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34
When I woke up, I didn’t know how much time had passed. Somehow, all the smoke and cobwebs that once had fogged my brain had cleared, like someone had gone in with a mini-vac and sucked it clean. The aching, the craving, was still there. But it was manageable. I could make it. I knew that I could make it.
Rachel needs you, the voice in my head insisted. You have no more time to waste.
And yet I didn’t immediately start the car. I sat up straight and stared into the mirror. All I could see were my eyes, but somehow, that was enough.
I could catch this man, I told myself, looking right into those red, tired, mismatched eyes. I had the means, the gift. If only I could put it all together…
I tried to let my mind drift, free-associate. I thought if I opened things up enough, I might spark a co
Relax, I told myself. Breathe in, hold it, release. Breathe in, hold it, release.
I had been so sure I had him, back at the Transylvania. I could almost feel him in my grasp. But I’d come up short.
Pull back, Susan. Let your mind wander…
Had the three cheerleaders come to the Transylvania? Had the others?
Helen is a good girl. She would never do something like that…
A
The most important facet of the narcissistic personality is the absolute certainty of his own superiority, that he’s right and everyone else is wrong…
He’s smart, phenomenally smart. Deranged, but smart…
She made scrapbooks, just like I did as a girl. She even posted some of her art on her personal Web page…
My eyes opened.
Uniforms.
That was the key, damn it. Uniforms.
What did Helen have on the walls in her bedroom? What did she have pasted into her scrapbook, on her Web page? Not rock stars. Not TV hunks. Cops, firemen, doctors, pilots…
And what did they have in common? Uniforms. Where did she sneak out to in her black leather bad-girl getup? A biker bar? The teen stud club? No. The Army grunt hangout. Because that’s where she would find men in uniforms.
Helen had a thing for uniforms. She liked them.
She trusted them.
Tiffany admired policemen, firemen. She dreamed of one day being a cop herself, because she admired them so.
She trusted them.
There’s more, I heard a voice within me saying. Keep working it, keep digging…
Darcy had shown me the burn mark where the door had been forced, the door to the ballroom where Helen Collier was found. But why was that significant?
Because it pointed away from the room, not toward it. Because the chain had been torched from the inside.
Edgar had already been inside when he brought out his acetylene torch. He’d had access to the room. Breaking the chains andforcing the lock had been just another clever trick to throw us off his trail.
My respiration spiked. I was breathing hard and heavy, my heartbeat racing. I was getting there. I knew I was getting there.
I stormed into headquarters, taking them all by surprise. The feds appeared to be reorganizing our offices into an FBI hostage crisis center. Which wasn’t a bad idea, in theory. But I knew that by the time they were finished, it would be too late for Rachel.
Patrick was in the chief’s office, conferencing. Darcy sat silently behind O’Ba
“Susan!” O’Ba
“Go ahead, sniff my breath. I haven’t been drinking.”
“Then what? Damn it-this is your own niece.”
“I know that,” I said firmly. “I also know he won’t kill her. Not yet. He might… do things to her. But she’s strong. She’ll survive. I did.”
“Susan, our investigators have a thousand questions-”
“And I’ll answer them. But in exchange, I want five plainclothes answering to me and complete freedom.”
They stared at me, all of them, speechless.
“And I’d like Patrick, if the Feebs can spare him. And Darcy,” I added. “Most importantly, Darcy.”
O’Ba
“Just the opposite. Regained them, finally.”
He looked as if he were about to burst a blood vessel. “Even given the bizarre assumption that I said yes, what do you think you’d do?”
“Go back to the Transylvania.”
“You already played that hunch! It was a good theory. But it didn’t pan out. None of the guests-”
“He isn’t a guest. He works there.”
Patrick stepped forward. “Susan, I looked at the employee rolls. I didn’t see anyone who-”
“Then we need to line them up and let me look. I’ll recognize the rat bastard.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. It’s obvious, once you know.”
“Know what? What do you think he does?”
“I’m not sure. But I know he wears a uniform.” I paused. “I think there’s a good chance he’s a cop.”
He frowned. “A cop?”
“Or something like a cop. Don’t they have security at the Transylvania? I thought I remembered seeing some.”
“Of course they do. But they might contract the security out, like most of the big houses.” He snapped his fingers. “Which would explain why he didn’t turn up on the employee rolls.”
“I need to get over there immediately.” I turned to O’Ba
He barely hesitated a second. “Consider yourself back on the case.”
“Good. I’ll stay in touch.”
“You won’t have to. I’m coming with you.” He pulled out his desk drawer and tossed something onto his desk. A gun. My gun. “I think you may need this.”
“I don’t know. If you’re not-”
He pressed it into my hand. “I insist.”
“We need to blanket the hotel,” Patrick said. “Make sure he doesn’t slip out before we identify him. How much time do we have till this Day of Ascension?”
I checked my watch. “Only a few hours.”
“Hours? Then the Day of Ascension-”
“When else?” I led the way to the door. “Today. Halloween. At the witching hour.”
35
“You think this place will be ready in time, Ernie?” Martin asked.
He was calm and confident. “I don’t see why not. The grand opening isn’t until midnight.”
“But there’s so much still to do.” Both pairs of eyes sca
“You can’t do The Hunchback of Notre Dame without bells.”
“Hey, I been meaning to ask-what were you doing in the ventilation shafts last night?”
He stiffened. “Last night?”
“Yeah. I saw you crawling out of that shaft over at the north end of the casino. I didn’t even know that was big enough to get into. What were you up to?”
“One of the patrons reported smelling smoke. I didn’t detect it myself, but I thought it best to be certain.”
“Huh. Well, they never covered that when I came on. Maybe you can show me how to get in there later tonight.”
He touched the syringe in his pocket. He could take this man out if necessary. Quickly and quietly. “Tonight would not be a good day, what with all the work going on. Perhaps after the Halloween celebration.”
“Good point. Okay.”
His hand relaxed. Just as well. Another dead security officer would draw more attention to the hotel-and he had directed too much attention here already. “If you’ll excuse me, I, uh, need to check on something in the storeroom.”