Linda Kay Silva - Delta Stevens 3 - Weathering the Storm (13 page)

In two minutes, they arrived at the address where an older woman stood waiting in the driveway. The small black woman dressed in a robe and slippers walked to the edge of the sidewalk when they drove up.

“I’m Officer Stevens,” Delta said, getting out of the car. “Are you the woman who called?”

Pushing her glasses back up her nose, the old woman nodded. “Mr. Richardson, my neighbor, reads his papers every morning, just like clockwork. He also puts his garbage out every Wednesday night right after the ten o’clock news.”

Delta nodded and motioned for her to continue.

“But his newspapers have been stacking up and when he didn’t bring his trash out tonight, I got worried. It’s not like him to be so unpredictable.”

Delta pulled her pad out and jotted this down.

“Maybe he’s on vacation,” Tony offered.

The woman made a disgusted noise with her dentures. “For fourteen years, young man, Dudley always told me when he would be away and I’d water his lawn. Fourteen years. I hardly think he went away this time without telling me. No...I think something has happened to him.”

Flipping her pad closed, Delta glanced over at Dudley Richardson’s house. “We’ll be glad to take a look, ma’am.”

“Should I wait out here?”

Delta turned back to her and smiled. “Go ahead and go back inside. One of us will come over when we’re finished with our investigation.”

“Investigation? Oh my.” With that, the old lady tightened her robe and scurried back into her house.

Delta walked toward the house and pulled her six-cell flashlight from the holder. When she realized Tony was lagging behind, she turned and peered through the darkness. “Well? What are you waiting for? An invitation?” Opening the gate, Delta shined her flashlight through the garage door window. Other than a washer and aging dryer, the garage was empty. Moving toward the back of the house, Delta shined her flashlight through the sliding glass doors and saw a kitchen and small den. Nothing appeared disturbed. For a moment, she cocked her head to see the amount of dust coating the furniture.

“What?” Tony whispered.

“Dust. Dust will tell you a lot about a crime scene.”

“What crime? He’s probably on vacation.”

Delta straightened up, opened her mouth to respond, and then thought better of it. He’d learn soon enough.

Moving over to the smaller kitchen window, Delta saw that it was cracked open about an inch. Looking through the glass, she didn’t see anything but a sink full of dirty dishes. Then, she put her face up to the small opening and sniffed. The stench invaded her nostrils, pushing her violently away from the window.

She knew that smell.

It was the stench, the odor, of death and decay.

“What? What is it?”

Delta pointed to the crack in the window. “Put your nose in there.” Tony did and immediately reeled backwards. “Holy shit!”

“That’s death, Carducci. Nothing in the world smells like it.”

“You mean—”

“Dudley Richardson, or someone else in there is dead. Check the

other windows while I call it in.”

Thirty-five minutes later, an unmarked homicide vehicle pulled up and out of the passenger side came a Danny DeVito clone.

“I jumped right to it when I heard your call, Stevie.” Detective Russ Leonard reached up and patted Delta on the back. He had an annoying habit of invading her personal space. Connie thought it was because he had a crush on Delta. Delta knew it was because he lacked social skills. Judging by his nefarious reputation, Delta believed her view of him was more correct.

“So, you think you gotta stiff?”

Delta nodded.

“We’ll see soon enough, won’t we?” Leonard issued orders to his men before turning back to Delta. “I’m surprised to find you back on the streets so soon. I thought for sure you’d be sitting pretty behind a desk for awhile.”

Delta shrugged. “They needed FTO’s.”

Leonard laughed. “Like hell they did. It’s more like you got friends in high places.”

Delta resisted the urge to slap the back of his head. Detective Leonard could get under her skin faster than anyone she knew.

“I’m glad you’re back, Stevie. We don’t have as many stiffs when you’re not around.”

“Very funny.”

“It’s true. I don’t know why it is, but people seem to die around you.” Then, to Carducci, “Better watch yourself, kid. There’s a black cloud hanging over this one.”

Tony leaned all the way over to whisper to Leonard. “I’ll take my chances.” When Leonard’s men got the front door opened, the stench of death rushed out like warm poltergeists.

“Yep. Stevie, you gotta dead one.” Pulling a small blue container of Vicks Vaporub from his pocket, Leonard dabbed some under his nose and handed the plastic jar to Delta, who followed suit.

“There,” Leonard said, inhaling deeply. “That’s more like it. Never leave home without it, Junior,” he said to Tony. “Know what I mean?”

Delta gave Tony a look that said don’t even bother with a response. Detective Leonard was just a stump of a man—all thick torso with short appendages and no neck. He resembled a cartoon, especially when he pulled one of his unlit cigars from his pocket and clamped down on it. Delta thought he watched too much TV as a kid.

“Everybody ready?” Leonard asked, slapping Tony’s shoulder. “Your first stiff?”

Tony nodded.

“An easy intro, kid, really. It’s when you get a bloated floater that it takes your breath away. This...well, this won’t be too hard unless parts of the corpse are cut off. Then it gets a little rank. Just the other day—”

Delta cleared her throat. “Detective, do you mind not discussing those particular cases with my rookie?”

“
Your
rookie? All of a sudden, you get possessive on me? What gives here?”

Delta made more eye contact with Tony that said to keep his mouth shut. If he understood, he didn’t acknowledge, nor did he respond to Leonard. “Just dispense with the gallows humor, Leonard, okay?”

Chuckling to himself, Detective Leonard started through the door.

As they entered the tiny house, the stifling air acted like an invisible barrier pushing against them. Delta knew both by the smell and by her gut that death was still lingering in this house, and she only hoped it wasn’t a gruesome sight. Lately, murders had become increasingly vile and ugly. People were doing more horrendous things to victims than simply shooting them. Hell, look at Jeffrey Dahmer and the scads of other cannibals, necropheliacs, and Manson look-alikes arrested after he was.

The thought brought bile to Delta’s throat.

“I see they paired you with a man,” Leonard said as they walked carefully through the house.

Delta nodded, but said nothing. Talking only made her smell more.

“The smell is awful,” Tony finally said.

Leonard approached him from behind. “It ain’t like the movies,Junior. So if you’re gonna huck up your lunch, do it away from my crime scene, okay?”

Tony nodded as Leonard walked into another room. “Is that guy for real?”

Before Delta could answer, Leonard called from the other room. “Found ’em.”

Tony looked at Delta. “Them?”

“Jesus Christmas and Merry New Year,” Leonard spat. “What in hell?”

Delta started down the hall and took a right into the first bedroom. “Oh shit, no,” she groaned, stopping in the doorway and leaning against it. It suddenly became very hot and the room began to spin.

Laying naked on the bed was the body of a white man, face down on the pillow with half his head blown away. Dried blood and brains splattered the white wall above the bed and the entire pillow looked stiff from caked blood. His left arm dangled off the side of the bed and his right hand clenched a .38.

Leonard skillfully picked his way across the room and motioned for Delta to stop. “You ain’t seen it all yet, Stevie. Better suck in some fresh air for this one.”

Delta steadied herself and stepped into the room.

“Stevie, I really don’t think you wanna see this. Why don’t you and Junior go start your reports and leave this for me and my guys?”

Delta cocked her head. She’d never seen Russ Leonard try to shield anyone from anything. “What is it, Leonard?” Moving over to where Leonard was standing, Delta swallowed back her own vomit.

“We don’t have a suicide here, Stevie. We got a possible 1-87 as well.”

Delta forced herself to join Leonard on the opposite side of the bed, and immediately regretted doing so. Laying on the floor handcuffed to the naked man was a boy about ten years old.

“Oh shit,” Delta said, covering her mouth and taking several steps back.

“I told ya. These are the worst.” Leonard bent over and inspected something Delta couldn’t see.

“Interesting,” Leonard mumbled, pulling his notepad out and jotting something down. “I can tell you right now boys and girls, this one is gonna be a twister.”

Feeling light-headed and needing fresh air, Delta pushed past Tony and hurried outside.

“You okay?” Tony asked, coming to her side.

Delta bent over and put her hands on her knees, the fetor of death still burning in her nostrils. “I’m...fine. I’m just sick...of finding dead children.”

“Is that what it was?”

Delta nodded and inhaled deeply. “Apparently, Dudley Richardson, if that’s who it is, was a little more unpredictable than his neighbor could ever imagine.”

“What a bummer.”

“Yeah. Not a great way to start a night. Who would do that to a kid?”

Leonard stepped outside and lightly touched Delta’s arm. “You hangin’in there, Stevie?”

Delta managed a nod. “I don’t know how you do it, Leonard. How do you get in that car knowing you may be coming to scenes like this one?”

“Someone’s gotta do it. By now, I gotta cast iron stomach. Still...seeing kids...Ah hell, we’re all messed up. Come on, Stevie and let’s get this place closed off.”

Delta and Tony helped cordon off the crime scene and Delta let Tony watch the Crime Unit as they went through their paces. A part of her wanted to get the hell out of there fast, but the part of her that was supposed to be teaching Tony knew he needed to see this aspect of an investigation.

“Leonard,” Delta asked, sidling up next to him. “Will you do me a favor and let me know what comes of this?” Leonard grinned. “You’ll never give up your sleuthing ways, will you, Stevie?”

“Not if I can help it, Detective.” Reaching out, Delta touched Russ Leonard for the first time since they’d met. “I never realized how tough your job was until today. Having to see shit like that would drive me crazy.”

Leonard shrugged and blushed. “Adults, I don’t mind, but kids...” Suddenly, Leonard looked hard into Delta’s eyes. “Oh, I get it. You think—”

“What I think, Leonard, is that there’s been two deaths on my beat and I would really appreciate some follow-up information.”

Leonard smiled knowingly. “And I thought I had balls. You’re gonna do exactly what we’ve all been told not to do, aren’t you?”

Delta stared at him. “What makes you say that?”

Turning from her, Leonard walked back toward the house. “You could be suspended for a year, Stevie, but nothing can change one simple fact about you.”

“And that fact is?”

Turning around, Leonard grinned. “You’re a rogue cop, Stevie. Always have been, always will be, and there ain’t a soul alive that can hammer that out of you.”

“I came by it honestly,” she said, hoping none of Leonard’s men were listening.

“Yes, Stevie, I’m afraid you did. Miles Brookman taught you well.” With that, Detective Russ Leonard lumbered back into the house.

To herself, Delta smiled and said, “Yes, Leonard, he did.”

Delta sat and stared down at her hands. If she would have known that couples’ counseling was going to be so hard, she probably would have bonged it altogether. But, here she was, with a question glaring her in the face and she didn’t even know the answer.

“Delta?”

Looking up from her hands, Delta shrugged. “I’m not sure I understand the question.”

Amanda Stone smiled her most patient therapist smile. “I asked whether or not you feel you prioritize the important things in your life.”

“You mean, have I numbered them in order of importance?”

Amanda nodded. Megan nodded. Everyone seemed to be nodding except Delta. Maybe she was the only one who truly didn’t get it. Wasn’t counseling supposed to help self-esteem? Instead, all this seemed to do was shake hers.

“Yes. Something like that.”

Delta thought for a moment. She wasn’t a list-maker. She just cruised through her day doing what needed to be done. “Not really.”

“Would you mind trying it?” Amanda leaned toward her, her long black hair dropping forward like a curtain. She was one of those women you could look at and right away peg as a therapist. She had compassionate eyes that said she was sincerely listening and a mouth that let you know when she thought you were trying to bullshit yourself.