Delta Stevens 2: Storm Shelter (28 page)

Sitting up, Delta looked into the eyes sparkling back at her. These were not the eyes of a woman who was coming to tell her to cough up her information to Leonard. Instantly, Delta relaxed. “I suppose one could look at it that way.” Delta did not want to notice Leonard standing at the door. “It’s good to see you again, counselor.”

Alexandria grinned slightly and motioned for Leonard to step in. “I was going to call a meeting tomorrow morning, but since the Chief and everyone else’s mother has called me about tonight’s incident at the bowling alley, I thought it best we discuss matters now.”

Delta’s left eyebrow rose. “Matters?”

Alexandria reached into her eelskin briefcase and removed a familiar-looking file and laid it next to Delta’s good leg. “There seems to be a great deal of action going on in your beat.”

Delta had seen this look before. Alexandria was setting her pieces in order. “You could say that.” Eyeing Leonard carefully, Delta saw that he was smirking. Had he called her in?

“It’s been brought to my attention that you seem to have exceptional knowledge about our serial killer. Is this true?”

Delta cringed inside at the term `serial killer.’This implied he was just randomly killing people, and that was far from the truth.

“Delta?” Alexandria prodded. “Be straight with me here.”

Delta looked back into Alexandria’s eyes. “Yes, it’s true.”

“And I understand you even know who the man is who’s committing these crimes?” Alexandria had her courtroom voice on now.

Suddenly, Jan was at Delta’s side. “We know now, Ms. Pendleton. I’ve already given my I.D. to Jonesy, and the Identikit’s being copied as we speak.”

Alexandria smiled at Jan. “Good. But that’s not what I asked.” Turning back to Delta, Alexandria’s eyes narrowed. “Delta?”

Delta studied Leonard for a moment. How could he risk her telling Alexandria that they had tried to include Homicide, but that he didn’t listen? Perhaps she had misjudged Leonard a bit. He was willing to take the heat just to get Elson off the streets. He appeared willing to accept the consequences of his narrow-mindedness; a fact Delta admired.

“Yes, I do.”

Alexandria frowned. “How close are you to catching him?”

This caught Delta by surprise. “Very. Inches. We just need a little more time.”

Nodding, Alexandria weighed her next question. “What about now? Now that you’re out of commission?”

“I don’t have to be.”

“I think you do.”

Delta looked deep into Alexandria’s eyes. They were telling her more than her words conveyed.

“It might be best for all of us if you took the time and used it wisely, don’t you think?”

Delta suppressed a grin. “I suppose so.”

Leonard seemed to erupt from behind Alexandria. “Now wait just a minute, I thought—”

Whirling around, Alexandria towered over him. “If you don’t mind, Detective, I would like to speak with Officer Stevens alone.”

“But you can’t—”

“Oh yes, I can. Your department has failed to come up with a suspect; a fact the public is painfully aware of, as am I. When I’m through here, I would like your explanation on how it is that Officer Stevens seems to know more about your case than you do. Until then, please excuse us.”

His face turning pinker by the second, Leonard glanced helplessly at Delta before walking out the door, his fate now in her hands.

Alexandria waited a moment before returning her penetrating eyes on Delta. “I can imagine how you know so much, Delta, but right now that’s not my greatest concern. What matters most is that you’re close to catching him.”

“We are. Inches. Seconds. we’re right behind him.”

“When will you be in front of him?”

“With the time off, it could be in the next three days.”

Putting her hair back in a ponytail and then letting it go again, Alexandria paced across the room. “I don’t think I’m making myself clear here. Can you stop him before he kills again?”

Delta thought about this for a moment before nodding. “I think so. We almost had him at the bowling alley.”

Alexandria glanced over at Jan. “From what I understand of tonight’s events, he almost had you.”

“It was my fault,” Jan explained. “I should have closed the back door when I entered the bowling alley, and I didn’t. He faked me out, and I went for it.”

“I see.” Back to Delta, Alexandria rubbed her hands together. “What does he want?”

“He’s matching wits with Connie and guts with me. It’s a long story, Alex.”

“Give me a thumbnail sketch.”

Delta told her everything except giving the disk to Leonard. When she finished, she watched as the color slowly came back to Alexandria’s face.

“And what will he do if we intervene?”

“The game will be over, and he’ll blow up one of the larger buildings in the city. That’s why we didn’t come forward with any of this. There’s more at stake here than whether or not Connie and I went through the proper channels. He’s calling the shots. we’re just playing along until we can gain the advantage.”

“And you think he’ll really make good on his threat?”

“He has so far.”

Alexandria pondered this for a moment.

“Alex, this has nothing to do with ego or my dislike of Leonard or anything else. He will either play this game to the end with Connie, or hundreds of innocent people will be blown to bits.”

Alexandria moved over and sat next to Delta. “And you think he could do it?”

Delta nodded. “He’s brilliant. I wouldn’t doubt that he already has one of the buildings rigged and ready to blow if anyone gets in his way. He wants to take Connie on, and Connie only.”

“What about you? How do you figure into all of this?”

“I’m just the pawn she moves, that’s all.”

This brought a tiny grin to Alexandria’s lips. “You’re more like a knight, don’t you think?”

Delta shrugged. “Hopefully, if we make the right moves, I’ll soon be queen. But we can’t if you take this away from us and give it to Leonard. You’ll be sentencing a lot of people to their deaths. Alex, every day, every hour, Connie gets closer. we’re that far from catching him.” Delta held her thumb and index finger a centimeter apart.

Rising, Alexandria paced over to the window and ran her hand through her hair. “Let’s be frank here, shall we? The public and the media are hounding me for a suspect. If I can get one before re-election, I’ll be a shoe-in. Re-election as a woman will be tough if I can’t reel a suspect in before voting time.”

“So, what are you proposing?”

“What I’m proposing is this: it’s clear that Detective Leonard and his people are aware that you have information you’ve withheld. So, I have to insist you give him all of the information you have on this Elson character. That will let Leonard get an APB out on him and help him do his job.”

Inhaling deeply, Delta nodded. “Then what?”

“Then, you and your entourage have seventy-two hours to bag him before he kills again. Use whatever resources you need, do whatever has to be done, but stop him. I’ll keep Leonard off your backs for seventy-two hours, but if you lose him, or he murders again, we’ll have to turn the whole enchilada over to Leonard.”

Delta looked over to Jan, who was nodding. “Seventy-two hours?”

Alexandria nodded and closed her briefcase. “That’s the best I can do. I need a suspect, Delta.”

“We’ll take it.” Reaching her hand out, Delta shook the D.A.’s strong grip.

“I’m counting on you, Delta Stevens. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you my butt is on the line here. don’t let me down.”

Delta shook her head. “Not a chance. I owe you already.”

“Just stop him, Delta. That’s payment enough.” As Alexandria started toward the door, she turned with her hand on the knob. “Seventy-two hours, my friend. Good luck.”

Delta saluted. “There’s more at stake for me than your election, Alex.”

“I know.”

“Then do you also know that I’ll give it everything I’ve got?”

Alexandria smiled wearily. “That’s precisely what I’m counting on.”

Stars were flying everywhere, and Delta was hopping about like a cowboy being told to dance. A large-faced balloon hovered over her, its mouth wide with sickening laughter erupting from it. On the roof of a building, Connie stood with a machine gun, a la Bonnie Parker style, trying to gun down the hysterical balloon.

“Delta, wake up!”

Opening her eyes, Delta found Connie shaking her shoulders. “What? What is it?”

“I think we’ve got him!”

“What?” Sitting up too fast, Delta grabbed her throbbing leg.

“Megan and I have been combing through these myth books, and I think we’ve pinpointed his next victim.”

Delta grinned over at Megan, who just walked through the bedroom door. “Sleep well?”

Delta shook her head, remembering the balloon. “Nightmares.”

“You’ve been a little feverish,” Megan said, gently sitting on the

corner of the couch. “The doctor said you might for a while.”

Delta carefully leaned over and kissed Megan’s cheek. Megan had been a trooper at the hospital, acting brave and strong until they were alone. Only then did Megan burst into tears as the fear of losing Delta raised its ugly head.

“How are you?” Delta asked, lightly touching Megan’s cheek.

“Exhausted. Worried sick about you, my little love.”

“I’ll be fine. It was merely a flesh wound.” Delta glanced over and winked at Connie, who frowned.

“Not funny, Storm. That bastard nearly killed Jan and maimed you. He’d better hope like hell I don’t catch him before you do, because if I do . . .”

“Easy, Chief,” Delta said, holding up her hand. “He didn’t succeed, did he?”

“No.” Connie’s face was a mask of bitterness. “But he came awfully close. Too close. Next time, let’s see how he enjoys facing me.”

Delta shook her head. “Isn’t going to happen, Con. We need you to keep your head together. My job is the streets. Yours is here with Gina, Megan and Eddie.”

“For now.”

Delta looked over at Megan, who shrugged. “Tell her, Connie.”

“Yeah, what got you so fired up in the first place?”

“I think we finally have a breakthrough.”

“Yeah? Tell me.”

Connie picked up one of her notepads before answering. “Elson had to kill a gorgon to get the shoes, right?”

“Right.”

“In the myth, when Medusa—the one with snakes for hair—was killed, Pegasus was born.”

“That winged horse was made by that ugly broad?”

Connie smiled. “Sort of. See, Poseidon, god of the sea, was Medusa’s lover before she became the horrid picture we know today. According to the legend, Poseidon gave mankind the horse as a gift. So, when a pregnant Medusa had her head cut off, Pegasus sprung from her head.”

Delta nodded, turning it all over in her mind. “And where does this information take us?”

Megan slowly rose and joined Connie at the large piece of butcher paper taped next to the computer. The entire house was wallpapered in butcher paper. “Armed with this knowledge, Dori breezed through the fifth level.”

Delta’s heart jumped. “You’re already there?”

Connie and Megan both nodded. “And this time we weren’t fooled. When we reached the battle area, both Pegasus and Poseidon were in it. Pegasus was walking around snorting, and Poseidon stood there waving his trident.”

“Okay. So, now what?”

“We think they’re both clues,” Connie answered. “But the best part is, we’re already at the next level and we still have two days to work on it before he strikes again.”

Alexandria’s words rang in Delta’s head. “We have two days, period. If we don’t find a way to stop him before he strikes again, Alex is going to have to step in and give everything we have to Leonard.”

Connie shook her head. “That would be a really stupid thing for her to do.”

“I know, but she doesn’t have any other choice. This is Leonard’s jurisdiction. As much as she may want to, she can’t completely ignore procedure. We either catch him in time, or all hell breaks loose.”

Slowly swinging her legs to the floor, Delta wobbly stood up and reached for Megan, who helped her over to the computer. Every step brought a jolt of pain running the length of her leg. “Okay. Let’s see if I can get it. The first clue has something to do with either horses or wings, right?”

Connie smiled. “Right. And the second clue?”

Delta shook her head. “The ocean? Something to do with water?”

“Nope. More obvious.”

Delta stared at the screen and watched as Poseidon waved his trident in the air.

“The trident?”

Connie nodded. “What else is shaped like a trident?”

Delta thought a moment. “The only thing I can think of is a pitch

fork.”

“Bingo. And where will you find both horses and pitchforks?”