Haunting Whispers (32 page)

“Good.” Rae jotted notes as Audrey spoke.

“I’ve already described the knife—definitely serrated and military issue. He’s served in conflict, often. It’s his preferred way of life.” Audrey battled a resurgence of emotion as she recalled the atmosphere of turmoil inside the van. She hadn’t been able to get into his head, but the turbulence surrounding him was thick enough to touch.

“He wore blue, medium-blue, like a uniform of some sort, not military. His hands, face, and feet were covered. He wore covers on his shoes…strange.”

“Of course,” Rae said. “The footprints at the community center and outside my window weren’t real shoeprints, more like fabric. Some kind of cover would certainly explain that.”

“And it would explain why I couldn’t see his feet.” Rae gave her a questioning look. “Don’t ask. It’s how my mind works—not always definite pictures, just flashes of seemingly unrelated pieces. I didn’t actually see the blue uniform at the time, only the color and a sense of the uniform. You’ll need to follow up on that.”

Audrey was elated as more and more of the event emerged. She was beginning to understand Rae’s attraction to the job of uncovering clues, chasing leads, and finding criminals—not that she’d ever want to be a cop. She loved the feeling that she and Rae were tackling something important together.

“What can you tell me about him? How he looked, felt, any sense of him at all?”

“Physically, he’s lean and muscular, quite strong. I sensed extreme confidence and desperation—one professional, the other personal. Something is definitely torturing him, maybe physical damage or injury that challenges his self-concept.”

Rae turned on the settee to face Audrey and stared at her as if something new had occurred to her. “Did he…I mean…”

Her voice was thick with emotion. The words seemed too painful for her to say, and Audrey knew immediately what she meant. The pressure of handling six unsolved cases had to be tremendous, especially when two of them involved acquaintances. She cupped Rae’s face and stared directly into her eyes when she answered. “No, my darling. He didn’t rape me or even touch me sexually, at least not in the conventional sense.”

“What does
that
mean?”

“I’m not sure I can explain it. The air was definitely sexually charged. He thought I could give him something he desperately needed. I couldn’t. It was almost as if he used the knife as a penile substitute without vaginal penetration.”

“Jeez, he sounds like one sick bastard.”

“It’s a feeling and I’m no psychologist, so don’t quote me.” She gave Rae a quick peck on the cheek for reassurance.

“Did you detect an accent?”

“Yes, definitely not native. I couldn’t place the area. Sorry. Yasi is much better with languages. It’s an acquired skill. I read energy, she knows accents. He called me Sanjana, so he must have been to one of my cirque performances.”

Each time Audrey revealed another tidbit about the Whisperer, Rae’s face glowed with enthusiasm. She was pleased to be the source of Rae’s renewed hope. She had seen her struggle for weeks, blaming herself for the lack of progress and taking personal responsibility for the victims.

“Anything else about his injury?”

“I’m afraid not, my darling. Remember, everything I’ve said comes with a big red disclaimer. These are only my perceptions, energy readings, and flashes of memory. It’s now your job to find out if I’m right.”

“Absolutely, and you’ve given me plenty to do. Thank you. I know it wasn’t easy.”

Audrey rested her head against Rae’s shoulder and felt a rush of relief and satisfaction. Her psychic ability wasn’t a fortunetelling novelty to hawk on the street or an embarrassment to hide. Her mother’s prediction had come true—her skills served a useful purpose. Maybe times were changing and diversity of all types was becoming more acceptable. Or maybe it always had been and she was too afraid to try. Not any more, Audrey thought as she drifted to sleep
.

Rae felt Audrey relax on her lap and realized she’d fallen asleep. She brushed a strand of blond hair from Audrey’s forehead and stared at her completely tranquil face. She breathed the deep, even cadence of the unburdened. Keeping her secrets for the past year couldn’t have been easy for a woman with Audrey’s sensitivity. Rae had the feeling Audrey was finally free of the ghosts and nightmares, and she was honored to have witnessed the purging.

She eased Audrey down on the sofa, pulled a blanket over her, and crept into the kitchen. As much as she wanted to stay exactly where she was and hold Audrey while she slept, she wanted her safe more. She called records and held her breath as Loretta Granger located her search requests. While she waited, she asked, “Has anyone heard about Trevor?”

“His supervisor said he would be okay. He’s got fractured ribs, a broken arm, internal bruising, and a serious concussion though.” They shared a moment of there-but-for-the-grace-of-God silence that seemed universal anytime one of their own was injured. “Here are your results, Rae. I crosschecked all the variables you gave me—dry cleaners in the Central Avenue area against tax and utility bills. Then I ran those results against motor-vehicle registrations of old white vans. And—”

“And what?”

“Hold on, Sport. I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

“Loretta, don’t tease. Give it to me.” Rae’s skin tingled. Whatever Loretta told her would move her investigation in one direction or another, progress of a sort.

“Five dry cleaners in the area with white vans, three still in operation. That’s the good news. The bad news is, of the two remaining, their former owners are both dead.”

“What were the owners’ names?”

“Blankenship and Albright. Blankenship was closer to Central and Second.”

Rae did a quick mental calculation. “We’re probably not looking for the owners anyway. I’d say a younger relative, maybe even a child. Can you check birth records for me?”

“Sure.”

Maybe Larry the street urchin wasn’t as pickled as Rae originally thought. He said he’d lived in a shed behind Blankenship’s Dry Cleaners at the corner of Central and Second.

“Loretta, would you concentrate on Blankenship first? Also run a broad criminal-history check of Blankenships between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five. Call my cell if you come up with anything, and thanks.”

Rae hung up and dialed her local contact with the military. They had an understanding that, if they communicated, they wouldn’t use names just in case. The information they needed from each other often required a violation of either military or public-sector disclosure laws. For that reason, they limited their exchanges to critical cases.

When he answered, Rae was clear and concise. She regurgitated the profile she’d developed, praying it would be enough, afraid it wouldn’t be. “Former member, possibly covert ops, advanced medical training, language skills probably Arabic or similar region, between twenty-five and thirty-five, Caucasian male.”

“That’s too broad. Anything more specific?”

“He was probably discharged within the last eighteen to twenty-four months, maybe due to an injury. I know that doesn’t help much. It’s all I’ve got right now.”

“Not enough defining parameters. Search results that large attract attention. Call me back when you have more.” The line went dead.

Rae considered throwing her phone across the room, but feared she might wake Audrey. The request had been a long shot, and he was perfectly right to deny the search. She couldn’t blame him for protecting himself. She’d jumped the gun. Rae was missing something and Audrey had the key—maybe not consciously, but she definitely had the answer.

After making herself a cup of coffee, Rae fired up her computer, anxious to see if Audrey’s information meshed with known facts. Loretta had provided the names of two closed dry cleaners, and Rae pulled up the Web site of each one. Fortunately, many businesses left their Web sites online long after they closed, simply forgetting to delete them.

She checked the Albright Laundry first and scanned the pages for pictures. On the services page, she found two coverall-clad employees posed beside a white Albright van. The coveralls were dark. Rae enhanced the picture for a closer look—dark gray, not blue. She silently praised the Internet for once again saving her endless hours of legwork.

Her spirits lifted as she typed in the Blankenship search. On the home page, the man identified as the owner, Earl Blankenship, and his wife, Evelyn, stood with their entire staff, all dressed in medium-blue coveralls beside a white panel van. Bingo. The man and woman even seemed to fit Larry’s description:
nice man, bitchy woman.
He had a kind face and genuine smile. Her nose was lifted slightly and the edges of her mouth curled into a sneer. She seemed to be unhappy with her outfit, the cameraman, or a smell in the air…maybe all three.

Rae was finally making headway. Though she hadn’t identified the suspect yet, every ounce of her cop’s intuition told her she was in his neighborhood, possibly even on his doorstep.

“What’s new, darling?” Audrey hugged her from behind and nuzzled her back.

Rae closed her laptop and turned in Audrey’s arms. “Say it again.” She loved being called darling. No one had ever used such endearments with her. Perhaps her other lovers thought a tough cop wasn’t the sweet-nothings type. The pet name sounded natural and sincere coming from Audrey.

“
What’s new
or
darling
?” Audrey teased her, standing on tiptoes to kiss her earlobe. “Darling, my darling, sweet darling, strong-cop darling.”

Rae cupped her ass and pulled them closely together. “Now you’re definitely teasing me, so turnabout is fair play.” She ground her hips into Audrey’s and felt her surrender before she pulled away. “Sorry, no can do. I have leads to follow up.” The disappointed look on Audrey’s face mirrored the ache in her own body.

“I think
this
requires considerable follow-up.”

Audrey kissed her with such passion Rae lost her balance, and they stumbled back against the counter. She languished in the softness and hunger of Audrey’s mouth as their kiss deepened. The temptation to put everything on hold and concentrate on Audrey was seductive. They’d had so little time together recently, and Audrey deserved to be courted and cherished. But she couldn’t be so selfish when other people’s safety was at stake. If there was justice in the world, Audrey would still be interested once the case closed.

Rae reluctantly stepped out of Audrey’s arms. The Whisperer’s victims depended on her. One day she would deserve to call each one by name—the day she caught him. “I promise all the follow-up you need very soon.”

Audrey looked at her with complete understanding and the closest thing to love she’d ever seen reflected in a pair of indigo eyes. “Back to the original question. What’s new?”

Rae filled her in on the latest details between light kisses and ear nibbling. Her efforts to remain totally professional evaporated when Audrey was within reach. “Let’s throw darts. I’m waiting for a couple of calls, and I need to concentrate. You’re very distracting.”

She took Audrey’s hand and led her back into the study. “Do you remember your first lesson?” Audrey gave her a doe-eyed shake of the head so gorgeous Rae’s insides quivered. She reviewed the basics of dart throwing and turned Audrey loose on one of the two boards tacked to the wall. Rae aimed at the other and was soon lost in the details of the case.

Position, aim, release, and retrieve. She landed three darts perfectly in the bull’s-eye and went to pull them out. As she turned, Audrey released a wobbly throw and the dart sailed toward her. She dodged, barely missing a head shot, but the dart spiraled into her left inner thigh. “Ouch.” She stared at the dangling projectile, not quite able to believe what she saw.

Audrey rushed to her side. “Oh, my gosh. I’m so sorry. I guess I wasn’t paying attention. I’m so awful at this game. You should never trust me with sharp objects. I cut my underarms when I shave. Rae, I’m sorry. Does it hurt? Let me—”

Rae placed her fingers over Audrey’s lips. She was more upset than Rae. “It’s all right. It didn’t do any serious damage. My jeans took most of the impact.”

“Take them off.”

“Now you’re talking.” Rae reached for her belt and shucked her jeans to the floor before Audrey could clarify her intent. As her pants fell, so did the dart. A small streak of blood trickled down her thigh.

“You’re bleeding. Sit down.” Audrey grabbed a tissue from the end table, knelt in front of her, and dabbed the wound. “It doesn’t look too bad. I’m so sorry.”

Rae was amazed by the tenderness in Audrey’s words and touch. She finger-combed her short hair and tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry. I’m glad it wasn’t a bit higher and to the right. I could’ve been out of commission for a while, if you get my drift.”

Audrey suddenly sat back on her heels as if she’d been pushed. “That’s it. Why didn’t I see it sooner? It all makes sense now.”

Audrey wore the same expression as earlier when she talked about her assault and the Whisperer. When she could, she’d explain. Rae couldn’t picture a life constantly interrupted by the moods, thoughts, or feelings of others. Living daily under those circumstances required mental resilience and stamina Rae wasn’t certain she possessed. Her admiration for Audrey increased exponentially as she waited for her next disclosure.