Downtown Bar
December 2, 7.40 p.m.
Denise Levene was still unable to speak to anyone about her father’s death. Whenever she got to that point in a relationship when two people open each other up and peer inside, Denise Levene would freeze. Speaking about him made it seem too casual, too everyday — it put him in the same category as gossip. She wanted to feel it close and hard inside her, like pain. She’d dated in earnest throughout college, swinging from one guy to another like a girl on the monkey bars, always clever enough to leave before anyone was able to claim that she hurt them. She had hated emotional ties as much as she hated white shoes, fast food and television advertising. She liked things sincere. Then came Daniel. She could see why he was in politics. Gift of the gab. He’d convinced her to try something more substantial. She’d found that she liked it.
The tall guy with the salesman smile was already approaching her with a little swagger in his hips. Denise tried to avoid eye contact, but it wasn’t going to work with this guy. He thought she was cute, liked her business-like hairdo, her long legs — and the sniffy attitude just turned him on even more. He liked a challenge — chased skirt tasted so much better than skirt on a plate.
‘Hey, there, sweetheart, you look a little lost.’
‘Not at all. I’m waiting for someone.’
‘Well, I’ve got some directions here you might find helpful. ’ His large hand pressed flat on the bar and he leaned in close, his cologne suffocating her. ‘If you want to know where to go, just follow the arrow,’ he said and rolled his forefinger down his tie to the arrowhead at the end. Denise felt his arm curl around her shoulders. ‘I’m always happy to take you there, sweetheart.’
Denise pushed his arm away from her. ‘If I want to visit a sewer, I’ll call Environmental Protection.’
The man smiled, showing his bright white teeth. ‘Come on, baby, we can go the scenic route if you want, but I always like to go as the crow flies, if you know what I mean.’ His hand slipped round her waist.
‘Get your hands off me or you’ll regret it,’ said Denise, low and calm.
‘I can feel you’re warming towards me,’ he said, still holding her waist.
Tom Harper was at the door of the bar, looking for Denise. His eyes narrowed. The guy quickly let go of Denise’s waist. ‘Maybe later,’ he said, and walked away.
‘Was that guy giving you trouble, Denise?’ said Harper, approaching.
‘Nothing I can’t handle,’ she said.
‘I bet that’s true.’
‘Yeah, well, thanks anyway. I don’t have any scruples about a guy helping me out.’
‘Pleased to hear it. Now let’s get us both a beer.’
They sat close to each other at the bar, huddled over their drinks.
‘Any news yet?’
‘Not a thing. I’ve been working flat out, but we’ve found nothing to go on. It’s been a bad couple of days. Chasing shadows and dead ends. And he’s still out there somewhere. Don’t understand it, either. He’s gone quiet. No new kills, no communications. I don’t like it.’
‘You got your badge back,’ said Denise with a smile. ‘That’s good news, at least.’
‘Yeah,’ said Tom. ‘They had no choice. Either admit that some suspended cop had caught Redtop or put me back on the team. But it’s good to be officially back on Homicide. We got a lot of working out to do. A lot of good men got hurt.’
‘It sounded like a hell of a mess out there,’ Denise said.
‘Two FBI special agents were seriously injured. Asa Shelton and Isaac Spencer were burned pretty badly. Two guys from our team were hit bad. Garcia was dragged across the field after a pig caught on his webbing. Half his clothes burned into his skin. Mason’s face is a mess. Plenty of broken bones too.’
‘It’s lucky they’re alive,’ said Denise, her eyes caught on Harper’s all the way.
‘Yeah,’ said Tom. ‘They’ve all got families, you know. Me and Eddie don’t and we missed the stampede. Is that called irony?’
‘No,’ said Denise. ‘It’s called luck.’
Eddie Kasper had some minor burns from trying to help the others, but Mason was still in intensive care after the showdown at the hog farm. He wouldn’t ever be known for his looks again; the skin grafts wouldn’t disguise the fact that half his face had been burned away.
‘Do you know anything more yet?’ asked Denise. ‘Anything on who this guy Redtop is? Who was he?’
‘His name’s Maurice Macy. He jumped in the holding pond and it’s pretty difficult to drain. They only just got his body out, but they got his prints from Benny Marconi’s truck and he’s on file. He has history. And we found a link with Lottie. He was carrying Lucy James in a sheet. They found a match between fibres in Lottie’s hair and the sheet. Looks like Mo killed them both. Maybe he took more.’
‘Is there any link to Sebastian?’
‘This is where it gets interesting. Until two weeks ago, Mo Macy was being held in Manhattan Psychiatric Center. He’d taken girls before. Years ago. He never killed them, just kidnapped them and kept them captive, but he wasn’t sophisticated. They both escaped and went to the cops.’
‘He was on Ward’s Island? The same place Winston Carlisle was being treated?’
‘Exactly. It doesn’t make sense at all, but it’s a link.’
‘You think the American Devil was setting this guy up too, like he did with Winston?’
‘That was my first thought, but he’s not going to tell us now. We checked with Winston, and he doesn’t remember him either.’
‘So, what happened to Lucy?’
‘Yeah, poor kid. She’d been raped and suffocated. Maurice’s prints were all over her.’
‘Suffocated?’
‘There’s too many links to the American Devil to dismiss it entirely, but nothing concrete.’
‘Except a cherry blossom petal.’
‘Yeah, exactly. Mo was living in an apartment in a disused building. That’s where he kept the girls. He had hospital restraints on the bed. The forensic team are going over it, but it’ll take time before they assess everything they find.’
‘Jesus Christ,’ said Denise. She shook her head and took a sip of beer. ‘Anything new on the American Devil?’
‘Nothing. They’ve got his DNA from the Stanhope house, but the leads are all dead. I don’t understand why he’s stopped killing. Maybe he’s finished what he set out to do.’
‘It’s still puzzling’ said Denise. Then she sat up. ‘If Mo Macy kidnapped Lottie, it means that our American Devil profile wasn’t right. I should’ve spotted that sooner. The American Devil didn’t need those four days.’
‘I’ll get it altered.’
‘How are you, tough guy?’
‘Well, they’ve reinstated me; that’s enough.’
‘They’ve given you the lead back on the American Devil case?’
‘Lafayette offered. I declined. I want to work free, you know. Follow my instincts. I’m better working with one or two people. I’ve even tracked down the five locations in the city where you get winter-flowering cherry blossom and have got some ideas to work on.’
Denise smiled. He was a good guy, for all his faults. He wasn’t just honest with others, he was honest with himself.
Alone in a booth opposite, the man who’d hit on Denise sat and watched, sipping his bourbon quietly. He twirled Denise’s keys in his hand. It was so easy to slip a hand into someone’s bag while they were trying to avoid your cologne. He had what he wanted now: a way to give Tom Harper more pain than he could imagine. He was just waiting for the right opportunity. Sebastian leaned back. He felt sure the right opportunity was just on its way.