Strange Robby (31 page)

"Everything's wrong."

"What do you mean?" Spider asked, pacing the floor.

"His lawyers have asked that his case be reviewed, and their petition has been granted by the state supreme court. There's nothing I can do about it." Carrie sighed. "It gets better. I can't work this case because my relationship with you creates a conflict of interest."

"You're not going to stand as prosecutor at his parole hearing because of some stupid ethical shit? The bastard helped kill my brother."

"It's
because
he killed your brother. It's a conflict of interest, and it's not just an ethical thing, it's the law. I can help George set things up, get ready for trial . . . "

"I can't believe these bastards can do this. They're going to free the asshole who killed my brother, and I can't stop them."

"George is a good attorney, Spider. He'll do his best. With your testimony he shouldn't be paroled."

"But he probably will be." Spider stood up and shook her head. "They'll make sure that he is. They think I'll go nuts and make a mistake, and then they can pick me up legally. Well, I don't know when they think I was born, but two can play at this game." Spider started for the door.

"Spider."

Spider turned to look at Carrie.

"Don't sink to their level. Maybe they don't have as much clout as they'd like to believe. Maybe we can keep him in jail."

"And maybe my ass is a tambourine and if you smack it, it will play music."

Spider went out slamming the door.

Carrie leaned back in her chair. "Gee! That went better than I expected."

As the verdict came in Spider jumped out of her seat, walked to the back of the courtroom and slammed the doors open with her hands.

She was fined a hundred dollars for her trouble—contempt of court—and warned by the judge that being the partner of the DA did not give her special rights and privileges.

"Obviously not, since you stupid worthless blood sucking bastards just let my brother's killer walk out of here."

She was fined another hundred dollars and warned that her next outburst would land her in jail.

Carrie grabbed her by the arm and pulled her from the courtroom before she told the judge where she could stick her gavel. In the hallway Spider glared down at Carrie.

"The whole fucking thing sucks. They couldn't do this if the whole fucking system wasn't corrupt."

"Spider, please calm down," Carrie whispered as she continued to pull her down the hall away from the courtroom. "This is what they want. They're trying to make you hang yourself. That's why you have to promise me you're not going to go after this guy."

Spider stopped and stared down at Carrie. "He's not going to just walk away, Carrie. I won't let that happen. But if you don't want me to go after this guy, I won't." She started walking again, and Carrie let go of her arm. "I'll beat them at their own game. I'll get them yet."

When she got back to the station there was a message waiting for her. Lieutenant Toby wanted to see her in his office.

"Sorry to hear about the verdict. I know it must be very hard for you," he said.

Spider was silent.

"I'm warning you, for your own good. Stay away from this guy. He's legally out, and if you do anything . . . "

"I'm not a fucking idiot," Spider said, levering herself to the front of her chair.

"You been giving me nothing but attitude lately, Webb! You got a problem?" Toby all but screamed.

Spider stood up and stared down at him. "Problem? There's no problem! Just you and me trying to get through life without bumping into each other." She pushed just enough to make sure Toby was too scared to scream at her or call her back into his office, and then she walked out.

She located Tommy and waved at him that she was ready to go.

Tommy ran to catch up with her and met her at the front door.

"It fucking reeks!" Tommy said. His answer to being supportive.

Spider nodded silently and slammed the front door open.

"Spider! What the hell!" Detective Jacobs started as Spider damn near hit him. She ignored him and walked towards their car. Obviously she intended to drive, and Tommy cringed at the thought.

"What are you going to do, Spider?" Tommy asked.

Spider turned to him and smiled. Not the most pleasant expression he'd ever seen. "What do you think I ought to do, Tommy?"

"Wait for a while. Wait for everyone to forget that you have any interest in this guy. Then we find him out one night, he happens to be mugging a little old lady, and we accidentally beat him to death."

Spider laughed and gave Tommy a real smile this time. "You know that would be poetic and very cleansing. But I don't want to wait."

The type written letter had been addressed to him. Inside was two hundred dollars in cash and a note that said . . .
Take the kids to the zoo.
And a date on which to do it.

The postmark was from Piedmont, but Robby knew who'd sent the letter and the money, and he wasn't about to pass up a chance at meeting with her or going to the zoo.

He slapped the camper shell on the truck and loaded up the kids. They were all really excited. None of them, including Robby, had ever been to a zoo before. When he told them they were all eating at Waffle House for breakfast as well they went ape shit crazy.

Robby took one of his siblings to work with him each month. At the end of the day's work he took them out to eat at the Waffle House. Then he took them over to Wal-Mart and gave them ten dollars to spend any way they liked. It wasn't much, but it was a hell of a lot more than he'd ever had.

The kids marched into Waffle House single file and sat down where Robby told them to.

The waitress hurried over to wait on them. "My goodness, Robby! You got all the children with you today."

Robby smiled back.

"We're going to the zoo," Colistia told her.

"We're going to see the monkeys," Elvita said, clapping her hands together.

"They'll put you in a cage if you aren't careful," Devan taunted.

"You!" Elvita screamed.

"That's enough now. You children promised to be good," Robby reminded them.

"Yes, Robby," Devan and Elvita said together.

"Well, it sounds like great fun," the waitress said. "Same as always?"

Robby thought about that for a moment. He usually brought them in and ordered them a short stack because it was the cheapest thing on the menu. He'd called and found out that the zoo cost five dollars each for him, Evan, Janice, and Donna, and it was only three dollars each for the other kids. That was only going to cost him thirty dollars. With drinks . . . and if he let them each get something at the gift shop . . .

"Let them order whatever they want."

The kids let out little excited noises.

He looked at them. "Get what you want, but eat what you get."

They all started ordering at once.

"Shush!" Robby ordered. "Mary can't hear herself think. Now, do this one at a time, starting with Evan and going around."

Robby had thought that he would enjoy the zoo, but he had thought he would be too old to experience the magic of it. He wasn't. The kids were done looking at one exhibit and ready to go to the next way before Robby was.

There was a playground beside the ape habitat, and while the kids ran around playing on the equipment, Robby watched the apes. He studied a display showing ape handprints and humans. He looked around to make sure no one was looking, and then he held his own hand over the ape print. He successfully covered the entire print.

"Funny, I used to do that same thing when I was a kid," she said. "Don't turn around. I don't think I've been followed, but it doesn't hurt to be careful."

"Thanks. I never could have afforded to do something like this for them without your help."

"Well, I kind of need your help, kid." She slipped a piece of paper into his hip pocket. "I made out a shopping list. Take care of it when you can. These are some really bad guys who slipped through the cracks. The guy on the top of the list I want you to pay particular attention to. Make a record of the things in his brain—all his crimes. He killed my brother, and I want you to see if he just did it for fun, or if someone paid him and his buddies to do it. I put a picture of my brother in your pocket with the paper, and the paper is self explanatory."

"Who do you think wanted your brother killed?" Robby asked.

Spider pointed past him into the ape habitat a huge silver backed male. "You see that guy sitting there?"

"Yes."

"He was born and raised here in this zoo. Do you think he knows he's in a cage?" she asked.

Robby thought about that for a minute. "I guess not, but . . . "

"There's a group of people who . . . Well, I think that's what they did to me and my brother. I think my brother figured out that he was in a cage, and so they killed him. I think you are like an ape running wild who hasn't been put into a cage yet, and that's why they are looking for you. Because they don't know how you got out of your cage."

"I don't get it," Robby said.

"If you're lucky you never will. Good luck, Robby."

"I don't need luck, Spider," Robby said smugly.

"Don't get cocky, kid." That said, Spider left.

Elvita walked up to him and started jerking on his arm. "Let's go see the elephants, Robby. Let's go . . . "

Robby laughed. "OK, OK already. Let's go see the elephants then."

As they were leaving the ape house, his eyes focused on the book that cataloged all the different apes by name and told their genealogy. Robby stumbled a little as he realized what Spider had been saying.

Spider had made his job easier than ever. She told him exactly where these guys would be and at what time they would be there. But he didn't kill them in the order they appeared on the list. He put Sammy Two Toes—so called because he had two toes cut off—Franklin in the middle of the list. He waited outside the back door of a club called Hoochies. At eleven forty-five, just like clockwork, the sleaze walked out and made his score. His dealer went back in the club and Sammy started down the alley towards Robby. Robby backed up into the shadows and waited. When the guy was close enough, he stepped into his trail.

"Hey, nigger," the black man snarled, "don' get in Sammy Two Toes way."

Robby concentrated and started pulling a catalogue of the man's crimes from him. He saw him in prison, beating a man to death then framing another prisoner. Saw him raping a serious of young men who had the misfortune of being put into his cell. Back, back through his crimes, he got what Spider wanted. Then he fragged the guy and moved on. He still had two more to do before morning.

Carrie would have liked to have been surprised to find that Sammy Two Toes was among the dead found last night. But she wasn't, and now she knew for certain—beyond a shadow of a doubt—that Spider knew who the Fry Guy was.

Spider looked at the body on the ground and kicked at it with her toe. Then said in her least convincing bit of acting to date. "Oh! Look! If it isn't Sammy Two Toes."

Carrie wondered when everything had gone so horribly wrong. This thing was spinning out of control, and there was nothing she could do about it.

The So-what-if guys pulled up, and Carrie's flesh crawled. They got out of their car and headed straight for Spider. No beating around the bush this time.

Carrie'd had everything she had ever wanted, ever even dreamt of, and now she was going to lose the only thing that really mattered. Their exchange was—if quiet, very heated. She was the DA, and she had never felt so powerless in her whole life.

"You want to talk now, Webb?" Kirk asked in a hiss.

Spider could feel his frustration, his anger. He had hoped for one response and had gotten another. It didn't help that she was smiling smugly at him. "Talk about what?"

"Where is he? Who is he?" he spat back.

"Who can see through a super hero's clever disguise? A super hero only keeps his superhuman powers as long as no one knows his true identity. I can't believe that you idiots haven't moved on to greener pastures. Surely if I knew who the fuck he was I would have brought him in myself. Me being a thrice-decorated law officer of this city and all. I don't appreciate the implication . . . "

"Cut the shit, Webb. This guy just iced one of the guys who helped kill your brother. Now either you had something to do with that, or it's the god damnedest most convenient piece of murder to take place in this city in a long, damn time."