Delirious (39 page)

The other overpowering olfactory experience was the smell of dirty laundry. Dirty clothes were strewn about the backseat: sweatshirts, pants, and crumpled dress shirts mostly.

Not only was this person unclean, Charlie thought, but it seemed he was actually living out of his car. The clothes behind the driver’s, seat covered in glass fragments, sparkled in the sunlight. Laws of probability demanded that some of the glass had also fallen to the floor, and some was surely visible on the ground outside the car. Charlie again hoped it wasn’t enough to attract the attention of the police.

Despite his preference for a cleaner hideout, he knew this was the safest place for him. How long he could remain hidden was a matter of life and death.

Charlie pressed his body to the floor, trying to ignore the sour smell of ketchup and mustard soaked into the countless fast-food wrappers discarded there. Reaching above, he pulled the clothes from the backseat atop him in an attempt to further camouflage his location. Then he waited.

The sirens in the distance continued to screech like banshees. Charlie’s body stiffened, and he tried to flatten himself even more, although he was as hidden as he could be. More sirens. Had they sent a SWAT team after him? It took all his willpower to resist the urge to pick his head up and have a look. He had to rely on what he heard to give him some sort of visual of the scene unfolding.

Car tires screeched to a stop. Was it next to the station platform entrance or closer to him? It was difficult to tell. He heard the slamming of doors, the crackling static and unintelligible commands from police scanners and radios. Then he heard a sound that made it nearly impossible to breathe. It was the sound of footsteps.

R
achel stared in disbelief out Joe’s Camry window, watching an armada of police scream past. Everything had happened so fast. Now she worried that everything was also spiraling out of control. This was serious. They had information about the whereabouts of a suspected murderer and they were intentionally keeping it from the police. If she hadn’t already broken the law, she was at the very least bending it to the breaking point.

At the time, going with Joe had seemed not only the right thing to do but the only option she had. If she followed Joe, not only could she look after Joe’s well-being during what understandably was a high-stress situation, dangerous for a man with his condition, but also he would lead her to Charlie.
But for what?
Not only was Charlie delusional, but he was also a criminal and most likely extremely dangerous. Then again, was there some other reason she had opted to go with Joe and track Charlie with this InVision GPS thing? Perhaps there was, she thought. Reaching into her purse, which was more like a miniaturized duffel bag, she fished out the note Alan Shapiro had found in Charlie’s room at Walderman. She looked it over, recalling the phone conversation between them less than an hour ago. The note was as haunting as it had been the first time she’d read it.

When I’m out of here, I’m going to finish the job. One down, three to go. Mac and Yardley die next. The last is still my surprise. I can’t wait for the killing to begin again.

She looked most carefully at the word
surprise.
The
u
did in fact have distinct markings and characteristics. It was, as Charlie had said,
different from the other letters. But she had nothing against which to compare it.

Her clinical mind couldn’t equate murder with the man she had grown to know and in many ways admire. On more than one occasion she had thought if the situation between them had been different, she could actually see herself with a man like Charlie. Determined, intelligent, not to mention strikingly handsome.

At Walderman, Charlie had shown her his more vulnerable and available side. It was a part of him she believed he kept hidden, not only from his closest relations, but from himself as well. His harsh words their last day together had stung and left her unsettled. But she understood now why he had been so cruel: he’d been preparing to escape, and her presence must have jeopardized those plans. She felt almost relieved to realize it wasn’t personal. What bothered her so? She believed in her heart that Charlie was a sick man. That wasn’t really even a question. But was he a killer? She was a woman accustomed to black and white, turning the sick into the healed. Shades of gray she found most unsettling.

“Charlie didn’t kill anyone,” Joe said. “I know it in my soul.”

His words took Rachel by surprise. It was as if Joe had been reading her thoughts. She folded her arms across her lap. “It’s not for us to decide,” she said. “We’re breaking the law here.”

“So why did you come?” Joe asked.

“Because I wanted to make sure you didn’t get hurt, or worse,” she said.

“Is that all?” Joe asked.

More police drove past. They had seen the wreck outside the Revere Beach Station from a distance. Neither bothered to confirm it was Charlie’s BMW. The police presence alone suggested this was much more than a routine traffic accident. It had taken them only twenty minutes to drive from Belmont to Revere, thanks to the reverse commute traffic. The last location the InVision GPS had provided for Charlie’s car before his signal went dark was right outside this station. With all the police swarming about, Joe didn’t dare step outside his car.

“Charlie has been threatening to kill SoluCent employees for weeks now,” Rachel said. “He escaped from our facility, and since
that time at least one high-ranking employee of his company has died. Do you want to have others on your conscience?”

“I want the truth,” Joe said. “I want my family back. My mother is still in a coma, and my brother will be shot on sight if I don’t help him.”

“You can’t control everything, Joe,” Rachel said. “Life doesn’t work that way.”

“I’m going to get my brother,” Joe said. “I can control that. If you’re not going to help me, then you have to get out of the car, Rachel. It’s not negotiable.”

Rachel paused. Technically she hadn’t yet broken the law. If she did find Charlie, she could find some way to turn him in. If she didn’t go, Joe’s life could be in danger. He wouldn’t stop until he found and rescued his brother. She knew that. Would Charlie even turn on his own brother? A Cain and Abel tragedy. Knowing Joe, he would stand by his brother, even if it meant him getting killed. He was stubborn that way. Once his mind was made up, it was made up.

“Charlie told us where we could find him. He’s at Wonderland,” Joe added. “He’s somewhere where he can hide. And I’m going there now. Are you coming with me?”

Rachel unfolded her arms. She looked into Joe’s worried eyes. She thought of Charlie. She felt awash with uncertainty. After a moment that seemed almost eternal, she spoke in a low voice.

“Drive,” she said.

I
t was impossible for him to lie any lower on the floor of the Chevy Lumina, but Charlie tried. Garbled voices crackling from police radios and scanners broke the silence of an otherwise noiseless part of the parking lot. He had crawled inside the car from the driver’s side passenger door. As a result, Charlie’s head was closest to the voices outside. He couldn’t believe how near the police were to him. They were close enough for him to hear their radio conversation without having to strain.

“Unit Seven, Unit Seven, requesting a ten-twenty,” said a staticky voice.

“Unit Seven, we’re on-site at Wonderland. Over.”

“Roger, Unit Seven. What’s your nine-five-two?”

“Situation unchanged. Over. Suspect remains at large.”

“Ten-four, Unit Seven. Over.”

“Over and out.”

Charlie felt the weight of the vehicle shift left and noticed the light inside the car unexpectedly turn darker. It wasn’t at all like shadows cast from a passing car or even a cloud. The patrolling officers were directly outside of the Lumina’s passenger-side door. If they simply turned and looked down, the wide, fear-filled eyes of Charlie would be there to greet them. One of the officers had apparently leaned up against the car and caused it to shift on its axles. It was his girth that partially obscured the morning light, which prior had filled much of the interior. From inside the car their voices sounded muffled but were also easily understood. It was no different than a conversation overheard from behind closed doors.

“Fuck this, Gary,” one of the officers said. He had a low baritone voice that suggested an innate meanness.

“Yeah. This asshole could be anywhere.” Gary had a thick Boston accent, much more pronounced than his partner’s.

“Anywhere,” Gary’s partner agreed.

“So do we check every car?”

Charlie heard the sound of knuckles banging loudly against the windshield just above his head. The officer had knocked on the glass for emphasis. For a moment it felt as if Charlie’s heart had stopped beating. It was a feeling more terrifying than holding a loaded gun to his temple.

“Look around,” the baritone voice said. “There must be two hundred cars in this lot. Not to mention at least fifty stores within a ten-minute walk.”

“And are we sure the guy went outbound?” Gary asked.

“We’re not sure of shit,” his partner said. “Train logs show two trains arrived at Revere Beach Station at the same time this asshole booked it down the stairwell. We must have every cop in the city and then some out looking for him. The staties and SWAT are coming in, too. You better believe that.”

“Fucking guy,” Gary said.

“Yeah. Great way to start the day.”

Charlie hadn’t realized he had been holding his breath until the officers moved away from the Lumina. The interior filled again with sunlight. That wasn’t necessarily a good thing, either. It meant it might be easier to spot his body sprawled out on the floor in the back of the car. Hopefully grimy windows from what the stench suggested was a voluminous number of cigarettes would help conceal him. He listened as their footsteps faded.

Then he heard the sound of a car approaching. Tire wheels crunching against loose stone and asphalt. The car came to a stop not far from where Charlie was hiding. Next, Charlie heard three short beeps.
Three car beeps,
Charlie thought.
Joe!

Not chancing a look, Charlie listened to confirm his hopes.

“Hey there,” he heard his brother’s voice call out.

It’s him,
Charlie thought.
Thank God for Joe. Thank God.

Charlie tried to gauge how much Joe had taken from their conversation. If he understood everything, he would know where Charlie
was hiding. It seemed a good possibility. Joe knew Charlie was at Wonderland. He also knew the signal. Three beeps. Smartly, Joe had used it to get the attention of the police. For what, Charlie wasn’t sure. What he did know was that it didn’t draw their attention to the Lumina, and that was a good thing. There was no way Joe could know which car he was hiding in, but he could take a guess as to his general vicinity. Charlie had given him that much to work with.

“What do you need?” Charlie heard one of the two police officers ask. They were too far away for him to tell which it was. Whoever spoke didn’t seem too enthusiastic about having a morning chat with Joe.

“What’s going on?” Joe asked. “There’s a lot of activity here.”

“We’re looking for someone,” a different voice said. Charlie recognized that voice as the more Boston of the two. The man named Gary.

“Is he dangerous?” Joe asked.

“Yes. Why?” said Gary

They now sounded suspicious.

Joe, don’t do anything stupid,
Charlie thought.

“Well, I did see something … It’s probably nothing, though….” Joe let his voice trail off.

The tenor of Gary’s voice changed. He sounded interested. “Oh? What did you see?”

“A man,” Joe began. “Maybe thirty-five, definitely under forty. White guy. Thin. Short hair. He looked a bit cut up, now that I think about it. Like he’d been in an accident or something. Anyway, I thought that I saw him breaking into a car back there. That’s why I drove over. It’s probably not the guy you’re looking for, though,” he added.

“White guy, you said?” Gary’s partner asked.

Joe nodded. “Yeah, white. It was funny because he looked more like a businessman, you know? Commuter type more than a criminal. That’s what really threw me off. I didn’t see if he had actually broken into the car. But now that I know you’re looking for somebody, I kinda think he was acting suspicious.”

“Which car?” Gary asked.

Charlie didn’t hear anything for a moment. He assumed it was because Joe was scanning the lot. Charlie couldn’t believe how calm
and in control Joe was acting. If he didn’t know what was going on, Charlie would have easily believed Joe had in fact just witnessed a crime. It was almost comical that what Joe was really doing was preparing to commit one.

“Well, I can’t be sure now,” Charlie heard Joe say. “It was definitely on the other side of the lot. Closer to the road. I guess I could walk over with you and take a look, if that would help.”

“That would be good,” Gary’s partner said.

“But you’ll need to stay at least fifty feet away from the car once you identify it,” Gary added. “Do you understand?”

“Sure. I understand,” Joe said. “Jackie, do you mind driving over to meet me? I’ll walk these officers over to where we thought we saw that guy.”

“Sure. Not a problem. Anything to help.”

Charlie’s pulse jumped a beat. That voice, of the woman Joe had called Jackie, it was Rachel’s. Charlie listened as Joe’s voice faded as the officers followed him. Charlie could tell they were continuing to question him, but out of earshot.

A minute passed. He hadn’t heard Rachel start the car. Charlie finally dared to lift his head. When he did, he saw Rachel exiting Joe’s Camry. Then she walked around the front of the vehicle and sat down in the driver’s seat.

Charlie saw that Joe and the police were a good hundred yards away. Other officers had joined in the search as well. Joe was pointing in a direction that was exactly opposite to Charlie’s physical location.

“Genius,” Charlie muttered. “Simply genius.”