Part 6
Breaking the yellow crime scene tape, Skalaney entered the apartment. It had been sealed after the preliminary search had been done, photos taken, prints dusted.
Starting in the kitchen, she searched for the pizza box or even a slice of the pizza. She couldn't find either after looking through the half-empty fridge and garbage. "Strange," she mumbled to herself.
The living room still had books on the floor and the train set where it had landed. She sorted through the books, reading each title-- "Zen and the Art of Archery", "Tai Chi Workout", "Tao Te Ching" and others on Chinese art and culture. The only books left on the shelves were action adventures and Erle Stanley Gardner books.
Skalaney didn't hear the footsteps behind her until it was too late. She spun around as a hand gripped her shoulder. She stared into the face of Peter's neighbor, Maria Turner, who held a gun and a smile.
"The Lady will be pleased," Alexander said from the doorway. "Sister Skalaney, please come with us."
"Why should I?" Skalaney asked, thinking of a way to stall the couple. 'I think I have found a clue, though.' A smile curled at her lips as she remembered the days when she wanted to be a nun and called Sister Mary Margaret. Ah, but those were the days of puberty. Back in the present, she looked slowly at the two intruders, wondering what was meant by 'Sister.' "What cult do you belong too? You're the ones that stabbed Peter, aren't you?"
"Because if you don't come with us, we will sacrifice you here and Lord Tan will pick another lamb, one from Brother Caine's foster family," Maria explained nonchalantly, ignoring the detective's other question.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Brother Caine must pay for his father's sins, as you must be sacrificed for him, also. Now, come," Alexander ordered, Maria pressing the gun into Skalaney's ribs.
Peter slept as Paul read a magazine. The nurse had given Peter medication to ease the pain after Kermit had gotten his statement. The medication's side effect relaxed Peter to a dreamless sleep. He welcomed the dark void into which he fell, forgetting the nightmare he was living through.
The door was pushed open by a woman dressed in green scrubs, her name tag prominent on her lapel. She rolled a gurney into Peter's room, followed by a middle-aged man pushing the other end.
"What's this for?" Paul asked, standing up, ready to defend Peter.
"The doctor ordered a follow-up MRI. Standard procedure, really. Doc wants to make sure there's no small bleeders," the woman explained, hesitating in lowering the bed rail until the gray-haired man answered.
She knew the patient was a police officer, the son of a police captain. From the description others had given, this man was the captain and father. She would have to be careful with her plan.
"I can call the doctor if you need him to verify it," she offered.
"No. No, that's all right," Paul answered.
"OK, Tom. You get his head and chest. I'll get his feet," the woman ordered, lowering the bed rails and fitting the gurney up beside the hospital bed.
Paul reached and held Peter's hand. "Peter?" No response. "Peter, they're going to take you to x-ray. I'll wait here for you to get back." A quick flutter of eyelids from the patient made Paul smile. "It's OK. You just rest. I'm going to call the station, see what they've come up with."
As he watched Peter being pushed out the door, Paul called Mary Margaret on her cell phone. When he received no answer, he called Peter's apartment, then dialed her pager. He didn't see the wicked smile on the woman's face, or hear her chant as they took Peter away.
Kermit sat in his office, reading the report on a body dragged out of the river earlier. The victim, the report read, had died of a single stab wound to the heart. Marks on both wrists and ankles were indicative of being restrained. The pathologist's report suggested the long thin cuts along the victims legs were caused by a very sharp instrument, more than likely a knife.
Kermit answered the phone as it rang. "Griffin. Hey, Donnie, glad you got the message. What do you know about Peter's stabbing and the one they just got out of the river?"
The hurried voice of the snitch known as Donnie Double D was low over the phone. "Look, I don't have much time. The word is, there's some sort of cult in or near Chinatown. They do sacrifices and stuff and are planning one tonight when the moon is full."
"Where?"
"That answer, I do not know, yet. But I will keep my ear to the ground."
"You do that," Kermit replied.
"Detective, how is Peter?"
"Better. Let me know anything you find."
Chief Strenlich knocked on the door as Kermit hung up the phone. "Visitor here to see you."
Kwai Chang Caine replaced Strenlich in the doorway. "May I come in?"
Nodding, Kermit motioned for the older man to sit. "What brings you here?"
"I must find Peter."
A grin slid across the ex-mercenary's face. "He's not lost, Caine. He's in the hospital, if you'll remember. From a stab wound he said you gave him."
Caine's head bowed slightly. "Yes, but I did not hurt my son. I could never harm him. I was drugged."
"Yeah, but you see, I have a problem with that. The other day you said you couldn't remember anything. So what's made the change?"
"The poison has been taken from me, and the fog in which I lived has been lifted. Please, we must find Peter. They have taken him from the hospital, and I fear they have taken another."
"Blaisdell is with him. Peter's not going anywhere."
The phone rang, disrupting the conversation. "Griffin. No, she hasn't come back yet. How's Peter?"
"He's gone to get an MRI."
Kermit stiffened slightly, a cold chill running down his back and alarms going off in his head. "Caine's here, said Peter's been abducted. Oh, and they pulled a body out of the river. Stab wound, and looks like he was restrained," Kermit explained, trying to keep the worry from his voice.
"Kermit, get Broderick to send someone to Peter's and check on Skalaney. I'll go see if Peter is in x-ray. You and Caine stay there until I call back."