Imola (22 page)

The intensity of the experience left her sprawled on the couch, incapacitated. For how long? She glanced at the clock on the far wall. Good. Probably only five minutes. She stood and raised her panties but stepped out of the Levi’s and walked down the hall to the bedroom. The closet was filled with clothes, all close enough in size. She picked out a pair of casual pants and slipped them on. Same with a matching blouse. She pulled three more outfits from hangers—nothing too businesslike. She spotted a pair of jeans and yanked them down as well. Not Levi’s, but they’d do.

The GTO backed up with a low growl and upped the volume as it pulled out of the parking lot.

Say something.

You’re not as strong as you think you are
.

You’re right. I couldn’t kill her. But I was strongenough to get you to do it. You killed her. You let your anger take charge. For once, you did something that went against logic. It was pure emotion. And because of that, you killed the one person who could have helped you. How does that make you feel?

Silence.

No comment? You must be tired. I won’t drive back to Inverness tonight. There’s a motel just around the corner. I want you to stay in town tonight. Close to where you took charge. Close to where you murdered Dr. April Leahy.

She laughed.

Agnes rose up on the bed and threw open the covers. She wore a blouse and panties, nothing else. Crumpled pants lay on the floor, next to a pair of shoes. She slipped them all on and crept to the motel room door. It opened with a clunk. Fortunately, the hinges were silent.

A light fog confused her senses and her internal compass, so she picked a direction at random and started walking. A convenience store or gas station couldn’t be too far away.

A small mom-and-pop store appeared after seven blocks, an invigorating stroll in the misty night air. Her pace picked up when she spotted the desired oddity at the far end of the parking lot: a phone booth. In this area, like others, the proliferation of cellular phone usage had shoved public phones onto the endangered list, butthe usual cries for preservation hadn’t followed. If anything, the condition of the few remaining booths seemed to have deteriorated exponentially.

Hopefully, the phone was functional, and a reasonable remnant of the phone book still hung on the hinged clip. She was lucky on both counts.

The page with the listing for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat was torn halfway down, but the main switchboard number was there. She pressed in the coins and punched in the sequence of numbers.

The receptionist was polite for the late hour. Agnes visualized her with a television tuned to cable’s twenty-four-hour soap opera station.

“I can’t give you his number. It’s policy.”

Agnes leaned against the glass. “It’s really important.”

“I can’t give it to you. But I can connect you.” She paused. “Do you want me to do that?”

Three rude returns chugged through Agnes’s mind before she sighed and settled for civil. “Yes, please.”

A series of clicks preceded a painful pause. Finally, the earpiece gave a loud whine, a click, and a ring. Two, three, four rings. Five. She had the rhythm, so she grimaced for the sixth when another click interrupted.

“Hello?”

“Jason. It’s Agnes.”

Silence.

“Jason, it’s me. Please. I need your help.”

“Is this some kind of trick?”

“No. I need you.”

A pause. “Okay. What did I give you on my last visit to Imola?”

“A stuffed puppy. It was the same color as the dog you gave me before.”

“Agnes. Where are you?”

“I’m in a phone booth. Can you come?”

“Where? In San Francisco?”

“No. In Santa Rosa.”

The silence confused her. Why wasn’t he saying anything? “Jason?”

“Sorry. I’m just crossing the Golden Gate. This is my cell phone. I have to be at the Chronicle in fifteen minutes. They’ve got a story that’s going to go well into tomorrow, and I have to take it.”

“Please. You don’t understand. It’s all happening again. I need you.”

Silence again.

“Jason?”

“I’m here. I want to come. I really do. But this is an inside tip job. The TV people don’t know about it yet. If I don’t get there fast, I can kiss my new job with the Chronicle goodbye. If it was anything else, I’d shine it and be on my way. Can you hold off until the day after tomorrow?”

“Can’t you come sooner?”

“I really want to, but I can’t. Where are you staying?”

“I don’t know where I’ll be day after tomorrow.”

“Tell you what. I’ll meet you in downtown Santa Rosa, at Railroad Square. There’s a bronze statue of Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Can you be there at noon?”

“You can’t come sooner? I need you.”

A pause. “I really want to be there, but I can’t. If you’d called about fifteen minutes earlier, I could have, but my editor just got hold of me. I’m all they have. Can you meet me? Where and when I said?”

Tears filled her eyes, clouding her vision. “I’ll try.”

“Agnes, if you’re in trouble, you can call Dr. Leahy. I have her number in my wallet. Do you want me to give it to you?”

“No!” She straightened up in the booth. A familiar feeling crept up her spine.

“Don’t be like that. She can help you. You can stay with her until I get back in town.”

Agnes looked in both directions and burst into tears. The breathlessness of a panic attack emptied the phone booth of air.

“You have the time and place, right?”

She hunched over, straining to breathe.

“Agnes?”

The next breath came without resistance. She straightened up and pulled it in to capacity. Everything looked crisp, clear. A deep growl-like rumble squeezedthrough her lips, terminating in a single chuckle.

“Day after tomorrow. Charlie Brown and Snoopy statue. Railroad Square. Got it?”

She laughed a throaty laugh. “Oh, yeah. She got it.”

Click.

Jason slammed his fist into the steering wheel. He wasn’t lying about the job, but it twisted his gut to put Agnes off like that. He’d promised Bransome he’d set up a meeting in a public place if Agnes ever contacted him. But to hear her voice, hear her say she needed him. It cut into him as deeply as if Lilin’s razor had found its mark. He had to do it, though. It was the only way. He knew he could get Agnes to turn herself in, but what if it was Lilin instead of Agnes? Could he handle Lilin by himself, on her turf? The meeting was the best way. But Agnes needed him now …

Something about the conversation bothered him, though. He wasn’t sure what it was until he tried to replay it in his mind. It was something right at the end. What did she say when he asked if she understood about the meeting? It sounded like she said, “Yeah. She got it.” She.

Lilin opened the door to the motel room and walked over to the bed. Fluffing the pillows, she stacked them against the headboard and fell against them, grabbing the television remote on the way down.

I don’t know how you got away from me, but I’m going to make sure you don’t do it again. I’m almost done here, and I don’t need anymore of your interference.

Just leave
.

I have two more loose ends to take care of. It’s funny. I only had one until that call. I wasn’t going to do anything to your Jason. But don’t you realize he just set a trap for me? And for you?

He only wants the best. He’s one of the good ones
.

When are you going to realize that you’ll never do any better than me? What were you before I camearound? Did you have a man? Any men? Had you even had any kind of sex?

Is sex everything to you?

No. Sex is nice, but I can go way beyond nice. And I can take you with me. You got a taste of it. It can be even better. No man can give you that. Not unless you do it my way. That’s the only way I can be satisfied by a man like I need to be satisfied.

By inflicting pain? By killing?

Father was a good teacher. Pain and sex are a powerful combination. Sex needs an emotional base, or it’s just rubbing. My way, I don’t have to worry about any of the baggage that comes with anything more than a one-time event. Once you realize that, you won’t question me anymore. We can feel the power together. Anytime we want to.

If there’s no baggage, then why are you on the run? Why do you need a new identity? Why do you need to clean up loose ends?

Shut up. You turned away from me before. You wouldn’t help. You left me alone with Father. And you know what he did. What he taught me. You’re not going to turn away from me again. I’m here because of you. I am what I am because of you. You owe me.

You don’t understand. I was a little girl
.

I understand everything now. I understand what I have to do to get you to unite with me. To stop questioning me. You have to go away. Forever. And it’s happening. That’swhy the loose ends aren’t merely loose ends. They’re more. And you just delivered the most important one to me. And to think I was going to let him go.

What are you going to do to Jason?

Don’t you know?

What you want to do? Yes. How you’ll do it? No
.

That’s because I haven’t given it any thought yet. I have to deal with the other one right now. He’s not much more than a loose end, but I need to be thorough. Besides, every time I have a man, you have him with me. And you and I become closer to one. A few more and you’ll feel the same itch I feel. You’ll have the same needs. Then we will unite, and you’ll be gone. Forever.

You kill for the thrill. That won’t ever be acceptable. Don’t even pretend it’s to be thorough
.

Not this discussion again. Okay. I’ll humor you. You’re right. My juices are near a boil. I have a target. Someone I dealt with earlier. Someone who could talk. Someone who’ll give me what I want right now.

Who are you after?

You don’t know?

No
.

You’ll find out soon. After that, I’ll have to find a way to get to your Jason. He’s working with the police. I can feel it. He won’t be alone at the Snoopy statue. But he will be surprised. I have an idea or two, but I have to think them through. You’ll be a good girl. Won’t you?

Jason dialed his cell phone and had to wait only two rings. Detective Bransome’s gravelly voice blasted through the earpiece. Jason wondered why some people thought they had to shout into a phone.

“It’s Jason. I just talked to Agnes—”

“Agnes or Lilin?”

“It was Agnes.”

Bransome’s voice faded and then boomed again. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Does it matter?”

“Lilin might see through it. Agnes wouldn’t.”

“It was Agnes.”

“Good. Did you arrange something?”

Jason switched the phone to his other ear. “I told her to meet me in downtown Santa Rosa. The day aftertomorrow.”

“Where in Santa Rosa?”

“Railroad Square—”

“Shit,” Bransome said. “Where in Railroad Square?”

“Next to the Charlie Brown and—”

“Shit.”

Jason waited, but nothing followed the exclamation. “I guess I don’t have to ask if you know the place. What’s wrong with it?”

“God damn it, it’s full of tourists. Easy for a person to mingle, get lost. And a surprise apprehension is tough.”

Jason raised his voice to match Bransome’s. “You didn’t give me any instructions. No suggestions. I wanted someplace that was easy to find. Easy to remember.” And someplace safe. With lots of people around.

“We’ll have to deal with it. What time?”

“Noon.”

“Shit. Shit. Shit.”

“What did you want? Midnight?”

“Everyone’s out at noon, milling around, eating lunch. Even the locals. You couldn’t have found a busier time.”

“Won’t that make it harder for her to spot any of you? Harder to blow the cover?”

“I don’t blow covers. I swear, Powers. If we pull this off, you’re going to owe me one hell of a dinner.”

Jason nodded, as if Bransome could see him. “I know a McDonald’s with an awesome play area.”

“They better serve a good T-bone—in a man’s size.”

Jason thought he heard a chuckle. “So how will it come down? What should I do?”