Chapter 3
'Denver News' - Headline:
Chief Edward D. Brown dead!
Denver's Chief of Police, who had been freed from prison in a spectacular action of solidarity by the residents of Denver, died last night. A cause of death has not been released yet, but he was in critical condition after suffering from pneumonia. 'Denver News' would like to express its condolences to Mrs. Brown and her son...
Ed didn't like the prospect of leaving the hospital in a coffin too much – not even alive in a coffin.
"Will he get enough air?" Eve asked worriedly. "And what if he has to cough?"
"Who says that it has to be a coffin? If we pretend that there will be an autopsy, then we can put him onto a gurney. That will be easier," suggested Ironside.
Eve was not convinced, but the thought of leaving her husband in a hospital where he was exposed to further attacks scared her even more.
"As soon as they think that I'm out of the way they will come after you," objected Ed.
"I will take care of myself," snarled Ironside, and Ed winced. Obviously he had caused a lot of trouble because he had not been able to take care of himself.
"Sorry," he mumbled, but only Eve heard it. Encouragingly she pressed his hand for a second.
'Denver News' – front page:
Disabled young girl abducted!
Kitty Granger, prison governor Harry Granger's daughter, has been missing since last Thursday. The police reported that they suspect a kidnapping. Kitty is affected by trisomy 21. She is sixteen years old, height four inches eleven, wearing a pink frill dress, white tights, black strappy heels...
"Billy, I wanna marry you!" Kitty shouted and hugged the flabbergasted boy fervently.
"Please, Kitty, I'm sorry, but you can't..."
Bill tried to push her away without hurting her. She was such a sweet girl.
"Billiiiiiie! Don't you like me?"
"Yes, Kitty, of course I like you, I like you very much... but see... I'm too young to get married!"
This was absolutely ridiculous. Half a year ago he would have smacked her. But now everything was different. It was bad enough that he had kidnapped a handicapped child. He sure as hell would not hurt her. Chief Brown would not tolerate such a thing. He would not tolerate a kidnapping either, but what should they have done? The man on the phone had said that Chief Brown would get killed if they didn't take the prison warden's daughter hostage, because Granger wanted Chief Brown dead. They were to capture the kid and then to hide her. If they would not do it or if they told a living soul, he would die. Chris and Bill had debated whether or not they should try to talk to Chief Brown. He was the one who would know what to do. But then – he was in hospital. They could not reach him directly. And what if the man on the phone – a Mobster for sure - would get a whiff of it? It was too dangerous...
"Bill!" Chris stormed down the stairs to the cellar where they were hiding out. He brandished a newspaper and he looked like a ghost. "Bill, read this!"
He held the paper under his friend's nose. Shocked Bill read the headline:
Chief Edward D. Brown dead!
Horrified Bill read on what the 'Denver News' wrote about the death of a man he had admired.
"That's impossible! They promised..."
"No, they didn't promise a thing. They only threatened to kill him if we didn't kidnap Kitty. They didn't say that they would not kill him if we did. And maybe he really died from the after-effects of his illness." Chris' voice sounded cold and impersonal.
Bill sat down onto the stairs. He clasped his hands before his face.
Kitty wondered if he was crying. She didn't understand what this was all about, but her caring heart felt that the beloved boy was sad. She knelt down at his side and hugged him tenderly. At first he wanted to push her away, but then he didn't. In a strange way it felt good that someone was sharing his grief, even though it was only a mentally retarded child.
"If they killed him then I will kill them. And if the people in the hospital didn't take good care of him then..."
Bill looked up, surprised. Chris wasn't cool at all. His anger was nothing but an attempt to hide his grief!
"Then what?"
"Oh, I don't know... I only know that it is so wrong that he of all people had to die."
"He was the one who believed in me and who gave me a second chance after we almost killed him last summer. It's as if he saw something in me that others could not see, and that I didn't even know myself I had in me. He got me to believe that I could start fresh... "
Chris nodded. "It was so strange. When he played basketball with us he didn't tolerate the slightest offense against someone who was smaller or weaker. He insisted that we took on guys who are stronger than ourselves. I think he forgave us the attempt on his life, but he was very sad about what we did to Danny. I was sure that he had ordered Granger to set me free the day before yesterday."
"Chris - he would want us to let Kitty go. It's no use keeping her any longer. Let's make sure that nothing happens to her."
Billy nodded. "We leave her near Chief Brown's house. I'm sure Mrs. Brown will take care of her."
"Noooo!" shouted Kitty. She hugged Billy exuberantly and kissed him passionately.
"Kitty – when this is over I will come back to you, I promise."
Two cars left the hospital: One of them contained the body of the deceased Chief of Police Edward Brown. In the other, Commissioner ad interim Robert T. Ironside left.
The man who had been sitting in ambush in front of the hospital decided to follow the living man. He had strict instructions that this man could not be left that way.
Ironside soon noticed that he was being followed. Well, this was better than if they had followed Jerry, who drove Ed home on detours.
He was good at getting get rid of pursuers. Yet when he tried to get back to headquarters, he noticed that they were waiting for him. What should he do?
He could not go to Ed's, it was too dangerous.
He decided to hide in the swimming pool again, at least for the time being. He could not call for help. If he called police headquarters he might as well end up talking to a corrupt officer who could just come here and try to kill him. The same thing could happen if Ed took care of things. No, he would try to defend himself. It wasn't the first time that he had to face seemingly stronger adversaries.
Yet he knew that sooner or later the Mob or some corrupt police officers would find him there.
He was under no illusions: his situation was all but comfortable. The Mob would not only send a single man, but at least two. There was no place to hide here if someone went looking in earnest. He had his gun all right, but against two armed men things would be dangerous. How could he surprise some attackers?
He looked around. There was not much stored here in January... He would have to use what he found: in a huge crate made of lattices, there were lots of items of Sagex probably used as buoyancy aids and toys: balls, swimming boards, rings and little animals. The walls of the crate were held together by wires. Ironside used the metal saw of his Swiss Army knife to cut most of the wires on one side. He prepared the last one so that it could be opened with one small movement. Then he hid behind the crate. This would not protect him from an army, but maybe his trick would stall some intruders long enough for him to arrest them.
