The Bedroom Killer (32 page)

CHAPTER 75

John rounded the outside corner of a built-in cluster of offices, entered the first room, and found the dark silhouette of Megan standing over the killer, her gun drawn down on him, hands trembling, and lips quivering.

There he was
.

The guy from my car
.

The one I saw
.

That's him.

The Bedroom Killer.

He didn't know how long she'd been standing there
, but it might have been at least a minute. John knew that one minute wasn't very long, but when you're standing over a ruthless killer that you've spent months tracking, and in those long months you've stared into the dead eyes of five young girls killed by this very man, he knew that every one of those sixty seconds would seem like an eternity. But now Megan didn't seem to know what to do…or she was weighing the consequences of pulling the trigger and ending his child-killing career—forever. John stared at the man lying on the floor. The same man who kept him from dying. The man who stared through John's front windshield during a raging rainstorm, and who crawled off his car and limped away that night two months ago, leaving him to deal with Karen Sharp. This was the very man he and Megan had spoken of so many times in the last month. John imagined Karen walking in with her baseball bat, easing Megan aside with an,
I'll take it from here
. There would be nothing left of the man on the floor. John was sure of it. In fact, he pictured Karen and Megan taking turns handing the bat off to one another. He pictured Megan taking the time to show Karen how to shoot a gun, then standing back and nodding toward the dead body saying to Karen,
Empty it
. They could probably put a call out to the community and charge admission at the door, or give each person three whacks for ten bucks. They'd make a fortune; so much was the hatred for this man.

It all felt so surreal to John that he had to ask himself the silly question
…
How did I get here?
He found it almost unbelievable to think that he'd studied medicine for so many years and spent so much time helping people— diagnosing illnesses, fixing broken bones, even treating gunshot wounds—and now he was deep inside a dilapidated old, abandoned warehouse staring at a child killer, who cowered like a beaten mutt below a gun held by the woman he was now so much in love with. He almost laughed out loud.

John eased into the room, gliding to the left side, never taking his eyes off Megan.

Is
aac kept his eyes on the gun pointing at him. His left hand raised, palm up—as if he could stop the bullet in case Megan's finger twitched. It was Isaac who first saw John when his eyes darted to his right, causing Megan to flinch, swerve her body to the right, and point the gun at John.

"No!
" cried John, raising his own hand toward Megan.

Isaac shifted his body once the gun shied away from him, and Megan, sensing the movement, whipped the gun back on him, causing Isaac to flinch and hide his face behind his hand once again. Megan did not move. She did not speak. But she continued to shake. She needed her pills. Her mouth was dry.

The only way John could tell she was even breathing was the fact that her mouth was open and still gasping from her run through the rail yard. John waited, wondering what she was waiting for.

"Megan,"
John said softly, without getting an answer. "Megan…read him his rights." She shifted on her feet, still staring down at Isaac.

"Detective Ash," John said
now, this time with a touch of authority.

"Please don't," said Isaac.

She took a deep breath, as if trying to slow down her pounding heart. She licked her lips, took another deep breath, exhaled, and spoke for the first time in what was no more than a whisper.

"I looked into their eyes
. Each one," she said.

John listened
—was she saying something? Then her voice grew stronger.

"You
…have the right…to remain…silent."

John took a step closer, being careful to step over a long piece of rebar on the floor.

"Louder, Detective, I couldn't hear—"

"Shut Up!
" Megan screamed at John. This time Megan belted out the same line in a more definite voice.

"You have the right to remain silent
, you…fucking…scumbag motherfucker…you don't deserve to take another breath." She took a small step closer and Isaac sunk lower to the floor. John leaned forward sucking in air, almost certain he was about to hear a gunshot and see Isaac's head explode.

But there was no gunshot
. No exploding head. Only Megan's voice coming back.

"Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law.
" She took another breath to continue when the sound of loud footsteps came from around the corner, and suddenly Bell appeared, ten feet way, his gun drawn on Megan and Isaac Graham.

CHAPTER 76

Some years back, as the leader of the Knights of Greenwood, Marcus gave the first order of business, calling for the creation of a throne befitting a knight of his stature. The other pimply-faced knights, obeying his holiness, scurried about the massive warehouse collecting bits of wood, piping, wire, foam, crates, and a toilet seat and together created a most ugly monstrosity, which they dubbed
The Throne de la Cash
. Once he had his own throne, Marcus called for a Royal Party Room in which to place the throne and preside over the festivities, which basically meant—
Now let's find a cool place in here where we can all sit around and get high.
They chose the suite of offices in the northeast corner of the warehouse. The bathrooms were next door, and even though they had no running water, they still pissed into the stained, decaying bowls. The suite of offices, nine in all, were mostly empty, but one of them had a window facing out into the warehouse, which is where the afternoon sunlight passed through the row of paneled windows that dotted the north wall of the warehouse.

Once they moved the throne inside
the office, they called it the Official Party Room of the Knights of Greenwood. There was the front entrance, from which one could walk through the entire warehouse from the west side, just as Isaac, Megan, John, and Bell had done; and there was the back way, which is where Marcus was now. He'd run along the back of the warehouse and came to the north side door—a single door that opened to the outside, but really didn't lead anywhere. There was nothing back there, and they'd all wondered years ago why there was even a back door. The door handle had been busted off long ago and as he ran, Marcus crossed his fingers that it hadn't been fixed.

He wasn't disappointed
. Now he was inside, moving along the side of the office suites. He could hear voices. He didn't know who was talking, but he thought he could hear a female voice.

"Shut up!"

He stopped. It had to be Detective Ash.
But who was she talking to? Why would she be telling someone to shut up?
He moved slowly, watching his feet as to not step on something that would break the silence. He came to the main office doorway, which opened into long hall passing each of the nine offices. He stepped into the hall, took six steps, and peered around the doorway into the first office. It was empty, but it shared a wall with the Royal Party Room, and Marcus saw movement in his old room. The movement could be seen because there was a three-foot hole that had been torn out of the wall when the Royal Knights of Greenwood decided one drunken night that they needed to expand their lair and began kicking and slamming into the thin walls. Stevie Walker finally succeeded when he found a long metal electrical conduit pipe and speared it through the wall…then someone else kicked the hole and made it grow, and eventually the hole grew to become three feet in diameter before the Knights tired of the game. Yes, the party was going on in the Royal Room, but the Royal Knight was not there to preside over the festivities…yet.

He slipped to his hands and knees and slowly crawled into the room, moving to his left to stay away from the hole
. He inched his way forward until he was leaning up against the far wall, sitting next to the hole. He could hear everything. He pulled off his pack, quietly unzipped it, and removed his Olympus. He inserted a fresh memory card, and turned the camera to the video setting. Then he rolled over on his stomach and leaned forward, laying the edge of the camera onto the opening of the hole. He pressed the button and began recording. With the dim light, he couldn't make out much…but at least he'd get everything on audio.

***

John stood still, waiting to see what would happen. He realized that Bell didn't see him; he was too far to Bell's right and Bell's attention was fixed on Megan. John kept watching as Bell eased his gun back into its holster and slithered up to Megan, like a snake to a bird's nest. As he watched, John witnessed Megan physically shrink before his eyes. Maybe it was Bell's large shoulders next to Megan's small frame, but no. It was a physical reaction to being within ten feet of the man, and even though she held the gun and he didn't, she was more afraid of the cop standing on his feet than the known killer lying on the floor. Then John saw Bell lean over and whisper something in Megan's ear. He couldn't tell what was said but he could see Megan's body tense up. Bell leaned in again, but not as far, and this time John could hear the words.

"Do it
. Shoot him."

Almost in unison
, both John and Isaac asked the same question.

"What?"

Bell's head swung around and he caught sight of John. He pulled his gun and pointed it at John.

"
There you are," said Bell, menacingly.

"What are you saying to her?" John asked, taking a step closer even though Bell had
a gun pointed right at him.

"Maybe you are a part of this thing after all
. Yeah, that's it. I found you here—with Graham. I could make this work."

John looked past Bell at Megan, who held her gun on Isaac
, but was looking past Bell at John, seemingly paralyzed.

"You're crazy
. Megan, read him his rights."

Bell took another step toward John, his gun now less than six feet away.

"Who the fuck are
you
to give orders? I'm the
ONLY
one who gives orders here!"

From behind Bell
, Megan said, "You have the right to—"

"No!"
shouted Bell. And Megan stopped.

"Leave her
alone, Gerald," yelled John.

Bell swung his head once again toward John.
"Gerald? We're on first names now, Doc? You think you can step into my world, take my girl, and I'm just going to look the other way?"

"She's not your girl."

"Oh, but she is. Very much so. I took her under my wing when her husband died. I supported her. I gave her strength. I breathed life back into her. She's a great cop and a great detective and she works for me, and only me. There's no room for you, Doc. No room."

***

They forgot about Isaac. As the others were having their crazy talk and the lady cop was watching from the grandstands, Isaac was slowly slinking to his left, to the door…just fifteen feet away.

CHAPTER 77

Before Isaac could get more than a couple feet away from Megan, Cop Number Three arrived. Andy rounded the corner, his gun drawn, only to find Bell facing Dr. Randall, and Megan looking away from Isaac Graham, who seemed to be attempting a getaway. But none of them saw him. They were too involved in their own standoff.

"Yes, this just might work out
," said Bell. "You just got in the way." Bell turned back to Megan and noticed Isaac had moved. "Shoot him!"

Megan looked back at Isaac and quickly adjusted her gun and stance
, then said, “You have the right to remain silent."

"Shoot him
," Bell repeated.

"If you choose to waive
—"

"No
. Shoot him!"

"Keep going, Megan
. Finish the rights," John said.

Andy stood transfixed
.
Was he actually hearing what he thought he was hearing?
There were too many guns drawn and too many chiefs barking disparate orders.
What the hell was going on?

"
—this right…" Megan’s voice grew louder to match Bell's thundering growl.

"No, shoot him now!"

Isaac sat still on the floor, looking confused by all the yelling and orders to shoot him, shouted, "No, please don't!"

"Do it
!" Bell shouted.

"Anything you say
…"

"Gerald!" Andy shouted, stepping f
arther inside the room, his gun drawn on Bell.

"Please," cried Isaac.

"can and will be held…"

"Kill him now!"

"Detective Bell," shouted Andy.

Megan, shouting even louder, "against you in a
…"

"Goddammit Megan, I said
…"

"court of law
. What!" Megan screamed, turning her gun onto Bell. Her scream was so loud that a group of pigeons rose as one off their roost above and could be heard flapping around the cavernous warehouse, until they finally settled onto another perch. Detective Anderson raised his gun on Isaac, stepping farther into the room as his eyes darted from Megan and Bell to Isaac and back to Megan again.

"What are you going to do to me, huh?
" asked Megan.

John took two steps toward Megan.

"Get back," said Andy, spotting John's movement.

John froze
. Then he stepped back. Andy shot a glance at Isaac, who was staying put, still with a most confused look on his face.
Join the club
. Andy hoped whatever was going to happen would happen fast because there was a shitload of other officers surrounding the building and some of them were going to be here soon.

It had to happen fast.

Megan pushed forward, her gun in Bell's face. "You going to push me over a desk, huh? Into a closet? You going to drag me into the bushes behind the supermarket? Pull my hair back till my neck almost snaps? Call me your personal whore? Punch me in the stomach?" Bell took a step back for each step Megan took forward.

Jesus Christ
, thought Andy.
She's going to kill him
.

"Megan, stop,"
John said.

Ignoring John, she continued, "What are you going to do to me this time, Detective Bell?
"

Bell opened his mouth.
"Doc?"

Megan
pushed her gun forward to within four inches of Bell's nose.

"Don't you say a fucking word
," she snorted.

S
he began to tremble. Her gun quivering in her unsteady hands.

"You don't get to say ANYTHING!"

The word "ANYTHING" was shouted again and echoed twice before fading away, to be replaced by the sound of Megan's labored breathing. Then Megan spoke again, but it was no more than a whisper.

"Drop your gun."

Bell didn't move.

"I said drop your gun."

Andy took his eyes off Megan, checked Isaac, and then said, "Better do it, Gerry."

Bell slowly leaned forward, keeping his eyes on Megan, and laid his gun on the cold concrete floor.

"I should kill you. I have thirteen years of reasons to do so."

John couldn't wait any longer. He felt he had to move now and find a way to get between Bell and Megan. He took one step forward…but he was too late.