Web of Deceit (9 page)

Beth sits down and
picks up the clipboard to finish the forms. “What is Sarah’s religion?” Beth
asks aloud, pausing at the question on the form.

“She doesn’t have
one,” Edwin says as he smiles.

Realizing where
Sarah gets her hidden sermons, Beth refuses to open her mouth.

Elliot bites. “OK,
we all know Sarah has a religion, so what do you mean?”

Edwin obliges. “In
the New Testament of the Bible it talks in several places about the body of
Christ. Well, the body of Christ is made up of all his children. Sarah believes
it is easy to get caught up in religion and forget about loving and following
Christ. Part of her ministry is to attend services at several of the churches
connected to the homeless shelters where she volunteers.”

Impatient, Beth
asks, “So, I need to write all of the denominations on this two-inch line?”

“Yes, that would
work too,” Edwin says. He smiles and his eyes sparkle.

 Beth regards
Edwin.
Sarah would be proud of her dad.

“Excuse me,” the
nurse from the desk interrupts. “There is a policeman here that needs to file a
report of the accident.”

“Why don’t you
hand me the clipboard?” Elizabeth says. “I’ll finish filling this out.”

“Thanks.  We’ll
come back when we are finished with the paperwork,” Beth says.

An hour later,
another nurse comes through the double doors. “Mr. and Mrs. Perkins?”

“Yes,” they reply,
standing up.

“Your daughter is
in her room now. Follow me, please.”

At the door to
Sarah’s room, they are greeted by the head nurse. “This room isn’t available to
the public; however, the other rooms aren’t equipped. Can the other nurses
visit your daughter on their breaks?”

“Yes, of course,”
Elizabeth answers.

“Apparently, she
has had quite an effect on several of their lives. The nurse on duty will be in
soon.”

“Thank you.”

“Yes, we
appreciate everything,” Edwin agrees.

With a pasted-on
smile, the head nurse finishes by saying, “You are very welcome,” and leaves.

Inside the room
there is a couch and two reclining chairs. The head of Sarah’s bed is
surrounded by vitals monitors. Two IV bags are hanging from the drip stand. A
whir of a metering pump blends with the beeps and clicks of the monitors. Edwin
and Elizabeth both hold one of their daughter’s hands and begin to pray.

Ten minutes later
Elliot and Beth come in unnoticed and sit on the couch, giving Sarah’s parents
a moment alone with her.

As Edwin and
Elizabeth finish praying, Beth draws close to Sarah’s bed. She gazes down at
her friend and pulls her long blond hair away from her face.
They did a good
job cleaning her up.
Poor Sarah, she’s still pretty bad though.
“Please
wake up,” she whispers as she bends down to kiss Sarah on her forehead.

Elliot is now
standing by Sarah opposite Beth. He gently touches Sarah’s hand. “Take care,
kid.” He looks up at Beth. “You about ready?”

“Yeah.”

They hug Sarah’s
parents good-bye, and Beth says, “Let me know if anything changes or you need
something. We’re going to find who did this.”

“Please be
careful.” Elizabeth cautions them, knowing that Beth is serious.

“We have one too many
daughters in the hospital as it is,” Edwin says.

Beth’s eyes water
again as a gentle warmth fills her body. She gives them one last hug and heads
for the door. They have always made her feel like their daughter. But for her
to admit it might somehow betray her parents that she tragically lost so many
years ago.

Minutes later,
Beth and Elliot walk across the hospital’s windswept parking lot toward the
Jeep.

“Beth, you gonna
be OK?” Elliot asks.

Distracted from
her thoughts, Beth answers, “Yeah, of course.” She pulls her knee-length,
black, leather trench coat tight against her torso.
This wind just won’t let
up today.

“You have a far
away look on your face. A lot has been goin’ on. Maybe you should go home and
get some rest.” Elliot opens the Jeep’s passenger door for her. “I’ll call you
when I get some answers.”

“That is not an
option. I am coming with you. So, where to first?”

“Howard called
while you were talking to Sarah’s mom.” Elliot buckles in and turns the key.
“He gave me two addresses.” He backs the Jeep up and drives toward the exit.
“One might be the owner of the jack that was left behind.” Elliot makes a right
toward the highway.

“Excellent. So
what’s your plan of attack?”

“Howard said to
try the one on Oldfield Street,” Elliot answers. “They’re new; they took over
Sal’s old garage. He doesn’t know anything about ’em. I worked the neighborhood
back in the day on the Force. I know where we can park close to the garage and
check it out without being noticed.”

“Finally, a little
hope,” Beth says. “But what I don’t get is why these guys that took your tires
would want Sarah?”

“Me neither, but I
guarantee they’ll wish they never involved Sarah,” Elliot says, making a
promise.

*   *   *

“Perfect,” Beth
says, pointing. “Park beside those hedges over there.”

“Good eye,” Elliot
agrees. “We can walk from there.”

“Was it the wisest
move doing this during daylight?” Beth whispers as they approach the old
garage’s back lot.

“If they’re not
who we are looking for, then we ask ’em how much for an oil change.” Elliot
tries to reassure Beth. “And if they are, we call Frank.” Elliot motions Beth
to take the south side of the garage as he continues north.

Beth
runs up to the south wall and hugs it as she continues quietly toward the
front. The sun has melted most of the newly fallen snow on this side of the
building. Her heart is pounding hard and fast like a drum pulsating inside her
head. She feels for her bottle of mace on the inside of her trench coat, just
in case.

Nearing
the front, she smells the sweet, pungent odor of kerosene and motor oil.
Smells like a garage
. She peers around the corner.
No one outside.
She hears the sound of tools clanging and pneumatic wrenches coming from inside
the garage.
Maybe this isn’t the place. They’re making too much noise to be
worried about being found.

The
garage is a two-story structure with an apartment on the second story. Hung
over the ten-foot wide, steel garage door, a sign reads “Lou’s Garage.” She
takes a step to move around to the front of the garage but freezes motionless a
second later when she hears a latch click followed by the a door creaking open.

Beth
jumps back to the side of the building and presses herself flat against the
gray brick wall. A metal door slams shut. Her heart races faster as she
commands herself,
Get it together.
She glimpses around the corner again.
This time she spies the backside of a man in blue coveralls ascending the
grated stairs to the upstairs apartment. She notices a small window within
reach. Standing on her toes, she peeks through it.

A tireless,
dark-blue van is jacked up in the center of the floor with an old black Dodge
Ram 150 club cab parked next to it. A hand grabs her shoulder.
Now what?
!
Stay cool, girl, keep
it together.
Beth starts
to
ask, “How much for a … ?” as she spins around, but instead blurts,
“Elliot! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!”

“I got a look at
that guy’s face that just went upstairs,” Elliot whispers. “He was the driver
that stole my tires.”

“Of course.
There’s a dark blue van without tires in there.”

“I’ll bet the
paint is still wet. You got your phone on you?”

“It’s in the
Jeep.”

“OK, this is what
we’ll do,” Elliot says. “Call Frank and have him set up a sandwich on the north
and south of Oldfield on the block where Sal’s old place was.”

Beth draws a
blank. “A sandwich?”

“He’ll know what I
mean.” He tosses the keys to Beth. “Take the Jeep and be ready to come through
the back and block ’em from running. Call me when it’s in play. I want to stay
close and quiet.” Elliot switches his cell phone to silent mode as he runs
toward a small hedge of unkempt shrubs, near the front of the building,
disappearing from Beth’s sight.

Beth takes off like
lightening to the Jeep. Once inside, she reaches for her purse and pulls out
the cell. She presses speed-dial two for Frank’s cell.

Frank picks up
after two rings. “Beth, what’s goin’ on?”

“Elliot needs a
sandwich on Oldfield. We’re on the block where Sal’s old place was. The target
is the gray brick garage.”

“When?”

“Yesterday. Make
it fast and quiet. Call me when you get here.”

“OK, we can be
there …”

Beth ends the
call.

She did it
again.
Frank grabs his radio’s handset to contact Chip and hits the siren.
The cruiser accelerates quickly past double digits down I93 toward the south
side.

“Come on, Frank,
it’s been fifteen minutes.” Beth groans aloud, glancing at her watch. Her phone
rings. “Frank, where …?”

 Frank interrupts.
“I’m right around the corner on the north side of the sandwich. Where are you
at?”

“I’m on the street
behind the garage ready to cut them off if they turn out the alley.”

“Are there any
other exits besides that one?”

“Not unless they
go through a hedge fence or a house,”

“Sweet. I’ve got a
present I need to drop off with ya real quick, and we can get the party
started.”

“Make it fast,
Elliot …”

Frank cuts her off
again. “Is this fast enough?”

Beth eyes Frank in
her rear view mirror, waving from his squad car.

Frank pops open
the trunk, goes to the back of the car, and pulls a couple things out. One is
held in his hand and the other is a fourteen- by eighteen-inch, black molded
case. Frank draws near to Beth, still sitting in the Jeep, and hands her a
small police beacon. “Put this on your dash. Self-explanatory.”

“Thanks, what’s
that?” Beth points to the black case.

“It’s a TDD.”

“TBD? To be
determined?”

“I didn’t know you
text. My kids do it all the time to get one by me. So, I checked out
Wikipedia,” Frank says smiling with pride.

“So … what does
‘to be determined’ have to do with the black case?”

“No, T-D-D, Tire
Deflation Device.” Frank chuckles.

The corners of
Beth’s mouth twist up. “Smooth.”

“They should be
stopped before they reach you.”

Beth watches the
six–foot, overweight man hurry to the alley and lay down the TDD. He kicks dirt
on the spikes to hide them. He rushes back to his car waving at Beth and
grinning.
He loves his toys.

Her phone rings.
It’s Frank, “Y-e-s.”

“Chip’s in
position. As soon as I’m in sight, he’ll start moving. So, be prepared.
Elliot’s got the front, right?”

“Yeah, I’m calling
him now.”

Beth has the Jeep
pointed at the alley with the engine running.
Come on guys. Try to run.
She
grips the wheel and readies herself, focusing on the alley with a few icy
patches and snow banked against the hedges, but easily passable.

*   *   *

As the cruisers
close in from both ends, Elliot abandons his hiding spot and starts for the old
garage. Fifteen feet before he reaches the overhead door, it starts to lift.
Startled, he adjusts right to avoid whatever may be coming his way. The door is
five feet open when the old, black Ram roars to life and thrusts through it.

Glass shatters as
the top of the truck’s windshield impacts against the bottom seal retainer of
the overhead door. The seal retainer catches the roof of the cab where the
glass has broken, lifting the front of the truck. The door gives as the
momentum of the five-thousand-pound truck tears the door off its mounting
brackets.

Elliot dives to
the ground and rolls to the side to avoid being crushed under the falling door.
While two police cruisers closing in, lit up and sirens blaring, the truck
engine roars and its tires break loose and slide through a cloud of dust, ice,
and gravel. It escapes into the alley next to the garage.

*   *   *

Beth pushes the
button on the police beacon.
You messed with the wrong girl, gentlemen.
She
jams the gas pedal to the floor, accelerating straight into the alley toward
the oncoming black pickup.
You’ve got a house on one side and a hedge to the
other. You’ve only got one choice
, she thinks, then
Bang!
The black
truck’s front tires blow and it swerves.

By instinct, Beth
flinches, but continues accelerating. She braces for the impact.

Thrown off course
by the TDD, the black truck misses the Grand Cherokee by inches.

Beth, half
disappointed she didn’t broadside the truck, locks the breaks, skidding to a
stop.

The truck crashes
into the stone wall supporting the hedge.

Beth twists her
head sharply, keeping focus. The men, not giving up, jump out of the truck to
take flight on foot. Ignoring her own safety, Beth throws the Jeep into reverse
and backs down the alley past the fleeing men. She whirls the steering wheel
hard left, sending the Jeep into a skid to the right. It works perfectly and
closes the alley just long enough for Frank and Chip to close in from behind,
with Elliot following at a full run. Beth throws her door open and runs toward
the oncoming men.

The three men
pause, stunned by the determined five-foot-eight redhead charging them with
only a can of mace in her hand.

*   *   *

A moment is all
Frank needs to stop his car and jam the door open with his shoulder. His body
ignores its physical condition, and, with unexpected speed, he is out of the
seat, and standing. He levels  his Smith and Wesson 357 at the men standing in
awe of Beth who is charging them. “Don’t move!” Frank yells the command at the
men ready to start fleeing again.