Tomahawk (13 page)

Melissa smiled.

"Holler when the guys get in or when the picture comes up, whatever comes first." 

Melissa waved her off. "Come on Ryan."  Slowly, the picture began to build on her phone.  "Come on.  I want to see your rat ass face." Melissa stared at the phone and heard the soft knock at the door.  "Kinney bout time you came back."  She yelled at the door she opened the hotel door not before she saw the full loaded picture of Sanders.
There was no time to do a double take. She didn't have to. The picture on her phone was the same man that stood at the door.  With everything she had she pushed the door closed.  Sanders with lighting speed kicked the half-opened door open.  Melissa fell on her back.  "Tonya get out of here. NOW!"  Tonya came to the door and saw her attacker standing over Melissa.
"Hello, Tonya."  She wanted to scream, but Melissa did it for her when Sanders lifted his left leg high, knee bent to his chest and stomped Melissa in her chest.
"Run."  Melissa croaked out.  "Get out of here."
Sanders had a large hunting knife. He yanked Melissa off the floor by her hair.  She struggled to stand.  "You have very few options, Tonya.  You come here and sit down and we wait for your friends. Or if you think you can make it to the door, I hope you know that I will cut her head off."  He put the knife under her chin giving it a little poke.  Blood began to run down the length of Melissa’s exposed neck.  Tonya was frozen.
"Vic won't forgive me.  Run."  Sanders gave her head a sharp jerk and a scream exploded from her mouth.  "He'll kill us both."
"You're right.  All of you will die, but in due time."  Flicking his knife under her chin more blood dripped to the floor.  "Now come here, Tonya."  Pointing the knife at her.
Melissa closed her eyes and prayed.  She knew her ribs were shattered, but she imbedded her elbow into Sanders side.  "Run, now.  I got it."
Tonya only hesitated for a tenth of a second.  She made it to the door, nearly forgetting where the elevators were.  She heard Melissa telling her one word over and over again.  "RUN!"

Tonya no longer wanted to wait for the elevator that was moving slow and just hitting the 11th floor.  She ran to the stairs, running as fast as she could.  She had no idea if he was following her or not. All she knew was that Melissa was dead and that she risked her life for her.
Tears had fogged her vision as the sound of her feet slapped the linoleum steps.  When she reached the lobby floor, she shoot out the door like a rocket.
"Ms. Irvine, is everything okay?”   The front desk lady Sophie asked with a grip on her shoulders.
"Call the police. He’s here.  Hurry, he killed her."  Those in the lobby began to either run out of the hotel or begin dialing on their cell phones.  "We have to get out of here."
"Ms. Irvine, we will take you to the backroom and when the police come--"
"You don't understand. He will find me.  He'll find all of us."  Sirens began to blare in the background.  "Please."
Sophie had a grip on her t-shirt. "Ms. Irvine."
Tonya pushed the woman away and ran full speed out the hotel doors into the snowy night.
The balls of her feet stung from running on the snow covered asphalt.  Red and blue flashed past her. Keep running.  She was almost at the corner when someone from behind began to yell out her name.  A surge of panic took over. Tonya ran across the street, too scared to turn and look behind her.  Her name was yelled over the sounds of sirens and people on the street. “Stop!”  Was the last she heard until her pursuer grabbed her by the waist from behind.  “Are you crazy?”  Tonya clawed and bucked.  “Ms. Irvine, please.”  Detective Stone swung her around and he was greeted to a punch to the face.  He dropped her in surprise in the dirty snow. He recovered quickly. "Ms. Irvine, it's me. Detective Stone." 

Tonya blinked a few times and looked at the bruise beginning to form under Stone's right eye.  "He's in there.  He killed her."

"Killed who?"  He squatted down and lifted her off the ground."
"The woman, Melissa.  I just ran."  Falling face forward into his chest, she cried.  "I couldn't stop him."

"Not your fault.  Where's Victor?"  Tonya just continued to sob on Stone’s dress shirt.  He cradled her in his arms and walked her back to an officer.  "You keep her safe.  Do not let anyone get to her. I mean no one." 

The young officer, who looked shell shocked by the yelling and screaming patrons of the hotel, put her in the back seat of the cruiser.  "You'll be safe here. Okay?"  He scurried around the trunk of the car and handed her a blanket.  Tonya nodded a thank you.  Too afraid to close her eyes from any danger, but too scared to leave them open.  She didn't want to see it coming.

Hotel staff and officers seem to be running in and out of the hotel.  Tonya got on her knees and looked out the back window at the chaos. 

"Please, God," she whispered.  She glanced over to the officer, one leg on the sidewalk and the other in the street.  His left arm was clenched and the other held steady to his service weapon.  She witnessed the tiny tremors in his hands.  The kid was scared and he should be.  These people were not occupied to handle this man.  Only Vic was and she hated that he would have to be the hero.  She wondered where he was at.

Her mind traveled to the distant places that her once lover was, until she heard the shout from the officer.  "Hey, you need to go around."  He yelled at an approaching car.  The driver flashed his high beams at the officer and her. "Driver, I will have to ask you to turn your lights down and go around the block.  You can't enter this way."  The officer had his arm high covering his eyes from the blinding light.  Taking a step off the curb and standing flush to the trunk of the cruiser.  "Driver!"  He exhaled.  "Step out of the vehicle now."

Tonya wasn't sure, but she thought she heard the engine rev.  She slapped her hands on the back window trying to get the attention of the officer.  Once he turned to look at her, she heard the God awful sound of screeching tires.  The distance between the cruiser and the driver's car was closed within seconds.  The officer was half turned to face her. His eyes were stuck in surprise, pain, and shock. 

The impact kicked her back to the metal cage of the back seat of the cruiser.  She was scratching to get back up from in between the front and the backseat. The young officer’s eyes were still wide but vacant.  A string of blood trickled out of his mouth.  "Dear God."  Tonya fought with the doors, which both buckled from the hit.  Getting on her back she began to kick at the windows.  "Help me. Someone help me."
                           

A knock came from the other cracked window.  That smile that held no warmth.  Sanders struggled with the door like a mad man trying to get out of a cage.  Tonya pressed her back against the door and pushed with everything her exhausted body could muster.  She began to scream. The more
that
Tonya screamed for the attention of anyone around, the more he clawed at the door.
 

She couldn't hear what he was saying. It was animalistic growls and grunts.  A smile of relief washed over his face as he was able to reach his hand into the bent door. Grappling for purchase his whole upper arm was in the door.  Tonya never stopped screaming for help.  Then his face changed from the smile of small victory to astonishment as he was being pulled away from the door.
 

Tonya got on her knees and watched as if an invisible force was retracting Sanders away from her. A tap on the window turned her attention behind her.  "Get down," Ryan said.  She her head down between her knees on the floor and the window exploded.  "Come on."  Ryan lifted her from under her arms and pulled her out of the car.

Making her way to the front of the car to the other, Drew had his foot on Sanders neck.  Tonya could see the man's eyes water, mouth open trying to find any air.  Running in a black suit and drawing his weapon.  "Put your hands up and step back."  Stone surveyed the area.  He realized he just entered a circus.  People on the street with their cell phones out.

"It's him," Drew spat out.

"You can't kill him in the street."  With his gun shifting from Drew to Sanders, the man was laying in the fetal position with his hands on his neck.

"I want to surrender."  He croaked it the best he could. Sanders got on his knees and lifted his hands up.  "Take me to the police station."

"No!"  Tonya yelled.  "He deserves to die.  Ryan held on to her. He was aware of her hurt, her frustration that this guy that would star in each one of her nightmares was going to jail and not the morgue.
 

Chapter 10

"Where is she?"  I asked Ryan as they stood in the vacant hotel room.
Putting a heavy hand on my shoulder.  "Tonya's right out in the hallway with Drew.  Vic we need to get down to the station. Now."
"Yeah, we do."  Both men continued to stand there.  I had to take a step back not to get the tip of my shoe coated in blood.  "She was a hard worker, harder than most men that I served with."
"And more of a pain in my ass."  Pressing out a smile, Ryan looked down at the blood stained entrance.  "How are we going to get him out of police custody?"
Licking my lips, I felt naked going into this.  I've always been prepared. Always.  Now this Sanders guy was running the show.  He had got every one of the players exactly where he wanted them to be.  "I don't know, but we will find a way.  Let's go."  I turned on my heels and made the few steps to the door. I stopped, noticing Ryan wasn't following.  "Ryan?"
The forensic team was finishing up with their white lab outfits on.  They looked so clean and sterile, besides the blood that covered the bottom of their covered shoes.  Ryan heard the soft "Excuse me" from behind. A woman pushed in a stretcher. Melissa was hoisted up on the stretcher. They put a white sheet over her and Ryan closed his eyes.  Losing one of his teammates was killing him on the inside.  They began to push her out, past him and his brother.
"Wait," said another forensic guy.  He lifted the sheet up and placed Melissa's severed head on the stretcher.  An unmeasurable amount of rage boiled up in Ryan. This was his friend that was murdered and this guy put her head down as if putting a turkey down on a table for Thanksgiving.
"Don't."  I caught him mid-step approaching the very unaware tech.  "Not his fault. Remember, this was Sanders."  The brothers walked out of the hotel room.
"I'm sorry.  Victor, I'm so very sorry."  Tonya put her face in the middle of my chest and began to cry.  Would she ever be okay?  The team and I were trained for this, but it was still hard.  Melissa was one of our own.  But Tonya, couldn't handle a horror film.  The lasting effects of this weekend would weigh on her the rest of her life.  There was only one way, just a small thing that could make her life a little less hard.  Kill Sanders to make her smile.

Steven Sanders sat in an interrogation room.  It was nothing like he had seen on television.  It wasn't a medium sized room with a table that separated him and officers.  There was no two-way mirror.  Just a small room with three folding chairs.  It was the size of a broom closet.  He shrugged his shoulders and fiddled with his handcuffs.  Gazing around the room he tried to find a camera, but he didn't find one.  He was truly prepared to take the ass kicking that DCPD was going to give him since he ran over one of their own.  Oh well, he thought.  He didn't need a watch or clock to tell him what time it was.  It had to be at least a quarter to three in the morning.  The witching hour, he smirked.
"What the hell is so funny?"  A brute of an officer stormed into the room.  "You won't think shit is funny when we put you in lock up.  Pretty blonde thing like you won't last long."  Getting things cracking first thing.  Sanders liked that. No need to pussy foot around it.
Another cop followed, shorter guy and a few pounds overweight.  Looking at his partner, he said, "All we need to do is tell the guys that you like little girls and they will do the rest."
Sanders kept his face straight.  Here he had bad cop/worse cop.  Get everyone in their position right off the bat.  "Are you listening to us?" the brute asked. By his badge, his name was Detective Murphy. And he didn't look like a man that had ever ate a salad in his life.  But Sanders already knew all about him and the other cop, Delvito.
"I'm listening to everything the two of you are saying."  Sanders stretched his arms above his head and yawned.  "I just want one thing."
The little one, Delvito, laughed.  "If I'm getting this right.  You are looking at--" He thumbed through a file.  "Sexual assault, breaking and entering, destruction of property, and up to three counts of murder and you want something?  Go to hell."
Sanders almost wanted to correct the officer in saying that the president's son was his handy work too, but thought against it.  "Just need to speak to Commissioner Rice.  After that, I will answer every one of your questions."  Turning to look at the smaller detective.  "Now, I don't want Commissioner Rice on the phone or we talk through email. No mess like that.  I want him here in my face. Thank you."  Sanders turned and looked past both the detectives.
The brute, Murphy, got in his face.  "What makes you think that when you speak, we jump, huh?  You ain't shit.  Now you tell us everything we need to know. Not soon, not later, but right now."
Sander's leaned forward into Murphy's ear. He spoke so low he prayed that Murphy wouldn't ask him to repeat it. "You were right all along.  It's the neighbor that has been sleeping with your wife."  Murphy stumbled back and put his hand over his heart.
"You," he whispered. His shoulder was propped against the wall to keep him up.
Sanders saw the other detective look between the both of them.  "I would find comfort in the arms of someone else after your drunken rants. How long have you been hitting her, Detective Murphy?"  Murphy's mouth dropped and looked up to the corner of the small room.  There it was--the camera.
"You hit Annie?"  Delvito stepped away from his partner in disgust.
Rubbing his hand through his thinning hair.  "Get Commissioner Rice on the phone."
"Hold up! We do not bow to this guy's demands."
Sanders couldn't help but smile.  "Nicholas Delvito. Been on the force for over eleven years.  If I were you I would bow to this guy's demands."  Pointing to himself with cuffed hands.  "I'm sure whoever is watching this you wouldn't want them to know why you have to cruise down Columbia Ave every day." 
Delvito gulped.  "You don't know anything."
"Give him what he wants." Murphy was still leaning.
"I know that on Columbia Ave there's an all boys school.  You haven't done anything yet, but you like to watch. Don't you?"
Delvito had his hands on his neck.  "You shut your mouth."  He spat as he squeezed. 
Murphy struggled to pull his partner off of their prisoner.  Murphy had him in a bear hug.

"Now can you please get the Commissioner here?  Before I tell."  Sanders looked up behind him and faced the hidden camera.  "Before I tell that sometimes you take pictures on your phone of those boys on their recess and what you do in your car to release your urges." The detectives looked at each other. Tails between their legs, they walked out of the little room.  "Thank you," Sanders yelled out before Murphy closed the door.

We stood at the police precinct and we were all in a disarray.  Detective Stone came over to us.  "We have him in custody, Mr. Moore.  There's nothing else that you and your team can do."
"I'd rather stay if it's all the same with you."  Turning back to my team, I said, "Drew take Tonya back to my house. Keep her there until I get things figured out." 
"Vic, I want to stay."  He looked down at her. Had she gotten smaller since yesterday?  Her eyes looked so tired, her body beaten and bruised.
"Baby, go to my house.  It won't be long, okay?"  I couldn't resist in kissing the top of her head.  She didn't move, didn't protest my show of affection. She leaned into me.
She wrapped her arms around me and held on.  "Stop making me go away."  I felt her tears bleed through my shirt.  "Stop forcing me out."
"It's always been for your good."  I stroked her hair.  "Drew."  Drew came forward and put a hand on her shoulder.
Detective Stone put his hand out. "I think that all of you should be under police protection. And Mr. Moore, your home was burned to the ground."
Before the detective could finish.  "What?!"  Tonya held on to me tighter.
Stone put his head down.  "We got the call a few hours ago.  Your agent friend was in your house.  Luckily, your neighbor saw the blaze, knew you lived alone and found him.  He's currently at St. Francis, fighting 3rd degree burns to the lower half of his body and a nasty stab wound in his chest.  He's in ICU."
Ryan stepped forward and put his hand on Tonya shoulders, gently pulling her away.  "She can come to my house, you'll be safe there."
Tonya looked at me, tears running down her battered face.  "Please, don't make me go."
Behind my better judgment.  "She's safer with us.  We stay together." 
I gave a sharp look to Stone who wanted to fight me on it, but knew he would lose.  "Just go have a seat in my office."
Without making two steps towards the interrogation viewing room there was movement by the front door.  Four officers on every side of Commissioner Rice.  "Commissioner, what are you doing here at this hour?"  Stone said looking up at Rice.
"A madman is demanding my presence."  Rice is over six foot five.  His body leaner than most officers on the street.  His hawk eyes looked at the motley crew before him.  "It seems this mess has gotten out of hand, this will be on National news in the morning Stone.  I thought your men would be able to handle this and keep it under wraps.  Now I have two detectives begging me to get here.  What is this all about?"
 

Stone’s mouth fell open.  "Sir, I have no idea."  He led the way to the interrogation room.  Ryan, Drew and I waited in the view room.
Once the Commissioner stepped in, Sanders smiled.  "Good evening or well good morning commissioner.  I would shake your hand but-"They all looked down at his cuffs.  "I'm glad that you were able to make it here on such short notice."
"Kill the shit."  Looking at Stone.  "What is this about?"
"It's simple.  I want you to get me out of here.  I want to go home."
"You must be kidding me."  Still not giving Sanders a look.  "I'm going back to bed.  Tell those two detectives that I want to see them in the morning."  Rice reached for the door to leave.
"How's your daughter?  Isn't she supposed to be in Virginia camping this weekend?"  Rice turned.  "I'm sure that if you call her best friend Anita she's not with them.  Where could she be, Commissioner?"
"Get my wife on the line now!" An officer ran out of the small room. Rice sat down across from Sanders.  "If anyone knows me and knows me well they would tell you that I don't joke or play around.  That especially goes for my daughter.  Now if anything happens to her there will be nothing in this world that will be able to save you, do you understand me?
Sticking a cellphone in Rice's face.  "Your wife sir."  The officer said.
"Honey...yes I know it's late.  Wasn't Patricia going to the Mountains this weekend?"  Rice waited, but everyone saw how tight he gripped the cellphone. He gave quick look at Sanders, "Give Patty a call on three way."  They all heard his wife's voice on the other end of the line.  Wanting to know what was going on.  "Just do it please."  Everyone except Sanders was holding their breath.  "Voicemail.  Call Anita and call me right back."  Rice ended the call.  "Where is she?"
"I will let you know once you get these off me."  Lifting his hands up.  "Then I want to go home and get some sleep that's all."
"I can't let you walk out of here and you know that."
"You can and you will let me out of here."  The cellphone rang in Rice's hand.  "That's probably your wife, you should get that."
Turning his back to Sanders.  "Anita hasn't heard from her. It's fine honey just go back to sleep."  Tears began to build in the old man's eyes.  "Where's my daughter?"
"All will be revealed once I get what I want."
In the viewing room, Tonya held on to my hand so tight I thought she was going to break a bone.  "They're going to let him go, aren't they?"  As she stared at the screen.  "He's going to walk right out of here, isn't he?"
"When he does, that will be the last thing he'll do."  Ryan said.  "What's the plan?"
I looked down at Tonya who still watched the screen.  "This is chess, once he makes a move then we will counter.  Sorry, bro that's all I got."  I watched the pain and agony in the Commissioner’s face.  All I could do was send up a quick prayer for her, pray that he didn't touch her.  Didn't kill that poor girl.
"We have to take him out.  The second that his feet hit the pavement."  Drew cracked his knuckles.
I shook my head.  "After we confirm the whereabouts of the Commissioner’s daughter we kill him."
"Vic, you and I both know that she's dead."  Drew stood.  "I have a good mind in taking him out right here."  Reaching down to his ankle he removed his gun.
"Drew, I'm telling you now if you walk out that door, you better keep walking and don't come back."  I prayed that Drew wouldn't take another step.  I couldn't take another one of my crew leaving.  Drew sat back down and folded his arms.  I tried to hide my sigh of relief.
We all watched as Stone and the commissioner walked right out of the interrogation room in the viewing room.  Rice wasn't that man that I saw walking proud and border lining on arrogance.  His broad shoulders slumped, eyes rimmed red.  "Stone said that you knew this guy?  What...what is he?"  Rice fumbled his words out.
"He's my judgment." I said.  I stared at the screen, Sanders looked like he was waiting for a million dollar check.  "Tonya, no matter what you hear, no matter what is said.  Don't leave."  She turned away and shook her head.  "Drew, Ryan make sure that she doesn't go anywhere." 
I pushed past Stone and Rice.  Everything that I tried to hide, everything that made me a monster was sitting behind this door.  I felt my hands begin to shake. I opened the door and Sanders smiled.  "Tomahawk, I thought I would never see you. You are the man behind the myth.  Come and have a seat."
I sat at the furthest corner away from him.  My fingers laced in my lap.  "Sanders, you've won.  Let Rice's daughter go.  You wanted me here now what do you want?”
Leaning closer, Sanders put his handcuffed palms up on his face, his elbows on his knees.  "Tomahawk that is where you are all wrong.  It was never about you.  It was all about Lola and what you did."
I knew that this discussion was going to go on and on, round and round.  "There aren't enough sorrys in the world to bring her back.  Killing Rice's daughter will not fill that void, just tell us where she is."  I was trying to stay level, trying to gauge him, read him.
Sanders glanced up to the camera and blew a kiss.  I knew that Tonya's stomach grew sour, because mine had.  "What would you do if someone done her like that?"  Pointing his head back at the camera.  "Would you kill all parties involved?  Would you seek revenge no matter how long it took you?"  I didn't move.  Sanders laughed. "You know all too well how beautiful your Tonya is."  He looked up and cocked his head to the side.  "Tonya, what a boring name for such an extraordinary girl."  Here it comes I thought.  "I don't want to call her that, I want to call her Peanut Butter.  Yeah, I like that name."  I saw the beads of sweat running down his forehead.  "You want to know why I'll call her that."  I didn't dare respond.  "I'll call her that because those nice brown legs are so easy to spread."  He smile and waited.
"You think insulting her is insulting me?  You truly think you know me don't you?  I could care less about her.  For God's sake she's a black girl that I used to sleep with.  If you think that's funny you should have saw her face when I broke it off.  She actually thought that I was going to marry her.  Where she got that idea, I have no idea."  I looked up to the camera behind Sanders.  "The day that I kicked her out of my place I was cleaning all her shit out."  I started to laugh.  "There was this book, a book filled with wedding ideas, can you believe that?  My father would roll over in his grave if he knew that I would have
her
in the family."
"You're lying."  Sanders smile disappeared.
"You're smart I'll give you that, but not that smart.  For Christ sake she was going to have my baby.  I thank God that it died."  I relaxed my posture.  "I couldn't have some half black kid carrying around my name.  So you see, you hurt the wrong girl. You forgot that I've been with her on numerous occasions and I'm sure that if you would have asked nicely maybe told her she was pretty she would have fucked you right there in the parking lot of Wal-Mart."
Sanders shook his head back and forth.  "You love her."
"No...I don't.  She was holding on to me that's why she kept me as her emergency contact.  I thought the whole 'rape' thing was a ploy to get me back."  I smiled at him.  "Since you have lived the last five years in the past, let's talk about today.  You are going to tell us where Rice's daughter is and when you do officers are going to come in here and take you away.  I'll give you some time to think about it."  I stood to leave.
"Your teammate the bitch, you should have heard her beg on her knees before I cut her head off." 
I knew that bastard was smirking behind me.  I closed my eyes for a second and turned.  "Do you think that I give a shit?  Like she is the only girl that can work a computer and give good head?  She's a dime a dozen.  And she wasn't that good with a computer anyway.  You did me a favor."  I sat back down and scooted my chair in his face.  "All this time you thought you were breaking me.  You were just doing things that I was either planning to do or already done.  Sanders, you didn't create a monster I've been one."  Closing the door behind me.