“Will do.”
“Keep me posted.”
“I will. By the way, the CFO at Jefferson Memorial said you’re paying the victims’ expenses.”
“After they leave the hospital.”
“That’s a helluva generous offer. But what if Felix does this five or six more times before we catch him?”
“I’ll go broke.”
We hang up and Miranda says, “You know that much about Felix already?”
I frown. “Truth is I know nothing about Felix. I’m just following my gut.”
“You’re certain he purposely targeted kids and moms?”
“I am. Why?”
“Assuming you’re right, you may want to add something to his profile.”
“What’s that?”
“He’s recently divorced, or legally separated. He’s lost his wife and kids to the legal system.”
I look at her and smile. “How about you forget about private practice and come to work for me?”
She laughs. “That’d be a hoot.”
“I’ll make it worth your while.”
“How so?”
“A hundred grand a year?”
“To work for you? No way!”
“Name your price.”
She laughs again. “I’ll think about it.”
“No you won’t.”
“No, I won’t,” she agrees.
“Will you marry me?”
She smiles. “You’re a nut.”
“I notice you didn’t say no.”
Before she can, I get Lou on the phone again. When he answers I say, “My fiancé and I have been talking.”
“Fiancé? You mean Miranda?”
“Yes. And she gave me a clue.”
“Guess that’s better than clap.”
I pause, and Lou says, “Sorry. That was uncalled for. I thought you were joking.”
“About the clue?”
“About her being your fiancé.”
“I was. But the clue is sound.”
I tell him to have his geeks search for a recently divorced father who either works or recently worked as a chemist.
“This is really good, Donovan,” Lou says, excitedly. “It’s highly searchable.”
“Don’t thank me,” I say. “Thank my fiancé. You’re on speaker.”
“Aw shit,” he says. “I’m really sorry for the remark, Ms. Rodriguez.”
“No harm done,” Miranda says. “But Lou?”
“Yes?”
“If I’m not overstepping my bounds, I think your researchers should also look for any crimes against women and children.”
“A woman or child is attacked every second.”
“I’m talking about groups of women or children. Like a teacher and her entire class. Or a day care. Or a church or camp outing.”
“You okay with this, Donovan?”
“Absolutely. In fact, I like Miranda’s profile better than mine. I still think we’ve got an angry corporate chemist, but maybe he’s not recently fired. Maybe he’s recently divorced or separated.”
“I’ll type it all in and see what spits out.”
“Good man.”
A half hour later Miranda and I enter Sensory Resources and walk down the corridor to my office. I punch in my key code to unlock the door, open it, and see Lou Kelly fucking Rachel’s mom, Sherry Cherry. He’s got her bent over my desk, taking her from behind.
18
LOU TURNS TOWARD us, his face red from the effort. He gasps, closes his eyes, shakes his head, mortified.
Sherry hasn’t seen us yet, but notices her lover has stopped in mid-thrust.
“Everything okay back there, hon?” she says. “You’re not done, are you?”
I say, “If Felix is in there, you’ve probably subdued him by now. Step away, and we’ll help you drag him out.”
Sherry jumps, causing Lou to slip out of her. He deftly pulls his pants up and says, “I wish I had something clever to say.”
Sherry pushes herself to a standing position and yells, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same, since it’s my office. By the way, I think you owe my desk an apology.”
She looks like one of those “What’s Wrong with this Picture?” photos, standing as she is with her hair and makeup freshly done, wearing diamond-studded earrings and an exquisite matching necklace, a beautiful silk print blouse, but naked from the waist down. She spins around and tries to walk across the room to fetch her skirt from the chair against the far wall, but her panties are bunched around her ankles. Lou, ever the gentleman, drops to a knee and tries to slide them up her legs as she’s doing the penguin walk. His interference causes her to trip. She falls to the floor and cries out, but Lou won’t be denied. He keeps tugging her panties up her legs. When he gets them to her thighs, she slaps his face and hoists them up the rest of the way. Then gets to her feet, puts on her skirt, smoothes it down with her hands, and says, “Who’s the bimbo?”
To Miranda I say, “I’ve told you about my girlfriend, Rachel?”
She says, “Yes, of course. Is this her?”
I laugh. “No, this is Rachel’s mother.”
“You think this is funny?” Sherry says. “We’ll see how funny it is when I tell Rachel you’re fucking this one.”
“My name’s Miranda.”
“I don’t give a shit! You could be Martha fucking Washington, for all I care! What I want to know is what are you doing with my daughter’s boyfriend?”
Miranda looks at me.
I look at Sherry.
“How’ve you been, Sherry? You appear sober.”
“You’re not putting me away, Donovan. You want to make someone miserable? Let Miranda spend some time in that nasty fuck hole.”
Miranda says, “No thanks. I saw the view from both angles just now, and it’s not working for me.”
I say, “Sherry’s talking about the underground bunker at Mount Weather. That’s where Rachel’s eggs are being harvested by government scientists.”
Miranda says, “See? This is why I love hanging out with you! Where else am I going to hear these types of conversations?”
I look at Lou. “You told Sherry about Mount Weather?”
“I did,” Lou says.
“But how did you know about the exchange?”
“Doc Howard told me.”
Sherry says, “I don’t give a rat’s ass who told who!”
“Whom,” Miranda says.
“Fuck you, whore!” Sherry says. She turns to me and says, “You’re not exchanging me for Rachel. Tell him, Lou.”
“Yeah, tell me, Lou.”
Lou clears his throat and says, “I agreed to let Sherry leave. We’ve got no right to hold her here against her will.”
“I agree.”
“You do?”
“Yes. But I’ll take her.”
Sherry looks at Lou. “Kill him if you have to, Lou. But don’t let him touch me!”
Lou gives me a pleading look, and I can see what’s going on. Lou’s been romancing Sherry, telling her how important and powerful he is. To gain her confidence, he told her my plans to get her sober and exchange her for Rachel. Then he promised to protect her from the big, bad Creed. Bought her expensive jewelry and clothes, and eventually seduced her. But now I’ve popped in, and Lou’s afraid Sherry’s going to see him in a different light.
“Let’s talk about this outside,” Lou says.
“Fair enough.”
He and I step outside. As we do, my phone vibrates. It’s Sal Bonadello, crime boss.
“What’s up?” I say.
“My Fourth of July party,” he says.
“You already invited me.”
“What about your blonde? You said you’d ask her. What’s her name? Callie? My party needs-whatcha call-pizzazz! Callie in a bikini? Yowzer!”
“Callie’s not a party animal.”
“Talk her into it.”
“I don’t know, Sal. The kind of people you’ll have there…”
“What about them?”
“Someone’s bound to hit on her.”
“So?”
“Callie hits back.”