Chapter-47
The tall woman nibbled at her chicken salad sandwich while she sat in
side
the 2002
Chevy
Blazer
in
the employee’s parking area.
Twelve thirty a.m.
had taken
forever to get here.
She couldn’t have taken much more tonight
.
The ogling
, t
he intended clever remark that was supposed to make her want the man who said it with an uncontrollable lust. But instead of accomplishing the desired effect, the words caused her nausea to
rise and her thoughts of murder or suicide
to increase. God knew she
’d
rather die
, or watch them die,
than to sleep with any of them, even the good
-
looking ones.
Especially
the good
-
looking ones.
They all had needs better satisfied at a damn zoo.
She drank from her coffee cup, looking down at her long legs. That wasn’t the worst of it though, was it? There existed a healthy desire for sex, one that was natural between men and women, one she’d never really experienced, not yet anyway.
S
he was sure it was there.
Maybe even the knight in
shining
armor that wanted to take her away to a different, even normal life.
But all she ever noticed
in the eyes of her patrons was the evil feeling of depravity that accompan
ied
men in heat as they undressed her with their eyes. She wasn’t a woman to them, but a place, a thing that would allow them to act out their most secret perversions. Furthermore, they thought
that
since she worked where she worked, she was ready and willing to be a part of any sick fantasy they wanted
.
All they had to do was hand her an envelope stuffed with money
,
and she was going to climb on board the ship they were sailing. She shook her head and smiled to herself. The look of surprise when she turned away each request to be treated like a blow-up doll was absolutely wonderful. Their reactions ranged from pure anger to utter embarrassment, and she reveled in it. The
pervs
would all go out the door wondering why, and she supposed, trying to figure out what to do with a libido raging higher tha
n
the Sears Tower.
Another date with Rosie and the sisters.
She finished her coffee and wrapped up the rest of her sandwich.
N
ot everyone was turned away, at least in the last few weeks. There was the money thing, which always helped
, b
ut it was much more
.
There was
a
certain type that she needed to be with to make her feel alive. Everyone had a button,
the
button, that could send them to the top of the world and perhaps into outer space. When that climax of utter bliss
arrived
, it was like the soul separated from the body, causing
a person
to stop breathing because, for the moment, breathing wasn’t important, only that feeling, that release.
She was no different. She had needs too, albeit, a tad different tha
n
most. She smiled. That just might be the understatement of the year. After all, wasn’t that what the
C
lub was all about? Things had gotten a little harried the last day or so, but that was about to be handled.
The slanted headlights flashed her mirror as the 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-
Sedan
3.5L pulled up beside her. The driver got out, bending his homely, unshaven face toward her, almost
falling
through the open window
of her car
.
“Are y
a
,
Cat?
”
His breath was just this side of putrid.
“Who wants to know?”
He grinned, yellow and black lacing the teeth he had left. “This secret stuff jus
t
gets
me harder. I be
Cooldaddy. We talked las
’
night.”
She nodded
.
“Any trouble getting the vehicle?”
“Not for me
,
darling. I’ve been doin
’
this stuff for a long time.”
“Good. You just got out. I’d hate to see you go back.”
“I didn’t go ta prison for that. It was somthin’ else. I ain’t never been caught stealin
’
a car.”
She felt him staring at her breasts and saw him lick his lips, trying to control the trembling.
“I been away awhile
,
and I’d like to get this party started. I got the car y
a
wanted, the kind y
a
said gets you hot, so can we go?”
H
is face contort
ed
into something halfway between a smile and
a
leer.
This was going to be
remarkably
good.
“Sure
,
baby. You get
back
in the
car
,
and let me get my bag,” she said, drawing her skirt up, showing
him her
red
lace panties. “Then we’ll go someplace quiet and rid
you
of those years of suffering.”
Sweat popped out on his
fore
head. He stared another few seconds.
“Mercy,” he whispered and
scrambled
into the
Mercede
s-Benz
.
She checked her look in the mirror and reached for the large
,
black
,
shoulder bag resting in the passenger seat. She did one last inventory of the toys need for the night’s
playtime
. Her hand brushed the black
-
leather wrist bindings and the vial of hydrochloric acid as she gripped the
.22 and stuffed it into the front pocket of the bag. It wouldn’t be good for the founder of the Justice Club to be unprepared. Not good at all.
Chapter
-48
The shimmering fog filtered out the light that shone in the distan
ce,
and he wondered if he
was
in a dream. But it didn’t feel like a dream. He was sure he could feel his feet and that never happens in dreams. Maybe his ticket had been punched
,
and the beckoning light he’d read about when
people
die was what he saw shrouded through the haze, just out of comprehension. So this was how the great mystery started. The journey into the afterlife.
He felt a tinge of excitement
. . .
then a voice sounding far away, rob
bed
him of that excitement.
“For God’s sake man, answer me. Manny!”
Sophie? He loved his partner
,
but he wasn’t sure he wanted her floating into eternity with him. This was personal. She’d get her chance
,
probably sooner
rather
than later.
Another noise brought him completely out
of
his daze
,
and his eyes
flew
open just in time to hear another round of high
-
powered gunfire explode the computer screen near the front of the conference room. He was now fully awake
—
and
just
as aware of the throbbing pain in the back of his neck
and his forehead.
H
is head was in some kind of humongous vice
,
and Godzilla was turning the crank.
“Manny. Are you al
l
right?”
Sophie prodded.
He turned his head, fought the black curtain that threatened to
throw
him
back
in
to
N
ever
-
N
ever
L
and, and stared into Sophie’s anxious gaze.
“Yeah. I guess so.” He looked past her shoulder
,
noticed the FBI crew
lying
flat, side
-
by
-
side,
under the conference room table.
Alex sprawled to his left. Another shot rattled the corner of the table above Manny’s head, turning the wood into so many toothpicks.
Another wave of dark nausea passed in front of his eyes
. He
waited, hoping for it to pass. It did, taking its sweet time
.
Finally
,
he opened his eyes and grabbed Sophie’s wrist. “What the hell is going on, and where is Stella?”
Sophie glanced over her shoulder searching Josh
’s
face and
looked away
. “She’s dead, Manny. The first sho
t
hit her in the back of the neck. She flew on top of you and you hit you
r
head on the table
. P
art
. . .
part of her is over there and the rest
. . .
” She pointed. He twisted his head, more nausea, but it was lessening
—
and he didn’t care
anyway;
he had to see.
Stel
la Crosby, his surrogate mother (
adopted big sister at l
east
)
,
lay sprawled on her back.
Her head was tilted
at
a severe angle. There
was
a section of her right should
er
and neck missing
, but her face seemed to be
untouched
.
Stella
gazed
at the ceiling with the haunting
stare
he’d seen
far
too often in the last three months. Deep stains of crimson surrounded the upper portion of her body, the bloodied .22 that she was going to shoot him with lay inches from his feet.
Another shot slammed through the chair to Stella’s left and hammered the wall
. Manny
pull
ed
his eyes away from Stella
’s
body
and
duck
ed
his head.
Odd. He felt a sudden sensation
of
relief, immediately followed with an awful sense of searing guilt. Relief that it was over, that she wouldn’t be a threat to anyone again. But guilt that
said
he should have been
there
,
should have seen what she was going through. He could have helped.
“Manny. I know that look
,
that Guardian of the Universe thing.
You couldn’t have helped her. She’d made up her mind to travel on the dark side of the moon. It was her choice,” soothed Sophie. “And there was that other thing.”
“I know. I know. But to go like this
. . .
what other thing?”
“She was going to shoot me in the face. You heard her. That wasn’t going to happen.”
“That’s why you jumped her?”
“Hell
,
yes. Can you think of a better reason?”
“I thought you were distracting her so I could get the gun?”
“Ah
. . .
well,
okay
. T
hat too.”
“Can we talk about this later? We have a tiny problem here,” said Josh. “
You need to keep your asses down
.”
“Josh,” said Chloe,
barely
raising her head from the carpet.
“What is it?”
“I’ve been timing the shots
. T
hey were about seven seconds apart, except the last one, which was about twenty-five seconds.”
“Reloading?”
“I don’t think so. The sniper can’t stay there all night. He, or she, has to know help’s coming.”
“She’s right,” agreed Manny. “How long since the last one?”
“Over thirty seconds. I think the shooter got the hell out of Dodge.”
“Only one way to find out,” said Manny. He crawled toward the door, stopping at the edge of the table, and lifted one of the fallen chairs above the table top
. He
waited.