Checkmate (Caitlin Calloway Mystery Book 2) (56 page)

“I doubt that she was the catalyst. I think Fisher would have gone around the bend without his girlfriend dumping his sorry ass.” Each word was a struggle she forced herself to keep talking. She hoped if Eunice was busy gloating she just might not shoot her again.

“I’m inclined to agree with you. We really need to wrap things up. Since you’ve been videotaping our evening together, I’ll have the proof I need. I should thank you for that. Also, for not being smart enough to be able to broadcast. Seriously, didn’t you think I’d notice that brightly lit camera on your belt? I’ll be taking that with me. Of course I’ll edit out the parts where I refer to my client as an idiot. Or maybe you do know how to work that impressive gadget,” Eunice explained with a snarl.

*   *  *

Thirteen of them, all dressed in black, made their way through the woods. Val allowed Ricky to take the lead. Silently the team surrounded the opening. Val saw the wiry blonde standing by a mound of dirt with her gun carefully aimed.

“Eunice Cockburn, Federal agents! Lower your weapon!” Ricky’s harsh tone left no room for debate.

Val aimed her Glock, the light rain, and darkness failed to hinder her view. Eunice turned slightly, the feral look in her eyes spoke volumes. Val clenched her jaw. She already knew how this was going to end. Eunice turned and aimed her gun down at the hole in the ground.

Val leveled her gun and chose a spot just behind Eunice’s ear. She felt calm, silently reasoning that if Eunice didn’t want to be taken alive, then so be it. Simultaneous shots rang out. Eunice managed to get off one shot that nicked CC’s ear while Val delivered a perfect kill shot.

“I said alive,” Mills snarled.

“She wasn’t going to be taken alive.”

“Now you’re psychic?”

“Not my first rodeo. Ricky, bring the chopper down.”

*   *  *

“Jamie.” Stella beckoned her over to the nurses’ station. “Melrose Wakefield is diverting calls. There’s a pileup on Route 60. Triage is already prepared.”

“Thank you.” Jamie rolled her shoulders and wondered if she’d ever see her home again.

“We have a GSW being medivaced in from Malden,” Stella called out.

“Great.” Jamie yawned. “Assemble a team and have them meet me at the service elevators. I guess my team is getting their first trip to the helipad.”

“Already done. They’re waiting for you, and the elevators are ready to hold for transport.”

“What would I do without you, Stella?” Jamie couldn’t help smiling.

*   *  *

“Calloway, don’t you dare die on me,” Val threatened as she unclipped the cell phone and handed it to Mills.

“I wasn’t planning on it.” CC struggled to get the words out. “Damn, hurts a lot more this time. She said she got a bonus if she made it hurt.”

“We caught the whole show. Good thing you finally figured out how to use your phone.”

“Didn’t,” CC said with a gurgle. “Accident.”

“The shooter laced the bullets with lemon juice, garlic salt, and cayenne pepper,” Val told the EMTs who had pushed her aside.

“Why?” one of them asked.

“She’s a bitch. Excuse me, she was a bitch.” Val couldn’t resist sneering down at Eunice’s body.

“We’re taking her straight to BGH,” the sturdy young man told Leigh.

“Isn’t Melrose closer?”

“Diverting calls.”

“Crap.” Leigh quickly dialed her cell phone. “This is Detective Mulligan. I need to speak to whoever is in charge.” To the rescue team, she said, “I’m riding with you.” Everyone stepped back to allow the team to load CC into the helicopter and safely take off. The second team, led by Ledger, finally arrived.

“Bit late to the party,” Val said curtly, not caring that he was her superior.

“I need your statement,” Ledger said wryly. She handed him her gun and took a moment before answering.

“You’ll get it at the hospital. You have my weapon. I just need to make a stop.”

“Deputy, you know this isn’t how things work.”

“I’ll meet you at the hospital, Brownie,” Ricky said. “I just need to get Stevie.”

“The locals will handle that, Agent,” Ledger said. “We need to document what happened here tonight. Before the press or anyone else gets wind of this fiasco.”

“Mills, give him a copy of the video.” Val fought to remain calm. “As for my statement, based on evidence we gathered, Agent Samaria and I confirmed that Eunice Cockburn, Esquire, was behind the recent string of killings. Two of her victims were cops. She confessed on tape while holding Detective Caitlin Calloway of the Boylston PD hostage. She shot and wounded Detective Calloway. We identified ourselves, and she chose to ignore our demands. So I shot her in order to save Detective Calloway’s life. That work for you, sir?”

“For now, that should suffice. Go.”

*   *  *

Jamie and her team were wrapped up in tacky yellow gowns. Jamie briefly wondered why it rained or snowed every time they had a flight coming in. She reviewed the patient’s vitals that had been radioed in and conveyed them to her team. She carefully explained what she expected of them. Just as the helicopter was landing on the pad, Rudy Lorening burst through the access door.

“Dr. Jameson, I need to take over.”

“What? Rudy what’s going on?”

“Please, Jamie, you need to step away.”

“Mind telling me why?” She didn’t appreciate him doing whatever he was doing in front of her students.

“It’s your wife.”

“What?”

“The patient arriving is your wife.” He shouted over the noise of the helicopter and pointed towards the person being unloaded. Jamie’s knees buckled, but she found the strength to step away.

“I’m sorry, Jamie. We have the OR ready for her,” Rudy said as he stepped into Jamie’s spot.

Jamie almost keeled over as CC’s unmoving body was wheeled past her. Horrified, she watched helplessly as she fought against the urge to take over.

“Her blood type is A positive. No allergies.”

“I’ve got it, Jamie,” Rudy said as they entered the elevator. “I promise.”

She couldn’t focus and failed to notice that Leigh was there. In her mind, she tried to process the medical information. It was futile; the knowledge she possessed was suddenly useless gibberish. Within a few moments, she found herself sitting in the waiting area just outside the surgical unit. Rudy had requested that she not step in or watch from the observation room, more commonly known as the theatre. She finally noticed that Leigh Mulligan was beside her, holding her hand.

*   *  *

“I hate to disturb you at this hour, ma’am,” Val said in a surly tone after awakening the woman.

“What is it now, Deputy?”

“I thought you might be interested to know that your daughter was wounded in the line of duty this evening. She’s in surgery now. I don’t have an update on how—”

“Not again.” Maria began to shake.

“I came here to offer you the chance to be there for her. I can take you the hospital.”

“I…”

Maria’s hesitation irked the hell out of Val. Unable to control her anger, she cut the elderly woman off before she could make excuses.

“Look, I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t like you. For all your claims of wanting to make amends with your girls, here you are hesitating after being told your daughter is at the hospital fighting for her life. I’m heading down to my car. You’ve got two minutes before I’m out of here. The choice is yours.”

*   *  *

The small waiting area quickly filled up with a steady stream of cops and hospital workers, all eager to find out what was happening. Despite Leigh’s constant vigil, Jamie felt alone. Stevie finally burst through the crowd with Emma and Ricky in tow.

“Any word?” Stevie breathlessly asked. She handed Emma off to Ricky.

“Nothing yet. It’s too soon.” Jamie accepted the hug Stevie offered. “What happened?” she finally brought herself to ask Mulligan.

“She was grabbed here, in the hospital parking lot.” Mulligan cleared her throat. “It was, uh, she was right. Fisher was behind the whole thing.”

“Check with security. Caitlin always parks near a camera just in case,” Jamie heard herself saying in an overly calm voice.

“We’ve already done that,” Mills said gently. “Don’t worry about the case. CC pretty much wrapped it up. You just…”

“Just what?” Jamie almost laughed.

“I don’t know,” Mills confessed. “Seems like I should say something, you know, like don’t worry she’s a fighter. Hearing it out loud sounds lame.”

“No, it’s the truth.” Jamie graciously accepted the officer’s words. She sat there for a moment trying to digest everything. Her wife had been abducted at the hospital probably not long after they had made love in her office. It didn’t make any sense. Then again, at that moment, very few things in their lives made sense. “Who did this to her?” she finally asked. “And where can I find them?”

“Eunice Cockburn. You can find her at the morgue,” Mulligan said.

“Who in the name of God is Eunice Cockburn?”

“She is, or was, Simon Fisher’s lawyer.”

“Leigh, did you…” Jamie choked up, afraid to ask the question.

“No, it was Val,” Ricky said.

“Perfect kill shot.” Leigh gave Jamie’s arm a squeeze.

“The lawyer did it.” Stevie shook her head, clearly at a loss. “What is this world coming to when you can’t trust a lawyer?”

Mac C’s voice bellowed around them. “Who, what, when, where, how, and let me have a shot at the slimy bastard!”

Jamie watched in disbelief as CC’s uncle was wheeled in by Frank. He had an extra oxygen tank hooked up to his wheelchair.

“Lawyer. Already dead, Uncle Mac,” Stevie said, her voice devoid of emotion.

Jamie was concerned as she realized this was the second time Stevie sat vigil waiting to see if her beloved sister would live or die.
At least this time she isn’t alone
, Jamie silently reasoned. She felt a pang of guilt for her absence all those years ago.

Palmucci suddenly appeared, wagging his finger at Mac. “Where have you been?”

“Frank, wheel this sucker over this rude bastard’s foot.”

“Boys.” Stevie nodded towards her daughter, who had been sitting on Ricky’s lap watching the bizarre scene unfold. “If you can’t behave, take it outside.”

“Why wasn’t I called?” Palmucci’s softened tone did nothing to hide his disdain.

“We were a little busy,” Ricky said. “Not to worry, we cleared your case. Or I should say Calloway cleared all the cases. Got the whole story on tape.”

“Wait, I’m confused.” Stevie looked at him. “Where did this happen? Was it at the station?”

“No,” Ricky said with a hard swallow. “Pine Banks Park.”

“Malden?”

“Her phone,” Mulligan said. “Somehow she managed to feed us a live stream of the whole thing while the lawyer confessed to everything, including whacking her own stepmother when she was in college.”

“Sounds like a lovely woman,” Stevie said. “Remind me to thank Val later.”

“Her phone?” Jamie almost laughed that the expensive gadget CC fought tooth and nail not to own might have saved her life. “I can’t believe she figured out how to work it. Thank God, she did.”

Val suddenly appeared. “She said it was an accident.” A timid older woman was hiding behind her.

“What are you doing here?” Stevie shouted as she jumped out of her seat.

“Mommy,” Emma wailed, clearly frightened.

“Mommy?” Maria repeated with a shadow of a smile.

“You don’t belong here.” Stevie struggled to contain the anger that had been building from the moment she heard what had happened to her sister.

“You heard the girl, Maria,” Mac said with a snarl.

“I brought her,” Val timidly confessed. “I thought…” her words trailed off when Stevie’s glare clearly screamed
I will kill
you later.

“Who are you?” Jamie asked.

“Ricky, will you take Emma downstairs for a cup of hot chocolate?”

Ricky, who looked as if he couldn’t wait to flee the scene, complied.

“You have a child and a husband?” Maria asked in an excited tone.

“Half right. Ricky isn’t my husband. In fact, he’s dating Emma’s father.

“I asked for that,” Maria mumbled.

“Maria, why don’t you do what you do best and ignore your kids?” Mac struggled to get out of his chair until Frank placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

“From what I’ve heard,” Maria said, “you weren’t here the last time either. Bit of legal trouble?”

“Stop, all of you,” Jamie said. “Either you play nice, or you can get the hell out.” She was weary of the bickering.

“It’s not up to us, Uncle Mac. It’s up to Jamie.”

Jamie felt her bones ache when she stood to greet the stranger who she could only assume was CC’s mother. “I’m Dr. Jamie Jameson.” She offered her hand, half-tempted to smack this woman rather than greet her. The last thing she wanted at that moment was more drama.

“Are you treating Caitlin?”

“No, I’m her wife.”

“See, one of us got married,” Stevie said.

“Stevie.” Jamie gave her head a little shake. “Maria, please have a seat. Val, if anyone causes a ruckus, shoot them.”

“Okay,” Val readily agreed.

Jamie sat there slumped down, feeling defeated. She was uncomfortable sitting next to the woman who, for lack of a better term, was her mother in-law.

“Jamie?” Maria timidly said.

“Yes?”

“Would you mind if I prayed?”

“Not at all. A little prayer right now would be more than welcome.” Jamie was taken aback by the question. She was thankful when Maria pulled out a string of rosary beads and silently prayed.