A Clean Kill

Fifty-Two

At the bottom of the stairs was an old-fashioned stainless steel kitchen. A gas stove, dishwasher, and refrigerator were in the usual places against the walls, along with some freestanding glass cabinets filled with china. A large worktable was in the center and a rustic table and chairs by the back window might have been used at one time for staff. There were three doors in the large room. A back door led to the untended garden. A side door opened on the front hall, and a half-glass door faced the street. The floor was the color of old precinct walls.

When Eloise came in, Leah was rubbing a corner of the worktable as if she'd already left. It was then that Eloise noticed the diamond rings on her finger for the first time. Eloise was only a few steps from the little fenced-in area outside the house where garbage cans were kept on the street. A gate from there led to the sidewalk and freedom. Through windows in the kitchen door, she could see that the rain had started again. Once again she hesitated about making her escape.

"Does Lynn come here often?" she asked.

"Nobody comes here. I told you Joey is sick."

"What's wrong with her?" Eloise asked. She thought the girl was mistaken. She was the sick one.

She lifted her shoulders in an angry shrug. "I'm getting tired of this," she announced. "People aren't supposed to upset me."

"Are you sick, too, Leah?" she asked gently.

"No, not anymore."

"Are you taking medicine to make you better?"

"You're very pretty," she said. "Mrs. Wilson was pretty, but not as pretty as you."

"Does Joey know you clean for Lynn at the Perkins house?"

"No." She looked away.

"Is she afraid that you would hurt them?"

"No."

"Is that what you're taking medicine for?"

"Don't bug me about meds when I'm telling you you're pretty," she said angrily. "I could hurt you."

Eloise had a gun. She thought she could handle it. "Oh, Leah, you're not going to hurt me. I'm a police officer. We're surrounded here. People all over the place, and Miss Anderson is coming over. She'd be upset if you touched me."

"She doesn't care what I do. I'm her daughter." Those blue eyes were like marbles.

"Well, I talked to her yesterday. I know she doesn't want her daughter to hurt people," Eloise said calmly. "We're going to help you so you don't do that, okay? You're going to be fine now."

There had been many times in Eloise's life when she'd been frightened, sometimes even terrified, but not when it counted. During 9/11 and the days that followed she was frightened for other people, never

for herself. These days she was terrified only in her dreams. To Eloise, a sick young woman in a room equipped with knives and wooden mallets and skewers and forks did not pose a real danger because she had confidence in herself to handle anything. She'd dealt with crazy people before. That was her mistake. She could have walked out that kitchen door, and let somebody else mop up. But she wasn't used to letting other people do her dirty work. She wanted to stay, to conquer Leah herself and make sure nothing happened to her. Call it arrogance or ego—she wanted to be a hero. And Leah seemed to be responding well.

"I'm sorry about Marsha. I didn't mean to hurt her," she said.

"Who's Marsha?" That was a name Eloise hadn't heard before.

Jo Ellen's assistant. Will you hold my hand? I don't want to go back."

Eloise swallowed. "Where is she?"

"In the basement. Hold my hand."

No, she wasn't going to do that. She was concerned that there might be a living person in the basement who needed help. She moved two steps back. "How long has Marsha been in the basement?" she asked softly.

Leah noted the retreat and didn't answer for a long time. Then she said, "She was pretty."

Eloise licked her lips. Leah had a "pretty complex," among other things. If she were in restraints, Eloise would be happy to talk about it. Who didn't have a "pretty complex"? It sometimes felt like a good reason for murder, but killing the pretty ones wasn't the solution. Sometimes there wasn't a reason. Crazy people did sick things because they couldn't help it.

"Why are you moving away? Are you afraid of me, too?"

"No," Eloise said quickly. "Why would I be afraid of a beautiful girl like you?"

What they did in the academy was practice with a number of contraptions—nets, restraining devices, even stun guns. Sometimes when people were out of control mentally, or high on drugs, police officers had no other choice but to use them. Eloise didn't have any of those devices to keep swinging fists, kicking feet, a battering head—and human teeth— away from her. And she hadn't practiced physical combat in many years. All she had was a firearm she didn't want to use. The gun gave her comfort.

One second she and Leah were having a conversation of sorts; the next second" her phone rang. Before she could reach for it, or make a plan, the girl crossed the space between them.

"No phone," she said furiously. "No phone."

She came at her fast as if to grab the phone, and Eloise stepped back again to keep the distance. The phone rang again.

"It's all right. It's just my partner."

Leah shook her head, angrier than the situation called for. "Don't make me hurt you," she said.

It was the very thing that Eloise was thinking herself; she did not want to hurt an EDP (emotionally disturbed person), even one who might be a killer. She had that thought and didn't see the knife. Leah raised one hand above her head. Eloise watched the hand going up so she could get out of the way when it came down. The other one whipped out at her and stabbed her in the stomach before she could dodge it.

"Oh shit," she exclaimed in surprise. "Why did you do that?" She felt the knife burn as it pierced her skin. At first it didn't seem so very much worse than a paper cut. But when it came for her again, she got angry. "Cut that out," she screamed, and reached for her gun.

She didn't get to it. Leah was all over her with that knife. She was an attacking tiger, a wolf, panting and growling as if there were no other form of expression, and Eloise was slipping in her own blood. It was everywhere, on her black and red pants, on the knife, on the floor, and splattered all over the crazy girl trying to kill her.

Blood gushed out of her. She could feel it pulse with every heartbeat as she tried to dodge out of reach. She hit the refrigerator, the stove, the wall, bouncing off of all surfaces as she looked for something to fend off the blows. The kitchen became slick with her blood while the one thing that she'd always relied on, her gun, remained strapped in its holster. She didn't collapse and go down, but she couldn't get at the gun as she struggled to stay on her feet. She found herself moving in closer to the table, forcing Leah to circle with her. That was when Eloise realized that there was something else wrong with her. Leah was so wound up and enraged that she was almost foaming at the mouth. But like a rabid animal, she was not an agile fighter. Her circuits weren't connecting. Her movements were awkward and uncoordinated. She struck at her victim but couldn't bring her down. The phone in Eloise's purse started ringing again. Leah was distracted by it and turned to it, almost as if she thought it was for her.

In the split second when Leah was listening to the phone ring, Eloise grabbed the one lone chair at the worktable. She swung the chair around and pushed it into Leah's knees. It took her by surprise; she lost her balance and fell forward with a scream. Her arms were pinned in front of her as her chest hit the spindles on the chair back. The knife tumbled to the floor and she struggled to untangle herself from the chair. She got free of it and lunged for the knife.

Eloise wanted to kick her, smash her head in, but she was pulsing blood and too weak to lift her . leg. Crouched forward in an awkward position, she had only one thing—possession of the chair. She shoved it at the girl again, and Leah flopped down on her stomach. A wild cry rose out of her mouth when Eloise pushed the chair over her, trapped her between its legs, and sat on it so that she couldn't get up. It was then that she finally got the gun out of its holster and shot out the window so she could call for help.