Richard Mabry: Diagnosis Death

It was almost dark now. Time to head back. She glanced at the reverse directions she'd printed, making sure she knew how to get out of Fort Worth and onto the road to Dainger. There it was again. Even though the experience had been emotionally draining, she'd felt safe in Josh Samuels's office. Now she was driving back into danger.

As soon as she cleared the Fort Worth city limits, she engaged the car's cruise control and tried to do the same with her mind. She determined that she wouldn't worry for the next half hour. After all, she should feel relieved. It was unlikely that Karri would call again. Elena would have to talk with someone, perhaps Will, to see how to convey this new information to Dr. Matney.

What did she have to substantiate what Karri told her? The recording Samuels had made during her regression therapy would back her up, but she could imagine a lawyer tearing it to shreds. Could she have recorded her conversation with Karri? Maybe, if she'd thought of it. But she hadn't. No, Karri had told her what she needed to know. That was more important than any legal confession.

As her car moved through the gathering darkness, Elena saw two bright pinpoints in her rearview mirror. How long had that car been back there? She was going the exact speed limit, and in her experience that was an invitation for every car on the road to pass her. But this one hung back. Either they were extremely law-abiding, or they were following her.

You're being paranoid again. No, the person looking into her bedroom window hadn't been a figment of her imagination. And she was a woman driving alone at night. Reason enough to be a bit jumpy. She checked to make sure that her doors were locked. Her eyes scanned the gauges. Plenty of fuel, temperature fine, no red warning lights showing.

She added ten miles per hour to her speed. The lights in her rearview mirror maintained their position. She slowed, and so did the car behind her, trailing as though at the end of an invisible cable. Elena saw the lights of home on the horizon. She sped up, determined to lead her pursuer to a safe, well-lit place as quickly as possible.

She decided to head for RJ's. She took the appropriate exit and the car behind her did the same. Two short blocks brought her to the restaurant. She pulled into the parking lot, encouraged to see that it was almost full of cars, with people coming and going almost constantly.

She kept her eyes glued to her rearview mirror. In a moment, a car slowed as though about to turn in, then accelerated away. There was plenty of light in the parking lot, but that just made the street leading to it seem darker, and it was impossible for Elena to make out details of the car. No matter. At least she'd managed to scare away her stalker.

Elena restarted her car and had her hand on the gearshift when another car came down the same street she'd used. She recognized this one as soon as it entered the parking lot. She watched the black and white SUV rock to a stop in a no parking zone in front of the restaurant. Frank Perrin climbed out and gave her a casual wave.

Elena rolled down her window but kept the engine going.

Frank leaned against the driver's side door. "Aren't you even going to ask?"

"Ask what? Why you followed me all the way from Fort Worth?"

Frank showed a perfect poker face. "Actually, I didn't. I had a call to a fender-bender out near the Tarrant-Summers county line. I was about to head back when I thought I saw your car go by, with a black Chevy right behind it. It looked like he was following you, so I just made myself a caboose to your little train."

Elena had a momentary pang over her decision to seek a safe place. Why couldn't she have simply driven home, so Frank could identify the man following her? Then again, who was to say that Frank wasn't the real stalker, and the car she'd seen was one he'd let get between his and hers to avoid identification?

"Do you want me to follow you home?" Frank asked.

Elena did her best to sound calm and casual. "No, but I appreciate your looking out for me like that."

"All part of the service." He tipped his hat back and smiled. "Now that's two dates you owe me."

"Thanks for bringing lunch." Cathy spooned up the last bit of soup and chased it with Diet Sprite. "I hope you didn't mind coming here. Milton still wants me to take things easy."

"No problem," Elena said. "I wanted to talk with you, and this is a great way to do it. I just wish we had more time to get together."

The two women were seated in the dining room of Cathy and Will's home. Elena looked around her and decided that one day she'd have a cozy house like this-neat but functional, attractive without being frilly. But that was a dream for another day.

"What's on your mind?" Cathy asked.

The front door opened and Will called, "Anybody home?" Cathy answered. "We're in the dining room. Elena brought soup and sandwiches. They're in the kitchen. Help yourself and then come join us." She looked at Elena. "Does Will being here affect the talk you wanted to have?"

"No, actually I think some of this may require a lawyer's perspective."

In a few minutes, Will was settled at the table, across from the two women. "Hope you don't mind if I dig in. I only have a half hour for lunch today."

"Eat and listen," Cathy said. "Elena has some things to tell us."

Elena took them through the story of her session with Josh and the conversation with Karri Lawson that followed. "It's good to know that I wasn't directly responsible for either death. Will, here's my question for you. Since neither Mark nor Mr. Pulliam had any chance of surviving, was Karri's action in discontinuing life support murder? Homicide? Manslaughter?"

"Realize that this is pure conjecture on my part, but I can't imagine a district attorney taking a case like that to a Grand Jury. So the answer is probably 'None of the above.' "

Elena nodded. "That's what I thought. Which brings me to my second question. What should I do about her confession? Should I contact Dr. Matney and tell him about it?"

Cathy put down her glass. "Let me take that one. You and I both know how things work in a medical center. By now, Dr. Matney is knee-deep in the politics of trying to get that appointment as dean. Situations like this one fall into the category of 'out of sight, out of mind.' Why bring it up again? You don't need his recommendation. You've completed your training. You have a job. Your employer knows the truth and is satisfied. I'd leave it at that."

Will held up his finger while he chewed and swallowed the last bite of his sandwich. "I think you should sit down tonight and write out a complete account of your conversation with Karri. Make it as close to verbatim as you can. Tomorrow, call Josh Samuels and ask him to lock up his notes of your session, including the recording he made."

Elena thought about that for a minute. "Is that really necessary?"

"It may never come up again," Will said. "But, if it does, it'll help that you put the story down while it was fresh. And Samuels's corroboration of what you said under hypnosis would be important."

"I can see that, I guess," Elena said. "But it worries me that Karri is still working in the ICU. What if she decides that disconnecting people from life support gives her a thrill? Maybe she'll start to think she should be the one to decide who lives and who dies."

"Don't you think that's a bit far-fetched?" Cathy asked.

"After what she's done, I'd believe anything," Elena replied.

They were silent for a couple of minutes. Then a smile brightened Will's face. "How about this? Karri doesn't know my investigator, Ramon. Nicest guy you'll ever meet, but he can act pretty tough if the situation warrants it. He could 'run into' Karri in the hospital cafeteria, draw her aside, and say something like, 'We know what you did. And if you so much as think of doing it again, we'll see that your license is lifted and you face the stiffest criminal penalties possible.' "