The hand on her shoulder made her jump. She whirled, grabbing her chest.
“Whoa. Easy,” said the ICU nurse.
“You startled me.”
“I see that, and I’m sorry. But you have two visitors
,
and they seem anxious to see you.”
“Who are they?
“They said they’re friends of yours and just want
to
see how you
’
re
doing
.”
Stella’s pulse rose a higher. This wasn’t good. They weren’t supposed to meet like this. She gathered herself. “Okay. Thank you. I’ll be right out.”
Straightening her blouse, she stood taller and left the room. Her friends, partners, were standing in a secluded corner of the waiting room. She moved toward them, butterflies doing the fandango in her stomach.
The two women hugged her. “You hanging in there?” asked the tall woman.
She nodded. “But what are you doing here? This isn’t supposed to happen.”
“Relax. We
’
re
here as
friends only trying to console our hurting compadre. And if you hadn’t screwed up, we wouldn’t be here, at least together.”
“I know. I thought he was
—
”
She was interrupted
by the shorter visitor. “You’ve got to fix this, you know that, right?”
Stella stared at the floor
.
“
Yes. Just trying to figure out how.”
“Don’t figure too long. We’ve worked too hard to get here.”
“I know. It’s not that easy in here.”
The tall woman leaned closer. “We don’t care how you do it. Smother him, pull the plugs, shoot him again
, screw him to death
for all we care. Just do it. Besides, tonight’s your night to keep things rolling.”
The shorter woman touched her arm. “And try to look like a grieving wife. There are no tear streaks on your face. You’re not wringing your hands or acting like you’ll break down any minute. You’re not doing any of the stuff we discussed
;
a
cop like
Williams
will notice that.”
Stella started to answer, but the loud siren exploding from Gavin’s room interrupted her, causing all three women to jerk their heads
in sync
. Several nurses and doctors sprinted into her husband’s room. She looked to the others, moving away. “Maybe I won’t have to worry about it.
His damned
heart has just stopped.”
C
hapter
-24
Chloe opened the heavy door and swiveled to her right, then left
,
g
un
poised
and
ready
for anything. Her first thoughts had been that Argyle had tried to break free and was lying in a pool of his own blood. She was half right.
Argyle was spread
flat
on the
stained
,
tiled floor in front of the
Big Boys
’
R
oom. Josh Corner, Max Tucker, and a huge, maybe
300
-
pound, USVI cop
sat
on various sections of Argyle’s body. They were surrounded by seven other officers, all with guns pointed directly at the killer’s head.
She lowered her gun. Talk about a Kodak moment. She quickly pulled her phone from her purse and shot the picture that she was sure would mysteriously circulate through the bureau’s intranet.
“So
,
you boys having fun
,
are you
?”
“He tried to take
. . .
my gun
. . .
even with full
. . .
lockdown chains and cuffs,” heaved Max. “Had to
. . .
smack him
. . .
and in the excitement
. . .
my weapon
. . .
discharged.” Max glanced up
where two holes, side
-
by
-
side, had torn small rifts in the white hanging
ceiling
.
A small hissing sound, accompanied by subtle rivulets of steam,
escaped
through the freshly bored openings.
She had a feeling the FBI was going to get a repair bill
, a big one
.
Josh glowered at Argyle. “What the hell’s wrong with you? Where in the universe did you think you were going to go?”
Argyle didn’t respond. He simply raised his head, searching Chloe
’s
face, and suddenly
flashed
that beyond creepy
trademark
grin of his. His eyes seemed to go right through her and settle on her soul. She knew what he was thinking, what he sought. He was
telling her, in his own special way,
that he wanted her to be his next good time.
The sooner the better.
Chloe shivered. She had seen a few things, monsters even. They came in all sorts of packages,
with
all sorts of agendas. The terrorism gig had shown her that. But nothing like
Argyle
. Pure, unadulterated evil. She shivered again.
“Get his ugly ass up and strap him into the interrogation room. We
’re
going
to talk
,
”
said Agent Corner.
The big cop was the last one
to rise,
and Argyle took a
deep
breath. He should have been gulping like a fish out of water with a man that size on his back. It was like
he’
d been prepared for how his little drama would play out. Was he that smart, that organized?
Chloe
fought the uneasy feeling building in her
stomach
. They had him. He wasn’t a threat.
Right?
The crowd of blue ushered Argyle through a small wooden door
,
and he disappeared down the hall.
“I’m
not cut out for
this shit. I’m a scientist, a forensic guy. I don’t think I should even have a gun,” moaned Max.
“Hey, you did good. Except for the part where you let him get his hands on your weapon
—
and shooting a poor, innocent, defenseless ceiling.” Josh clapped him on the back. “That was a nice punch, though.”
“My hand hurts
,
and he never flinched. It felt like I hit steel.”
“I go to the restroom and
,
wham
,
I miss all the fun. That ain’t right
,” Chloe chuckled.
“They have medicine for
tiny, leaking
bladders. I saw it on TV. Didn’t you, Max?”
“Yep. Diapers too. I think I can get
her
a sample of each.”
“You t
w
o
are
amazingly
kind. Remember, things have a way of coming full circle.” Chloe thought about the picture on her camera. “Karma is a wonderful thing.”
“Just trying to help,” smiled Josh.
She watched him put his gun away and
saw
his demeanor change. “Let’s go see what Argyle has to say for himself.”
Five minutes later, Chloe and Josh sat across from the well
-
restrained Argyle. He was docile, almost unconcerned. She found that disconcerting
, l
ike he knew something they didn’t.
Josh had instructed her to not speak, that neither one of them would
,
until Argyle broke the tense silence. It was a way to begin to assert control over him. But he was a psychiatrist
, a
nd h
e had to know what they were doing. They didn’t have to wait long
to find out
.
“
We are s
uch a
cozy
trio, don’t you think? It’s a shame that Detective Williams isn’t here. I was looking forward to
getting reacquainted
.”
“Why does that matter?” asked Josh
.
“Because he’s the only one I’m going to talk to.” Argyle became even more serene.
What the hell
is
going on here?
“You still don’t get it, do you? You’re not in control here,” said Chloe.
“Perhaps you’re right, Agent Franson.”
He drew out the enunciation of her name
.
Chloe flinched
.
It sounded so
dirty
coming from his lips
. She wanted to rush to the nearest shower
.
“But I suspect that you’re not entirely correct on that point.”
“
So tell me the error of my way,
”
said
Josh.
Argyle sat motionless. Chloe thought he was savoring the moment
, l
ike the last morsel of a gourmet meal cooked to utter perfection. Then his eyes turned as black as any darkness.
“
Detective
Williams is the only one that I wish to tell about the others.”
Chapter
-25
Manny jammed his Ford
SUV
into park, jumped out, and h
eaded for the hospital’s elevat
o
r, Alex and Sophie on his heels.
There w
as
a crowd of report
ers
, a few from Detroit, approaching
him
and Sophie
,
moving in for the kill like hyenas circling an injured impala.
“I’m sorry. We don’t know anything yet
,
and we’ll let you know
”
. Question
s
rained like ha
il
in a
storm
,
but fell on deaf ears. He,
Sophie
, and Alex
pushed through the group and into the hospital’s foyer.
“Damn. That’s always fun,” complained Sophie.
“Yeah. I just wished they’d act like they at least cared.”
The elevator ride
to the
third floor was
a
silent, excruciating one. The damn things never moved quickly when it was necessary. Finally
,
the door parted at the third floor
,
and
Manny
burst through it like a running back headed for the goal line.
Stella stood at the window of the waiting room and turned to face him, like she
felt
he was there. Maybe she did.
Her emoti
onal state had to be at hyper
level
.
He hesitated when he saw her face
. Stella
looked every bit her age, and then some
. It was a t
ough few hours for a family that had endured their fair share of
horrendous
days and
sleepless
nights the last few months.
He quickly
noticed the woman standing close to her. Manny’s heart leapt a little. He didn’t remember being so glad to see someone. Louise was holding Stella’s hand, and speaking softly
, t
he way women do and men can’t seem to
fathom
.
He’
d called her on Sophie’s cell
,
and she had gotten there quickly.
That was j
ust like her
;
a
lways on the spot. Ready to help. Manny reached for Stella’s other hand.
“Hey, girl. How you doing?”
Stella blinked at him and tried to smile through quivering lips. Her eyes were red; streaks ran down her angular cheeks. Her hair was
a
little less than Stella perfect. She was the absolute picture of grief
,
and h
is heart instantaneously
ached
for her
, e
ven m
ore than it hurt for himself.
She hugged him fiercely. “Oh, about as good as you could expect,” she whispered. “Thanks for coming so quickly. You must be exhausted.”
“We caught a few Zs on the plane. We
’
re fine.”
Stella stepped back and held him at arm’s length. “Gavin used to say he was getting too old for this shit. I think I know what he meant.”