When he didn’t answer, Brian continued, “They said people were hurt, and a detective was killed. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Trevor said. But after a moment, he admitted, “I don’t know.”
He ran a hand through his hair, unable to hide his fear and frustration. Getting up from behind the desk, he walked to the window and stood with his arms crossed over his chest. After a moment, he felt Brian squeeze his shoulder. The supportive gesture was almost more than he could bear.
“This isn’t your fault—”
“The hell it isn’t,” Trevor replied, his throat tight. “The whole thing with Dad this morning was a setup. I walked right into it.”
“What were you going to do? He had Haley. You had no reason to think—”
The digital shrill of Trevor’s cell phone halted Brian’s words. Trevor looked at the number on the screen and flipped open the device. What Sandra Bellamy told him gave him a flare of hope.
“What is it?” Brian wanted to know once he’d completed the call.
“There’re several hundred acres of rural property near Vermilion Parish registered to Myrna Benoit, Carteris’s mother. She died several years back, but Carteris has been paying taxes on it since. Someone called into the hotline earlier today, claiming to have seen a vehicle matching Carteris’s headed in that direction.”
“Do they know where the property is?”
“Somewhere in east Jesus, out in the bayous.”
“That’s west Jesus, actually,” Brian murmured.
“Either way, there’s not even a postal address. They’re trying to pinpoint a location.”
The cell phone rang again. Trevor answered it quickly, expecting it to be the research assistant calling back with additional information. But the voice he heard was distinctly male. Electricity snaked up his spine.
“Good evening, Agent Rivette. I apologize for the poor reception, but I’m in a rather remote location. Did you have a pleasant visit with your father this morning?”
Trevor gripped the phone. “Just tell me if she’s still alive, Carteris.”
“She’s very much alive. For now.”
He turned his back on Brian and strained to hear the surgeon through the phone’s crackling static.
“I’ve been listening to the radio. I understand the FBI and police made an uninvited visit to my house today. Your intrusion cost the life of a detective. Shame.”
“Did the news tell you about your son? He committed suicide. He hanged himself at the Ascension.”
The airwaves between them sizzled, and for several seconds Trevor feared he’d lost the connection. But then Carteris spoke again, his words sounding almost resigned.
“I’m aware of Oliver’s death.”
“It’s time to end this.”
“Indeed,” he agreed solemnly. “I have a proposition for you. I’m going to give you my exact location. If you come to me tonight, perhaps we can make some kind of arrangement. Are you willing to do that?”
Trevor went to Rain’s desk. He wrote down the directions as Carteris gave them.
“One thing, Agent. Come alone. No SWAT team or assisting agents. I promise you, if I so much as see another human being I’ll cut her throat without hesitation.”
“I want to speak to her,” Trevor said.
“You’re in no position to make demands.”
“If you want me to come out there, I need proof she’s still alive.”
A second passed and he heard Rain cry out, her scream fading into sobs. He felt something break inside him.
“You should hurry, Agent,” Carteris said. “Before I get bored and start finding ways to amuse myself.”
The phone went silent. Trevor bowed his head, desperate to slow the pumping of his heart. He wanted her back. He had to find a way to get Rain out of this mess alive.
Brian spoke from behind him, reminding him of his presence. “Tell me you’re not planning to go out there alone.”
“I have to.” Tearing the directions from the notepad he’d written them on, he folded the paper and shoved it into his jeans pocket. He began to walk from the office, but Brian blocked him.
“Listen to me. You need to alert the authorities out there. Hell, take the entire FBI and the National Guard with you—”
“He’ll kill her if he sees anyone else.”
“He’s going to kill you!”
Trevor brushed past, but Brian caught up to him in the foyer and grabbed his arm. “Stop it, Brian—”
“Let me come with you,” he offered. “I’ll take you out there in the Cessna. You can make it in half the time than if you drive, especially with the way it’s raining. I’m an instrument-rated pilot trained to fly in these conditions—”
Trevor threw off Brian’s grasp. “No.”
“Damn it, Trevor!” He looked both angry and terrified. “You take me or I’m calling the FBI and letting them know what’s going on!”
His face conveyed the seriousness of his threat. “I’m not bluffing. I’ll call them the minute you leave.”
“You do that and you’re going to get Rain killed,” Trevor warned.
“If I let you go out there alone, you’ll both be dead.”
The house’s front door stood open. Water danced on the sidewalk and dripped from the roof’s gutter. Why did Carteris want him out there? Trevor didn’t know. But Brian had a point—getting there by car would take hours, and he wasn’t sure how long Carteris’s patience would hold out. He stepped onto the veranda and put his hands on the railing.
“When Dad hurt you, I was too young and scared to do anything about it,” Brian said, standing next to him. “Annabelle and I stayed silent, and we’ve regretted it our entire lives.”
Trevor looked at him. “I don’t want you getting mixed up in this.”
Brian’s expression was grave under the porch lamplight. “I just got you back, Trev. I can’t lose you again. Let me help you. The Cessna has a GPS system. All I need is a two-lane highway and I can put the plane down.”
His brother was right. Alone he was most certainly walking into a death trap. Not only for himself, but for Rain. He was fully aware Carteris had no intention of letting her go. But with the plane, Brian could be Rain’s ticket back to safety, if only Trevor could distract Carteris long enough for her to get away.
If she could somehow make it to Brian, he could fly her out of there.
44
“Your lover wants you back.” Carteris closed the phone with a hard snap as the Escalade bounced along the rutted, nearly washed-out road. He glared at Rain. Even in the darkened cab his eyes looked irritated from the wasp spray.
Pressing herself against the passenger door, she cradled her swollen wrist. He’d twisted it viciously, until she screamed and begged him to stop. His proof to Trevor she was still alive.
“I suppose you heard Oliver’s dead.”
She managed a weak whisper. “How?”
“I’d say his therapist failed him in his time of need.”
They continued in silence until the SUV’s headlights broke into the clearing. Carteris wrenched the vehicle into park in front of the cabin, then turned off the engine and opened his door. “Get out.”
Rain hesitated a second too long. Reaching into the SUV, he seized her again by her wrist. Fresh pain seared up her arm as he propelled her across the leather captain’s chair. She spilled out through the open door, landing on the ground at his feet. Snatching her up, he pushed her in front of him up the stairs.
She limped inside the cabin. The candles still burned, although Desiree’s husky voice no longer emerged from the turntable. Instead, the needle scratched where it had fallen off the record’s vinyl groove.
“Take off your clothes.”
Rain whipped her eyes to his. Every ounce of the gentlemanly facade Carteris had hidden behind earlier was gone.
“I said, take off those filthy clothes,” he repeated through gritted teeth.
The gown’s wet silk was nearly
transparent in the candlelight. She hugged her arms over her breasts, her eyes falling to her muddy and bleeding bare feet. Her mind threatened to shut down. Carteris clutched her shoulders, his fingers digging into her skin. Her head jerked back as he gave her a hard shake.
“You’re not supposed to look like this!” Perspiration covered his face, and the sockets around his reddened eyes were purple shadows. “I’ve planned carefully for this! I won’t let you ruin it for me!”
Dragging her into the small bathroom, he reached into the stall and turned on the shower. A thin stream of water spurted out. He left the room and then came back, throwing her shorts and tank top onto the floor.
“Clean yourself up. You have five minutes to get back out here. I guarantee you’ll regret it if I have to haul you out.”
The door slammed closed. Rain was left alone in the cramped, windowless space. She caught her reflection in the hazy mirror that hung over the sink. Dirt smeared her forehead, and there was a large scratch on her cheek from her flight through the brush. She thought of the human remains she’d stumbled on. Tears filled her eyes as she peeled off the gown and stepped under the weak spray.
Carteris was bringing Trevor here to kill him. There was no way he’d allow either of them to leave this place alive.
Numbly, Rain emerged from the bathroom a short time later. She’d redressed in her own clothes, although her hair was still wet and uncombed. Desiree sang again, her haunting voice backed by a moody orchestral arrangement.
You didn’t want me, but I swear to God you’ll pay.
Her mother crooned about rejection and revenge. Tremors racked her body as Rain slowly stepped into the candlelight.
The leather physician’s bag was overturned on the table. Pill bottles, vials and syringes were scattered around it. Carteris stood with a black tube secured tightly around his upper arm. He injected himself with something, although Rain didn’t know what. His eyes closed, his expression growing slack as the drug took effect. When he finally looked at her, he made no mention of what he’d just done. Calmly, he laid the empty syringe on the table and held out his hand.
“Come here,” he demanded. Too frightened not to obey, Rain put her hand in his. “Your fingers are like ice, little one.”
He’d changed from his own mud-streaked attire into clean slacks and a fresh shirt. Wrapping his arm around her, Carteris guided her to the couch and eased her down next to him on its cushions.
“He’ll be here soon. You’ll have to make a decision. You’ll have to choose between him or me. I gave your mother the same choice thirty years ago.”
She inhaled sharply as he extracted a surgical scalpel from his shirt pocket, although he made no threatening move with it. Turning it over, he examined the glinting blade.
“Desiree’s death was the most sexually exciting experience of my life,” he murmured. “I dream about it to this day.”
“But you weren’t…there. You’re confused. You couldn’t have been—”
“Are you certain?” He tilted his head to look at her, and she worked to process his taunt against everything she knew about that fateful event. Her parents’ deaths had been a murder-suicide, an open-and-shut case.
“They were fighting…they both had speed in their bloodstream,” she stammered. “It was in the toxicology report. Gavin—my father—stabbed my mother and then—”
“Cut his own throat?” Carteris finished her statement, his lips twitching into a chilling smile. “Your parents were amoral rock stars. They’d already had a child out of wedlock, quite scandalous in those days. Of course they’d be drug abusers. It made perfect sense.”
He coiled a strand of her damp hair around his finger. “Amphetamines ensured the police would ask few questions. It was a simple matter to administer the drug to the bodies, then plant more around the house. I was completing my medical residency at the time. I had access. I got away with the perfect crime.”
“I don’t believe you.” She cried out as he grabbed her throat and forced her to look into his eyes. What she saw there was both evil and dead.
“I’ve waited a long time to relive that night. Your mother begged for her lover’s life. Will you?” Releasing her with a small shove, he glanced at the clock on the fireplace mantel. “It’s already after ten. The time is nearly at hand.”
She understood with terrifying clarity. It was a play Carteris had already written, the actors already cast. He intended to re-create her parents’ deaths. Trevor would take the role of Gavin, and she would be Desiree.
“What if I choose you? We can leave together now, before he gets here—”
“Listen to you. Already scheming to save his life.” He shook his head in rebuke. “You’ve caused me to expend a great deal of energy. All that pointless running around outside.”
Using his index finger, he dragged the strap of her tank top down her shoulder, exposing her skin. Rain’s heart pounded.
“In many ways, I owe everything to Desiree. She was my first taste. I felt my body taking in her energy, my own strength being amplified as hers was diminished. I drank her essence that night. It was the sweetest revenge.” Carteris stroked the curve of her neck, causing her to shudder violently.
“It was then I realized blood held the secret. That discovery has been the basis for my research.” He leaned closer, his lips tracing her jaw. “I could use a taste of you now, Rain.”
With the last of her strength, she pushed away and ran to the cabin’s door. But he caught her again in two quick strides, ripping her hands from the door frame. His size enabled him to easily overpower her. She screamed as he carted her back to the couch and shoved her down roughly, pinning her onto the cushions with his weight. He held the scalpel in front of her face as a warning.
“Shh. Don’t move.”
“Please,” she begged.
“You act as though I’m going to bite you. You’ve seen too many horror movies.” He pressed his nose against her skin, breathing in her scent. “In reality, unless one wishes to kill, a controlled cutting technique is much more desirable.”
Rain gulped air as her eyes trained on the weapon in his hand.
“There’s a saying in ancient Sanskrit. One life feeds on another.”
The scalpel sliced into her shoulder. Rain sobbed as a rivulet of her own red blood appeared and trailed down her skin. Carteris lowered his mouth to it, and she felt herself spiraling into the black hole Dante had dug.
The waning candlelight caused the shadows around her to shift and deepen. Rain lay across the couch. How long had she been out? Briefly, she wondered if it had been some horrible nightmare. But her rustic surroundings came slowly back into focus.
“It’s time for you to wake, my dear.”
Carteris’s cultured voice brought her fully back to reality. She sat up and pressed her fingers against her forehead as the room dipped slightly. He lounged next to her, a look of charmed amusement on his face.
“Feeling weak? You needn’t worry. I didn’t take enough to harm you. Not too much more than if you’d donated at a clinic, really. But I’m afraid I don’t have any cookies or juice to offer you.”
Despite her unsteadiness, Rain stood. She touched the smooth plane of skin near her clavicle, her pulse quickening as she felt a sting. The cut still oozed blood.
“What did you do to me?” she croaked.
“The instrument was sterilized. The risk to you is minimal.”
She took a step backward as she realized what Carteris held. He toyed with a strand of black prayer beads, winding it around his wrist as he spoke.
“I’ve been watching you sleep.” He rose from the couch.
Rain nearly toppled as her calves came flush with the coffee table. Hysteria threatened to claim her. “If you take a step closer I swear I’ll—”
Carteris made a grab for her, then stopped. His features hardened and he raised a hand to silence her. “Quiet! Do you hear that? I believe our guest has arrived.”
There was no
discernible sound. Even the downpour had stopped its racket on the cabin’s roof. The hush echoed around her like a death knell. If Trevor was out there, she had to warn him.
She shouted his name, but Carteris was on her immediately, sealing her mouth with his hand. She clawed at his fingers as he towed her with him to the gun safe. The door of the metal cabinet was already open, and he took a powerful-looking handgun from its shelf.
“Keep your mouth shut or this all ends now.” He loosened his grip over her aching jaw and pressed the gun’s barrel into her side. Keeping a tight hold on her, they walked across the cabin floor and onto the porch.
“I know you’re out there, Agent Rivette!” Carteris yelled. He held Rain in front of him, a human shield. “Show yourself!”
Her knees nearly gave out as a lone figure stepped from the brush at the edge of the clearing. The navy windbreaker was nearly invisible in the darkness if not for the gold FBI insignia on its front.
“Drop your firearm,” Carteris ordered.
No, Trevor. Rain shook her head, trying to communicate an unspoken plea for him to refuse. But he laid his gun in the low grass.
“Kick it into the bushes!”
He did as instructed, then raised his hands as he took several cautious steps closer. “I’m here to talk, Carteris. I came alone. Just like you wanted.”
Carteris lifted the gun and fired. Rain screamed as Trevor fell to the wet ground.
45
“Relax,” Carteris scolded as Rain twisted in his arms. “He’s wearing a vest. Don’t believe me? I’ll let you take a look for yourself.”
He released her. Rain clambered down the stairs and dropped to her knees beside Trevor. Repeating his name, she felt the vest’s padding under his windbreaker. To her relief, he moved and opened his eyes, although he appeared dazed. Tearing open the jacket, she saw where the bullet had embedded.
Midnight Caller Page 31