Alex said through grinding teeth, “If she's on the case, I'm off, Cap.”
“ You make that move, Alex, and I swear, I'll use the tape those IAD clowns brought to me.”
“ Not like you to threaten, Carl.”
“ My options aren't many, Alex. Now if you and deYampert had anything for me, maybe things would be different, but so far all you've managed to do is go around in circles trying to find that transvestite snitch of yours. Meanwhile, you don't have the slightest idea of the hounds on my back or how often I've taken shots for you.”
“ I'm telling you, Carl, there's something strange about Gil-reath's disappearance right after we got the first call, after the Kenny Stimpson killing, and I'd swear it was his disguised voice on that 9ll. And if he did find Stimpson's body, he either knew him or his killer. And now this victim, Captain, if you haven't heard yet, is a transvestite.”
“ You really think Gilreath knows something?”
“ I do.”
“ Then find the bastard.”
“ I've been working on it day and night.”
“
Obviously not good enough, Alex.”
“ Ben and I are busting asses on this-” Each man was alerted to a sudden keening cry of anguish and, looking up, they saw Dr. Desinor, her right hand on the body's forehead, her left in the open chest wound, her eyes closed, her cry of pain and terror turning Alex's blood into a thick oatmeal.
“ What the hell's she doing?” shouted Sincebaugh. “Get her out of here!”
Landry grabbed Sincebaugh and pushed him against one of the blood-spattered walls. “Shut up, Alex… shut up and let her do her thing.”
“ So”-Sincebaugh was fighting for breath-”to hell with protocol.”
“ Protocol hasn't gotten us anywhere. You find a door locked, you go round to the back.”
“ I don't need this shit, Carl.”
Ben deYampert was now beside Alex, telling him, “Give it a chance, Alex. If it fails, we've cleared the runway, and if it helps, more power to the lady. Got to admit, she's got guts.”
Meade placed a hand over his lips, silently asking for quiet. Frowning, Alex relented.
The three hardened police detectives and the FBI field chief all watched now in silence as the psychic did her work.
“ No… no…” she was moaning. “I never hurt you… Whyyyyy?”
Alex continued to frown at the show of histrionics, but no one else seemed to be bothered by the theatrical demonstration and obvious pretense.
Kim Desinor raised her arms in mock self-defense, and as she went to her knees after a flurry of self-defense moves, her fists clenched and doubled as if wielding a heavy object. She rose and seemed to score a hit with the ghostly weapon in her hand, but suddenly the phantom object was dropped from her grasp, and she stumbled backwards, clutching her chest as if fighting to keep her heart intact while fending off invisible blows.
Sincebaugh almost laughed at the display, but when he saw her falling, he reacted instinctively to catch her in his arms, but not before she grazed her head on the bedpost.
“ Get her outside, Alex. Get some water, Ben,” the captain was shouting.
Meade reacted nervously. “Good God, is she all right?”
The bruise weltered up in a dark ring over her eye, but this seemed the least of her worries. She'd gone into some sort of seizure, epileptic in nature, and she was shrill and pleading against an invisible attacker.
She lashed out at Alex, who raised an open hand and slapped her hard, bringing a red hue to one side of her face and startling her out of her vision.
Alex felt the reality of her fear, deep and lifting, an ocean of it running current-swift through the woman. Whether she was a fake or not, no one short of Meryl Streep could act this well. Had she locked onto something evil and unimaginable in the room? Alex momentarily and helplessly wondered, feeling the intensity of her struggle in his arms.
He held her against his chest, shouting, “It's all right, Kim… you're all right… you're among friends.”
His words sounded so banal to himself, but he could think of nothing more comforting to say; still, the words seemed to be working as she relaxed under his grip. He held her now with her eyes closed. She had shut down as if a control or safety mechanism had taken over.
Alex tore the looped black rosary beads from her twisted fingers, somehow knowing that only when her touch was severed from the strange crystal cross would she relax. This done, he shouted, “I think we'd better get her over to St. Luke's now!”
“ You do that, Alex,” said Landry. “Ben and I'll finish up here.”
“ That's all right, Sincebaugh. I'll take her to the hospital,” suggested Lew Meade. “Right, right,” Alex replied sarcastically before carrying her off, down the narrow corridor and steps and outside, where a mist shrouded the waiting crowd. He bolted toward his squad car, passing by other cops and reporters held at the ribbon, all of them very curious about the limp woman in Alex's arms, some of them recognizing her as the psychic called in by the NOPD to work the Hearts case.
“ First time on a crime scene,” he shouted. “Hey, what can I tell you. Happens to the best of us.” It was both a lie and a weak defense, but he bullied past them all.
He put her into the backseat of his squad car and drove the six blocks to St. Luke's Presbyterian Hospital.
In the rear, she was coming around, mumbling to herself, something about a bloody baseball bat. He paid little heed as he turned the car into the E.R. port.
Less than half an hour later, Kim Desinor was lying comfortably in an E.R. bed, her condition considered fair, and she was opening her eyes to find Alex standing over her, the glint of genuine concern steeling his gaze.
“ You okay, Doctor… Kim?” he asked.
“ Where…”
“ Hospital. You kinda went berserk back there. Went out. We kinda panicked, so here you are. Doctor says you're okay. He patched your forehead and…”
She reached up, touched the wide bandage and said, “Ouch! What happened?”
“ Sorry, but you fell against a bedpost. I caught you before you did any more harm to yourself.”
She shook off a cold chill that swept through her. “I saw something, didn't I?”
“ Hmmmph, you tell me.”
“ I can't… remember.”
“ Can't remember what? Being in the room, parading around, acting out the part of the victim, or what you saw while in trance?” How very convenient, he thought. So it was all a show that maybe got out of hand.
She saw the telling look in his eye. “Lieutenant, I'm only human. What I saw, my mind refused to accept. I saw myself-as someone else-being murdered.”
“ You saw yourself.”
“ As her, as him… as the Dumond woman. His real name… I know it, but it's sealed away with everything else I learned. I was her… him… for the duration.”
“ But you can't remember what you saw as Ms. Dumond?”
She detected the ripple of humor in his tone. “Nothing… a total blank, a protective measure. My subconscious has the negatives, though, and after hypnosis, I think I could piece together what I saw as Dumond.”
“ You'll have to forgive me, Doctor, but I'm just not convinced of any of this. Tell it to Captain Landry.”
“ Alex, what occurred was real.”
“ I think it's late. I'd like to get out of this hospital and go home. Can I drop you anywhere?” he asked, ignoring her now.
“ God, you're infuriating.”
“ Me? What do you think…” He hesitated and lowered his hands. “Look, how do you think I feel about you?”
“ You deny your own psychic abilities, repress them even, and you can't stand the thought of anyone else having any either, it would appear.”
“ That's the biggest load I've heard from you yet.”
“ You forget, I've seen the tape of you at the coffee shop. I've seen you in action.”
“ I claim no second sight.”
“ Claim it or not, you've got it.”
“ Listen, for the duration of this night, can we talk about anything other than this?”