The Chilling Spree (42 page)

“She’s gonna talk to Hardy and Weber about
letting you go right away.”

My eyes lifted.  “You’re kidding.”

“Until it’s settled, she’s agreed that it’s
high time you actually finish your physical therapy – just in case
someone doesn’t succumb to my impeccable powers of persuasion right
away.  If you have to come back to active duty, you’re gonna
be at a hundred percent physically first.”

“Thank you, Johnny.”

“Anything for the girl of my dreams.”

I cleared my throat, conscious of our
surroundings.  “So where’s Crevan right now?”

“I gave him the keys to the penthouse at La
Pierre Tower.  I figure he may as well move in since I have a
new home now.”

“That’s very generous of you, Johnny.”

“OSI has had some phenomenal successes of
late.  Joe is green-lighting some additional personnel. 
Crevan’s considering a change of jobs.”

I nodded.  “That would probably be for
the best.  Briscoe didn’t respond to any of this the way I’d
hoped.”

“Thank you for trying,” Johnny
said. 

“You believe that I gave it my best shot,
right?”

“I know you love Crevan very much. 
He’s gonna take some time and think about my offer.  Shelly
took him out of the rotation based on Belle’s murder.  He’ll
have nothing but solitude to consider what comes next.”

“Well, regardless of the public face he
tries to put on what happened tonight, the gossips are going to
spread his orientation like wildfire.  I can’t imagine that he
can return to the closet now.”

Johnny jerked his head toward the other side
of the squad room.  Shelly and Alex Waters were exiting her
office.  Apparently, his protective custody ended with an
explanation of how his brother died.

“He asked about Crevan tonight,” Johnny
said. 

“Specifically?”

“Yep.”

“In what way?” I asked.

“In the way that I’m pretty sure a guy asks
about another guy that he’d really like to get to know.”  He
held his hands up in a defensive gesture.  “Seems like a
decent guy, Doc.  It might not be such a bad thing for Crevan
to finally be who he’s hidden all these years.”

“I wasn’t judging.  Well, maybe
worrying a little bit about what Aidan Conall will think of all of
this.  Maybe he’ll be too wrapped up in grief over what
happened to his pastor to attack his son right away.”

“Don’t count on it,” Johnny said. 
“Waters identified this Reverend Hellfire.”

“Aidan?”

“Yeah,” Johnny said.  “Nothing on the
horizon looks particularly easy for our friend, Helen.”

“Either one of them.”  My thoughts
drifted back to Devlin, safely ensconced in my house, hopefully
drugged to peaceful oblivion.

“You know Chris would probably go ape shit
if I made the same offer to Devlin that I did to Crevan
tonight.  Would it make you happy too?” Johnny asked.

I shrugged one shoulder.  “That would
leave Shelly in a bigger bind than ever, down three
detectives.  Good detectives.” Grief over Ned Williams had yet
to fully set in with any of us, I was afraid.

“Four,” he whispered in my ear.  “She’s
losing you too, Doc.”

“Thanks for making a stronger case. 
I’m tired of this job, but at the same time, I don’t want all the
progress these people have made to crumble because the good folks
are defecting to OSI.”

“New blood in the detective squad was the
best thing that ever happened to Central Division.  Give
Shelly a little credit, Doc.  She’ll fill the gaps with
competent people.  Meanwhile, I could really use the
experienced guys at OSI, men who not only understand the problems
in Darkwater Bay, but in Montgomery too.”

“Is something going on out there?”

“Maybe.  Joe’s not sure yet. 
There was talk a few months ago about Datello setting some things
in motion that would really challenge Joe’s reelection
campaign.”

“I remember Devlin mentioned something about
that a couple of weeks ago.”

“Well, the conductor of that orchestra
might’ve been taken out of commission, but perpetual motion being
what it is…”

“Joe’s got vulnerabilities.”

“Yeah, so there may be need for some
expansion of OSI’s responsibilities to justify our existence.”

“What will you do if Joe loses the election
and OSI is shut down?”

“Well, I don’t see that happening, but voter
peculiarities can never be predicted.  If it happens, I’ve
still got the security business Dad started.  I’ve got you,”
he nudged my shoulder.  “We could hang out in retirement until
we drive each other nuts and both decide to get back to work.”

“So what happens next?”

“We wait and see how things shake out in
November,” Johnny said.

“I meant with Underwood.”

“Ah.  We’re having a press conference
at Central Division in…” Johnny glanced at his watch.  “A
little over two hours.  Underwood’s leaving MSUH shortly to be
taken to an arraignment hearing where Zack expects a public
defender to be appointed.  Then he and I will join Shelly,
laying out bits of this case for the media so that we don’t get
crucified for withholding the fact that a madman has killed four
people in the past five days.”

“Would you be offended if I sit this one
out?  I’m beat, and I’d really rather not endure the press’s
questions.”

Johnny threw caution to the wind and kissed
me softly.  “I’ll have one of the guys take you home. 
You ready to leave?”

“I need about twenty minutes to finish my
part of this report,” I said.  “Longer if you keep distracting
me.”

Johnny chuckled.  “I’ll set up the
transportation now.  By the time you’re done, I suspect we’ll
be getting ready to do our perp walk at the courthouse.”

He left division before I finished my
report.  I was with a uniformed officer almost to the
outskirts of Darkwater proper when the disturbing call came across
the radio.

“All units in the vicinity of the district
courthouse, please respond.”

Terry Grady grabbed the radio.  “Unit
270 responding.  We’re about a mile from the courthouse,
over.”

“Report of a shooting at the courthouse,
270.  All units requested for backup.”

“We’re on our way, over and out.”  He
flipped on the lights and sirens and sped into the city
proper.  “What do you make of it, Eriksson?”

“Who knows?”  My heart thudded
hard.  Shooting.  District courthouse.  Perp
walk.  “God, I hope it wasn’t another one of ours –”

My cell phone rang.

“Eriksson.”

“Where are you, Doc?”

“On my way to the district courthouse with
Officer Grady.  What happened?”

“Underwood is dead.”

“
What
?”

“Jesus,” Johnny muttered.  “Out of
nowhere, Madden shows up and guns him down, Helen.  He’s in
custody, but it’s mayhem over here.”

“How long will you be tied up at the
scene?”

“Probably all day.  I called
Chris.  He’s gonna head over and help process this mess. 
If you want to take the Expedition and head home, he can bring me
over later.”

“I think I’ll collect Crevan before I go,” I
said.  “If the place is gonna be swarming with police and
journalists after this mess, it’ll hardly provide the solitude he
needs right now.”

“Good idea.  I’ll see you when you get
here.  I’m really sorry, Helen.  I know this isn’t how
either one of us wanted this to end.”

“I suppose it isn’t.  Where’s Madden
now?”

“Holding cell inside the courthouse.”

“Have his lawyers arrived?”

“Not yet.  I doubt they can get through
the mess over here if they’ve been notified.  Does that
matter?”

“Would you let me talk to Madden before I go
home?”

“It’s open and shut, Helen.  He’s on
video.”

“I know.  I’d just like to talk to him
– off the record if you prefer.”

“I guess it doesn’t much matter at this
point.  Listen, when you get over here, find me when you’re
ready to leave.  Looks like we’re doing battle with channel 9
over the footage of the shooting.”

Johnny disconnected the call as Grady pulled
into the alley next to the courthouse.  “Thanks for the
ride.  They’re gonna need you here longer than I can stay,” I
said. 

I used my key card to access the side
entrance to the district courthouse.  The building thrummed
with energy.  I ignored it and made my way down to the holding
cells for the court.  I flashed my badge.  “Scott
Madden,” I said.  “Orion authorized the visit.”

“He’s refusing to speak to anyone but his
lawyer,” the guard said.

“He’ll see me.  Please take him to the
room used for confidential communication between attorneys and
clients.”

“Won’t this gonna be on the record?”

“No,” I said. My father’s blood sang through
my veins. Sometimes justice missed the mark. Sometimes, the blind
lady needed a nudge in the right direction.

Madden’s eyes widened in surprise when he
stepped inside the room.  “I want my lawyer,” he said.

“You need to be quiet and listen to me,
Scott.  I’m about to break the rules and give you some
information that could very well save your life.”

Wary eyes squinted.  “Is this some kind
of trick?”

“Not at all.  This is the same room
you’ll see your lawyer in later.  No cameras.  No audio
recordings.  You need to do exactly as I say.”

“All right.  I’m listening.”

“Do not answer any questions.  Not from
your lawyer, the police, the prosecutor, not even your family,
Scott.  You need to stop speaking entirely from this point
forward.  If you have to say something, try hard to make very
little sense.”

“What?  Why would I –”

“Above all else, do not make eye contact
with anyone.  No one, do you understand me?  I don’t care
if they try to lure you with the most beautiful woman you’ve ever
seen.  Do not speak.  Do not look at her or anyone
else.”

“What the hell is that gonna do?”

“Johnny Orion knows I’m trying to talk to
you – off the record of course.  At some point, the
prosecutor’s office may ask me to evaluate you.”

“And?”

“I want you to appear not responsible for
what you did.  Johnny and I shared our suspicions of Underwood
when we saw you this morning.”

“Wait a minute.  You’re gonna help me
look crazy so I can beat this thing?”

“I’m not an advocate of murder, Scott, but I
believe what you did upstairs was a public service.  Before we
arrested your former employee, he very likely destroyed the life of
someone I love very much.  Yes.  I want to help you beat
this.  No one can know.  Can I trust you?”

He nodded quickly.

“Do as I say.  It’ll look like you
snapped, had some sort of psychotic break related to the profound
grief over your nephew’s murder.  The gun you used, how long
have you owned it?”

“Twenty years, maybe longer.”

“Excellent.  I assume there’s a paper
trail to prove this?”

“Yeah, but… this doesn’t make any
sense.  Why would you help me?  I get it that your friend
got hurt.  I get it that you hated Underwood for probably the
same reasons I did, but –”

“Don’t say it.  I can’t hear you
confess.  I’ll have to give testimony at some point.  I
could be asked if you ever indicated that this was premeditated,
and I won’t perjure myself.  Do as I said.  You’ll be
free in no time at all.”

He averted his eyes and remained silent.

“Don’t fidget or behave in any manner that
indicates nervousness.  This is important, Scott.  You’ve
got to appear to be in shock, unable to remember what happened this
morning or why.  Don’t nod.  Just do it.”

No response. 

“Good luck.  I’ll do everything I can
to persuade the DA to deal for treatment instead of prosecuting you
for murder.  When that happens, we’ll talk again.”

“Thank you,” he whispered.  It was the
last thing Scott Madden said for a very long time.

As I walked out of the courthouse and
crossed the street to La Pierre Tower, I realized that even though
I hadn’t pulled the trigger this time, I was still thinking like
Daddy’s Girl.

Moonlight flickered through the clouds above
the bay. The bioluminescent plankton glittered like a living oil
slick while water lapped against the side of the ship near the
shore. On board, three men met, a rare occurrence for them to
congregate in one place. Usually it was too risky, required a more
clandestine approach.

Tonight was different. Desperate times and
all that shit.

“Luke,” the youngest of the three men
muttered under his breath. “The son of a bitch killed Luke Napier.
Granted, there were weaknesses, but he didn’t deserve what was done
to him. He was a good man.”

“Unfortunate, but what has that got to do
with us, with our operation here? I’ll tell you. It means nothing.”
Eugene spoke, unrattled. He’d been through more than the other two
men, had been banned from countries for his so-called crimes. The
loss of a single life wasn’t even a blip on the radar of regret as
far as he was concerned.

“You miss the point, Eugene,” the literal
middle man said softly. He was middle in age, but also in his role
of mediator between to factions about to enter into battle. If
anything was unnecessary, it was that – in fighting. It would be
the end of them, and a divided front was the last thing they
needed.

“Then what is the point? She’s a woman, for
God’s sake, inconsequential.”

The youngest glared. “Are you certain of
that, Eugene? As I see it, you’ve got the least to lose here. What
risk does she pose to you?”

He chuckled softly. “True enough, I’m a very
old man, but that hardly precludes me from prosecution. The stakes
in this are no less for me than the two of you. Granted, you don’t
see me weeping over any prospective social losses –”