Part 44 (1/2)
”No,” she said. ”Come on. No.”
Her back hit the bathroom wall and her hand dropped to her side and the doork.n.o.b.
Right away she thought, Get inside. Now!
She slipped inside the bathroom, and right as she was about to slam the door saw Paul's Barber fifty cent piece and the cordless phone on the bedside table. She grabbed them both and closed and locked the door.
Rachel squeezed Paul's coin in her left hand and used the thumb of her right hand to punch in 911. She focused on the coin as the phone rang.
Please, Paul, help me. Oh Jesus, Paul. Please.
There was a crash on the other side of the door that made Rachel scream. The coin went flying out of her hand.
A woman's calm, almost bored voice came on the line. ”9-1-1, do you need police, fire or EMS?”
Rachel screamed out something unintelligible about dead men tearing down the walls.
The dispatcher broke in and said, ”Ma'am, I can't understand you. Ma'am, please. Ma'am, you need to-”
The bathroom door exploded open, and a moment later there were dead hands all over her.
Chapter 22.
Paul was so exhausted when he arrived at the Eastside Substation that he didn't even notice Mike coming in right behind him from his jog.
Mike called out to him.
Paul stopped, turned around.
Mike looked Paul up and down and said, ”Dude, what the h.e.l.l happened to you? You sleep in that uniform?”
”Huh?”
Paul looked at himself. Only then did he realize he was still wearing his uniform pants and the black t-s.h.i.+rt with the worn-in sweat stain from where his body armor had been the night before. He was covered in dust and he smelled like rotted wood.
”What happened?” Mike asked. ”Rachel kick you out?”
Paul didn't answer.
Mike laughed. ”Holy s.h.i.+t. She did. She kicked you out.”
”I don't want to talk about it, Mike.”
”Man, you don't have to. One look at you and anybody could see it. It's written all over your face. Either she kicked your a.s.s out, or you've been drinking for the last twelve hours.”
”Mike, please...”
Mike threw up his hands. ”Hey, it's cool, dude. You know what I always say-you're not a real policeman until you're on your third marriage.”
Paul turned away, but Mike stopped him.
”Hey, Paul, come on. Wait. I'm just kidding.” He said, ”Look, you need to get changed out in a hurry. If Garwin sees you walking around in only part of the uniform like that, he'll write you up so fast you won't know if you're coming or going. And he won't care what kind of deal you got going at home. He isn't much on discipline, but the uniform is one of his pet peeves.”
Paul just nodded and headed for the locker room. Mike followed him. He was still breathing hard from his run.
He said, ”You've got an extra uniform, right?”
”Yeah,” Paul answered. ”All except the t-s.h.i.+rt. I guess I can just wear this one again.”
”Like h.e.l.l. Dude, you are not riding in the same car with me in that thing. You smell like goat p.i.s.s. I got an extra you can borrow. I'm about as wide as you are tall, so it should fit you. What are you, a two XL?”
”Yeah,” Paul said, then added, ”Thanks.”
”Still a man of few words, eh?”
Paul sighed. ”It's been a bad day, Mike. You wouldn't understand.”
”You'd be surprised,” Mike said. ”And we're gonna be spending the next eight hours together in the car. That's gonna feel like forever if you're gonna keep all this s.h.i.+t bottled up. You can talk to me about it. I mean, don't get the wrong idea or nothing. I ain't Barbara Walters. Your a.s.s starts crying I'll throw you out on the pavement. But if you got some troubles, I don't mind listening.”
Paul nodded.
”Seriously,” Mike said. ”No bulls.h.i.+t. I know more about wrecking a marriage than just about any man alive. You can listen to me, do the opposite of whatever advice I give you, and you should be golden.”
That got a chuckle out of Paul.
”There you go,” Mike said. ”At least you're not gonna mope on me all night.” He looked at Paul and said, ”You're not, right?”
”No.”
”Good. Listen, after you get dressed, you should call her. Tell her something nice. I mean, even if she yells at you. Don't make her beg you to come back. And you don't have to beg either. Just say something nice and leave it on that. Don't get into it. If she screams or yells or calls you names or whatever, just say something nice and then get off the phone. She'll be thinking about what you said all night, and when you come home-” he made a skating motion of one palm gliding over the other ”-you'll be in like Flynn.”
He accented it with a wink.
”I'll think about it,” Paul said.
”44-70.”
Mike was driving. Paul was looking out the window at the ruined sh.e.l.l of an apartment building. Mike waited for Paul to acknowledge the call, but he just went right on staring out the window, oblivious.
Mike keyed up and said, ”44-70, go ahead, ma'am.”
”44-70, make 360 Jaffrey. Complainant states she's pregnant and her husband just hit her in the stomach and threw her down the stairs. Sorry, Mike, I got no cover available. I'll start the next available your way.”
”10-4, ma'am,” Mike said. ”We're on the way.”