CHAPTER 24
AN EXTERMINATOR HAD SEEN me crawling blindly through the hallway, and alerted some cops on my floor. Shortly after I passed out I was whisked away to the hospital. They revived me en route, and I semi-coherently informed them it was TEPP poisoning.
The ER nurses scrubbed my face and neck until I appeared to be sunburned. My eyes were irrigated, a process as painful as it sounds. I was given atropine. Pralidoxime. Activated charcoal.
Somehow Herb appeared at my side during the treatment. I gave him bits and pieces about what I remembered, but couldn’t give much of a description beyond the port-wine stain on the Chemist’s cheek, which I guessed to be fake. Even though Herb was no longer my partner, he dutifully took down the info.
I was in eight kinds of pain. The drugs made my heart jittery. My eyes itched, my skin was on fire. My nose and throat felt like I’d been sniffing broken glass.
“My face hurts,” I told Herb. I was setting him up for the punch line, “Yeah, it’s killing me too.” But he didn’t bite. He just stared at me, sadly, his walrus mustache drooping at the ends.
“I brought your purse. It’s next to the bed. We’ve also got a team on the way, to watch your room after you’re admitted.”
“Thanks.” It was painful to talk. “How’s Sardina?”
“She didn’t make it.”
I couldn’t take the way he was staring at me, so I turned away, focusing on the green ER curtain that surrounded my cot. Humble pie time.
“I’m sorry I called you a coward, Herb. You’re no coward.”
His hand touched my arm, above the IV.
“This has to stop, Jack. You’ve almost died twice in three days.”
It was actually three times, if you count the Hothams’ apartment in Cicero, but I saw no reason to share that. Instead, I spilled out everything else.
“Latham proposed and then got poisoned with BT, I made out with the Fed, my father is still alive, and I can’t catch the Chemist without you.”
Herb let it all soak in, and then said, “You made out with a Fed?”
I forced myself to look at him. “Out of everything I told you, that’s what you latch on to?”
“That HMRT guy?”
I nodded.
“I thought he was gay.”
“Why do men always think that all really cute guys are gay?”
“It helps us sleep better at night. So how far did he get? Second base?”
“Second base? What, are we in junior high?”
“Third base? Did he violate your Constitutional rights?”
“You sound like McGlade. Can’t we talk about my father, or the fact that I’m engaged?”
Herb lifted up my left hand, scrutinizing it.
“Where’s the ring?”
“I didn’t say yes yet. Before I had a chance, he got sick. He’s critical. I almost lost him last night.”
“I’m sorry, Jack. I like Latham. You’re going to say yes?”
“Yes.”
Herb smiled. “Congrats. If you need a maid of honor, I look great in pink. And your father isn’t dead?”
“He lives in Elmwood Park. My mother admitted that he left us, and she told me he died to stop me from looking for him.”
“Have you spoken to him?”
“No.”
“But you’re going to?”
“I don’t know. I-”
I heard my phone beep. Herb handed me my purse, and I checked the number. The Hothams’ stolen cell.
“It’s the Chemist,” I told Herb.
He picked up his notepad and put his head next to mine so we could both hear. I answered the call, made my voice strong.
“This is Daniels.”
“I’m glad you’re still alive, Jack. You’ve got a great set of lungs on you, if I may say so. How are you feeling?”
“We’ve agreed to pay you. What are your demands?”
“I asked you a question, Lieutenant. How are you feeling?”
I spoke through my teeth, anger masking all of my symptoms.
“I’m fine.”
“Good. Because I want you personally to deliver my two million. Here’s how it will work. I want a hundred thousand dollars in cash, three hundred and thirty-two thousand dollars in platinum eagles, and the remainder in uncut diamonds, at least three carats per stone. No tricks, no transmitters, no laser-engraved serial numbers on the stones, no moissanite, you get the idea. If you screw around with me, I’ll be very angry. Put everything in a leather suitcase, and paint it bright yellow. Then stand outside the Daley Center, near the Picasso, at ten thirty a.m. tomorrow. Got all of that?”
I looked at Herb, who was furiously scribbling notes. He nodded at me.
“I got it.”
“Good. Have your cell phone on you, and wear some running shoes. You’re going to need them.”
“I know about Tracey,” I said, trying to catch him off guard. “And Dirk Welch. You killed him in prison. Were you cell mates?”
There was a pause.
“I’m planning something big. Very big. If everything goes well tomorrow, I’ll tell you what my plan is, and you’ll be able to stop it in time. If anything goes wrong, many will die. If you try to find me, many will die. If you pull any tricks or try to catch me, many will die. The elderly. Women and children. I know you don’t want that on your head. But it won’t stop there. I’ll come after you as well. You and everyone you know.”
He hung up. I stared at Herb. He didn’t say a word, but I could read his mind.
Burglars don’t call you up and threaten you and half the city. Robbers don’t spray poison in your face and put you in the hospital. Thieves don’t attack the people you love.
Yeah, well, he was right. But I couldn’t do anything about it.
A nurse opened the curtain and stuck her perky head in.
“We’ve got a room available, Ms. Daniels.”
I might have protested, demanded to be released, but the nurse divided into two identical nurses and I wasn’t sure which to talk to. Earlier, I’d been told to expect double vision. It wasn’t as much fun as I’d hoped it would be.
“Herb, I hate to ask…”
He held up his notes. “I’ll pass this along to the super. We’ll work out the details. You get some rest.”
“Thanks. Also, in Records, I was looking for the Alger case file for Tracey Hotham’s murder investigation. The Chemist was in the box. I don’t know if he took it or not. If he did, we need to see if the records are still on file at the two-four.”
“I’ll check.”
“There was a guy named Welch involved, died in prison.”
“Jack…”
“I know. We’re not partners anymore. Pass it off on a subordinate.”
Herb nodded, gave me an informal pat on the shoulder, and left.
I asked the nurse(s) for some water, and she gave me a cup and took my blood pressure. As she did, my whole body began to shake. First mildly, and then it became violent enough to make me spill water all over my bed.
“She’s seizing!” the nurse yelled.
A doctor rushed over while the nurse forced something rubber between my teeth. Then I couldn’t see anything else, because my eyelids were fluttering too fast.
“Administering diazepam push.”
I felt a calm flow through me, and the convulsions stopped. The nurse fished out the mouth guard, and I squinted at her, trying to focus.
“It’s okay,” she said. “You’re fine. TEPP can cause seizures. We gave you some Valium, which will work with the atropine and pralidoxime to relax your muscles.”
“Thanks,” I said. I was pretty freaked out, but the Valium went a long way to helping me over that.
The nurse draped a dry blanket over me, then promised to be back shortly. While I waited, my phone rang again. A blocked number.
“This is Daniels,” I said. My voice sounded kind of thick.
“Hiya, Jackie. How’s it hanging?”
Harry McGlade.
“Hi, Harry. How’s the space suit?”
“A tax write-off. I cornered your superintendent, and she threatened to have me arrested if I didn’t vacate the scene. A real piece of work, that one. Feisty. If her cankles weren’t the size of hams, she’d be my type of woman. Speaking of dates, are you going to PoliceFest on Sunday?”