This Girl Who Was A Ghost, page 26
part #2 of Near Future Series
Maria glanced over at Sammy. “Did I tell you I talked to the shrink?”
“You might want to keep that conversation to yourself.”
“I talked to him about the slasher, smart-ass.”
“Let me guess. He thinks the guy’s a psycho.”
“They’re never that direct,” Maria said with a dismissive wave of the hand. “It’s a major pain to get them to tell you something you can use.”
Sammy waited. “Do I have to guess?”
“He mentioned masks are used to hide your identity or become someone else.”
“Never would’ve guessed that.”
“According to this shrink, the throwing the mask away was the interesting part. He says he’s shedding one identity for another.”
Sammy looked down at her fingers at the mention of shedding.
“He thinks the slasher might be suffering from dissociative identity disorder, otherwise known as multiple personality disorder.”
“Like I said, psycho.”
Maria flashed a look with brows raised. “Most with the disorder live productive lives.”
“This guy isn’t one of them.”
“The shrink said there are usually triggers that bring out different personalities.”
“He attacks girls with big boobs, so that’s got to be one of them.”
Maria gnawed her lip. “That might get the ball rolling.”
“The other has something to do with fences. He fell off one and caught his jacket on another.”
“Maybe it’s not the fence, but the falling and catching that triggered it. Sort of like bumping into something you didn’t expect was there.”
“I don’t know how this helps us.” They were a block away from the club. “Unless we try to catch him with me parading around in that overstuffed dress, and when he gets his knife caught in the stuffing, I’ll kick him so hard in the balls all those personalities will merge into one sad dick.”
Maria laughed, shaking her head. She pulled in front of the place behind two limousines. “We know he’s tall, right?”
Sammy nodded. “Taller than Russo.”
“So six-three, six-four?”
“Guess. He’s broader in the shoulders too.”
“So we’re talking about two thirty, two forty,” Maria said, gnawing her lip. “How many guys at the club fit that description?”
Sammy shrugged and checked the time on her phone. She was still early for her appointment.
“A handful at the most, right?”
“I don’t know. They’re all creeps if you ask me.”
Maria studied Sammy. “How long are you going to be with this nerve testing?”
“As long as it takes.”
“It’d be nice if you could help me with the search. You’re the one who saw him.”
“I’m not allowed inside the lounge.”
“You should’ve turned yourself into Sasha. You’d have the run of the place.”
Sammy rolled her eyes and shoved open the door.
“Sometimes you have to do things you’d rather not for the story.”
She sounded like Tatiana telling her she was wound too tight.
“Don’t be too long,” Maria said, waving goodbye.
“Don’t go chasing guys who look like Dracula down dark sidewalks.”
Maria spun around. “How did you know what he looked like? You only saw him from the back.”
“Must’ve turned around.”
Maria stepped up to Sammy. “You were there.”
“How could I be there? I was down in the basement.”
“He heard somebody step behind him, and so did I.”
“Must’ve been a shared hallucination.”
“He said he felt somebody had grabbed his arm before the bouncer came.”
“Did you see anybody?”
Maria shook her head. “Neither did anyone on the boat.”
“Must’ve been those demons and angels.” Sammy strolled away. She went down to the basement and waved to Johnny, who was sitting in his office. He looked up and sneered. She thought of stopping and asking how his wrist felt.
Leo was back by the rat cages, scribbling onto a tablet.
“How are the rats doing? And I’m not asking about Johnny and his apes.”
“I had to euthanize all but two.”
Sammy figured there were over a dozen cages. “That’s not good.”
“I was overly ambitious and sloppy.”
“Don’t try to sugarcoat it, Leo.”
He slipped the tablet into a bin by the cages. “You’re early for a change.”
“That’s Maria’s doing. She thinks the killer is one of Johnny’s customers. I think it’s Johnny’s toupee.”
“I have a novel idea. Why don’t you let the police handle it?”
“That shows how little you know about the news.”
Leo pulled out the stool from under the table by the nerve stimulator. “Sit.”
“You got out of here quick last night.”
“I’m a firm believer in giving the police a wide berth.”
Sammy sat. “Talk about stories, you must have a collection.”
“Hopefully, you can concentrate today.”
“I bet you have an alphabet soup of agencies looking for you.”
“Focus. You’ll have to earn a full extension tonight.”
“Do I get a merit badge?”
Leo fired up the device and fiddled with settings. Sammy’s phone buzzed.
It was a message from Maria. They won’t let me in.
Sammy messaged back. Why not?
They were sufficiently smug in not telling me.
Sammy looked toward Johnny’s office as if she could see through twenty feet of walls. It was Johnny’s way of getting back at her. What are you going to do?
Don’t know, Maria messaged. Might look into building up my nerve with that quack you’re going to?
Funny.
Why don’t you go to a real doctor?
He looks pretty real. I’ll step on his toes and see what happens, Sammy messaged and waited but nothing.
Leo was staring at her. “Are you ready to begin?”
“Toupee Johnny won’t let her in.”
“Isn’t that unfortunate.”
“Leo, you have a real soft spot when it comes to these things.”
“If you don’t want to do this, stop wasting my time.”
“What’s the big rush? You only have two rats left. Give them a stay of execution.”
Leo took in a deep breath and exhaled.
A new message from Maria. Bernie saved the day, or is it night? Had to agree to be his driver, not sure what that means.
“She’s in.”
Leo stared down at the phone, holding the probe. “Turn off the phone, or we’re not doing this.”
Sammy switched it off. “Happy?”
Leo pressed the probe against her arm. “Visualize the finger extension as soon as you feel the tingle.”
●●●
Sammy looked down at the stubby extensions. “Maybe it’s that stupid machine. You ever think of that?”
Leo shook his head.
“You know what you can do with that probe.”
Leo set the probe on the table. “It’s a simple issue of focus.”
“If I was any more focused, I’d burn a hole in the table.”
“Perhaps you should hand me the phone.”
“Only checked it a few times.”
“A phone that’s off?”
“You made me turn it off.” Sammy switched it on. “She might be in trouble and looking for help.”
“She made it into adulthood without you. I wonder how she managed that.”
Sammy flipped to the messages. “Must’ve been lucky till now.”
A message from Maria. Haven’t seen you yet. Still building up your nerve?
Was that supposed to be funny?
Another message. Any more nerve and you’ll be intolerable.
“Must be munching on corn chips.”
Leo was up front, mixing his psychedelic potion.
“Can you zap these stubs away?”
“You’ll have to wait.”
“Suppose Johnny comes in.”
“Sit on your hands and stay quiet for a change.”
“I could give him the finger,” Sammy said, holding her hand out to assess the longer digits. “He won’t miss it with these.”
Leo huffed, stirring the green sludge.
Or she could take Johnny’s toupee. Yeah, make it look like it came to life, and he had to chase after it.
Sammy blended, kicking off her shoes and stripping.
“What are you doing?”
“Seeing a man about a rug.”
“Sam, don’t do anything foolish.”
Sammy shoved her clothes under the table.
Leo scanned the room for her. “You don’t want to draw attention to yourself.”
“You’ve heard of the flying carpet, haven’t you, Leo? This’ll be the flying rug.”
“If they start looking for you here, Sam, you won’t be able to hide from them.”
Sammy held the door. “Who are they, Leo?”
“You don’t want to find out.”
“We’ll have to have a long talk when I get back.”
Sammy walked under the pipes running the length of the basement, not sure she wanted to give Johnny’s rug a magic carpet ride now. She could just flick it off his head.
Johnny wasn’t in his office, anyway. Shadows flickered off the back of his chair from the computer screen. Sammy walked in, spotting video feed outside the door of people waiting to get in. “No surveillance, huh, Johnny?”
Better yet, she’d flick the rug off while Johnny was in the kitchen and watch it go up in flames.
Nobody was in the kitchen. Out by the lounge Maria sat with Bernie and a dancer at the usual table.
Bernie sat far enough away from the table so that the glow of the table light didn’t touch his features. “Can I see the list?” Bernie asked, his voice sounding deeper than usual.
Maria fidgeted with her phone. “Can’t.”
Bernie reached for it. “Sure you can.”
Maria pulled the phone away. “It’s company business.”
“We’re all in good company.”
“I should look for Sam. She hasn’t answered any of my messages.”
Damn. Did she leave another message?
Bernie grabbed her wrist. “Relax, she’ll be fine. Besides, you owe me a ride.”
“I’ll go and get Sam, and I’ll drive the three of you around.”
Bernie shook his head. “It has to be just me and my driver.”
“Why?”
Bernie didn’t sound like Bernie. Even his voice was different.
“Didn’t I tell you about the wager?”
Maria shook her head.
“I wagered that a famous investigative reporter would chauffeur me for the day.”
“I’m not that famous.”
“He’s as much of a fan as I am. The wager is not an insignificant amount.”
“Okay, but there’s no reason we can’t bring the party on the road. You’re up for a road party, right, Ginger?”
Ginger wrinkled her nose. “Got a show in ten.”
“I’ll get Sam. She’s always a lot of fun, right?”
Bernie shuffled his chair back. “It won’t satisfy the wager. He’ll say that you’re really chauffeuring them and not me.”
“It’s your car, though?”
Bernie stood. “We’ll be back in time to see Ginger’s show.”
Sammy spread her fingers, willing them to extend. Nothing.
Maria finished her wine. “Okay, I’ll give you your ride.”
Bernie stood back, letting Maria pass in front. “I’m sure you will.”
Sammy tried again to extend her fingers, still nothing.
Maria and Bernie stepped through the parting ropes and passed Sammy to the front.
Sammy’s jaw dropped. Bernie’s profile fit the killer. “Shit!”
The ape holding the rope heard her and looked around.
Sammy raced to the back, almost knocking into Janine carrying a tray of drinks. She rushed down the steps and back to the lab. Where was Leo? “Leo, you better be here.”
She ran to the back by the rat cages. “Damn you, Leo.”
Sammy dashed to the table by the stimulator and picked up the probe. She didn’t even know how to turn the stupid thing on. She banged her hand. “Grow, grow.”
Sammy gathered her clothes into a ball and sprinted through the basement, up the steps, and out the back door. The ape by the door grunted when the back door swung open.
Sammy stopped by the corner of the building. Maria stepped into the driver’s seat and closed the door. A tall guy dressed in a dark suit and white shirt backed away as the car drove off.
She dropped the ball of clothes at her feet. “Shit!”
The car stopped about a hundred feet up the road and stayed there for a moment. Sammy slipped on her panties and bra. The car took off, then veered off the road and came to a stop. Sammy fumbled to get on her trousers. The car took off again, swerved to the other side of the road and stopped. She slipped the shirt over herself.
The guy in the dark suit jogged to the car, but it took off again at high speed, and slammed into a tree at the end of the block.
Sammy shoved her feet into the shoes and raced down the street. She was halfway down when she realized she was still blended.
The guy in the dark suit was bending over the back seat, helping Bernie.
Sammy flung open the front door. Maria’s hair was matted with blood and her eyes rolled up in her head. Her breath had this hollow broken sound. Maria tried to put words together, but nothing was working right.
Sammy fumbled for her phone. The stub-tipped fingers made everything worse. “Don’t talk, just rest.”
The tall guy in the dark suit stood by the back door, watching Sammy trying to get the phone to work. “I called for an ambulance,” he said in a cold, even way as if this were an everyday event.
“I’ll call again if you don’t mind.”
“It’ll be here in fifty seconds.” He pursed his lips, looking down at his phone as if he were reading a menu.
The guy was giving her the creeps. Maria’s head dropped back.
“Maria!”
Chapter Fifty-Three
________________________________________
Sammy stood beside Maria, who was lying unconscious on the gurney and waiting to get into the scanning room. This was the same hospital where she’d stolen the drugs. She kept her head down while going through the emergency room just in case any of the guards recognized her. Her hands stayed tucked under her arms to hide the stubby extensions.
A stout woman in her thirties bustled over. “Are you the sister?”
“Half sister, I got the shorter dad.”
“I’m Matilda from admittance.”
Sammy nodded. Everybody was from somewhere else.
Matilda gazed down at her tablet. “Does Maria have a spouse?”
Sammy shook her head. She should call Russo.
“Does she have surviving parents?”
Maria never mentioned them. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I mean I don’t know where they are right now. They travel around a lot.”
“You should contact them. We’ll need someone over eighteen to be her medical guardian.”
“They said she was in stable condition—isn’t that good?”
“I’m not a doctor,” Matilda said, jotting on her tablet. “Does she have supplemental coverage?”
“She’s got the best, double platinum I think.”
“There’s no double platinum.”
“There’s regular platinum, right?”
“Whatever she has, should be presented to admittance as soon as possible.” She shuffled away, seeming to dissolve into the walls.
An old guy of about a hundred was wheeled out of the scanning room, mumbling to himself. Maria was wheeled in. The door closed behind her.
Sammy pulled out her phone, looking for Jack’s number. If Maria didn’t have platinum, then Jack should make it like she did.
Someone was pushed in a wheelchair by Maria’s spot. Place was like a conveyor belt.
“What are you doing here, Sugar?” Bernie was slouched in the wheelchair, squinting up at her.
Sammy spun around to him. “What happened in that car?”
“Dmitri said that Maria was driving. Is that true?”
“You corralled her every which way to get her to drive.”
“And I thought he was lying to cover his own incompetence.”
“I know this whole disorientation is bullshit just like that wager.”
Bernie looked off as if he was thinking over what she said. “She must be a terrible driver. You know how hard it is to crash one of those cars?”
“I’m sure she did it on purpose.”
“Really?” Bernie said, stroking his chin. “I’m glad I didn’t hire her.”
Dmitri strolled toward them with a cup in his hand. His movements were stiff and measured.
“Look at him,” Bernie said. “He has no flair. At least he hasn’t crashed the car, not yet anyway.”
Dmitri handed the cup to Bernie. He reached into his side coat pocket. A rubber mask slipped partially out. He stuffed it back in and retrieved the pills from the other pocket.
Bernie swallowed a pill. “The only time I drink water.”
Dmitri gave her a long cold look as if he were planning three different ways to kill her.
An attendant wheeled Maria out of the scanning room. Sammy followed behind them to the elevator.
“Hope she’s feeling better,” Bernie said as he was wheeled into the room. “Tell her to stick with transporters.” The door closed behind him, leaving Dmitri alone watching her.
Sammy rushed inside the opened elevator with Maria.
●●●
Sammy talked on the phone with jack in the corridor away from the throng of people coming in and out of Maria’s room. He said he’d make sure she got the best treatment. She liked him better for that.
“You’re saying that she deliberately crashed into the tree?”
