Using all her strength, she snatched her foot out of the doctor’s hand. Gena tried to lift herself up, but was too groggy.
“Here, here, it’s okay. I got you,” said Dr. Amerson, helping her off the table. “Let’s see if we can’t get you into recovery and you can wait there for the anesthetic to wear off.”
“Do you believe this? Isn’t this the most wonderful news?” She started crying. “You just don’t know what this means for me.”
This was probably the only thing Gena knew for sure. Maybe, just maybe anyone else’s, but Jerrell’s child, for Quadir to have to look after, was the last thing on this earth that would ever have happened, and Gena knew it.
“It means you don’t have to have an abortion,” answered the nurse. “Come on, we have crackers and juice. I know you’re hungry. Come on, hold on to me and I’ll get you situated.”
Gena held on to the nurse and followed her into recovery. She lay on a recliner and was given a blanket. Within minutes Gena nodded off to sleep.
Wires
Dick Davis rushed through the halls of the police department like a schoolboy who had just received his first kiss. His smile was uncontrollable, and he pushed aside police officer after police officer, making his way back to his partner’s desk. His excitement was electric.
“What?” Detective Ellington asked, peering up from her desk. Her partner’s smile made her smile. It was infectious.
Davis held up a cassette tape. “Hot off the presses! I just came from the recording room. Guess what our wiretaps just intercepted?”
“What?”
“She’s leaving!” Davis told her giddily. “She blowing town! Which means?”
“She’s got to get the money.” Ellington stood and grabbed her purse. “How soon do you think she’s leaving?”
“Who knows. You figure she’s probably got to tie up a few loose ends, but trust me, she won’t leave that money behind. If she’s got it, then it will be going with her.”
“Call Cornell and fill him in,” Ellington told him. “Do we have anybody tailing her right now?”
Davis shook his head, “Nah, not that I know of.”
“We need someone on her twenty-four-seven from now on.” Ellington threw her purse onto her shoulder. “I’m going to see Mark and let him know.”
“You want me to have narcotics put a tail on her?”
Ellington shook her head. “Those guys are idiots. They all think they’re on Miami Vice or something. She’ll spot them a million miles away. We’ll all just have to take turns tailing her.”
Davis nodded and lifted the telephone. Ellington strutted down the hall to see her boss, Lieutenant Mark Ratzinger.
“In!” Ratzinger shouted.
Ellington strutted into his office and plopped down in the chair opposite his desk.
“What’s up, Toya?”
“We got her.”
Ratzinger lifted his head from his paperwork.
“Her? As in her?”
Ellington nodded. “Ms. Money Bags. She’s trying to skip town.”
Ratzinger lifted his telephone without saying another word to Ellington. “Hey, Sammy, this is Mark over in vice. I need you to put a tail on a suspect for me.” Ratzinger lifted a paper from his desk. “Gena Scott. License plate Sierra, Charlie, Alpha, six, five, six. Keep the tail loose; this is a priority suspect. And if you can, give me details of all her stops. Thanks, Sammy.”
“You really want those guys in on this?” Ellington asked.
Ratzinger shrugged. “They’re just going to follow her. Every time she stops, they’ll call me, and I’ll call you. Get out in the streets and be ready for my call.”
Ellington nodded.
“Anybody call Cleaver yet?”
“Dickie’s doing it now.”
Ratzinger shook his head. “I don’t trust that guy. I know he’s your ex-partner, but it’s something about him…”
Ellington nodded. “He is one to be watched closely.”
“I want this one controlled. No coming back on us.”
Ellington nodded.
“I want you to handle it. Handle everything, you understand?” Ratzinger asked, wondering if Ellington had gotten his point.
“I’ll put a hole in the little cunt’s forehead myself.”
Ratzinger nodded. “Good.” She got my point, he thought.
Ellington rose and hurried out of the room.
Ratzinger sipped from his cup of warm coffee, then rubbed his tired eyes. He couldn’t believe that things were finally coming together. He shifted through the papers on his desk until he found his boating magazine. He turned to the classified pages in the back and stared at the boat he had been dreaming about since the current issue came out. He could see himself retired, sailing off the shores of Cape Cod in the four-hundred-thousand-dollar beauty. He was one or two days away from having the money to leave this shit behind, one or two days away from having the money for his dream boat. He couldn’t wait.
Ellington stormed out of the police station and climbed into her car. Davis was right on her heels. As soon as he hopped inside, they were on their way. Neither paid any attention to the gray van parked in the corner of the police station parking lot.
“I can’t believe you!” Agent Phil Covington shouted, tossing his headset onto the console. “We’re dead! We are so dead! Galvani is going to fire us, and then kill us!”
“He’s not going to fire us,” Agent Josh Harbinger replied. “Lavon, tell him.”
“He’s not going to fire you,” Agent Lavon Stokes said flatly, without peering up from her computer.
“Yeah, right! He’s going to fire us all, and then he’s going to shoot us, and then he’s going to throw us in jail!”
“He’s not going to throw us in jail,” Josh told him with a smile.
“He didn’t authorize this! There’s no way you can get me to believe that Galvani authorized this!” Phil said hysterically.
“Authorized what?” Josh smiled.
“Josh! You bugged a police station! Jesus! You bugged a lieutenant’s office! A lieutenant who just happens to be in charge of the vice squad!”
“A dirty lieutenant, I remind you.” Josh retorted.
“We wouldn’t have known that unless we bugged him!” Phil threw himself back in his chair. “Josh, we are in so much trouble. We have broken so many statutes that it isn’t funny! And you brought me along! How could you have done this to me!”
Josh patted Phil on the shoulder. “Relax, Phil. You’re going to be a hero. Tell him, Lavon.”
“You’re going to be a hero,” Lavon said flatly, without peering up from her computer.
“See, Lavon sees the big picture,” Josh told him. “We’ve got them on conspiracy to commit extortion, murder, robbery, and about a half dozen other criminal statutes.”
“Oh, God, what am I going to tell my mother when I get fired?” Phil lamented.
“You’re not getting fired,” Josh told him, then he added, “Lavon.”
“You’re not getting fired,” she said just as flatly as she had before, still focused on the screen of her computer.
“Do you think they get care packages in Terre Haute federal prison?” Phil asked.
“Yes, but you’re not going to Terre Haute,” Josh told him. “We’re sending those assholes to federal prison. We need backup. Lavon, you got that license plate number?”
“Sure did.”
“Call Rich and tell him to tail her. No, change that. Tell him to tail them. We want to catch them when they’re making their move. If they see a tail on her, they may back off. Let him know that it’s cops he’s tailing, so hang back and be on his Ps and Qs.”
“I can’t believe you bugged the police department,” Phil whined.
“Phil, we’re going to save this girl and put away a bunch of crooked cops. See, I told you that bastard Cleaver was dirty!”