Gingerbread Man (32 page)

Selkirk lifted his brows. "That's something
we didn't know."

"His father beat the hell out of him back in
England," Vince said. "Reggie ran away young, came to the States,
grew up to be a famous horror star."

"Any of his films involve torturing
kids?"

Vince shook his head. "No. Believe me, I
checked. As far as anyone around here can tell, the guy loves kids.
He used to throw this big Halloween party for them every year.
Moved away for a while, came back the year before last, and this
year, he reinstated the tradition. Candy, prizes, special
effects."

"And one kid doesn't get to go home."

Vince looked up fast. “This is the first time
anything bad has happened to a kid in connection with D'Voe or the
party."

"Except maybe for his niece. The niece who's
not a niece. You saw the fax?"

"I saw it."

"So what have you got on Amanda D'Voe?"

"Reggie says he was more an honorary uncle.
Got real upset when we asked him to prove it."

"So Chief Mallory told me. Have you asked
her?"

Vince nodded. "She said she couldn't talk
about it." When Selkirk frowned at him, Vince went on. "She's
fragile. Was in the middle of an anxiety attack at the time. Maybe
it's just a painful memory."

"Or maybe she was his first victim."

Vince narrowed his eyes. "What, and he
decided to keep her?"

"It's more common than you would believe.
They don't start out killing, you know. They molest. They rape.
They even fall in love with their victims, at least it's love in
their sick, twisted minds. It's the closest thing to it for them.
He may very well have decided to keep her. Raise her. Especially if
she was his first. God knows there are enough missing kids on the
books who've never been found."

Vince blinked, frowned hard.

"What?"

"Nothing." He gave his head a shake.
"Nothing, never mind." He focused on the crisis at hand again.
"Listen, don't you think she would know? I mean, if she were
kidnaped, assaulted, abused that way, do you really think she would
have grown up utterly devoted to the guy?"

Selkirk heaved a sigh. "It's possible. It
happens. Been documented." He took a long drag on his cigarette,
then tossed it to the ground, crushed it with his toe as he blew
the smoke out into the night. "One way to find out"

"How's that?"

"Check her for the mark. That
four-leaf-clover brand. It's probably something he's been doing for
a while. Maybe even from the very first time. If she has it, he's
our man. We oughtta get a blood sample, too, find out once and for
all if she's related to D'Voe."

"He already admitted she wasn't," Vince said.
"Why would he do that if she were a blood relative?"

"You never know. Maybe he started out
snatching kids related to him. Most of these guys warm up molesting
their own before they start in with the kids of strangers, you
know."

Vince lowered his head, wondering how the
hell he was going to explain any of this to Amanda without sending
her into hysterics. But there was no getting around it. It had to
be done.

THEY'RE GOING TO be a while," Holly said,
about the fourth time Amanda peeked out the door down the hall
toward where they'd taken her uncle. "Sitting in here isn't doing
you any good."

"I can't leave."

Holly took her hand. "We won't go far. My
mother's upstairs. I'd like to check in on her."

"Your mother?" Amanda met her eyes. She was
still pale, still shaky, but she had control now.

"Yeah. She... this has brought back some
memories. Bad ones." Holly looked away. "I'm sure you've heard the
story. Dr. Graycloud... thought Mom needed to rest."

Blinking slowly, Amanda seemed to forget her
panic for a moment. "I've only heard rumors. You... had a
sister."

Holly nodded, felt her eyes heating, welling
up. "Yeah. She was taken—just like Bethany."

"And you never got her back?"

Holly gave a quick, sharp shake of her head.
"It was a long, long time ago."

“I’m sorry, Holly." Amanda touched her
arm.

"It won't be the same for Bethany. We'll find
her."

"We will," Amanda agreed with a nod. Holly
started for the door, opened it, and Amanda hesitated. "What if
Reggie needs me?"

"We can leave a note for that nurse. We won't
be gone long. I just... I don't really want to go by myself."

Eyes lowering, Amanda rubbed her arms. "I
know what you mean. All right. If we leave a note."

Holly nodded, then rummaged in the room,
finding a paper and pen, scribbling a note. She left it on the
table, face up. “There. Okay?"

She took Amanda's hand, opened the door, and
they stepped into the hall. To the right, they could see through
the window of the treatment room, where doctors and nurses still
surrounded Reggie. To the left and across the hall was the waiting
room, but Holly didn't see Vince there. To the immediate left,
there were elevators. That was where she turned, only to be stopped
by Nurse Sally, carrying a little tray by its center handle. Test
tubes filled small square sections. "Can I bother you two for just
a minute?"

Amanda's eyes widened. "Is it Uncle Reggie?
Is he—?"

"No, no. It's related, though. There's a slim
chance— but a possibility—that he may need a transfusion before
this is over. We're short on blood so Dr. Graycloud asked me to get
some samples typed and cross-matched, just to see if we have a
donor on hand should we need one."

"Oh." Amanda sighed, nodded. "I'm afraid I
won't be much use," she said. "We're not really blood
relatives."

Holly glanced at her. "You're not? I didn't
realize."

"Oh, that doesn't matter," the nurse said.
"Anyone might be a match, related or not. We can do it right in
here. Come on." She walked back into the break room, and set Amanda
in a chair. Amanda rolled up her sleeve, and Sally tied a large
rubber band around her bicep. She flicked her finger against the
crook of Amanda's elbow. "Ah, that's a nice one. You ready,
hon?"

Amanda nodded, and Sally stuck a needle into
her arm. As the crimson liquid rushed into the glass tube, she
untied the rubber band. When the tube was full, she drew the needle
out, holding a gauze pad to the puncture wound, and adding a
bandage. "There. All done. Told you it would only take a minute."
Smiling she labeled the tube and dropped it into the tray, then
turned as if to go.

"Well, wait a minute," Holly said. "What
about me?"

Sally turned, looking puzzled.

"You said the donor doesn't need to be a
blood relative. So, why don't you take a sample from me, as well?
I'd be glad to give blood if Reggie needs it."

Amanda sent Holly a grateful look. The nurse
blinked, but finally shrugged and came forward, repeated the entire
procedure on Holly. As the blood surged into the tube, Holly asked,
"How much longer, do you think, before we'll know something about
Reggie's condition?"

"It's liable to be a while, hon." Sally must
have heard Amanda's sigh as she withdrew her needle and applied a
bandage to Holly. She looked up, met Amanda's eyes. "Let me just
tell you this much, child. It's looking good in the E.R. Now they
won't call him stable yet, but I'd say it's close to that."

Amanda's relief was palpable. Holly felt it,
along with a sizable measure of her own. “My mother is on the third
floor," Holly said. "We're going up to look in on her. Please make
sure to come for us the second there's any news."

"I promise," the nurse said. "The second
there's any news."

When Sally left them, they headed to the
elevators. No one else was aboard. They rode two floors up, and the
doors opened again.

It was quieter there. A hushed hallway,
lights all dimmed. Just a few nurses padding softly up and down the
halls with their rubber-soled shoes and white pant-suits. Holly
wondered if they wore white because it made them look like angels.
So much more soothing to a frightened patient than looking up into
the face of a woman dressed in scarlet or purple, she imagined.

"That's my mom's room." She pointed down the
hall to the door marked 317. "She's probably sleeping at this hour.
But... Well, we can just peek in at her."

Amanda nodded, and the two walked softly to
the door. Heads close, they looked through the mesh-lined glass.
Holly expected to see her mother lying still on the pillow, looking
peaceful as she slept.

It wasn't what she saw. There was a woman
curled in the fetal position in the bed. It was not her mother. Her
mother was sitting up in the bed, cradling the other woman,
stroking her hair as if she were holding a small frightened
child.

Doris looked up and saw Holly in the window.
She crooked a finger at her to come in, but added a warning to be
quiet by putting that same finger to her lips.

Nodding, Holly pushed the door open, stepped
inside, tugging Amanda along beside her. Holly moved close to the
bed, leaned down, and kissed her mother's cheek. Then she touched
it. "You've been crying," she said in a whisper.

Doris's cheeks were tear-stained, eyes red.
"Not as much as she has," she said, nodding at the woman who slept
in her arms. "God, it's as if she's me, eighteen years ago. I
remember this. I remember everything she's feeling. It's like I've
gone back in time as an onlooker, as if I'm seeing my own history
replay."

Holly looked down. Amanda did, too. Amanda
said, "It's Bethany's mother."

"Yes. They gave her something, but she just
kept crying. I could hear her in the room next door." She shook her
head slowly, stroking, stroking. "They couldn't help her. I'm the
only one who can help her. Because I know. Because she's me."

The woman was definitely out cold now. She
hadn't even stirred. "Mom, you shouldn't be putting yourself
through this." Holly leaned forward, reaching for the call
button.

Her mother's hand closed over hers. "No,
Holly. She's staying right here. She needs me. And I need her."

Holly frowned, not liking this.

"She's right," Amanda said. "I feel more in
control when I'm helping someone else. I was losing ground fast
until Uncle Reggie... and you know it's the same for you, Holly.
You were falling apart until you noticed that I was in worse shape
that you were."

"That's it exactly," Doris said, smiling
gently up at Amanda. "Helping Val through this night is my way of
helping myself through it, as well." Then she frowned, searching
Holly's face. "Is there any sign... ?"

"No. Not yet"

Doris's gaze shifted to Amanda. "Your uncle
must be beside himself."

Amanda lowered her head. "He had a heart
attack while the police were questioning him about what happened.
He's down in the E.R. right now."

Doris's brows rose, her lips parted on a soft
"Oh," and she opened her arms. Amanda leaned over the bed, accepted
the hug, returned it. Doris said, "I know it doesn't seem like it
now, child, but you're going to be all right. You will."

"Sometimes I have trouble believing that,"
Amanda whispered.

Holly looked on, until a tapping sound on the
door behind her made her turn.

Vince peered in through the glass. His face
was expressionless. Holly opened the door. "What is it?" Beside him
a grim-faced man in a dark suit and tan coat stood like a soldier
awaiting orders.

"We need to see Amanda for a sec," Vince said
softly. "Can you have her come out?"

"Is it Reggie?"

Vince shook his head immediately. "No, we
haven't heard a thing about Reg yet. It's something else."

Holly frowned at him, but he just sent her an
appeal with his eyes.
Please.
"Okay. Wait here." She ducked
back inside. "Amanda, we have to go. No word on Reggie yet, but
we're being summoned anyway."

Amanda straightened away from the bed, and
Holly hurried forward, hugged her mother. "Are you all right,
Mom?"

"Yes. Yes, I am. I'm sorry I fell apart the
way I did, honey. I didn't mean to do that to you. How about you,
how are you doing through all of this?"

"Better than I expected I'd be by now. I'm
surprising myself."

"Not me," Doris said. "Be strong, honey. I
need you."

"I know. Don't worry." She glanced at the
bed, the other woman in it. “Try to get some rest tonight."

"I will."

Holly backed out of the room, blew her mother
a kiss, and let the door fall closed as she turned to face the two
men. Amanda was already standing beside her, facing them
expectantly. "So, what's this about?"

"Is there a place where we can have some
privacy?" the stranger asked.

"I'm sorry," Holly said, and if her tone had
an edge to it, it was because she disliked the man, instantly and
instinctively. Something about his brisk tone, his cold eyes, made
her bristle. "Do I know you?"

"This is Special Agent Frank Selkirk with the
FBI, Holly," Vince said quickly. To Selkirk, he said, "Holly
Newman, and Amanda D'Voe."

He acknowledged the women with the barest
nod. "Privacy?"

Holly glanced at the empty room beside her
mother's. "In here," she said, leading the way, opening the door.
"It was Val Stevens's room, but she's in with my mother and I don't
think she'll be back anytime soon." She held the door wide while
Vince led Amanda in, and Selkirk followed. Stepping in herself,
Holly let it close again. "Okay, so what's the big secret?"

"Miss D'Voe," Selkirk began, ignoring Holly
completely. "Do you have an unusual scar in the middle of your
back?"

Amanda blinked. She swung her gaze to Holly,
then to Vince.

"Right about..."—Selkirk poked her between
the shoulder blades with a long finger—"there?"

"How could you know ... what is this
about?"