Blood Sunset

31



CASSIE REVERSE-PARKED behind a bus stop on Lygon Street. From there we had a clear view of the top floors of Ella’s apartment building and the souvlaki bar further up. Even at this hour, the street was abuzz with people on the sidewalks and a steady stream of cars gliding back and forth along the road.
Through the park, I could see some of the lights on in Ella’s apartment, but little else. At one point I thought I saw a silhouette in the window but wasn’t sure.
‘I don’t like this,’ Cassie said. ‘I’ve got a bad feeling, big time. There’s another building opposite Ella’s. Maybe we could get SOG to put a sniper on him.’
‘There’s no time.’ I checked my watch and realised I had about five minutes before I had to be in the souvlaki store. ‘I have to move.’
‘We could be playing right into his hands and doing everything he wants.’
‘We are doing what he wants,’ I said. ‘That’s the point. It’s the safest way to stop him killing her.’
‘But how do you know he . . .’ Her voice faltered and she looked away.
‘How do I know he’s not going to kill her anyway? Is that what you mean?’ I grabbed her by the wrist and made her face me.
When she didn’t answer I let go of her wrist and clenched my fists, forcing my anger and frustration into two hard balls.
‘Look, we made a decision and we’re here now. So why don’t you stop questioning me and just f*cking help me?’
‘I am f*cking helping, you bloody twat. Jesus, all I’m saying is that something like this needs to be surgical, not emotional. No attachment. I mean, what if it all goes wrong? You’ll never forgive yourself.’
‘I don’t want to think about that.’
‘Well, you should.’
I slid out of the car and stood in the shadows of the bus stop, Cassie’s reasoning clouding me like the smoke covering the city.
‘All right,’ I said, taking the laptop off the back seat. ‘I’m not waiting any longer. Let’s do it.’
She got out of the car and followed me into a nearby alley, carrying the knapsack with the two-way radio and mike I’d borrowed from the watch-house.
‘Unbutton your shirt,’ she said, a little too loudly. ‘Put this on.’
A couple strolling past heard her comment and looked into the alley. I stared back until they kept walking, then undid my shirt and tried to tape the mike lead to my chest. It was awkward because I hadn’t shaved my chest hair but it would have to do. I clipped the transponder to my belt and Cassie ran the receiver lead up my back, leaving it disguised under my collar.
‘Put it in your ear now in case there’s someone in there watching you,’ she said, straightening my shirt. ‘I know we have to do this. I just wish there was another way.’
I switched on the transponder. ‘Well, there isn’t. So just keep watch, and remember he’ll probably sneak out the back so be ready. I’ll let you know when Kirzek rings me.’
She nodded, looking concerned.
‘This is my show, Cass,’ I said. ‘You’re not responsible for anything that happens. It’s all me, okay?’
Finally she nodded, wished me luck and went back to the car. I walked out of the alley and crossed Lygon Street towards the souvlaki bar. Standing on the centre median strip, waiting to cross, I used the time to survey the interior of the store and its surrounds. A man with sweat stains under his arms and a white apron carved lamb off a rotisserie. About a dozen punters queued for souvlaki inside the store. Others lingered outside, eating, drinking, smoking. None looked familiar.
I crossed the street and entered the store. The smell of grilled lamb, garlic sauce and alcohol filled the hot air. I lingered in line for a moment, pretending to read the menu board while I scrutinised everyone in the store.
‘No Kirzek,’ I whispered into the chest mike.
‘Received,’ I heard Cassie reply. ‘Nothing here either,’ she added.
I sat at a bench by the window next to a couple of young bucks either winding up a long day on the piss or about to start a Sunday-night bender. They paused for a second while I arranged the laptop at my feet, then continued their discussion about a new nightclub on Chapel Street. I watched the street outside intently, looking around methodically. Predatory.
‘A couple just turned out of the apartment foyer,’ Cassie said. A moment later she added, ‘All clear. It’s not him.’
I tapped my chest twice to indicate I’d heard her. Minutes passed and nothing changed except the beating of my heart, which seemed so loud that I wondered if everyone in the shop could hear it. I checked my watch. Five past midnight. Where the hell was he?
Suddenly my phone rang. I scooped up the laptop, stepped out onto the sidewalk. ‘I’m here. What now?’
‘Go back in shop,’ Kirzek ordered. ‘Put laptop back on bench.’
I scanned the restaurants and bars for a familiar face but found nothing. I looked up at the second-storey terraces above the shops but still nothing. There was movement behind the curtain in one of the motel rooms down the street, but that could have been anything.
‘All right, I’m going back in the shop,’ I said, knowing Cassie would receive the message. ‘I’ll put the laptop under the window bench. Then what?’
‘Buy souvlaki.’
‘What?’
‘Buy souvlaki and do not turn around.’
‘Okay. I’ll buy a souvlaki, but then –’
‘Why do you repeat me?’
‘Huh, I just wanted to make sure I had your instructions correct.’
‘Don’t f*ck with me, Mr Rubens. I have your bitch wife, remember?’
‘Okay, I’m in line. What now?’
‘Nothing. Do not turn around. You stay in shop ten more minutes, then collect wife.’
The line went dead. I used the reflection in the glass of the bain-marie to watch the laptop. This was it. Rush point. When the queue cleared I stepped to the counter and ordered a lamb souvlaki.
‘You want the king special?’ the man asked.
‘Huh?’
‘The king special. Souvlaki with the lot.’
Suddenly Cassie’s voice shrieked in my ear. ‘Kirzek just scooped up the laptop. Red dress, blonde wig.’
Pushing away from the counter, I caught a glimpse of someone in a red dress fleeing across Lygon Street, heading away from the store. I waited a safe length of time then rushed outside, almost diving between the two young bucks finishing their souvlaki. Kirzek broke into a jog and disappeared down a side street.
‘He’s on the run,’ I said into the mike. ‘Where are you?’
‘Outside the apartment building. Get back here. Forget about Kirzek.’
I sprinted across Lygon Street, through the playground, meeting Cassie outside the foyer to Ella’s building.
‘How do we get in?’ she asked. ‘It’s all locked up. I’ve tried buzzing her apartment but she’s not answering.’
I cupped a hand to my mouth, sick with fear and adrenaline.
‘Don’t start freaking,’ Cassie said. ‘It could mean anything. Remember the photo? He tied her up, so she probably can’t get to the intercom.’
I looked at the glass entrance and thought about smashing the window but that wouldn’t get us up the lift. There was only one way to get in, and it occurred to me that Kirzek must have somehow bluffed his way up to the apartment.
‘There are four apartments on Ella’s floor,’ I said, typing in one of her neighbour’s numbers.
Nobody answered, so I pressed again. Still nothing. I was about to try another number when a croaky voice rasped through the speaker.
‘Yes, who is it?’
I opened my badge case and looked at the camera next to the speaker.
‘This is the police, sir. We have an emergency and need you to buzz us up.’
I couldn’t see the man or his reaction but guessed he was staring at me on the tiny black and white screen, half-asleep, trying to work out whether I was serious.
‘I don’t need access to your apartment,’ I added. ‘Just your floor.’
‘Ah, I don’t know about this,’ the man said. ‘Where’s your uniform?’
‘We’re detectives, sir. There’s a woman in the apartment next door to you who needs us. Please, let us in. We may also need an ambulance.’
‘The woman next door? You mean Ella?’
‘Yes, please let us in.’
The door clicked open and I heard the man tell us he would unlock the lift as we ran through the foyer. In the elevator, Cassie worked the slide on her gun and chambered a round.
‘I don’t have mine,’ I said when she looked at me. ‘Eckles took it.’
The elevator stopped and we eased out into the hall. I stayed behind Cassie as she took the corner with smooth and practised sweeps of her weapon. Halfway along the hall a door opened and an old man I figured was Ella’s neighbour poked his head out. Cassie trained the weapon on him and the door closed immediately without the need for us to speak. Further down, Ella’s apartment door was ajar.
‘Take this,’ Cassie whispered, handing me the gun. ‘You know the layout.’
I nodded, took the Glock and stood in front of her. The entranceway light was off and so was the lounge room’s. The bedrooms were separated by a bathroom and laundry, which we checked and found to be empty. I wasn’t really expecting anyone else to be in the apartment, but my heart was pounding like a kick drum. Just the thought of Kirzek having been here was enough to make me sick.
Finally we came to the master bedroom, where Ella lay bound and gagged on the bed. Cassie rushed forward while I kept cover, the gun shaking in my hands.
‘She’s alive,’ Cassie said as she removed the mouth gag.
‘Oh sweet Jesus.’
Ella moaned and rolled her head from side to side. I put the gun down and tore the tape away from her ankles.
‘It’s okay, babe,’ I said. ‘I’m here. You’re safe now.’
I said it over and over, hugging her like I never had before. Tears poured out of me and I was unable to stop shaking. Cassie called for an ambulance. Somewhere in the relief and confusion I overheard her tell the dispatcher that Ella might have been drugged.
‘We have to keep her in the recovery position,’ Cassie said after ending the call. ‘Roll her on her side with one arm back. Keep the airway open.’
I rolled Ella into position while Cassie went outside to call Eckles. I heard her arranging a search team to track down Kirzek. I sat on the bed, stroking Ella’s face and waiting for what seemed like an eternity before Cassie led the medics into the room. I stood back as they went to work, checking her vitals.
‘Is she gonna be okay?’ I said, panicked.
‘Not sure, sir. She has a low pulse and low blood pressure. We’ll put her on a ventilator and take her into the Royal Melbourne.’
They injected her with something, then lifted her onto a stretcher and carried her out into the hall. Cassie said she’d meet me at the hospital and went back to the car. I insisted on climbing into the back of the ambulance and sat in a corner while they loaded Ella in.
‘I think she’ll be fine, sir,’ one of the medics said as we raced towards the hospital. ‘It’s basically an overdose of some sort, but we got there early enough by the look of it.’
I nodded. Ella looked so vulnerable and yet also strangely at peace.
‘Your colleague told me she’s a nurse, right?’ he said, nodding to Ella.
‘Right.’
‘Don’t worry, she’s one of our own, so she’ll get the best we can offer.’
I found some comfort in this and thanked him, then went back to watching Ella. My relief quickly turned to furious anger. Kirzek would suffer for this. I’d make sure he felt the pain of everything he’d done.
When we pulled into the hospital, I followed the medics in and met Cassie by the triage desk.
‘Both birds are in the air,’ she said. ‘Three German shepherds sniffing the backstreets and every single blue shirt on duty is on four wheels. They’ll find him.’
‘They have to,’ I said angrily. ‘We need to send a message, or every single shithead out there will think they can screw with a cop’s family and get away with it.’
She nodded.
‘There are two rules, Cass. Never f*ck with the cops and never hurt a child. This guy broke both, and he needs to pay.’
Cassie looked over her shoulder nervously and I realised my voice had become shrill. People in the triage area were looking at me but I didn’t care. I wanted to shout at everyone.
‘So what do you want to do?’ Cassie said.
‘I want to find him.’