Chapter Ten
Paul Blaisdell drove like a madman with the car's wailing sirens warning others to stay out of his way. He was praying they could reach Peter and Jody in time when Caine cried out in agony. Both he and Kermit jumped in their seats in the front of the car, badly startled. The agonized cry was heart-wrenching, even over the sirens – worse because they knew what the cry meant for Peter.
Glancing into his rearview mirror, Paul saw Lo Si ministering to Caine, whose ashen face reflected terrible pain, his lips mumbling indistinguishable words, his body cast in heavy sweat. Paul tightened his grip on the steering wheel and tried to control his fears.
Briefly, Paul wondered how much more Caine could take. The man was already extremely weak from trying to help Peter. He realized he was focusing his worry on Caine instead of Peter, because deep down, he knew Peter had to be close to death for his father to look so bad. He pressed his foot down on the accelerator as Kermit pulled out his Desert Eagle and released the safety.
Paul recognized that tense posture in his old friend and knew if an opportunity came up, Kermit would shoot to kill without hesitation – not that he expected any less from Kermit. Those instincts had kept them both alive on more than one occasion in their past.
He went to swerve around a delivery van illegally double parked and narrowly missed an oncoming car. Paul knew he was being reckless, endangering the lives of everyone in the car, but they were running out of time – and that was a commodity of which Peter had little left.
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"I'll take care of you later, Detective Peter," Richard said with hatred dripping from his voice.
He released the unconscious Peter Caine and started again towards Jody Powell with knife in hand, but he froze in place when he heard sirens in the distance. Paranoia, his constant companion, caused him to run to a window. From his vantage point, he could see patrol cars blocks away turn off their lights and sirens, then cruise to a stop down the street.
"No, this can't be happening," he screamed as he ran to another window facing the intersection. "I've been given a miracle and nobody is going to take it away from me! I won't allow them to!"
Rushing from the room, Richard fled down the back stairs and exited into an alley. He crossed the street where a city crew had a transformer box open, doing some repair work on it.
Richard tried to seem casual as he glanced up and down the street, slowing his pace, blending into the city landscape. He paused when he saw Paul's car screech to a stop a short distance from him and he backed up towards the crew, intending to grab a hostage.
There was a range of voices and personalities parading through his consciousness at a nonstop pace as the adrenaline continued to pump through his system, but he stopped when he realized he didn't have his taser with him. And the people on the street stared at him strangely amidst the interacting voices streaming from his mouth. He obviously attracting attention, but then he saw it was more because of his bloody arm from the gunshot and knife wound that was attracting the most frightened stares.
A very weak Kwai Chang Caine stepped from the car, heavily supported by Lo Si, and started speaking to Richard.
"Richie Petry, you must cease this madness!" Caine called out with one hand extended before him in warning.
"So says the great Kwai Chang Caine!" Richard shouted back, still moving toward potential hostages.
"No, so says a friend. This path you have chosen can only end in death."
Peter's father could barely stand, but there was something sincere in his efforts to reach him.
"Yeah, it'll end in death... my death, if I go with you," Richard shot back.
He slowly backed up towards a cornered city crewman trapped between him and the open transformer box.
"No! Richie! Listen to me!" Caine exclaimed, but Richard was beyond listening any longer.
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After pulling up to their destination, Paul saw Richard Petry moving down the street. Years of stakeouts and following bad guys told him instantly that Richard was on the run.
Reining in his gut reaction to run the murderer down with his car, he pulled over to the curb. Both he and Kermit got out of the car with weapons drawn. Paul automatically used the car as a shield, laying his elbows atop the vehicle and drew careful aim while Kermit slid out of the passenger side of the car facing Richard.
"Richard, it's time to stop this madness and turn yourself in."
Kermit slipped behind Caine and Lo Si as they endeavored to reason with Richard. He worked his way to line up a shot if Richard continued to make his way over to the stranded electrician.
"Sure, Captain, anything you say." There was nothing about Richard's behavior that indicated he was going to back down.
Paul saw Kermit in position, then he nodded to let Paul know he was ready. Paul returned the gesture with a curt nod of his own, but he kept the center of his gaze on Richard. Both Paul's cop instinct and something about Caine's behavior told Paul Richard was about to take matters into his own hands.
Richard rushed the electrician and Paul fired without hesitation. He heard the echoing racket of a second shot coming from Kermit's direction. Just whose bullet had sent Richard flying, he wasn't sure, but one of them had hit their target.
Paul kept his gun poised at ready, just in case another shot was necessary.
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The force of the shot propelled Richard into the open transformer. Kwai Chang stretched a hand forward in a vain attempt to push Richard clear of the dangerous box, but his depleted chi prevented him from succeeding. He fell to his knees on the cement pavement, surprised when there was no assistance from Lo Si. Somehow, the Ancient had suddenly disappeared.
The force of the shot was too strong for Richard to overcome and Richard fell backward against the live, high-voltage connections, causing the area to erupt into a fireball of electrical sparks and shorting out power to the immediate area.
As the area lit up like the Fourth of July, Kwai Chang's eyes closed shut and his last thoughts were those of his son and how he had no more strength left to give him.
'Peter? Peter, my son, I have failed you.'
Despair washed over him as he realized he didn't even have enough strength left to link with Peter and a tear slipped down his cheek as he relinquished his hold on consciousness.
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The fireworks had barely settled down before Paul was at Caine's side. Caine had collapsed without giving them the specifics of Peter's location. They had an address, but there were eight floors of apartments in that old building and no time to search floor by floor.
Paul heard angry shouts coming from Kermit's direction. He looked around and saw Kermit shouting at Lo Si in a furious rage, "JUST WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?"
Lo Si weathered it well. He simply folded his hands in front of him and said quietly, "Saving your eternal soul."
Kermit almost threw down his gun in pure frustration. "That was lost a long time ago, old man!"
"No, it was not. It simply went into hiding, but it is still a spirit filled with good and courage. It has been emerging again under Captain Blaisdell's healing guidance, but I think you knew that already."
Kermit stood speechless in both complete annoyance and amazement. Unable to address either emotion, he turned and took out his frustrations on a nearby trash receptacle, kicking it in livid fury as he shouted, "DAMN!"
Paul wondered what had set off the ex-merc, but then realized Lo Si was on the move again. A weathered hand touched Paul's arm and he jumped. Magically, Lo Si was facing him across Caine's unconscious body, appearing, it seemed, out of nowhere. Paul shrugged off his confusion and met Lo Si's gaze.
The elderly man had a troubled expression on his face as he looked down at his friend with deep concern. Closing his eyes, he extended hands above Caine's body, searching with senses Paul Blaisdell would never be able to understand.
"Lo Si..." Paul started to ask, only to be stopped by Lo Si's hand on his shoulder.
"I will attend to Kwai Chang," the Ancient said solemnly. "Peter has urgent need of your assistance on the third floor." Lo Si pointed upward for emphasis.
Paul followed Lo Si's gaze and nodded, glancing back at the unconscious Caine for another moment. "Will he..."
"Kwai Chang will be fine, but Peter will not. Caine asks for your assistance to ensure the continuation of your son's life. He puts Peter into your capable hands, but know this. Peter is very badly hurt. It will take the combined efforts and prayers of all of his friends and family for him to survive this," Lo Si said grimly. "Help Peter until Kwai Chang can join you."
Paul didn't need to hear another word. He stood and briskly waved closer the police officers now surrounding him.
"I need one man with a radio to go with me upstairs."
An uniformed officer stepped forward.
"You," he said, pointing to another man. "You watch for the paramedics and personally direct them to the third floor when they arrive. The rest of you, crowd control. Keep those people back until the city deals with that transformer. Call it in. Any available uniforms are to be on patrol, watching for looters. Kermit, you're in charge down here until Strenlich arrives."
Kermit nodded and began issuing more orders as Paul disappeared with the uniformed man. Paul ran faster than he had in years toward the buildings' entrance and prayed Peter could last long enough for emergency services to arrive.
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Power was knocked out for several surrounding blocks. The shock itself should have killed Richard several times over, but it didn't. In fact, he was opening his eyes only moments later. It was a reaction that elicited amazement in both Kermit and the other personnel present.
But there was a lifeless glint in Richard's eyes when he looked around – something that rapidly changed to bewilderment.
"What...what happened, Detective Kermit?" Richard asked in his slow, familiar Richie tone. "Where am I? Why are there so many people here from work? Did – did I do a bad thing?" he asked, his eyes welling up with tears.
Kermit was so stunned to hear and see the old Richie back that his raging temper was momentarily quieted. It was as if Richie had never turned into a serial killer at all – as if none of the death and pain of the past weeks had ever occurred.
Kermit looked away before he said with a clenched jaw, "Yeah, Richie, you did a bad thing, but let the paramedics look you over before we talk about it."
"Okay, Detective Kermit, I'll be good. I promise."
Kermit nodded, but before he stepped away, he thought he caught the briefest glimpse of a caustic smile cross Richie's lips.
Kermit stood there for a long moment before leaving him under Blake's watchful eye, deeply disturbed, but he cast that aside the moment he thought about Peter's critical state again.
The paramedics had already arrived minutes beforehand. Kermit raced up the stairs to the floor where the rest of the injured were being treated. His wary gaze saw Paul and a very shaky Kwai Chang kneeling beside Peter with Lo Si at their side. Paul seemed prepared to step in for Caine if Caine's weakness grew too great.
Kermit adjusted his sunglasses. The team of paramedics trying to get Peter stabilized for transport appeared frustrated by the wealth of concerned family and friends.
Good luck, guys. Better sit back and let the Shaolin priests do their stuff and you'll have a much stronger patient for transport. Otherwise, there'll be hell to pay!
Kermit opted to leave that group alone at the moment – there were more than enough people were there to get in the way as it was. His job was to direct the activities of the arriving police. Besides, Kermit's churning emotions made him feel a little distance would be prudent for everyone's safety.
When Frank finally arrived at the scene, Kermit was released from his commitment to direct the troops. Strenlich was there in full ex-Marine glory, large and in charge, leaving Kermit free to address his own feelings as much as he didn't want to. It was easier to watch Paul and Caine trying to console Peter than to come to terms with his own unexpressed rage.
Kermit had been committed to killing Richie Petry without compunction – until Lo Si had intervened, throwing off his shot. Chagrined, he had looked back at Lo Si and found him at Caine's side, ministering to his friend's needs, then his gaze slid over to Peter.
Richie had brutally beaten Peter within an inch of his life. Knowing Peter, he had fought Petry every step of the way, probably bringing on more abuse by his steadfast defiance.
Yet, watching Paul and Caine work with Peter now nearly broke Kermit's heart. The emotion was soon replaced by rage as Peter seemingly lost in a feverish delirium kept calling Jody's name.
Mary Margaret caught Kermit's eye. They exchanged tight, worried glances before she turned back to Jody. The visibly shaken Jody kept a death grip on Skalany's hand as Jody's team of paramedics moved her via stretcher to their ambulance and then to the hospital.
Jody was pretty banged up too for someone who had only been missing a few hours. Her face was already bruising in several spots and one eye was closed with swelling. The paramedics had one of her arms immobilized and that was just what Kermit could see as they passed. Who knew what they would find when she got to the hospital and a doctor's care.
Kermit wasn't aware of his own movement until an arm stretched out before him – an arm careful not to be to trigger Kermit's automatic defenses, but it was there to keep him from moving forward nonetheless.
"Kermit, stay put." There was a delay before Strenlich's quietly uttered words sank into Kermit's consciousness.
Kermit frowned momentarily before he growled in a hoarse whisper, "Get out of my way."
"Not while you have that look on your face, Kermit," Frank replied in a tone offering no room for compromise.
Kermit turned and gave Frank his undivided attention. That in itself would unnerve most men, but Strenlich stood strong. "What look is that, Chief?"
"The look that says you're about to off Richie."
Frank never broke off the intimidating eye contact as he answered Kermit. In fact, he moved in closer, his face right up against Kermit's in the escalating conflict.
Kermit narrowed his gaze. He stared nose to nose with the ex-Marine for a long while before he backed off a bit. "Well, that certainly took balls of brass... didn't know you had them that big," Kermit muttered as he rubbed his tense neck and studied at the floor for a moment.
"You mean you've never heard them clank when I walk?" Strenlich replied innocently as he patted Kermit on the back and waved over more personnel for assignment detail.
The intensity of the moment now broken, Kermit smirked at Strenlich when the Chief returned to his side and asked, "So did Richie have anything useful too say when you spoke to him?"
Kermit's tired grin vanished as he glanced out the nearby window, watching the paramedics and Blake working around Richie. Kermit was quiet when he spoke next, having dropped all emotion as he stood with his arms crossed in front of him.
"No, not really. He asked if he did a bad thing... " Kermit's voice dropped off even more while watching the paramedics treat Richie's electrical burns and other wounds, then he started again. "The man killed twenty-three people that we know of, beat the crap out of Peter and Jody, and then – then he asks if he did a bad thing."
Kermit pushed up his dark green sunglasses and sighed in fatigue and disgust while rubbing tired eyes. "Damned if he didn't sound just like the old Richie when he said it, too."
"What do we do with him now?" Frank groused.
"We arrest him." Kermit said simply as he replaced his sunglasses.
"That would make for a hell of a trial," Strenlich said sarcastically before adding, "Just imagine the DA presenting the murderer's MO and motive. 'Uh, he did it because he wanted to get smarter, your honor'. Good Lord, the press would have a field day with it. A frigging three ring circus is more like it!"
"Won't get that far, Frank, and you know it. He'll get off for reasons of mental incompetency. Then they'll tuck him away in some institution until he's old and gray. And that will be the end of it."
"It's too bad, really. He was a good kid before all this happened."
"And he seems to be again."
"You say that like you don't believe it."
"No, Frank, I don't. There's still something different about him, and if what my gut is telling me comes to pass, he might be able to fool a judge into going soft on him."
"What do you mean? You think he's faking it to get out of the charges?"
Kermit didn't answer right away as he watched Richie being taken away to a waiting ambulance, accompanied by Blake and an experienced uniformed officer, hand-picked by Strenlich for the detail.
"Two words, my friend, two words...OH and YEAH."
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