“A little change of scenery while I finish my preparations. There’s so much to do. Did you like what I showed you earlier? Did it not seem a wondrous staging ground to ring in the Ascension? You’ll be returning later, after we’ve had a little fun.”
“Where are my clothes, you pervert?” Her voice was hoarse and strained. “Why did you take them?”
He smiled pleasantly. “I didn’t wish to get them wet.” And then he dumped the bucket on her.
It was filled with water, ice cold. It hit her like an arctic tidal wave. She thought she was going into shock; for a moment, it felt as if her heart actually stopped beating. She shivered uncontrollably, convulsing. She had never felt so bitterly frozen in her entire life.
“C-C-C-Could I please have a blanket? Or s-s-s-something. I-I-I-”
“I’m sorry. That isn’t an option.”
“B-B-B-But I’m s-s-s-so c-c-cold.”
“Yes. But fear not-later you’ll be hot. So terribly hot. Then cold again, then hot. Cold, hot, cold, hot. All the livelong day.”
She peered up at him, her eyes cloudy, her flesh a mottled pink covered with chill bumps, her arms clutched as tightly as possible to her exposed chest. “Why?”
“I should think that was obvious. To eliminate that trademark Pulaski stubbornness. Happily, I don’t require your total subservience. There simply isn’t enough time remaining. I already have my three offerings. You’re the Vessel. But fear not-it’s a most important role.”
She drank in air in deep, convulsive gasps. “Why… are… you… like this?”
He looked at her for a long moment. “A curious question. Why are any of us the way we are? There’s no satisfactory explanation, is there? Would you like me to tell you a sad story? Blame it all on my tragic childhood? Mommy didn’t love me. Daddy hit me with a hairbrush. Simplistic balderdash. We are what we are.” He adjusted the lay of his vest. “I am the Raven. Everything else was mere prologue.”
People were talking to me, shouting in my ear, demanding answers to their endless questions. I couldn’t process it all, couldn’t deal with it. Why had he targeted Rachel? How had I known he was coming here? Why hadn’t I done something about it sooner? Each time I started to give a coherent answer something else interrupted, a new demand, a false hope, a neural spasm in my brain. This could not be happening. This could not be happening.
Rachel!
“Everybody out of the house!” Patrick shouted. And when had he shown up? At least someone had the sense to preserve what was now a crime scene. God knows I hadn’t.
“Call the techs. Get Crenshaw. Get O’Bannon!”
Patrick barked out orders with impressive efficiency and organization. It should be me, I heard the voice inside my head say. It should be me.
Rachel!
All at once, every single living memory, every photograph, every reminder of what that man had done to me flashed through my head.
And now he had my niece.
Patrick pulled the questioners off me. I knew the respite would be a brief one, but I was determined to make the most of it. I found a sofa and sat, steadying myself. My hands were shaking again. My stomach was sick, tossing, craving. I knew what I wanted, what I needed. I felt it with an urgency I had not experienced before, not since I woke up by the dam, not even when I saw the pictures.
He had won, he and the bottle. I knew I would get drunk tonight. I knew I would get drunk and stay drunk and be a drunk for the rest of my life. I had tried so hard. But I wasn’t strong enough.
I felt a sharp aching in my left wrist. God, I’d almost forgotten that was there. If only I’d done it right. I might be gone, but Rachel would be safe.
This was my fault. This was all my fault.
Next thing I remembered was Patrick sitting beside me, Darcy hovering behind him. Patrick was careful to keep his face sympathetic but calm, strong. And Darcy was expressionless. Was that because he wasn’t picking up on the nonverbal clues, didn’t comprehend my fear and sadness? No, I think he got it, perhaps more than anyone. He just didn’t know what to do about it. Who could?
“We have to ask you some more questions, Susan. Not just about what happened tonight, but about Rachel in general. Anything you can tell us about her that might be helpful.”
I felt so useless. I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t even raise my eyes to his.
“But I don’t know why it has to be done here,” Patrick continued. “Best if we take it back to headquarters.”
So I won’t be around if the crime techs start making discoveries? Like Rachel’s blood? Evidence of her death or torture?
“Why don’t you ride back with me? I’ll get a sergeant to bring your car-”
“No, I’ll drive,” I said, snapping out of it with a suddenness that startled both of us.
“I don’t think that’s wise.”
“I can do it. I’ll meet you back-”
He grabbed my wrist and held it tight. “We need you on this, Susan. We need you one hundred percent.”
I knew what he was saying. He knew why I wanted to drive myself. But it was all so far beyond my control.
O’Bannon crouched down beside me. “Susan, I’m sorry to have to do this to you, but you’re off the case.”
“What?”
“Your niece is a victim now. You’re too close. I could overlook your own involvement, but not hers. Effective now, your consulting contract is canceled. You can keep the desk. I’ll try to assign you something else when an appropriate case comes along. But as for now-”
That was when the phone rang, cutting him mercifully short. I don’t know what I thought I was doing. But I was sitting right next to it. So I picked it up.
No. I have to be honest. I knew who it was. And I knew it was for me.
“Yeah.”
“I have her.”
“Son of a bitch.” I clenched the receiver so tightly my fingers turned white. “Why Rachel?”
“I needed her. She’s the Vessel.”
“You said you cared about me, you bastard!” I shouted, feigning a toughness I did not feel. “If you do anything to her, anything like what you did to me-”
“Please calm yourself, dear. This is pointless.”
“I’ll make your god Poe look like an unimaginative grandma when you see what I can do. Have you hurt her?”
“Of course not.”
“What is it you want?” I cried. “What is it you want from me?”
“Now? Nothing. Nothing at all.”
“Then why-”
“I just called to tell you that you needn’t worry. I have Rachel, and I will take good care of her, after my fashion. There’s no chance that you’ll catch me or recover her. So relax and enjoy what little time is left.”
My head felt thick and unresponsive. There must be something I should do, something I should say. But what was it? “What do you mean, what little time is left?”
“I’ve told you before, Susan. The end times are upon us. I have everything I need now. Everything.”
“Let me talk to her. If you really haven’t hurt her, let me talk to her.”
A long sigh. Followed by: “Five seconds.”
The phone passed. “Oh, my God, Susan, it’s him. It’s really him. I haven’t been this scared since that day when we rented a video just after my parents-”
“Time’s up.”
“Bastard!” I wailed, my voice hoarse. “You could at least let her finish the sentence.”
“I’m afraid we must go, just in case you’re tracing.”
“Can I talk to her again tomorrow?”
“I… doubt she’ll be… able to communicate clearly.” I heard him sigh. “I wanted so much to save you, Susan. But I couldn’t do it. And who else is going to try?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I think you know. Good night, Susan. Try not to make a mess of it this time.”
The line disconnected.
While they were all babbling about the trace and the recording and what it meant, I stumbled to my car and drove away, fast, before Patrick got up the strength or numbers to stop me. My heart was pounding and my brain was racing. A thousand thoughts cruised through my head at once. It was like being drunk without being drunk. Was this what they called a dry drunk? I couldn’t focus. Couldn’t get a grip on myself, on anything.