by Rita Herron
Panic seized Jenny. “What if he’s on his way here now or already in Savannah? What if he comes after my mother?”
Concern darkened the doctor’s eyes. “We have security, and I’ll make sure her room is watched,” Dr. Solaris said. “But I’d like the police to bring him in for questioning.”
Anger rallied, filling her with determination. “Detective Cortez is here talking to the staff about Eleanor. I’ll ask him.” She clutched the doctor’s hands. “Please take care of my mother, be sure to watch her room. After I speak with the detective, I have to see Bailey.”
Dr. Solaris stood. “All right, and, Jenny, I know this is bad, but remember that unearthing the problem is the first step in solving it. I believe there’s a chance that with time your mother can recover.”
Hope fluttered in Jenny’s heart for the first time in years. She really might get her mother back.
But what about Bailey? How would he feel when he realized his mother hadn’t willingly slept with another man, that she’d been forced? That no one in the family had a clue as to what was going on?
That no one had saved her from the man who was supposed to be helping her?
ALARM STOLE THROUGH RAUL as he spotted Jenny leaving the doctor’s office. Her eyes were red, her face pale and she was trembling. Had something happened to her mother?
In two quick strides, he crossed the hall to her. She let out a small shriek when he grabbed her arm.
“Jenny, what’s wrong?”
For a tense second she looked dazed, as if in pain or shock. Then she blinked and seemed to realize that he’d asked her a question.
“I was coming to find you,” she said.
He pulled her into a corner away from nurses and orderlies passing. “What happened? You look upset.”
She shivered against him. “I have to talk to my brother. But I need a favor.”
“Of course, but first tell me what in the hell is wrong.”
“Can you put an APB out on Dr. Rupert Zovall?”
The fact that she’d ignored his question raised his suspicion.
“Who is he, Jenny? Does he have something to do with the Strangler?”
“No, no. My mother,” she whispered hoarsely. “He was her doctor back in Atlanta.”
Confusion made him narrow his eyes. “For God’s sake, Jenny, I’m not going to advertise your mother’s illness, but I have to have a reason to issue an arrest warrant for someone.” He wanted to shake her, convince her to talk. “Trust me. And I’ll do whatever I can.”
She glanced around as if to make certain no one was listening. Then she lowered her voice. “Dr. Solaris thinks Dr. Zovall overmedicated my mother. He suspects the doctor raped her and kept her drugged so he could continue abusing her all these years.”
Bile rose in Raul’s throat. Now he understood the pain and grief in her eyes. She’d trusted this doctor and he’d betrayed her. Even worse, he’d betrayed his oath to his patients and taken advantage of his position for his own sick twisted needs.
He wanted to pull her in his arms, hold her, comfort her, assure her everything would work out. But the best thing he could do was to find this doctor and make him pay. He’d stolen a woman’s life, and a mother from her own child.
He brushed at the tears she didn’t even realize she’d let fall. “I’ll find him, Jenny, I promise. And we’ll put him away.”
Her fine-boned hand clutched at his arm. “Thank you, Raul. Now I have to talk to Bailey and explain to him what’s going on.”
Remembering her brother’s volatile behavior, he held her back. “Let me go with you.”
“No.” She squeezed his hand. “Thank you for offering, Raul. But this is something I have to do alone. It’s not going to be easy for Bailey to hear, but he has to know the truth.”
He hesitated, hated for her to face her brother alone. But he had to respect her privacy. After all, he had no claims on her, was not a part of her family. Still he was worried…“All right. But call me if you need me.”
She nodded, then ran down the hall. His heart clenched. He wanted to help her, but somehow nothing he could do seemed enough.
JENNY INSTRUCTED RENEE to cancel her appointments for the remainder of the day, then dialed Bailey’s number as she hurried to the elevator. By the time she reached her car, he finally answered.
“Two calls in one day from the great doctor in the family,” he said sarcastically. “To what do I owe this honor?”
He slurred his last words, and she gritted her teeth, hesitating over whether she should wait, but she decided now was as good a time as any. Besides, she had to know if Dr. Solaris was right, if Bailey’s young mind had misunderstood what had transpired in their house. “I need to see you, Bailey.”
“Thought you didn’t want anything to do with your baby brother.”
She had to reach him somehow. “Just tell me where you are and I’ll come to you. It’s really important or I wouldn’t ask.”
“Yeah, so was my asking you for a cover, and you turned me down.”
She clutched the phone with a white-knuckled grip. “I’ll bring money, Bailey. Just meet me or tell me where you are dammit.”
He hesitated, and for a moment she thought he intended to hang up. But then desperation laced his voice, “You’ll bring me some cash?”
“Yes,” she said, though her jaw ached from biting back a lecture.
“All right, then. I’m holed up at that rathole of a motel outside of town where I stayed last time.”
She should have known. “I’ll be there as soon as I run by an ATM.”
She hung up and started the car, then spun out of the parking lot. The bank first, where she withdrew five hundred dollars, then maneuvered the car through traffic to the motel. Rain clouds hovered above, obliterating any remaining sun, the gray skies threatening.
She inhaled several deep breaths in an attempt to calm her nerves, but anger and contempt knotted her insides. Nevertheless she was the professional here, the big sister. She had to prepare herself to deal with Bailey if he fell apart.
At home later she could have her own meltdown.
Her tires squealed as she rolled into the parking lot and slammed on the brakes. With a heavy heart, she climbed out, locked her door, then jogged to the motel door. She knocked twice, heard footsteps and muttering, then Bailey opened the door. He looked terrible, unshaven, wore a T-shirt with holes in it and a pair of ragged jeans. He smelled of sweat and booze.
Realizing he was high, she started to back away. He might handle the conversation better if he was straight, but when would that be?
One eyebrow lifted as he leaned against the door. “You got the cash?”
She shoved the envelope in his hand. “Five hundred, and don’t spend it on alcohol or drugs. Clean yourself up, Bailey, and get a job.”
He swung out his arm in anger. “If you came here to bitch at me again, then get the hell out.”
She sighed, pushed her way inside, disgusted at the beer cans and empty pizza boxes stacked on the scarred dresser. “I didn’t come to gripe at you, Bailey. I told you this is really important. We have to talk.”
“That’s all you do. You think talking fixes everything,” he shouted, “but it didn’t work with Mom and it sure as hell won’t work with me.”
“Just shut up and listen, Bailey.”
Her harsh tone took him off guard, and he staggered back and dropped into the chair.
Her concession had been the money; she refused to cut him any slack. She needed answers and he might hold the key to the truth. “This is serious. It’s about Mom.”
For a moment pain flickered in his eyes and he looked like a lost little boy, but belligerence quickly replaced the innocent look. “What she’d do? Die?”
Jenny gasped. “Is that what you want, Bailey? Do you hate her that much?”
He scrubbed his hands over his face, then shook his head, the glazed pain back in his eyes. “So what happened?”
“I just came fro
m talking to Dr. Solaris. He thinks he’s uncovered the trigger for Mom’s illness.”
His gaze met hers, questioning, waiting, afraid. She wanted to shield him from the pain, but only the truth could enable them to start the healing process.
“Bailey,” she said gently. “Dr. Solaris believes that Mom has been abused for years. That Dr. Zovall overmedicated her, that he raped her years ago before you were even born, and kept her drugged to keep her quiet.”
His mouth gaped open, shock turning his face a sickly green.
“Could Dr. Zovall have been the man you saw with Mom? The one you thought she was having an affair with?”
“She was cheating on him. I saw her, dammit, I told Dad!”
She gave him a second to assimilate what she’d said, knew he was probably retracing memories of the past.
“Are you sure? You were only what, four? Maybe you misunderstood what was going on.”
Bailey suddenly vaulted up, paced to the window, leaned against the edge, heaving for air. “No…yes. I mean, I don’t know. I was little…I didn’t want to look, to see what was going on.” A cry ripped from deep inside him. “I just knew it was wrong. Ugly.”
Jenny’s heart bled. She walked over and pressed a hand to his shoulder, rubbing circles around his back to relieve his tension. “You were just a child, Bailey. It must have been horrible finding the two of them in bed. And Mom…was she upset? Was he holding her down?”
“I heard her crying,” he said quietly, “heard her more than once. But I didn’t understand.”
He spun around, hurt and other emotions that frightened her sparkling in his eyes. “Are you sure it was rape, Jenny? This doc could be wrong.”
“Dr. Solaris wouldn’t have told me if he didn’t have good reason to suspect it’s true.”
“You trusted Dr. Zovall, too.”
His barb cut deep. “Yes,” she admitted in a gravelly voice. “And I’ll never forgive myself for that. But I was young, too, Bailey, when this all happened. Dr. Solaris has no reason to lie to me, not like Dr. Zovall did if he was covering up a crime.”
His face twisted with rage, but she continued. “I’ve asked Raul…Detective Cortez to bring him in for questioning.”
As if the horror of the situation dawned on him, Bailey began to shake. Huge wails of anger and pain echoed from his throat. “It’s my fault, isn’t it? I saw Mom being attacked and I let it happen.”
“No,” Jenny said softly. “No, Bailey, you couldn’t have known what was going on.”
“But you think it’s my fault, that I should have spoken up,” he screeched. “And I told Dad and he saw them, and then he left. So it’s my fault he ran out on us, too…” His voice cracked. “Why didn’t he figure it out?”
Emotions clogged her throat, but Jenny refrained from replying. Maybe her father had known and he’d left anyway. Maybe he’d learned about the initial rape, that Bailey might not be his son, and he couldn’t deal with it.
“I’m not saying that at all,” she replied. “Children can’t be held responsible for adult problems. Neither one of us were old enough to understand.”
Bailey pounded his fist on the glass with such force a pane shattered. Jenny reached out to see if he was cut, but he shoved her so hard she fell backward, and her head hit the side table. Pain shot through her temple and the room spun.
“You said he raped her before I was born.” Pure rage glittered in his glazed eyes and Bailey went ballistic, swinging his bloody fist, kicking the table and screaming obscenities.
“Bailey, stop it. Please calm down.”
His chest heaved up and down. “So what’s the bottom line? That Mom is ill because of me and this doctor, that I’m what—his bastard son?”
Jenny struggled to pull herself up, a small streak of blood trickling down her forehead. But Bailey sprang at her again, grabbed her arms and began to shake her.
“Stop it, Bailey, let me go,” she cried. “Let’s talk.”
He shook her again, knocking the breath from her chest, and she clawed at his arms, pleading with him to let her go.
Suddenly a knock sounded on the door. “What’s going on in there?” a man shouted from the other side.
She shoved at Bailey, and the knock came again.
“Open the door or I’m calling the cops!” the man yelled.
The door swung open, and Bailey hesitated like a small animal trapped by a predator. But he released her abruptly, ran outside, jumped in his old car and raced off.
The elderly man who must have been the manager of the motel, hobbled over. “Are you okay, miss? You want me to call the cops?”
Jenny straightened her clothing, wiping at her forehead. “No, please don’t call anyone. I’m all right.”
The age lines around his mouth deepened with his scowl. “Are you sure? You can’t let him get away with that, miss. It’s not right.”
“He’s my brother,” Jenny said. “And he just had some shocking news. I…I’ll see that he receives help.”
She grabbed her purse, her head and heart aching as she rushed to her car. Silent tears slid down her cheeks as she drove through Savannah. A family strolling along together, mothers pushing baby strollers, couples walking dogs—she searched her memory to find a semblance of her family doing the same. But all she remembered was the arguments and dissension, her father’s back as he walked out the door, her mother shutting down more and more each day.
Thankfully Ralph had gone when she arrived home, but she smelled the fresh paint and realized he’d painted the kitchen and dining room in one day. Ironic how nice her house was progressing when her life was completely disintegrating in front of her eyes.
She ran up the steps, threw off her clothes, climbed in the shower and gave her emotions full rein. The last time she’d done that Raul had been here, and he’d held her while she cried.
There was no one here tonight. She was alone as she always had been.
But her brother and mother were hurting the most. And there were still women dying in the town.
She had done nothing to help any of them. Maybe Raul was right. What good was she to anyone if she couldn’t help her own family? If she’d been so blind that she hadn’t seen what was going on with the ones she loved most?
And what would Bailey do now?
Was he Dr. Zovall’s son?
Her analytical skills kicked in. Dr. Zovall was a rapist…but too old to be the Strangler.
Yet Bailey fit the profile. She’d seen the hatred in his eyes tonight. He detested women, felt betrayed. He’d suffered a trauma at a young age.
He was on the edge. Would he take his rage out on someone else?
She’d told Raul she’d call the police if Bailey touched her again. And tonight he had wanted to hurt her. But could she turn her brother in to the police? If she did and he was innocent, he would never forgive her and she’d lose any chance they had to glue their shattered family back together.
But if she didn’t, and he hurt someone, the next girl’s death would be on her head.
RAUL CONTACTED HIS CAPTAIN about a warrant for Jenny’s files and an APB for Zovall, finished questioning the staff, then returned to the station and called the tech team where he learned that all four of the vics had MySpace accounts.
Eleanor had befriended three guys in cyberspace and agreed to meet them at different times for coffee. The team was running a trace to find out real names and addresses and investigate common friends.
Keegan loped in, looking smug. “It looks like we might be able to trace the panties the killer uses,” he said. “Bought them online, but they were shipped to a post office box, the one that belonged to Machete.”
“Good work,” Raul said. Hopefully with the MySpace accounts they might be able to track this guy down and catch him. Especially if they linked him to Bobby Machete.
He just hoped they could arrest the guy before another girl died.
Worried about Jenny, he punched her number while Keegan called foren
sics to see if they’d found anything at the last crime scene. She didn’t answer her cell so he phoned her landline, but no answer there, either. He left a message in both places for her to call him, then hung up, still antsy. He didn’t like her brother one damn bit, and wondered how he’d reacted to the news about their mother.
Still, he had work to do on the case, so he carried Eleanor’s picture with him to show to the local coffee houses in town.
Two hours later he was beat. One waitress at a coffee shop near the hospital recognized Eleanor but didn’t remember seeing her with a man.
Worried, he headed toward home, but tried Jenny again. Finally she answered.
“It’s Raul. How did things go with Bailey?”
“Not good,” she admitted quietly. So quietly that alarm shot through him.
“I’m coming over.”
“No,” she said quickly. “Really, Raul, I’m tired, it was a trying day.”
“You don’t sound tired, you sound upset. What happened?”
“Naturally Bailey was upset. But we’ll work through it.”
He clutched the phone with a white-knuckled grip. “Did he hurt you, Jenny?”
A heartbeat of silence followed where he found himself holding his breath. “No, I’m just really exhausted. Don’t worry about me, Raul. I’ve been taking care of myself a long time. I’ll be fine.”
She said good-night and hung up, leaving Raul feeling oddly helpless and alone. The sadness in her tone tugged at him, and he almost spun the car around toward her house, but remembered his vow not to touch her again.
It was better to leave things this way. If he saw her tonight, he’d forget that vow.
He’d make love to her, and then he’d want more.
And caring only led to pain, pain he didn’t need or want to feel again….
IT TOOK EVERY OUNCE of restraint Jenny possessed not to beg Raul to come over. She wanted his arms around her holding her all night, whispering that he cared. Letting her know that all men weren’t bad. That he’d make everything all right.