Her
Irish inflection
caused his stomach to do that thing again. “Ahhm
m
, yes I did. This one lets me track the hairs on my head, my calories, and when I need to get a
physical
.”
“I have one of those. It also lets the Bureau know where
I am
every second.”
“How’s that?”
Were they small talking?
“It has a
special
built
-
in GPS. Big brother’s watching.”
“Makes sense.”
They were
.
The awkward silence lasted only a few seconds, but long enough for
him
to wander to the
color of her eyes
. This was getting
a little more than
weird. She must have felt it to
o
. She jumped back into the conversation.
“Ah
,
I know that you’re busier than an English dentist, but Josh wanted me to call to say we’d be on time
,
and there would be four other agents coming from Detroit. He also said to tell you that Argyle would be in Michigan
in a
couple of days
, not
next week
.”
“Good. On all accounts. Has Argyle talked yet?”
“Nope. Just wants an audience with you. That’s why the brass hurried things up. They want to hear what he’s got to say
. They’re hoping he has no other bodies, just a line of crap. T
hen get him locked down in the Supermax at ADX
in
Florence.”
Louise came to the screen door, grilling fork in hand. Manny smiled at his wife.
“That works for me. See you tonight.” He hung up, not quite understanding why he was feeling the way he was
,
but glad to see his
Louise
at the same time.
Manny stepped through the door and kissed
her
.
“Glad you’re home. Who was that and what about tonight?”
“The FBI
,
and I’ll tell you the rest at dinner.”
“Manny. It
’
s 5
:00
and you’ve been gone two days. You need to rest.”
“There have been three more murders, including one that Mike Crosby might be involved in.”
“Three more? Mike? Really?
No wonder you look like this.
”
“Like what?”
“You know
,
tired, worn out, horny.”
“Horny, huh? You offering your considerable talents to fight that cause?”
“Honey
,
I’ve got things to offer I’ve been saving for a rainy day.”
“Well, I feel a storm coming on.”
She smiled and kissed him. “Later.”
Louise grew serious.
“I feel bad for Stella.
It
must
seem
like she’s walking around with a
target on her back
:
a big one.”
Manny decided
not
to tell her about what Mike thought he saw. It was probably a diversion to keep the heat off him
anyway
.
“
S
he’s got support from her friends
—
that’s something.”
Louise looked at the grilling fork and back to Manny. “She does.
And
she’s a tough one
.
T
hose Yoga classes we’ve
been
taking will help.
All this
just sucks.”
“When it rains, it pours, like they say. I’ll see her
again
tomorrow. But for now,
a
g
o
od meal and
a few hours
’
sleep
sounds
like
H
eaven.”
“Well, Jen is spending the night at a friend’s house. So when you’re ready to
lie
down
,
I guess, if you’re up to it, I can tuck you in
.
” Her eyes sparkled.
“Oh, I think I could handle that.”
“We
’
ll see, Big Boy, we’ll see,” she laughed, turning for the deck and the smoking grill.
Manny watched her walk away and wondered how there could ever be another woman for him. No matter what thoughts Chloe put in his head.
He felt the phone vibrate in his hand just before it rang. There was
an in
complete number
displayed,
and he didn’t recognize the area code.
“Hello.”
Manny waited for the person on the other end to speak. He could hear breathing.
“This is
D
etective Manny Williams
;
who is this?”
“You can call me Lucky. Because it’s your lucky day. I have something for you.”
The caller’s voice was masked with an audio disguiser, making
him or her
sound like Darth Vader with a cold.
“I don’t talk to people who hide behind this kind of crap.”
“Suit yourself, but you better think twice about turning down this information.”
“How do I know I can use this information, that you aren’t jerking me around?”
“Judge for yourself.”
“Al
l
right, I’m listening.”
“I know who is shooting the perverts in this town.”
Manny stood straight. The caller had his full attention. The latest murders hadn’t reached the papers yet. It wasn’t common knowledge that there was more than one victim
or
that they were being shot. He steadied his voice. “How do I know this isn’t some prank? We get these calls all of the time.”
“I suppose you do, Detective Williams. But not everyone knows what I know.”
“What’s so special about what you know?”
“I know who tonight’s victim will be.”
Chapter
-36
The tall woman gazed at her reflection in the mirror, wondering how someone like her had gotten to this point. She was smart, even brilliant, according to her old professors. The shape of her face, her coal black hair, and
her
big brown eyes added up to stunning. Not to mention, a body to die for. A patient smile formed on her thick lips when she thought about the last part. Men
had
died for her body, hadn’t they? More would. A lot more. The pigs always thought with the little head
,
and that was fine with her. In fact, necessary. If they were thinking about her, what she was offering, then getting them where she wanted them was easy. Child’s play really.
She folded her arms together, forming a substantial cleavage
,
and laughed. A little boob and they would forget everything the
ir
mamas and daddies ever taught them about
playing with strangers
.
But that was how she’d gotten
where she was
. Flaunting her assets
created
opportunities, but it also led her to open one too many of those dangerous doors
, the kind that got you killed
. He had overpowered her and kept her for three days, doing things to her that she only heard about in crime story magazines. Her capt
or
had laughed when she beg
ged him to stop, to let her go.
She wiped absently at the tear moving down her cheek. Eventually, he grew tired of her and was preparing to get rid of her, for good. He told her so during his last
perverted frolic
.
She found herself welcoming death. It had to be better than another day
, another second
with him. But he’d made a mistake, forgetting
, or not caring
to make sure the handcuffs were secure.
He must have thought her half
-
dead already.
She waited three hours, quietly opened the door
of her demonic prison
, found the kitchen,
and
then his bedroom. She never hesitated, stabbing him forty-eight times in the chest and face, then cut off his genitals and put them in his mouth.
The next day, she left Chicago and ended up in Lansing. Two years later, she was still here. But things were changing,
evolving. S
he could no longer
control
the anger, the pain, the shame inside, and didn’t care to. It was time for all of them to pay
up
,
and she was the cashier.
“Shit happens, but someone has to clean it up,” she whispered. Her mother had been right about that one, right up until she died four months ago, lung cancer
dragging
her
in
to the
afterlife
—
if there w
as
such a place.
It had been good to get two others to join her cause, her club. And surprisingly, not that difficult. Stella had been more willing than the other. The
c
hief
’s wife seemed to be traveling down a similar path. But a few nights out and a couple of drinks
will do
wonders to ge
t
people to talk about what’s really on their minds. The trick was to get them to put the words, the thoughts
,
into action. A
few sad stories
, a little sympathy,
and a mutual hate (and make no mistake, hate was as strong as love)
proved strong
motivators for building and cultivating a state of mind that was already blooming. A few more sessions
,
and e
ventually the
concept of
the
JUSTICE CLUB was born. Nothing like a
freshly
discovered loathing for men to bind women together.
She put on the last of her makeup
,
picking up the prepaid cell phone she’d used to call Detective Williams
,
and
headed out the door for work.
She hated breaking up the
C
lub like that
. T
hey’d grown close. B
ut stupidity wouldn’t be tolerated. Stella Crosby would have to learn that lesson the hard way.
Chapter
-37
“This grieving wife and mother crap is getting old fast,” Stella whispered, looking out the window of Gavin’s hospital room. The sun was beginning its trek to the horizon
,
and she wanted to be out in it. Not here. By God, not here. It was a minor miracle she’d hung around as long as she had. But she had to keep up appearances, at least for a while longer. Williams wouldn’t take too long to put things together
, p
articularly once her
too-honest
son explained that he hadn’t seen his backup weapon for a few months. The
Firestorm
.22 was supposed to be locked away in Gavin’s study.
Mike
never could keep a secret, not even for his mother. She supposed it was a good thing he hadn’t become a pathological liar, but a little white lie once in a
while wouldn’t hurt
,
e
specially to protect his old mom.
That
wasn’t in the cards
based on
the question he’d asked her, right before he was cuffed and rushed downtown. He had seen her leaving the apartment
complex
and
had
probably already told Manny. No
t a real
problem
—
it’s just that she wanted a couple more days. No matter. She was ready for what came next. All part of the plan.
She rolled the piece of paper with the name and address of tonight’s lucky contestant around in her fingers, then stuffed it into the pocket of her blue jeans. She had a few hours before she had to leave
, t
o dress the way that would get her in the door of his apartment. She’d tell the nurses she couldn’t take the visitors and phone calls anymore and wanted to go home for a few hours. They would nod with sympat
het
ic understanding
,
and that would be that.
Stella walked over to Gavin’s bed and
glared
at his face, felt his helplessness, and wondered if some kind of coherency
existed
in the secret landscape of his brain
, a
nything that would cause him to remember how he got where he was. She hoped so. He deserved to
know, to
suffer. Lexy
had
, and so had she
, a
ll on his watch. She couldn’t put a date on it, or even a year, but he’d killed what was
“
them
”
a long time ago.
Stella
shrugged. What did it matter? What was done was done. Onward and upward.