Iris Johansen - Blood Game

“Okay. Jane and I have some catching up to do anyway.”

“I’ll be home soon as I can. By the way, why did you phone me?”

Joe was so blessedly normal Eve felt foolish that she had yielded to the temptation to call him. “I just wanted to talk to you. Is everything all right with you?”

He didn’t answer directly. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“No reason. I’ll see you tonight.” She hung up. Lord, she was relieved. He sounded much better than he had earlier. She had told Megan that she and Joe talked, but she had slid away from telling Joe about Megan’s call. He would have just laughed and made some kind of derogatory comment about Megan’s voodoo.

You were afraid, Mama.

But there’s nothing to be afraid of, baby. Joe is doing just fine.

“I’M ON MY WAY BACK TO THEprecinct,” Schindler said as he watched the M.E. vehicle pulling away from the curb carrying Nancy Jo Norris to the morgue. “You too?”

Joe nodded. “Right away. I want to take a look at that goblet they pulled from her hand.” He was moving toward Johnson, who had placed the goblet in a clear plastic bag and was sealing it. “I won’t be long.”

“Better not. They’re going to want our reports in a hurry. Everything is going to have to be in a hurry. The captain will need answers.”

“She’s not going to get them. Forensics is swearing that the killer didn’t leave much for them to work with. He cleaned up the site.

“Except maybe that goblet…” Joe took the plastic bag from Johnson and held it up to the light. The sun was going down, but the rays pierced the plastic, and he could make out the carving. It looked like an ancient dining hall, a long table at which sat several men. All the men had goblets sitting in front of them, and one man was standing with a goblet raised in his hand.

“I’ve got to get that to the lab, Quinn,” Johnson said. “My boss has been on my ass for the last hour.”

“I know. The big push.” Joe handed the bag back to him. “I’m pushing too. Get it done fast, Johnson.” He turned away. “And I want a report every step of the way.”

He started for his car, then turned and looked back at the place by the river where they’d found Nancy Jo Norris. The chalk outline gleamed in the fading light. Too neat for a murder-

What?

See.

Hear.

Open.

He stiffened. What the hell?

There were four uniformed officers guarding the taped-off crime scene. Forensics had gone. Two TV trucks were down the street. The words hadn’t come from there.

See. Hear. Open.

He moved slowly toward the trees beyond the place where Nancy Jo Norris had been murdered.

See. Hear. Open.

He was now in the twilight shadows cast by the trees. He stood still, listening, waiting for it to come again.

“I don’t like it here. It scares me.”

He whirled to the left and saw her.

She was standing only a few yards away. Long blond hair, jeans, red University of Georgia sweatshirt, a face that he’d been staring at all day, blue eyes wide with fear and bewilderment.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked hoarsely.

“I’m Nancy Jo. Who are you?”

Joe felt as if he’d been kicked in the stomach. He could feel the small hairs rise on the back of his neck. Get a grip. There had to be an explanation.

“You’re some relation to the dead girl? A sister?”

“I don’t have a sister. Dead girl.” She whispered, “You’re talking about me, aren’t you? I don’t understand. How can that be? Why?”

“How did you get here? Why didn’t the policeman on duty stop you at the tape?”

“I’ve been here all day, watching you.” She shuddered. “You kept talking about that girl as if she was me. She’s not me. She used to be, but that was before he-”

He had to stop this craziness. Get everything back to reality. “You’re saying that she’s not Nancy Jo Norris? Then who is the victim?”

“Victim.” She closed her eyes. “Yes, I was a victim. I’ve been trying to run away from it. But he made me a victim. He took away my life. And my blood. He took my blood.” Her lids lifted to reveal blue eyes glittering with tears. “Why? It’s not right. It shouldn’t have happened. Not to me. I didn’t do anything bad.”

Either he was crazy, or this girl was a crackpot. He hoped to God it wasn’t him. Regardless, he had to respond to the situation as if he was thinking and acting normally. It was his only salvation. “I think you’d better come along with me. We’ll need to question you about your relationship with the deceased and how you came to be here.”

“He brought me here, you idiot.” The tears were suddenly gone, and her fists were clenched at her sides. “He attacked me from behind in that parking garage at Perimeter Mall and stuffed a handkerchief over my face. It smelled… sweet. Like the anesthetic I had when they took out my appendix. I went out like a light. Then he brought me here and slit my throat. Now what are you going to do about it? You’re a cop, aren’t you?”

“I’m Detective Joe Quinn.” He paused. “And you’re obviously having delusions. You need help. Will you come with me?”

“You’re saying I’m crazy, dammit. I’m not crazy. He was crazy. Do you think this is easy for me? I’m scared, and I don’t know what to do. They keep telling me I have to come away, but I think they’re wrong. I do need help. But I don’t need it from you. I’ll find my father or maybe one of those policemen over there.”

“By all means.” He turned. “I’ll go and send an officer to you. Stay here.” He walked quickly away. Not too quickly. He wasn’t running away, he assured himself. He was just resolving a difficult situation. He glanced over his shoulder. She was still standing there, waiting.

Shit. Admit it. Of course he was running away. Not only from Nancy Jo Norris but what it said about his sanity that he was seeing her.

He stopped as he reached the officer standing at the tape. “Would you go and take that woman into custody, Officer Millbran? We need her for questioning.”

“Yes, sir. Which woman?”

“Who do you think?” He nodded. “The woman over there in the red sweatshirt.”

“Right. I’ll go find her.” Officer Millbran sprinted toward the trees.

Find her? She was standing there in full view waiting for him.

The officer ran right past her into the trees.

A shudder went through Joe’s spine. He hadn’t seen her, he realized. Millbran had been only a few feet from her, and he hadn’t seen her.

She was looking as bewildered as Joe felt. But she couldn’t be feeling the same panic. Because he was imagining it all. She wasn’t real. Another hallucination.

He tore his gaze away from her. He turned on his heel and strode blindly toward his car.

What the hell was happening to him?

JOE KEPT HIS GAZE AWAY FROMthe trees, staring straight ahead, his hands clenched on the steering wheel. He wouldn’t wait for Officer Millbran to come back and tell him that there had been no woman in a red sweatshirt. He had no desire to see the young man’s confusion or hear his excuses. And he most certainly didn’t want to have to lie to him. He would deal with this problem himself, as he did everything else.

But he had never had a problem like this, one that could affect every facet of his life. If he wasn’t careful, he’d find himself in a straitjacket in the booby hatch. One episode he could lay to stress. This second occurrence was a sign that he was definitely off-kilter.