Jump The Line (Toein' The Line Book 1) (58 page)

I think of Julianna Short, Stok
e’
s first victim, and of Meera and Angie and now myself.  To think,
I’
d begged Brick to help me match impressions of Stok
e’
s teeth to Megalo Do
n’
s.

“
Lie down
,”
Stoke orders, helping Brick drag me to the gurney.  

“
No. 
I’
m not making this easy for you
.
”

“
Yo
u’
ve made everything easy for me, Blaze, right down to spending Oma
r
’ Jai
n’
s night deposit
.
”

“
You punkass
!
”
 
I spit on Stoke.
 “
You at least coul
d’
ve been decent about that.  It was
n’
t your money
.
”  

Brick picks up his favorite tool, the gleaming scalpel.
 “
Do that again, and
I’
ll fix your smil
e—
without anesthesia.  Now move it
.
”

“
Make this easy on yourself, Blaze
,”
Stoke says, giving me a push with the barrel of a gun.  My ankles still bound with duct tape, I fall backward against the gurney. 

“I’
ve always known there was something weird about you, Stoke
,”
I hiss, wanting to unload on him, now that I know h
e’
s Bric
k’
s son.
 “
You disgust me.  You left that gir
l’
s shoulder in my fridge, did
n’
t you
?
”

“
Look, Blaze, i
t’
s not personal
,”
he says, the terrifying scowl
I’
m getting used darkening his face.
 “
We need your fucking teeth
,”
he says, edging the gun barrel around my jaw line in the same disgusting way Brick uses his fingers
,“
but if you do
n’
t cooperate, w
e’
ll use her instead
.
”

I shoot a frantic gaze at Officer Barbie.  Sh
e’
s still groggy and moaning.  Useless.  Now the teeth in my mout
h—
even my lif
e—
have become hostage because of her.  I want her to get her ass up and do her job.  Be a cop. 

“
I fucked him
,”
I say, frantic and feeling myself panicking.  Trying to stave off the inevitable, images of my prone body on that gurney, two killers molesting my body, cutting teeth from my mouth, I say the one thing I know will upset Stoke.
 “
I fucked Aidan Hawks, and I enjoyed hell out of it.  But you would
n’
t understand, would you?  Yo
u’
re an impotent pussy, like your daddy
.
”

Stok
e’
s a textbook case of the sadistic sexual killer.  I just hate myself for not paying closer attention.  I hate myself for being so needy and lacking in self confidence that
I’
d befriend a pervert like him.  Happily, my taunt is pissing him off, but just like Brick he fights for control. 

“
Maybe
,”
he says, licking me across the face.
 “
Maybe
I’
m not a big stud like Detective Hawks, but Alaina, you can be sure of thi
s
”
—
he licks me agai
n
—
“
I might not be as good a fuck as Hawks, but
I’
ll be your last
.
”

Vomit rushes from my stomach.  I ca
n’
t stop it.  When I retch, I lunge toward Stoke with the razor.  When it connects with his face, a sense of rapture takes over, or maybe
I’
m just numb.  I slice downward, slicing the razor hard across his face.  A sudden rush of animal joy suffuses me when I hear his scream: how good it feels to cut.  No release like it!

“
You bitch!  Yo
u’
re done
!
”

Inside my head I hear the gun going off, and then the most blissful sound. 

“
Baby girl
!
”

I try to listen, but
I’
m floating away, certain
I’
ve been shot and
I’
m on my way to whatever fate awaits me.  But in my delirium I hear it again.

Berta Colby is screaming.
 “
Die, you sumbitch
!
”

Chapter 52

The officers Captain Meyers sent over as backup arrive at Stoke Farre
l’
s apartment building.  I run over to them.
 “
Wher
e’
s Wes Gillam?  You seen him
?
”

They look at each other.
 “
No, sir, Detective Hawks.  W
e’
ve been waiting on you
.
”

“
How about Detective Laws?  You seen he
r—?
”

“
No, sir
.
”

“
—
or any Feebs?  SAC Smith
?
”

“
No, sir, one of the boots, Officer Bailey says.
 “
Captain sent us to serve your warrants.  He said w
e’
re to wait on SWAT before going in
.
”

“
Right
,”
I say.  Taking the front steps two at a time, I bust inside the dump that slime ball Stoke Farrel calls home.  Flying down the steps to the basement, I slow at the bottom, where officers Bailey and Scofield catch up.
 “
Take positions
,”
I order.

With them on either side of the door, I kick it open and nearly fly into the empty apartment.  I
t’
s not locked.
 “
Jesus
!”
I whisper, gagging when the stench hits me. 

A blur flies from the apartment and then hits me square in the chest.  I grab and hold it.
 “
Shhh
!”
I say, praying
I’
ve not alerted whoeve
r’
s inside. 

“
I
t’
s about time you got here
,”
Berta Colby hisses, yanking free.
 “
What did you do, Detective Hawks?  Take a vacation in the Bahamas on your way
?
”

What do you do with a woman like this? 
I’
ve no time to argue or upbraid her for leaving Goshen without me.
 “
Get your ass upstairs
,”
I say.
 “
Yo
u’
re obstructing a murder investigation
.
”

If we were
n’
t both intent on finding her daughter,
I’
m sure sh
e’
d toss her head back and laugh, but in that familiar hands-on-hips defiant gesture
I’
m learning is a Colby trademark, she rasps
,“
It would
n’
t be the first time
.
” 

Brown eyes snapping, she adds
,“
Hear me out, Detective Hawks.  Yo
u’
re going to put up with me.  I
t’
s my daughter w
e’
re talking about. 
I’
m not going upstairs or any place without my baby girl
.
”
 
She smiles, but on her it looks more like a grimace.
 “
Now what do you plan on doing about
that
in there
?
”

“
Yo
u’
ve been waiting inside that apartment
?
”

She lets out a short impatient snort.
 “
Only for a few damn hours while you traipse around Mount Repose with Billy Lee
.
”

I swing my gaze toward the open door.
 “
Wha
t’
s in there
?
”

“
Yo
u’
ve got an officer down
,”
she says.
 “
I think that sumbitch w
e’
re looking for is around here somewhere, but I ca
n’
t smoke his ass out for the life of me
.
”

“
I think I can
,”
I say, stepping inside the apartment. 

“
There
,”
Berta says, pushing up behind me.

“
Oh, God
.
” 

I
t’
s Wes.  H
e’
s lying on the floor in a pool of blood. 

“
Fuck
.
”

Silently signaling for one of the boots to call an ambulance, I carefully scan the apartment, but when I start to turn I hear gunshots.

At first I think the
y’
re in the room with us: the
y’
re that loud.
 “
The
y’
re close
,”
I say, listening
,“
but they sound muted
.
”

“
I
t’
s coming from behind the wall
,”
one of the boots yells from across the room.
 “
Here
!
”

Officers Bailey and Schofield and I, and Berta Colby, rush toward the wall.  Turning ourselves into a human battering ram, w
e’
re fighting to breach it when SWAT arrives.

Inside the room, I find carnage.  And Alaina lying on the floor covered in blood.

Chapter 53

I hear Robin puttering around in his bedroom, listening to his Gun
s‘
n Roses.
 “
Listen to your music online
,”I’
ve always begged him, but he wo
n’
t.  He has to touch his DVDs, rearrange them.
 “
It helps me focus
,”
h
e’
s always saying, defending his OCD behavior.  Today, after all h
e’
s been through, I do
n’
t say a word.  Instead I enjoy the fact h
e’
s home.  H
e’
s safe.

I’
m safe, too, thanks to Aidan.  He told my mom that NPD is wrapping up their Megalo Don investigation.  I
t’
s been a week since Aidan busted in that basement room with NP
D’
s SWAT, my mom on their heels.  My mom, wh
o’
s staying with me until sh
e’
s sure
I’
m okay, and Robin and I are all working to get our lives back to normal, whatever that is.

I touch my jaw, running my tongue gratefully along my teeth. 
I’
d fought, but Stoke and Brick had shoved me up onto that gurney and tied me down.  The
y’
d started extracting two of my teeth when Aidan caught them.  Almost becoming Megalo Do
n’
s last victim has given me a new appreciation for my pearlies, all thirty-two of them.

Robin walks barefoot from his bedroom and shoots me a smile that melts my heart.

“
Hey
,”
I say, giving him an impulsive hug.

“
Wha
t’
s that for
?
”

“
Thanks for my surprise birthday present
,”
I say.
 “
I
t’
s the best ever
.
”

After he and his NPD team busted in on Stok
e’
s and Bric
k’
s basement party, and shot Stoke and arrested Brick, Aidan urged me to go the hospital.
 “
Yo
u’
re going
,”
he said, when I kept insisting I was okay.
 “
Then when yo
u’
re home w
e’
ll talk.  Okay
?
”

At the hospital, he gave me a hug, several hugs, and lingering kisses that gave Berta a coughing fit.
 “
A LEO
,”
sh
e’
d joked.
 “
Baby girl, I told yo
u
—”

No LEOs
.
 
“
I know, Mom, but
I’
m not six any more
,”I’
d reminded her.
 “I’
m going to be twenty-tw
o
—”

I’
d watched her and Aidan swap secretive gazes at the hospital when
I’
d mentioned my upcoming birthday.  They amazed me, laughing at each othe
r’
s jokes, my mo
m’
s as crude as Aida
n’
s.  It also made me happy.  For the first time ever, we all felt like a family.  Berta was sober.  Robin was
n’
t stoned.  The tension from our past, the arguing, had evaporate
d—
temporarily.  It helps that I finally had my little chat with Berta and confronted her about my da
d’
s death.

“
Did you murder him, Mom
?
”

She never lies, and she did
n’
t this time.

“
He had the gun, baby girl, and was going to shoot me.  We wrestled and it went off, then he dropped it.  I was so scared.  I got to the gun first, but he shoved me back down on the floor and was coming after me again.  I fired.  He fell
.
”

Her eyes had teared over, and for once I saw my mom as the vulnerable human being
I’
m getting to know. 

“
It was self defence, Laney, and tha
t’
s exactly how the prosecutor saw it
.
”

I’
d hugged Berta and rocked her when sh
e’
d cried.

All that matters is that she and
I—
mom and daughte
r—
are talking.

I know the Colbys too well to think ther
e’
ll be no arguing.  But for my birthday I got the best present you can imagine.  Berta told me where Robin had been, when I was worrying he was Megalo Don and was out murdering girls, including my friend, Angie Miller.

“
He wanted to surprise you for your birthday.  He self admitted at STARZ, one of the best rehab joints in the country
.
”

While I was running around frantically searching for Robin, worrying he might again be using drugs and going to end up back in prison, h
e’
d admitted himself into a detox facility for his meth addiction.  H
e’
d been under lockdown, a perfect alibi, which meant he could
n’
t have murdered Ang, or anyone, and that he could
n’
t be Megalo Don.  Aidan also told me at the hospital that Robi
n’
s friend, Squeal, who the
y’
d finally tracked down and interviewed, confirmed his story that Robin was checked in at STARZ.  Squeal had felt bad about snitching Robin out earlier by telling NPD h
e’
d seen my brother in the alley the night Angi
e’
s body was dumped behind Oma
r’
s.

Being in rehab at STARZ also meant Robin could
n’
t have visitors, so h
e’
d sworn our mom to secrecy because he wanted to surprise me for my birthday. 

I release him from a hugeass hug.
 “
Just because
,”
I say, aching when I think what h
e’
s done for us.
 “
I like to hug you just because
.
”

He drops his head, smiles some more, a little embarrassed.  I do
n’
t bother wiping the tears from my eyes.  Ther
e’
s hope for my little Goshen Colby family and former crime gang.  For my brother.  For my mom.

For me.

“
Thanks for not thinking I was Megalo Don
,”
he says, socking me on the shoulder.

“
I trust you.  Always have
,”
I say, wondering what woul
d’
ve happened if Meer
a’
s family had trusted her.  The
y’
d chosen a husband, a much older man, for her to marry in India, and sh
e’
d ran away to escape the arranged marriage.  For a brief time, before her dad had tracked her to Cincinnati, sh
e’
d worked in a tattoo parlor off campus, which is where I recall seeing a photo of her ankle tattoo.  The initials, G.M., had
n’
t meant anything to me, so
I’
d forgotten them until the moment Brick and I had been gazing at photos of her ankle.  Yet I could
n’
t place them, and they remained as the
y’
d always been: low-level noise floating around in my brain.  Until Aidan told me the
y’
d stood for Gayatri Mantradi, her name. 

Poor girl.  Like I said, if only someone had trusted her, as I trusted Robin not to be Megalo Don.  I gaze at my handsome brother and smile. 

“
I kicked around the idea you were Megalo Don, Rob, but then I dumped it.
 “
But
,”
I add, wishing trust ran both ways
,“
You and Mom lied to me.  She let me think . .
.
” 

Mo
m’
s not telling me where Robin was has been bothering me, so I feel like
I’
ve got to clear the air.  

“
I told her not to tell you I was at STARZ
,”
he says, defending her, making me feel like w
e’
re back to being our usual quarreling selves.
 “
Besides, I did
n’
t tell you, either
.
”

“
I know
,”
I say.  I want to trust her, as I do Robin.  I want this all to work.  I know i
t’
s going to take time.  Tha
t’
s okay, too, I guess. 

“
Hurry
,”
I tell him.
 “
W
e’
re going to be late
.
”

“
Would
n’
t want that
,”
he says, grinning. 

“
No, I would
n’
t
,”
I agree, finger combing my hair. 

I’
ve purposefully worn no makeup, except a dab of blue mascara and my Black Pomegranate nail polish.  It matches the little black dress Aidan sent me for my birthday, along with a dozen pink roses.  I have
n’
t called him since he visited me at the hospital.  After what almost happened to me,
I’
ve needed time to myself.  I
t’
s time I shoul
d’
ve taken when I first met Aidan.

Do I regret jumping into bed with him without knowing who he was? 

Not at all. 
I’
m slowly discovering that while Robin is OCD,
I’
m impulsive.  I also realize that love-at-first-sight is a strong possibility with Aidan, and tha
t’
s great, but i
t’
s an impulsive feeling that prompted me to fall blindly into bed with a man
I’
d yet to know. 
I’
ve no serious regrets, other than just wanting my spac
e—
freedom from the complication of a hooku
p—
to sort myself out.

I look at myself in the mirror on the hall door.
 “
I look like Mom
,”
I tell Robin
,“
and I
like
me today
.
”

“
Wha
t’
s wrong with looking like Mom
?”
he says.

Robin told me sh
e’
s been conspiring with Aidan.  The
y’
ve planned a birthda
y“
luncheon
,”
as Berta say
s—
snickerin
g—
Aida
n’
s mom calls it.

The Hawks.  I shiver.  Nervous, I guess.  For one,
I’
m going to meet them.  For two, I have to apologize to Aidan.  I accused him of using me, trying to trick me into rolling over on Robin.  I was wrong.

I twirl and touch the dress. 
Expensive.  Am I worth it?

“
You look pretty
,”
Robin says.

“
Thanks
.
”

It clings to my body, so I know Aidan picked it out to please him, not me.  But i
t’
s also demur, long sleeved, and sophisticated.  His mom will like i
t—
I hope.  For several seconds, I gaze at my reflection.  I feel almost like the Hyde Park whiney heads, like I really am worth it.

I do another twirl then stop, my breath catching.  Why do I question my self worth? 

I
t’
s his wealth.  Aida
n’
s family i
s“
loaded to their gills
,”
my mom says.  While she finds it amusing
I’
ve fallen for a LEO with money,
I’
m scared.  Meeting his mother terrifies me, but Aidan swears sh
e’
ll love me.