Lily laughs and plays with the bag, almost taunting Ghost to tell her the complete truth. With her other hand, she clicks her radio three times again.
“Yeah, I know. It looks bad. But I’m serious. I didn’t think anything, cuz Lenny was my man. He was there for me. And my son. Lenny knew I wanted to move back home. Even invited him to come stay with me and my family some time.” He pauses and looks up at the ceiling, as if transported somewhere else. He whispers, “Rue de Sylvere Bohn et Strada di Scogliere Blanches. Sempre ma amore. Sempre ma maison.”
Lily hears him and recognizes the word maison from Jenna’s testimony about the tattoo. Maybe he’s quoting what the tattoo says? She palms her jacket for a pen.
“I wanted to go back home,” Ghost continues. “Buy a place for me and my boy. Just the two of us. Lenny knew I needed the money. He’s the one who suggested I start dealing again. Make some quick cash. Told me I should brand this shit, make it seem better than it was.”
Lily gives up on looking for a pen and puts the bag of heroin down on the table. She wants to focus.
“Lady, shit is going down all over the place, and I didn’t do fuck. I don’t trust nobody right now. It’s like somebody’s out to get me. You gotta help me.”
Lily looks over at the computer. She knows the answers are there. She knows backup cannot find her. She decides to stall so she can figure out her next move.
“Listen, if what you’re saying is true, here’s my card,” she says, reaching into her shirt pocket. “Give me a call on Monday and we can talk about this at my office, maybe work something out. We’ll help you, Mr. Morrell. We’ll help you.”
He takes the card, looks at it, and laughs. As he watches her move toward the door, he notices the framed photo of his son out of place.
Lily reaches for the door knob and feels a sharp pain in her right hand as the door slams shut. She looks down to see a large knife embedded through her hand and into the door. She cannot move it. She reaches for her gun with her left hand, but feels cold fingers already wrapped around her holster.
“I can’t let you go,” Ghost says.
He grabs her other hand and forces it against the thick wooden door, thrusting another knife through her hand deep into the wood. She lets out a grisly scream. Ghost grabs her radio and presses his body against hers. “I’m gonna press this button, and I need you to say these words as calmly as possible. ‘Unit 7-28. 10-80, repeat, 10-80.’”
“What?” She knows what he’s asking. To cancel her backup.
“Don’t fuck with me. I know they can’t find you.” He jostles the knife in her left hand. She wails. “Now let me hear it.”
“Unit 7…” She can’t say the rest.
“Take a deep breath.” His mouth is warm against her ear.
She puckers her lips and lets out a shaky breath, followed by two involuntary inhales. She tries to calm herself down. She thinks it’s the only way to save her own life. Through sheer will, she soothes her breathing.
“Okay.”
“There you go. I’m pressing the button now.”
“Unit 7-28. 10-80. Repeat. 10-80.”
He lets go of the button. “Good girl.” He places the radio back in her belt and rushes to the kitchen. He grabs the dishrag, opens a drawer, pulls out duct tape, then places them both on the table next to the computer. He heads to the bedroom, changes into his blue LES overalls, then pulls out what is left of his cash from the bottom drawer of his dresser. There’s no time to pack.Only one more loose end and I can leave this wretched place.
He shoves two small stacks of $100 bills in his overalls and heads back down the hall, opens the drawer that holds his plane ticket, tucks it in his pocket, grabs the rag and tape, and heads toward Lily.
“Mr. Morrell, I don’t think you killed Lenny.”
“Of course I didn’t.”
“But this, this is something else. There’s no coming back from this. I can help you. Please.”
He grabs the rag. “No one can help me.”
“Sir, please don’t. Think about your son.”
Her comment only adds fire to his rage. He shoves the rag in her mouth, overcoming her struggling. He wraps duct tape over her mouth and all the way around her head three times, making sure each round of tape lines up with the previous one. His precision is unsuccessful.
“This is gonna hurt.” He opens the door on which both of her bloody hands are impaled. Lily lets out a muffled scream, shuffling her legs to ease the pain to make sure she doesn’t fall to the floor and rip her hands in two. Then he closes the door, causing Lily to whimper in agony. She lays her head against the door, shoulders shrugging. He locks the deadbolt.
C h a p t e r 5 3
The white door reads 228 in aluminum sans-serif numbers. Freckled hands unlock the front door with a key. They are careful to use the key only, leaving no fingerprints on the handle.
“Hello?” he says in a loud voice. No answer.
He’s been here before.
Dressed in his navy coveralls, Ghost begins to ransack the apartment, desperate for the letter. He enters the room where he’d made the laptop exchange in the closet. Everything is just as it was months earlier. He runs back into the living room. He sees photos on a table behind the sofa and begins tearing into them one by one: Jenna with Josh, Jenna with Lennox and Micah, Jenna with James West. He doesn’t find the letter.
He rushes to the bedroom on the other side of the apartment, just past the kitchen. He opens the closet and rifles through the designer blouses, pants, and gowns. Nothing.
