Delusional Read online

  He lowered the gun just a bit. “Yes, he betrayed me. He was a Judas.”

  She tried to remember what the mayor had said in his press conference. “He lied to us all. He was a member of The Fellowship, yet he was friends with the deviant.” She watched Charlie’s eyes. He was wavering. “And he announced to the world that your great deed of casting out Mr. Andrews was a sin.” She shook her head. “That was such a betrayal. A huge betrayal.”

  He nodded several times.

  Toni thought he looked almost sad. “It was fine when the mayor said he’d get to the bottom of the killings. We all expected that. He had to say that, to fool the deviants.”

  Charlie nodded again. “Yes, that’s true. It was just when he said he was friends with that man.”

  “Exactly,” Toni said. “We all have to tell white lies, but that was a betrayal to you. Personally to you.”

  He looked confused. “Yes, that’s true.” He paused, and she could tell he was trying to make sense of what she was saying. “But then why are you friends with Detective Carter? She’s a deviant.”

  “I never said I was her friend, Charlie,” she said firmly. “Never. I’m sure you have to work with people like that, don’t you? Sometimes we don’t have a choice.”

  Charlie nodded vigorously. “Yes, there are deviants where I work. I’ve tried to get them fired, but management won’t listen. They’re too afraid of being sued, instead of doing the right thing.” He began pacing back and forth. “It’s a sin.”

  She watched him as he paced. He was mumbling to himself. He’s at the very edge. She knew that he wouldn’t last much longer. Either he would let her go, as an ally, or he would simply put the gun to her head and shoot.

  He paced for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality, it was only a few minutes. She wasn’t sure what else she could say to him.

  Charlie stopped pacing and stood perfectly still, only five feet in front of her. He had the gun pointed at her head. “I have to kill you,” he said. “I need to finish with my lists.”

  “I can help you, Charlie. I can help you finish.” She hoped she sounded sincere.

  He shook his head. “I must do this alone. God told me to do it alone.”

  “Yes, God told you to do it alone. He told me that you would. He told me I could help you, Charlie.” She held her breath, waiting for him to respond.

  He thought for a moment. “No.” His finger was on the trigger.

  Toni looked directly into his eyes. She held his gaze. Time seemed to stand still. Then she thought she heard something. Did she hear voices? She didn’t shift her eyes, but tried to see peripherally across the room to the door. The next sound was unmistakable, the sound of the doorknob turning. Both she and Charlie turned their heads at the same time.

  Vicky turned onto Fifth Street off Clark. The entire block was abandoned warehouses on both sides. She stopped the car and took her phone back from Boggs.

  “Johnnie? Any better location?” she asked. She waited for the answer, then closed her phone. “She said it will take another five minutes to get something more definite.”

  Boggs opened the car door. “I can’t sit here.”

  “Okay,” Vicky said, “but take a walkie with you.” She opened the trunk, pulled out a pair of walkie-talkies and switched them both to channel seven. She handed one to Boggs. “Don’t go in anywhere unless you tell me,” she instructed. “I’m going to wait at this end for Johnnie to call back.”

  “I’m just going to…” Boggs stopped. “Wait. If she’s here, where’s her car?” She looked up and down the block, then ran the ten feet or so back to Vicky’s car. “Get in! Go around the block.”

  Vicky hesitated just a moment, then did as Boggs had asked.

  “Her car is going to be on the other side,” Boggs said. “I just know it.”

  Vicky drove over to Fourth Street and slowly cruised the block. Nothing.

  “Go over to Sixth,” Boggs said. “Hurry.”

  As they turned onto Sixth Street, Toni’s VW Bug was parked right next to a dark brown van.

  “I thought you said that Peter hadn’t left his house,” Boggs said.

  “I did.” Vicky keyed the microphone and called in their location. Then she switched over to channel four and spoke to Captain Billings. She gave him their location. “He’ll know what to do,” she told Boggs, who had already gotten out of the car.

  Boggs had her gun out and ran to the closest door. Vicky was right behind her. “Son of a bitch,” Boggs whispered. “It’s Charlie. It’s always been Charlie.” She tried the door. It was unlocked.

  She turned to Vicky. “Close your eyes and take off your sunglasses,” she instructed. She did the same. “Then just barely open one eye as we go in. Then it won’t take time for our other eye to adjust to the darkness.” Boggs waited as she counted to five, then slowly opened the door, gun drawn.

  It took her only a second to see the situation, but a few more to comprehend what she saw. Toni was bound to a chair and Charlie had a gun pointed right at her head. They both turned to look at her. She locked eyes with Toni for just a millisecond, but it was enough to last a lifetime. She looked back at Charlie. He was no longer looking her way. His eyes were on his target. As she pulled the trigger, she heard two other shots.

  Everything seemed to happen in slow motion for Toni. She heard the door open and saw Boggs. Her Boggs, gun drawn. Their eyes met, but only for a moment. It was now or never. She looked back at Charlie and he was staring right at her, gun pointed at her head. He’s right handed. The gun will pull right. She took a chance and leaned hard to her right. She felt the chair tilt, then felt a sharp pain in the side of her head. She wasn’t sure if she was falling or not, before everything went black.

  Boggs watched as both Toni and Charlie fell to the ground. She ran for Toni and Vicky ran for Charlie, her gun pointed at his body on the floor.

  “She’s hit!” Boggs screamed. She looked around frantically. Toni was still duct taped to the chair, which was now on its side, as was Toni.There was blood covering the left side of Toni’s head. She yanked off her blazer and pressed it against the wound.

  “He’s dead,” Vicky said, kicking his body. She pushed the gun away from him as she called in for an ambulance.

  “Help me get her out of here,” Boggs yelled. “Cut the tape.” She was holding pressure on the wound and touching Toni’s face.

  Vicky pulled out her pocketknife and cut the tape. It was on Toni’s arms, legs and around her body. She slowly pulled the chair away. Boggs started to move Toni off her side. “No,” Vicky said. “Leave her just like she is until they get here,” she instructed. “Just keep pressure. And talk to her. Claire says they can hear you when they’re unconscious. Talk to her.”

  Boggs nodded as she sat on the floor, cradling Toni’s body. “It’s okay, babe. I’m here. Vicky and I made it in time. You’re okay. Charlie’s dead. He can’t hurt you now. I’m right here.”

  The sound of the sirens made Boggs feel better. She kissed Toni’s cheek. “The ambulance is here, babe. I won’t leave you. You’re going to be okay,” she whispered.

  Vicky ran to the door and waved the guys inside. They were at Toni’s side in record time.

  “We’ve got her,” the medic said quietly.

  Boggs didn’t move.

  “Let us take care of her,” he said. “You can ride with her. Let me look.”

  Boggs slowly scooted back and watched the two men work on Toni. They had her on the stretcher and were wheeling her out in a matter of minutes. She ran behind them. “Is it bad?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

  “It might be just a flesh wound, but I can’t be sure,” he said. He motioned for her to get in the back of the ambulance with him.

  Vicky was surrounded by several police cars outside the warehouse. She waved to Boggs just as the ambulance doors closed.

  Toni opened her eyes, then closed them quickly. The bright lights hurt her head. “I take it I’m still alive,”
she said.

  Claire laughed. “Yes, you are. But you’ve got a nasty wound there.”

  “Where’s Boggs?”

  “She’s right here.”

  Toni was lying on her side on the gurney. She opened one eye and held out her hand. “Boggs?”

  She felt the warmth of Boggs’s hand in hers.

  “I’m right here, babe.”

  Claire was behind Toni, working on the injury. “I just finished here, Toni. You needed a few stitches, but you should be fine.”

  “Did you mess up my hair?” Toni asked, smiling.

  “Just a tad,” Claire said. “Sorry about that. Nothing a little creative styling won’t cure. Or a hat.”

  “Thanks, Claire.”

  Claire finished bandaging the area. “I’ll leave you two alone for a bit,” she said. “I want to find Vicky.”

  “It was Charlie,” Toni whispered.

  “I know, babe. He’s dead.”

  “I remembered too late,” Toni said.

  “Remembered what?”

  “Charlie played with his wedding ring. I saw it the first time I went, but I forgot.” She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  Boggs kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t be sorry, babe. You did good. You moved enough to miss the shot. You did really good. You rest for a bit, okay?”

  “Will you stay with me? I just want to rest for a few minutes, then we can go home.”

  Boggs let go of her hand and pulled a chair up next to the gurney. “I’m not going anywhere,” she said as she took Toni’s hand again.

  “I heard you say that before,” Toni murmured. “Back there.” She squeezed Boggs’s hand and let herself drift off to sleep.

  Chapter 20

  Toni opened her eyes on Wednesday morning in her own bed. It took only a second to realize that her head hurt. She reached up and felt the bandage. Boggs was sitting in a chair, looking at her.

  Boggs jumped up and ran to the side of the bed. “Are you okay?”

  “My head hurts a bit,” Toni said. She looked at Boggs. “You look like crap. Did you stay up all night?”

  Boggs nodded. “I was worried.”

  “What time is it?”

  Boggs glanced at her watch. “It’s only seven.”

  “I could use a cup of coffee,” Toni said as she sat up. “And maybe some aspirin.”

  Boggs ran to the master bathroom and came back with a glass of water and a bottle. She handed the water to Toni and got out two pills. “Here.” She had a prescription bottle.

  “I don’t think I need those,” Toni said. She swung her feet around and sat on the edge of the bed. The room went out of focus for a moment and her head throbbed. “On second thought, maybe I do.” She reached out for the pills and quickly swallowed them.

  “I’ll go make coffee and bring it up to you,” Boggs said.

  “No, I want to go down. I’ll just throw on some sweats and slippers and come down with you,” Toni insisted. She touched the bandage on her head. “How bad is it?”

  “You look beautiful,” Boggs whispered, still holding her hand. “I was so afraid I’d lost you.”

  “Me, too, hon. Me, too.” Toni kissed Boggs’s hand.

  “Claire put in thirteen stitches,” Boggs said. “And I told her to be careful about how much hair she had to shave.” Boggs laughed. “That was after I realized you’d be okay.”

  “Thirteen, huh?” Toni smiled. “Lucky number. And I think a baseball hat will cover it for now, don’t you think?”

  “You want to wear a hat now?”

  “No, but when people come over tomorrow. I don’t want my folks to worry.”

  Boggs nodded. “Are you sure you want to come down for coffee?”

  “Absolutely,” Toni said. “I don’t want to miss one second of the rest of my life.” She stood and felt a little wobbly. “And I need to work on our lists.” She grinned. “Looks like you’re going to be stuck going to the grocery store today.”

  Boggs handed her a pair of sweatpants and got her slippers out of the closet. “Nope. I already gave the list to Patty, who volunteered, I might add. I’m not leaving you for one second.” They went down the stairs, arm in arm.

  Toni sat at the island, waiting for the coffee to brew. She kissed Mr. Rupert’s head so many times, he started to duck. Boggs brought her a cup of coffee, without Kahluá, and made some toast. She had just finished eating when the doorbell rang. They both looked at the monitor. It was Vicky.

  Vicky hugged Toni and handed her a bouquet of flowers. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she whispered after kissing her cheek.

  “These are gorgeous,” Toni said, handing them to Boggs. “They’ll make the perfect centerpiece.”

  “Are you still doing Thanksgiving?” Vicky asked.

  “Absolutely,” Toni said.

  Boggs put the flowers in a vase. “I asked her the same thing. You want a cup of coffee?”

  Vicky nodded. “With a splash of something please. I’m celebrating.” The smile on her face was contagious.

  “You asked her, didn’t you?” Toni asked.

  Vicky nodded. “After what happened to you yesterday, I got the courage.”

  “What did she say? No, wait. What did you say?” Toni grinned. “Tell me everything!”

  “Well,” Vicky said. “It was after she sewed you up.” She looked at Toni’s head. “Nice job, by the way. Anyway, she came out of your room and I pulled her into the doctor’s break room. Then I just blurted out that I loved her, like a real idiot.”

  “That’s not being an idiot,” Toni said.

  Vicky took a sip of her coffee. “Jeez. Did you put any coffee in here, Boggs?” She grinned. “It’s good. Anyway, then I did what you said, Toni. I handed her this tiny envelope with a key in it. She opened it and just stared at me. I thought I was going to throw up.”

  Toni laughed. “I bet. Did you say anything?”

  “I told her I was giving her the key to my heart…and my house.” Vicky smiled broadly.

  “Pretty corny,” Boggs said.

  “Shut up,” Vicky replied. “She said yes.”

  “I’m so happy for you guys,” Toni said, hugging Vicky. “So she knows about the house and everything?”

  Vicky nodded. “I showed her all the pictures I’d taken. She says she knows how to drywall.” She grinned again. “I had to come by and tell you, and of course check to see how you are.”

  “Just a bit of a headache,” Toni said. “And I haven’t looked in the mirror yet.”

  “We went to Charlie’s house last night,” Vicky said. “His mother was there and had no clue. We found a zip drive with all his crazy ideas.”

  “How did he get the insulin?” Boggs asked.

  “According to his mother, his dead wife was a diabetic. I guess it just kept coming from a supply company. There were over thirty vials in the refrigerator in the garage.”

  Boggs shook her head. “I thought for sure it was Peter. I guess that means I still have to work with him.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” Vicky said. “Captain Billings told me that he, Anne Mulhoney and Judge Crayton are looking into everyone that the mayor recommended for jobs. Apparently there are a few that lied on their applications, or that the mayor fast tracked without a proper background check.”

  “Boy, I bet Sam is chomping at the bit on that. Did you tell him?”

  “Yup, I called him right after I talked to Captain Billings. He giggled like a girl.” She finished her cup of coffee. “Okay, I’ve got to get going. Claire went back to her place to pick up some clothing and stuff.”

  “You’ve got the day off?” Toni asked.

  “Yeah, after everything that happened, Captain Billings told me he’d see me on Monday.” She stood to leave. “Guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Take care of her, Boggs.”

  Boggs came back in the kitchen after letting Vicky out. She refilled their mugs of coffee. “This wasn’t exactly how I planned on spending our day off,” Boggs said, sm
iling. “But I’m glad you’re okay.”

  Toni motioned for Boggs to come closer, then kissed her passionately. “Me, too, hon.” She winked at Boggs. “Want to help me take a shower? I think I may need special help.” She pointed to the bandage on her head.

  Boggs raised her eyebrow, then grinned. “Whatever you need, babe.”

  They went up the stairs the same way they came down, arm in arm.

  After lunch, Toni was stretched out on the couch, sipping hot tea. Patty had been true to her word and had arrived earlier with all the groceries. She’d told them that she considered flashing her badge to get through the long lines faster, but decided against it. The first turkey was already roasting in the oven and Toni was just beginning to smell it. She jumped when the doorbell rang.

  Boggs was in the kitchen. “It’s the delivery people with our tables and chairs,” she said. “Stay there.”

  Toni did as instructed and watched as a young man and young woman carried the boxes into the living room. After the second trip, Toni looked more closely at the woman. She was wearing a baseball hat.

  “Aren’t you a law student?” Toni asked.

  The woman put down the box. “Yes, ma’am. Third year.”

  “I thought I recognized you. It’s Laurel, right?” Toni remembered her being one who always asked excellent questions.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “You’re in the clinic at Metro. And please, call me Toni.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m in the clinic. Just started this semester.” The young woman said as she left to get another box.

  When she returned, Toni smiled. “Prior military?” she asked.

  “Yes, ma’am. How did you know?”

  “You won’t stop calling me ma’am,” Toni said.

  The young woman blushed. “Sorry. Habit.” She went out for another box.

  She and the young man came back with the final load. The young man went to Boggs with the paperwork. The young woman started to leave.

  “Wait, Laurel,” Toni said. “This is just a hunch, but do you have somewhere to go for Thanksgiving dinner?”

  The young woman looked at the floor. “They’re serving turkey at the dorms,” she said.