A/N: I've been working on this chapter off and on since January. Next Chapter is the very entertaining reunion of Ron and Kim. Boy is she going to get more than she bargained for...lol Anyway, I'm still working on other chapters as well as a Halloween story. I figure if I start on it now it should be ready by October...lol
Remember write a review, receive a reply. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.
Bubba
The next morning was busy. Kim rose early and decided to do some running. It was cold outside as she ran. She felt good as she ran through the streets New York. Watching as the city awoke and started to move around, helped to bring sort things out in her mind. Things had happened fast since the start of the investigation. And the rhythmic pounding of her feet on the pavement helped focus her mind.
At the end of her 5 miles she spotted a market and bought some groceries. Wincing as she paid too much for too little. She was glad Global Justice was picking up the tab. Kim walked the rest of the way back to the Global Justice safe house. She waved at the young African American boys who hooted and hollered at her. They were amazed she was still alive. Kim was kind of disappointed that she hadn't even been in any real danger during the few days she'd been in town.
Well if you didn't count the run in with the poor unsuspecting criminals she shared a lockup with two days ago. She stopped at the top of the stairs leading into the four unit building she was living in, and smiled. "Well the day's still young."
She took a shower and dressed for the day. She figured she would go out later and try to find a new dress for her meeting with Ron on Saturday. Ron would be in town on Friday but there would be little time to see him. He had a full day planned out for him. Wade had given Kim the itinerary before she left for her run. She chuckled as she remembered Wade's rundown.
"He arrives on Friday at 10:00 AM. Then he's off to Bristol Connecticut to tape a commercial for ESPN. That's scheduled for 1:00 PM. At 3:00 PM he's due back in New York, at 4:30 he's scheduled to tape Letterman at the Ed Sullivan Theater for Friday night broadcast. Normally Letterman's Friday shows are taped on Monday, but Dave is only going to tape Ron's segment for broadcast that night before he goes on vacation till after Thanksgiving. Then at 7:15 he's due at Radio City Music Hall for the premier of Airplane 3: Starforce."
Kim remembered her mouth hanging open at how full Ron's schedule was. It was hard to believe sometimes just how popular her old boyfriend had become. She finally asked Wade after he finished running down Ron's schedule. "So just when can I try to meet with him?"
"Phhhhhhhhhh, Saturday night at the Hotel is your best bet. The Dolphin's arrive on Saturday morning. Then they have a few meetings scheduled, and then Saturday evening Ron's free. Unless his cousin schedules more stuff for him to do."
She finished drying her hair and let out a loud sigh. Getting to Ron was not going to be easy. She knew she could get past Hotel security that wouldn't be a problem. Trying to get Ron alone, well that would be the hard part. She would just think about that later. For now she had to think about work.
Breathing deeply and exhaling several times to clear her mind she reviewed the past couple of days since she arrived in New York. Day 1 a Detective Josh Marshall visited her with information about another crime that mirrored what she was investigating. Only this crime had happened nearly 10 years ago.
Day 2, Detective Marshall then finds a way to end up dead and she is now the prime suspect. Then there was the crazy blonde rape victim that liked to stick a gun in her face. As if that weren't enough there was the crazy TV news anchorwoman that wanted to shove her crotch in her face, and introduce her to the joys of lesbian sex. Oh yeah, not be forgotten was her meeting with New York City's District Attorney. She was making friends fast.
Day 3, she paid a visit to Detective Marshall's former residence and met a crazy cat lady. Next she met a friend of Wade's that may be able to help her further down the road of the investigation. Then to cap off her full day she went out on a crime scene investigation that probably will have absolutely no bearing on the case she was working on now.
Kim sat on the battered old couch staring off into space. She was stuck on what to do next. "I've got nothing." She mumbled.
Glancing towards the door she saw a piece of paper had been slid under it. She smiled, "A clue…"
Getting up she walked over to the door and picked up the piece of paper. It was a flyer for Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop. The flyer promoted the stores specialty tuna and egg salad sandwiches. Not a clue, but not totally unwelcome. Kim smiled at the tag line, "4 out of 5 Cardiologists surveyed recommend eating at Eisenberg's every day. (After all business is business.)"
"Well, that's a vote of confidence." She mumbled as she carried the flyer into the kitchen.
The phone in the bedroom rang. Kim looked up hopefully, "A clue…" She made her way into the room and answered the phone. "Hello…"
"Kim Possible…This is Detective Anthony Gonzalez."
"Nope, not me, she was here earlier but she won a lottery, married a nice Canadian man and moved to the Virgin Islands."
"Funny… You eat yet?"
Kim told him she hadn't and then picked up the flyer from the table and told him of the sandwich shop. Gonzalez seemed to be impressed by her gastronomic taste in food. "I'll meet you there in 30."
"How did you know my number?" Kim asked quickly before the detective could hang up.
"You're in the GJ place on E. 13th right?"
"Yeah"
"Everyone knows that place."
"Great… See you in 30."
Kim scrunched up her face. This had to be the most compromised GJ safe house in existence. Then another thought crossed her mind. "Was this a date?"
She didn't think so. Detective Gonzalez's voice sounded a little too professional, almost strained. Chances were he had done his homework and found out just who she was and was going to warn her off her investigation. Then again, that didn't sound right either. He could have just done that over the phone.
Clipping on the holster containing her Beretta 9mm she made her way to the door. Kim had found getting around in New York City was not all that easy by car. She would walk the short distance to the sandwich shop. Walking would probably be faster and she wouldn't have to worry about trying to find a parking spot during the lunch time rush. Kim didn't know exactly what Detective Gonzalez wanted but she hoped it would be helpful to the case she was working on.
The phone rang once again. "Now who could this be?" Kim stared at the phone before she answered it on the third ring. "Hello…"
"Hi Kimmy"
Kim winced. The last person she wanted to hear from was Hermione Cain, the new alias of Summer Gayle. "Hi Summer…"
"I haven't heard from you since the other night. What have you found out so far?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhh…"
"Now no excuses, we can meet for drinks…"
"Not good, not good right now… I'll have to take a rain check…"
"Now Kimmie, we made a deal."
"Look Summer, I've really just got started and haven't really had time to get anything together yet."
"Have you met with Detective Marshall's landlady yet?"
"No, not yet…" Kim lied.
"Don't waste your time. The woman's a crazy old bat."
"Really, well thanks for giving me the heads up. Hey, I'd love to hang around and chat but I have to get going. Lots of investigating to do and stuff…"
"Oh you're not getting away that easily. How about we meet for drinks later?"
Kim cringed. She had hoped the former Tri-City weather girl had forgotten about her. Apparently she hadn't. "Uh sure, sure, how about in January?"
"Funny Kimmie, how about tonight? I'm feeling fun and flirty."
The voice was way too happy and melodic for her tastes. She was busy and the last thing in the world she needed was a lecherous forty something year old lesbian anchorwoman trying to put the make on her. "Don't you have a news cast or something?"
"I can always get away for a quickie. Watch the six o'clock news tonight and I'll lick my lips for you."
She pulled the phone away from her face and rolled her eyes. Placing the receiver next to her ear she said quickly. "Look call me later, I'm really pressed for time. I'm having lunch… with a man."
"Still in denial…"
Hanging up the phone, she did a quick once over in the mirror. Wondering why everyone just naturally assumed she was a lesbian. After all she was didn't think she was broadcasting signals. Nevertheless Hermione Cain just naturally assumes she's a lesbian. Kim for the life of her couldn't think of a logical reason why. That is until she saw her reflection in the mirror.
"Oh man…" She said to the reflection as she saw she was wearing a sleeveless white sweater, the razor wire tattoo on her left upper arm and a winged fairy on her right were clearly visible, black jeans, Beretta 9mm pistol on her hip, and a pair of black Timberland boots on her feet. She groaned as she slipped into her leather trench coat. Her short red hair, cut to Global Justice specifications topped her overall appearance.
"I have got to update my look." She said disgustedly as she headed out the door.
After only a few blocks Kim hailed a cab. The walk to the sandwich show was much further than she had anticipated. The cab ride wasn't long and she was deposited on N. 5th Street just down the street from the restaurant. She paid the cabbie and he said something to her in a dialect she couldn't quiet decipher. Kim smiled and shook her head, "Yabba dabba doo to you too."
The sandwich shop was part of a long row of shops that ran the city block. It was quite latterly sandwiched between a video store and a Russian owned laundry mat. Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop was a eatery that was not small on the outside and long and narrow on the inside. A long kitchen on the left side, a long counter in front of it, with stools that ran the length of the place, a small isle way and a row of tables and chairs that ran the length of the right hand wall. The place was packed with lunch time diners. It took Kim a while to spot Gonzalez. He was seated in the near the back of the shop.
Kim pushed her way past people as she made her way to the table. "Hi, sorry I'm a little late…" She said as she pulled out a wooden chair with a red vinyl covering on the seat.
Gonzalez nodded his head, "Not a problem."
A bald headed Armenian man wearing a long white apron approached the table, "You order now?"
"Sure, I'll have the ham and cheese melt." Gonzalez said as he looked over at Kim.
Studying the large chalk board, "I think I'll have the tuna sandwich…"
"You want that with platter?"
"What's the platter?" Gonzalez asked.
"Large pickle spear and potato salad, issssssssssss very good."
Gonzalez nodded his head, "Sure…"
Yeah, OK…" Kim agreed.
"Drinks?"
"Coffee"
"Diet Coke for me."
"Is fine, I will have your order shortly." The man said as he headed back around the counter.
Kim looked at all the people crowded near the front by the cash register, and occupying the stools along the counter. "Busy place…"
"Lunch time rush. I was lucky to get us a table." Gonzalez said as he too looked at all the people.
"So what's the occasion of the meet and greet?" Kim asked.
"I've done some investigating of you…"
Cringing, Kim thought, "Oh boy here it comes."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, what's available out there on your Global Justice career says you're pretty good." Gonzalez told her.
"Really? I mean, yeah… I am pretty good." Kim said happily.
"It also says that you're trigger happy. Lots of firearms usage, lots of bodies…"
Kim's grin quickly vanished. "Uh….uh…well I can explain most of that…"
"Are you packing now?"
Licking her lips nervously, she nodded.
"Are you licensed to carry?"
"No…"
Gonzalez let out a deep breath, "Damn, don't be shooting anybody, OK."
"I didn't plan to."
"Do you ever plan to?"
"No… Things just kind of happen." Kim smiled sheepishly.
"Don't let things kind of happen here, OK?"
"Sure, no prob… So what kind of thing do you have going on with Rochelle?" Kim asked suddenly as she decided to talk about something other than her pistol she affectionately called Snow Man Hank.
Gonzalez shot Kim a quizzical look. "You must be good. I didn't think we were being that obvious."
Kim giggled and rolled her eyes, "Well, you have to know what to look for."
"Uh huh…"
"So you guys have this thing going on for very long?" Kim asked again.
The Detective leaned back in his chair, "Well you see… I don't really know. Do you know if there is anything going on in Rochelle's life that I should be aware of?"
Puzzled, Kim shook her head. "I just met her yesterday? What kind of things do you think are going on?"
"Well that's just it. I don't know. We've been careful… You know the work place romance and all." Gonzalez said carefully.
"Ahhhhhh" Kim said as she thought she understood what he was talking about.
"Yeah, I don't really like taking chances. You see I've never been married, so that means I've never been divorced. I like Rochelle and I think she likes me."
"So what's the problem?" Kim asked as their order arrived at their table.
The waiter set down Kim's tuna fish sandwich and diet coke. He sat down Gonzalez's order and his drink. Before the waiter could leave, Gonzalez stopped him. "Hey, where's her potato salad?"
The waiter looked at Kim's plate, "No potato salad, no problem… I get the lady some potato salad."
Kim watched the waiter retreat back behind the counter. "It's no big…"
"Sure it is. You're going to get billed for it. You might as well get the potato salad."
The waiter returned with a large stoneware coffee mug full of potato salad. He set the mug down next to her. "You like? You have potato salad now."
She smiled as she hefted the large mug of potato salad. "This is great, thanks."
Gonzalez smiled, "Most people drink coffee from those."
Kim eyed the potato salad. "I see…"
"So you were asking about a problem?"
"Huh, oh yeah… So I don't see what the problem is?" Kim said as she tried to remember all of the conversation from before the meal came.
"The problem is, I don't like being made a fool of." Gonzalez said clearly irritated, but not sure why.
"What?" Kim said still not understanding what the man was talking about.
"I don't want to really commit to my feelings, especially if there's someone else out there that she's seeing."
Still clearly lost, Kim shook head. "Huh?"
Gonzalez let out a deep breath. It was time for him to quit beating around the bush. "I need to know. Who is this Wade guy and just who is he to Rochelle?"
Did she hear what she thought she heard? Kim shook her head, "Wade?"
"Yeah… Wade…"
Still suffering from a mild form of Shock and then said the name again. "Wade?"
"Wade" Gonzalez said evenly.
Kim explained her background with Wade. How he was a computer genius that she had known since he was 10. How he had helped her save the world on many occasions and how she had lost track of him for a few years. She explained that Wade had met Rochelle on line when he was around 17 or 18 and that she as far as Kim knew was nothing more than a friend. A friend that Wade had turned to when he felt there was no one else he could turn to.
"So they're nothing more than friends then?" Gonzalez asked, still unsure of just who Wade was to his potential girlfriend.
"I think so. I mean, Wade's four years younger than I am. So he's around 19 now and he still lives with his parents near Chicago."
Gonzalez narrowed his eyes at her. "Four years younger. You mean to tell me you're only 23?"
"Uh… Yes…" Kim replied nervously.
"I thought you were older. The information out there is quite lengthy on you. I suppose you were younger when you fought those guys in the rubber suits. So you're older now and you decided to graduate to the big leagues and start tackling real criminals?"
Bristling at the rubber suit comment, Kim said angrily. "There were no guys in rubber suits. I used to save the world."
Chuckling, Gonzales said. "So who saves it now? Or did you do such a good job that you can lower yourself to working with the likes of us mere policemen."
Kim could feel her face flush. She wanted to tear into him, tell his smug ass what the real score was. Tell him about fighting aliens, monsters, mad doctors, pissed off golfers, killer robots, how she placed people around her in danger and how it was a miracle that no one got killed. How she saw her community, a community she loved destroyed before her very eyes. How she blamed herself for the destruction on a daily basis. How she still had nightmares and how the whole experience had wrecked her life. But she knew she couldn't do that. She had to be a professional. Kim stood up. "Thanks for lunch, I'll see yah around."
"Sit down, I didn't mean to come off so harsh. I'm just a little surprised at the age. You really know how to handle yourself around a crime scene." Gonzalez said quickly as he realized he had offended his guest.
Kim exhaled deeply before sitting back down. "Yeah, well…GJ training I guess."
Gonzalez took a bite of his sandwich and motioned for Kim to go ahead and eat. She wasn't very hungry anymore but she took a bite. The tuna salad sandwich was very good. She took a drink of her soda. Gonzalez was still eyeing her.
"So why join Global Justice? Why not try to get on with the FBI or something?"
Shrugging her shoulders, Kim said sadly. "I was in Europe, I was broke, and… I was out of options."
"Hmmmmm…" Gonzalez mumbled as he chewed another mouth full of food.
All of a sudden Kim felt tired. She intensely disliked talking about herself. She didn't like thinking about the past. She didn't like having to face ugly truths, didn't like the fact that she had so much damage control to do in her personal life. Facing criminals was easy compared to facing the ones you loved. It was time for a subject change.
"So how's the case going?"
The Detective quit eating long enough to answer. "Kind of at a standstill. We're still waiting on Rochelle's lab work to come back on those bed sheets. If she can pull some DNA evidence off of them then we might be able to get things going."
They ate in silence for a while. Then Detective Gonzalez looked up and asked Kim. "By the way, what makes you think our guy's a killer?"
Kim shrugged, "Your victim says he had finished raping her, he's done. But he continues the knife play. Runs it up and down her body, makes little tears in her shirt, small cuts to the throat. Why?"
Gonzalez waited expectantly for Kim's answer.
"He was playing with her. Just like a cat plays with a mouse, to see if he can get a rise out of her, to try and prolong her agony, increase his enjoyment of the moment. A guy like that is building to something. A release…"
"He kills her." Gonzalez said.
"That's what the cat does with the mouse."
There was silence once more. The Armenian waiter came to the table and Gonzalez got a refill of his ice tea. Kim nodded her head to a refill as well. Gonzalez looked around before turning his attention back to her. "How's the sandwich?"
"Good…"
Detective Gonzalez eyed Kim and then asked. "So how many people have you killed? I read that most of the cases you were assigned to ended in fatalities."
Kim frowned, "I don't know, but if you'll notice all of them were justifiable."
"You don't know?" Gonzalez asked incredulously.
"No, I don't know. On a few cases the bullets were flying around pretty thick so it wasn't like I had a lot of time to notch my gun." She said impatiently.
Gonzalez raised a hand to show he wasn't going to push the issue. "Alright, alright… You OK with it? I mean…can you sleep at night?"
"Yeah, I can live with it. The ones on the receiving end were bad, I am good. Simple enough…" Kim said quietly.
The Detective mulled over Kim's response for a bit. Then he asked another question. "So why do you think he didn't kill Tracey Fowler?"
Letting out a deep breath Kim tried to image the crime scene in her mind, tried to imagine the attackers mind set. "I don't know. If I had to say…I think she got to him somehow?"
"Not sure I buy that." Gonzalez said.
Now it was Kim's turn to hold up a hand. "I'm not saying he felt pity for her. No, these guys only feel pity for themselves. It was probably something she said or how she acted that triggered his self pity."
"And saved her life…"
"It's a theory."
"Yeah, the next girl might not be so lucky." Gonzalez said as his Blackberry went off on his belt. He read the text message and texted back a response. Then he was on his feet. He threw some money down on the table. He moved quickly towards the front of the restaurant, Kim on his heels.
"You got the gift Kim. We just got a call another possible sexual assault. It's a couple of blocks from here, in progress. You up for it?"
Nodding her head, Kim said. "Sure"
"Yeah, just don't shoot anyone, unless they shoot at you first."
Kim smiled, "Always"
They jogged up the street to Gonzalez's unmarked black Chevrolet Impala police car. Kim hurried and got into the passenger side of the car. Gonzalez pulled away from the curb and sped south down N. 5th Street. He took the microphone and keyed dispatch. "This is Gonzalez, I'm 2 blocks north in bound ETA 5 minutes to the 807 in progress…Copy"
Dispatch crackled across the radio. "Affirmative…Two squads on scene, officers searching building for suspect…"
They hung a right on W. 22nd Street and pulled up in front of an older three story center entrance apartment building. Kim looked for a name on the building but saw none. Two uniformed officers, one short one tall stood at the entrance to an alley on the east side of the building. The shorter officer stepped forward and Gonzalez showed him his badge just as his shoulder mic barked. The officer hit the mute button and took a quick look at the detectives shield.
"Alright Detective Gonzalez… The attack occurred back here in the alley, then the suspect ran into the building. We have two units searching inside… Hold on a second."
The officer turned away and mumbled something into his shoulder and turned back. "They're on the first landing. If you want to go in they'll wait for you."
Gonzalez took the radio from the officer and started to walk toward the building. The officer followed, still talking. "The suspects a white male, 5'9, 170 pounds, wearing a black bomber style jacket and blue jeans, according to the victim he covered his face up and is armed with a knife."
Drawing his gun, Gonzalez entered the building. Kim drew her pistol and followed behind him. They climbed the stairs and found 2 cops waiting for them on the first landing. The stairs were dimly lit, the walls were gray, painted with sunlight that came through two dirty windows that were cut high into the landing. The older of the two uniforms on the landing brought them up to speed.
"The other team is securing the exits around back. Stairs on either side of the landings that lead to the street."
"How many apartments on each floor?" Gonzalez asked.
"Three, no telling whose home?"
"So he could be inside any of these units?"
"Yes sir, 3 floors worth."
"OK, first thing we do is sweep the building from the top down. Look for any sign of forced entry. If not we go unit by unit. Knock on the door, ID yourself and ask to come in."
They walked to the top floor together. When they reached the top floor the uniform officers crept along the left hand wall rounded a corner and soon disappeared. Gonzalez and Kim rounded the other corner, guns drawn. Twenty feet down the hallway a door stood ajar. Light spilling into the hall, the two approached the door.
Gonzalez looked over his shoulder, "No sign of forced entry."
Kim nodded her head as she watched Gonzalez open the door. Three inches, then a half a foot, she could now see into the hallway, beyond that a living room. The detective gave her a short nod then moved into the unit low and fast across the threshold. Kim followed breathing slow and scanning for trouble.
To her left was a sofa sleeper, in front of that a TV that was showing one of the days more popular reality series, past that were a set of windows that overlooked W. 22nd. She glanced over as Gonzalez eased down another hallway and stopped. He motioned for Kim to stack up behind him.
"Blood…" He whispered, as he pointed towards a smear along the baseboard.
He moved slowly into the kitchen. Kim noted more splashes of blood that lead into what appeared to be a pantry. That was where they found an old lady. There in the final crook, of the final cranny of the small apartment, at the very end of her life.
Gonzalez started to attempt CPR. Kim looked around the small kitchen and found her purse. She pulled out her billfold and saw the NY State ID was for one Ida Bonnez. Kim glanced back to where the woman lay.
She was wearing on old faded house dress that had large purple flowers imprinted into the old faded fabric. Her reading glasses were knocked askew but were still on her face. Ida's eyes were open looking desperately at Kim as Gonzalez continued to work on her. Her hand reached out towards Kim as if beckoning her to join her on the other side.
Kim shuttered as she realized she had a black handle knife plunged into her neck up to the hilt. A pool of blood was now oozing towards Kim as Gonzalez continued to perform CPR. With each chest depression more blood would seep from the wound.
Ceasing CPR as he realized it was not having much effect. Gonzalez radioed for backup and then felt for a pulse. There was none. Paramedics arrived and began to work on the body. Kim moved around the blood to get a better look at the knife. The handle was old and cracked. She walked back into the kitchen and opened the drawers.
"Find something?" Gonzalez asked.
Kim hesitated a moment as she took in the sight of him. His hands and forearms covered in blood. Then she told him. "You should have worn some gloves."
"I'm not worried about catching AIDS from an 80 year old woman. Now tell me what did you find?"
"Oh, ummm… I think she was stabbed with her own knife. The knife in her neck matches the ones in the drawer. If he was already armed with a knife why did he stab her with one of these?"
Gonzalez scrubbed his hands as best he could in the sink. He then pulled a length of paper towels from a roll to dry them. "Easy, the lady hears him trying to force his way into the apartment. She meets him at the door with the knife. He pushes her down the hall to where we are now before he stabs her."
"Oh" Kim said as she suddenly felt very foolish for not thinking of that herself.
"The guy can't be too far away." Gonzalez told her as he went to look out a small window at the back of the kitchen. It was open and overlooked a row of rooftops.
Kim looked over his shoulder. "What do you think?"
"I think it's worth a look." Gonzalez said as he climbed through the window.
She followed the detective out the window and onto a fire escape. The fire escaped creaked under their weight. Kim looked over at the roofs of the neighboring buildings. They were either gray slight singles or black tar roofs.
Gonzalez peered over the fire escape. The neighboring roof was just below them. The distance across was about five feet. The distance wasn't the problem. The three story drop if you missed your mark however was a problem. Gonzalez turned to face her. "Looks doable…"
It was more of a question than a statement of fact. Kim peered out over the edge. Trying to sound confident she agreed. "Oh yeah…"
She quickly swung her leg over the railing of the fire escape. She decided to make the jump before Gonzalez could protest or before she thought about it too much. Gonzalez tried to say something but Kim had launched herself through the air. She landed with a thud on the neighboring building and rolled to cut down on the force of the landing. She quickly got to her feet and looked over at Gonzalez. "No big…"
Only problem was Gonzalez wasn't there. Kim heard a thump beside her and light steps heading away from her. "Let's go Possible. This guy isn't waiting on us."
Kim lifted an eyebrow and followed the detective. Her feet felt very heavy and she suddenly wished she hadn't worn boots. The roof was deserted and the only exit was a metal door that was chained shut. They went to the edge of the roof and looked over to the next building. The span across was nearly 30 feet. "I don't think he would have tried this jump."
Gonzalez looked over the edge. "Never know, he might have thought he could fly."
There was no body crumpled in a heap on the pavement below. There was however another fire escape leading to the ground. "I bet he went down this way."
"Let's go…" The detective said as he leaped down onto the metal frame.
Looking down to the street, Kim muttered. "What I wouldn't do for my old hairdryer."
The two reached the ground and realized they were in a fenced in service area for the New York City Transit Authority. The gate leading out was locked but there was a service hatch that appeared to have been recently opened. Gonzalez ran over to the hatch and peered down. "There's a service ladder heading down into the subway. Feel like going underground."
Shrugging, Kim said. "I've gone this far. Lead the way."
She watched Gonzalez disappear into the shaft first. Then she followed. She went down the service ladder for about 10 feet before she ran out of ladder. She heard Gonzalez tell her to let go. The drop wasn't too bad. She let go and landed in a crouch on the uneven railroad ties of the subway system. She stumbled to the side before Gonzalez had grabbed her and yanked her back towards him.
The detective took out a flashlight and shined it at the ground. He pointed at the rails. "Third rail Possible…bad news."
The understanding was immediate. You don't want to touch the third rail or you will be electrocuted. The third rail being the power source for the subway trains that would frequent this tunnel they were in. Make contact with the rail and you will receive 600 volts of electricity. Something Kim realized would ruin her day quickly. "Right…"
Pointing down the tracks, Gonzalez said. "If he came down this way, he was probably headed towards the next station and away from the crime scene."
Kim nodded to the detective as they both started out a jog up the tracks. She glanced over at Gonzalez, "Where's the next stop?"
"I think it's about a half mile up…at 28th Street." He puffed.
She felt the ground rumble beneath her feet. She looked over towards Gonzalez, who stopped. "Which way's it headed?"
Looking around in the darkness of the tunnel, Gonzalez said. "I'm not sure? We should be alright if it's on our side. Plenty of room for it to get by."
"Uh huh…" Kim said, not sounding quite as assured.
The rumble stopped. Gonzalez started jogging again. "Probably picking up passengers."
In the ensuing quiet, she heard a stumble and a curse. Kim's narrowed, "He's out there."
Gonzalez stared at Kim's retreating form. She was running hard towards the sound she heard. He cursed under his breath and took off after her. Kim was nearing the station. Streaks of daylight were filtering in from the street above.
That's when she spotted him. About 70 yards away, just a black shape in the distance. She quickly drew her pistol and brought the Beretta to bear. The figure slid along the far side of the tunnels wall just far enough away for her to barely make out the outline of a man. She lined up the Trijicon night sights on the target. Then Kim holstered the weapon. She was too far away for a shot and she was shooting at an unknown target.
Suddenly Gonzalez burst past her running hard. He said only one word that Kim could make out. It was one word she didn't want to hear. "TRAIN"
The man ahead of her suddenly didn't matter anymore. Kim took off running as fast and as hard as she could. She cursed herself for wearing the big heavy boots and promised herself that if she made it out of this alive she'd never wear them again. She glanced to her left to make sure she wasn't near the third rail. She mentally tried to decide what was worse getting mangled into a bloody pulp by a Kawasaki Electric Train or getting electrocuted to death by 600 volts of heavy duty current and then run over by a train.
Deciding neither method of death was appealing to her, so she picked up the pace. Kim was running hard to keep pace with Gonzalez. The 5 mile run that morning and the heavy boots were taking their toll. She saw the train platform up a head. This made her feel better as Gonzalez hoisted himself up.
She was right on his tail. Leaping up, she grasped the edge of the platform but didn't have the energy to pull up and onto the platform. She started to fall back down towards the railroad tracks. She felt a hand grab hold of the collar of her trench coat and shirt and pull her up. With the added help she was able to make it onto the train platform.
In her younger years Kim Possible would have resented the help. Now however she was older and the thought of being helped up by a very attractive detective wasn't such a bad thing after all.
Bending over and grabbing her knees, she struggled to catch her breath. Twenty seconds later the subway train pulled into the station. She chuckled as she realized the train wasn't that close to them after all. Still in the dark where it's difficult to judge distances. It was close enough.
"You think anybody saw anything?"
Kim looked around at the people milling about on the train platform. A few people were reading the paper, a couple of teenagers were listening to their Ipod's, and one woman was asleep on a bench. She shook her head as she motioned towards the people. "I could have run through here naked and no one would have noticed."
Gonzalez chuckled, "With or without boots?"
Laughing Kim shrugged. She didn't have to be told. She would lose the boots as soon as she got home.
Pulling out his cell phone, Gonzalez said. "We better get back to the crime scene. I'll have some uniforms ask some questions."
The ride back to the crime scene was mercifully short. Kim was tired and ready to head back to the Global Justice apartment. There seemed to be little she could do here. Rochelle saw them exit from the police cruiser and walked over to them.
"We've started collecting evidence in the alley. The victim is one Ashley Crownover. She was on her way to the Apple store when she was snatched and drug into the alley. She struggled and the perpetrator let her go."
Gonzalez nodded his head. "He lets her go and then runs into the apartment building. Anything else I need to know?"
"Ashley Crownover is 12 years old."
That bit of information was clearly not what Gonzalez was wanting hear. He screwed up his face and said. "Awwwwwwwww man, where is she now?"
Rochelle pointed over towards one of the cruisers that were parked along the curb. The lights were still flashing, the red and blue lights bouncing off the surrounding buildings as night was falling on another cold November evening.
Gonzalez motioned for Kim to follow him towards the cruiser. Kim screwed up her face as she was ready to go home. So far it was, from her perspective another wasted day. So far she had worked on everything except her own case. Even though she didn't want to, she followed him anyway.
"I've got to help Rochelle process the body and collect evidence until the rest of the team arrives. Can you do me a favor and babysit this girl for a while?"
Kim lifted an eyebrow, "Babysit?"
"Yeah, you know just sit with her in the car. Don't talk to her or anything…babysit."
Nodding her head, Kim said. "Oh I know all about babysitting."
"Great, I'll only be about 15 or 20 minutes."
"Great…" She said less than enthusiastically.
Looking into squad car she could see the girl sitting in the backseat. Head down, lost in her own thoughts. Kim then turned to watch Gonzalez walk into the alley with Rochelle. "Good thing I don't work for you guys."
She opened the front passenger door and slid into the car. The girl looked up. There was a layer of Plexiglas separating the girl from Kim. Ashley Crownover was white, had mousy brown hair, slender. Kim guessed her height at around 5'4. She noted some bruising on her face. It was probably from where the man had grabbed her. She couldn't see her arms. The pink and white Addias athletic coat covered her arms. Kim turned away from her to check that Gonzalez was out of sight. Then she turned her attention back to the girl. "Hi Ashley, my name is Kim."
The girl didn't look up. Her voice was low and void of emotion. "Hey"
"They told me to sit in the car with you."
The girl looked up. "You a cop?"
Shrugging, Kim replied. "Sort of, I work for Global Justice."
The girl shook her head. "So you're a Eurocop…"
Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Kim softly chuckled. "Yeah, I guess…"
"Hmmmmmm"
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. Kim turned back around in her seat. The girl was obviously unimpressed with her being a Global Justice agent.
"Some guy attacked me. " The girl said sadly.
"I know Ashley." Kim said quietly.
"They're looking for my mom and dad now…My dad is going to kill me." The girl said wearily.
Kim turned back around to face her. "No he won't. I bet he's really worried about you."
Ashley Crownover laughed bitterly. "No he isn't. I wasn't supposed to be here. I was going to sneak uptown to The Apple Store."
"Cool store"
"Yeah… That's when it happened. I was changing buses." The girl hesitated a moment. "I was so stupid…"
Kim thought about Gonzalez's instructions before he left. She glanced out the window, he was nowhere in sight. "Tell me what happened."
The girl looked up at Kim. "I don't think so."
"OK"
The girl looked down at the floor board of the car. She looked like she was thinking hard about something. Then she spoke again. "He got me with the basketball."
"A basketball?"
"I was walking across the alley blocked off from the street by those." Ashley told her as she pointed towards two large green trash dumpsters. "He came up out of nowhere. He dribbled the basketball off the side of his foot or leg or something. It went right into the alley."
Glancing into the alley Kim saw a basketball just a little ways down from the dumpsters. "You followed the ball."
"I took a step."
"Anyone would… It's instinct, he knew that." Kim said softly.
Ashley appeared to perk up a bit. "You think so?"
"Yeah, I do Ashley."
"He was behind me, pushing me with the knife. Put a hand over my mouth and started dragging me."
Following the path of the crime in her head, She traced the path the man had taken the girl towards a large green metal door that appeared to be forced open. Kim thought that was probably where Ashley Crownover was supposed to wind up. Inside the electrical room of the small office building where assault would have blossomed into rope and perhaps murder.
"How did you get away?" Kim asked.
"Scratched him, bit him, he let go when I screamed. Then he ran." Ashley's voice was brittle to the point of dust as she spoke. Then she showed Kim her teeth, as if to prove she could bite. Then Ashley started to cry quietly.
Kim smiled down at the girl. "You did a good job. You taught that guy that girls can be pretty tough too."
The girl looked up. "Really?"
"Yeah, did you happen to get a look at the guy?"
Ashley shook her head. "I'm so fucking stupid."
"Hey now, that's enough of that. It's not your fault." Kim said soothingly.
Not knowing how else to comfort the girl, Kim pulled out one of her business cards and held it up to the Plexiglas screen. "Hey, you need to talk to someone. You can give me a call."
The girl scrutinized the card. "Are you in the place on Park Avenue West or East 13th?"
Taken aback by the girls knowledge of secure Global Justice safe housed, Kim stammered. "E..E..East 13th."
"Man, they must really hate you." The girl said sadly.
Smirking, Kim said. "Tell me about it."
Glancing off towards the other police officers, Kim could see Gonzalez and Rochelle making their way over. She had to ask the girl one more question. "Does everyone in this town know where the Global Justice safe houses are?"
"Uh huh"
"Shit" Kim quietly hissed under her breath. "Well Ashley it was nice meeting you. Sorry for what happened and all."
Leaving the girl the way she found her, Kim walked towards Gonzalez and Rochelle. Gonzalez looked at Kim. "She say anything?"
"She knows where the Global Justice safe houses are."
"Who doesn't?" Gonzalez chuckled.
Rochelle shook her head. "We found a used condom in the alley."
Kim tilted her head. "She said she fought him off."
"You mean she wasn't penetrated." Rochelle said.
"Yeah"
Gonzalez shrugged. "It's not unusual. These guys put on a condom before the attack. Then they lose control. So that sometimes they blow their loads before they can perform their assault."
"Swell" Kim said irritably. This whole case was becoming distasteful to her and she was ready to go home.
"So Kim, two assaults in two days, how do you explain that one?" Rochelle asked with a slight grin.
"Just lucky I guess." Kim muttered.
"Well I guess I better interview the victim." Gonzalez said.
Kim nodded her head. "You think the two assaults are connected?"
"Probably not…" Rochelle said.
"They both used a knife to subdue their victims. Only this one killed during an attack. The first was a home invasion. This one was bold. A snatch in broad daylight…" Gonzalez explained.
"Right" Kim said as she looked back towards the young girl in the squad car. "If you guys don't need anything else, I think I'll go home."
"We'll contact you at the Global Justice place on East 13th if we need anything." Gonzalez added.
She winced at the mention of the apartment. "Fine…"
Turning she walked towards the edge of the crime scene. Lifted the yellow crime scene tape and made her way to the bus stop. Kim read the different bus schedules and decided on the best bus that would take her close to home. She stood near a group of girls chatting happily about clothes, boys, celebrities, and boys.
How long had it been since she had someone to talk to about those things. Then she remembered. It was Monique, it was in Middleton, and it was a lifetime away. She absently wondered what had happened to her old friend. She hoped she was alright. She had truly lost track of her old friends.
She decided that she would take Friday off and go shopping. Find a nice dress and get ready to go and meet up with that one all important old friend on Saturday. She hoped the meeting would go well. Then maybe she could get some positive work done on the case she was supposed to be in New York working on.