Stacey Page 5

  "Did he just call her Sunshine?" Toni whispered in Iris’ ear.

  "...mankind is born with aggression in his heart,” Casper said. "Let's take all the people off the planet. Is the world still evil? No. Mankind has a dual personality, a shadow self where the reservoir of human darkness resides... according to the late great Carl Jung..."

  "You read Carl Jung, Casper?" Toni asked.

  "Yes, Doesn't everybody... Anyway, according to him, just beneath our rational level of consciousness is where this shadow-self resides. It harbors all of our negative impulses, such as: selfishness, anger, jealousy, lustfulness, greed, and a host of other nasty little feelings and emotions."

  "Including murder?" Lori asked.

  "Yes, including murder. Every time we snicker when an elderly person slips and falls, it's our shadow-self that's on display; every time we find delight in the pain and suffering of another human being, it's our shadow-self that's on display; every time we practice racism or teach our babies to hate another human being for being of a different race, creed, or color, it's our shadow-self that's on display; and finally, every time we aggressively point out the faults or shortcomings of another human being, it's this shadow-self showing its ugly head." Toni and Lori sat transfixed

  "God help his poor children," Lori said. Casper bit into one of his three Big Macs. He washed it down with a gulp of Diet Coke.

  "This has nothing to do with the unmoved mover, the supreme energy that we designate God." He took another sip from his cup; then he continued. "Man is in a battle. A battle with no end, a lifelong struggle with himself to keep his shadow-self in check..."

  Lori gazed at Casper. "That's the deepest shit I ever heard. The unmoved mover. Wow." Just then Iris’ cell phone went off, it was her sister, Deloris. "What's up, sis... What?” Iris shouted as she jumped out of her seat. "Now!... O.k., I'm on my way." Iris looked at Toni and smiled. "Pamerla is having her baby! C’mon, we gotta go."

  IRIS SPED TOWARD HARLEM Hospital. Five blocks from the hospital, the traffic stalled. “What the hell is goin' on?" Iris said as she pounded the steering wheel with the palm of her hand. She began screaming obscenities.

  "Take it easy, baby, someone’s probably having a little car trouble," Toni said. She got on her knees and reached over to get something from the back seat. When she turned back around, the door on the driver's side was open, and Iris was running down the street.

  Pamerla Thomas had given birth to an eight pound-three-ounce baby girl who she named Deloris Iris Thomas. Iris, Toni, and Deloris all stood around Pamerla's bed watching her hold her brand new baby. Iris and Toni stayed with Pamerla for a little over an hour.

  As soon as Iris and Toni stepped out into the hall, Iris’ facial expression changed. "Iris, what the hell was that phone call about back at the basement? You've been acting odd ever since."

  Iris stood directly in front of an elevator and jabbed her finger at the button as the muscles in her jaw twitched. "That call was about the man who killed my father..." The elevator door opened, and Captain George Miller stepped out. He was an old friend of Iris. "Williams how ya doin'?"

  "I'm fine, sir," she said, forcing herself to smile. "What're you doing here?"

  "My baby is having a baby," he said proudly; he held up a bouquet of roses. "This is her third one."

  "Congratulations," Toni said. Iris echoed the sentiment.

  Captain Miller turned toward Toni and said, "And who might you be?"

  "I be Annette Toni, Iris’ partner in crime."

  “Oh yes," he said as he checked out Toni's body. "I caught your performance on Eyewitness News the other day, very impressive."

  Captain George Miller had been the captain at Rikers Island Correctional Facility, the largest city jail in the nation, for thirteen years. Six months ago, he'd been offered the position of superintendent at Tanawan Correctional Facility for the criminally insane. He'd jumped at the chance of running his own jail. "I heard about your promotion, sir, congratulations on that also," Iris said.

  Captain Miller smiled. "Every dog has his day." Captain Miller told Iris that yesterday the facility had received its first load of inmates. And that the lieutenant governor, the Deputy Mayor, and the Police Commissioner would be visiting the facility on Monday.

  The elevator doors opened on the maternity ward again. Iris and Captain Miller moved to one side as a load of giggling young women stepped off the elevator. "Do you know who else will be stopping by, permanently?"

  The detectives knew. "Who?" Iris asked.

  Captain Miller smiled broadly. "The infamous Stacey McHill."

  "Oh really, I didn't know that," Iris said as she glanced at Toni.

  "Yeah, and she's being transported by helicopter along with that beautiful psychoanalysis, Doctor Susan Patterson."

  "You don't say. I didn't know that either," she lied. The elevator arrived again. Toni stepped in first; Iris followed. “Well, I know you’ll do a great job, Captain Miller,” Iris said.

  Captain Miller held onto the elevator door to keep it from closing, "If you and your sexy partner here want to stop by Monday, I can give you two a complete tour along with the uppity ups.”

  "I don't know, sir—”

  "C’mon, you gotta be there, you two are the ones who caught her.” A few more people piled into the elevator car.

  "O.k.," Iris said as the elevator began to close. "We'll be there.”

  Chapter 13

  TONI STORMED INTO HER apartment; Iris followed and slammed the door behind her. “Iris, I cannot believe you want to do something like that!”

  "It's the only way."

  "It is certainly not the only way." Toni pulled off her jacket and threw it on the couch; she stared at Iris as if she was crazy.

  "So, what do you suggest I do, miss goody-two-shoes, to the man who murdered my father and destroyed my family?"

  "Assassination is not an option. For God’s sake, woman, we’re detectives. We're supposed to uphold the law, not break it."

  Iris was pacing back and forth. Her hands balled into tight fists.

  "Iris... Iris, please stop pacing," Toni said as she jumped in front of her. She placed her hands-on top of Iris’ shoulders. "We're the law. We're supposed to let the criminal justice system—"

  " Fuck the Criminal justice system!” Iris shouted. She pulled away from Toni. “The criminal justice system failed me fourteen years ago, and the criminal justice system killed an innocent woman: my mother. Fuck the criminal justice system!” she shouted again. Iris relaxed her fists, and Toni noticed that the palms of her hands were bleeding from where her fingernails had dug into her skin. Toni sat down on the couch and watched as her partner paced the room. Iris squatted down in front of her. "For twenty years that monster has been flooding the streets of New York with his poison, twenty years..." Iris said as she tried to calm herself down. “How many lives do you think he's ruined, huh, how many? And why do you think he’s never been arrested? I'll tell you why, Toni, because he owns your precious criminal justice system."

  Toni lowered, then shook her head. Iris paced again. "He's committing genocide, Toni, that's what he does, and no one's trying to stop him." Iris stopped in front of Toni and squatted again. "Toni, please. I need your help. Someone has got to do something about this. We can make it look like a drug deal gone bad..." Iris looked at her girlfriend. Toni could not look in to Iris’ eyes. "I... I can't do it... I just can't kill a man—"

  "He's not a fuckin' man, Toni!" Iris shouted as she slammed her hand down on the cushion beside Toni, causing her flinch. Iris stood up and threw a series of punches at the air. "Dammit, Toni! Didn't you see that pathetic little girl with her baby down in that filthy basement? That's what a man like Salsa lives for. If it was left up to him the whole damn city would be living like that. Is that what you want? Hell, the Mayor might give us a freakin' medal for killing that bastard."

  "I doubt that. The only thing we'll get is fired and thrown in jail... No, Iris, I can't do that. I ca
n't go against my morals, my principles..." Toni closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry... I can't do it... I just can’t do it,” she said.

  Iris glowered at her partner.

  "Well, if you're not with me, then you're against me." Iris turned and walked toward the front door.

  "Iris!"

  "Iris my ass! I can't be with someone who’s against me." Iris opened the door and said, "Now get the hell out of my apartment."

  Toni stood up. “Crazy lady, this is my apartment." Iris glanced around the room, then she glared at Toni. She shook her head as she stepped into the hallway. Iris looked at Toni one last time before she slammed the door.

  ON HIS WAY UP THE FIRE escape, Billy's gloved hand got caught on a jagged piece of metal. He pulled off his glove and wrapped his hand up with electrical tape. Billy used his glass cutter to make a small circular opening on the kitchen window right above the latch. He opened the window and slid into the dark apartment.

  ANNETTE TONI WAS A woman of principles, a woman who took pride in standing by her convictions. Despite what Iris had said, Annette Toni believed in the criminal justice system. As she drove through the different housing projects in Harlem, Iris’ words rattled in her mind: 'He's committing genocide and no one is trying to stop him.'

  Toni parked her car across the street from the Polo Grounds housing complex. She hadn't driven her 2009 Acura in a while. She'd noticed that the car needed oil. It was 10:45 pm on a Saturday night. For the first time in her life, Detective Annette Toni would take a close-up look at the devastating effects of drugs. The first thing she noticed when she got out of her car was the name Salsa spray painted on the sidewalk. Two drug dealers approached her; she waved them off. On the corner, a homeless man was trying to buy drugs with a plastic bag full of water bottles and cans. The drug dealer slapped him across the face as an N.Y.P.D. patrol car drove by. A middle-aged woman stood in a storefront dressed only in her panties and bra pleading with a young drug dealer. He whispered something to the middle-aged woman, then she took off running down the street; she stopped at the corner and ran back toward the store. When she returned, she’d held her hands out, begging, but the young drug dealer only laughed at her as he strolled down the block.

  Twenty minutes later, Detective Annette Toni had parked her car on 124th Street, near Lexington Ave., and walked toward 125th. Most people called the block K2 city. K2 is a potpourri that if smoked can produce an incredible—but short lived—high. It was cheaper than weed and easier to get; most of the smoke shops on this street sold the stuff.

  In the middle of the block, Toni saw a man who was walking backward, drooling. She stared at the man as he passed her. On the opposite side of the street, near Rainbow department store, a young woman was sitting with her back against the wall; she’d just finished loading her crack pipe. The woman lit the pipe and took a deep drag; her five-year-old daughter watched her intensely.

  Toni also noticed the police that were patrolling the area paid no attention to what was going on around them. A street sign that once read 124th Street now it read: Salsa's Boulevard.

  Annette Toni's moral compass spun out of control. Everywhere she looked there was hopelessness and despair. The words of her partner ricocheted in her mind again: He's committing genocide and no one's trying to stop him.

  Chapter 14

  TONI SAT AT HER DESK with her head in her hands; she fought with her conscience. They'll think that it was drug related, a voice in her head told her. Toni shook the thought out of her mind. "No! I won't do it."

  “You won't do what, Detective?” Lt. Stone asked her as he stopped in front of her cubicle. Toni snapped out of her daydream. “Oh, I didn't see you walk up.”

  "Obviously. Are you all right?"

  Toni pinched the bridge of her nose and faked a yawn. "I didn't get enough sleep last night, Sir, that's all."

  “Sleep is important, Detective, you should get as much of it as you can... and by the way, good collar with Daniel Lewis.”

  "Thank you, sir." Toni didn't want to tell her superior she didn't believe that Lewis was their man. From what Tina Ming had told her, Toni believed Billy was the one they should concentrate on. But she needed more proof.

  IRIS DROVE THROUGH her old neighborhood in Far Rockaway. Why can't she understand that this man destroyed my entire life in one day? Iris slammed on the brakes inches before hitting a mother and her child. "Crazy bitch, the light is red!" the woman shouted at the detective.

  "I'm so sorry, Miss." Iris placed both her hands on the steering wheel and took a deep breath. "Toni!" she shouted as she shook the steering wheel.

  FIFTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD Jenna Diaz waltzed into her three-bedroom apartment on 5th Avenue and 108th Street. Tipsy, she sang a little tune as she kicked off her shoes and threw her full-length mink coat onto the couch. Jenna Diaz had been honored by her peers tonight for being the first Latino woman to hold the post of District Attorney of the borough of Manhattan. "Weee," she said as she spun herself around and fell on top of her couch. She opened her purse and removed her cell phone. Jenna checked her messages. She had five missed calls from her ex-boyfriend. Jenna could not afford to see him anymore. Not as the new District Attorney of Manhattan. It was much too dangerous. Even before her new gig, seeing Jose Salsa Vega was dangerous. All the sneaking around, all the disguises, but she had to admit... the sex was great.

  She removed her clothes, strolled into the bathroom, and turned on the shower. She ambled back into the living room to pick up her three hundred-dollar shoes and grabbed her mink. Jenna reached for the closet door, but before she could open it, she dropped her shoes. She laughed as she picked them up. Jenna opened the closet door, she heard a noise. She froze for a second, listening. "You're just being paranoid, Ms. D.A.," she said to herself. After she'd hung up her coat and placed her shoes back into their original box, she jumped into the shower. Jenna was drying herself off when she heard the noise again; she stopped her in her tracks. She strained her ears, listening. Satisfied that she was alone in her apartment, Jenna Diaz sat on top of her queen size bed and applied lotion to her legs. Jenna Diaz cell phone went off; she hoped it wasn't Salsa. As she got up to retrieve her phone, a pair of hands shot out from underneath her bed and grabbed hold of her ankles. Manhattan District Attorney Jenna Diaz screamed as she fell.

  Chapter 15

  MONDAY MORNING, 6:37 am.

  Dr. Susan Patterson waited at the intake entrance for inmates at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in upstate N.Y., where Stacey McHill had been awaiting transfer to a new facility. She stepped outside for a breath of fresh air after wrestling with the captain of security over whether Stacey McHill should wear a straightjacket, she’d lost the argument.

  Dr. Patterson shivered in the New York City weather as she waited for her patient. When she'd left Louisiana, three hours ago, the temperature was seventy degrees. She wore a pair of Levi's, a pair of Puma running shoes, a cotton blouse, and a light jacket; it was thirty-eight degrees in New York City, and the doctor was freezing. "Fool!" she shouted to herself.

  She stood outside staring at the helicopter that would transport her and her infamous patient to Tanawan Correctional Facility in Queens, N.Y. There were two large female correction officers standing next to a helicopter. Their uniforms reminded the doctor of a movie she'd seen with Sylvester Stallone or was it Arnold Schwarzenegger? The two women wore camouflage utility pants, black high-top boots, black bomber jackets, dark sunshades, and tight black leather gloves. The officers also carried a Windham Weaponry Carbon AR15 Semi-Automatic Rifle, and a Beretta 92FS semi-automatic pistol hung on their hips; they were prepared for action.

  Fifty-five-year-old Dr. Susan Patterson was an exceptionally beautiful woman. At five feet-seven and one hundred and twenty-five pounds, Dr. Patterson could turn the head on a male mannequin.

  She'd taken an indefinite leave of absence from her post as the director at the Louisiana State Psychiatric Center, where she specialized in ab
normal psychology, to heal the broken mind of her most challenging patient to date, Stacey McHill. Stacey and her identical twin sister, Jannifer, were sixteen-years-old when they'd went on one of the most gruesome killing sprees the city of New York had ever witnessed.

  Stacey and Jannifer McHill were patients of Dr. Patterson for two-and-a-half years while they were at the psychiatric center in Louisiana. The twins who'd ever experienced nor witnessed any kind of violence whatsoever were forced to watch their parents suffer the most deplorable acts of physical abuse imaginable by two sadistic home invaders and in doing so their conscious minds split from reality.

  In court, Dr. Patterson shocked the judge when she'd explained that Stacey and Jannifer McHill—Detective Iris Williams killed the younger twin—suffered from a unique form of D.I.D. (Dissociative Identity Disorder). The judge sat dumbfounded as the doctor explained how the twins shared the same alter personalities: a psychotic boy and a young woman with a high I.Q. The judge ruled Stacey McHill incompetent to stand trial.

  A female correction officer interrupted the doctor's daydream. "We're bringing her out now, doc."

  Chapter 16

  IRIS AND TONI HADN't seen one another since the blow up they'd had Saturday night back at Toni's apartment. And today at the job they hadn't spoken a single word to one another. Toni stared at Iris as her partner whispered to someone on the phone. Iris switched off her cell phone. “What the hell are you looking at?”

  "You, I'm looking at you," Toni whispered.

  Iris said nothing. Toni, looked over her shoulder, then she leaned in closer to Iris and said, "What gives you the right—"

  Iris slammed her fist down on the desk, cutting Toni off. "That bastard destroyed my whole family, that's what gives me the freakin' right!" Iris talked through clenched teeth, and her nose flared as she glowered at Toni. She too looked over her shoulder to make sure that no one was listening.