Double Cross

Chapter 95

I RUSHED TO BE WITH BREE at St. Anthony’s emergency room, which was where my wife, Maria, had been pronounced dead, and I couldn’t get that terrible, morbid thought out of my head. Bree was getting stitches when I got there. Word was they practically had to drag her into the ER. Unfortunately, an officer named Howie Pearsall was dead. Another cop down.

Bree started talking as soon as she saw me. “He made a big mistake today, Alex. It wasn’t supposed to go down like this, I’m sure of it.”

“He didn’t expect to see you there. No, I don’t think that he did. But we can’t be one hundred percent sure of that, Bree. He’s the man with a plan, right?”

She winced at the stitch she’d just gotten. The doctor working on her looked up at me for help, but Bree kept talking. “He made the best of it, though. Taunted me, Alex. Let me see the character he was playing-some AP reporter. Neil Stephens, he said. Anything in the name? Or that he was playing a reporter this time? He said he was from Chicago.”

“Let’s talk about this when you’re done,” I said, and squeezed her hand.

She was still for a few seconds but then blurted out, “Did you know Howie Pearsall just got married? Couple of weeks ago. Wife’s a specialed teacher.”

I nodded, trying to model silence until the sewing job on Bree was finished.

“I didn’t see anybody else, Alex. No female in sight. Maybe she was just a one-shot. A distraction. Hey, be careful with that knitting needle, will you?”

“Sorry, Detective,” said the ER doctor.

“Don’t be sorry. Be careful.”

Afterward, Bree and I sat in the lobby to talk. I had a few things to say to her that I knew she wouldn’t want to hear. “Bree, this thing just turned another corner. We both know it did. If he didn’t kill you today, it’s only because it didn’t fit with a different plan he’s already made, a different role he intended to play. I’d be more comfortable if you didn’t work alone for the rest of the case. Make any sense?”

“Alex, I wasn’t alone at the house. I went there with another officer. He’s dead now.”

I nodded. “Okay. I understand. I’m sorry to sound condescending. There’s something else I need to say. I want you to come stay with us -”

“No. Thank you, but no, Alex. I’m not moving because of him. I’ve seen the sonofabitch now. We’re going to nail him. He’s going down, I promise you that. In flames, if I have anything to say or do about it.”

This was all kind of ironic. How many times had I been on the other side of the same sort of conversation? I hadn’t really expected Bree to go for my idea, and I respected her too much to even suggest she back off the investigation. Besides, she wouldn’t do it anyway.

“I’m fine, Alex. I’m okay. Thanks for being nice. Let’s just get out of here. People die in hospitals.”

We were on our way to my car when Sampson called. He sounded excited on the phone.

“Alex, we cracked the IP address. I think it just went live. Anyway, he’s got a new Web site up.”

“Jesus, you’re kidding. Let me get Bree settled, and I’ll be right there.”

“Excuse me?” She was already giving me a look. “Whatever this is, I’m coming with you. Period. End of discussion.”

“Sampson, we’ll be right there.”

Chapter 96

HOMICIDE WAS STRANGELY QUIET when we got there; the office was virtually deserted, actually. I knew that most everybody was out on the street, looking for DCAK, or leads on him, anyway.

“How you doing, Bree?” Sampson stood to let her sit, but she stayed standing where she was, stayed stubborn and strong, the Rock.

“I’m good. Couldn’t be better, Big Man. What have you got?”

Sampson laughed at Bree’s bravado, then the three of us cracked up.

“More of his greatest hits,” Sampson said. “Let me show you the latest.”

We looked at the screen, where the new site had been called up. It had the same headline as the original: MY REALITY, in bold white letters on a black background.

“Give me a break,” Bree muttered. “I am so going to mess this guy up. Next time I see him.”

“Bree, Bree, Bree,” I muttered, and left it at that.

I took the mouse and started scrolling down. Instead of a blog, or any text at all, it was just images this time. They were stacked in two columns, pictures of his self-created killers on the left, his “roles”-and the respective victims on the right. The top two were screen captures from the fake Iraqi video. Next came a shot of Tess Olsen on all fours, with a red leash around her neck.

Another row of pictures showed the X-Files professor-type from the Ke

Then came the “fake” copycat with the Richard Nixon mask-and two pictures of the young kids he’d slaughtered on the parkway overpass.

Abby Courlevais’s picture was a family snapshot that had run all over the news, her husband and little boy smiling next to her. The whole world had been exposed to the image.

The last two photos were grainy and blurred but clear enough for us to make out details. Bree recognized the reporter “Neil Stephens,” even with a White Sox cap pulled down low over his eyes.

Then came Kitz.

His eyes and mouth were open, and there was a spatter of blood across his chin. This shot was obviously taken after he’d been cut but before the rubber mask had been applied to his face. We were looking at a picture of Kitz dying.

Bree banged her fist against the desk. “What the hell does he want? Is this his idea of fame and goddamn glory?”

She turned and walked out of the office. Better she let the steam out here than somewhere else. I heard her pacing and then the glug of a watercooler.

“Just… give me a second,” she called from the hall. “I’m fine, Alex. Just a little nuts.”

Sampson nudged my shoulder. “Keep going.”

At the bottom of the page was another familiar icon from the original site. It was an image of a television set with a screenful of animated static. The box was larger than before but otherwise looked the same. Beneath it was a clickable link that read COMING SOON.

“Cocksucker,” Sampson blurted out. “He’s in our face -all the time now.”

I figured the icon would bring up a new image or a video of some kind, but instead the computer opened a blank outgoing e-mail. It was addressed to [email protected] /* */, presumably as untraceable as everything else he’d done.

Bree came back into the room and stood behind me. She started to massage my neck and shoulders. “I just let myself get overloaded. Won’t happen again.”

“Yeah, it will. What do you think of this?” I asked her.

“Well, it’s a direct communication, anyway. That’s something we usually hope for, right? On the other hand, replying means we’re still playing his game. But maybe we have to.”

“Sampson?”

“Seems like there’s more to gain than lose at this point.”

My fingers hovered over the keyboard, and I typed the first thing that came to mind.

You’re on your way down, you pathetic piece of shit.

“Um, Alex?” said Bree.

I was already deleting it, but at least I got a laugh from them. I tried something else.

I typed, What do you want?

Then I sat back and stared at the screen. “Simple. To the point.”

“Go ahead,” Bree said. “That’s the right question.”

So I hit “send.”