.”
“Do you have her mixed up in this?” Russo asked, thumbing at Sammy.
“She had a part in this. Don’t ask me how much.”
“Are you going to take risks with her life too?”
“She faced down a psychopathic killer and escaped a locked room filling up with carbon monoxide. I think she can take care of herself.”
“Now I’m going to get arrested for clocking the guy who tried to kill me,” Sammy said.
“Is that true, Russo?”
He shrugged. “It’s possible.”
“I should’ve hit him over the head with a piano.”
Maria and Russo grinned.
Jack looked as if he had a sudden bout of indigestion. “This puts a wrinkle in the plans.”
Must be the worst thing for a guy with pressed shirts and glass-smooth walls.
Maria stepped toward Sammy. “Sam, if you want to step away from working with me on this project, I’ll understand.”
“Are you going to pay me?”
Maria looked back at Jack.
Jack gave Maria one of those you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me looks. “She might be arrested tomorrow.”
“No deal, Jack.”
“Maria?”
“You’ve always told me to trust my gut. My gut’s telling me that this is right.”
Jack sighed, marching over to his desk. He picked up a phone and handed it to Maria. “Here’s my spare. I’ll get you a new phone tomorrow.”
“Sam will also need a phone.”
“Fine,” Jack said with a healthy exhale. “I’ll forward the money into your account later on today.”
Sammy stood. “What about my money?”
Maria turned back. “I’ll still be paying you, Sam.”
“Good. Don’t like the idea of coming to him with my hand out. He’s a type that likes to spit in it.”
Russo chuckled.
Jack looked away, glaring at the wall. Probably found a spot with a chip in it. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Maria. This may be your only chance at an opportunity like this.”
Maria slipped the phone into her pocket. “I plan to make the most of it.”
“Can we go now?” Sammy asked. “Don’t want to wrinkle his carpet.”
Maria nodded. “You won’t be disappointed, Jack.”
Jack pursed his lips and nodded.
They headed out with Russo trailing behind, and he grabbed Maria’s arm just as they cleared the steps. “I hope you’re not planning to do something stupid with this new opportunity.”
Maria pulled her arm free. “Oh, it’s just like you to say something like that.”
“How else would I say it? A day after you almost got yourself killed, you’re dashing off to finish the job.”
“They weren’t going to kill me. They were going to make me some kind of love slave.”
“I don’t think it had anything to do with love,” Sammy said.
Russo stepped toward Maria. “You’re putting her life in danger too. If anything happens to her, I’ll hold you responsible.”
“Why don’t you just lock me up now?”
“If I could, I would.”
“Your true colors are showing, Russo. Disappointed you didn’t get the chance to pick out your love slave?”
Russo leaned into Maria, red-faced and glaring at her. He spun around and marched away.
“That…that bastard.”
Sammy watched Maria gazing back at Russo. “That love slave remark was a little bit below the belt.”
“Below the belt from you? You live below the belt.”
“That’s not a nice thing to say about small people.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Maria said with a huff. “Don’t know what I meant.”
“Uncle Danny used to say the harder they fight the more they like each other.”
“Like him? I despise him.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You know you can be really annoying.”
Sammy nodded. “It’s a gift.”
Maria laughed, pulling Sammy toward her. “This could be dangerous.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll look out for you.”
Maria grinned, looking down at Sammy. “Thanks.” She rocked slightly, pulling Sammy to her sway. “I feel oddly comforted by that.”
“Must be my glow.”
“Does that make me a nut or an asshole?”
“A little bit of both.”
“That’s about how I feel most days.” Maria dropped her arm. “They deleted all the recordings, even the crime scene footage we took. Jack’s looking into it.”
“One of the recordings I listened to said that girl left the Pleasure Palace with a guy named Doric.”
Maria hugged Sammy. “You got it?”
“You should save these hugs for Russo.”
“Smart-ass.”
“And I thought I was a tough kid.”
Maria’s jaw dropped. “You little shit.”
“That’s not a nice thing to say about small people.”
“How much did you hear?”
“Not much. Russo came in when you were getting to the good stuff.”
“Then his visit wasn’t a total waste.”
“I was just practicing to be a good reporter.”
“Come on, ace reporter,” Maria said, nodding for Sammy to follow. “You have another return engagement at the club.”
“I’m not dressing up.”
“Afraid to tug at Johnny’s heartstrings?”
Sammy sneered.
Maria turned back with a smirk. “I can be a little shit too, you know.”
Chapter Forty-Five
________________________________________
Sammy sat next to the nerve stimulator, her fingers extended into little stubs while Maria was upstairs, looking for Doric. She’d told Maria she’d question the staff, but she only asked the ape by the door. The hostesses were too busy to stop and talk.
Leo wasn’t busy, so she stopped by the lab, and he suggested she try to extend the fingers with a little help from the stimulator.
“You seem distracted,” Leo said. “Try focusing on extending the fingers.”
Sammy held up her hand. “Longer fingers, longer fingers. See, it doesn’t work. Just give me the big zap.”
“What will that prove?”
Sammy shrugged. “It’ll feel better. These fingers feel as if they’re stuffed into a glove.”
“All the more reason to do this yourself.”
“If I’m supposed to do this myself, why is it so hard?”
“If you put as much effort into this as when you first learned to walk, you’d still be crawling.”
“That’d be a sight.”
“Hold still.” He pressed the probe against her arm. A little tingle retracted the one-inch stubs.
“At least it didn’t hurt.”
“I had to use a higher setting last night. You can’t leave them extended for long periods of time.”
“How did I know Maria was hauled off on a boat as a love slave?”
“These exploits leave you vulnerable to discovery.”
Sammy flexed her fingers, which felt a little stiff. She’d broken some bones last night, and it didn’t bother her in the least. “Does this octopus DNA affect how I think?”
“Do you have a sudden hankering for shellfish?”
“Talking about last night when I broke bones and hurled that guy overboard. It didn’t bother me a bit. Think I actually enjoyed it.”
“I’m sure this is more of the domain of psychology.”
“Does that make me a psycho?”
“Do you have the urge to break random strangers’ bones?”
Johnny came to mind. “Only people I know.”
Leo stood. “I have things to do, and you appear to be distracted, so we’ll call it a night.”
“I’m supposed to be asking about this Doric guy.”
“Cindy will be working the next few nights, so you’re on your own.”
“Is she doing okay?”
“Let’s just say that lab work is not in her future.”
If Gladys’s bogus charges were dropped, Cindy could work upstairs again. She’d have to ask Russo.
Leo was upfront checking the green slime that magically turned into psychedelics.
“Can you give me the big zap? I want to stretch these fingers out.”
“Does someone need rescuing?”
“Maria’s probably knee-deep in an Albanian assassination plot or whatever this Doric is.”
“I don’t know if I can afford to lose another lab coat.”
“I’m going to blend and won’t need any of your stupid coats.”
Leo said nothing, stirring the pot.
“Come on. It’s either zap me, or I follow you around the next couple hours, asking you a lot of stupid questions.”
Leo marched back to the table and picked up the probe.
●●●
Sammy stood outside the rope next to Bernie’s table. He was trying to convince Maria to be his driver.
“How about Wednesdays will be veil day? You can wear whatever you want the other days as long as it doesn’t clash with what I’m wearing.”
Maria grinned, glancing at a table in the middle of the room.
Sammy followed her line of sight. There were two tables, mostly older guys, one looking meaner than the next.
“I think a nice dark lace will look good on you, girl.”
Sammy unhooked the rope when the ape wasn’t looking and let it drop.
The ape bent down with a grunt and hooked it back.
Johnny walked in from the front. Sammy thought of tripping him, but he stopped before getting to her.
“Johnny, there’s something wrong with this rope,” the ape said.
Johnny looked down. “There’s not a lot that can go wrong with a rope.”
“It keeps falling off.”
Johnny unhooked the rope and held it up. “Do you see anything wrong with this?”
The ape shrugged. “It’s a rope.”
“Do you know how to open a door?”
“I got here, didn’t I?”
“I’ll put you on doors tomorrow.”
Just as Johnny hooked the rope, Sammy unhooked the other end and let it drop.
“See.”
Johnny shook his head and walked away.
Sammy circled the tables, hoping someone would call out for Doric. She danced around Janine, who had just left drinks at a table.
“Why do we have that cow for a server?” the guy at the end asked.
As the guy lifted his drink, Sammy yanked his chair. He fell back, spilling the glass over himself. He scrambled to his feet, smelling of booze. “Somebody pulled my chair back.”
The guy next to him turned and looked back, his movements slow and plodding. Nobody but Sammy was behind him. “How many pills did you have?”
The booze-smelling guy pulled the chair upright. “I’m drinking tonight.”
Sammy drifted past tables of sweet, musky cologne, listening to the murmurs and foreign tongues. If Doric was mentioned, she didn’t hear it.
A guy hopped out of his seat right in front of her. Sammy shoved him back, nearly tipping him over in his seat. He held his arms out as if searching for something in the dark. “What was that?”
It was a Saturday night and the place had tables pressed almost up to the front door, where they’d need binoculars to see the show. Sammy chuckled. The skin joint wasn’t even about the skin anymore.
A guy looking like a vampire crept along the side, passing behind Sammy. His hair was of a shade where light goes to die and his skin flour white. A gold chain crested inside the open-collar shirt, thick enough to make Arnie smile for a week. He took nervous glances back then disappeared out the front.
Maria raced along the side in pursuit. Had she ever seen a horror movie?
Sammy followed, giving up the soft carpet for the gravel-filled walkway.
The ape at the door closed it behind Maria and clipped Sammy’s shoulder.
She spun and fell, scraping knees and elbows.
Maria crossed off the path and headed toward the dark, desolate sidewalk.
Sammy jogged after her, groaning with each step on the stones. The sidewalk was empty. Where’d Maria go?
Sammy scanned the three cars with drivers that were parked along the curb. A yelp came from the bushes lining the path leading to the back of the club.
The vampire had Maria pinned by the throat against an elm tree. “You looking for me?” he asked with an accent Sammy couldn’t quite narrow down.
Sammy searched for a method of attack without drawing attention.
Maria raised her chin to free herself from the grasp. “What do you want?” Her voice choked into a whisper.
“I’m the guy you’ve been asking about.”
“You’re Doric McAllister?”
“You think you’re funny?” He slammed her head against the tree.
Sammy took a step. A twig crunched underfoot. Doric turned. Maria kneed him between his legs, doubling him over. He grabbed her arm as she turned to escape.
Sammy wrapped two fingers around his wrist, then squeezed until he let go.
Maria darted away, screaming. Sammy tripped Doric when he made a run for it. One of the apes lifted him off his feet and dragged him to the back. If that was Doric, then he wasn’t their guy. He was shorter and narrower at the shoulders than the masked killer. She tiptoed back to the club, cursing the stones.
Chapter Forty-Six
________________________________________
Sammy and Maria sat at an outside café, looking out over the sun-splashed park across the street. Sammy fingered the crumbs from her sandwich and flicked them into her mouth.
Maria stared. “You want something else?”
Sammy shook her head even though she was still hungry.
“I don’t know where you put it. What was that? A triple-decker?”
“No, it wasn’t a triple-decker. Did you see three layers?”
Maria grinned. “I didn’t see much. It was all a blur.”
Sammy turned away. “Ha, ha.”
Maria put down her coffee. “Now you have money, I should make you pay.”
“You only paid me a hundred.”
“I can’t take out five hundred in cash, or the feds will open a file on me. I already have Russo. Don’t need the feds too.”
“I know a place where you can get the cash.”
“Those places rip you off, not to mention they’re illegal.”
“Now you’re suddenly worried about things being illegal.”
Maria tapped on her phone. “If you need something, I can get it for you.”
The phone in Sammy’s pocket hummed. She knew it was Maria testing something else on it. They’d gotten the phones from Jack earlier. The phone hummed again.
“I sent you two messages. Did you get them?”
Sammy wondered now if this was a good idea getting a phone. “Yeah, I figured it was another stupid message.”
“Smart-ass.”
Sammy rolled her eyes. “What’s next?”
Maria put the phone down by her coffee. “We have to rerun the footage for those crime scenes.”
“You going to resurrect the bot?”
“We’re using phones. Jack wants to relabel us Grunge News.”
“Sounds like a disease.”
Maria scrolled through a few screens. “I’m not crazy about it either.”
“You’re not sending me another message.”
“Found the name of the organization that put on that play in the park.” Maria sat up, leaning over her phone. “Artemis Players.”
“Did Jack come up with that name too?”
“It’s got nothing to do with Jack, smart-ass.” Maria studied the screen. “They do have patrons.”
“Sounds like rich people.”
“Or simply lovers of the arts.”
“In other words, rich people,” Sammy said.
“Could the killer be a patron?”
“He has a chauffeur, so he’s got to be rich.”
“If he had a car waiting, then he had to have known this play was being performed.”
Sammy nodded. “The car must’ve been right across the street from the park.”
