Stacey Page 10

  As Dr. Patterson spoke, Iris eyed the crowd. Stacey McHill could be any one of them. Iris noticed a few people yawning. A middle-aged man in the third row was whispering into the ear of a woman who looked young enough to be his daughter. Iris snapped, "Hey, lovebirds!" The middle-aged man and his young companion looked around the room, then they stared at Iris. "Yeah, you two. Do you think the bullshit that you're telling her is more important than what the doctor has to say? No, I didn't think so, so listen the hell up." The Manhattan Borough President and his secretary looked at one another. "As a matter of fact ..." Iris marched up to the podium. "Excuse me, doc." She tapped the keys on the computer. "Let me show you two lovebirds something.” The crowd gasped. On the screen was the image of a nude body lying on a medical examiner's table. The epidermis, the dermis, the papillary, and the reticular layers of the skin were missing. The yellow subcutaneous tissues that protect the inner body structures were all that remained of the victim's skin. "This was my partner, Detective Andrew Taylor. Stacey and Jannifer McHill poured crazy glue all over his body, then they wrapped him up in duct tape. It took hours to unwrap his body." Iris fought back her tears and cleared her throat. "This is what Stacey and her sister did to him." Iris watched as the color drained from the faces of the Borough President and his mistress. The secretary bolted from her chair and ran toward the door; she threw up before she made it.

  Chapter 35

  DETECTIVE IRIS WILLIAMS had their attention now. A low murmur floated through the air. The body on the screen had a gaping hole where the genitals should've been. The silence in the room was eerie. Yeah, Detective Iris Williams had their attention now.

  Iris tapped another key and the image of a man sitting on a metal chair appeared on the screen. He too was nude, and his genitals were missing. "The twins diced up his penis and glued it to the duct tape that you see wrapped around his face, and that black party hat was crazy glued to his head as well. This was Anthony Jenkins Junior, age nineteen. His body was crazy glued to that chair he's sitting in. It took forensic two and a half hours to remove his body from that chair. And what you see in the sockets of his eyes is garbage taken from the roof that his body was found.

  "What's that sticking out from his genital area?" someone shouted from the back of the room.

  Iris looked at the screen: "A brick, a plastic, sixteen-ounce 7 Up bottle, one of his Nikes, and a few other items that were scattered on the roof." Iris tapped another key on the computer and this time the screen was filled with the buttocks of a dead man. Two smeared, bloody hand prints were on both man’s ass cheeks. Iris walked up to the flat screen and pointed at something. "You see that there. That’s the tip of the man's penis. Stacey and Jannifer McHill glued it to the man's anus after they'd ripped it off with their bare hands and cut it up; the rest of it was glued to the tape. Those are female underwear you see stuffed into the hole where his privates use to be. This was Jonathan Jacob, a successful lawyer, who had an office on the same floor—in the State Building—as Former President Bill Clinton.” Iris walked back to the computer, hit a key, and the image disappeared.

  "And two teenage girls did all of that?"

  "Yeah, two teenage girls did all of that," she echoed. "Now, please, ladies and gentlemen, give Doctor Patterson your full attention."

  Dr. Patterson walked back up to the podium. Iris tapped a few keys on the computer. A date appeared in the lower right-hand corner of the screen: Nov. 3, 2013, 8:56 am. Louisiana State P.C. The crowd watched as two young girls entered the medical ward, followed by Dr. Patterson. Two male orderlies approached the girls, and all hell broke loose. Dr. Patterson hit paused when one of the girls swung a vicious right hand that caught one of the male orderlies squarely on the jaw, dislodging his dentures. Everyone sat at the edge of their seats. Dr. Patterson tapped a key and the action continued. Although there was no audio, the people in attendance could feel the rage coming from Stacey and Jannifer McHill. “It took eight male orderlies to overpower the twins,” Dr. Patterson said, “This is who you're after." She walked over to the T.V. screen and pointed to Stacey, who looked like a screaming demon from hell. "That there is Stacey McHill; she's the eldest and the calmer of the two."

  "How is it that they are so strong?" the Deputy Commissioner asked.

  "The condition is called Excited Delirium," the doctor answered. "This condition occurs when a mental patient or a person under a mind-altering drug is trying to resist being restrained. Stacey and Jannifer McHill were paranoid, disoriented, and showed extreme signs of hyper-aggression on this particular day.”

  Chapter 36

  DR. PATTERSON STEPPED away from the mike, and Detective Toni took the podium. Toni explained how elusive the twins were and how it was damn near impossible to apprehend them. She explained the mind-boggling ways in which the twins could impersonate anyone of any race or color. "Be it man or woman, fat or skinny, Chinese or African, Stacey McHill and her sister were true masters of disguise...in fact, the term masters of disguise is too weak to describe what Stacey McHill could do with makeup, she could be in this room right now." People stirred in their seats and began glancing at one another.

  Ninety minutes later, Iris stood in front of her truck along with Toni and Dr. Patterson. The detectives chatted with the doctor for a few minutes before she said goodbye. Iris spotted the Chief of Detectives exiting the Double 0. She took a few steps toward the building before Casper called out to her.

  "Casper," Iris said as she turned in his direction. "Where the hell have you been?" Casper stood next to Detective Lori Tail; they were both smiling. "You two look like you just had the best sex of your lives. Casper and Lori continued to smile. "What the hell are you two smiling about?" Lori quickly raised her left hand and splayed her fingers. On her ring finger was the diamond ring that Casper had shown Iris back at the Double 0.

  "We just got married!" Lori said as she jumped up and down. Detective Hayes stood next to her best friend; Casper’s whiteness still spooked her.

  "Oh, my God!" Toni said.

  "Yeah, but that's not all," Lori said. She looked up at her new husband. "Shall I tell 'em, or do you want too?” Before Casper could answer, Lori said, "We're having a baby. I'm pregnant."

  "Get out," Iris said as she playfully pushed her big, albino friend.

  The group chatted for a moment, then Lori excused herself. "I have to go pee, baby, I'll be right back,” she said to her new husband.

  A construction man bumped into Iris as he made his way out of the building. Lt. Stone and the Chief of Police were standing in the doorway. Lt. Stone stopped Lori; they exchanged a few words before Stone gave her a hug. At that precise moment, an explosion rocked the building. The scaffolding crumbling in front of the entrance to the Double 0. Every window on the opposite side of the block shattered. The entrance door to the Double 0 came rocking off its hinge; it missed Iris by inches, but a man from Artelly's Masonry wasn't so lucky. The door slammed into the man killing him instantly. There was another explosion and another. In all, six earth-shaking explosions tore through the Double 0 precinct. Iris’ small frame crashed into a no parking sign. Toni’s body was blown in to the street. Both detectives lay unconscious.

  Two minutes later, the sound of sirens filled the air amidst the screams and moaning from the wounded. Iris shook her head. She ran her hand across her eyes, then she called out her girlfriend’s name. Iris slowly made it to her feet. She looked down at her right leg and saw two large nails embedded into her thigh. One of the nails went into her leg head first. Iris pulled the nails out as she bit into her bottom lip; shock took the pain away. She looked around for Toni again. She spotted her lying in the middle of the street with five or six other bodies. Most of them were missing a limb or two. Iris hopped over to where her partner lay. "Toni!" she called out. Iris fell to her knees and scanned Toni's body for any serious injuries. Toni had none as far as Iris could see. "Toni! Are you all right?" Toni moaned and shook her head. "Toni!" Iris wiped blood from Toni's forehead,
it was nothing but a small abrasion.

  "What happened?"

  "There was an explosion." Through the cloud of smoke, Iris noticed Casper; he stood about four feet away from the falling scaffolding which was blocking the entire entrance to the building. Casper stretched out his arms; his mouth agape. Iris helped Toni to her feet. "Can you walk?"

  "Is that Casper?" Toni asked. The large albino had pieces of glass stuck into his ghostly, white face. The red blood that poured from his wounds were in stark contrast to his white skin, it looked as if he was crying tears of blood. To Iris and Toni’s surprise—or maybe not—Casper charged toward the fallen scaffolding and began shaking and pulling at the twisted pieces of metal, trying to make his way inside. All the while he was screaming out his dead wife's name. Eventually, it took six police officers to pull Casper away from the scaffolding.

  In a matter of minutes, 124th Street was crawling with emergency rescue workers. Fire and Rescue were the first to arrive. The bomb squad and the FBI had also arrived at the scene.

  124th Street between 2nd and 3rd Ave. looked like a war zone. The Army's E.O.D. technicians (explosive ordnance disposal) were also at the scene. Men and women carrying scary looking weapons were everywhere. Angry looking military men were shouting orders at everyone. Someone shouted, “the Deputy Police Commissioner and the Deputy Mayor are trapped inside!”

  Chapter 37

  THREE HOURS AFTER THE horrific explosion, search and rescue went to work. Iris watched as EMS carried out the tenth body from her beloved precinct, her second home for over twelve years. The tenth body or what was left of it belonged to Detective Lori Tail. Iris knew it was Tail's body from the diamond ring. Lori’s head and legs were missing from her torso. Iris noticed Detective Anaya Hayes walking around in a daze.

  The bodies of the Deputy Police Commissioner, the Deputy Mayor, and that of Lieutenant Leroy Stone lay in the street next to the other forty-three bodies. The line of bodies were covered with white sheets, and they stretched a quarter of the block.

  The rumors started almost immediately that a Muslim hate group was responsible for the bombing of the Double 0. Detectives Iris Williams and Annette Toni stood across the street next to a turned over mobile delicatessen. The detectives were still in shock.

  Speechless, Iris rubbed her leg and stared at the emergency response team that were hard at work caring for the injured, and the seemingly endless bodies that stretched a quarter of the way down the street. She looked up. At least seven helicopters hovered overhead. Iris looked at Toni, who was weeping, touched her on the shoulder and said, "I'll call you later." Then she turned and limped away from the hellish scene.

  Chapter 38

  AT THE MAPLE GROVE Cemetery in Kew Gardens, Queens, Iris sat on top of her mother's grave with her legs crossed. Dark clouds hung over head, and a heavy rain began to fall. Iris thought about the people who’d lost their lives in the explosion: The Deputy Mayor, the Deputy Police Commissioner, and the other forty-three men and women whose bodies had lined the street, including her friend and mentor Lt. Stone. She pounded her fist into the wet grass when she thought about Casper's new and pregnant wife, Lori Tail. And although Iris hadn’t particularly gotten along with Detective Tail, her heart ached for the young detective.

  "I've seen too much death, too much evil, mommy. I'm done." A feeling of hopelessness took over her. She removed her police ID and pulled off the badge. Iris held it in her hand and stared as the rain fell upon it. She pulled her knees up to her chest, hugged them, and rocked back and forth. "They didn't deserve to die like that, mommy... And on top of all that, Stacey McHill escaped." Iris lowered her head and cried. "I just can't take it anymore," she said as she shook her head. A voice from deep within her said: You can't quit, you know that. You're the protector, you've always been the protector. Iris stood up and shook the thought from her mind. She wiped her wet hands on the back her jeans. "No... I’m done. Finished." Her tears ran down her rain- soaked face. Iris blew a kiss at her mother's headstone. She turned and walked away, mumbling to herself: "I just can't do this no more, mommy." Her shield slipped from her hand.

  Iris drove down Fulton Street, in the East New York section of Brooklyn. She took the scenic route back to Harlem. She double parked in front of a mini market. The J train lumbered overhead as she stepped out of her truck. The rain had stopped, and the sky was clearing up. A buzzer had alerted the proprietor that someone had entered the store. A young woman popped her head up from behind the counter. She pulled out one of her earbuds. "Can I help you, miss?"

  "Where do you keep your tampons?"

  "We got 'em right over here." The young woman handed Iris the item. "Can I help you with anything else?”

  "Yeah, I need some bottled water, some bandages, rubbing alcohol, and a bottle of peroxide."

  The young woman looked down at Iris’ bloody jean. "They're straight in the back, you can't miss 'em," she said, pointing. Iris thanked her. As she made her way toward the back of the store, the store's buzzer went off. Iris opened the fridge and removed a six pack of Poland Springs. She then stepped to her right and grabbed a large bag of chips. As she looked around for the other items she needed, she heard a man's voice shouting orders. Iris peeked down the aisle and saw a tall man wearing a ski mask; he had a butcher’s knife in his hand, and he was demanding money.

  The adrenaline rush that Iris felt was so sudden that she dropped the chips and the six pack of water. But before the items hit the floor, Iris had her .9mm pointed at the man's chest. Her other hand went for her ID; she remembered she’d dropped it back at her mother's grave. "Freeze, stupid!" The would-be robber spun around and saw a wild- looking lady with a large blood stain on her jeans pointing a gun at him. The look on the woman's face told the robber all he needed to know. He dropped the knife and bolted from the store. "Hey, where you're goin', man?" Iris turned to the terrified young woman. "Call 9-1-1, now!"

  Before the bad guy could make it to the corner of the block, Iris pounced on him. The bad guy hit the ground with a thud. Iris straddled the man's chest, she was oblivious to the pain in her thigh. "Where the hell do you think you were goin', dude?" She removed her handcuffs from her back pocket and cuffed the punk.

  "Oww, they’re too tight."

  Iris leaned over the man and growled. "I'm not goin' nowhere, punk. This is what I do." The bad guy had no idea what the crazy lady was talking about. Iris pulled the man to his feet. She grabbed the man by his cheeks. "Look at me, you son-of-a-bitch." The would-be robber piss in his pants.

  "I'm the freakin’ protector," she barked.

  Chapter 39

  STACEY MCHILL SAT INSIDE a Ford pickup on the corner of Sutphin Blvd. right off Liberty Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. She looked at her smartphone:

  Jam. furn'd room-basement

  share kit/bath. female preferred.

  free cable/internet.

  125.00wk 2wks sec.

  See Ms. B. Booker.

  The night before, Stacey McHill had walked through Riverbank State Park in Harlem. A place where she and her sister had visited regularly. There was a large tree that she and Jannifer used to sit under. Stacey had sat by that tree and looked around. It was 11:47pm. Stacey had used her hands to dig a hole two-feet deep. When she was done, Stacey pulled out two backpacks. One had been filled with clothing and the other packed with seventy-five thousand dollars in 20s and 50s.

  The money was from an inheritance that her parents had left Stacey and her sister. Mr. and Mrs. Terry McHill had stipulated in their will that upon their sudden death their twin daughters would inherit all their holdings. Terry and Linda McHill’s personal assets were over ten million dollars. Jonathan Jacob, a probate lawyer, and a friend of the McHill’s, had been the executor of the will. Eight and a half months ago, at the insistence of the twins, Jonathan Jacob had placed the bulk of the twins’ inheritance in an offshore account, then he'd set up two separate bank accounts in two different names. After moving the twins’ money around, they'd
killed Jacobs and removed the hard drive from his computer. He was the first of three people that were killed because he knew the twins’ true identity; the twins’ maternal aunt was included on that short list. Stacey and Jannifer McHill had stashed over three hundred thousand dollars throughout the parks in Harlem. After her sister had been killed by Detective Iris Williams, and with Stacey locked away, all their holdings were seized.

  Stacey walked up to a house on Shore Ave. She stared at the old structure and noticed that it once had a balcony. She read the address: 147-53. Stacey needed a place that was inconspicuous and out of Harlem; this place was perfect.

  She rang the doorbell and a pretty, middle-aged woman answered. A screen door separated the two women. "Can I help you?" the lady asked.

  "Yes, my name is Jannifer Hill and I'm here to see the room for rent. I know it's late, but I really need some place to stay. My boyfriend..." Stacey dropped her head and began to cry.

  "That's o.k., baby, don't cry," the middle-aged woman said as she unhooked the screen door and let Stacey McHill in.

  IRIS WALKED INTO HER Harlem apartment dead tired. She walked into her bedroom and fell face first onto her bed. She rolled over and removed her cell phone from her pocket. She called Toni, then she called her sister. Iris went into the bathroom, took a shower, and cleaned the wound in her leg. Iris re-entered her bedroom and climbed into her bed. She closed the shutters on her mind and muttered to herself, "protector."