Transience (14 page)

Hearing her name calmed her a bit.
 
The voice was soft, like her mother's, and her thoughts immediately went to her.
 
Where is she?
 
Does she know how to find me?
 
Did something happen to her, too?
 

"Shhhh," the nurse could see Rebecca's anxiety growing.
 
She caressed her forehead and held her hand.
 
The nurse's touch was warm, her skin smooth.
 
A sharp contrast to the rough, blistered fingers that had tried to choke Rebecca to death moments before.

CHAPTER 27

There he was again; about 35, brown hair, clean cut.
 
Nice smile.
 
He would always find a reason to search endlessly for something wherever Laura happened to be stacking shelves.
 
But so far, he hadn't had the courage to speak to her.
 

She turned to look in his direction and he darted his eyes away.
 
She tried to time it — catch him looking.
 
His quick head turn made her laugh.
 
It was nice to be reminded that she was still an attractive woman.
 
Still alive.
 
Even though she'd stopped caring about her appearance, her face bloated and listless from so many sleepless nights, it hadn't affected her innate beauty.
 
Her visible condition, her sad eyes, brought out the protective impulses of some men.
 

But her life revolved around Rebecca now and she was fine with that.
 
The divorce had steeled her resolve; she needed to make sure Rebecca's environment remained stable.
 
It was more of a priority than her own loneliness.
 

Laura crouched down to organize the bottom shelf, leaning in and reaching to the back to retrieve outdated boxes of cereal, pulling them to the front.
 
She took a large stack of current ones and placed them on the shelf above, in order to pull the older ones out.
 

The manager, Ted, a shrimp of a man who made up for it by shouting when he spoke, passed behind her, making sure to admire her shapely rear end.

"The sugary cereals go on the bottom shelves Laura.
 
So the kids can see it?
 
Beg their mothers to buy it?"
 

"What do you think I'm doing?" Laura looked up — the handsome man had left.
 
As Ted reached the end of her aisle, she flipped him the middle finger.

"Eyes in the back of my head!" Laura knew he hadn't seen what she did, he just knew everyone hated him and assumed it.
 
She pulled boxes off the shelf and turned their labels to face front, pushing the newer, fresher dates to the back.
 

"Laura?"
 

Laura crawled back out from under the shelf and looked up again, this time at Amy, a cashier with braces and her hair in a bun.
 
Amy liked to time her 15 minute breaks to coincide with Laura's, so she could bum cigarettes.

"There's a phone call for you."
 

"For me?" Laura sounded nervous.

"Yeah, from the hospital."

CHAPTER 28

"I'm looking for Rebecca Lowell, she was admitted here?" Jack said.
 
He drummed his fingers impatiently as the admitting clerk looked up Rebecca's name on her computer.
 

"Pediatric wing, 4th floor," the woman said.
 
Jack pushed off the counter towards the elevator.
 
He tapped the up button relentlessly until the door opened.

He entered the pediatric wing, spotting Laura at the other end, pacing.
 
She seemed deep in thought, biting her nails, still wearing her Super Saver apron.
 
Jack knew that slow despondent creep across the floor.
 
It reminded him of that day.
 
The worst day.
 

He slowed his pace, not wanting to add additional stress.
 
Were they more acquainted, he'd have opened his arms to offer a consoling hug.
 
Instead he put his hands in his pockets and attempted to look as non-confrontational as possible.
 
He called out to her:

"Ms. Lowell?"

Laura furrowed her brow.
 
"What are you…?" she trailed off.

"
I tried to find you at your job, they told me you were here."

"Why?
 
What's going on?"

Jack looked into the room where Rebecca was sleeping, a nurse was adjusting her IV.

"I was just about to ask you."

Laura's shoulders drooped, she exhaled exasperation.
 

"She got into a fight.
 
Bunch of God damn animals."

"Is she okay?"
 

"I don't know.
 
When I find out who it was, they're gonna be missing a few teeth."

Jack looked at his shoes, searching for a way to somehow segue into his
other
question.
 
He didn't want to corner her, make her feel ambushed, but time was short.

"Ms. Lowell, we found a body — a girl, down by the Twin Rivers."

Laura covered her mouth.
 
"I'm sorry.
 
Is it-"

"No."
 
He rubbed his chin, unsure how to proceed.
 
"The location we found the body… the circumstances, they match Rebecca's account."

"Account?
 
What account?
 
I don't understand."
 

"Neither do I."
 

Laura shook her head irritably.
 
"Look, I told you, there's no way Rebecca could know anything about any of this."

"I agree," Jack said.
 
Laura's head jerked up.
 
"The girl we found… was murdered about 10 years ago.
 
The victim's name was Carmen Muniz." Laura's face went pale.
 
She turned and looked in at Rebecca, asleep, helpless.
 

"Carmen…" Laura cupped her nose and mouth, absorbing it.

"She was 19.
 
I visited her mother's home this afternoon.
 
I saw a picture.
 
You knew her, didn't you?"

Laura nodded, still stunned.

"So, you can understand, I have a few questions I need to ask."

Laura kept nodding, not taking her eyes off Rebecca.

"Ms. Lowell, I think all of these murders are connected, which means this guy has been killing for a lot longer than anyone suspected.
 
Whatever you know about Carmen — her disappearance — I need to know."

"I don't know anything about it.
 
We lost touch.
 
I-"

"Then how does your daughter know so much?
 
You see my dilemma."
 
Laura took a few steps, putting distance between them.
 
"Look, this guy is still out there, another girl is missing.
 
If you know something, if you're protecting someone?"
 

Laura looked at Jack like he had grown two heads.

"Mrs. Lowell?" a third voice interrupted the standoff.

Laura turned to see the doctor who'd calmed her down earlier, when she burst into the room in hysterics upon seeing Rebecca all wired up.

"Yes?"
 
Laura said, her priorities shifting, tuning Jack out.

"I'm Doctor Harris, we spoke earlier."

"Is she okay?"
 

Jack took a courteous step backwards.

"She's doing fine.
 
She had a seizure.
 
Has she suffered any before?"

"Yes, several."

"For how long?"
 

"Just the last few months really."

"Is she on any medication for them?"
 

"…No," Laura said, guilty.

"Well, I'd like to keep her here a little longer, for observation.
 
Run a few tests, try to get a more definitive answer for what's causing them."

"Can I see her?" Laura asked.
 
Doctor Harris acknowledged Jack with a look, then turned back to Laura.
 

"
You
can."
 
The doctor walked Laura into the room.
 
Jack watched from the doorway.

Rebecca tossed and turned, mumbling in her sleep.
 
A nurse stood at her bedside, monitoring her vitals.
 
Tears dripped down Laura's cheeks as she gently grasped Rebecca's small fingers.
 

Everyone listened closely as Rebecca's words grew clearer, more pronounced.
 
Laura couldn't make any sense of it, but recognized some of the words.
 
She'd heard them before. Jack watched intently.

A Hispanic orderly entered the room, wheeling a very large garbage can on a cart.
 
He retrieved a small trash container from inside the bathroom and dumped its contents.
 
He replaced the plastic bag and set it down beside the toilet.

"What's she saying?" Laura asked.
 

Doctor Harris shook his head, unsure.
 
"I don't know."

The orderly turned his cart towards the door.
 
"She's praying."
 
All eyes turned to him, then back to Rebecca.
 

"Praying?"
 
Laura asked, her face a question mark.
 
Jack didn't speak Spanish, but understood a few words.
 
As they listened, Rebecca's speech grew more audible and clear:
 

"Santa Maria, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros, pecadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.
 
Amen."
 
Rebecca repeated the phrase over and over, louder and louder.
 
Laura watched with wide eyes.
 

Jack quickly withdrew his notepad and started jotting down what she was saying.
 
He wrote the same sentence twice before he recognized she was repeating herself.
 

"Does your daughter speak Spanish?"
 
Jack asked.

"No." Laura said quickly.
 
Doctor Harris listened, confounded by what was taking place.

"What about your ex-husband?" Jack asked.
 

"He can barely speak English, much less a second language."
 

The doctor leaned over Rebecca, taking her pulse, holding her head to see if she was feverish.
 
He whispered something to the nurse, who drew the curtain around Rebecca and Laura with one quick swipe, cutting Jack off.

CHAPTER 29

Jack stormed into Leonard's office, the secretary following right behind him.

"I'm sorry Doctor Hellerman, he wouldn't-"
 
Leonard held up his hand.
 

"It's okay, Mary."
 
Leonard had been expecting Jack.
 
He waved her away and she closed the door.
 
Jack stood across from his desk, rain dripping off his jacket.

"Something very strange is going on here," Jack said, his gaze intense, the same he used on suspects during interrogations.
 
Leonard had to avert his eyes.
 
He spun his chair 45 degrees and looked towards the window at the falling rain.

"I risked my practice by confiding in you, Jack.
 
I was trying to help you."
 
Jack saw the morning paper on Leonard's desk, he picked it up.
 
On the front page was an article about Carmen.
 
The headline read:
Body of girl missing 10 years found.
 
Underneath the headline was a picture of Carmen, the same graduation photo Jack held in Carmen's bedroom.

"There's something you're not telling me."
 

"There's a lot I haven't told you."
 

"I'm listening."
 

Leonard turned and finally looked at Jack.
 
"I've already said more than I should have."

"We're not leaving this room until you-"

"You told the mother.
 
You didn't mention the tapes, did you?
 
I never even let
her
listen to them."

"No, but she's not stupid.
 
How else could I have gotten Rebecca's account of the murder? You were right, her descriptions were vivid."

"A credible recollection, not a vivid imagination."

"It's not possible… How?"
 

"You mean, how could a nine year old girl describe a murder that took place… before she was even born?"
 

Jack slapped his palms flat on Leonard's desk and leaned in.
 
"The river, the train, that tree — it's just as she described, not another like it in the whole damn world.
 
How could she have known?
 
Where'd she get it from?
 
Even the method of death." Leonard remained calm.

"You heard the tapes; that wasn't her imagination re-creating something she overheard.
 
She was there."

"That doesn't make any sense!"
 

"They've positively identified her body?"
 

Jack nodded.
 
"We couldn't release it otherwise."
 

"And you've visited the family."

"What's going on here, Leonard?"
 

Leonard sat back and drew a deep breath.
 
The office intercom buzzed: "
Doctor, you have a call on 1, Mrs. Burke has a question about her son's prescription?
" Leonard ignored the page.

"I've exposed my practice too much already."

"You called me.
 
I could cite you with obstruction."