Eye of the Witch (17 page)

“
Detective, I am afraid I cannot tell you who influenced their actions. I only know that mortal contact by another did not occur.”

I reached for her other hand and cupped them both tightly. “Leona. This next question is very hard for me, but I have to ask. When someone has one of these out-of-body experiences, is it ever possible for he or she to enter a consistence with another and coexist with it?”

She hesitated, but then agreed, saying, “I believe that is possible.”

“
Have you ever entered a consistence with another during OBE?”

“
I do not know. Often my experience is a reflection of another’s. I see what they see, but from another dimension.”

“
How do you mean?”

“
Like looking into a mirror,” she said, and as she did, she peered deeply into my eyes as though the mirror were before her now. “All that goes on appears to happen in a world I can see, but not touch-sense, but not feel. I do not believe I have influence there, yet by observing I have influenced it.”

“
Leona, when you saw Karen, Bridget and Anna commit suicide, were you coexisting with them?”

“
I do not know.”

“
At any time did you possess and control their minds or bodies?”

“
I do not….”

“
Did you consciously or subconsciously cause or direct those women to commit suicide.”

“
I…no! I do not know!”

Leona pulled her hands free from mine and buried her face in her palms. She slumped forward and began sobbing. I leaned in and cradled her head on my shoulder, stilling her tears and softly stroking her hair. “I’m sorry,” I told her in a hush, as we rocked back and forth. “I had to…. I had to ask.”

I never believed for a moment that Leona could purposely induce or inflict upon the will of those women the desire to commit suicide. However, neither could I rule out the possibility that she could have affected the results on a subconscious level. I had seen in past cases, latent anxieties caused by repressed emotions manifest disorders not readily diagnosed. That the three victims were all former participants of Doctor Lowell’s initial studies indicated to me the obvious link to their killer. It seemed conceivable that since Leona had been kidnapped and held by Doctor Lowell, she might subconsciously wish to eliminate all vestiges of his legacy, no matter how relevant to her predicament. If the forces that historically beckoned her to events resulting in the deaths of innocents again called for her participation, I considered it probable that those forces contributed to the perverse twisting of her subconscious and insisted upon her influence in the women’s deaths. I waited for Leona to collect herself, and when I felt the time right, I asked her to come with me.

“
For a while,” I said. “I’ll have you back home in no time.”

“
Where shall we go?”

“
I want to take you to see Lilith. Her capacities as a sensitive have developed sharply since just last year. If you’ve suppressed memories of co-possessing an individual during OBE, then perhaps she may free those memories.”

“
But I have plans this evening. I have a dinner date in just a short while.”

“
Where? Here?”

“
No. I am to meet him where he works, downtown at the Hartman, Pierce and Petruzelli building.”

“
The Hart…. Leona, I suppose it’s none of my business, I know, but is your date with Benjamin Rivera?”

She smiled bashfully. “Yes.”

I stood and held out my hand. “Fine, then. I’ll ask Lilith to meet us there. I’m sure she won’t mind. Will you come with me and help me iron all this out? I really want to set things right for Karen, Bridget and Anna.”

She looked up at me, unsure, vulnerable and a little scared. I smiled and gave her a wink that promised everything would be all right. Her eyes thinned to tiny slits again. Then she took my hand and smiled back. “Lilith will go gentle with me?” she said.

“
Of course,” I answered. “Didn’t I give you my word last year that I would never let anyone hurt you again?”

“
You did.”

“
Then, come, my Dear. Your chariot waits.”

Nine

Lilith’s reluctance to meet with Leona and me softened only after I told her I had something she wanted. She arrived at the coffee shop in the Hartman, Pierce and Petruzelli building around four o’clock and found the two of us at a table overlooking the duck pond. I spotted her first and rose to pull out her chair.

“
My, what a gentleman…” she said, her brassy smile only garnish for the moment. She took a seat across from Leona, granting a similar gesture. “Leona. You look well. How’ve you been?”

“
I have been well, thank you. I like your hair. You cut it, yes?”

“
Not since we last talked, but thanks.” She turned to me. “You have my ladder?”

“
That’s not why we’re here, Lilith.”

“
That’s why I’m here. You said—”

“
I said I have something you want. I have a possible answer to what happened to Karen, Bridget and Anna.”

Lilith pushed her chair out from the table and snapped to her feet. “Are you serious? You don’t get it, do you, Detective? I don’t give a rat’s ass about what happened to those women. I’m not here to appease you or them. I have an agenda of my own, and my time is running short.” She came around the back of her chair and pushed it in under the table. “So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going—”

“
Wait! Maybe we can work something out. Please sit down.” She eyed me with mistrust, though I supposed I earned it. I worked my smiled on her until I saw her soften some. “Come.” I pulled her chair out and patted the seat. “Sit. Please.” I watched her eyes bounce from the chair to me and back again. Reluctance and mistrust notwithstanding, she eventually came around and sat back down.

“
What’s to work out?”

“
Okay. Here’s the deal. I need you to see if you can look into Leona’s subconscious and glean any details from what she might have seen while bilocating.”

“
Really?” She looked to Leona and smiled at her, teasingly. “Ooh, you wicked little nanny. Where have you been romping about now, love? Has your morbid alter ego been drumming up corpses in your sleep again?”

“
Lilith!”

“
Come on, Detective. She’s used to it. The girl’s seen more dead bodies than Mussolini and Hitler combined.”

“
Yes, and you’re about as sensitive as both. The poor thing is trying to live a normal life.”

“
Then why torment her? You’re the one who wants to dredge up all her repressed memories. If you’re so concerned, then why don’t you—”

“
Stop!” Leona reached across the table and pressed her hand to Lilith’s. “Please, Lilith. Detective Marcella is only trying to do his job. I do not ask for God to show me the things he does. Maybe it is His way of offering hope for the souls of those who have met misfortunes in life. And perhaps it is the devil that makes me forget what I see, but if God has given you the ability to see it for me, then you must try.”

I sat back in my chair, speechless, wondering if ever I might understand the selfless giving that one person could offer humanity. Others in Leona’s position, plagued by endless visions of real horrors, might seek to end their exposure to them by ending their very lives. But not Leona. In a way, I felt that Leona’s experiences only served to make her stronger. Lilith, whom I thought might see things in a similar light, offered no solidarity. Instead, she patted the hand that Leona extended and offered back only causticity.

“
Leona,” she began. “Please spare your apologetics theologies. You may feel your path in life is sound and righteous, and if your Christian doctrine helps you cope with your burdens, then more power to you. However, I am not a product of your God. Any supernatural being that you believe controls your world, or some aspect of your life, or who you believe is the personification of a force undeniably almighty, is not necessarily my God, too. I don’t prescribe to the belief in one holy deity whose fallen angel is now the Antichrist and sole reservoir of evil and anarchy.

“
My Deity is nature. It’s the energy all around us, feeding and nurturing our souls. I believe the energy we surrender, good or evil, returns in equal portions to the one that expels it. If thee harm none, I say, then do as thou wilt, but impress your ism on no one.”

“
Lilith!” I said, sharply. “No one is impressing philosophies on you. Leona’s intent, I’m sure, was simply to express upon you a sense of moral obligation to help us get to the bottom of this case. If you ask me, her reference to God was less dogmatic than your tirade.”

“
Pleeease, Detective. You suggest I have a moral obligation to help you in the name of God, and then have the audacity to call
my
response dogmatic? By sheer definition, you are the virtual authority on dogma. You climb into your antiseptic, incorruptible little bubble and pontificate to your kindred tribe the virtues of honesty and integrity, and meanwhile you’re sitting on property that belongs to me and denying you ever saw it.”

“
You’re talking about the witch’s ladder.”

“
Of course!”

“
Are you done?”

She folded her arms to her chest. “For now.”

“
All right, then. I’ll tell you what. I’ll ask around and try to find the witch’s ladder for you. I promise. In the meantime, will you help us find out what you can about Leona’s out-of-body experiences?”

“
You mean, when she so
conveniently
showed up in time to see Karen, Bridget and Anna kill themselves.”

“
Yes.”

“
Fine.” She looked at Leona, and in the time it took her to blink, she said to me, “Nothing.”

“
What?” I asked, unaware that any mind exploration had taken place at all. “You don’t see anything?”

“
No. I mean Leona saw nothing.”

“
I don’t understand. She was there, wasn’t she?”

“
Oh, she was there, at least for the minutes leading up to the deaths of those women. As for the moments of their deaths, she doesn’t even know how they died.”

I couldn’t believe it. I turned to Leona. “Is that true, Leona? Did you see nothing?”

Her eyes looked glazed and hollowed. “I do not remember. It is what I tried to tell you. I am sorry.”

“
That’s all right. We’ll get to the bottom of this somehow.”

As I said that, Carlos rang me on my phone to deliver some incredible news. I like to think I took the call with a poker face and an even tone in my voice. The reality, I imagine, differed. Both Lilith and Leona waited on the edge of their seats for my call to end with eyes wide open and mouths pinned shut. I thanked Carlos for the news, and I think I might have even hung up on him without saying goodbye. I looked at Lilith first, supposing she could read my thoughts for herself. Then I turned to Leona and said, “Looks like you’re off the hook.”

“
Carol Kessler is dead,” said Lilith. “Isn’t she?”

“
Yes. She stepped in front of a moving train only moments ago. But I guess you read my mind already?”

“
No,” she said, looking insulted. “Give me a little credit, will you? I read it on your face.”

“
Oh.”

Leona asked, “Who is Carol Kessler?”

“
She
was
one of Doctor Lowell’s girls,” Lilith answered. “Guess that just leaves you and me, cupcake. Ya ain’t scared, are you?”

Leona looked at me, confused. “Scared? Why?”

“
You shouldn’t,” I said. “Don’t listen to her. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Right, Lilith?” I shot her a look that screamed BACK OFF! She stuck her tongue out at me and shot back a look that screamed BITE ME! But then she did the Lilith thing: something she does best.

“
That’s right, Leona, you don’t want to listen to me. You know I’m only teasing. Detective Marcella has everything under control. Don’t worry your pretty little Mexican head off.”

“
She Honduran,” I said.

“
Honduran, ooh, excuse me. It’s all guacamole to me.”

I reached across the table and took Leona’s hand. It felt cold, but seem to warm to my touch right away. She looked into my eyes, and I knew she sensed a goodbye coming, and that we might never meet again. I get that a lot at my age now. Usually I just shrug it off. In fact, most times I really don’t care if we meet again or not. But this was different. This time I was saying goodbye to one of
His
special children. I squeezed her hand tighter and felt her do the same.

“
Leona?”

“
Yes?”

“
You know how I feel about you.”

She thinned her lips and swallowed. “Yes.”

“
You know I would never let anything happen to you.”

This time she nodded in a way I shall always remember her, with those silky bangs spilling into her eyes. I broke our handhold and removed a ring from my pinky finger. I had worn it since my days as a traffic cop years before she or Lilith were born. I handed the ring to her, explaining, “I used to wear it on another finger, until they all got too fat.” She coughed a sputtered laugh but sipped it up with her tears. “It’s getting too tight for me now. I want you to have it.” She refused out of politeness, but then accepted it with little more than a gentle insistence from me. “See, it’s got a saying on it: TO SERVE AND PROTECT. I got it when I graduated from the academy. Let it remind you that I will always serve and protect you.”