This Girl Who Was A Ghost, page 27
part #2 of Near Future Series
“That’s what it looked like.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Something happened in that car. Bernie was acting all weird too.”
“I thought you weren’t at the table.”
Shit! She had to keep her story straight. “I stopped by, but Johnny chased me out.”
“He’s the club owner?”
“Yeah,” Sammy said, thinking back to when Bernie walked out of the club. “Maria thought someone from the club was the killer, and when I saw Bernie turn his back, he fit the killer perfectly, but then I saw his creepy driver, and now I’m not so sure.”
“This is a matter for the police. I’ll call Sergeant Russo and relay some of your concerns.”
“I was going to call him, but I don’t have his number.”
“I’ll send it to you,” Jack said. “Are you going to be there for a while?”
“I’m not leaving her.”
“It looks as if she found a good friend as well as a colleague.”
Sammy turned toward the wall as another group of white coats passed by. “I told the EMT I was her sister. They wouldn’t let me go into the ambulance unless I was a relative. They asked about her parents. I didn’t know what to say.”
Another white coat strode behind her, carrying a tray. Sammy turned and caught a glimpse of him before he entered Maria’s room. Something about him wasn’t right.
Jack breathed lightly into the phone. “I have their contact information here somewhere.”
“Call Russo first. Gotta go.”
The white coat stood with his back to Sammy, leaning over Maria. The coat was bunched up around the shoulders as if it was a size too small, and the blue jumper rode high up his legs, showing black socks. The hundred-year-old guy in the bed across the room watched as if it were getting to the good part of the movie.
Sammy stepped to the foot of the bed. White Coat had Maria’s hospital gown pulled up, cutting into it with a scalpel.
“What are you doing?”
He leaned back with his foot outstretched. It was the guy in the mask! He kicked the over-bed table into Sammy and knocked her to the floor. A pitcher of water tumbled over and clunked her head, splashing her.
Sammy scrambled to her feet and hurled the pitcher. It clipped his shoulder and sprayed the wall.
He turned, holding the scalpel out, and came at her slow and steady like in every scary movie she’d ever seen.
Sammy snatched the tray off the table and held it out.
The slasher kicked the tray, sending it flying, and then he lunged at her with the scalpel. She jumped back and fell over the table’s outstretched leg. He was over her in a flash and drove his foot down. Sammy rolled away and kicked his feet out, knocking him to the floor. She grabbed his foot. He pulled it back and kicked her in the chest. Sammy gasped for breath, but held on. He squirmed to free himself and thrashed, toppling the table. The edge slammed into her shoulder, numbing her arm. His foot slipped from her grasp. He bounded up, lunged at her with the scalpel. A scream shrieked by the doorway.
He glanced back long enough for Sammy to grab the table by the neck. She pulled the table overhead, shielding herself as he swung down. The scalpel bounced off the top and sailed into the wall like a dart. He raced for the scalpel and pulled it free.
Sammy rolled and sprang to her feet. She picked up the table by the neck and swung it around like a sledgehammer. “You want to fight, asshole, then let’s fight.”
He kicked the swinging tabletop up, but she held on and swung down, clipping his leg. He tumbled to the floor, the scalpel spilling free. Sammy brought the table down, just missing him, but caught the edge of the white coat and ripped it. She lifted the table, ready for him to get up, but he tucked and rolled out of reach.
A guard charged into the room after him. The slasher spun the guard around and drop-kicked him into Sammy, knocking them both back. Sammy slammed into the side of Maria’s bed. Flashes exploded along the back of her head. She staggered to her feet, but the slasher was gone and the room was getting dim. Sammy latched onto the foot of the bed to keep the world from spinning away. She crawled along the bed and slid down. The room was getting darker and she couldn’t see much of anything. She closed her eyes, and everything grew quiet.
Chapter Fifty-Four
________________________________________
Clanking, clicking, and murmurs slowly emerged from the silence. Figures seemed to shift and blend in ghostly vapor trails as the air stirred with movement.
“Are you okay?” someone asked. The voice sounded hollow and distant.
Sammy turned, expecting the voice to be from someone across the room. A figure was crouched down beside her, glowing in light blue.
“Are you hurt, in any pain?”
Sammy shook her head.
The figure moved off. Where was she? She rubbed her eyes to clear the fog. Her fingers had the stubs. She tucked her hands under her arms. She was in the hospital. Something had happened.
A tall figure stood in the doorway. “Sam?”
She looked up and stared. The features came into focus. “Russo?”
“What happened here?”
Sammy turned toward the bed. “Maria! Is she okay?”
Russo trudged to the foot of Maria’s bed. “I came as soon as I heard. Why is her gown cut?”
“But she’s not cut, right?”
Russo shook his head.
Two guys in suits strolled through the door, cops by the look of them. “Russo, what are you doing here?” the shorter one asked.
“I’m visiting,” Russo said, nodding to each of them. “What happened here?”
“Some guy started a fight. Security came and this guy took out three of them.”
The cop behind him chuckled. “He put them in the hospital, but you can’t say that because they’re already here.”
The shorter cop turned back. “Shut up, Flanagan.”
A lady in a light-blue jumpsuit stood by the door, nervously searching the room.
The cop walked over to her. “Looks like our witness.”
Sammy pushed up off the bed to stand.
Russo kept her from stumbling back. “You should have a doctor look at you.”
“Just a little dizzy.”
“That’s her,” the lady in the jumpsuit said, pointing to Sammy.
The shorter cop turned toward Sammy. “The fight was with her?”
The lady nodded. “I thought for sure he was going to kill her.”
Sammy leaned against the bed, slipping her hands under her arms. Damned stubby-tipped fingers.
Maria was bruised but seemed to be sleeping okay. Her gown was cut about six inches down from the neckline.
“Did you know this guy, Sam?”
She’d had him and let him slip away. Sammy had thought for sure he’d go for the scalpel.
“Sam?” Russo and the two other cops were staring down at her.
Sammy looked away. “It was the slasher.”
Russo leaned into her. “The slasher was here?”
Sammy nodded. “He was starting to go to work on Maria until I interrupted.”
“Jesus!”
●●●
A team in white jumpsuits scoured the room, dusting and examining everything in sight. Sammy figured she was next. They took away the scalpel and bed table. The table was mostly her, but she didn’t tell them anything. They found the mask in the nearby fire-escape stairwell.
Russo asked her to leave so forensics could do their work. Sammy told him she wasn’t going to leave Maria’s side. He told them to work around her. She never got the chance to tell Russo about her suspicions of Bernie, although now she was leaning more toward Dmitri. The rubber mask in the pocket was the giveaway, but maybe it had just looked like a rubber mask.
The white jumpsuits were gone along with the hundred-year-old guy. One of the cops questioned him, but he just sat up slurping his soup, looking as if he was waiting for another show to start.
A tall thin lady walked up to Sammy, looking harried. “Are you Samantha, Maria’s sister?”
Sammy scanned the room for cops. “Yeah, why?”
“I’m Tiki from administration. We still don’t have a legal medical guardian for your sister. Is there a parent we can contact?”
“I called a friend to get in contact with them.”
“You don’t have their number?”
“We never really saw eye to eye.”
Tiki stared at her as if trying to understand the situation. “Well, the sooner the better.”
“Why?” Sammy searched her face for a clue. “Is there something wrong?”
“There is some swelling in the brain, and she may need to undergo a medically induced coma. I’ll have a doctor come in and explain the procedure.”
Russo strolled in, looking from the lady to Sammy. “What’s this about?”
“I was just updating the patient’s sister of her medical condition.” Tiki nodded to Sammy and left.
“Sister?”
“I had to be a relative, or they wouldn’t let me go on the ambulance.”
“You might as well be her sister. You both bend the rules to your whim.”
“Good thing I did, or else she’d be another victim.”
Russo looked at her as if he had something to say but didn’t know how to say it. “You’re lucky you weren’t another victim.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Don’t confuse luck with skill. You may think you’re invulnerable, but you’re not.”
“Yeah, I’m the luckiest kid in the world.”
Russo sighed. “What were you two up to that this guy came after you?”
“Maria thought the slasher was a regular customer at the Pleasure Palace, so she wanted to look around and see if anyone fit.”
“The police are watching that place. Her meddling may have cost us the chance to capture this guy.”
“I think I know who he is, Russo. At first I thought it was Bernie because he was acting weird, getting Maria to drive him, and he fit the slasher’s build.”
Russo gave her his deadpan cop look.
“I think Dmitri is your guy. He’s tall enough, but couldn’t see him from the back. He’s the type who won’t turn his back on anybody.”
“Sam?” He said it like a warning.
“He had a mask in his pocket.”
“You saw him put the mask in his pocket?”
“He went for a pill and picked the wrong pocket. Part of the mask came out, the white underpart.”
“So you saw something white coming out of his pocket?”
Sammy nodded. “He gave me the evil eye when I watched him push it back in.”
Russo bent down, pinching his fingers together. “I’m this close to having you locked up so you’ll stay out of this.”
“You can’t do that, can you?”
Russo turned slowly to the guy in a suit standing by the door. “What brings you down here, Lieutenant?”
The lieutenant blew out a breath, looking over the place as if he were thinking of moving in. He plodded to the middle of the room. Russo joined him.
Sammy shuffled to the foot of the bed.
“I’m in the middle of this shit storm, Russo.”
“You’ve come to me for an umbrella?”
“Part of the shit is coming from the rift between you and the feds. Why am I hearing that you won’t let them in on your crime scene?”
“I needed to keep the scene pristine for the forensic team.”
The lieutenant gave Russo the deadpan cop look. Sammy figured you couldn’t be a cop unless you had that look down.
Russo grinned. “There’s your umbrella for the storm.”
“Screw the umbrella and let them in,” the lieutenant said, looking flushed. “Keep them on a leash if it’ll make you happy.”
“Keeping them out would make me happy.”
“Then happy enough.” Lieutenant glanced at Sammy, who bent over and straightened Maria’s bed sheet. “We’re sending them blood and more DNA.”
“You know they’re not going to find a match.”
“So maybe there isn’t one.”
“You believe that?”
“It doesn’t matter what I believe. They’re in.”
“Anything else?”
The lieutenant took a step back. “The hospital doesn’t want this to go to the press,” he said low enough to where Sammy had to strain to listen.
“That’s going to be a little hard since the intended victim is a reporter.”
“Jesus,” the lieutenant said, running his hand over his head. “Which agency?”
“Chasing News.”
“Jack Murtagh,” the lieutenant said, shaking his head. “More shit to shovel.” He marched out.
Sammy strolled up to Russo. “I heard the sunglasses the feds wear let them see right through your clothes. If that’s not creepy, don’t know what is.”
“Were you listening?”
“No.”
The two cops from earlier wandered in. “I’m getting the distinct impression that we’re not wanted here anymore,” the shorter cop said, leaning in. “I say screw them. If you need our help, just say the word.”
“Thanks, Horowitz. I’ll need a cop stationed outside this room to protect my witness.”
“I can give you Flanagan until I get a uniform.”
“I’ll protect her from the inside,” Sammy said.
Russo sighed.
Flanagan stepped forward. “How did you fight off this guy?”
“I used the table like a shield. You know, the ones that slide over the bed.”
Flanagan chuckled. “What did you do? Hide under it?”
“Don’t you know what a shield is? Keep it out in front of you.” Sammy gestured on how she did it.
The big dope laughed again. “Those tables weigh as much as you do.”
“Haven’t you ever heard the stories of mothers fighting off bears and lions when their kid’s being attacked? That’s just what happened to me.”
Horowitz grinned. “I’ll take her over the guards they have in this place.”
“Don’t encourage her,” Russo said.
“Who is she?”
“A friend of the victim. Sam Paulson.”
Flanagan flipped through his phone. “Like as in Samantha Paulson?”
Russo narrowed his gaze. “Yeah, why?”
“There’s an arrest warrant out for her.”
Chapter Fifty-Five
________________________________________
Sammy sat on the edge of Maria’s bed, hands tucked under her arms. “Does it say anywhere in there that he tried to kill me and those kids?”
“Trouble seems to follow her around,” Horowitz said.
Russo huffed. “She’s the Pied Piper of trouble. I’ll find someone to take her in.”
“It’s bullshit, and you know it, Russo.”
“It’s the law, and if we’re lucky, it’ll keep you out of trouble for another day.”
“Who’s going to protect Maria?”
“That’s our job,” Russo said, thumbing his chest. “We investigate the crimes, not reporters.”
Maria was right about him being a hard-ass.
Horowitz gazed up at Russo. “Flanagan can take her in, and I’ll watch your witness until a uniform shows up.”
Russo patted Horowitz on the shoulder. “I’ll babysit the feds.”
“And I’ll rot in jail,” Sammy said. “Not that you care.”
Russo turned back. “I’ll slip bologna sandwiches under the door so you don’t starve.”
“Funny, Russo, real funny.”
Flanagan waved Sammy to come with him. She had to figure a way to escape. She couldn’t let them take her in with these fingers. Sammy pushed off the bed to stand and felt a little dizzy, so she went with it and fell to the floor.
Russo rushed over. “You okay?”
Sammy shifted on the floor and groaned. She’d landed a little too hard on her shoulder and would have to work on her swan dive. “Maybe I should see that doctor.”
●●●
Sammy and Flanagan stared at each other across the small room just off the emergency entrance, she on the examining table and he by the door. A brushed metal bar looped around the table from the ceiling. Curtains bunched to one side like a shower curtain over a bath tub. She slid off the table and grabbed the curtains. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to be examined.” She pulled the curtains around the table. Flanagan looked off, bored.
She kicked free her shoes and stripped off her shirt and trousers. The curtains were tapped along the right edge as if disturbed by puffs of air. Sammy held the shirt up against her chest.
A guy in a white coat popped his head out from behind the curtain. “Hello?”
Sammy grabbed the curtain and pulled it in front of him. “Do you mind?”
“I’m a doctor.”
“Does that give you license to be a creep?”
“Are you more comfortable with a female doctor?”
“Yeah, get me one of those.”
Sammy peeked through the pulled-back curtain and watched the doctor walk out. Flanagan shook his head, looking more annoyed.
She rolled her clothes up into a ball and blended. How was she going to get her clothes out of the room?
A lady in a dark suit, not much taller than Sammy, stepped up to Flanagan and flashed a badge.
Flanagan looked at the badge, then at her. “I guess feds come in all sizes.”
Sammy raced to the door while the fed and the cops were facing each other. She threw her clothes by the wall just outside the door. At least this fed didn’t have the sunglasses.
She put the badge away. “I’m looking for Samantha Paulson.”
Sammy froze. What did the feds want with her?
Flanagan nodded toward the curtains. “She’s waiting for a doctor, a female doctor.”
“I’m female.” She strutted to the curtains and bunched them in her hand until she found the edge and pulled them back. “Not here.”
Flanagan marched into the room. “What do you mean, ‘not here’?”
