Marcie's Murder (51 page)

Karen kept moving slowly uphill through the clearing. “I know you are, darlin.’
We all make mistakes in judgment, especially when it comes to men.”

“Wait! Stop! I can see you!”

Karen stopped dead. She slowly raised both hands over her head, showing Rachel the cell phone and an empty left hand, then lowered them
again. “It’s just little ol’ me
. My sidearm’s holstered and it’ll stay that way as long as we can do this easy, okay?”

“Take your gun out of your holster right now and put it on the ground,” Rachel ordered.

“Can’t do that, sweetheart,” Karen said calmly. “Sorry. You can’t ask an experienced cop like me to separate herself from her best friend in the world now, can you? Besides, it’ll get dirty lying on the ground
,
know what I mean
?
What’s your favorite? What do you like to fire best of all?”

“What?”

“I saw your trophies back at the apartment, so I know you’re a real good shooter. What’s your favorite?”

“My favorite?”

“Yeah
. The one that feels better in your hand than any of the others. The one you’d want to have with you when you walk down
a
dark alley at three
o’clock
in the morning.”

“I have an S and W M66.”

“You gotta be kidding me,” Karen exclaimed. “
You
fire
the .357
or the .38 special?”

“Both, but I like the .357 better.”

“Well, I’ll be damned.
That’s my barbecue gun, girl.”

“It is?”

“Hell, yeah. Ivory grips, just a real beauty.” Karen took a few experimental steps forward. She could see where the ATV trail swung off to the right into the trees up to
ward
the cabin. “Tell me something, what’s that rifle you got with you
up there
?”

“It’s a Remington.”

“The model 700 XCR, right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Rachel said. “How
’
d you know?”

“Saw some rounds on the floor back at the house and figured it out. Fired it before?”

“Actually, no.”

“Helluva recoil,
huh
?”

Rachel laughed
with embarrassment
. “Yeah, that’s why I missed
the
first shot. Please, Detective
Stainer
, don’t come any closer.”

“Call me Karen.”

Static burred across the line for a moment, then cleared.
“
D
on’t
come any closer, Karen,
” Rachel was saying. “
I don’t want to have to shoot you. This is horrible enough
already
.”

“Morris has already high-tailed it over the ridge, darlin.’ He’s gone. Your delaying tactic worked. He got away. There’s no more need for you to stay
t
here, holding us off. It’s over.”

“No, I’ve got to make sure he gets away.”

“I understand, sweetheart, but I’m telling you he
’s
gone
already
,
and you need to give yourself up
right
now.”

“If I show myself they’ll shoot me.”

“Hang on a sec
.
I’m gonna take out a radio and talk to the tactical boys. All right? Just hang on a sec.
I’ll let you listen in.
” Karen lowered the phone and turned around
, slowly removing the radio, knowing that Rachel was watching her through the scope
.
It gave her a crawly feeling
that
she
forcibly
suppress
ed
.
She
saw
Stanley standing between the two trees at the edge
of the clearing, watching her.

“Team Leader Stanley
,
” she
said into the radio, holding it at an angle with the cell phone close to her mouth
,
“
copy?”

“Copy,” Stanley replied.

“Lovely. This is a 10-62,” Karen said, using the police 10 code that referred to an unauthorized listener, “but I want her to hear this conversation. Copy?”

“Copy, Detective.”

“All right.
If the girl shows herself
in order
to give herself up, does she have your word that your marksmen won’t shoot her?”

“Does she intend to surrender?”

“Well, what the hell do you think I’m talking about? I’m asking her to show herself, leave her weapon on the ground
,
and walk
out
to me with her hands on her head. If she does that, will you guarantee her safety?”

“
I
f she does all that
, nice and clean,
we’ll hold our fire
,
” Stanley
said
,
“
but
she
has to
keep her hands in plain sight on top of her head at all times
.
”

“Did you
get
that
, Rachel
?” Karen asked, raising the phone to her ear again
, thumb back on the transmit button of the radio
so that Stanley could listen in
.

“
Yes
,” Rachel replied.

“
So, how about it?
”

A sigh was all that Karen heard over the phone for several long moments.
Static flared and subsided.

“What should I do?”
Rachel
finally asked in a small voice.

“Here’s the best way,” Karen said.
“Let me come up to you. I’ll come all the way up to your crow
’
s
nest, you put your rifle on the ground and any other hardware you’re packing, put your hands on top of your head and
walk into view, and then
I’ll
bring
you the hell out of there myself. Th
ey won’t
shoot
if I have you under control
.
You know the drill
.
”

They had to wait a moment
for the crying to subside before
Karen
got her answer. “Okay.”

“Okey doke, let’s do it.
Team Leader, are we
copasetic
?
”

“You’re on, Detective. But stay frosty.”

“Always.”
Karen
took her thumb off the transmit button of the radio and clipped it to her belt, then
began to walk briskly toward the spot where the trail re-entered the trees. “Let’s stay on the phone while I’m coming up, okay?”

“All right,” Rachel said.

Karen made it into the trees and began to climb the slope. “Damn, you couldn’t have picked flat ground to do this on, could you? This climbing shit is for the birds.”

“Sorry,” Rachel said, half-laughing and half-crying.

“S’okay, I need the exercise.”

“Karen?”

“Yes, darlin’?”

“My career is seriously fucked, isn’t it?”

“You might say.”

“I don’t want to go to prison. I can’t stand the thought of having to be in prison, in a tiny cell, showering with other women, eating garbage food
with them
. O
h, God!”

“Now hold on a sec,” Karen said, increasing her pace, “don’t think about all that
stuff
right now, okay? Just think about doing the right thing, and then you’ll have the whole rest of your life to make up the difference
and
do
good
.
”

“My life is
over
.”

“No, it ain’t, honey. You
got
your whole
life ahead. You’re just a kid, for cryin’ out loud, you’ll
come back from this. You’ll see. Where the hell are you? I’m at a big-assed boulder and the trail goes right and a footpath or something goes left.
Where do I go?”

No answer.

“Rachel!”

Silence, then, “
L
eft.”

“I go left? That what you’re saying?”

“Mmmm.”

“You all right, Rachel? You staying with me, now?”

“I’m all right. I’m sorry.”

Karen took the footpath to the left and
hurried
through the trees, aware after a minute
or
s
o
that she could see the gully below her
through
gaps
in the brush
on the left.

“Wait!” Rachel said.

Karen heard her over the phone and through the air at the same time. “I’m putting the phone in my pocket now, honey, then I’ll show you my hands
,
”
she said. She
put the phone in her pocket, raised her hands to shoulder level and continued
along
the footpath to a clearing. In front of her was an outcropping of rock that looked down
into
the
gully
.
Rachel knelt
behind the outcropping
, pointing the rifle at her.

“There you are,” Karen said. “Man, I’m glad to see you. Now put the rifle down and we’ll get out of here.”

“I won’t go to prison,” Rachel said.

“Rachel, you’re a hell of a lot tougher than you think. The alternatives all involve getting shot, and believe me, you don’t want that. You can get through this fine.”

“No, I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. You’re tough and you’re smart and I’ll help you.”

“You won’t help me.”

“I just said I would, didn’t I? I’m gonna
give
you my
cell
phone number and I expect you to call me anytime, day or night, from this minute on. Understand what I’m saying? When you don’t call me I’m gonna call you
or come see you
. Until you’re through this and out and starting your life over again. Then when you choose what you want to do with your life
,
I’ll be there if you want advice, a helping hand, whatever. Got it?”

“You won’t do all that.”

Karen bared her teeth. “Jesus Christ, girl,
didn’t I just say I would?
”

Rachel cried. “I’m sorry, really. I just really, really, need help right now.”

“You got it. Now put the rifle
down
like I told you.”

Rachel gently set the rifle down on the ground.

“Hands on top of your head, sweetie.”

Rachel put her hands on her head and stood up.

“Easy, easy.”

“Okay,” Rachel said, upright.

“Walk slowly toward me,” Karen ordered, “and keep your hands on your head.”

Rachel walked out from behind the outcropping of rock toward
her.
Karen knew that White
now
had the girl in his scope and was waiting for the word from Stanley.

“I’m gonna pat you down, girl. You got anything else on you?”

Rachel nodded miserably.

“Fuck. All right, here we go.” Karen
moved forward. “Where is it?”

“In my waistband behind my back. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Karen reached her, plucked a Beretta M92 from behind Rachel’s back, dropped out the magazine, cleared the chamber
,
and slipped the gun and magazine into her jacket pocket.

“I’m gonna pat you
down
now. Just hold still with your hands on top of your head like you are. Am I going to find anything else?”

“No.”

Karen patted her down
and
found her cell phone but nothing else
.
“
Now
I’m gonna cuff you, Rachel
.
So they know you’re completely in my control and you don’t pose any further danger. Okay?”

Sobbing, Rachel nodded.

“I’m just taking out the cuffs.” Karen removed them from her jacket pocket, plucked one hand off the girl’s head and applied the cuff, then grabbed the other hand
, pulled her arms behind her back
,
and completed the job. She grip
ped
her
by the elbow
and
took out
the radio.