Resurrection Dreams (36 page)

“Who’d you tell in Ellsworth?” Randisi asked.

“Joey Milbourne. And he passed the word to Raines. I guess they had themselves quite a laugh.”

Gorman mumbled something. It sounded like “dickheads,” but Vicki couldn’t be sure.

“So you figured,” Randisi said, “there was no point in taking your information to Raines. He wouldn’t act on it, anyway.”

“That’s right. The man I went to, Jack, is an attorney. We discussed the situation. He was going to wait for morning, then go to Raines himself. If Raines wouldn’t listen to him, he planned to see a friend of his in the District Attorney’s office. One way or another, we figured we’d get someone to pay attention.”

“They’ll pay attention now,” Gorman said. “Where does this Dobbs fellow live?”

“In Ellsworth. His house in on…Elm Street, I think.”

Gorman got a sour look on his face. “That’s in the city limits,” he said to Randisi.

“Where did the attack take place?”

“Ace’s house is on Third.”

“Damn.” Gorman shook his head.

“What’s wrong?” Vicki asked him.

“We’re Blayton PD. We’ve got no jurisdiction in Ellsworth.”

“So it’s Raines’s ballgame,” Randisi said.

“We’ll contact him right now. If he gives us any…trouble, we’ll…”

“There’s something else,” Vicki said. “If he needs convincing. Dobbs left his shoes on the kitchen floor. I know they’re his. I’ve seen him wear the same kind at the gas station he owns. And they have grease stains on the soles.”

“We’ll see that Raines picks him up,” Randisi said.

“He gives us any crap, we’ll do it ourselves.”

Vicki looked at the two men. “I’m really…Thanks. You’re terrific. I was starting to think all cops were dickheads.”

Gorman blushed. Just a little.

Melvin was down in his basement laboratory when Patricia called from the top of the stairs. “They’re coming. They just got out of their car.”

“How many?” he asked.

“Two of them.”

Melvin climbed the stairs, looking up at Patricia. She wore one of his bright blue Hawaiian shirts, and nothing else. The tails draping her thighs were parted slightly, letting him see a hint of her blonde curls. Above the single button fastened at her belly, the shirt gaped wide enough to show the sides of her breasts.

She looked just right.

Melvin had dressed her for the occasion.

As he reached the top of the stairs, the doorbell rang.

“You ready?” he asked.

Patricia nodded. She had fear in her eyes.

He kissed her gently on the mouth. “Hey, don’t worry.”

“I don’t want to lose you, Melvin.”

“Ain’t gonna happen. Just do like I said.”

The bell sounded again. Patricia turned around. Melvin followed her, watching the loose, glossy shirt shimmer on the moving mounds of her rump.

“Sure hope these cops ain’t a couple of fairies,” he said.

Patricia glanced back at him and smiled.

The bell rang again.

Melvin stationed himself against the wall beside the front door. The door would conceal him when it swung open. Patricia slipped the guard chain free and looked at him.

Melvin nodded.

She pulled the door open just a few inches. She peered out through the gap. “Yes?” she asked.

“I’m sorry to disturb you at this hour, but…This is the home of Melvin Dobbs?”

“Yes?”

“I’m Chief Raines of the Ellsworth Police Department. This is Sergeant Woodman.”

The chief himself, Melvin thought. And sounding pretty nervous. Probably hadn’t seen this much of a pretty young babe in a long time. Probably trying for a look inside the shirt.

Did the chief realize he was in the presence of Patricia Gordon, RN, who’d nailed Pollock?

“Is Mr. Dobbs home?” Raines asked.

“Yes, he’s upstairs. Won’t you come in?” Patricia gave the knob a pull and backed away. The door swung closer to Melvin. It blocked his view of the men, but he saw Patricia beyond its edge.

She kept walking backward toward the stairs. The shirt trembled over her breasts. The gap below the single button seemed wider than before. Her hair gleamed in the lamplight. Her thighs flashed white.

Melvin grinned.

He heard the men step forward. A shoulder and left arm came into view.

“I’ll just call him,” Patricia said, stopping at the foot of the stairs.

“Thank you.”

She spun around. The shirt tail swished, giving a glimpse of her buttocks.

Melvin heard a soft breathy sound, almost a whistle.

“Melvin!” she called up the stairway. “There are gentlemen here to see you.” She waited a moment. “Melvin?” she called again. Facing the men, she shook her head and rolled her eyes upward. “He must be asleep. Should I go up and wake him?”

“I’ll go with you,” Raines said. “Woodman, you wait…”

Patricia whirled and raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time, her shirt tail flapping.

Both cops bolted after her.

“Melvin!” she shouted toward the top. “Cops! Run!”

Melvin stepped away from the door.

“Hold it!” Raines snapped, drawing his revolver, aiming it at her.

Patricia stopped. She turned around. She had popped open the button on her way upstairs. The front of the shirt was wide open. She raised her arms.

Both cops, guns drawn, stood at the foot of the stairway and gazed up at her.

Melvin aimed at their backs. He fired both his revolvers at once. He kept firing, pulling the triggers as fast as he could. Through the roaring blasts, he heard one of the men yell, “OW! OUCH!” as the bullets knocked him down. The other was silent.

When both guns were empty, one cop lay face-down on the stairs and looked as if he’d been trying to hug them. The other, who’d succeeded in turning around after the first shot caught him in the shoulder, was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the stairs, his legs stretched out. That one stared at the ceiling and twitched as blood foamed out of his mouth.

Grinning up at Patricia, Melvin twirled the guns and jammed them into his pockets.

“Reckon its Boot Hill for them hombres,” he drawled.

Patricia rushed down the stairs. She leaped over the bodies and threw her arms around Melvin. She was shaking. She squeezed herself hard against him.

Vicki sat, leaning forward, elbows on her knees, waiting.

The two policemen, Gorman and Randisi, had gone away a long time ago to phone Chief Raines. Later, Gorman had returned alone to tell her how it went.

“Raines said he’d look into it,” he had told her.

“Look into it? Is that all?”

“He’s not a great fan of yours.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“But he couldn’t just ignore the attack on Miss Mason. Ace? Even a narrow-minded, stubborn cop like Raines has to do something about it if one of his citizens gets carved up like that. But he didn’t want to believe that Dobbs was the perpetrator. Not on the basis of your suspicions. He said you’ve got a ‘burr up your ass’ about Dobbs.” Gorman’s face reddened when he said that. “Sorry, but those were his words. He said you’ve been trying to get Dobbs put away so he’ll stop…putting moves on you.”

“I guess we gave Milbourne that idea Sunday morning,” Vicki said. “Joey Milbourne, one of his men. Dobbs had threatened Pollock’s life right in front of us, and we told Milbourne that. But he wanted to know why we were out with Dobbs, and Ace had to go and tell him the creep has the hots for me. So Milbourne went and convinced Raines we were trouble-makers. So they didn’t do anything about that bastard.”

Gorman shook his head. “No accounting for fools,” he said. “Any cop worth a damn would’ve pulled in Dobbs for questioning at that point.”

“So now Raines is willing to look into it? On the word of a flake with a…grudge?”

“I made it pretty clear he’d better.”

Vicki almost smiled. “I bet you did.”

“I’m glad you told us about the shoes, though. That’s what did the trick, finally made him decide there was sufficient reason to drop by the house and have a ‘chat’ with Dobbs.”

“Tonight?”

Gorman nodded. “He said he’d get right on it.”

Now, sitting alone in the office, Vicki looked at her wristwatch. Almost three a.m. Gorman had left her just after two.

Which meant that Raines had probably already had his “chat” with Melvin.

Right now, Melvin might be in custody.

Or maybe he talked his way out of it, convinced Raines of his innocence.

That won’t last long, she told herself. The minute Ace regains consciousness and names Melvin…she won’t be naming anyone with her jaw in that shape.

Give her a pen and paper.

If she regains consciousness.

She will, Vicki told herself. She’ll be all right.

She can’t die.

My fault. It’s all my fault.

Jesus, Ace, please.

Vicki lurched to her feet as the office door swung open. The nurse came in.

“How is she?”

“I haven’t been told anything about her condition.”

Vicki nodded. “Well, at least no news is good news.”

“I didn’t say I had no news. Something came up. I thought you should know about it. We just got word to call in Dr. Goldstein. He’s our staff cosmetic surgeon.”

Vicki stared at the nurse.

A cosmetic surgeon!

For Ace’s scalp?

They wouldn’t bother, if…

“Oh, thank God,” she murmured.

“He’s on his way right now.”

Vicki slumped into the chair.

“I don’t know how long they’ll be in there, but its safe to assume that your friend’s in stable condition. Wouldn’t you like to go home and clean up and get some rest? You’ve been through such an ordeal. You must be done in. And it’ll be hours before you’re able to visit with her. Why don’t you call in around nine or ten, we can let you know when you’ll be able to see her. Really. Waiting around here all that time…You’d feel so much better if you went home and slept for a few hours.”

Vicki nodded. “Yeah,” she murmured.

Ace…she’s going to live.

The awful tightness inside Vicki seemed to be melting, ice going soft, warmth flowing through her body, soothing, making her weak.

Ace.

You made it, Ace. You made it.

Vicki drove. She drove through the warm night toward Ellsworth, though she wasn’t quite sure where she would go when she arrived.

She knew where she wanted to go.

Jack’s house.

But she didn’t like the idea of walking in this way, all covered with dried blood. Maybe she should go to Ace’s house first, clean up, put on fresh clothes.

I can’t, she realized. I can’t walk through that kitchen.

Besides, it would be stupid to enter Ace’s house alone. For all she knew, Melvin hadn’t been caught. He was probably in jail right now, but what if he wasn’t? What if she walked into the house and there he was, waiting for her…with a knife?

She considered turning the car around and driving to her parents’ house. They had kept her room ready for overnight visits, and some of her clothes were there. She could shower, catch some sleep, then return to the hospital, which wasn’t much more than five minutes from their house.

But she would have to do a lot of talking—explain everything. She didn’t feel up to that. And why upset them with all that had been going on? They’ll be sick when they find out. Might as well spare them the agony for as long as possible. Once it’s all over…really over, Ace recovering for sure, Melvin behind bars for sure…that would be the time to let them in on it.

Pay them a visit tomorrow…today, she reminded herself. It’s been Wednesday for hours. See them this afternoon or tonight. That’s soon enough. Spare them till then.

She parked in front of Jack’s house. Leaning away from the seat back to climb out, she felt her blouse peel away from the upholstery.

You’re in for a shock, Jack old pal.

When she stood up, her legs trembled. She held onto the open door to steady herself. The lack of sleep, the tension, carrying Ace on her back, the relief she’d felt during the past half hour or so—they had taken their toll. The nurse had been right. She was “done in.” Not only sore in the arms and back and rump and legs, but deep-down weary.

She took a full breath. Even her lungs felt heavy and tired.

It’s almost over, she told herself.

She swung the door shut, shuffled around the front of the car, moaned when she stepped onto the curb, and pointed herself toward Jack’s lighted porch.

It would feel so good to hold him, sink against his strong warm body.

First a shower.

She wondered if she would be able to stay on her feet long enough for a shower.

Maybe Jack’ll go into the tub with me, hold me up.

The thought of that sent a stir through Vicki that pushed away some of the weariness.

She tried the door. It was locked. Of course. She’d made sure it was locked when she left. She pressed the doorbell and waited, hoping the sound was loud enough to wake him.

Before she could press it again, the door swung open.

Staring at her, Jack stepped away from the door and let Vicki enter. She pushed the door shut.

“What happened to you?” he asked.

He was frowning. He looked pale, and Vicki wondered if he had been up for a long time, worrying.

“I came from the hospital,” she said. “I took Ace there. Melvin attacked her tonight.”

“My God,” he muttered. He reached out and pulled Vicki against him.

“I’m a mess,” she warned.

“Who cares.” He stroked her back.

She put her arms around him. His terry robe was soft under her hands.

“Was Ace hurt badly?” he asked.

“He…really wrecked her. But she’s going to make it. I’m sure she’s going to make it. The cops went to pick up Melvin. I’m such a mess. I’m so tired.”

“It’s all right.” He gently stroked her back.

“I’m getting blood all over you.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Can I use your shower? I…I’d like to get clean. And sleep. Is it okay if I sleep here?”

“Of course.”

Easing away from his embrace, she shook her head when she saw the hint of rust-color her blouse and skirt had left on the front of his light blue robe. “Sorry,” she muttered.