Stacey Page 12

  "Whatever," Special Agent Cannon said as he waved his hand; he continued. "Our UNSUB used a prepaid, untraceable cell phone to detonate the bombs. The bomber had packed six large duffle bags with fifty-five, ten-inch plastic tubes with small, metal ball bearings and two-inch nails. The bomber then placed two bags on the third floor, two on the second floor, and two on the first. All of the bombs were strategically placed where they could do the most structural damage..." Agent Cannon let this last sentence hang in the air for a moment before he said, "To do that, the bomber would have had to know the layout of the precinct and that means the bomber had knowledge of the Double 0..." Agent Cannon looked at the detectives.

  Iris glanced at Toni and ran her hand across her mouth. "Fuck!"

  "Yeah, that's right, detective, you fucked up." Agent Cannon tapped a key on his laptop and said, "Now, continue watching, detectives." Iris and Toni stared at the agent's laptop. They saw the Latino man in the blue worker's uniform jump into the Ford pickup and drive off. Security cameras placed throughout the city had followed the pickup. The Ford had double parked in front of IHOP (a few blocks away) on Lexington Ave., near 125th Street.

  A security camera mounted at the entrance and exits of the famous restaurant captured a frightened crowd pushing and shoving their way out of the eatery. "This was exactly five minutes and thirty-five seconds after the last explosion," Cannon said.

  Iris watched the Latino man who was wearing the blue worker's uniform, the same man that had bumped into her as he made his way out of the Double 0, force his way into the restaurant. He carried a large backpack over his right shoulder "What the hell is he doing?" Iris asked.

  "Keep watching, detectives.” A camera positioned over the door to the men's room caught the Latino man entering it. "I found out that there was nobody else in that restroom, detectives.” Iris and Toni watched as the manager banged on the door. Apparently, he was yelling at the man to come out. Four and a half minutes later, the door opened. Special Agent Cannon heard a collective ‘Holy shit’ from Iris and Toni when a beautiful young Caucasian woman stepped out of the men's room. She was carrying the same backpack over her right shoulder that the Latino man had carried into the men's room. One of the cameras caught her face. Agent Cannon froze the image. "That, my dear detectives is our UNSUB, seventeen-year-old Stacey McHill." He glared at the detectives, then shook his head, "Un-fucking believable. You two chased this girl for over two months—"

  “Stacey and her sister had the whole department fooled," Iris said, cutting the agent off. Special Agent Cannon frowned at Iris as he shot to his feet. "Let me tell you something, that was sloppy detecting. If you and your partner here had been more observant, you would've caught this crazy little bitch—"

  "Who in the hell do you think—"

  Toni, who was standing on Iris’ left, slammed her fist down on Cannon's desk, interrupting Iris’ question.

  "You disrespectful piece of shit! You fucking slime ball. Who in the hell do you think you are?” Toni pushed past Iris and got right into Cannon's personal space. Iris stared at her partner in total disbelief. You go girl, she thought. Toni had always been a laid back, hard to anger kind of person. But now... "If you don't show us the respect that we deserve—you son of a bitch—your stay here will be a miserable one. Do you understand me, Special Agent Cannon?” Toni had put some stank on the agent's last name; she became belligerent.

  Cannon looked down at the angry detective. He puckered his lips and blew Toni a kiss, then he laughed in her face. It took all of Iris’ strength to hold her partner back. "I'll kill you, you sonofabitch!" Toni shouted.

  "Get the hell out of here, Cannon!" Iris shouted.

  "I'm not going nowhere." As soon as Agent Cannon got the last word out of his mouth, Iris let Toni go.

  Chapter 44

  TONI GRABBED THE AGENT's laptop and hurled it at him. Cannon ducked and ran toward the back of the mobile unit. Toni stood in a Judo stance. "C’mon, you sonofabitch!" She charged toward Cannon. The agent looked left, then right. There was only one place for the FBI agent to run...the restroom. He slammed the door.

  "You better run," Iris said, smiling at her partner. "What the hell was that? I've never seen you like that before."

  Toni lowered her head. "That guy's a limp prick."

  Iris was staring at her partner.

  "What?"

  "That turned me on—"

  "Oh, for God’s sake, Iris,” Toni said as she turned her back and walked toward her desk.

  "What...? I'm just saying..."

  Five minutes later, Agent Cannon opened the restroom door and waved a white handkerchief. Iris noticed it first. "Look." Toni stood up and walked halfway down the aisle. "Do you solemnly swear to treat us like equals, Agent Cannon?"

  Silence.

  "Agent Cannon!"

  "Yeah... I promise."

  "O.k., you can come out now."

  Special Agent Cannon walked out of the restroom. "Look, I know that I came on a little strong, but..." Agent Cannon paused and stared at his scuffed shoes. "It's just that... Look, I apologize, o.k.?" Iris and Toni glared at the man. "Right now, we've got to work together on this thing. I need to know everything you know about Stacey McHill."

  "O.k., we accept your apology," Toni said. "And I'll get you another laptop today." She turned toward Iris.

  "Yeah, yeah, apology accepted."

  Toni walked over to the smashed-up laptop and picked up the USB. "Here," she said as she passed Agent Cannon his USB. "Didn't you read our reports on Stacey McHill?"

  "Yes, I did, but I want to hear it from the persons who actually tracked the twins down. You two." Iris stared at the special agent, suspiciously.

  "C’mon, Detective Williams." Special Agent Cannon held out his hand. "We're all in this together, Detective."

  Iris looked at Toni.

  "I think he's sincere," Toni said. Iris took the agent's hand.

  For the next hour and fifteen minutes, Iris and Toni explained how they'd hunted down the elusive twins.

  "That was one hell of a story," Cannon said as he removed his right shoe and began massaging his aching bunion. Iris looked at the man as if he'd just dug his finger deep into the interior of his nose while sitting at the dinner table. "What the hell are you doing—" Iris covered her nose. "And why does your foot smell like that?" A long Ahh escaped from his lips. Toni had her hands over her nose and mouth.

  "It's this damn bunion," Cannon said. Iris shook her head.

  "What're you, the FBI's secret weapon? They send you in, you remove your shoes, and everyone starts confessing?”

  "Very funny, Detective." Chagrined, Agent Cannon put his shoe back on.

  Detectives Leroy Chalk and Anaya Hayes entered the mobile unit. Ever since the bombing of the Double 0, which cost his new bride her life, Casper hadn't been himself. Now he was falling for a woman he barely knows. Iris looked at Hayes who was a stunning woman. Dark chocolate complexion with hazel eyes—which Iris presumed were contacts—full lips and an hourglass figure. She was the same height as Iris and looked to be the same weight. A brown ponytail stuck out from the back of her NYPD cap. A little drop of jealousy shot through Iris’ blood stream when she's noticed how close Casper and Hayes had become. It's good that Casper and Hayes are close, she tried to make herself believe.

  "What's up?" Casper asked.

  "Hey. What's up with your floater?" Iris asked.

  "Get this," Hayes said. "Somebody burnt the body beyond recognition. All of the victim's teeth and the tips of her fingers were removed..."

  "Yeah," Casper said as he removed his jacket and placed his cell phone on his desk. "Forensics believes that the removing of her teeth and fingertips were done while the victim was still alive." Casper glanced over at Agent Cannon. The agent was staring at Casper. The presence of the big, black, white man made the FBI agent uncomfortable. Chalk's African features were in stark contrast to his snow-white skin. Casper stood a few inches taller than the agent and weighed a
bout a hundred pound more. Special Agent Bobby Cannon had never been afraid of another man in all his life, but the sight of the giant albino—affectionately known as Casper—unnerved the special agent. Casper walked by Cannon's desk and said, "Boo." Agent Cannon almost jumped out of his chair. The women all shared a good laugh.

  Twenty minutes later, Iris walked over to Hayes' desk. "Can I talk to you for a moment, Hayes?" Detective Hayes who was in the process of typing up a report on the floater looked up at Iris. “Yes, what can I do for you?"

  Iris stuck four fingers, on both her hands, into the front pockets of her jeans.

  "What's up with you and Casper? Are you guys a couple? You don't think it's too soon?"

  "Wow, slow down, Williams. First off, Casper and I aren't a couple. He's a sweet guy. I just figured he needed someone he could talk to after what had happened to Lori. That's all."

  "So, you're not sleeping with him?"

  Hayes grinned at Iris. "No, girl we didn't do the nasty. Besides, Casper is shy. I don't think he'd even know how to approach me on something like that." Hayes looked directly into Iris’ eyes. "Iris, you don't have to worry about Leroy, trust me. I'll never do anything to hurt him."

  That's what Iris wanted to hear. "Thank you, Anaya. Casper is like a brother to me. So, you can understand my concern."

  “I understand, he's like a great big polar bear."

  Both women smiled.

  Chapter 45

  AMY JORDAN WAS STIRRED out of her sleep by someone knocking on her door. Amy sat up and listened. KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. She climbed out of bed and walked over to her dresser. She stared into the mirror. Ever since she'd had the eye surgery, Amy had been self-conscious about her looks. Last year Jannifer McHill had struck her high on the right side of her face shattering her eye socket. A woman had found Amy naked; her eyeball hanging on by its nerve endings which reached down to her breast.

  It was Amy Jordan's eye witnessed account that led Detectives Iris Williams and Annette Toni to the twins' door.

  More knocking.

  "I'm coming!" she shouted. She placed an eye patch over her head and positioned it. She glanced at her clock; it was 5:43 am. Amy snatched her robe off the bed and walked barefoot through the living room. "Who is it," she said as she peeked through the foggy peephole. The person on the other side of the door did not answer. But Amy could tell that the person who was knocking was a female. Amy unlocked the door.

  IRIS AND TONI HAD BEEN working with Special Agent Thomas Cannon for three days. Cannon believed that the teenager had left town. He believed that the presence of the FBI most likely scared the twin off. At the end of their tour, Iris and her partner decided to pay a visit to Pamerla's apartment to see the baby. As soon as Pamerla opened the door to let the detectives in, they'd both made a mad dash toward the bedroom. Pamerla smile as her ‘hello, aunties’ went unanswered. Iris and Toni argued over who held the baby first the last time they were there. In fact, the detectives had argued about this all the way over to Pamerla's apartment.

  "Iris, you know darn well you held the baby first the last time we visited." Iris scooped the baby out of her crib and began kissing the infant. "She's so beautiful," Iris said. The baby cooed.

  "Look at that face." Iris pulled the baby toward her chest and gently kissed the top of the baby's head. "Oh my sweet, Jesus, she smells soo good."

  "C’mon, Iris, it's my turn," Toni said impatiently. Iris passed the baby over to Toni. But she did so reluctantly.

  "I didn't get a hi or nothing from you crazy ladies," Pamerla said as she entered her bedroom. She was carrying a small basket filled with the baby's clothes. "Give me my baby, crazy lady, I've got to put some clothes on my angel." Toni passed the baby over to her mother. "You two are gonna spoil my baby rotten..."

  "She's just so precious, yes you are..." Iris said as she tickled the baby's foot.

  Pamerla dressed the baby, then she passed the infant back to Toni. Toni laid the baby on the bed and began nudging the baby's belly with her nose. The little angel laughed and made the cutest baby sounds. Iris, who had walked over to the window, was staring down at the street. "Pam, have you seen any strangers on the block lately?"

  Toni raised her head; she watched Pamerla's facial expression.

  "Like who?"

  "I don't know," she said as she stepped away from the window. Iris looked at the baby, and then she looked at her niece. "Someone who you knew didn't live on the block."

  Pamerla thought for moment, “No, Aunty, I haven't, why?"

  "We don't want to scare you, Pam, but this case we're working on...this girl—"

  "Stacey McHill!" Pamerla blurted. "Oh, my God, do you think she'll come after me and my baby?" Pamerla looked frantic.

  "No, no, no, Pam, I don't think she'll do that," Iris lied. She knew that Stacey McHill was capable of anything. But she didn't want Pam to worry. "I'm just being overly protective." Unbeknownst to Pamerla, Iris had ordered a patrol car to circle the block that Pamerla lived on every fifteen minutes. When the patrol car had passed Pamerla's apartment building, that's when Iris had stepped away from the window.

  Pamerla had had a run in with the twins when they attended NYU. Pamerla had struck Stacey McHill when she thought that her boyfriend, Derrick Simmons, had shown her too much attention. "Everything's under control, Pam—"

  "Is she the one who blew up the precinct?" Pamerla asked as she cradled her baby.

  Iris didn't want to discuss an ongoing investigation with her niece, so she ignored the question. "Everything's fine, Pam–"

  "What the hell do you mean everything is fine? She’s going to come after me, isn't she? Don't lie to me, aunty." Pamerla stood up with her baby in her arms. "I've got to get out of here." Pamerla began pacing the small bedroom. "Just don't stand there, dammit, help me pack."

  After ten minutes, Iris had calmed her niece down. She told Pamerla that she and the baby would be much safer at a friend's house she knew that lived in Jamaica Estates in Queens. "It's out of the way, Pam, Stacey will never know that you're there. You and baby Deloris will stay in the basement apartment. It's nice and cozy, you'll love it."

  Pamerla wiped the tears from her eyes as she stared at her aunt. "Here, hold Deloris, I'm gonna start packing right now."

  Toni walked up behind Iris. "You're doing the right thing, baby. Get her and the baby as far away from here as possible.”

  That night someone threw an incendiary device through Pamerla's window; the device landed in baby Deloris' crib. Eyewitnesses claimed that a teenage girl riding a bike had thrown the device.

  Chapter 46

  THE NEXT AFTERNOON—AT the mobile command unit—Special Agent Cannon had called Ming's Chinese Restaurant and ordered food for everyone. "So, you all think that our UNSUB started the fire last night?"

  "Of course she did," Iris snapped. "You heard the eyewitnesses accounts, they all said that it was a teenage girl. It was Stacey McHill all right."

  "She sounds relentless," Detective Hayes said as she took her jacket off the coat rack. "She is," Iris said. Casper stood up and pulled his jacket off the back of his chair.

  "We've got a lead on that floater," he said. Casper put on his jacket, all the while staring at Agent Cannon.

  "I hope this is a solid lead," Hayes said.

  "Well you guys go get 'em," Toni said.

  Casper passed Agent Cannon’s desk and stared down at him. Agent Cannon found it almost impossible to look into Casper's pink irises. "Boo!"

  "Leroy, that's not nice," Hayes said as she tried to hide her giggles. "Come on, let's go." Tina Ming entered the mobile unit carrying two plastic bags crammed with Chinese food. "Ming's in da house."

  "Hi Tina," Toni said as the pretty Asian American placed the bags on top of the nearest desk. Her black fingernails, black lip gloss, and chalky, white make-up made the young woman look like a reject from a B-horror movie. "It's good to see you."

  "Hopefully, this will be the last time you see me in this capacity," Tin
a said. "My cheap Papa is gonna hire somebody to do...this kind of work. I'm no damn delivery person." Tina Ming had stayed for about fifteen minutes before she said her goodbyes.

  As Iris, Toni, and Agent Cannon ate their lunch; the fax machine came to life. Toni stood up and ambled over toward the machine. She held an eggroll in her mouth; it looked like an oversized cigar. "You look crazy, girl," Iris said.

  Toni snatched up the fax. Gravity pulled the egg roll from the detective's month. "Holy shit!" Iris shot Toni a look.

  "What's wrong?"

  Toni was white as a ghost. "It's a report on that floater that Casper and Hayes are working on.” Iris took the report and read it:

  "Anaya Hayes, age 32, African American. 6-26-79, NYPD detective third grade. Transferred from Midtown South to the Double 0, 3-28-16..." Iris looked at her partner. "How could that be—" Iris stopped in mid-sentence. "Oh, my sweet Jesus! Casper!"

  Panic exploded inside the mobile unit. Agent Cannon jumped out of his chair; perplexed. "Are you telling me that the detective who walked out of here with that monstrosity was Stacey McHill, our UNSUB? How the hell is that possible?"

  Iris dug her hand into her shirt pocket and retrieved her cell phone. It slipped from her hand, but Iris caught it before it could hit the ground. She hit speed dial. A couple of second later, the syncopated drum patterns from Michael Jackson's hit song, Billy Jean, floated through the air. Toni ran to the spot where Casper had been sitting and picked up his cell phone. "He left his freaking phone again!"

  Chapter 47

  "WOW, YOU'VE GOT A LOT of awards, Anaya," Casper said. His partner was in the bedroom.

  "Yeah!" she shouted back. Casper stared at the trophies that sat on top of a wooden wall unit. He picked up a large snow globe. He shook it, and the miniature town inside experienced a major snowstorm; Casper smiled. At that moment, the big man's body began to shake. The snow globe fell to the floor. Casper managed to turn around and what he saw shocked him.