Marcie seriously.
“I wanted to ask you if you would be my bridesmaid.”
It took Marcie a couple of seconds to grasp the situation, then she squealed and said, “You’re getting married!”
“Jack proposed to me yesterday … well, sort of proposed.”
Marcie bounced around in her seat as she said, “And, and … you want me to be your bridesmaid?”
“It was you who brought Jack and I together. After playing such an important role in my life — our lives — of course I would like you to be my bridesmaid. If you don’t mind?”
“Don’t mind! You bet I will! Oh, Natasha, this is great!”
An hour later, Natasha and Marcie were loading parcels into the trunk of Natasha’s car when Natasha heard the door of a van parked next to her slide open. She glanced up as three men moved in behind them and stuck guns in their backs.
A voice hissed, “If either one of you talks, screams, or tries to run, we’ll kill the other one.”
Seconds later, Natasha and Marcie lay face down on the floor of a van as it silently drove out of the parking lot.
Natasha felt the tears roll down her face. She had never been so afraid in her life. She stared into Marcie’s face. She had a look of resignation about her. It was as if she had already resigned herself to her fate.
Jack was making a list of the people who would be in the honour guard at his wedding when his cellphone rang.
“Taggart! This is Sid Bishop! I need to see you and O’Reilly now!”
“What is it, Sid? If you’re still concerned about bikers, I’m sure you’re not in any danger.”
“It’s about the wiretap application for Homicide. I just received an interesting phone call from someone about the real identity of a person identified in the application as an Edward Trimble!”
Jack felt his heart sink. “I don’t understand. Who called you? What does —”
“I believe you understand fully! I haven’t mentioned this to anyone else yet, but I will not allow justice to be put into disrepute! I suggest that you and Mister O’Reilly come to my house immediately and start telling me what is going on!”
“I’ll pick up Danny and we’ll be there as soon as we can,” said Jack quietly. “It will probably take about an hour and a half.”
Moments later, Jack called Danny and then left his apartment. He was barely a block away when Wizard and Booger entered his suite.
Forty-five minutes passed before the van came to a stop and the side door slid open. Natasha heard the roar of the ocean. She looked up and saw three bikers standing at the door, looking down at her. Then another face appeared, someone who didn’t look like a biker but was definitely in charge.
“Taggart and O’Reilly took the bait. Should happen within the hour,” he said.
Natasha’s panic increased. None of the men had bothered to hide their faces. She also saw that at the sound of the man’s voice Marcie squeezed her eyes shut and began to shake.
“Put them in the boat,” he ordered. “Thumper, you stay with them, then the rest of you set up around the house.” He looked at Thumper and added, “Remember the plan. Don’t leave any marks on them. With the sound of the waves, even if they yell they won’t be heard, but if they do try to cause any problems, snap their necks, or, if need be, slash their throats immediately. We’re not taking any chances!”
“Not a problem,” said Thumper, stepping from the van.
Moments later, Natasha and Marcie found themselves face down on the bunk of a cabin cruiser. The bunk was covered in plastic sheeting.
Natasha heard the men leave, except for one. She could hear his breathing and knew that he was standing close, watching over her.
CC and Charlie Wells were in the Homicide office when CC received a call. It took her a few minutes to calm Mr. Burnside down.
“I got another warning from the bikers! Told me to get out of the city now! This time I’m doin’ it!”
“Why? What did they say? Did this guy meet you in person?”
“Yeah. Same guy as before. Big guy with a goatee. He said that the pervert has really gone berserk. Thinks he’s murderin’ people right now!”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. The biker just told me that after this guy molested one of the girls, he buddied up to her later without her knowin’ it was him. You know, like I told ya, he wore a mask.”
“You told me.”
“Yeah, well anyway, I guess he gave this girl a place to live with his sister someplace.”
“Why did he do that?”
“I don’t know, but now he’s going to kill ’em.”
“He’s going to murder this girl and his sister?”
“Not quite. I guess the girl is meetin’ with the pervert’s lady friend. Got him paranoid that the girl has clued in and is talkin’.”
“You don’t have any idea who? Anything at all to help?”
“Remember I told ya I once got this creep’s licence plate number?”
“Yes.”
Well, I found it.”
She motioned for Charlie Wells to come over to her desk. “Quick, run this! It’s the pervert’s plate from the motel.”
Moments later, Charlie walked back into the office as CC hung up the telephone. She noticed he looked ill and appeared to be at a loss for words. “What is it?” she asked.
Charlie shook his head and waved a printout of the registration in front of him. “You’re not going to believe it. The plate. You’re not going to believe it.”
“Damn it, Charlie! Out with it!”
“It’s registered to Jack Taggart!”
“Bullshit!” CC looked at the registration, then quickly looked through her notebook.
“What are you doing?”
“I’ll tell you in a sec. I’m calling the Anderson parents.”
CC’s worst fears were realized moments later, when she spoke with Elizabeth and learned that they were looking after a girl by the name of Marcie. A girl who was having lunch with Jack’s girlfriend, Dr. Natasha Trovinski. Elizabeth didn’t know the name of the restaurant, but she did know the name of the mall. CC told her that she had some routine questions. Nothing urgent. No need to bother Jack on his cellphone.
CC hung up the phone and leaned back in her chair. “Oh, God! No!”
“What is it?”
“The sick bastard felt guilty for killing his sister’s kids so he found some street kid to live with them. Now he’s going to kill her and some doctor that the kid’s talking to!”
“So we come clean with him?” asked Danny.
“Wait to see what Sid has to say,” replied Jack. “One guess as to who called him!”
“Turn right,” said Danny, as he studied the map.
“Depending on what he says, I might admit that I was Trimble. He told me that he hadn’t told anyone, so that’s a good sign.”
“You feel you can trust him?”
“I don’t know,” said Jack, “but how much could Wigmore really tell him without divulging stuff about himself?”
Jack parked the car in front