Two cabs were hailed in the street, Nickidispatched into one, Liddy and Paul climbing into the other.
Neither of them spoke as the cab pulledaway.
31
Alex sat, his handsaround the steering wheel, his eyes moving from a glance through the windshieldto another into the rear-view mirror. It was ridiculous – the street was sodark you couldn’t see anything no matter where you looked; with its kind ofinhabitants, what chance did a light bulb have?
“Nothing,” he muttered.
“Wait,” Kerri said.
Muffled transmissions resumed from Gini Tang’stransmitter, the tiny, third button down in the Vice cop’s see-through blouse.
“Ooh, you are my kind of man, such muscles,”she giggled, sounding drunk which she wasn’t; she’d faked it when Ray Grunerpicked her up.
“Five blocks,” they heard Buck Dillonwhisper, positioned at the rear of the decrepit second floor where Gini was headedwith her hookup. The button in her blouse also contained a GPS.
Kerri concentrated on her earpiece; fiddleda stray strand of hair back into her pony tail.
“Jo?” Alex said to his shoulder.
“We’re good,” whispered Jo Babiak,positioned behind the slum, hunched by trash cans opposite the fire escape toblock Gruner’s escape. She had uniforms with her. SWAT guys too.
Kerri let out a huge, pent-up breath. Thiswas painful, this time it had to be perfect. It had looked good eleven days agowhen they caught Ray Gruner - and then the slime slithered free on a technicality!She worried, she was frantic. It had to go right this time, if not tonight, shefeared they’d never get him. The sadist who enjoyed raping and brutally beatinghis victims to death was also smart. Had lain low; controlled his kill-addictionfor a whole eleven nights and even sent a smirk to plain clothes cops tailinghim. Alternate pairs had shadowed his every move and he’d had fun tauntingthem: chatting nicely to the girl in the pizza place, spending his days in his dump,emerging only briefly to buy a newspaper, sit on a bench faking reading while,behind his shades, those narrow eyes watched every woman go by. Tonight was thefirst night he’d gone out. Cop radios were alerted. Gruner’s addiction had finallyoverpowered him and he’d resumed his prowl.
“Four blocks.” Buck’s hushed whisper.
“Got it,” Alex answered.
He and Kerri tensed, listening to Gini dickerwith Gruner about her price. “Two hundred?” he argued. “I can get it for less.”
“Not what I can give you - oh baby,you ain’t seen shit till you see what I can give you.”
Gruner wanted his kill so he fakedrelenting. They bargained, moving slowly. Gini’s faked drunkenness was herexcuse to dawdle; gave the cops time to move in.
Alex inhaled. “So finish about Sasha,” hesaid. “We’ve got maybe three minutes.”
“That’s it,” Kerri said morosely. “I’ve hita dead end.” She watched a homeless man shamble by. Under his rags and long,greasy wig she knew it was another cop. “Carl Finn said he never laid eyes on her,and I can’t find anything that proves he did, not in student registration or canvassingthe campus in my free time. In one bar some kid thought he saw her comingout of one of Finn’s classes, but he was stoned that day. Memory’s foggy.”
“But Finn’s the guy in Becca’s selfie?”
“Definitely. I blew the pic way up and comparedit to him in person. It’s him.”
Alex grunted. “Circumstantial even if it is.”
“Like I said, I hit a dead end.”
The homeless guy with a Glock under hisrags had stopped near their car; turned, shuffled back before the darkenedstoop. Kerri bit her lip, watching him, watching two other cops further down, dressedlike dealers. They had practically an armed camp around them. Another miss atGruner would be it; he’d run to another state; disappear briefly, then killagain.
They listened through another transmission– the rapist was getting impatient and they were moving faster, a block awaynow – no…less than a block.
“But you still like Finn for this?” Alexasked. “Despite the selfie’s circumstantial…”
“I just wish I could tie him-”
“They’re here,” Alex said.
Out of the darkness, suddenly, came Tangand Gruner, Tang in her tight shorts laughing, teasing, pulling him up thecrumbling stoop past the watching, hunched cop in his rags. All transmissionsstilled; breaths held. What came from Gini Tang determined what next to the splitsecond. Their shuffling sounded on the creaking stairs. Gini’s key in the doorrattled. “Shitty old locks,” she giggled; then: “Enter,” she said grandly,throwing the door open as planned; then: “Wait, mind if I check what you got?I’m discerning too, ya know.” She grabbed his genitals as planned; then: “Oh,you’re so small - hey, call that a hard on?”
“Ow!” Gruner yelled in pain. “You bitch!”
Sounds of thudding. Muffled cries trying toscream over obscenities and the sound of struggling, dragging, the door slammed-
But they were out. Up the stoop with theirguns up, the cop in rags behind them, joining Buck already kicking the doordown, bursting in on big, muscled Ray Gruner on little Gini Tang throttlingher, so crazed that if he heard them he didn’t stop, he had one massive hand onher throat and his other fist raised to smash her face-
-only Buck caught it, Gruner’s fist, and Alexand Buck wrestled him off, face down on the floor with Alex’s knee in his back,one hand holding his Glock to Gruner’s head while Buck got Gruner’s other armbehind him.
Yelling, writhing, the three struggled asKerri kneeled in and got cuffs on him. “Give it up, shithead,” she yelled; thenAlex roared, “You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent.Anything you say…”
They’d recorded him, and Gini’s tinybutton’s infra red had recorded the attack. This time there’d be no slip-up, noslithering free of the system like when they hadn’t gotten him to speak.
Lights were on, other cops were running in,and Alex pressed Gruner’s face hard to the floor; banged it for good measure. Hewanted more; they all wanted more. He bellowed, “Do you understand the rightsI’ve just read to you?”
No answer. Yelling and writhing but notwhat they needed. Gini was on her knees with Kerri holding her.
