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  “Oh, my God,” Eddie muttered, thinking of Adam Dunbar. “You’re not talking about that kid that they brought in here…you know the one wearing red socks…” His words faded when the chief looked at him as if he were crazy.

  “Red socks? No, the guy I’m talking about is a regular Joe, you know? Just like you and me. He goes to work every day, draws a paycheck, blends in, has friends…”

  “Chief, you just described every creep in the place. Can’t you give me something…”

  “Hell, I wish I could, Eddie. Normally, the kind of guy we’re looking for would stick out like a sore thumb, but not this guy. He’s smart, and would never be suspected of anything. That’s what makes it so hard, and that’s why everyone at that place is a suspect. I really need you on this one, Eddie. You’ve got experience in this. Hell, you face it every fuckin’ day. I need you to go in there and find this creep. Don’t dismiss anybody, no matter how normal he seems. Smoke him out, do whatever you have to, to find him, but don’t let him suspect what you’re up to. And then when we’ve got the goods on him we’ll have his ass for lunch.”

  “I don’t suppose you can give me a name, or something…?”

  “Sure…in a perfect world, but…”

  “Yeah, stupid question. Sorry.”

  “Hey, that’s okay,” the Chief said as he pulled a file out of his desk and handed it to Eddie. Here are the goods I’ve got on him so far. Since we’re working blind here, it’s not much, but take it and study it from cover to cover. Maybe something will stick out. Meanwhile, I’ll pass along anything else I get. I’m afraid that’s as good as I can do for you on this one. Just remember, he’s in hiding. If you find someone that acts suspicious, run the name, find out what you can, and report it back to me. Look for someone familiar with the streets, possibly a street name, and a few alias’s that we’re not aware of right now.”

  “How did you finger this guy?”

  “It was a real piece of work. You remember the Dunbar kid we brought in that night? Before he left he sat down with the sketch artist, and this is what they came up with.”

  Eddie took the picture, looked at it, and said, “Oh, my God. Chief, this is not just any ordinary face, it’s the face of my partner.”

  “It’s just a mask, Eddie. I’m not sure how he does it, but according to the Dunbar kid’s description, I figure he’s having them made somewhere. He probably has several. Hundreds, maybe, and wears different ones from time to time to keep the cops unbalanced. This imbecile thinks he’s pulling a fast one, but this time he made a mistake. By hiding behind the mask of our undercover cop he just dug his own grave. I’m sure he thinks we’re a bunch of idiots, but the truth is, he’s playing right into our hands. Now all we need is for you to go in there and smoke him out. You’re the best we have in doing that, so don’t let me down.”

  “This ain’t gonna be so easy, Chief. Even with a sketch we still have no idea what the bastard looks like.”

  “That’s why you’re here, Eddie. Hell, if we knew what he looked like we’d just go and pick him up. Hey, I know it looks bad, but since we’re onto this guy’s tricks it puts us one up on him, at least in this case. Just go on what you have, and don’t let the fact that the perp resembles your partner throw you. Like I said, it’s just a mask. We need the guy behind the mask, okay? With that in mind, keep your eyes open, and your radar up.”

  “Do you have any other leads?”

  “A few, but nothing definite. That’s what makes your job so hard and so necessary. Except for your partner, you’re having to go in there cold, and I’m sorry about that. No one’s expecting miracles. Just find out what you can.”

  “So the Dunbar kid isn’t part of this?”

  “No, he’s clean.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll give this a once over and get right on it, Chief.”

  “I’m sorry for the timing of this one, Eddie. I know you were looking forward to a little time off, but I’m afraid crime doesn’t take a vacation.”

  “So I’ve heard. Say, have you worked this out with the higher ups at KingStar? Do they know I’m coming?”

  “Oh, yeah, that reminds me. When you get ready to move in, you need to talk to Warren McAlister. He’s the acting CEO.”

  “Acting CEO? What does that mean?”

  “It means that he’s just in the slot temporarily until the real one gets back from vacation. Let me warn you about McAlister before you talk to him. There’s something—it’s hard to put into words—odd I guess is the best way to describe him. For some reason he’s against us coming in there, and refuses to cooperate. He says it’s ridiculous to think there’s a killer among the employees there. We’ve tried to explain why we feel this way without saying too much, but so far, it’s done no good. Anyway, see what you can do with him, but if he still doesn’t come around I think our best bet is to get him completely out of the country while this is going on. That’s what we’re working on right now.”

  “Chief, this guy sounds like trouble. Hell, he could mess the whole thing up. I’d feel better about this if we waited until the real CEO returns.”

  “I wish we could, Eddie, but we don’t have that kind of time. Every minute we sit here doing nothing, that ape is out there killing more women. In the meantime, take that home and look it over so you’ll be up on everything the minute you walk in KingStar’s front door.”

  “Okay. Whatever you say.” Eddie rose from his seat, and as they were shaking hands, he said, “Don’t worry, Chief. I’ve already got some ideas that’ll bury this bastard. When he killed that beautiful stewardess for the sheer pleasure it gave him, he invaded my territory. Consider his ass fried.”

  “I knew I could count on you, Eddie. You’re handler’s right outside. He’ll go through the details with you. He’s got everything you need. A new address, credentials, the whole nine yards. Good luck on this one. See you in a few weeks.”

  “You’ll get my reports.”

  “I know. I’m looking forward to what you find out. Take care, now.”

  He left his chief’s office wondering what he was going to do when Adam came back into town and saw him working at KingStar. Eddie had no way of contacting Adam to let the man know what was going on, but at least he had a little time to get into the company, learn his way around, and get settled before he would have to face Adam. Maybe by that time he would have something worked out. His main problem right now was masquerading as an employee when he didn’t know diddly squat about advertising.

  * * * *

  Warren McAlister was a psychopath.

  But sometimes being mad is a good thing.

  Especially in big business.

  He had wormed his way into the position he now held because he was aggressive and pushy. Sure, he might’ve had to lie, haggle, and barter to get it, but so what? So what if he was a little greedy, tightfisted, selfish, and stingy? Was it his fault? It was the way he was raised, for God’s sake. He grew up in smoky rooms where cards, profanity, and stiff drinks floated freely around him until he was old enough to get in on the action. With eyes as big as saucers he watched as his father conned, cheated and lied to get what he wanted, so by the time Warren had grown into manhood he was as cold as ice under pressure. He was shameless, fearless and when it came to what he wanted, he let nothing stop him until he had it in his penny-pinching hand.

  He’d had to do a lot of conning to get moved into this position, but as soon as it had opened up, he knew it would fit his needs perfectly. After all, who would suspect the CEO, temporary or otherwise to be mixed up in anything dishonest? The only thing he couldn’t do here was hire and fire, but other than that he was more than a simple employee, he was the boss.

  Now, as he looked through the window of his office, he saw, as well as felt, the eerie tomb-like silence that settled over Wall Street and lower Broadway with the coming of night. Even at this early hour the atmosphere was unsettling, and gave the day a dark-ish kind of look. What do they call it? Twilight? He reached over and
turned on the lights, and then looked down at his watch. Daylight Savings had just kicked in, and he could never get used to the change.

  He kept glancing down at his watch because he was expecting a visitor. A visitor who had to come after office hours to keep his identity a secret. A visitor he wasn’t looking forward to meeting. It all started when the NYPD came by a few days ago with a—what they called a monkeywrencher. Anyway, they came barging into his office telling—not asking—but telling him that an Undercover Cop would be coming by to see him before he began his assignment there.

  It was the first he’d heard of it, and he was fit to be tied.

  But that was nothing.

  When that little bit of information was followed by those black-uniformed devils taking a tour of the company, walking around looking out windows, peeking into bathrooms, and looking behind furniture and even drapes, he almost blew a gasket. Afterwards they wasted no time in handing him down an ultimatum, and in answer to it, Warren told them flat out…

  “No!”

  “McAlister, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. There’s a killer loose in this company, and if we have to take you down to the station and put you in solitary confinement until this is all over, that’s what we’ll do. Understand?”

  “What the hell makes you think there’s a killer here? What proof do you have?”

  “One of your own employees…”

  Just then Warren was thrust out of his thoughts when a knock sounded from the other side of his door. It gave him a start, and while a chill danced down his spine, he quickly glanced in a mirror and saw his face. A face that was unfamiliar to the police. As he looked at himself, a slow smile appeared, and his nervousness fled. Feeling that he was smarter than any one of those dopes who couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag, he finally turned away from the mirror, and looked toward the door.

  “Yes,” he finally called out. “Come in.”

  Warren’s eyes widened when he saw a big mountain of a man walk in with cop written all over him. Didn’t these guys have to hide their identity? How the hell was he going to do that when his whole body, his look, his personality cried out, I’m a cop!

  “Warren McAlister?”

  “Uh…yes. I’m McAlister. And you are…?”

  “I’m Eddie Scarlett, NYPD. I believe you’ve been informed of why I’m here?”

  “Yes, Mr. Scarlett, I know exactly why you’re here, and I just want you to know that I am still totally against this whole thing.”

  “Is there some reason you don’t want this to go down?”

  “Yes. I wasn’t asked to cooperate, I was ordered to. Besides, it’s absolutely preposterous to think that a killer is…”

  “Sir, we have all the proof we need. All we need now is your cooperation.”

  “Well, you’ll not get it, sir. Have I not made that clear? I have not been able to talk with my superior regarding this, and until I do, your so-called handler, your…your…monkeywrencher, and whoever else is involved, will simply have to wait. I absolutely refuse to even entertain the idea of this ridiculous circus you want to put on.”

  “Circus,” Scarlett bellowed. “Did you say circus? Why you little…do you realize what kind of danger you’re putting yourself in, as well as the employees of this company by refusing to cooperate with us?”

  “But there’s no killer here. I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous in my life.”

  “My God, I can’t believe it. My chief told me what to expect when I talked to you, but I just couldn’t believe him. I couldn’t believe you would object to doing everything you could to help the police nab a bloody serial killer that is loose on the streets of New York City.”

  “If he’s loose on the streets, then go out there and look for him, and leave me and my employees alone.”

  “You poor, blind, stupid fool…”

  “I don’t care what you think. Call me stupid…anything you want, but I have rights, and the answer is still no!”

  Suddenly the cop sprang into action, sprinted over toward Warren, and grabbed him by his starched collar, and slammed him up against the wall, rattling his paintings, his dart board, and even the glasses on his bar.

  “Now, you listen to me, you little pipsqueak. If you think you’re going to keep us out of here when we know a killer is on the loose in this place, you’re dead wrong. This is a life and death situation here. The man you’re protecting has killed five women in the city in the last four months, and what I want to know is why the hell do you want to protect him? He’s dangerous, he’s mad, and he’s a killer. And I’ve got news for you, you little piece of shit. You don’t have anything to say about it. I’m coming in here even if it harelips every demon in hell, and that includes you.”

  “But why do I have to leave?”

  “Because this is deep cover, creep. Do you know what deep cover means? It means that during this whole thing I’ll become someone else. I’ll divorce myself from my true identity even to the point that I forget my friends and my family. I’ll change my residence, and my appearance. My police credentials will be replaced, and I’ll only carry a gun when we’re ready to close in. After today I’ll be just another employee of KingStar.”

  With that, Scarlett abruptly let Warren go, and began digging something out of his breast pocket. Throwing a ticket down on the desk, he said, “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to do this, but there it is…your plane ticket to Bermuda. I would advise you to use it.” He rushed over to the door, and just before he opened it, he turned back, and said. “My handler will be moving in here tomorrow to get things started, so if you’re smart you’ll be on your way to Bermuda by then. If not, don’t worry. We’ll make sure you get there…in a trunk.”

  When Warren stopped seeing stars, he ran over and picked up the ticket, and noticed he had exactly one day to get packed. He also noticed the ticket gave him a seat in coach!

  Cheap bastards!

  Chapter 3

  Vinnie Torrio slid his shifting eyes over at the new guy in the office that everyone was talking about. He stuck a toothpick in his mouth and bit down on it as he slid his gaze along the guy’s strong shoulders and then down to the man’s tapered waist, and that succulent looking butt.

  “Turn around, you bastard,” he muttered to himself as he sat watching, but the guy continued to look toward the front, and Vinnie had to content himself on watching the way the guy moved. Vinnie even noticed how everyone seemed to hang onto everything the man said, smiling, and laughing as if he’d cracked the funniest joke of the century. Finally, Vinnie looked at the kind of lunch the man packed. “Orange juice instead of soda,” he whispered to himself. And then Vinnie’s eyes narrowed on the sandwich he held in front of him. “Looks like tuna,” he muttered. “He must be a health nut. No ham or hot dogs for him.”

  Just then, Carl, one of the other guys in the office came over and sat down beside Vinnie. “Hey, you wanted to see me? What’s goin’ on?”

  “It’s about that guy over there,” Vinnie said as his gaze slid toward him again. “What do you know about him? I don’t think I’ve seen him around.”

  “Yeah, he’s new. Only been here a couple of days, I think. This is a big place. You probably just missed him.”

  “Yeah? Where does he work?”

  “In Copywriting, I think.”

  “Yeah? What does he do in there?”

  “He writes online ads, television and radio commercial scripts, press releases, catalogs, billboards, you know, the usual stuff.”

  “Know anything about him? I mean, besides what you’ve just told me.”

  “You mean dirt, don’t you?”

  “Whatever. I’m just interested, that’s all.”

  “Well, I hate to disappoint you, but there’s not really that much to know. He’s probably around thirty, he makes a good appearance, has decent taste in clothes, has a great personality, and he’s enjoyable to be around. He’s one of them artsy types. You know, creative. And his sho
es are clean. You know what clean shoes mean, don’t you?”

  Vinnie looked over at Carl. “No, what?”

  “Means he’s clean. You know, bathes a lot.”

  Vinnie looked down at his own shoes and saw dust. “That’s not true. I bathe, but my shoes are dirty as hell.”

  “No, not only that. What I mean is, he’s probably a clean freak.”

  “Does anyone know him personally? What’s the talk around the office?”

  Carl shrugged. “Nothing except…well, he’s been asking questions about Adam Dunbar. About when he’s gonna be back at work.”

  “Adam? Why is he so interested in Adam unless he’s…oh, my God, Adam’s gay, so this guy must be gay. Right?”

  “Hey, that’s his business, okay? Besides, I don’t know for sure.”

  “He doesn’t look gay. I mean, you know, he…I don’t know, he just doesn’t have the look.”

  “How the hell do you know? You saw him for the first time ten minutes ago.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But, if he’s not, why would he be so interested in Adam?” He looked over at Carl. “You do know that Adam’s gay, don’t you?”

  “Sure, but they could just be friends.”

  “Not likely,” Vinnie said. Just then Vinnie saw the guy get up, throw the remains of his lunch away, and turn to walk toward the double doors on his way out, which passed right by them. As he walked down the aisle, Vinnie’s eyes went straight to his crotch. Oh, my God, he’s got it up front.

  Just as the guy was about to pass their table, he happened to see Carl, and stopped. With a smile, he said. “Hey, Carl, how you doin,’ man?”

  When he extended his hand in friendship, Carl jumped up and put out his own hand. “Hey…uh…sorry, I forgot your name.”

  “It’s Joe. Joe King. Hey, don’t be embarrassed. I forget people’s names all the time. In fact I’m the worst.”

  “Oh, uh, Joe, I’d like you to meet Vinnie Torrio, a friend of mine.”

  The minute that Joe’s gaze fell on Vinnie, his smile fell, and the two men stared at each other. “A friend of yours…did you say?”