Hanging on a String (23 page)

Authors: Janette M. Louard

BOOK: Hanging on a String

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“Trust me. I'm like a walk in the park on a sunny day compared to her.”

Marcus rang the doorbell when we got to Nina's apartment. The door opened instantly, as if someone had been expecting us. I wondered if her doorman had ratted us out, but most people had a healthy fear of getting on the bad side of the NYPD, so I suspected that she might have been waiting for someone.

“This really isn't a good time,” Nina said nervously as she stood in her doorway.

Once again, Marcus flashed his badge.

“I'm sorry that we've come at a bad time, Ms. Smyth, but I've got some questions that I need to clear up with you. We can either do this here, or we can do this back at the station.”

“Let them in,” a woman's voice called from behind the door.

Nina stepped aside, and we walked into her apartment. The first thing I saw was Raymond, who was tied to a chair in the corner, with a scarf of some kind tied around his mouth. His eyes looked dazed. I had the feeling that he'd been drugged. The next thing I noticed was the gun, and then the pretty lady, Gem, who was holding it.

Nina closed the door behind us.

“What's going on here?” I asked.

Gem gave me a kind smile. “I think that should be obvious,” she said. I had the clear impression that she was crazy.

Marcus pulled me close to him, and the gesture was not lost on Gem.

“Isn't that sweet?” she asked as she pointed the gun in our direction. “Your boyfriend's trying to protect you.”

“He isn't my boyfriend,” I said automatically as Marcus flashed a look of annoyance at me.

“Ms. Allen, put the gun down,” he said to Gem.

“I'm afraid I can't do that,” she replied. “I'm going to do some killing here today, and I need the gun to accomplish that.”

I knew for certain that Gem's elevator didn't come to her top floor. She was talking about killing people in the same tone she might use when asking if we took cream in our coffee.

“Gem, please,” said Nina, her voice pleading. “Put the gun down. This has gone too far.”

I watched as Gem licked her lips nervously, her calm demeanor now gone. “You're wrong, sis. It hasn't gone far enough.”

I watched as Raymond's head slumped forward.

“What have you done to him?” I asked Gem.

“I gave him a little something to calm him down, the same thing I gave to the junkie.”

I knew she was referring to Lamarr. She'd killed him, just what she was preparing to do with Raymond and with Marcus and me. I wondered if Nina was going to share the same fate. I'm a pacifist and a Baptist, but I suddenly had the urge to slap the devil out of Gem. I felt Marcus's restraining hand on my arm.

“He wasn't a junkie,” I said through clenched teeth. “He was a very kind man who didn't deserve what happened to him.”

I watched as Gem's eyes widened in anger. “Who says people get what they deserve?” she yelled. “I didn't deserve to have Chester rape me, but he did. Did I deserve that?”

Marcus took his hand off my arm and started speaking directly to Gem. “No one deserves to be raped,” he said softly. “Is that what happened to you?”

Gem's laugh was hard and brittle. “I was raped. I was a nineteen-year-old virgin, and I was raped by a man who offered to pass me to his teammates. Thankfully, they declined.”

“Gem, please, just put the gun down,” Nina pleaded. “We can work this out.”

“Oh yes, we can work this out,” Gem replied. “Just like we'd planned to work it out all along. We took care of Chester and his lying whore, Irmalee. We even took care of the nosy junkie. Now, we're going to take care of Raymond, the son of a bitch who got Chester off.”

Marcus took a step closer to where Gem stood. “Raymond was only doing his job.”

“His job let a rapist walk free,” said Gem, “and don't come a step closer.”

Marcus stopped walking, but he continued talking. “Gem, you've been hurt by somebody, hurt badly. You don't want to hurt anybody else, do you?”

This seemed to get to her. I watched as her eyes welled up. Beside me, Nina stood, silently staring at her sister. Had they been in on the murders together?

“I was raped,” Gem said. “Do you know what that feels like?”

Marcus shook his head. “No, Gem, I don't. I do know that it was a terrible, terrible thing, but killing people, even people who've hurt you, won't make it any less terrible for you.”

Gem laughed again. “That's what Nina says.”

“Gem, please ...” Nina's voice trailed off.

“We planned this together,” said Gem, now changing back to her conversationalist mode. “Me and Nina. We'd planned what we'd do years ago. We were going to get justice our way. It took us a while to find Chester, but imagine our surprise when we found that Chester, Irmalee, and Raymond worked at the same place ... It was perfect. It was fate. But Nina couldn't go through with it.”

“Gem, it's over,” said Nina. “It's over.”

Gem ignored her sister. “It was almost too easy. First, Chester was such a whore, it wasn't hard for Nina to get close to him.”

They were both sick. How could Nina sleep with the man that raped her own sister?

“But when it came down to it, Nina just couldn't do it,” Gem added. “I didn't have that problem. In fact, it got easier and easier. The junkie was the easiest.”

I didn't want to hear this.

“Why'd you kill Lamarr?” Marcus asked.

“Because he knew too damn much,” said Gem. “Irmalee had spoken to him about what Chester did. He'd confronted Chester about it. Chester was upset and talked about it with Nina. He was worried about what would happen to his flourishing career if the rape investigation came out.”

“So you killed him?” I whispered. “Even after he went to Chester about what he'd done to you?”

“He was a nice enough guy,” Gem said dismissively. “But he knew too much. He was beginning to put things together. He had to go. Believe me, I was humane. I just gave him something his body was craving.”

I shook my head. “Lamarr was clean for years,” I snapped. “He would never willingly put that poison back in his veins.”

“True enough,” Gem replied. “But I'd given him a little of what I've given Raymond, so by the time I gave him Mr. Heroin, he was in no position to object.”

Marcus shot me a look that clearly said, “Let me handle this. I'm the cop.”

“Irmalee, she put up a struggle, but eventually ... Well, you know the outcome,” Gem continued.

Marcus looked over at Nina. “Were you involved in this?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Nina. “I helped with the plans. I couldn't carry out the killings. Gem did that. But I'm involved.”

“She tried to stop me after Chester,” said Gem. “She felt that it was enough to deal with him. She didn't want me to hurt Irmalee or Lamarr, but I had to do what I had to do.”

And now she was going to kill us.

As if she read my mind, Gem turned and looked at me. “I'm sorry, Jasmine, but you and your boyfriend are not going to leave this place alive.”

“How do you think you're going to get away with it?” I asked.

“Jasmine, please ...” said Marcus. I knew he wanted to tell me to shut up, but he was too much of a gentleman. I gave him a small, confident smile, which hid the fact that I was more terrified than I'd been in my entire life. No matter how tough my life had gotten, I wasn't ready to check out yet.
It's not fair
, I wailed inwardly to the Almighty,
I have finally met an interesting, sexy man, and now I'm going to be murdered by a psychopath.

“Get away with it?” Gem asked. “Get away with what? This is where the story ends for all of us. None of us are going out of here alive.”

This crazy woman was planning on killing herself after she killed us. This, apparently, was news to Nina.

“Gem, this is crazy. It has to end now,” cried Nina.

I hated to point out the obvious, but I had to ask. “If you're planning on killing yourself, why're you taking us with you?”

I heard Marcus heave an exasperated sigh. “If the law thing doesn't work out, you might not want to go into anything related to suicide prevention.”

“It's not like I want her to kill herself,” I tried to explain to Marcus. “I
don't
want her to do anything to herself, but I especially don't want her to do anything to us.”

“Jasmine, I think maybe we should table this discussion,” he replied.

“You know, if I hadn't come along, you two would have had a great future together,” said Gem. “But today, unfortunately, is going to be the day that you die.”

“No one's gonna die today,” came a raspy, very familiar voice from the corner. I looked over to see a still groggy, but determined Raymond try to get out of his chair. He'd somehow managed to get the gag loose, and he was struggling to get free of the rope that was keeping him tied to the chair he was sitting on.

As Raymond stood up, Gem turned her attention to him, and at that moment Marcus lunged at her.

“No!” Gem and I screamed in unison as she fired the gun in Marcus's direction. I watched in horror as he sagged for a horrible moment. The bullet had hit him, but he kept on moving. I felt adrenaline rush through me as I realized that if I didn't do something, the next voice I might be hearing was the Lord's, welcoming me to heaven. I ran toward Gem, but Marcus had gotten there before me and knocked her down. I saw that there was a blood stain spreading by Marcus's arm. I kicked the gun out of Gem's hand and scrambled for it. Nina stood still.

“Call the police!” I yelled at her, still pointing the gun at the crazy Gem, who was now lying still under the restraining arms of Marcus Claremont.

“Are you crazy?” Raymond was drugged, but he apparently still had his wits. “She's up to her neck in all of this.”

“Dammit, Nina, call the police, or I'll shoot you my damn self!” I yelled.

Nina did as she was told, thank God.

While we waited for the police, I looked over at Marcus, fear gripping me. He'd been shot, and I wasn't sure if he'd be okay. The front of his shirt and his left arm were covered with blood.

“I'm okay,” he assured me, even as he held Gem in his arms. “It hit my arm. I'm okay.”

I was going to church, I promised myself, as soon as I got out of this situation. I was going to church, and I was going to be a better person. This wasn't just some near-death promise; I meant every word I said.

The paramedics and the police came. The police led Nina and Gem away. The paramedics came for Raymond and Marcus. I walked with Marcus, and right before they put him in the ambulance, he told the attendants to stop for a moment.

I could tell that he was in pain, and that right now speaking was difficult, but he motioned me to come closer.

“Do you know what this means?” he asked.

“What are you talking about, Marcus?” I was worried that the pain was making him delirious.

“The investigation,” he said. “It's over.”

“Yeah, that's great,” I said, still confused. “Marcus, you need to let the paramedics take you to the hospital.”

He had the nerve to smile at me. “Lean closer,” he said.

I did as he requested.

“Jasmine, will you be my girlfriend?” he asked.

“What?” This was the last thing I'd expected to hear from Marcus. I knew he liked me but going straight to girlfriend status? He should be talking to a doctor, not asking me to be a girlfriend.

“I waited until the investigation was over. Hell, I waited four years. I first wanted you when I saw you in the courtroom. I've been waiting a long time for you, Jasmine.”

“Marcus, you need to go to the doctor,” I told him, even as the very clear answer to his question formed in my head. “You've been shot.”

“I know this,” he replied. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

Raymond, who was lying on the next stretcher, managed to bellow, “Answer him already, Jasmine. I need to get to a doctor. I feel like hell!”

“Okay,” I said.

“Okay what?” Marcus asked.

“Okay, I'll be your girlfriend.”

“Good.” Marcus smiled. Then he looked over at the attendant. “What're you waiting for, man? Get me to the hospital. My arm feels like it's on fire.”

I smiled and blew him a kiss. “I'll see you at the hospital, boyfriend.”