Stalker (6 page)

Traffic was light
and should have been moving since the street was zoned for speeds up to thirty-five miles per hour. The trouble was coming from a truck, which was not just crawling, but swerving as well. It was one of those ancient things: a heavy job with lots of primed, curvaceous metal, and a grill big enough to barbecue an ox. The back taillight had been punched out, the tags were expired, and the exhaust pipe was belching smoke. The bumper was sheared down the middle, and in need of a rechroming. Beaudry typed the license plate number into the MOT—the computer’s central hookup into the DMV. A minute later the monitor displayed the basic identification on the truck and its owner.

“Fifty-one Chevrolet,” Beaudry said out loud. “Well, that matches. No wants or warrants on the vehicle. Registered to Anatol Petru-ke—” He squinted as he spelled. “P-e-t-r-u-k-i-e-v-i-ch.”

“Petrukievich,” Cindy said.

“Sounds Russian.”

“Probably,” Cindy said. “Whoever he is, he’s no doubt inebriated.” She flipped on the lights and siren. The truck neither slowed down nor sped up. It just kept going at its snail’s pace.

Beaudry unhooked the bullhorn. “Pull your vehicle over now!”

“Graham, do you really think he understands what a
vehicle
is?”

“He’ll get the message.” They rode a few seconds, watching. “Is he slowing?”

“At seven miles an hour, it’s hard to tell.” She waited. “Yeah, he’s skewing his way over to the curb.”

“See, he understood what the word
vehicle
meant.”

“Maybe it was the flashing lights and siren.”

“You’re just being a sore loser. Call it, Decker. Heads or tails?”

“Tails.”

He tossed the coin, flipped it over to the back of his hand, then showed her the quarter; George Washington was smirking at her.

Beaudry said, “Since it’s my call, I say you take the driver.”

“I get all the luck.” She rolled her eyes. “Who needs luck anyway? A good cop makes her own luck, right?”

“Whatever you say, Decker.”

Cindy parked behind the plated dinosaur and got out, leaving the door open for protection. She waited a moment to see if the driver was staying put.

He was—at least for now.

She unsnapped her holster. Cautiously, and with her hands on her hips, she began her approach, moving across the left side of the vehicle. The cabin of the truck was tattooed with a boxed-in ad, reading
TOP CHOICE PAINTING
in bold black letters. A smiling paintbrush had underlined the words. The phone number was a Hollywood exchange. Mr. Petrukievich was a local. Or at least his business was.

As she closed in, Cindy’s hand was on her weapon and her eyes were on high alert. As soon as she was at the driver’s window, the door started to open.

Forcefully, she said, “Stay inside your truck, sir.”

Either he ignored her or didn’t understand because the door swung out and a pair of feet planted themselves on the ground. Cindy prepared herself for the worst. Because when he stood, he loomed over her. He was not only tall, but big. Big as in
big
and big-
boned
. As in Dad’s size.

“Stay
right
where you are, sir,” she ordered.

He froze, his face registering confusion. His complexion was a pale pink, except for the nose, which resembled a gigantic raspberry. Straight amber-colored hair was brushed over his nude chunk of forehead. His beard was thin and blond. He reeked of booze.

Cindy looked for Beaudry’s backup, but it appeared as if her partner had his own problems. The truck also held a passenger as big as the driver. Probably equally drunk because Mr. Passenger’s gait was wobbly. Graham was trying to keep him upright.

Meanwhile, the driver began rocking on his feet. “I do notink.” He nodded vigorously, hair flying over his eyes.

Cindy stood firm, enunciating clearly. “Sir, go
back
inside the truck.”

“Back?” It came out
beck
. The man wrinkled his brow, then turned around and showed Cindy his spinal cord.

“No,” Cindy said. “Not your back. Back inside the truck. In the
truck
! Turn aroun—turn…” She swirled her index finger in a whirlpool motion. The man complied by spinning in circles. “Dees?”

He was drunk as a skunk, but not belligerent. Forget about getting him in the car. She placed a hand on his meaty shoulder to stop his rotating. His body lurched forward while his head continued to loll about. Stumbling, he managed to support his unsteady weight by placing his hands on the hood of the truck. Change the context, and it played as broad comedy. But as the situation stood now, he was a behemoth-size drunk who could turn nasty at any minute.

Warily, Cindy said, “I need to see your license, sir.”

The man managed to make eye contact. The orbs were unfocused.

“Your license…to drive.” Cindy tried to pantomime it. She received a blank stare for her efforts. She called out to Beaudry, “Does your guy speak any English?”

“I don’t think so,” Beaudry answered. “But he has a good set of teeth. I know because he’s smiling a lot.”

Cindy looked up at her charge. “Burly” was a fitting
adjective for him. No wonder the former U.S.S.R.’s mascot had been the bear. “Your license to drive.” She steered an imaginary car wheel. “Driving.”

The man nodded. “Da.” He pointed to his truck.

He didn’t get it.

“License,” Cindy repeated louder. As if turning up the volume would increase his comprehension of English. “License.”

The man repeated, “License.”

She cried out, “Officer Beaudry, can you get the Breathalyzer?” She figured if he was over the legal limit, she wouldn’t even need to see his license. She’d just arrest him on the spot.

“I’m watching someone,” Beaudry said. “Just put him through a field sobriety test.”

Meaning Beaudry didn’t want to leave her alone with
two
drunken big guys. Okay. That was legitimate. So she’d put the driver through a field sobriety test. She could handle that.

She said, “Are you Anatol Petrukievich?”

The man broke into an instant grin. “Da!” He nodded again. “Da!” He launched into a slur of foreign words, ending his oration with a big smile. She smiled back. Then he grinned like a schoolboy.

Great. They were now buddies.

She said, “Lookie here, Anatol.”

At the use of his name, his eyes went to her face. Again, the goofy grin.

“Look at my leg. See what I’m doing?” Cindy stood on her right foot and lifted her left about three inches off the ground. She counted to ten aloud. Then she pointed to him. “You! Anatol! Anatol does this, okay? You do it.
Capische
?”

He stared at her.

Which made sense because
capische
was Italian. She put her leg back down and slowly picked it up a second time, once more counting to ten. She pointed at his chest. “You try it.”

“
Da
!” He took the challenge and attempted to stand on
his right foot. But he faltered as the last of his toes cleared the sidewalk. Anatol reddened, tried again, and failed again. Clearly, the man’s cerebellum was in need of a tune-up. He spoke to her in Russian. From his tone, he appeared to be apologizing.

“No, it’s okay,” she found herself saying.

“O-key?” He smiled brightly.

“No, not okay.” She shook her head. “Not okay, just…do this!” She extended her arms out at her shoulder, made fists, then stuck out her right index finger. She brought the tip of the finger to her nose by bending her elbow. She did it without lowering her arms. “Now, Anatol, you do this. You.”

The man nodded, but didn’t move.

She tried to give him a jump-start by raising his right arm to his shoulder and extending it. But as soon as she let go, the arm fell to his side.

So far, he was getting an F. But there was that thing called a language barrier. Harking back to her life as a grad-school researcher, Cindy decided to gather more objective data before hauling him in. Gently, she turned him around until he faced the Chevy’s side. She took his hands and placed them, palms down, on the roof. Then, she brought them behind his back, one at a time, and cuffed him.

Absolutely no resistance.

He was big and drunk, but a damn happy guy.

Carefully, she led him to the cruiser, his feet dragging against the ground as they approached the patrol car. His body swayed and staggered with each step. Cindy found herself propping him up. The teddy bear was a heavy man with a capital
H
. She linked her hands around the cuffs and tried to keep his spine erect. But instead of being his guide, she found herself being jerked from side to side as he sidled like a monstrous stoned crab.

Finally, they reached the cruiser.

“Easy does it, Anatol.”

She opened the back door and positioned him parallel to the seat.

“In.” She gave him a gentle prod. “In.” She pushed down on his head so he wouldn’t bump his rather thick skull on the car’s ceiling. Partial success. Anatol’s head and body were safely ensconced inside, but his shoes still dangled in the street’s gutter.

Holding up an index finger, she declared, “Wait here.”

Anatol grinned. He didn’t seem the least bit perturbed. Cindy brought out the Breathalyzer from the trunk. At the sight of the machine, the Russian’s eyes lit up in recognition. Without directions, he took the protective paper off the blow hose and exhaled enough sodden breath to knock out a rhino.

“Whew!” Cindy said. “We’ve got a sizeable BAL. You are drunk, sir.”

Anatol grinned and measured off an inch of space between his thumb and index finger. “Dis much vodka.”

Cindy spread her arms out. “More like this much vodka.”

Anatol laughed.

“Do you have one of these?” Cindy reached in her wallet and pulled out her own license.

Anatol shook his head. “No hev.”

“You
don’t
have your license or you never
had a
license?”

The subtlety of English grammar was lost on him. “No hev.”

“I see we’re in a rut.” Cindy bent down, picked up his paint-splattered gunboat-size shoes, and placed them in the car. She shut the door. “Officer Beaudry,” she called out, “I got him trussed and ready to go.”

“I’m coming.” As Beaudry started toward the cruiser, the other drunk Russian dogged his heels.

Beaudry turned to face him. “No, you stay here.” He pointed to the wizened truck. “Sit in there. Call up a lawyer for your friend.” Beaudry mimicked a phone call, then pointed to Petrukievich. “Call up help for your friend. He’s going to jail.”

A perplexed look. “Jail?”

“Yeah, jail.”

Cindy watched Beaudry as he tried to act out a prison scene. He wasn’t Cagney, but he got the point across.

“Ah!” Drunk Passenger smiled. He got back into the truck, threw his head back, and closed his eyes. Bunking down for a snooze.

Cindy said, “Do we arrest him as well?”

“For what?” Beaudry answered. “Sleeping? Let’s go!”

Since the backseat was divided from the front by a metal grate,
and
since Anatol was still handcuffed, they left him sitting solo behind them.

Cindy started the motor, then gripped the automatic transmission shift knob. Something tickled her flesh. A small yellow Post-it had stuck to her sweaty palm. She peeled the paper off her skin. On it was written the word “Remember,” the printing done with a black felt-tipped marker. The dampness on her palm had caused the word to smear. She showed it to Beaudry. “You leave this here?”

He glanced at the paper. “No.”

“I didn’t, either.”

Beaudry shrugged.

Cindy said, “How’d it get here?”

“With traffic being this light, I’m sure it took the freeway—”

“I’m serious—”

“How the hell should I know, Decker? Maybe you put it there and forgot.” He smiled. “Maybe that’s why it says to remember.”

“Very funny.”

Beaudry said, “Maybe the guys over at servicing left it there.”

“Then I would have noticed it when I drove the car out of the lot. I
certainly
would have noticed it when I pulled Mr. Petrukievich over. Are you
sure
you didn’t put it there?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I’d remember something like that.”

Cindy was perturbed, but she didn’t say anything. She stared at the paper.

Beaudry said, “Decker, it’s late. I’m tired. Let it go. And let’s go.”

She crumpled the mysterious message. Shifting the car into drive, she released the hand brake and took off. Beaudry called in the arrest, giving the RTO an estimated time of arrival to the stationhouse.

Remember
.

Cindy tried to erase it from her mind. “How long do you think it will take to process our friend?”

“What do we have on him?”

“Reckless driving, a DUI with a BAL of over point-two, and operating a moving vehicle without a license.”

“Maybe an hour.”

“Criminy!”

“Why? You got something planned?”

“Later on.”

“I hope you’re not tight for time,” Beaudry said, “because
if
our drunk tank is filled, then we gotta either take him down to Parker Center or find another substation that can handle him. That means it’s gonna take longer.”

“Graham, it’s three-thirty in the afternoon. How many drunks could there possibly be?”

“Lots of people just hanging, Cin. For them, cocktail hour starts right after the soaps.”

Wrapped in a white terry-cloth towel, Cindy stared into her clothes closet. It was too early in the season to wear the light fabrics. (Besides the fact that it was way too chilly outside.) However, it wasn’t heavyweight wool weather, either. That left her with several options.

Option one:

Her midweight, sleeveless black gabardine dress. Always appropriate dinner wear, but way too sexy for a business meeting with a superior, let alone a man who worked with her father. Now, she
could
wear her black blazer over the dress. That would certainly tone it down. But the jacket was a more bluish-black while the dress was more greenish-black. Which never made sense to her; why black came in so many different shades.