Callahan's Fate (25 page)

After a shower and raiding the cupboards
for a granola bar to go with the coffee Callahan left in the pot,
Raine
pondered her wardrobe and what to wear to the
theater.
 
Basic black always worked, and
she had several pairs of black slacks ranging from casual to dressy.
 
I want
to look classy and beautiful, but what top should I wear?

She considered her options and rejected
each one.
 
Her black silk blouse had stains,
and her favorite black and white patterned sweater might be too hot.
 
After going through her clothes twice,
Raine
grabbed her purse and headed to the street.
 
One advantage of living in mid-Manhattan,
practically in the heart of the garment district, was the sample stores.
 
In her daily travels, she’d seen at least two
on the block, and she thought there might be one on one of the building’s lower
floors.
 

Callahan wouldn’t
like me doing this,
she thought, but her desire to look fashionable overruled anything else.
 
Besides, he would never know.
 
She spent the rest of the morning shopping
and returned to the apartment with several purchases.
 
Raine
figured she
would wear the ruffled black chiffon blouse tonight, but she’d also chosen a
deep rose, satin button-down blouse and a Kelly green sweater.
 
She tried on the chiffon with the slacks,
then
admired her reflection in the bathroom mirror.
 
Perfect.

Her black Nina Forbes peep-toe high
heels, each sporting a bow, would look awesome.
 
Raine
picked out a pair of long silver dangle
earrings and a heavy silver chain with her birthstone.
 
She planned her makeup over a light lunch and
texted Callahan,
“Can’t wait for 2night,
love u.”

Within minutes, he answered,
“LuvU2doll.”

About time he
joined the Twenty-First Century.
Raine
smiled.
 
It’d taken a little effort to get Callahan to
text.
 
He tended to be old-school on some
things, and texting had been one of them.
 
Now she savored the short messages. And she loved Callahan very
much.
 
If she could, she would shout it
from the rooftop or paint on a wall with other graffiti.
Raine
wanted to tell everyone.

On impulse, she phoned her sister
Annie.
 
Married, with one kid, she should
be home.

“Hello?”

“Annie, its
Raine
.”

Her sister squealed with delight.
“
Raine
!
Wow, it’s nice to hear
your voice. What’s the occasion? And shouldn’t you be at work?”

“I have the day off,” she said. “So I
thought I’d call and catch up.
 
I talk to
Mom every weekend but I haven’t talked to you in forever.”

“How’s New York?”

“Great,”
Raine
said. “I like it.”

“Really?”
Annie sounded
surprised. “From what Mom said, I thought you hated it.”

“Well, at first it seemed so big, and I
was lost,”
Raine
said. “But I’ve gotten more familiar
now, thanks to Callahan.”

“Who’s he?”

“How’d you know it was a guy?”

She never had been able to fool her
sisters. “I could tell by your voice.
 
So
you’re dating?”

Dating didn’t begin to define what she
had with Callahan, but
Raine
didn’t want to share all
her secrets. “Yes, you could say so.”

“So is he a teacher, too?”

“Not hardly
,”
Raine
said. “He’s a New York City law enforcement officer.”

“You’re dating a cop? That’s fantastic!
Are you coming home for Thanksgiving?”

Raine
shut her eyes
and counted to five. “No, Annie.
 
I’m
not.
 
I can’t. I’m planning on a few days
at Christmas. How’s Sophie?”

“Don’t ask,” Annie said with a laugh.
“She’s great when she’s tearing up the place.
 
Right now, she’s napping or she’d be pulling the phone out of my hands
to babble at you.”

“Aw,”
Raine
said. “I know I’m missing so much.
 
I
doubt she’ll remember me.”

“You can get reacquainted over the
holidays.”

The sisters talked for another ten
minutes, and afterward
Raine
curled up on one corner
of the couch to read.
 
After a short
time, she became so sleepy she put down her e-reader and shut her eyes.
 
She napped longer than she intended, and by
the time she woke up, it was almost three.

Raine
shampooed her
hair and
gelled
it, then hung her head upside down to
blow it dry.
 
When she finished, it hung
in soft curls so she used a little hair spray to keep it under control.
 
She ruined the first pair of hose by running
a toe through the thin nylon, but without any more mishaps, she got dressed,
did her makeup, and put on jewelry.
 
Then
she spritzed her favorite fragrance in key places. On impulse, she added a
silver scarf as an accent and then donned her red coat.

Okay, it’s
quarter after four so he should be home soon.
 
He’ll get ready and we’ll go.

Birds, not butterflies, fluttered in her
stomach as
Raine
anticipated their night out.
 
Time slowed down and dragged as she
waited.
 
At four-thirty, when Callahan
didn’t walk through the door, she figured he would soon.
 
By five o’clock, she paced the floor in her
stiletto heels, resisting an urge to twist her hands together into knots.

When her cell phone chimed to indicate a
message,
Raine
almost tripped getting to it.
 
It
better be from him.
 
She read the
message and snorted.

“Running late, so meet me at McDonald’s
on Eighth Avenue, buy you a cheeseburger.”

“What in the
hell?”
Raine
said aloud. They never ate fast food and such a
cryptic message wasn’t Callahan’s style. “What can he be thinking?”

She dialed his number, but the call went
straight to voice mail.
 
Raine
tried two more times without success.
 
Half-angry and more than a little concerned,
she texted him back. “Okay, see you there, leaving now, love you.”

Callahan never replied so
Raine
donned her crimson coat and grabbed her handbag.
 
At the last minute, on a hunch and just in
case, she tucked the pistol she’d taken from Pop into her inner coat pocket.
She had no idea why.

Fuming, she marched downstairs and
stalked down to the corner of Eighth Avenue.
 
Then she headed north toward the theater district.
 
More than a little righteous anger bubbled
into her mouth.
 
By the time she reached
the four-story McDonald’s not far from the Port Authority bus terminal, her
feet hurt and her mood had soured.
 
He better have a good reason for this.
 
It’s supposed to be our special night out,
our first time at a theater together.

He wasn’t waiting outside as
Raine
had expected, so she entered.
 
The small lobby teemed with people.
 
She maneuvered her way into a corner and
scanned the crowds, but she didn’t see Callahan anywhere.
 
Just as
Raine
fished her phone out of her purse to try calling him, a wild-haired man in a
long black overcoat tapped her arm.
 
His
foul body stench rankled in her nose, and she tried to turn away but he grasped
her wrist. “Is your name
Raine
?” he said. “I got
something for you.”

With effort, she jerked her arm free. “I
think you’re mistaken,” she snapped. Surrounded by gum-popping teenagers, white-collar
workers on their way home, construction guys dropping in for a burger, senior
citizens jingling coins in their pocket for coffee,
Raine
wanted to panic.
 
She hadn’t felt so out
of place or alone since the day she met Callahan.

“I don’t think so,” the guy said.
 
He held up something and waved it in her
face.

Raine
gasped. “Give
me that!”

Before he could say anything, she
snatched it from his hand and examined it.
 
Her heart galloped like a green broke horse bent on escape.
 
The New York City officer’s shield belonged
to Callahan.
 
She recognized the badge
number. “Where did you get this?” she said.
 
She had to raise her voice to be heard over the crowd noise.
Raine
paused, then slid it over her head and tucked it
within her blouse.

The stinky man shook his head and moved
away. “Wait,” she called. “Come back here!”

Someone else grabbed her other arm and
bent close. “He doesn’t know,” another voice said. “But I do.”

Her head spun around.
 
Snake Marsh stood at her elbow, his ponytail
greasier than she remembered.
 
His eyes
glittered, and when he breathed out, his breath reeked of something harsh and
acidic. Snake smelled, too, not as bad as the one who delivered Callahan’s
shield, but enough that she held her breath.

“Where’s Callahan?” she asked.
 
Inside, her lungs threatened to stop
breathing, and her heart still pounded.
 
Fear clutched her chest tight with sharp claws and threatened to slash
through her body.
 

“I got that fucker cop right where I
want him,” Snake said. His voice was a low hiss in her ear. “And if you want to
see him alive, then you’d better shut that bitch mouth and walk with me.”

Raine’s
body trembled
and her legs threatened to give way. She summoned up enough courage to say,
“Tell me if he’s all right, or I’ll scream.
 
Someone will help me if I do.”

“Go ahead, you stupid cunt,” Snake said.
“I’ll cut you.”

He waved his hand into her view and
displayed a sharp knife, small but with the potential to be deadly.
 
A tiny whimper escaped her lips, but she bit
down to stop it. Without another word, Snake propelled her toward the door, his
hand clamped tighter on her wrist than a snapping turtle.
 
If she resisted, he would probably break it.

Addled with anxiety, worried about
Callahan,
Raine
allowed him to drag her down the
street.
 
After a few paces, he pulled her
into a doorway and ripped her purse away. “Got any bucks?” he said.
 
She made no answer as he rifled through her
billfold, took what bills she had, and tossed her cell phone to the
pavement.
 
He stepped on it and she heard
the plastic crack. “Now you can’t call anyone, bitch.”

She wanted to ask again about Callahan
but held her tongue.
 
Raine
flinched when Snake jerked a black stocking hat from one of his pockets and
jammed it over her head.
 
He pulled it so
low she had trouble seeing, but she didn’t think now was the time to
complain.
 
The wool reeked of marijuana
smoke and cigarettes and beer.
 
Without
anymore
commentary, he marched her toward the Forty-Second
Street subway station at Eighth Avenue and they descended the stairs.

Raine
had trouble
navigating the steps when she could barely see.
 
She almost lost her balance, but Snake jerked her upright.
 
Then he linked his arm with hers as if they
were a couple and they headed down the southbound side.
 
Once on the platform, Snake pulled her away from
the people waiting for a train and into the shadows.
 
Down past where most of the crowd stood, he
maneuvered her through a door, then down a narrow area that
Raine
doubted anyone but a transit employee would use.
 
Once there, he paused long enough to pull the
hat over her eyes and led her forward, she thought through a doorway, but she
wasn’t sure.

After several turns, all noise
diminished.
 
Wherever he took her, it was
away from people. Walking blind made her nervous, and she feared he might push
her onto the rails where she might hit the third track and be
electrocuted.
 
Sometimes he muttered as
they walked, but she couldn’t understand most of what he said.