The Night Stalker

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

I remained in the breezeway with Martin while the police arrested Teresa Rizzoli and her husband, and read them their rights. As the police led the Rizzolis past me, Teresa stopped to look lovingly at the child she’d tried to make her own.

“I gave him his meds at noon,” she said. “He’s not due again until four. I used to be a physician’s assistant. I know what I’m doing.”

“How was his coughing?” I asked.

“It was okay. I was going to take him to a doctor this afternoon.”

One of the cops pushed Teresa down the breezeway, and I went into the apartment. Burrell was talking to Martin’s real mother on her cell phone. She placed the phone next to the baby, and I tickled Martin’s belly and made him giggle. Through the phone I heard Lonna Wakefield laugh and cry at the same time. Burrell lifted the phone to her face.

“We’re bringing your baby back to the hospital. See you soon.”

“Thank you, thank you!” Lonna Wakefield shouted through the phone.

Burrell folded her phone. “Let’s go.”

“Not so fast. He’s got a smelly diaper.”

“We’ll lower the windows.”

“Great. I’ll drive and you hold him.”

“On second thought, let’s change his diaper.”

We went to the baby’s bedroom, where I laid Martin on a changing table and began to undress him. When Jessie was born, I stayed home for two weeks and got to know my kid. I hadn’t lost my touch at changing a diaper, and Martin was soon good to go. As I picked him up, Burrell’s cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and groaned.

“The mayor?” I asked.

“Who else?” Burrell said.

“Don’t talk to him.”

“Why not? I’ve finally got some good news to share.”

“He’ll go to the hospital, and steal your thunder.”

“You really think he’d do that?”

“Absolutely. You rescued this baby and deserve the credit, not him.”

“Let’s be honest, here. You rescued him, Jack.”

I handed Burrell the baby. “The official version of events is that you found him. I was along for the ride. Got it?”

Burrell shot me a funny look. She was honest to a fault, which could be a real character flaw when you were rising up the ranks of the police department.

“Whatever you say,” she said.

I drove Burrell’s Mustang to Broward General Medical Center with Burrell in the backseat cradling Martin. I normally paid scant attention to the insane traffic that defined Broward’s highways, but today there was more at stake, and I put Burrell’s flasher on the dash and turned it on. The spinning blue light had a magical effect, with cars slowing down to safe and normal speeds. A block from the hospital, I glanced at Burrell in the mirror.

“You ready?” I asked.

“For what?” she replied.

“My guess is, Jimmie and Lonna Wakefield have told everyone in the hospital the good news. It probably leaked out, which means the hospital is swarming with reporters. You’re about to become everyone’s favorite cop.”

“Is that a problem?”

“It all depends on how you handle it. Have you ever held a news conference before?”

Burrell shook her head.

“I’ll give you some pointers. Make sure you have the parents with you, plus the hospital staff. You want smiling faces standing behind you. This is a joyous event. The baby’s fine, the parents are happy, life is wonderful.”

“Make it into a celebration,” Burrell said.

“Exactly. Also make sure that you have the reporters’ credentials checked before you start. There are a lot of nuts out there, and you don’t want someone lobbing a crazy question at you, especially if there are cameras rolling.”

“No nuts.”

“That’s right. Now, here’s the tricky part. How do you talk about Teresa Rizzoli? The reporters will want to know how you plan to prosecute her.”

“Why is that tricky? She stole a baby.”

“You still don’t want to demonize her. There are plenty of women who can’t have children who can empathize with her situation.”

“Don’t speak about her like she’s a criminal.”

“Exactly. Tell them she’s a confused woman, and that police psychologists will be dealing with her. I wouldn’t mention the charges she’s facing, or that she might do hard time.”

“What about her husband pulling the gun on us?”

“I wouldn’t mention that, either.”

“Keep it upbeat, huh?”

“Happy time,” I said.

I pulled into the hospital’s emergency entrance in the back of the building, and threw the Mustang into park. Getting out, I walked around and opened Burrell’s door. She smiled at me with her eyes as she climbed out with the baby.

“One more thing,” I said.

“What’s that?” she said.

Burrell’s detective’s badge was still clipped to her purse. I removed it, shined it on my sleeve, then pinned it on her chest so it was in plain sight.

“Just so everyone knows who’s in charge,” I said.