by J. D. Robb
“Hell. We give her ten minutes.” She checked her wrist unit, and as a buffer set it to signal in ten. “Bring her in.”
Eve sat, brooded. This is what happened when you went and made friends. They had to go out and make friends, and then those friends somehow insinuated themselves into your life, or your work. Before you knew it you were hip-deep in people.
And half of them were crazy.
All right, she amended. Not all psychics were crazy or scamming. Some of them—a very few some of them—were legit. She was well aware that law enforcement sometimes used sensitives to good effect.
But she didn’t use them. She believed in doing the job through investigative procedure, technological processes, evidentiary study, deduction. Then you tossed in instinct, luck, and some ass-kicking.
That worked just fine for her.
She went for coffee now.
She turned from the AutoChef, cup in hand as the woman came to the door with Peabody.
She looked normal. Her hair was long, waving past her shoulders in a perfectly normal shade of brown. A dark and glossy brown that looked as if it might have been the one God opted for when he put her together. Her skin was dusky and smooth, her eyes a clear and pale green that showed nerves, but seemed sane, as they met Eve’s directly.
The face was strong and sexy with one of those lush mouths and a thin, aquiline nose. Mexican or Spanish blood, Eve assumed. Ancestors who’d baked in the heat and strummed guitars. Exotic.
Eve put her in the middle thirties. Judged her to be about five six, with a toned, disciplined build.
She wore casual and well-cut pants with a long shirt, both the color of summer poppies, a couple of rings with deeply colored stones, and dangles at her ears—slim drops of gold.
“Lieutenant Dallas. This is Celina Sanchez.”
“Okay, Ms. Sanchez, have a seat. I’m pressed for time, so why don’t we get right to it.”
“All right.” She sat, folded her hands tightly together on her lap. She breathed in and out once. “He took her eyes.”
Chapter 3
“Well, now that I’ve got your attention . . .” Celina unhooked her fingers to press two to her right temple, as if to compress a pain. “Could I have some of that coffee?”
Eve stayed where she was, sipping her own. They hadn’t released the mutilation details to the media. But there were leaks, she knew. There were always leaks.
Her voice was shaky, and carried no accent. It was husky, a shade on the provocative side. “How did you get this information, Ms. Sanchez?”
“I saw it, and it’s not an image I enjoyed.”
“You saw the victim in Central Park?”
“Yes. But I wasn’t in the park. I was in my home. I’m here to explain it to you. I’d really appreciate the coffee.”
Eve sent Peabody a brief nod. “You knew Elisa Maplewood?”
“No. Before we go any further, I’ve never worked with the police. It’s not what I do and not something I aspire to.”
She used her hands when she talked, lifting them, gesturing in a manner that told Eve it was habitual. Then she gripped them together in her lap as if to hold them still.
“I don’t want to see what you see, Lieutenant. I don’t want to live with those images in my head. Primarily, I do private consultations and parties. I’m not a lunatic or a glory-seeker, though from what Louise has told me about you, I imagine you think I am.”
“How do you know Louise Dimatto?”
“We went to school together, and we’ve remained friendly since. Thanks.” She took the cup of coffee Peabody handed her. “You’re more open to extra-normal areas, Detective. Do you have sensitives in your family?”
“Ah, I—”
“Let’s keep this about you,” Eve interrupted.
“All right.” Celina sampled the coffee, and smiled for the first time since she’d come into the room. “This is wonderful, and I can tell you, frankly, I need the jolt. I had a dream.”
“Uh-huh.”
Celina’s smile only widened. “The snarkiness settles me down. Who knew? Louise also said I’d like you, Lieutenant Dallas. Oddly enough, I think she’s probably right.”
“That’s real nice. Can we stay on line here?”
“Of course. In the dream I saw a woman. She was young, attractive, light brown hair, I think. Straight hair, just brushing her shoulders. It looked light brown in the streetlights. She came out of a building, leading a little white dog on a leash. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. There was a doorman, and they exchanged a few words. I couldn’t hear; I was too far away.
“She crossed the street—wide street—with the little dog prancing in front of her. In the dream, my heart started pounding with fear. I wanted to shout at her to go back, to go back inside the building, but I couldn’t speak. I watched her take the dog into the park. She rubbed her arm, and I thought that she was thinking she should’ve tossed on a jacket. The nights are getting cooler. She’ll go back for a jacket, and maybe it’ll be all right. But she didn’t.”
Celina’s hands trembled again as she lifted the cup to her lips. “She kept walking, with the dog pulling on the leash. The shadow fell over her, but she didn’t see, she didn’t know. He came at her from behind. I couldn’t see him, just shadows. He’d been waiting, watching, as I’d been watching. Oh, I could feel his excitement, the madness of it, just as I could feel her fear. His was red, dark, vicious red, and hers silver. Red shadows, silver light.”
The cup rattled as she set it aside. “This isn’t what I do. This isn’t what I want.”
“You’re here. Finish it.”
She’d lost all color, and her pale eyes were glassy. “He hit her, and the little dog ran away when he kicked at it. She tried to fight, but he was very strong. He hit her in the face, knocked her down. She tried to scream, but he kept hitting her. He kept . . .”
Her breathing went shallow as she rubbed a hand over her heart. “He kicked her and hit her, and he dragged her deeper into the shadows. She lost a shoe. He wrapped a ribbon, a cord, around her neck. Red for power. Red for death. Tight. She fought for air, she fought him, but he was too strong. He tore at her clothes. Bitch, whore, cunt. Hating her, hating her, he raped her. Tightened the cord, tighter and tighter until she was still. Until she was dead.”
Tears tracked down Celina’s cheeks. Her hands were back in her lap now, twisted together like wires. “He’d shown her what she was good for. Shown her who was in charge. But he wasn’t done. He picked up her clothes, put them in a small bag. And he carried it, and her, deeper into the park. He’s strong, very strong. He takes care of himself. Who’s more important, after all?”
Her breath continued to hitch and jump. Her eyes stared.
“There’s a castle, a castle on a lake. He’s king of the castle. He’s king of everything. He slings her over his shoulder, climbs down the rocks. And he lays her out, very carefully. She’ll like it there. Maybe this time she’ll stay.”
Staring, Celina lifted her joined hands, pressed them between her breasts. “Rest in peace, whore. And he cuts out her eyes. God, God, he cuts out her eyes and puts them in a little pouch, and the pouch into the bag. There’s blood running down her face. Blood on his hands. And he, he leans down and kisses her. I woke up, I woke up from the dream with the chill of that bloody mouth on mine.”
Eve’s wrist unit beeped, and had Celina jolting.
“What did you do?” Eve asked her.
“What did I . . . Well, after I finished shaking, I took a tranq. I told myself it was a nightmare. I know better, but I wanted it to be a nightmare, not a vision. My gift has never taken me anywhere so dark, and I was afraid. I took a tranq and used it to block it out. Cowardly, but I don’t claim to be brave. I don’t want to be brave, not about something like this.”
She picked up her coffee again. “But this morning, I turned on the screen. I tend to avoid the news channels, but I was compelled to check. I had to know. And I saw the report. They ra
n her picture—the pretty woman with the light brown hair. They said her name. I didn’t want to come here. Most of the police are born skeptics. It’s why you are what you are. But I had to come.”
“You say you saw—in this vision—the victim. But you didn’t see her attacker?”
“I saw . . . his essence, you could say. I saw a form.” Her throat worked as she swallowed. “It frightened me, more than I’ve ever been frightened in my life. And, frankly, I wasn’t going to come here. I was going to try to put it away. Knowing that about myself made me feel small and ugly.”
She lifted a hand, toyed with a chain around her neck. Her nails were painted a deep and shiny red, with the half moons picked out in vibrant white. “So I came to you, because Louise has spoken of you. And I’ll try to help.”
“How do you intend to help?”
“I might see more if I had something of his, something he’d touched. I don’t know.” A flicker of irritation ran over her face. “This isn’t my field. It’s new ground for me, and you’re not making this any easier.”
“It’s not my job to make it easy, Ms. Sanchez. It’s my job to investigate.”
“Well then, investigate me all you want,” she shot out. “I can only tell you what I know. I know the man who did this is big, or thinks of himself that way. I know he’s strong. Very strong. I know he’s mad. And I know this woman, Elisa Maplewood, wasn’t his first. He’s done it before. He doesn’t intend for her to be his last.”
“How do you know?”
“I can’t tell you so that you’d understand.” She leaned forward now, urgently. “It’s what I felt from him. He hated her, and the hatred thrills and frightens him. Hate and fear, hate and fear. Those are paramount. He’s hated all of them, and feared all of them. I don’t know why I saw her, saw him. Maybe she and I were connected in some other life, or will be in one to come. But I’m afraid. I’m more afraid than I’ve ever been, that I’m connected, somehow, to him. I need to help you stop him because I think I’ll go mad myself if I don’t.”
“And your fee?”
Celina’s lips twisted into a tense smile. “I’m very expensive, and well worth it. But I would do this pro bono. With one provision.”
“Which is?”
“I don’t want, under any circumstances, my name released to the media. I don’t want anyone to know, beyond those who are absolutely necessary, that I’m involved. Not only because it’s the sort of publicity I’d find irritating, not only because it’s the sort of exposure that would generate an interest in the sort of clientele I avoid, but because I’m afraid of him.”
“We’ll let you know. Thank you for coming in.”
On a half laugh, Celina got to her feet. “Are you always so hard?”
“You tell me. You’re the psychic.”
“I don’t read minds.” Celina’s tone took on an edge as she tossed her hair back. “And I don’t read people without their permission.”
“I can promise you, you’ll never get mine. I’ve got a job to do, Ms. Sanchez. I’ll add what you’ve told us and your offer into the mix. We’ll be in touch.”
“Looks like Louise was wrong after all. I don’t like you.” She strode out.
“Well gee, she didn’t have to go and hurt my feelings.”
“You were a little rough on her,” Peabody commented. “You didn’t believe her?”
“I didn’t say that. My verdict on her is reserved until we check her out. Run her.”
“Sir, she can’t be licensed if she’s got a sheet.”
“She can’t be licensed if she’s been convicted,” Eve corrected, and headed out. “Run her. Thoroughly. And track down Louise Dimatto. I want to see what she has to say.”
“Good thinking. Which, of course, goes without saying,” Peabody added when Eve sent her a cool look. “If she checks out, will you use her?”
“I’d use a two-headed talking monkey if it helped nail this guy. But right now, let’s just do our tedious cop business in our tedious cop way.”
The morgue was her first stop. She could count on Chief Medical Examiner Morris to do the job, give her the data she needed, without a lot of bureaucratic bullshit attached.
She found him in autopsy, with his protective gear over a steel blue three-piece suit. On closer look, she saw the vest was decorated with abstract line drawings of naked women.
Morris wasn’t considered a fashion plate without cause.
His long, dark hair was drawn back in a glossy braid that hung neatly between his shoulder blades. He still carried his vacation tan. At the moment, his sealed hands were smeared with blood and bodily fluids. He hummed a jaunty tune under his breath as he worked.
He glanced over when Eve and Peabody entered, and behind his goggles, his long, dark eyes smiled.
“You nearly cost me twenty.”
“How’d I do that?”
“I bet Foster you’d be in before eleven. You cut it close.”
“I got hung up by a psychic. What’s your stand on that kind of thing?”
“I believe we’re all born with innate gifts, skills, potentials, and some of those gifts are not easily explained. I also believe ninety percent of those who claim to see are dirty rotten liars.”
“I’d up the last part a couple of percentage points, but that’s about my take, too.” She looked down at the body now. “What do you see?”
“A very unlucky young woman who, depending on your personal philosophies, no longer sees anything, or now sees everything. Severe trauma,” he began. “Premortem. He wailed on her, Dallas. Sexual assault with none of his fluids left behind. He’d sealed up for the rape. Strangulation, cause of death. The ribbon’s your murder weapon. Mutilation was postmortem. Clean cuts. Somebody’s been practicing.”
“How clean? Surgically?”
“If he’s a doctor—a cutter—he didn’t graduate top of his class. I’d say he used a laser scalpel and with good skill, but not exceptional skill. Several little jags.” He gestured to a second pair of microgoggles. “Want to see?”
Saying nothing, Eve fit on the goggles, leaned over the body with Morris.
“See here? Here?” He nodded to the screen where the wounds were magnified so Peabody could study them as well. “Not precise. Little tremors in the hand, I’d say. And I found fluid. He nicked the left eyeball a bit, though we’ll have Dickhead confirm that in the lab.”
“Okay.”
“I haven’t found any trace of him on her. Grass, dirt, a few strands of hair, none of it human. You’ll want Dickhead on that. Some could be canine, but that’s a guess since she was a dog owner. All the blood’s hers.”
“That’s too damn bad. Fibers?”
“A few, under her nails, on her person. She didn’t go down easy. They’re off to the lab, but I’d make them as cloth, most are likely from her own clothes. Some are probably from his shirt as there’s some sealant on them, too.”
Eve straightened, pulled off the goggles. “You see anything like this before?”
“From my lofty height, Dallas, you see every damn thing. But this precisely, no. You?”
“Not all the elements together.”
But her gut told her she’d see them again.
“She’s clean, Dallas. Sanchez. No arrests, no criminal.” Peabody studied the readout as Eve drove uptown. “You want to hear the deal?”
“The highlights.”
“DOB, February 3, 2026, Madison, Wisconsin. Brrr. Both parents living, in Cancun. That’s more like it! No sibs. Private schools all the way. No marriage. One cohab, three-year stint that ended about fourteen months ago. No children. Registered and licensed as sensitive. Self-employed.”
“How long’s she had the license?”
“Fifteen years. Totally clean on it. A few civil suits brought against her, all judgment in favor of defendant. That’s pretty normal for working psychics. People get pissed that something didn’t work out the way they wanted, and they sue.”
“People sue the clouds
if it rains on their picnic.”
“She does a lot of corporate work. Parties, conventions. Private consults. Makes a damn good living at it. About seven, eight times that of your lowly homicide detective. Resided current SoHo address for twelve years. Also has a residence in Oyster Bay. Nice. Sounds legit to me.”
“Uh-huh. You track down Louise?”
“She’s at the shelter today.”
“Oh.” Eve had been hoping for the Canal Street Clinic. She’d yet to make a personal appearance at the women’s shelter Roarke had founded. “We take the vic’s residence first. If we clear enough time, we’ll go by, talk to Louise.”
“I’ve been wanting to see Dochas for myself,” Peabody commented. “Charles says Louise is really juiced about it.”
“You talk to Charles?”
“Sure, now and then.”
As Charles, a professional and licensed companion, was Louise’s guy, and had been Peabody’s guy, minus sexual fun, it just struck Eve as weird.
But the ins and outs of relationships always struck her as weird. Her own included.
“Any luck with the ribbon?”
“If you call the fact that more than thirty retail outlets carry it in the borough of Manhattan alone luck, then yeah. Got the manufacturers, the distributors. It’s a pretty common item, Dallas, in craft stores, party stores. Some of the better department stores carry it in their gift wrap department. It’s going to be tough to find his source.”
“If it was easy, everybody would be cops.”
It was far from easy to question Deann Vanderlea again. The woman looked exhausted, ill, and weighed down with worry and grief.
“I’m sorry we have to intrude.”
“It’s all right. Luther, my husband, he’s been delayed. Air traffic. I’d do better if he were here. I couldn’t do much worse.”
She gestured toward chairs in the living area. The lounging robe had been replaced with slouchy black pants and a white, oversized shirt, but her hair was still tousled, her feet still bare.
“I haven’t slept, and I’m holding on by the fingernails at this point. Do you have any news? Did you find the man who did this?”