PALINDROME (23 page)

“This is dispatch, can we have a vehicle
description, Detective Sampson?”

“White Buick Sedan.”

“Plate?”

“Don’t know.”

“What is your location?”

Sampson floored the accelerator. “I’m in the
town of Bridgehampton. One second. I’m looking for a landmark.” He
raced down to the nearest intersection and read the street sign.
“Heading west on Mecox Road south of Montauk Highway.”

“Checking for the nearest available unit . .
. All units are assigned, Detective. There’s nothing available at
this time.”

“I’m chasing the individual that your units
are looking for,” he said with exasperation in his voice. “Ask them
to reassign some units.”

“Checking with the watch commander,
Detective. Please hold.”

Jesus, what a circle jerk.
Sampson was
now on Mecox Road. He could see the white sedan up ahead. “Hurry
up, hurry up.” He banged his open palm on the steering wheel. “We
have to catch her before she gets to Montauk Highway.”

Raindrops began to fall on his windshield. He
still had not heard back from dispatch. He could see the road
surface grow slick from the rain.

“I have a unit for you, Detective. It’s
heading east on Montauk Highway. ETA two minutes.”

“Great.” Sampson knew the area. Mecox road
was a fairly quiet strip of road. The chances of catching her would
change for the worse if she made it to Montauk Highway. Montauk
Highway was the business district and had numerous tributary roads
branching from it. She would have several escape options if she
made it that far, far too many for the Bridgehampton Police
Department to cover. The white sedan was just visible ahead of
him.

~~~

“You’re going too fast,” Ax said. “The road’s
slick. You’ll lose control.”

“We killed a man. Correction, we each killed
a man. If I stop, we’ll go to jail for a long time.”

“And you think we’ll be able to outrun the
police? We’re better off on foot. We can change into anyone and
blend into the crowd. Pull over, and we’ll make a run for it.”

“Pull over where? They’re just a few blocks
behind us.”

“I’m telling you, it’s our best bet.”

Ax was right. He was always right. “Okay, but
not here. Montauk Highway is just a few blocks up. There’s dozens
of stores on it. I’ll swing a turn up there—we’ll ditch the car and
make a run for it.”

Ax took his eyes off the road and turned to
me. “This will work,” he said. “Don’t worry.”

~~~

Sampson pushed the accelerator further, way
beyond his comfort zone. “C’mon, baby, c’mon—the roads are slick.
Slow down.” He hit the steering wheel repeatedly. He grew
exasperated as he tried to narrow the distance between him and the
Buick sedan. He was finally closing in on the Buick when he heard
the backup unit’s siren approaching ahead of him.
All right,
they’re here, finally.
“Slow down, Honey, slow down.” Sampson
was just three blocks behind the Buick and was pulling closer.

“Slow down, Honey, slow down,” he repeated.
He could see the lights on the police cruiser’s roof rack. The
cruiser was moving in fast. He heard the screech of tires and could
see the police cruiser as it skid to a halt, turning sideways and
blocking the road.
We’ve got her.

Sampson watched the Buick waiting for it to
slow down. “God, she’s going too fast.” Sampson had already slowed
down himself, anticipating that the chase was coming to an end. He
was looking directly at the Buick when he heard the sound of its
screeching tires. The Buick veered sharply. Sampson gasped as he
watched the car slide on the wet pavement. The Buick made an
enormous thud as it careened off a broad oak tree, bounced off, and
flipped over.

Sampson raced over to the crash. The
uniformed policeman was already out of his cruiser. He was on his
knees looking into the overturned Buick when Sampson approached. He
got down alongside of him and looked in with him. An unconscious
woman was belted into her seat and was hanging upside down. The
airbag had deployed, but the front windshield was smashed. The
driver’s face was covered with blood. Sampson tried to open the
door, but it was caught in the car’s crushed frame and would not
budge. The policeman pulled out his radio. “Dispatch, this is
Officer Kent. We have an overturned vehicle on Mecox Road south of
Montauk Highway. The driver is trapped in the car and looks to be
unconscious. I need a rescue unit and an ambulance.”

The dispatcher’s voice crackled over Kent’s
radio, “I’m on it, Officer Kent. Any passengers?”

Kent double-checked the passenger compartment
before he replied. “No passengers,” he said, “just the driver.”

Forty-eight: The Palindrome

Peter
Sampson looked up at the wall
clock in the hospital waiting room. It was 7:00 p.m. Lexa Ameleon
had gone into surgery directly from the emergency room. By his
watch, she had been under the knife for the better part of three
hours. He walked over to the receptionist and asked if there was an
update on her condition, but there was no new information other
than a reminder that the cafeteria on the lower level was still
open if he wanted something to eat.

“You look like a lost soul.” Sampson turned
around to see Lieutenant Janik standing behind him. “Long day,
huh?”

“Hi, Lieutenant, thanks for coming.”

“How is she doing?”

“She’s got facial lacerations, a stomach
wound, contusions, a broken leg, and a punctured lung.” He
shrugged. “They’ve been patching her up for hours.”

“Have you had anything to eat?

“Eat? No, I was afraid I’d miss
something.”

“Come with me. I’ve been in this hospital
before, and they make a chicken a la king to die for.” He stopped
by the reception counter and showed the receptionist his badge.
“I’m Lieutenant Janik with the Suffolk County Police Department.
Detective Sampson and I will be in the cafeteria. I need to be
notified the second there’s an update on Alexandra Ameleon’s
condition. Can you assist me with that?”

“Absolutely, Lieutenant, I’ll come and get
you myself.” She glanced over at Sampson with a sympathetic smile.
“Put some food in that poor man’s stomach. We have patients that
look better than he does.”

Janik smiled. “Thank you. We won’t be
long.”

Sampson and Janik took the elevator down to
the lower level. They picked up serving trays and got on the
service line.

Janik read the menu, which was posted on the
wall. “There’s no chicken a la king tonight, Peter. I misled
you.”

“What’s the special?”

“Vegetable lasagna.”

“Vegetable lasagna? What’s wrong with regular
lasagna? A little meat and cheese never killed anyone.”

Janik gave Sampson a playful pat on the
belly. “A healthy choice never killed anyone either.”

“Screw that. My wife gives me one indulgence
day a week. I’ve been going hog wild on fast food all day. I go
back on salad and carrots in the morning. I need some comfort
food.”

Janik checked the menu again. “They’ve got
you covered, beef stroganoff.”

“That’ll do.”

They found a quiet table away from the
cashier’s counter and sat down. Sampson had the food in his mouth
instantly.

“Feeling better?”

Sampson nodded while he chewed. He looked
down at his plate. “Not much of a portion.”

“First off, congratulations on finding
Sparks. I say he looks good as the shooter in the double
homicide.”

“Oh, he looks real good. Too bad he’s dead. I
would’ve loved to see him squirm a little.”

“Guys like that don’t squirm, Peter. At least
he saved the taxpayers the cost of a trial.

“What killed him?”

“At first glance, it looks like he had a
heart attack. We’ll know more tomorrow.”

“I guess he was some bad-ass drug dealer who
wanted to make a move on this guy Hernitos. I’m guessing that he
took Lexa down to the Sag Harbor Marina for that purpose. The DEA
was there to keep an eye on Hernitos. I don’t know how she fits
into his scheme.”

“We’ll know as soon as she comes around. What
about this other attorney, Bolan? What’s his deal?”

“He said that he’s her friend and that he
bumped into her on the ship. He said she was agitated, and he drove
her down to the beach to give her a chance to calm down.”

“You buy his story?”

“Yeah, I don’t know . . . maybe. I’ve got
more loose ends than I can tie up in one day.”

“Speaking of loose ends some additional
information came in while you were in the field.”

“Like what?”

“Well first off the powder they found in that
Chinese canister was Haldol.”

“Haldol? Is that something new on the
street?”

“No, it’s an antipsychotic.”

“And she had a canister of it? How did she
get that much?”

“There’s only one way, Peter. She must have
emptied out capsules every day for as long as it took to fill it
up. She has a history of multiple personality disorder. According
to her medical history, she has a minimum of three distinct
personalities.”

“Oh, that’s a shame, a pretty young girl like
that. Sparks took advantage of her. I’m sure he knew about her
medical history.”

“She must have been getting worse. She was in
the ER at Stony Brook University Medical Center last week.
Apparently, she gave herself an injection of local anesthetic. It
could be a symptom that she had an episode of delirium. She must be
high-functioning, though, because she holds down a job as a dental
assistant and is working on her bachelor’s degree.”

Sampson smiled. “So you think one of them
goes to school while the other one goes to work? I mean two can
cover more ground than one.”

“That’s not funny.” Janik laughed in spite of
himself. “Maybe the third one cleans the house.”

Sampson laughed so hard that a noodle flew
out of his mouth. “I’m sorry, it’s been a long day.” He looked up
and saw the receptionist rushing toward their table.

“She’s out of surgery, detectives. She’ll be
taken to the intensive care unit as soon as she comes out of
recovery. The surgeon said she did okay.”

“Thank you,” Janik said.

“You’re welcome.” She turned and walked back
toward the elevators.

“You know you don’t have to wait, Peter.
She’s not going anywhere.”

“Na, I’m going to stick around a while. I
told my wife not to wait up.”

“Put in all the hours you like. I’m giving
you carte blanche on overtime.”

“Thanks, boss, I appreciate it.”

“You did a hell of a job today, Detective, I
wouldn’t be surprised if there was a commendation in it for
you.”

Sampson scraped the last morsel of food off
his plate. “Thanks, but right now I’d settle for some pecan
pie.”

~~~

Sampson grabbed a newspaper and settled in
while he waited for Lexa Ameleon to be brought to the ICU. He saw a
shadow over his newspaper and looked up.

“Can I wait with you?” Bolan said.

“Sure, if you don’t mind me pumping you for
information.”

Bolan sat down next to Sampson. “They told me
the surgery went well. I’m very relieved.”

Sampson closed his newspaper. “I guess
you’re
dating her?”

Bolan smiled conceding guilt. “Yes, but not
for very long.”

“How long?”

“I met Allie a couple of weeks ago. She was
involved in a case with one of my clients.”

“Allie? Everyone calls her Lexa.”

“I only know her as Allie, short for
Alexandra. That was the name on the legal settlement I prepared.
The check was made out to Alexandra Ameleon.”

Does he know about her condition? Which
one is he dating?
Sampson mused. “I guess either name is short
for Alexandra.”

Bolan nodded.

“Are you at liberty to discuss the case?”

“Attorney-client privilege, Detective, you
understand.”

“Was the defendant Keith Cooper?”

“Yes.” Bolan said. He seemed agitated. “Was
he the reason for all this? A restraining order was filed. He was
supposed to stay away from her.”

“Well, he didn’t. You can make full
disclosure now because your client is dead. You remember the double
homicide I mentioned when I met you this afternoon?”

Bolan’s head slumped. “Attorneys are despised
for defending unsavory people. You try to give a person a second
chance, and they squander it.”

Sampson saw revelation on Bolan’s face.
“What’s up?”

“Tomaso was the one who asked me to defend
Keith Cooper.”

“He was an attorney; why didn’t he handle it
himself?”

“He wasn’t involved with criminal work. He
was a tax attorney.”

“You mentioned a legal settlement. Cooper was
arrested on sexual assault. She accepted a monetary settlement and
the DA dropped the criminal charges?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

“Fifty thousand dollars.”

“That’s a lot of cash. Cooper had that kind
of change?”

“Tomaso prepared the check. It was an
attorney’s check drawn on the firm’s account.”

“Maybe it was Sparks who put up the money. In
the two days I’ve known about him, I found out that he was involved
with a physician who was running a pill mill. He may also be
responsible for the murders of two young men, Keith Cooper and a
heroin addict. I believe he may have been conspiring to murder this
Hernitos character, presumably to usurp control of his narcotics
syndicate.”

“Hernitos is involved with drugs?”

“
Really
, you didn’t know?”

Bolan shook his head.

“You really aren’t a typical attorney.”

The hospital receptionist was hustling back
toward Sampson. “She’s been moved to ICU, Detective, but she’s
sleeping again.”

“Will they let me see her?”

“Maybe for a minute or two. You’ll have to
check with the ICU nurse.”