Haunting Whispers (24 page)

Yasi’s request reinforced Rae’s earlier dilemma. She was in an impossible position: tell Audrey her suspicions about her attacker or remain silent and hope she didn’t find out. If she told Audrey, it could jeopardize her mental stability, force her to confront a situation she wasn’t ready for. If she didn’t tell her, Audrey could be in physical danger. And the secret would put them at odds with each other.

Yasi insisted. “Promise me, Rae.”

“I don’t want to keep things from her. It’s not how I operate.”

“Only until you catch him.”

“When she sees your injury, she’ll know anyway. You can’t hide that from her.”

“I can try. Please…until you’re closer to finding him.”

“The others—they’ve seen. They brought you in.” Rae believed in the old saying that three people could keep a secret only if two of them were dead. Eight was impossible and an intentional conspiracy.

“Talk to them. Tell them I need their help. They’ll cooperate.”

Yasi’s bandages extended below her breasts to her lower abdomen. She could keep the nature of her injury from Audrey for a while, but one of the others would slip up. The whole cover-up was a disaster waiting to happen. And Rae would be on the clock to arrest a suspect she hadn’t even identified yet. The longer it took the more danger Audrey was in and the longer she’d have to keep the truth from her. If she agreed, she’d not only need a lot of help, but divine intervention as well. “Can you tell me
anything
about this guy? We’ve got nothing so far.”

Yasi suddenly seemed even more damaged. She shook her head as fresh tears streaked her cheeks. “He drugged me, something over my mouth. I was blindfolded. It was horrible.”

Rae’s hopes sank as she listened to the MO she could’ve recited from memory.

Yasi’s eyelids drooped. “Anything else?”

“Kept whispering that I was a traitor over and over. He knows—”

Yasi’s room door burst open and the doctor entered. “All right, that’s enough. I told you no questions. Out, now.”

“Could I ask one favor, please, Doctor?”

“As long as you don’t continue questioning my patient. She needs rest.” They both looked at Yasi, who had already fallen asleep. He nodded at her to emphasize his point.

“Would you have the lab run tests on her blood? I’m looking for some type of anesthetic, anything that could temporarily incapacitate.”

The doctor scratched his head as if the gesture were a side effect of deep thought. “That’s a pretty broad request. Can you be more specific?”

Rae scrolled through the case notes she’d committed to memory. “It has a pleasant, even a sweet smell. It will also be short-lived in the system. Our tests only a day after the assault didn’t show anything unusual.”

“Do you know how it’s administered?”

“By something placed over the nose and mouth, and it irritates the eyes and skin.”

“Inhalation. Hmm, my first guess, and it’s only a guess, would be chloroform. It’s relatively easy to use, leaves no marks, and disappears quickly. Someone would have to know what they were doing because it can be lethal.” His voice held the slightest hint of admiration. “I might not be able to help you.”

“Why’s that?”

“If it is chloroform, it may already have been assimilated into the system. It’s a breakdown product of other chemicals in the body, so a low concentration wouldn’t necessarily indicate an intentional introduction. We’d need a high reading.” He turned toward the door. “We better get busy. We’re wasting time.”

As they walked out together, Rae said, “Thank you, Doctor.”

“Thank you for what?” Audrey asked as she approached from the waiting area.

“Taking such good care of our friend.” Rae knew her answer sounded weak.

“Doctor, may I sit with her tonight if I promise not to talk?” Audrey asked.

The doctor looked at Rae and must’ve read something in her face. “No, I think not. You can look in on her, then come back tomorrow when she’s had a good night’s sleep. She’ll be here for at least another day.” Before Audrey could object, he hurried down the hall.

Rae sighed with relief. She didn’t need Audrey to have a psychic episode with Yasi and discover their secret. She looked into Audrey’s eyes and saw pain and questions she couldn’t answer. As much as she wanted to comfort and reassure her, Rae had to talk to the others and then go to the scene. She sucked at hiding the truth.

“Audrey, I’m so sorry. I have to go.”

“I don’t understand. Are you working Yasi’s case? Why would you be assigned an assault? Special Victims Unit handles sexually oriented crimes. Was she—?”

Audrey couldn’t say
raped
aloud and Rae understood why. The word carried such connotations that its introduction changed the entire tenor of a conversation. “No, Audrey, I swear, it’s nothing like that. I have to go to the scene. We’ll talk later.”

“That’s what you said when we left the condo. I need you to be honest with me.”

“Later.” She kissed Audrey on the cheek and reluctantly pulled away, her heart aching. They’d made love for the first time, and she wanted desperately to hold her again. She couldn’t bear to have Audrey think she didn’t matter or she was just a one-night stand. “Where will you be?” If she knew Audrey’s whereabouts and that she wouldn’t be alone until the guard detail arrived, at least she’d be able to concentrate on work.

“I guess I’ll take everybody to my place. We won’t sleep anyway. Will you come by?”

“As soon as I can.” She made eye contact with Audrey and held her gaze. “I care about you, a lot.” She hugged Audrey again, then sprinted down the hall to find her cirque friends.

Rae found them still in the waiting area, chatting quietly. As she approached, they stopped but no one acknowledged her—an outsider and a cop. Audrey had already told them about Yasi’s condition so she didn’t have anything new. She’d had enough experience with tight-knit groups and closed societies to know the signs. But she needed their help and not only as a cop.

“I think she’ll be all right. She’s resting now.” She waited for someone to respond. Sam made eye contact. From what she’d seen, Yasi was their informal leader, but in her absence, Sam had assumed the role. She addressed him directly. “Yasi and Audrey need your help—actually
our
help.” Suddenly she had their full attention.

Rae couldn’t tell them about Audrey’s assault because she would violate personal and professional confidences. The other option was a half-truth that she had difficulty verbalizing.

“The man who assaulted Yasi implied that he was going after Audrey next. Yasi has asked that all of us keep this information from Audrey for the time being.” Rae could see the conflict on their faces. She tried again to win them over.

“Yasi is afraid Audrey will blame herself, then try to go after this guy alone. She can apparently be pretty stubborn and independent.” Each person nodded in acknowledgment and looked to Sam for guidance. She apologetically asked for their silence until she could make headway in the investigation. One by one they consented.

She addressed Tony next. “Did you see anything that might be helpful when you found Yasi?” He shook his head. “Were you alone? Where had you come from?”

Rae didn’t hear Audrey come up behind her. “What do you think you’re doing?”

When she turned, Audrey stood with her hands on her hips, anger sparking in her eyes. “I’m—”

“Don’t bother. You’re obviously interrogating my friends because they
have
to be involved in this, right?”

“That’s not what—”

“Sure it is. You’re a cop first and a human being later. And who better than a bunch of transient circus people to lay the blame on. Isn’t that the way you people think?”

“You people?”
The sharp-edged comment cut deeply, especially after what they’d shared earlier. Rae wanted to defend herself but Audrey was too emotionally distraught to hear her right now. She needed the security this group provided much more than she needed to trust Rae. “I was only doing my job. Sorry.” She turned away, the sudden distance between them gutting her.

This wasn’t the time to appeal to reason or remind Audrey that
she
had expressed doubts about her friends after the first assault. Rae would have someone check out Audrey’s cirque friends, their backgrounds and locations during the previous attacks. Audrey would defend her adopted family no matter what, particularly since one of their own had been attacked. She had shifted from intimacy to suspicion, and though Rae understood the delicate nature of trust, Audrey’s attitude still hurt.

On her way out, she stopped by the nurses’ station, praying one of the more-experienced nurses was on duty. A seasoned medical professional often took pictures of a victim’s injuries before the doctors performed their magic. She got lucky tonight because the head ER nurse was an acquaintance. After a brief exchange, she pulled an envelope from under the counter and handed it to Rae. As she headed toward the parking lot, Rae hoped the pictures would give her a clue. All she had was more questions and pressure to produce answers.

Yasi had delivered a threat from a deranged man aimed at the woman Rae cared about. Because this inquiry had become even more personal, she should relinquish the case. Not happening. She wouldn’t trust anyone else with Audrey, Yasi, or the other Whisperer victims.

They weren’t victims in some routine case. A psychopath had torn their lives apart for his perverse enjoyment, and she was determined to find him. As she made the short drive to Middleton, she wondered about Yasi’s comment, “He knows.”
It could be a vital piece of information. She added it to the growing list of things
she
didn’t know.

The next four hours Rae sifted through every piece of debris, garbage, food, and feces lining the narrow alleyway where Yasi had been found. The local fire department had erected lights to illuminate the site while she worked, and Rae processed the scene completely alone. If she found anything, she called the crime analyst forward to collect it. As she gathered each item, she assessed its evidentiary value. The Whisperer had never made a mistake, never left hair, fibers, bodily fluids, or fingerprints at the scene. But she had to follow procedures and explore every possibility.

When she finally reached the end of the alley and stretched her aching back, the sun was cresting the horizon. Rae took the beautiful red-sky dawn as an omen of better things to come. She motioned for the crew to clear the scene and thanked them for their patience as she walked to her vehicle. One of the CSIs handed her a cup of hot coffee, and she took several sips before reaching for the envelope she’d collected at the hospital. She instinctively knew the contents wouldn’t improve her mood, but she had to look.

The first image of Yasi’s gray, blood-encrusted body made her stomach lurch. How close had Yasi and the others come to being a corpse? She fought the rage that surfaced. If she gave in to it, she’d be professionally useless. She sipped her coffee and watched the sunrise for a moment, appreciating the wonder of life juxtaposed with the specter of death. The next photograph illustrated the suspect’s trademark slashing. Random zigzag cuts sliced Yasi’s tender flesh across the width of her abdomen with no apparent pattern or logic. How could someone capable of this type of damage possess logic, as Barry had suggested? Rae slid the photos back into the envelope and started the car. She wanted to get to the hospital this morning before anyone else. If she arrived first, she might get an official statement from Yasi and catch an hour of sleep before she faced Audrey again.

The facts of the Whisperer case surfaced in her mind and blurred with the snippets of recollection Audrey had provided. The scar added a final, undeniable element.

Rae didn’t want to believe any of it. If the Whisperer had assaulted Audrey, why had he returned to do so a second time, why had he waited a year, and how had he failed? Audrey had been alone at the community center, an easy target. She cautioned herself about jumping to conclusions. Audrey’s inability to read either of her assailants didn’t mean they were the same person. She needed real evidence.

If the Whisperer attacked Audrey both times, he was obviously fixated on her. And if Rae had the timing worked out properly, Audrey would’ve been his first victim, not Carol Flynn, as she initially thought. That could account for the threatening note. He wouldn’t want Audrey talking to the police or even socializing with anyone too often. He would see the object of his attention as his exclusive property. The scenario spinning into an active theory in Rae’s head disturbed her.

Audrey had already considered that the same person had attacked her both times. Could she handle any more? Maybe this one little detail didn’t have to come out yet. If Rae stated that Audrey might be a victim of the Whisperer, the shock could be traumatic. Rae was no good at psychology, but telling Audrey about her suspicions could present more problems.

Audrey might embark on another personal investigation, and the Whisperer wasn’t the kind of case for a civilian to poke around in. Even without definite proof, Rae already wanted police protection for Audrey but wasn’t sure she could get approval because of financial constraints. If she could, it would be more difficult without Audrey’s knowledge or cooperation.

Rae still wasn’t sure what she’d say the next time she saw Audrey—truth or consequences?