Robert Walker - Pure Instinct

Just as Alex was going under, he mumbled to Landry, “I'm going… with you… to this place…Raveneaux.”

“ For now, you get some rest, Alex,” Landry said. But now he was speaking to an unconscious man.

Jessica took Landry aside and said, “Me too, Captain. I want to be with you when you go out to this Raveneaux place.”

“ Listen here, I want you to get some rest yourself, young lady. You've gone through a terrible trauma with that fiend Matisak, and both of you”-he included Kim with a ges-ture-”you've been up all night on this vigil over Alex, and I appreciate your concern for him, but you're not going to be any good to anyone if you collapse.”

“ I'll get some rest now, knowing he's okay,” Kim countered.“It's going to be a while before I get that warrant-if I can get it at all. As to probable cause, that's a long shot and not a very good long shot at that.”

“ I'll see what I can do about a federal warrant,” suggested Jessica.

“ That would be great.”

“ But don't count on it,” cautioned Jessica. “Meade doesn't like the idea.”

“ I'll be in touch, and truth be known, there's some things we picked up at the scene which I'd like you to touch over, Dr. Desinor. See what comes of 'em. Would you mind terribly?” asked Landry.

She shook her head. “No, of course not. That's what I'm here for. Anything I can do to help, which so far hasn't been much.”

“ You don't go second-guessing yourself now, Doctor. You've done far more than we could've expected here.”

Dr. Longette shook Landry's hand. “I want to see you raid that old plantation out there. Wish I could be with you, in fact, but… anyway, that's going to be a sight for the six o'clock news.”

“ Hold on now, Dr. Longette, you promise me you won't go calling Channel 2 or anybody. Say it… say it.”

Longette took a deep breath and finally nodded. “All right, Captain. If that's how you want it.”

“ Say it.”

“ I promise you, Carl.”

Now Landry breathed out of relief. Longette then left, a light chuckle on his lips.

“ You'd best get that rest yourself now. Dr. Desinor, Dr. Coran,” suggested Landry.

“ I will,” replied Kim, “but for now, I think I'll just stay a while with Alex, so he doesn't wake up alone.”

He wakes up alone every morning, Landry thought, but did not say. “He'll be out for hours, maybe till tomorrow. Go home… get some rest, both of you.”

“ You go on back to the hotel, Jess. I'll just stay a little longer,” Kim lied, and sent Landry and Jessica on their way.

When Alex's eyes opened and cleared after the dreamless, white-cloud sleep which only sedation could bring, he found Kim Desinor sitting alongside him, holding his hand in hers, her eyes red and moist from her having had no sleep and from weeping.

“ Hey, what gives? What're the tears for? You okay?” He tried to clear a dry, cracked throat. “Somepin happen while I was out?”

“ Everything's such a mess. Ben's gone, you've been hurt so badly, Jessica's so depressed, and I… I haven't been of any use to any of you. If I'd only heeded my own best voice. I knew I was getting crazy, mixed messages from the killer about identity, so why couldn't I have-”

“ You're talkin' nonsense, Kim. That's crazy talk, and I don't want to hear you blaming yourself over Ben's death. God, if anyone's to blame, hell, the big lug wanted to go home to his wife, and I insisted we make one more stop.”

She leaned in over him and found herself hugging him. With bandaged forearms and wrists, he returned the hug as best he could, and they were both surprised at how casually he found her lips, his own passion rising to the surface of its own volition. “It's all right,” he reassured her. “I'm going to be okay.”

Behind them someone had stepped into the hospital room. It was Carl Landry, accompanied by Jessica Coran, who was polite enough to noisily clear her throat, a smile coloring her features, obviously happy to see that Kim and Alex at long last were getting along so well.

Landry cleared his throat almost in echo of Jessica and said, “Glad that I've found you here, Dr. Desinor. Alex, how're you feeling?”

“ Some better.”

“ Doctors are saying bruised ribs, nothing broken,” Kim began, pushing away from Alex, standing now, a bright and energetic glow about her. “And the forearm gashes should heal in a few weeks like new.”

Landry nodded knowingly and muttered, “Battle scars.” Then his tone changed to one of accusation. “You never left this room, did you, Dr. Desinor?”

“ I've been in and out… for coffee and whatnot.”

“ Oh, leave her alone, Carl,” said Jessica, playfully shoving Landry. “Can't you see she's worried about Alex? Nothing wrong in that.”

Landry, a bit uncomfortable with the joviality, spoke directly to Alex. “Alex, I talked with Ben's wife while you were out… tough, tough business. Meanwhile, I've been busy. Got something here I pulled from Surette's apartment. I'm sure it belonged to the killer we're after, and he or she, as you suspect, would've worn it close to his… ahh, her body. Look familiar?”

“ She, Captain,” Alex said, sure of himself. “He-our killer-is a she. It's the same she that killed Thommie Whiley. Calls herself Michael Emanuel Dominique, Thommie's E for Easy… pretends to be a man who likes to dress as a woman, but those breasts of hers were real enough.”

“ Any rate, he or she likely wore these beads close to the skin, and in the scuffle with Ben, they were torn off.” Landry held a set of dark rosary beads up to Kim's eyes. “Look familiar?” This time there was a red-eyed gargoyle on the amulet along with a skull and crossbones, but the gargoyle had not been as cleanly fused to the rosary as the earlier crystal amulet had been. “This too.” He pulled forth a pair of lacy, round cards with the image of a queen of hearts on them, along with two brushes and eyeliners, a comb and a handheld mirror.

“ There weren't any convenient photos lying around with her picture on them by any chance?” asked Jessica.

“ We… I retrieved the damned cards, incidental items; nothing as useful as a photograph was in the place. It was as if it were being used as a dressing room only; nothing but water, Diet Pepsi, cheese and bread in the fridge.”

“ No, not a thing in the way of paper in that place,” Alex said, “I'd just been remarking about that to Ben when he saw the card below the couch, and that's when all hell broke loose. That's why it was so eerie, because the place was cleaned out after Surette was killed long before we got there that first time almost a year ago, and the place had remained almost exactly the same since. I should've known then how dangerous this wacko-creep was… I should've known; should've felt it and gone with my instincts, but not me… not this time… Still, she didn't look strong enough to hurt a fly, much less Big. Damn me… damn me, anyway…”

“ Beating up on yourselfs not going to accomplish anything, Alex.” Kim said, returning to him, her hands going to his shoulder in a consoling squeeze.

Landry cleared his throat and added, “The bad news is I'm still working on a court order for a search and seizure out at Raveneaux, but-”

“ Whataya mean? What's the flaming holdup, Captain?” asked Alex, his agitation showing clearly on his brow.

“ Even in the best of circumstances, Alex, you know how these things can take time, and this is hardly the best of circumstances. We don't have a whole hell of a lot to go on. We have the word of a cop who thinks he heard the killer shout the name Raveneaux as the place where he or she plants the victims' hearts, and we only have that through hypnosis, which doesn't always fly with the justices, as you also know. Now-”