Anatomy of Fear

33

The briefing room was full, standing room only.

Archer and Richardson were in the front row with a few unfamiliar gray suits. New recruits, I suspected, and not a good sign for the NYPD. Terri and her men were just behind them, the pecking order clear.

She glanced up when I came in. Our eyes met, and she looked away.

I moved toward the back of the room and leaned against the wall as a few more precinct chiefs filed in, finally Chief of Department Perry Denton and Special Agent Monica Collins. Denton was whispering something in her ear, hand on her shoulder in a way both conspiratorial and flirtatious. From the look on Agent Collins’s face she was enjoying it. The man had an effect on women that was lost on me.

Denton asked for everyone’s attention, though he already had it-the room had gone quiet the moment he’d entered with Collins. He went on to discuss the various news stories, Carl Karff, and the ensuing investigation into the names he had supplied. He stressed it was now a “federal case,” and that the FBI would be running the show from here on in. He asked for all NYPD files and information gathered in the course of the investigations to be handed over to Collins and her crew, then turned the meeting over to Collins, who introduced the new BSS and CIU agents and said that everything would now be processed through the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime.

“All existing evidence will be reexamined, the victims’ bodies transferred to a Washington lab for further testing.” She looked over the room without making eye contact with anyone. “Naturally the bureau will expect full cooperation.”

I couldn’t see Terri from where I was standing but expected any minute to see a cloud of steam rising and be able to find her.

I wasn’t sure if this meant the PD was in or out. If the feds wanted the local police to cooperate, they were in, right? It was hard to figure. But I realized something: I wanted to stay in.

“We will confer with the NYPD on a routine basis,” Collins finally said. “And naturally, if anything should turn up in regard to this investigation, we expect to be notified immediately.”

“Agent Collins.” It was Terri. “We are receiving hundreds of calls a day, as are the other precincts. Detectives have been checking out all credible calls and-”

“The Manhattan bureau has tapped into all of the PD’s tip lines, Detective Russo, so you needn’t worry about that going awry. We will follow up as we deem necessary.”

The tip line was a sensitive issue with Terri and it appeared Collins knew it.

Denton interrupted to address the crowd. “Please have all files pertaining to this case burned onto discs and turned over to Agents Richardson or Archer. For the computer-impaired among you, get one of the recent academy grads to teach you how to burn a CD.” He smiled again, a wolfish grin exposing sharp little teeth. “Don’t look so unhappy, folks. The bureau has just given you back your time. And I’m certain you can all put it to good use.”

After the meeting broke up I wanted to slip out without being noticed, but Terri and her detectives were conferring with the FBI agents and Denton just inside the door. I tried my best to evade them, but Denton caught my arm.

“Guess it’s back to the drawing board, huh, Rodriguez? Drawing board, get it?”

“Good one,” I said. “But I wish I could have done more.”

“Probably better to stick to your crayons,” said Denton. “A lot less dangerous, right?” He grinned at Terri, and it pissed me off.

I turned to Collins. “If you don’t mind me asking, what more can the bodies tell us? I mean, why ship them to Quantico now?”

Denton’s eyes narrowed in my direction. “You have a problem with that, Rodriguez?”

“No. I was just wondering what Agent Collins hoped the lab would find.”

“Well, why don’t you tell us, Rodriguez. You’re the one who reads minds.”

I had clearly entered a big-dick contest. “I don’t read minds, sir.” I couldn’t believe we were going back over the same territory, but Denton appeared to be enjoying himself, a genuine smile stretching his lips and compressing his eyes. He turned to Terri. “Your boy here says he doesn’t read minds, Russo. That’s not what you told me.”

I could see Terri wanted to say something, maybe Cut the crap, Perry, or Rodriguez is so far from being my boy you wouldn’t believe it, but she couldn’t with a crowd around them. “Rodriguez has a talent,” she finally said.

I appreciated the effort. Maybe she didn’t hate me. Or maybe she just hated Denton more.

“So come on, Rodriguez, it’s been a long meeting and we could all use a little entertainment. Read a few minds.”

“I left my crystal ball at home,” I said.

Denton laughed and so did everyone else. I thought it was over, but then I looked at Denton and the weirdest thing happened-a picture flashed across my brain.

It didn’t last long, maybe five seconds, but it was perfectly clear, the afterimage still clinging to my optic nerve. I could feel my eyes blinking, and knew I must have looked startled, because I was.

“You okay, Rodriguez?” Denton asked. “You’re not getting a message from the great beyond or anything, are you?”

The room was in focus again, and so was Denton’s grinning face. “I’m fine.”

“Really? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

“Woo-woo,” said Perez, and everyone laughed while the image of the burning man flickered in my brain.

“You’d better take Rodriguez for a drink, Russo. He looks like he can use one.” Denton turned to me, still grinning. “So, was it a ghost, Rodriguez?”

“No, it was a man on fire.”

Denton’s facial muscles ticked. Then he laughed hard and loud. The others laughed too, all but Terri, who looked straight at me.

When Denton stopped laughing, he said, “I know. You can be our in-house psychic.” He turned to his audience. “Hey, you all read about that case last week over on Staten Island, the one where the psychic was trying to help the PD find that missing woman? Drags half the local PD to a site where he says the woman is buried. They dig for hours, and what do you know, they find a skeleton. Problem was, the skeleton turned out to be a dog!” Denton laughed even harder this time.

“My father tells the story of the psychic who helped them back in the seventies, also on Staten Island,” said Terri. “It was with this kid who’d been kidnapped on the way to school. Five, six weeks go by and they give him up. Then some psychic calls the station, says she’s seen the kid in a dream tied up in a room with a sign that says something about hot dogs. A day later they find the kid in an abandoned building in Coney Island right beside the famous Nathan’s hot dog stand. You believe that?”

“No,” said Denton. “My guess is the psychic was in on it from the get-go.”

“Actually, no, Chief Denton,” said Collins. “I know that case. We studied it at Quantico. The psychic was totally unaffiliated with either the victim or the perpetrators.”

“Is that so?” Denton was trying to control a sneer but losing. “Don’t tell me you believe that sort of stuff, Monica.”

“There are some things that just can’t be explained,” said Collins. “And if you’re hearing that from an FBI agent, well…” She laughed.

But Perez wouldn’t let it die. He nudged me with his elbow. “So, Rodriguez, can you tell me what’s going on in my head?”

“Yeah, sure, Perez. I’m looking in there right now. But all I see is dust.”

Denton really guffawed over that one. He gave me a slap on the back, but that was it. He’d spent enough time with the commoners. He took Agent Collins by the arm and led her into the hall.