Chapter Four
Sour Gummies
Two hours later, Karen sat in the morgue of the nearby hospital, watching through a window as doctors prepared her father's body. His face looked so calm, so peaceful, there on that table, that Karen's mind couldn't fathom that he was really dead. He had to be sleeping. If she just went in there and jostled him a bit, he'd wake up and give her a warm smile, ask her if it was morning already or something like that.
She silently begged and prayed for that to be true.
The door opened, and Gordon Cherry walked back into the room, carrying a hot chocolate and speaking into a comm. "Yeah, a metal arm," he said. "I don't know what it could possibly be either. Just keep looking. Thanks, Rio."
He switched off the comm and handed Karen the hot chocolate. "My team's still looking," he said. "We'll find them."
Karen nodded, accepting the drink. "Thank you."
Gordon sat down beside her, not asking if she was okay, or telling her it would be okay, or any number of the million things people tended to say at times like this. He simply sat in silence, simply lending her the comfort of his company. She thought about a recent tragedy he'd suffered almost a year before, wondering if it was that experience he was pulling from now.
They sat in silence for around five to ten minutes, Karen taking soft sips from her hot chocolate. She was almost halfway through it when the door burst open, and her mom rushed inside.
"Where is he?" she said. "Is he—"
She stopped, her eyes falling on her husband's body, the large slashes across one shoulder, the deep wounds in his chest. Her eyes welled up with tears and her legs started to shake. "Oh, Tobias," she said.
Karen saw her mom starting to break down and immediately got to her feet. "Mom," she said, grasping her by the hand. "It's okay, mom. I'm here."
Her mother looked at her, her eyes swimming with tears. "How could this happen?" she asked. "The officer that called me. She said he was . . . drunk? But Tobias would never drink on the job."
"I don't know, mom," Karen said. "I don't know why they keep saying that, but he wasn't."
She led her mother over to the chairs and sat her down. Gordon got up to make room for them. "I'll be outside," he said.
Karen nodded to him as he passed.
Her mom shook her head, looking back at her husband. "What happened?"
Karen breathed. The last thing she wanted to do was relive it all, but she did anyway. For her mother's sake. She told her everything she saw from the moment she and her partner had pulled up on the scene of the crash.
Her mother stared at her like she was speaking gibberish. "A man with a metal arm?" she said. "In your apartment?"
Karen shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "But I plan on getting to the bottom of it."
"So do I," a new voice said.
Karen and her mother turned to see Vernon Axelrod standing in the doorway. Karen had grown up knowing him as her dad's partner on the force way back when she was a child, someone she'd even come to call Uncle Verny over the years. In the decades since then, he'd risen through the ranks to become commissioner, just in time to preside over Karen's graduation from the academy.
"Vernon," her mother said.
Vernon smiled a sad smile and stepped into the room. "Hello, Miranda," he said, casting a sorrowful gaze at his old partner. "I came as soon as I heard. I'm so sorry."
Karen's mom wiped her eyes and buried her face against her daughter's shoulder.
"I don't mean to intrude at this time," he said, looking regretful. "But Karen is a key witness to all of this. I wonder if we could talk in private. For just a few minutes."
Karen and her mom looked up at him, then back at each other. Her mom nodded.
"Yeah," Karen said. "I can do that."
She gave her mom one last hug, then got up and followed Vernon out of the room, crossing the hall into an empty side room. Vernon shut the door and sat down across from her. "Now," he said. "If you can, please tell me every detail you can remember about what happened today."
Karen swallowed, really not wanting to relive it again a second time. But she would. For her dad. She told Vernon everything she could remember, from the broken windshields on the car, to the strange man with the metal arm.
Vernon scratched his thick mustache. "And this man," he said. "Did you recognize him at all? Any defining features to his face."
Karen shook her head. "He was wearing a mask that covered everything but his eyes. He was really tall though, with a pretty deep voice."
Vernon took down some notes on his pad. "Do you have any idea why anyone would be after your father?"
Karen shook her head. "I don't—"
She stopped, remembering the strange file her dad had at lunch, and how he had been acting so anxious about it. "Well, there was—"
She stopped again. Her dad's words, telling her to be careful who she trusted, rang in her ears. She looked up at her uncle Vernon. Surely, he was one of those she could trust. Still, something held her back for the moment.
"He seemed really anxious about something at lunch," she told him. "But he wouldn't tell me what."
Vernon nodded. "What about in your apartment, just before he died," he asked. "Did he say anything?"
Karen shook her head. "No," she said, "He just—"
She ran through that last conversation in her mind. Just him telling her to be careful who she trusted. And telling her he'd left her some gummies. She shook her head. Why would he have been so focused on that. He was dying. It didn't matter if he left her some candy in—
The pieces clicked together in her mind. Vernon must have seen the change in her expression. "Karen?" he asked.
Karen shook her head and looked at the commissioner again. "No," she said. "Nothing. He tried to say something, but he was killed before he could get it out."
For just a fleeting second, Vernon looked annoyed, frustrated even. Then his face went back to sympathy. "Are you sure?" he said. "You don't remember anything else?"
Karen shook her head, trying to keep her face as neutral as possible. "That's it," she said.
Vernon let out a long breath. "Alright," he said. "I won't keep you from your mother. Thank you for your help."
He and Karen got to their feet. As he opened the door, he placed his hand on Karen's back. "I truly am sorry," he said. "Tobias was the best partner I could have asked for."
Tears welled up in Karen's eyes and she wiped them away. "Thank you," she said.
As they stepped out into the hallway, Vernon broke away from Karen, walking down the hall at a brisk pace. Karen remained where she was, watching him go for a moment. Her eyes drifted to the opposite door, where her mother was all alone. She hated to leave her, but if her father really had left something where she thought he had, she had to get to it as soon as possible. Especially if other people were willing to kill to get to it.
"Everything okay?"
Karen jumped, turning to see Gordon Cherry standing nearby.
"Um, yeah," she said. "Yeah, everything's fine. Hey, um," she hesitated for a moment, wondering if even a Power Ranger was safe to trust. "Could you . . . tell my mom I had to run somewhere. It shouldn't take long. I'll be right back."
Gordon looked a little confused. "Yeah, I guess," he said. "Do you need any help?"
"No," Karen said. "I should be fine. Um, thanks again for everything."
Gordon nodded. Karen turned and headed down the corridor, making her way down to the parking garage and into her car. She got in and started it up, her heart beating fast. She headed out, driving the short distance back the way she'd come, turning onto her street in a matter of minutes. She pulled to a stop as she saw the entire block cordoned off, police walking around everywhere.
She parked off to the side and walked the rest of the way in. Up ahead, she saw the same captain who'd told her the crash was a drunk driver earlier.
"Excuse me," she said.
The captain turned and smiled at her. "Hello, again," he said. "Sorry to hear about what happened."
"Thanks," Karen said, her hand fidgeting near her weapon. "Look, I know my apartment is a crime scene now and everything, but would it be alright if I went in and gathered a few personal belongings? So that I'll be able to spend a few nights at my mom's house."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, of course. Just avoid the living room, you should be fine."
"Thank you so much."
The officer stepped aside to let her through. Karen hurried past him, through the front gate, and up the steps. Her eyes fell on the spot she was here for, but for now she walked right on past it, entering the house itself. Her living room was full of people, mostly gathered around her bloodstained couch. She did her best to ignore it and headed upstairs to her bedroom. To her surprise, there were officers in each of the rooms as well.
Maybe they're just looking around for evidence, she thought.
Her own bedroom was empty, but it was obvious someone had been looking for something in it. Drawers were emptied and turned over, her bed was unmade, the contents of her closet strewn everywhere. If this were any other day, she might have been tempted to go back down and have some words with the captain, but for right now, she had to keep her cool. She gathered up a few clothes off of the floor and a handful of personal belongings from her nightstand. Then she went to her bathroom, ignoring the mess there, and gathered a few toiletries.
Once she had a sizable enough bag, she headed back downstairs, pausing for just a minute in the entry way. She recognized one of the officers in the living room from the twenty-fourth precinct. Yet, one of the officers upstairs she knew from the fifteenth. And that captain outside was from the thirty-fifth. As far as she could tell, every officer in the house was from a completely different precinct from everyone else. Something wasn't right.
Karen swallowed, hefting her pack. She stepped through the front door, stopping for a moment on the front step. She could see the captain, but his attention wasn't on her at the moment. As subtly as she could, she slid open a panel of siding, revealing a small hidden compartment where her dad had enjoyed hiding candy for her ever since she moved in. Now, there was no candy. Only a small red-and-silver flash drive smeared slightly with blood.
Her dad had left something for her after all.
As quickly as she could, she grabbed the drive and stashed it in her pocket, closing the panel up once again. She headed out through the gate and past the captain. "Got everything," she said, hefting her pack, walking right on past him in hopes he'd just let her go.
"Wait," the captain said. "Let me see that."
Karen closed her eyes. She knew that would have been too easy. She turned back with a smile, handing over her pack to him. "Of course," she said.
She couldn't help but notice that a lot of the officers around seemed to have completely abandoned their work, turning to face Karen and the captain and slowly approaching them. Even those inside the house were making their way out. Karen tried to act natural, but her hand drifted down near her weapon.
The captain took her bag and gave it a moderate glance. "I meant the thing in your pocket," he said.
Karen's heart skipped a beat. "My pocket?" she said. "What thing in my pocket?"
She stepped back, only to find herself surrounded by officers. The captain took a step toward her, holding out his hand. "Officer Miller," he said. "Give me the flash drive now."