“Don’t try to talk. Don’t try to talk,” Randy insisted. “I know you’ve had a busy day already. Just came by to make sure my girl was alive and kicking.” Her eyes went wide. “And gossip!”
She sat down beside her.
“First of all, I think Dylan Connelly definitely has a crush on you. No joke. He came by a few times to check on the case and twice he asked about you. First time was like ‘Hey, have you gone to visit Black yet?’ Real casual and all. And the second time was today. He was like ‘How’s Black doing?’ I don’t think that man has ever spoken to me outside of case-related questions. Seriously!? You got yourself a boy toy if you want it.”
A disapproving frown lined Avery’s face.
“Yeah, he’s not for you,” Randy said, “but Ramirez? Now he’s dreamy. You go and get that boy, girl. He saved your life!”
She smiled, then slowly her smile faded.
“Can we please talk about that lady killer?” she added. “Is it too soon?”
Avery gave her the thumbs-up.
“Thirty-six cats,” Randy huffed in disbelief. “Thirty-six! Who has thirty-six cats? And three dogs? And you want to know what was even crazier than that? They were all female. Not a single male among them. And all those pictures on his wall in the basement? I don’t know if you remember that but he had lots of sick pictures of all these cats and dogs and the girls he killed, and each picture showed a different stage of their conversion into stuffed animals, you know? All girls. Crazy white man had a little girls’ club all his own. Connelly said it had to do with Roman mythology and Aphrodite and all these women, but I just think the man was nuts.”
A sound escaped Avery’s lips.
She cleared her throat and focused on a single world.
“Family?”
“Did he have any relatives?” Randy asked to confirm. “Is that what you want to know? Oh, yeah. That guy that shot himself was his uncle. I thought you knew that. It’s all here in the paper,” she said. “Uncle hired the killer about a year ago. Killer met all those girls at a job fair. Got to know them when they came to the office.”
She placed the paper on Avery’s chest.
The headline read “College Killer Captured” with a picture of the crime scene. A smaller burst read “Disgraced Attorney Turned Cop in Critical Condition” with an article about how she left a viable crime scene to find the actual killer.
“You’re a hero!” Randy cheered.
It was hard for Avery to think of herself as a hero or anything else. Her mind was too groggy to focus on anything for very long, and her body remained in a post-paralysis shock that made movement difficult.
Hero. That was not what she wanted. That was never what she’d wanted. She’d just wanted to set wrongs right, to put these bastards away forever.
To make amends, she realized, for something for which she would never be able to make amends.
Her eyes grew heavy, and as sleep fell on her, it was hard for her to believe that she’d ever be able to walk again.
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
On Thursday morning, surprisingly, Avery awoke, alert and physically capable. She could easily move her arms without the sluggish weight, sit up on her own, and think clearly. A short conversation with the morning nurse confirmed her throat muscles were stronger.
Events from the house were difficult to recall. She could see the dogs, all the cats, and the strange basement walls made of wood and picture frames. There was even a frightening image of Edwin Pesh like a spider with two glowing eyes, hopping from one side of a room to the other. How she’d gotten out alive? She only remembered a whisper and the face of Ramirez.
The door opened, and Avery looked up in shock. Her heart soared at the sight: Rose came running into the room.
“Mom!” she cried and hugged her tight. “I was so worried about you.”
Avery closed her eyes and gripped her daughter just as strongly. Tears fell down her face, as the tight hug warmed her heart.
Avery remembered pieces of their dismal lunch, the message she’d left her before she stupidly entered the house of a killer alone.
She’s back, she thought. My Rose came back to me.
Rose eventually let her go.
“I’ve been calling everyone,” she said. “I had no idea where you were. No one would give me any answers. Finally, your captain called me back and told me you were here and awake. I came as soon as I could.”
Avery smiled, hardly able to speak through her tears.
“Mom, I was sick about the way we left things. I’m so sorry. This whole week, all I could think about was: if Mom dies, you’ll have to live with the way you acted for the rest of your life. I’m so sorry. It’s just…”
Tears ran down Avery’s cheek.
“It’s my fault,” she said. “Don’t you take the blame, Rose. I’m the one to blame. I’m your mother, and I promise I’ll make this right.”
They cried and held hands and in that grip, Avery felt all the heaviness that had been draped around her neck all these years slowly lifting away. This, she realized, was what was restoring her. More than catching any killer could.
They talked and talked, as they had in old times, and didn’t release each other’s hands for hours. Finally, Avery felt, it was time to live again.
Ramirez dropped by again around noon. He appeared more relaxed in designer jeans, a light pink button-down T-shirt, and white sneakers.
“Hey, Avery,” he said as if he belonged there. “I brought lunch,” and he held up a picnic basket. “Hope I’m not too much of a nuisance, but my mother always said the way to a woman’s heart is through food.”
“You trying to get to my heart?” Avery asked.
“You know, you know,” he said without meeting her gaze. “You saved my life. You’re my partner. I saved your life.”
He glanced up.
Dark brown eyes sought out her innermost feelings.
“If you don’t want me to stay,” he added and opened a basket full of fried chicken and cherries and soda, “I guess I could just go back home.”
Avery smiled.
During the difficult times in her life, she’d always sought the company of men like Ramirez. No, she realized. Not exactly like him. The other men were harder around the edges, players, more interested in one-night stands than an actual relationship. But Ramirez, she thought, he’s sweet. And cute. And he really does seem to care.
He’s your partner! her mind blared.
So what? she thought with abandon. This is the new you, and the new you can do whatever she wants.
“Stay,” she said with a mischievous grin. “I love lunch.”
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
Avery was released on Friday.
Ramirez picked her up and drove to her car, which was parked a half block away from the killer’s house. As they passed, Avery gave it a long, solemn stare.
“You all right?” Ramirez said. “This doesn’t freak you out or anything?”
“I’m fine,” she replied.
She didn’t just feel fine. She felt better than fine.
Everything about her life now seemed different, better. She had plans to see Rose again soon. Ramirez had come by every day to keep her company. The cards she’d received in her hospital room had been humbling. So many people had sent her well wishes that she realized even when she’d felt alone in the past three years, she’d never been alone.
Avery hopped out and smiled at Ramirez over the hood.
“Well,” she said, “this is my stop. Thanks for everything.”
“You headed back to the office?”
“Yeah.”
“Want me to tag along?”