Haunting Whispers (26 page)

“The world’s greatest cirque performers.” Yasi’s voice was an octave high, an indication of her understandable anxiety. “It’s so good to see you.”

As Audrey approached, her arms spread wide, Yasi grabbed her hands and kissed the backside of each, keeping her at arm’s length instead. “Don’t think I’m quite ready for hugs.”

The standoffishness felt personal. They always hugged—long, close, and tight. The snub poked at her insecurity, but she attributed it to the attack and subsequent injury. Yasi quickly released Audrey’s hands and wouldn’t make eye contact. Before she let go, Audrey experienced a psychic flash that nearly took her breath away.

Traitor, traitor,
a voice whispered, followed by an excruciating stab of pain. Audrey grabbed the bedrail for support as the ache recurred time after time.

“Aud, Aud, can you hear me?”

Audrey heard Yasi calling in the background but couldn’t answer. She was lost in the agony and a sickening feeling that she was to blame for Yasi’s injuries. The nightmares that had plagued her recently resurfaced, along with the frustration of not being able to figure them out. Underneath it all, she sensed something wicked and sadistic.

“Sanjana, come back,” Sam said.

She focused on his voice and followed the soothing tones back into the room filled with her friends. Their kindness surrounded her, but with it came an equally potent feeling—fear. “I’m all right now.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. She concentrated on the feelings of each person, and as she did their thoughts turned to song and work. “I need to know what’s going on with everybody. What are you trying to keep from me?”

Sam moved very close but didn’t touch her as he normally would. “We are worried for Yasi. It upsets us deeply.” No one else spoke.

“You see, even this is weird. When have we ever been able to keep Tony quiet? And the girls…” She pointed to Faith, Hope, and Charity, who stood like statues in the corner. “They’re never still. You’re afraid to touch me, my best friend won’t let me hug her, and I have a feeling that I’m to blame. What
is
it?”

Sam started to answer but Yasi silenced him with a tired wave of her hand. “Aud, you’re probably hypersensitive to everything, which is completely understandable. If this could happen to me, it could happen to any of us. We have to stick together. We’re all concerned and afraid. I know I certainly am…and I’m exhausted. It wasn’t a very restful night.”

Audrey suddenly felt very selfish and inconsiderate for demanding answers that Yasi was obviously in no condition to provide. But the nagging feeling that something was definitely wrong clung to her like a flea in thick fur. “You’re right. We should probably let you sleep.”

“I’ll be able to leave tomorrow. Could I come to your place for a few days?”

Yasi’s tentative smile almost broke Audrey’s heart. She shouldn’t have had to ask. “Of course you can come to my place. I insist.” She looked at the solemn faces around the room and added, “You might have to come as a package deal. I don’t think these guys will let you out of their sight for a second.”

“Absolutely.” Yasi’s response brought smiles to the others’ faces as they waved good-bye and stepped into the hallway.

Before she left, Audrey leaned over the bedrail and lightly kissed Yasi’s forehead. “I love you, but don’t think for a second that love blinds me. Just because you gave me a precious, intelligent, slightly neurotic kitten doesn’t mean you have a free pass for life. You’re hiding something, and I will find out what it is.” She gave Yasi her biggest grin and walked toward the door.

“You’re entirely too suspicious of your oldest and dearest friend,” Yasi said.

“Maybe I’ll ask Rae. I know she was here.”

*

Sergeant Sharp stared at her like she’d dropped in from another planet. “Yeah, I got your request for protection for Audrey Everhart. The answer is no.”

“But—”

“It doesn’t matter how many
but
s you have or how compelling the argument, the answer is still no. We don’t have money for the overtime.”

Not So had shot her down without hearing all the facts, and she didn’t have the energy to argue her case sufficiently. “She’s the target of a serial attacker, certain to be his next victim.”

“Do you know who the suspect is yet?” His smug grin indicated he already had the answer.

“No, but I’m closer. The latest victim provided some possible leads.”

“What leads? Physical evidence, circumstantial evidence, or hunches?”

Rae reconsidered the information Yasi had given her, viewing it in the most beneficial light.

“If it takes that long to answer, you obviously don’t have shit. Sorry, no protective detail.”

“You’re putting this woman’s life on the line.”

“I don’t see any imminent danger. You have no suspect and no real evidence, aside from a note that a defense attorney could interpret in numerous ways. There weren’t any prints on the note, so that doesn’t help.”

Rae had to appeal to Not So’s mercenary self-interest. “She’s the mayor’s publicist. It won’t look good if she’s attacked and we had even the slightest indication it could happen.” She dropped her bomb and turned to leave.

“Wait. Maybe the mayor would be willing to make a budgetary concession or offer a couple of his private bodyguards.” The sergeant stood, stroked the front of his perfectly pressed suit, and reached for the phone. “I’ll get back to you on this.”

As Rae left she heard him say, “It’s Sergeant Sharp for Mayor Downing.” Rae usually avoided anything political, but in this case she’d make an exception. Whatever it took to keep Audrey safe.

Rae opened the blackout shades in her bedroom onto another dark morning. She had no idea of the time. Her only recognizable sensations were fatigue and hopelessness. The hours had crawled the past two days as she followed up the minor details Yasi had provided. They could hardly be called clues, but she refused to slow down until she’d exhausted all options.

She’d revisited the body dump sites at various times of the day and night and talked to anyone she could find. She found no laundry facilities nearby but plenty of vans—enough to make the task impossible without further details. Disappointed, she thought constantly of how much she missed Audrey.

Rae looked at her list of unanswered phone calls and unopened mail with dread and a healthy dose of guilt. If she returned Audrey’s calls or messages, she’d have to lie or at least evade the truth. Audrey deserved better, and right now she was too busy trying to keep Audrey safe to consider what could happen afterward.

Maybe she was being a coward. She couldn’t imagine telling Audrey that the same suspect
had
assaulted her twice and Rae was no closer to identifying him. How would she take the news that the man Rae couldn’t catch had spent the last year attacking women, the latest being her best friend? Time was running out. The distance swelled between her and Audrey like a malignancy.

As she showered, she thought about her growing feelings for Audrey. It was time to tell Audrey the truth and solicit her help. With so little to go on, it couldn’t possibly hurt to consult a psychic or even two.

Rae dressed and had started into the kitchen for coffee when her doorbell rang. Daylight had barely tinted the eastern sky. Any news delivered this early couldn’t be good. She opened the door and Audrey rushed inside as if she were being chased.

“Audrey…are you okay?” She looked as though she’d just woken up or been awake for a very long time. Her hair was wild, clothes a bit unkempt, and her bloodshot eyes weary.

“As if you care. It’s been days since we—since—you know what I mean, and you haven’t bothered to ask how I’m doing. Why should I—” She stopped as if seeing Rae for the first time. “You look exhausted.” She raised her hand toward Rae’s face but lowered it before making contact. “Are
you
all right?”

Without another thought, she stepped forward and hugged Audrey tight. “I’ve missed you so much and I’m sorry I haven’t been around. Can you forgive me?”

Audrey melted against her and they clung together like drowning victims to a single life preserver. “I’ve been so worried…about everything. I needed you, but I know you’ve been working. Can you forgive me for barking at you in the hospital and being generally selfish?”

“It’s all my fault. I should’ve called, should’ve told you…” Rae kissed Audrey’s cheek and then her lips, hungry for the connection they’d shared three days earlier. It seemed almost like a dream until Audrey responded with equal urgency. Rae’s body flared with the same heat, the same consuming need she’d felt when they first made love. Their bond had been and still was very real.

“I’ve missed you so much. I was trying to protect you, but I have something to tell you.” She pulled back, her hands resting on Audrey’s waist.

“It’s about the attack on Yasi, isn’t it?”

“That and more.”

“I knew something was going on. Everybody’s acting weird, strangers are following me, and you’ve been missing in action.”

Rae feared the Whisperer was already making his move on Audrey. “What strangers?”

“Well, not exactly. A couple of the mayor’s bodyguards have been tailing me the last couple of days, trying to be discreet, like that’s even possible for men the size of tanks.”

Some of the tension in Rae’s shoulders relaxed. Not So had come through. “They’re the protection detail I asked for.”

“But Yasi was attacked.”

“Come sit with me, please.” Rae led Audrey to the settee in her study, and when they’d settled in, she took Audrey’s hands. “I don’t like keeping things from you. The only way I could do it was to distance myself. I’d hoped to have good news. I’m afraid I don’t.”

“Tell me, Rae. Yasi has been at my place for two days and won’t even let me hug her. She’s too afraid I’ll see what she’s hiding. The others went back to work. They were driving me nuts with their incessant humming and avoidance. It’s nice that you’re all trying to protect me, but I need to know what’s going on.”

Rae kissed the back of Audrey’s hands and prayed she wasn’t about to inflict unnecessary injury. “I believe the man who assaulted Yasi is the same person who initially attacked you and did so again at the community center.” She waited to see if the information tweaked Audrey’s memory about what happened a year earlier but saw no indication she remembered anything.

“That doesn’t make sense. The first time he used a knife and the second a stun gun. Don’t these guys usually follow some kind of pattern? What do you call it?”

“An MO, modus operandi. They usually do, but I have a feeling he deviated this time. Maybe he was in a hurry. Maybe you surprised him and he had to improvise. It’s possible he wasn’t ready.”

“What do you mean? There’s more to it, isn’t there?”

“I don’t have anything to connect the two cases yet, but I believe they are.”

“That would explain why I couldn’t read my initial attacker or the stun-gun guy. They were both like an indecipherable mass of white noise.”

“I think he’s obsessed with you.” Rae hesitated. Caring, empathic Audrey would undoubtedly blame herself for Yasi’s attack and that of all the other women who came before. “He’s been following you, spying on us. He told Yasi he wanted you. It’s personal in a fanatical sort of way. Don’t worry, I won’t let him hurt you again. No matter what I have to do.” The light of understanding sparked in Audrey’s eyes and the color drained from her face.

“Oh, my God. He cut Yasi just like me, didn’t he?” Rae nodded. “And this other case you have—the woman I saw that day in the canteen—they’re his vict—he hurt them too?” Again Rae nodded as tears welled in Audrey’s eyes.

“I think you were his first.” As Rae spoke the words aloud their gravity registered in her soul with a sickening dread. The woman she had come to value so deeply was in the crosshairs of a maniac’s sights. Rae would do anything to protect her, even risk her own life.

“Why can’t I remember, even now?”

Rae tried to reassure her. “It’ll come back when you’re ready to deal with it.”

“If I’d come forward a year ago, told someone, these other women wouldn’t have been victimized…and Yasi…” Audrey covered her face with her hands, and her shoulders shook as she silently sobbed.

Rae held her and tried to reassure her but Audrey couldn’t be consoled. It was difficult to imagine feeling responsible for the brutal attack of one of her best friends. Rae had enough trouble distancing from victims she didn’t know. If her actions or lack thereof contributed in any way to a friend’s injury, she’d never forgive herself. Several minutes passed before Audrey spoke again.

“Who is he?”

“I don’t know.” Rae hung her head in disappointment and shame, unable to meet Audrey’s gaze. “I’ve been working night and day trying to track down clues, but I’m not any closer. He’s like a ghost.”

Audrey cupped Rae’s chin and forced her to look at her. “You can’t blame yourself. I know you’re doing everything possible. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I should’ve reported the initial assault.”

“You handled it the only way you could at the time. That’s all any of us can do. Maybe you can help now.” Rae was desperate to distract Audrey from her guilt and to jump-start her investigation.