The Poisonous Ten (14 page)

“Jackie,” said Parks. Jackie looked up, tears in her eyes, as she tried to frantically clean herself off. She didn’t have to say it. He knew what she was thinking in that moment even though he himself had never been a father. She was worried about not being there for her son. Sure he was full grown, a man now, but she was still, first and always, a mother.     

Two ambulances raced up to Union Station and four EMTs jumped out and hustled over to the back of the news van.

“Keep your distance,” Parks shouted at the approaching men and women. “Check her.” Parks handed Jackie off. “But stay away from this van. Don’t get any of the red substance on you. Understand? Fairmont? Moore?”

“Boss,” Fairmont and Tippin both called out through muffled masks. Both men stopped suddenly, backing off a few steps at the sight of their boss covered in blood.

“Rope this entire area off,” Parks ordered as he jumped back from Wyler. Wyler began making painful, retching noises as he continued throwing up blood. The wheezing noises coming out of the man made it sound as if everything inside his body was squeezed together as his organs fought over one another to get oxygen. “Get those people over there who were with Wyler during the attack to the EMTs to be checked out, and keep everyone else away. We’ll all need to be checked and tested.”

“What about Wyler?” Fairmont asked.

Parks turned back to the news van, already knowing the answer. Wyler lay face-up, covered in the vomit he had choked to death on as a result of his body’s uncontrollable reaction to a poison that had been introduced to him by a sadistic madman.

17

“It’s not your fault,” Parks said quietly from a chair facing Jackie while she sat on a hospital bed in the Cedars Sinai emergency room. They were alone, sealed off from the rest of the room by a cloth curtain, giving them some privacy, which Parks felt they were entitled to after the day they just had. Both were dressed in blue nurses scrubs as their clothes had been taken for testing and ultimately burning. 

Every member of his team had been cleared, at least as far as they were able to determine at this early stage. They had been at the hospital all day, each getting poked and prodded. More blood had been drawn from each of them for testing than Parks thought they could physically reproduce to keep living. Each had been given numerous immunization shots and would be required to return for further testing. But for now, all had been cleared
to go home.

“But I left Wyler alone. I just freaked. I should have ne
ver stopped administering—”

“You’re human,” Parks said, trying to console the wo
man, who was doing her best to hold back the tears. He could see it on her face. She was distraught. And not just about the fact that she could have died by some unknown, foreign substance, thereby leaving her son an orphan. She was also genuinely disturbed by her conduct on the job. Performance was everything to the people Parks worked with; he saw that day after day. He felt the same way. They all took pride in what they did. “You panicked. It happens. We don’t know what we’re dealing with. It’s scary. Damn-right freaky. Anyone of us could have died today. It’s not your fault about Wyler. Blame that sick son of a bitch out there running around poisoning people.”

Jackie threw on a fake smile that let him know she wasn’t buying it. Parks stared at the woman before him, her hands trembling as she tried to get a grip on herself.

“You talk to your son yet?” Parks asked.

“Ricky? No.” Jackie shook her head. “He’s not home t
oday. Or tonight. Staying on campus. Some frat party. I think he’s pledging. Not sure. Only know he’s out of contact for the weekend.”

Parks stared intently at her. “How are you getting home?”

She shrugged and smiled. She had no idea. Why would she? She wasn’t worried about how she was going to get home. Only about trying to survive the day.

“I’ll give you a lift,” Parks said.

“Are you good to drive?” Jackie asked. “Because I’m sure as hell not. How can you be?”

“Believe it or not, but I’ve been through worse things than today.” Parks smiled and held his scarred up hands in front of her. “I’ve learned
to control my adrenaline flow. I know how to manipulate it. Use it to my benefit. It’s what helps keep me cool under pressure. I’ll pass out tonight and sleep like a log. That’s when it hits me.”

Jackie and Parks stared at each other, enjoying the m
oment of silence.

“Yes,” Jackie said, breaking the silence.

“Yes?”

“Yes, I’d like a ride. If the offer still stands?”

“Sorry. That was a ten-second offer. I have to leave you here for the night now.” Parks smiled again and even uttered a little laugh as she playfully punched him on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.” 

“Actually,” Jackie said standing, pausing to grab her purse. “You know what I could really use right now?”

“What’s that?”

“A drink. You game?”

“Dressed like this?”

“What? So they’ll think we’re doctors or something. What do you care what other people think?”

“I think that after today, we’ve earned a drink. Fuck em. Let’s go.”

*
                            *                            *

“How do you do this? Every day?” Jackie almost finished her beer then set it down on the bar top and stared at Parks, genuinely wanting an answer.

“Well, honestly, it isn’t like this every day,” Parks said. “I mean sure there are days from hell. Days when we wished we’d never gotten out of bed. But the good days far outnumber the bad ones. And day’s like today . . . well luckily those are once in lifetime. If you’re lucky.”

Parks stirred the ice in his glass and remained quiet. There was no consoling her. No words that would make it better. She simply had to purge the experience from her b
eing. He had been there. Numerous times throughout the years.

They had found a small hole-in-the-wall bar near Jackie’s place in Venice so that she wouldn’t have far to go after the several drinks she planned on downing. Parks was acco
mmodating. He liked the beach area and the sound of the waves in the background was having a calming effect on them.  

“I panicked,” Jackie said, shame on her face.

“You’re human,” Parks said, correcting her. “That’s all it is. Nothing more. Nothing less. You were no worse at your job today than you were yesterday. You can’t foresee these things. They simply happen. Shit as it is. It’s true. But you’re not a bad person. Simply flawed. That makes you human. Trust me, that’s a good thing. Okay?”

“Thanks,” Jackie said, a smile lighting up her face before she finished off the beer.

“For?”

“Trying. That’s more than most people would do. It’s not working. I know you know it. I can see it on your face. But you’re still trying. Thanks.”

“Then how about this. Forget that you’re a human being. Remember that you’re a mother.” Jackie tensed up and Parks paused, letting her take his words in. “That’s why. It’s understandable. No, I cannot comprehend. I’m not a parent. So I’m not even going to begin to try and convince you that I know what you were feeling. But I do know that that’s why. You’re a mother. You have a child to think of. True, he’s grown now. But that doesn’t mean you stop becoming a mother. You’ll always think of him. That’s just the way it is. It’s nothing to be ashamed of or to beat yourself up over. So give yourself a break. It was scary, yes. You hesitated, yes. But it’s over and you’re alive and all is okay. So just take a drink and breathe. You’ll be fine. Tomorrow you’ll wake up and feel like a fool for having overreacted so much. Trust me. I’ve done it myself.”

Jackie smiled, appearing to actually accept Parks’s words of comfort. When it came to her child anything was game and all was excusable.

“You know you still amaze me,” Parks continued. “The way you handle your job. I’d be scared shitless being around those toxins and poisons and whatnot. But you’re in control. Fearless. You take charge. The way you handled Wyler when we first got there was amazing. You took no shit. You had a job that needed to be done, and in order to save lives you did what had to be done. And the other crime scenes. Around the bodies. Most people wouldn’t be so calm and collected. That’s a gift. Don’t sell yourself short.”

“Fine,” Jackie said. “I’ll agree with you and relax if you buy the next round.”

“Sure thing,” Parks said with a smile.

*
                            *                            *

“You want to come in?” Jackie asked while Parks kept his car in idle on the street near her house. She lived in one of the remodeled two-story houses that lined the historic canals in Venice. There was a small, gate-enclosed yard in the front of the house, along with a covered patio that gave a homey feeling of relaxing evenings watching the sunset. “I . . .” Jackie bit her lip, cutting off her thought. “For a drink or . . . something?”

Parks remained quiet as Jackie stood, balancing herself against the car door.

“I shouldn’t. I know we’re all ordered to rest up and stay away from the office, but I’ll probably go back and keep looking things over.” She stared at him in disbelief. “Sorry. It’s just what I do. I don’t stop until the case is wrapped up.”

“Then what about the next one? Or the one after that? Does it ever end?”

“No. I guess not. That’s just the life I lead.”

“The case will still be there tomorrow. And the day after. If you want, I’ll even go in with you and look it over, just the two of us. In peace and quiet. The detective and his poison expert.”

“That sounded like . . .”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like. Look Dave, I don’t want to be alone right now. I don’t feel like it. Ricky’s away for the night. I’m going to go in and fix myself some food. Knock back a few Tylenol PMs and hope I can sleep through the night and late into tomorrow. That’s all I’m offering. Nothing else. Good conversation if you want. But maybe we’re too frazzled for that. That’s fine too. If you want to go back to the office, then after you’ve eaten and after I’ve passed out, you can go. I won’t think anything of it. Okay?” Parks contemplated the offer and what else went with it that wasn’t being said aloud. He stared at her. In the darkness her eyes shined brightly, calling to him, coercing him to obey her. He couldn’t explain it, but when he looked at her, listened to the words coming out of her mouth, he felt compelled to give in.

Jackie stood outside the car with her door open until he finally turned off the car. She smiled with satisfaction and walked toward the house. Parks shook his head at his st
upidity but didn’t care as he exited the car and followed Jackie over a bridge, through a white-painted gate, and into her home. Jackie set her keys down in a bowl on a table near the front door then turned around and kissed him. Parks let her kiss him as he stood there, waiting for her to finish.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I don’t know if it’s the adr
enaline or the fear of death that was around us today, but I . . . I don’t know, I just . . .”

But she didn’t need to explain,
because, just like the adrenaline, this was a feeling that he was accustomed to. He knew what she was saying even without her saying it; he just wanted something more than another one-night stand that he wouldn’t even remember come the next morning. Not that he was looking for more from life; he just felt a stronger connection to this woman. He reached down and grabbed her, pulling her in and kissing her back. He could feel her maneuver herself in closer to his body. She removed her jacket as Parks did his own then she began to unbutton his shirt. He finished with the rest of the shirt and yanked off his tie while she unzipped her skirt, dropping it to the floor as she reached up and removed her blouse. She stood there in front of him in her underwear, her heart beating wildly, her breasts rising and falling with each breath.

Parks reached for her, picked her up, and began to kiss her as he found his way to the nearest bedroom. Once they reached it they spent the rest of the night wrapped in each other’s bodies, falling asleep after they finished having sex, only to wake a few hours later and go at it once more. It was four in the morning when they finally passed out and stayed asleep for the rest of the night.

They were both wrapped in a slumber so deep and fulfilling that neither one heard the person who entered Jackie Isley’s house and made his way down the hallway to the entrance to her bedroom, and stared at the couple as they slept in each other’s arms. 

PART

THREE

18

“Good morning.” Jackie smiled as she opened her eyes and saw Parks staring at her from his side of the bed.

“Morning,” he replied, holding back a yawn.

“That was, um . . .” Jackie blushed. She looked around her trashed room, their tossed clothes lying sporadically across the floor and items knocked off her desk, evidence of their escapades of the night before.

“Agreed.”

“Please tell me we caught the killer and we’re waking up on some exotic island right now.”

“Sorry to ruin the delusion,” Parks said, chuckling.

They remained quiet for a minute, the sounds of the nea
rby ocean soothing them both into yearnings for the placidity that wasn’t yet meant to be. Gulls cried out in the distance and broke the hypnotizing stare Parks had been giving Jackie.

“I’m gonna go shower,” Jackie said, sitting up, holding the sheet around her body even though Parks had explored nearly every inch of it hours earlier. “You can either wait here for me—”

“Have any coffee?”

“
You read my mind. There’s a pot in the kitchen.”

“Sure thing,” Parks said as he leaned in to kiss her. Jackie
pulled back, the embarrassment of having just woken up and not yet brushed her teeth hitting her.

“I’m going to go clean up. I’ll see you in a few,” Jackie said. She stood up and walked into the neighboring bat
hroom and turned the shower on. 

Parks fell back into the bed and lay there for a few more minutes listening to Jackie humming while she cleaned he
rself off in the shower, hypnotizing him.

His phone began to vibrate, obviously Fairmont or Tippin and fixed the ringtone on his phone and he picked it up and looked at the screen. The caller was blocked. He didn’t even bother answering it. He was in too good a place to let som
eone spoil his morning. 

“Gotta get up,” Parks said to himself as he forced himself out of bed and searched around for his clothes. He found his underwear and threw on his shirt, buttoning two of the bu
ttons and forgetting about the rest.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and made his way down the hallway to the kitchen. He was opening and clo
sing cupboards, looking for the coffee supplies, when he smelled something and turned around. There on the counter was a freshly brewed pot of coffee, and he wondered why both Jackie and he had not noticed that from the bedroom. His cop instincts kicked in, and he became alert and on edge.

“Good morning,” came a voice behind him, forcing Parks to spin around and come face-to-face with the young man he had bumped into getting off the elevator at the hospital. The
kid sat at the dining table reading the morning paper. “Figured after that performance you both gave last night you guys might need some of that.”

Parks stared at the kid—Jackie’s kid—who lowered his eyes back to the newspaper.

“You must be Ricky,” Parks said by way of introduction as he became self-conscious about the way he was dressed.

“And you must be Parks,” Ricky replied.

“Your mother thought you were staying at some frat house last night,” Parks commented, buttoning the rest of his shirt.

“That was Friday night,” Ricky said without looking up. “Last night was just a date. I’m usually home on the wee
kends. Mom knows that. She prefers that.” Ricky smiled. “Mugs are in that cupboard up over your left shoulder.”

“I’m sorry we had to meet like this,” Parks said as he found a mug and poured himself a cup.

“Why? We’re all adults. It happens,” Ricky said, taking another sip of his coffee. “I mean, you don’t think you’re the first person my mother’s ever brought home, do you?”

Parks stood silent, not sure of what to say or how to r
espond, and sipped his coffee.

“You’re not,” Ricky continued. “It happens. Then they leave. They all leave. Then it’s just me and her. You’ll leave. Which is fine. I’m okay with that. So long as you do leave. I don’t need to see my mother getting hurt again.”

“I’m not out to hurt your mother.”

“That’s what they all say. But that doesn’t change the facts, now does it? You all still manage to do it just fine a
nyways.”

“I don’t know who ‘they all’ is, but I’m not—”

“You have a job to do. Because of that you met my mother. But don’t go thinking you’re in love already. Because you’re not. You have your fun then you leave. Understand? They all do that. Nothing more. It’s not allowed. If that means you need to bolt out the front door right now before my mother gets out of the shower, then you damn well better do that. Do. You. Understand. Me?”

Parks stared at the young man whose words cut through the air and stung him like a million bug bites. He had heard words like those before, with the meaning and tension b
ehind them that was meant for him, he just wasn’t expecting it from someone Jackie had brought into the world. Someone attached to her.  

“Just watch yourself,” Ricky continued as he stood up from the table. “My mother’s all I have. And I’m all she has. We won’t let anything happen to each other we don’t think isn’t good for the other person. You understand me?”

Parks stared at the kid as if they were in a pissing contest in a bar when he heard Jackie walking down the hallway.

“Mmm, smells good,” Jackie called out. She walked in, wrapped in a terry cloth robe and drying her hair with a t
owel. “Guess you figured out—oh, lookie who showed up after all. What are you doing here?”

Jackie walked over to Ricky and gave him a hug and a kiss on the top of his head.

“Oh, just taking a break from college life. What are you up to?”

“Well I was about to make breakfast. What if we all take a walk down to the beach and hit up some brunch place nearby?”

“Actually,” Parks interrupted. “I should probably get going.”

“What? No. Why?” Jackie asked.

“Well you’ve got Ricky here. You should spend some time with him. Just mother and son. Besides, I have a case I need to work on.”

“I thought you were ordered to take today off?”

“I was. But I’m not really expected to do so. Just to stay out of the office. I’m going to drive around and visit the crime scenes. Take some new notes. Stuff like that.”

“Well why don’t we have breakfast and then I can join you?”

“It’s okay,” Parks said with a smile. “I appreciate that. I really do. But this is something I should do on my own. Besides, you have your son here today. I know you miss him. You talk about him all the time.” Parks looked past Jackie and eyed Ricky. “Spend the day with him. I’ll see you tomorrow. Promise.”

Jackie moved
to Parks and pulled him out of the kitchen and toward the bedroom. “This a little too much Normal Rockwell for you, isn’t it?”

“It’s nice. I’m fine. I promise. I enjoyed last night and I would like to see you again. But you really should spend the day with your son and I really should work. The sooner we crack this case . . .”

“Oh, is that a date you’re scheduling?”

“That’s a promise,” Parks said as he leaned down and gave her a kiss. “Something for me to look forward too. I work so much better with inspiration.”

“Well then . . .” Jackie said, pulling Parks back down for another kiss. “How about one more for the road. Just to make sure you don’t forget what’s motivating you.”

“Like I could.”

*                            *                            *

Parks spent the rest of the day doing just as he said. He stopped for coffee then went home and played with a new puzzle for an hour before he decided it was time to work and dug through the notes he had on hand. He mapped out the four crime scenes so far and then spent the afternoon driving from location to location. He checked the times it took to get to each place. The surroundings. Buildings. Businesses and residential. People. Landmarks and any other distinguishing objects of merit. Nothing new stood out to him but he felt he had a stronger hold on the events as they had played out. Locations were irrelevant making the subjects more not
eworthy. There was a reason each person had been chosen. Somehow, someway, they had to be linked.

On his way back home he stopped by the Tisdale res
idence stakeout and checked with the officers. There had been no movements anywhere. Tisdale had become a recluse. Parks felt the man was a weak suspect, but he was still their lead prime suspect. Even though there had been no connection made between him and any of the victims (with the exception of his wife), he was the one person they knew had knowledge of chemicals and toxins. Parks wished the officers luck, knew that he’d most likely have to pull them the following morning.

Parks was heading home when his phone began to ring. A number popped up that looked familiar but he couldn’t place.

“Detective Parks,” Parks said, answering his phone.

“You shouldn’t have involved her. It was not wise,” said a voice on the other end. The person calling didn’t need to identify themselves. The man’s Russian accent was thick.

“Kozlov?” Parks said as the line went dead. What the hell was Kozlov doing calling him? How? Why? The man had to know Parks wasn’t the lead investigator on his case anymore. And what did he mean by—

Parks pulled over to the side of the road and dialed Har
dwick who answered on the first ring. It was almost as if she had been expecting him to call. Or was about to call him.

“What happened?” Parks asked before she could say an
ything.

“Look, Dave. We don’t—”

“Don’t bullshit me. What happened? Where are you?”

“Parks—”

“Where, dammit!”

*
                            *                            *

Parks arrived at the Kozlov residence just south of the West Hollywood area, between Fairfax and Houser, to find the entire property tapped off with caution tape. The house was on the corner of a residential intersection, a white house with dark brown trim and a lawn in front with numerous flowers around the front walkway. Three black-and-whites were parked out front, police men and women standing around, making sure no one entered the premises. Crime scene tec
hnicians were entering and exiting the house, their booties covered in blood.

“Hardwick!” Parks shouted from the front door when he was stopped by an officer.

Hardwick arrived from a back room and nodded to the guard to allow Parks entrance. He rushed in, almost out of breath and quickly put on booties and gloves of his own. Plastic tarp had been laid out all over the front room and leading down the hallway to the back bedroom, which was a good thing, because despite booties, blood was being tracked everywhere.

“Where?” Parks asked.

Hardwick started down the hallway. “I need you to brace yourself, Parks. It’s a mess in there.”

“What happened?”

“We still don’t know,” Hardwick admitted. “Or rather we don’t know who did this to her.”

Parks followed her down the hallway and to a back be
droom where Natalie Kozlov was found lying in her bed, her head up against the headboard, blood everywhere in the room. It looked like a slaughterhouse massacre had occurred in the room. Up above Natalie’s head, written in what was most likely her blood, were the words:

ШАХ И МАТ

“What the hell?” Parks said, almost in a whisper, barely audible, while he took the whole scene in.

Parks noticed that Hardwick wasn’t looking at the body, rather she was faced away, side by side with Parks in case he needed anything. It was the woman’s body. Parks took a step closer, leaning in and taking all of the damage that had been done to the woman.

“Everything that was done to her was done with a razor,” Tanaka’s voice sad from behind Parks. He turned and saw her, covered in blood, having done the initial observation. “We’ll move the body now if everything’s been photographed and catalogued.”

Hardwick looked across the room, probably to the dete
ctive in charge, though Parks couldn’t focus on them. They didn’t matter. Natalie Kozlov was what mattered.

“Tell me,” Parks said.

“Dave—”

“Tell me,” Parks repeated, more forcefully this time.

Tanaka looked to Hardwick who nodded that it was okay. He would find out one way or another anyway.

“Each of her fingernails has been removed, sliced off from under the skin. Whoever did this dug in and literally severed each nail from the root. She’s got numerous cuts along her body, legs, arms. Defensive wounds on her hands. He sliced open her face. First her mouth. Her attacker almost cut her jaw off. Then he removed her eyelids. Both below and above the eyeball. Her nose was removed. As well as both ears. He really disfigured her.”

“This was anger,” Parks said. “For her testifying against her husband.”

“Her breasts were cut off. Body parts and skin were found all over this room,” Tanaka said, almost as if she couldn’t stop once she had started.

“I get it,” Parks said, by way of letting her know she could stop. He needed to know but he could see the damage. He didn’t need to make anyone else relive it. Especially not Tanaka. “Where is he?”