I.Williams Read online

  "Yeah, you freakin' polar bear." She hugged her friend.

  "Good. Now go home and make up with Toni. She's been worried sick about you." Iris and Casper walked away from the grave. Iris stopped a few feet away, turned and said, "I love you, Mommy."

  Chapter 5

  Sarah Emerson peeked into her brother's bedroom before she stepped in. Her brother, Samuel, was sitting in a corner. There were food wrappings from Burger King and Wendy's all over the floor. There were also wrappings from Dunkin' Donuts, empty cartons of Chinese food, and empty buckets from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Samuel had a harness in the shape of a female breast strapped to his chest and a lifelike doll cradled in his arms. Samuel Emerson stood at six feet six inches and weighed two hundred and seventy pounds. His eyes and hair were brown, and his face elongated. Samuel had a prominent forehead, and his ears were overdeveloped. Sarah slowly closed the door behind her. "I got something for you, Sammy." Samuel jumped up and the lifelike doll fell to the floor. He put his large fingers through the holes of the bat catchers' mask he wore over his face and shook it. "Take it easy, baby. Calm down." Samuel stopped playing with the mask and jumped up and down. Sarah watched her brother's childish behavior. Samuel suffered from Fragile X Syndrome: a severe form of retardation. At twenty-six, Samuel's mental development was crippled by his affliction. His communication skills, along with his ability to take care of himself were also severely limited.

  Sarah stared at the harness she made for her brother. Baby formula leaked from one nipple. “I've got a present for you.” Sarah stretched her words for her brother's amusement. Samuel flapped his large hands as he stood in the corner of his room, waiting. Sarah placed her gym bag on the floor. She pushed away one of the many soiled, adult diapers that littered the floor. The room smelled of human waste. She stooped and began unzipping her gym bag. Samuel was in a frenzy. He slapped the bat catcher’s mask that covered his face with both his hands. "Stop that, Samuel!" his sister shouted. "Calm down, be good and I'll take it off." Sarah continued unzipping her gym bag. Samuel rushed in his sister's direction, but the nylon rope wrapped around his waist and tied to a radiator restricted his movements. "Get back, Samuel, now!" Sarah shouted. Samuel backed up and bumped into a baby's crib filled with lifelike dolls. Doll clothing lay all over a piss stained, queen-sized box spring situated next to the baby crib. "Look what I got for you, Sammy." Sarah removed the infant from out of the gym bag by its leg.

  "Ba ba. Ba ba!" Samuel shouted as he charged in his sister's direction. The nylon rope did its job again. Samuel came to an abrupt stop three- feet away from her. His arms stretched out before him. “Ba ba. Ba ba.”

  Sarah passed the baby over to her brother. Samuel dotted back to his corner and sat down. Sarah smiled as she watched how tender Samuel was with the baby. The infant was screaming. "Feed it, Samuel, stop it from crying!" Sarah shouted as she placed her hands over her ears. Samuel placed a nipple into the baby's mouth. The baby stopped crying. Samuel was oblivious to Sarah at this point. He was staring at the infant's little face and played with the baby's tiny fingers and toes. Sarah walked behind her brother and unfastened the bat-catchers' mask. A long string of saliva poured from Samuel's mouth. Sarah stared at the breast-shaped harness that her brother was wearing. “That’s it, Sammy, feed her. We're gonna have to fill those up later..."

  Chapter 6

  For the past three months, Stacey McHill had been hiding out in plain sight. She'd been living at the Lionel Hampton building on West 133rd Street for about a month. Prior to that, Stacey stayed at various homeless shelters for women throughout Harlem. She entered her tenth-floor apartment and threw her backpack on the floor. Stacey spent most of her days hanging around the construction site at the Double 0 precinct waiting for a glimpse of the woman who'd killed her sister.

  IRIS SNEAKED INTO TONI's apartment and gently closed the door behind her. The talk she'd had with Casper was sobering, it left her feeling charged. Her heart was racing as she tip-toed through Toni's apartment. Iris heard music coming from the bathroom. Toni was playing their favorite song: “This Is No Ordinary Love.” The song poured from the bathroom as Toni turned up the volume. Iris pressed her back against the wall, closed her eyes, and listened to the lyrics. The door to the bathroom was ajar. Iris pushed it open and peeked inside. Toni lay in the bathtub filled with bubbles. The bathroom smelled like lavender. Toni had her eyes closed, and a Bose radio rested on the floor next to the tub.

  "Hi, Toni," she said as she entered the bathroom.

  Toni's eyes popped open. “Iris.” She sat straight up. Iris produced a single white rose from behind her back.

  "Here. I'm so sorry for the way I'd been acting, but—"

  "It's O.K., baby." Toni took the flower, placed it under her nose, and smiled. "Thank you."

  There was an awkward silence between them before Iris said, "Can I join you?"

  "Sure." Toni placed the white rose by the radio and playfully patted the water. "Come, sit right here." Iris undressed and stepped into the tub. The hot water felt delicious. Iris let out a sigh when her butt touched the bottom of the tub. Her back was to Toni. Iris raised her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Toni washed Iris’ back as Iris told her all about Casper's visit to her mother's grave. "You know, Toni, It's strange..."

  "What's strange?"

  "Since I've been released from the hospital, I've visited my mother every day...” Iris paused and said, "I really needed to be alone."

  "Yes, I know." Toni squeezed a wash rag over Iris’ back.

  "Since I've been out of the hospital my mother hadn't said a word to me."

  "Oh."

  "Yeah, and she's usually so talkative."

  "I see," Toni said as she titled Iris' head back and squeezed the wash rag over her head.

  "Then today, when Casper showed up, bam! I felt her spirit. She used Casper as her vehicle. Oh, she used a robin, too." After the bath, Iris and Toni stood in front of the mirror. Toni, who was two inches taller than her girlfriend, stood behind her drying off her shoulders. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself. Iris spun around and swept Toni off her feet to carry her toward the bedroom. "Whoa!" Toni blurted out.

  Iris kissed her on the mouth. "I'm sorry, Toni—"

  Toni gently pressed her index finger against Iris’ lips. "Shh, you don't have to apologize, Iris." Iris carried Toni into the bedroom and placed her on the bed. The Bose radio was now playing “By Your Side,” by Sade. The lyric floated into the bedroom: You think I'll leave your side, baby, you know me better than that...

  Iris kissed Toni's neck, shoulder, and breasts. Toni's left nipple found its way into Iris' mouth. "My God, I missed you so much," Toni said.

  Iris and Toni made love off and on all night. The detectives were cuddling when Toni said, "You know, Iris, our new captain is an asshole. He's a male chauvinist, a freakin' pig.

  "Whoa, he's that bad?"

  "The bastard is a caveman. He's got me on modified duty. If he had his way, every woman on the force would be on modified duty."

  "Well, we'll see about that. Stacey McHill is still out there, and I’ve got to catch her." Toni exhaled and said, "Anything you say, baby."

  Chapter 7

  Detective Michael Myers stood two feet behind Forensic Pathologist and Chief Medical Examiner Raymond Johnson. Johnson was kneeling in front of a body of a young woman. Myers' partner, Detective Jackson Browne took a statement from a woman who had made the 9-1-1 call. At 7:32 am, it was already eighty degrees, and the humidity was on the rise. An early summer heat wave, Myers thought as he fanned his Hawaiian shirt against his chest. He stared at the dead woman. The buttons on her blouse were all ripped off. "Excuse me, Detective," a young technician, holding a camera, said. "I need to get a shot from this angle." He shooed Myers away.

  Detective Myers, who was an Ex-Marine, stood at five feet ten inches and weighed one hundred and seventy pounds. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy, but well-liked by his peers. His ponyta
il tied off in the back of his head and his Aviator sun shades were pushed up onto his forehead. As soon as the tech finished taking pictures, Myers moved back to his original spot "What was the C.O.D., Doc?" he asked.

  "Well, there's no outward signs of violence—" Johnson checked the woman's neck. "What do we have here?” On the young woman's neck, there was a spot of dried blood. Johnson stood and removed his latex gloves. "That's a needle mark." Myers was studying the Converse sneaker that was lying on the wooden bench. Myers' partner was reading the woman's nondriver's license ID. "Her name was Deborah Evans, age twenty-six. She lived in the Bronx."

  "Let me have a look," Myers said to his partner. Brown, who was the same height as his partner, passed him the woman's wallet. Brown wiped the sweat off his ball head with his hand as Myers held the ID close to the dead woman's face for a positive ID. “Yep, it's her all right.”

  "Why do you think she's holding on to her shirt like that?" Brown asked. Deborah Evans had a death grip on her blouse, and her nose had bled. Two small trails of blood lay underneath her nose. Both detectives were staring at Johnson, waiting for an answer. The forensic pathologist shook his head. "I don't know yet."

  One tech said, “This doll was wrapped up like a real baby. The damn thing even smells like real baby.” His head was halfway inside the carriage. "Hey, wait a minute. I found something." The tech removed a piece of paper. He tilted his head. "There's some writing on it, looks like a child wrote it..." He paused and tilted his head in a different direction. Myers, Brown and Johnson stared at the tech. “I'll bring it back in 72 hours. What does that mean?” the young technician asked.

  Myers looked at his partner and said, "That's the fifth one this month..."

  “What the hell is going on?" Brown asked as he wiped the sweat from his bald head again. “God only knows where this fool is going to drop the real baby." Myers watched the young technician place the lifelike doll into a large, brown paper bag. "God only knows," he muttered to himself.

  CHAPTER 8

  DETECTIVES WILLIAMS and Toni stood in the parking area of the Double 0 precinct watching the construction workers rebuild their beloved precinct. Six massive explosions tore through the old structure three and a half months ago, killing forty-three people, including the Deputy Mayor, the Deputy Police Commissioner, and the Chief of Detectives. Iris felt a lump swelling in her throat when she thought about her friend and mentor, Lt. Leroy Stone who'd also died in the explosion. A tear spilled over the duct of her left eye when she thought about Casper's wife, who was in her first trimester and who had married her large friend only an hour before she walked into the Double 0 and into the arms of death. Toni rubbed Iris’ arm as both women stared at the construction site in silence.

  On their way over to the parking area of the Double 0, Iris was stingy with her words. Mostly, she'd just stared at the faces on the street as Toni drove her Durango. A few times during the ride, Iris twisted her body around to stare at a particular face. Toni looked at her partner. “Are you ready to go in?” Toni could see that Iris was apprehensive about going inside. "It's O.K., baby," Toni said calmly. Iris' hands trembled. She stuck them into the back pockets of her jeans. As she stepped through the door, her eyes shot to the spot where Detective Greg Morrison had dropped dead after eating two egg rolls coated with poison duck sauce—the work of Stacey McHill. Iris looked toward the back of the mobile unit and stared at the chair that Special Agent Thomas Cannon had occupied. A man's sports jacket lay across the back of the swivel chair. Special Agent Thomas Cannon committed suicide after he'd shot and killed a female member of the N.Y.P.D., who he’d mistakenly thought was Stacey McHill.

  Toni noticed Iris' anxiety. "Are you O.K.?"

  Iris wiped the sweat away from her forehead and swallowed the lump that had grown in her throat. "I'll be all right, Toni... I'm good," she said as she looked at the new faces that occupied the mobile unit. She looked down at the cubicle she and Toni had shared. "Is this one still ours?"

  "Yes"

  "Hey, Detective Williams, it's nice to see you back," someone shouted. A small round of applause broke out in the unit. The sound made Iris flinch. She felt as if Stacey was watching her. She could be one of these smiling faces. A man wearing a Hawaiian shirt approached her with his hand extended.

  "Hey, Michael," Toni said.

  “Hi, Toni," Michael smiled as Iris took his hand. "Welcome back to the job, Detective.”

  "Thank you," Iris said. Everyone was staring. Some were smiling; some weren't.

  "What's happening with the baby snatcher?" Toni asked. Iris stared at every face in the mobile unit. Her heart rate increased, and she felt dizzy.

  “We found another one in Saint Nicholas Park. A female, same as the others.”

  Toni noticed Iris was swaying, so she hopped over to Iris' side. Iris was shaking like a leaf. At that moment, the toilet flushed and the door to the restroom opened. Everyone dispersed. "What the hell is goin' on out here? Did Jada Pinkett Smith just walk in here or something?"

  There was only one way to describe Captain Joseph Finely's facial feature: hawk-like. His penetrating green eyes were forever probing. His nose was sharp, and he had small, thin lips. The captain’s moniker within the department was the all-seeing eye because, as some had said, he sees everything. At five-feet-ten and sporting a buzz cut, Captain Finely carried himself like a drill sergeant, which he was back in Vietnam, shouting out orders and poking his finger at his subordinates. Finely ran five miles each morning before he went to work, and he was in tip top shape. He'd been with the N.Y.P.D. for over twenty-eight years. Finely had been slated to retire a few years back but the Deputy Commissioner, his old marine buddy, had pulled some strings for his old friend.

  Finely had asked for the vacant post at the Double 0 after the explosion a little over three months ago. He was jocking his way into position of captain of the new Double 0 after the construction. Finely stared at Iris and Toni, but more so at Iris. He pointed his finger at her. "You, over here, now." Captain Finely did not like Detective Iris Williams, not one bit. To Finely, envy and hate were the same feelings. Her accomplishments, within the fourteen years she'd been on the force, was nothing short of remarkable. Finely had never met the detective face-to-face. His jealousy toward Iris was palpable. Finely sat down in his swivel chair. It creaked under his weight.

  Iris looked at Toni.

  Toni rubbed her back, "Let's do this." There were eight cubicles in the mobile unit. Each cubicle held two desks. The desks were back-to-back so that the detectives were facing one another. A string of fluorescent lights lit up the unit in a soft, white glow. Brand new laptop computers sat on every surface. The walk toward the captain's desk seemed to take forever. "Detective Iris Williams reporting for duty, sir."

  “Shield and gun on my desk, now.”

  Iris looked at Toni, then she glared at her new captain. “What?”

  Finely didn't knowledge Iris, nor did he look at her. He tapped on the keys of his laptop.

  Iris looked at Toni again. And without looking up at the detectives Finely said, "What are you looking at her for? She can't help you." Finely finally looked up at Iris. "You're on modified duty until I say different. Now, get out of my sight." He waved the detectives away from his desk. Iris looked at her partner, then she shot Finely a look.

  "Modified duty," she said incredulously.

  "What part of modified duty did you not understand, Detective?" Finely said as he frowned his hawk-like brow at the detective.

  Iris fought back her anger.

  "Well... sir, I thought that I... I mean... me and partner would be placed back on the Stacey McHill case—."

  "Thought!" Finely shouted. "You thought! Well, think about this, Detective, you and your partner are off the Stacey McHill case. You and your partner will stay right here until I say otherwise. Do you understand me, Miss Hotshot Detective? Now is there anything else?" Finely's face was beet red.

  Iris turned her head and noticed that everyon
e was staring at her. Iris’ anger issues were legendary throughout the department. She made the mistake of asking the captain why. Finely looked perplexed. "Why, why? I'll show you why." Finely tapped a key on his laptop, then he turned it around so that the detectives could see the screen. Iris felt the hairs on the back of her neck shoot straight up when she saw the image of herself and the ABC Eyewitness News logo at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. She was wearing a white, long-sleeve shirt that reached down to the middle of her thighs. She knew she wore no panties underneath. The image of her face on the screen spoke volumes. It was the look of hysteria.

  I look deranged.

  The.9mm that she held in her hand and the children that were in the foreground sent a chill down her spine. Iris closed her eyes and lowered her head. "No, you don't, Detective. You wanted to know why, well I'm gonna show you why. Keep watching," Finely growled as he turned up the volume. Iris forced herself to watch: she was screaming at one of the uniformed officers to check everyone on the street. She was screaming at an old lady, then she'd pulled off the old woman's wig. The people that were on the sidewalk were scrambling to get out of the detective's way.

  Iris stared at the computer screen.

  A teenage girl who was glaring at the crazy-looking cop, ran. Iris chased the teenager. As Iris watched herself on the computer screen, Toni rubbed her back. On the screen, Iris bumped and tripped over some kids as they tried to stay clear of the crazy-looking lady. The teenager girl was shouting for someone to help her. The girl ran into the street. Iris flinched when she saw herself get hit by a car. Finely hit pause when Iris tried to raise herself up off the blacktop. Half of her ass was showing. Embarrassment gripped Iris like a wet rag.