She reached out to touch the
“
we’re
thinking
of
you
”
card that Louise and Manny had sent
,
and laughed.
After tonight, she would
really
be on their minds.
Chapter-38
“This better be good. It’s
late
,
and I’m missing my beauty sleep. You know how I am when I don’t get that,” moaned Sophie, taking another slug of black coffee.
Manny caught the quick
glimpse
she t
hrew
his way from the darkened passenger seat of their unmarked cruiser. They were parked across the street from the less than high
-
end Mason Street Apartments where the caller said the next target lived.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes, dear. I know you didn’t get much sleep. But four or five hours is better than nothing. And like I said, for the fifteen
th
time, I believe the caller knows something
,
and we have to make sure, one way or the other
.
” Manny
’s
fingers gently drumm
ed
on the steering wheel
as he glanced at his partner
. The faint glow of the streetlamp allowed just enough light to see the outline of
Sophie’s
oval face.
He turned the radio down
, and the sweet harmonies
of Celtic
W
oman faded away.
“I hope you’re right. Otherwise, this goes on your tab and I AM going to collect.”
“Collect what?”
“I don’t know, maybe
a
set of diamond earrings, or an oceanfront condo in Aruba.”
“How much do you think I make?”
“You can get a second job as a male escort or something.”
“That could be interesting, but not the part where Louise hurts me
. . .
in all of the right places.”
“I still want something for my trouble.”
“
I’ll see what I can do.”
He knew she hated the whole stakeout idea. He
got that
, b
ut after he received the call, plans had to change.
The call. Why? How did the caller know? What was in it for him? He would bet his next
pay
check that being
C
itizen of the
M
onth wasn’t on the caller’s agenda. But he couldn’t ignore the
warning
that
the caller
claimed as truth
.
Not to mention, it
felt
like the truth.
Manny
had
contacted
Avery Buck
,
the alleged next victim
, through his parole officer
. A
fter some serious convincing,
he
had managed to get Detectives Wymer and Ross planted in the spare bedroom of
Buck’s
apartment. There were two other surveillance units,
a
block east
and
a
block west, parked along Mason Avenue. The blues had a full description
of what the perp was to be wearing. That
would let them know
when
,
or maybe if, the shooter decided to show up
to
the party. The caller
had
said 10:30
. . .
o
nly a few more minutes to show
time. He prayed this wasn’t some wild goose chase, but what choice did they really have? This could be the break that
rip
ped
th
e
thing wide open. God knew they needed one.
The radio crackled. “Nothing yet, Manny. Hope this isn’t a waste of time.”
Sophie snatched the microphone from the dash. “Who is this?”
“Sergeant Wang.
Is this
Detective Lee?”
“Your worst nightmare. Don’t be bothering our asses with small talk. Keep radio silence unless you got something to say. And Wang, are you Chinese?”
“Sorry
,
D
etective Lee. And yes I am
.
W
hy?”
“You’re giving our people a bad name by acting like a rookie
.
G
ot it?”
“I only
. . .
yes
,
detective. It won’t happen again.”
“Better not. Next time
,
I’m all over you so hard and fast, you’ll
whine
for your mama
.”
She slammed the handset back into place, crossing her arms over her chest, and then let loose a full belly laugh.
“Done?”
“
Yeah, that felt great. Besides, y
ou gotta keep these guys in line.” She shifted in her seat. “A little over the top?”
“Not you.”
“Sarcasm
again. I get it. But it was fun, and
it
helps pass the time.”
He smiled.
“I felt that little smirk. What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. Just thinking how lucky I am to have a partner like you.”
“You’re damn right
,
and don’t forget it. I’m special
. . .
and you’re lying to me, aren’t you?”
“That hurt.”
“Just answer the question.”
“Not exactly, but at least you’ve stopped bitching.”
“That could change if I don’t get more coffee.” Sophie poured more java from the thermos. “So what’s the deal with this Avery Buck character? Sex crimes?”
“No. He was put away for hurting someone while drunk driving. Pretty upstanding guy before that
, he e
ven did church work. Just couldn’t shake the drinking demon.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I can’t get a grip on this victimology. Three serious sex offenders, if you count the guy killed at Mike’s apartment complex.”
“But
—
”
“
I’m just n
ot sure what’s
going on
. It
could
all
be related
,
or not.
”
“
T
he guy on the Westside
, Ben Morgan,
had no record other than embezzlement. The other two were
complete
reprobates
,
”
said Sophie.
Manny grew silent, trying to make sense of what he
and Sophie had
just said.
“So what’s going on in that brain of yours?”
“I don’t know. It’s like someone knows something about
Morgan
that we don’t
. Some skeleton in the
closet
, same with Buck.
”
The radio sprang to life again. “Subject matching description approaching from the west.”
This time
,
Manny picked the mic from its cradle. “Are you sure?”
“Yes sir. Tall
,
dressed in black
,
and a hoodie hiding the subject
’
s face.”
“Got that, Ross?”
“Copy. We’re ready. If I can keep Wymer’s hands out of the chocolate
-
covered nuts.” There was a brief sound of a scuffle. Wymer came on line. “I’m ready, guys. For the record, they were M&Ms
,
and I put them away.”
“Yeah, every one of them,” said Ross in the background.
“Just get it together.
”
“Yes sir.”
Sophie grabbed his arm.
“Look close.”
“There he is. But can you see those shoes
?
”
The light was better on that side of the street
,
and Manny did see as the subject of the night’s festivities moved up the steps
of the apartment complex
.
Reaching for the
car’s
door handle, he turned to Sophie. “I don’t remember the last time I saw a man wearing four
-
inch stilettos.”
Chapter
-39
Stella moved gracefully to the front porch of the apartment complex across from the park and stopped, looking around to see if anyone had noticed her. There were a couple of cars parked on the street
, b
ut that was it. Who would really see her anyway? Not in this part of town, particularly this late. People dressed in black didn’t draw a lot of attention on the east side, especially when keeping to the shadows. If she
ran
into someone, they wouldn’t remember. They were too wrapped up in their own worlds. People just didn’t give a
monkey’s
ass anymore. Life
is
all about them
and instant gratification
, nothing more. It
hadn’t been that
way, back in the day
,
when neighborhoods were important and neighbors were
more important
. But times were a changing, as they say, and she’d take full advantage of the new king of society
:
human apathy.
She tested the
grimy
door
handle and found it unlocked.
So much for
security.
Standing in the dimly lit foyer, she unbuttoned her silk blouse to her navel, displaying a tanned stomach and a lacy push up,
and
hiked up her skirt, showing off long legs and black fishnet nylons. Most women didn’t look this good at thirty-five,
let
alone in their fifties. She’d worked hard to get in this
kind of
shape. But hard work couldn’t hide everything that the years
had
handed her.
She’d love to be
thirty
again, but
it wasn’t
an issue tonight
. It wasn’t like he was going to see the rest
of
her. It wouldn’t get that far. She patted the gun and the bottle of acid and smirked. “My friends and I have different plans,” she said softly.
The steps creaked and the smell of old smoke and lavender disinfectant ran rampant in the halls as
s
he reached the second floor. Apartment 203 was two doors to her right. She stopped,
stood tall
, and moved to just the right angle in front of the security peephole. The gun felt good
as it rested
against her
thigh
.
She
knocked on the door.
A few seconds later, there was a noise as someone bumped the door. She moved a little closer to the peephole. She felt his eye
s
do a double
-
take. Then a third. He was probably racking his brain to figure out what he’d done to deserve what he was seeing. She couldn’t wait to tell him.
The safety chain clicked into place
,
and the door opened six inches
.
His partially exposed face was unshaven; the eye she could see was bloodshot. His drug addiction seemed to be in full bloom.
“What can I do for you?”
“You can’t guess?”
“Makes me nervous when I get a question answering a question. What do you want?”
“I understand you are into certain things
—
things I need.”
He swallowed so loud that she almost laughed.
“Yeah? Like what things
,
and who told you what I’m into?”
Stella pulled a photo from her
purse
and eased it th
r
ough the crack in the door.
“Let’s just say a mutual friend said that
action
like this get
s
your attention.”
The man behind the door grew silent, then spoke. “Are you a cop?” His voice
had
already grow
n
thick.
“Not in this lifetime.”
“You want me to do
this
to you?”
“And more. I’m not here to bring you cookies. My husband thinks I’m sick.
He
doesn’t understand people like you and me. I need to be handled
. . .
your way. But if you don’t like what you see, maybe I’ve got the wrong guy…”