Dead Case in Deadwood (46 page)

"
You
should have stayed up in the viewing room
like I told you to."

"I heard screaming. I thought it was Natalie."

"So, you ran into the middle of a possible murder scene
without backup or a weapon."

"I had a bottle."

"Jesus, Violet. Who brings a bottle to a gun fight?"

"Someone whose best friend might get killed if she
doesn’t do something."

Cooper plowed his fingers through his hair. "One of
these days …"

"What? You’re going to throw me in jail?"

"If you live long enough, yeah, maybe I will, damn it."

I saw Doc’s leg twitch in my peripheral vision.

Something inside of me crashed back to earth. Fear for Doc
and Natalie whooshed back into my thoughts so fast my ears rang.

I rushed to Doc, kneeling next to him, squeezing his hand. "Doc?"

A groan rumbled up from his chest. His eyelids fluttered
open, his dark eyes darting to and fro. When he focused on me, his eyebrows pinched
together.

"Are you okay?" I asked

"I think so. Are you?"

I nodded. "How many of me do you see?"

"One."

"Good."

He grunted. "I know. One of you is all I can handle."

Cooper squatted on the other side of Doc. "Can you move
your arms and legs?"

"Yeah." Doc wiggled a little to make sure. Then
his gaze shifted to Cooper and he grimaced. "Christ! What happened to you?"

"I tried to assist Violet. She didn’t want my help."

"Ah," Doc gave a little nod. "She’s tougher
than she looks. Believe me, I know." He turned his head so Cooper could
see his black eye and cheek bruise full on.

Cooper checked it out, and then glowered at me. "What
is wrong with you?"

Doc tried to sit up.

"It wasn’t my fault," I said, reaching for Doc. "Maybe
you should lie still, Doc. It looked like you hit your head pretty hard."

"I’m okay. Just sore."

Cooper and I helped him sit up and lean back against the
wall next to the doorjamb.

Doc rubbed the back of his head. "That last throw must
have knocked me out."

"Throw? Who threw you?" Cooper asked, accusing me
with his glare.

"What? You think I could actually pick Doc up and throw
him?"

"Who knows what you’re capable of when you’re all jacked
up on adrenaline."

I heard the scuff of a shoe behind me and jerked around,
afraid the albino had returned for Round Two.

A pair of cops crouched in the stairwell entryway, guns
drawn. They must have crept downstairs while Cooper had me distracted.

They looked at the three of us in turn, and then focused on
Cooper. "What’s the situation?"

Cooper turned to me, all straight-faced and business-only. "Spill."

"I don’t know where Natalie is."

"When did you last see her?"

"Upstairs, about twenty minutes before I called you."
I almost told him that the albino took her, but that would lead to a lot of
questions about a man who’d turned into smoke and disappeared when we needed to
be looking for Natalie. "I checked the Autopsy room, George’s office, and
in there." I pointed at the antique-filled room. "She could be
upstairs, but I don’t think so."
Because the albino and George came
down here.

"One of you check the rooms upstairs for Natalie Beals,"
Cooper instructed the officers, "the other search the garage. Stay alert.
We don’t know the location of George or Eddie Mudder or if they’re armed."

"George Mudder’s body is in the Autopsy room," I
told them, shivering at the memory of his decapitated corpse folding to the
floor. "Ray Underhill is in there, too. He’s alive and tied to a table."

"Where’s Eddie?" Cooper asked.

"I don’t know. I haven’t seen him all night."

Cooper stood, pulling a clip from a pocket inside his
jacket, and reloaded his gun. "You two go look in the garage. I’ll deal
with the mess in the Autopsy room." He grabbed my arm after they headed
toward the back door, his grip firm, almost bruising. "Don’t go far, Ms.
Parker. You and I need to have a little powwow."

"Am I going to the station?"

"Not yet, but the night is young and I need a statement."

He strode away and I focused back on Doc. "Are you sure
you’re okay?"

"Yeah, just beat up a bit. Where’s the big albino?"

"You didn’t see what happened to him?"

"No. I remember him choking me, and then going
airborne—twice, first into the wall over there." I looked where he pointed
and grimaced at the caved-in drywall. "Then here."

Damn, I could have used a witness to back up my story later
when I explained everything to Cooper.

"You should probably go to the hospital, Doc."

"I’m fine. A couple of ibuprofen will do wonders."
He frowned at the dented wall. "Violet, the bullets didn’t even slow him
down."

"I know."

He looked back at me. "So, where is he? Tell me what
happened."

I checked over my shoulder to make sure Cooper or his men
weren’t there. "He disappeared." I felt silly saying it aloud.

"You mean he got out of here before Cooper woke up?"

"No. I mean he just disappeared in a flash of light and
a little explosion like a magician. I had to shield my eyes when it happened,
and when I looked back, he was gone. Totally gone."

Doc’s brow furrowed. "You’re skipping something."

I was pretty much skipping most of the evening’s fun and
games, figuring I’d save the gory details for later when Doc and Natalie and I
were safe and sound somewhere other than here.

"He threw you," I told Doc, "then leaned over
you like he was going to kill you—same as he did George. That’s when I stabbed
him in the back with those." I pointed at the big scissors on the floor. "Then
he kind of short-circuited and caught on fire."

"Like Wolfgang at the séance?"

"Yes, only much faster. After the fire came the light
show and explosion. All he left behind were the scissors and some smoke."

"So, bullets wouldn’t stop him, but a pair of scissors
in the back did. That doesn’t make any sense."

What part of this whole Mudder-mess did? The secret shipments?
The unmarked glass bottles? Naked Ray? The albino’s snake-like eyes? Hysterical
laughter bubbled up my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut and counted to five, fighting
off the crazy giggles.

When I opened my eyes, Doc was watching me. "You sure
you’re okay?" he asked.

"I’m fine."

"Because for just a moment there," he tucked a
strand of hair behind my ear, "your expression kind of went all fierce and
crazed, and your cheeks turned dark pink."

I grabbed his hand and held his palm against my cheek,
leaning into it. I just wanted to stare into his eyes like a lovesick puppy
until everything else went away—the cops, the dead bodies, the freaky shit, the
fears for Natalie and my family.

"Did the big guy say anything that might hint at who he
was or where he came from?" he asked, splashing cold water on our little
moment.

I pulled away from his touch and told him about the fight
with George that I’d witnessed first upstairs, and then in the Autopsy room. "When
the albino leaned toward George, he pulled his arms back like this," I
mimicked the pre-slicing action, "and these swords came out of his
sleeves. Before I realized what was going on, he cut off George’s head."

Doc sat forward. "And you saw it all happen?"

I nodded. Each time I replayed tonight’s scenes, I kept expecting
my throat to burn or my eyes to water, but nothing happened. I felt hardened,
crusted over.

"Violet." Doc picked up my hand, rubbing his thumb
over the back of it. "You’re not okay. Witnessing that is going to mess
you up."

"Most likely," I agreed. When the shock of it all
had passed, I’d probably be comatose for days. This was going to add some new
flavors to my nightmares. "But on the bright side, at least I didn’t get
tied to a damned chair this time."

Doc grinned and kissed my knuckles. "You saved my life
tonight."

"You stepped between the albino and me, taking a
beating in my place. I think that makes us even." I interlaced my fingers
with his.

"Your call came when I was driving up through the
canyon from Sturgis," he explained. "I had no signal."

"Just my luck."

"Your message scared the hell out of me. I couldn’t get
here fast enough."

"I was trying to stay out of trouble tonight, I swear,
but Natalie disappeared, and then all hell broke loose."

He looked back at the dented wall, his gaze narrowing. "The
bullets didn’t stop him," he said as if he was cross-examining every word,
"but the scissors did."

"Maybe he had on a Kevlar vest."

"I hit him in the cheek with one. There should have
been blood splatter, but the blood instantly coagulated in the hole. I saw it
up close when he had me by the throat." Doc’s frown deepened. "Did he
say anything to you at all in the Autopsy room after he killed George?"

"He waxed on about his love of pain and torture. It was
quite moving." As in moving me right out the door. Then I remembered
something. "Right before he disappeared, he gave me this creepy stare."
I didn’t mention the snake eyes because it sounded completely delusional. "And
he said, ‘You again.’ That was it."

"You again?"

I nodded.

"What does that mean?"

"I saw him once a few weeks ago when Natalie and I came
for a viewing. He was out on the front porch smoking with a guy that looked
like his twin. Maybe he remembered me."

"So, where’s his twin?"

"Exactly. That’s the million dollar question." I
shivered, wondering if I now had a target on my back.

Doc tugged me closer. "You’re going to have to tell
Detective Cooper some of this, you know."

I wrinkled my nose. "The albino’s magic trick is going
to ruin any credibility I have with him."

"Better that than him tagging you with a ‘suspect’
label."

"You mean ‘usual suspect.’ My old standby." The
thought of sitting through another interrogation with the detective sounded
about as appealing as having all of my nose hairs plucked one by one. "God,
I wish we were home on Aunt Zoe’s couch watching the Duke ride across the
western horizon right now." Natalie, too.
Where was she?
Chewing on
my lower lip, I glanced down the hall.

"Natalie is alive, Violet." Doc seemed to read my
thoughts.

"I hope to hell you’re right. If anything happened to
her …" I trailed off, not wanting to go any further with that thought.

"I am." Doc squeezed my hand. "If this is your
idea of a date, I’m going to need to wear some protection next time. Body armor
might cut it."

I smiled, liking the sound of a
next time
. "So,
this thing between you and me …" I hesitated.

One of his eyebrows arched up. "What about it?"

"It’s going to be about more than just sex, huh?"

"Yeah," he leaned toward me, his mouth closing in.
"I think so."

"Are you ready for that?"

"Mostly." He angled his head to the side. "Are
you?"

"I don’t know," I whispered against his lips, my
eyes closing. "I don’t have the best track record."

"Playing the odds is what I do best, Boots." His
lips brushed mine, soft and caressing. Then his hand cupped the back of my
neck, pulling me into him.

I opened my mouth under his onslaught, trying to forget my worries
and fears. I thought of him racing to help me, putting himself between me and
the albino, and my heart tumbled over the edge into oblivion.

Someone gasped behind me. "No!"

Natalie!

I yanked away from Doc.

Natalie stood at the end of the hall, her face rigid,
stretched tight in pain. She clutched a gray blanket around her like a cloak on
a frigid morning. Her eyes grew icy behind their watery rims as we stared at
each other. "How long, Violet?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Natalie, I’ve been try—"

"Don’t! Just tell me how long this has been going on?"

"A month." Give or take a week.

She jerked as if I’d slapped her. "You, of all people. How
could you?"

Nothing I could say would fix what I’d done to her. My eyes
welled. "I’m so sorry, Nat."

She shook her head. "You two must have had some good
laughs at my expense. No wonder you wanted me to move back home." Her jaw jutted.
She turned to the man beside her.  "Get me out of here."

Only then did I notice Cooper standing next to her. He ushered
her toward the steps.

"Violet," Cooper pointed at me, his gaze warning. "I’ll
be right back."

As they clomped up the stairs, something inside of me cracked.
Tears poured out, trailing down my cheeks.

"Come here, Trouble," Doc said, hugging me.

I did a bang-up job of soaking his shirt.

* * *

A couple of hours later, I sat alone in Cooper’s office at
the Deadwood Police Station—my new home away from home. Several of the officers
I passed on the way in were on a first name basis with me now, as in "Hey!
It’s Violet again," and "Welcome back, Spooky Parker."

Detective Cooper sat behind his desk, his nose bandaged
thanks to the EMTs who had arrived on scene at Mudder Brothers, along with a horde
of cops, shortly after Natalie left. They were the same EMTs who’d insisted Doc
go to the hospital after one had shined a light in Doc’s eyes and stated that
he’d suffered a mild concussion. Cooper’s insistence that Doc get checked out
was obeyed only with a promise that the detective wouldn’t throw me in jail
until Doc was available to bail me out.

Upstairs in the main viewing parlor, I’d recited my take of
the evening’s events to Cooper while Mr. Haskell rested there, listening. After
the third time I’d stopped mid-story to frown at the dead guy’s hand, Cooper
closed the coffin lid.

When I finished, Cooper had one of his men walk with me
across the street to the cop shop, where he’d joined me a short time later in
his office. After he brought me some bitter, burnt coffee, I told my story yet
again. With each telling, Cooper’s frown lines deepened.