Gingerbread Man (33 page)

“I’m going to have to ask you to show me that
scar, ma'am."

"Show you...
No.
This is
inappropriate. Don't you need a warrant or something to—?"

"Amanda, it's all right. I..." Vince seemed
to struggle for words. "It's relevant to the case, believe me. I
wouldn't ask you to do this if it wasn't."

Amanda blinked, her face softening. Holly
tugged her arm, pulling Amanda back a step, then moved forward,
putting herself between her and Selkirk. She thrust her chin at
Vince.
"How
is it relevant?"

"Holly, I can't—"

"How is it relevant, Vince?"

"It's all right," Amanda said softly. “If it
could help find Bethany, I don't mind all that much." Turning her
back to them all, she pulled her sweater upward, baring first her
slender waist, then the long curve of her spine. Arms crossed over
her head, she lifted it higher. The sweater rose past the strap of
the white bra across her back. Higher, just above the strap, in the
center of Amanda's back was a scar. The scar was old, faded, but
there. Holly squinted, leaning closer.

"It looks like a shamrock."

“Four-leaf clover," Selkirk murmured. "I'll
be damned."

Amanda lowered the shirt, turning slowly.
"I've had it for as long as I can remember. What does it mean? What
does it have to do with what's happened to Bethany?"

Her blue eyes were wide, and she was showing
signs of panic again. Holly grabbed Vince's arm. "Dammit, don't put
her through this shit. Tell us what's going on."

Vince sighed. "Maybe nothing—"

" 'Maybe nothing' my ass," Selkirk said.
"Every one of this child killer's victims—the ones we've found at
least—had that same mark on her back, Miss D'Voe. Which tells me
you were one of this man's victims, too. Maybe his first one. Maybe
before he'd started killing them after he'd finished—"

"Shut the fuck up, Selkirk," Vince snapped.
He turned, reached for Amanda.

She was backing away, shaking her head from
side to side. "But—but I would remember. I would know ..."

"It's all right. We can't be sure what this
means," Vince was saying, but there was no recalling Selkirk's
words.

"Of course you are!" Amanda shouted. She
spun, right into Holly's arms, and clung there, shaking. "It means
I could save Bethany ... if I could only remember. Dammit, Holly,
why can't I remember?"

Holly held her, stroked her soft brown hair
down her back, and sent a fierce scowl at Vince.

"You don't remember?" Vince asked urgently.
"Amanda, are you saying you don't remember anything about your life
before you went to live with Reggie?"

She shook her head against Holly's shoulder.
"Nothing," she said. "Except pain."

"I'm getting an arrest warrant," Selkirk
said, turning for the door. "If that old bastard survives, he's
going down."

Amanda broke free of Holly, and stared after
him. "Are you talking about Reggie? You think Reggie did this? My
God, you
do!
Reggie would never—you can't believe ... No.
No, no,
no
—" She dragged in a ragged breath, followed by
another, clutched her chest, bent at the waist.

Holly held her firmly and ordered, "Go out to
the nurse's desk and have them get the doctor back up here. Now."
Amanda was starting to hyperventilate again. Holly soothed her as
best she could, while Vince gripped Selkirk's upper arm and
propelled him bodily out of the room.

The minute the door closed on them, Amanda
stopped panting. She straightened her back and met Holly's eyes;
hers were clear. It was so sudden a change that Holly blinked and
shook herself. "Amanda? I don't understand, what—?"

"It wasn't Reggie." She said it calmly, her
voice deeper than Holly had ever heard it, soft and quiet, but
perfectly firm.

"I believe you."

"I have to remember. I have to. It's the only
way."

"What
do
you remember? Maybe if we
start with that...."

Amanda glanced toward the door as footsteps
approached. "Not now," she said quickly. "Just... tell me you'll
help me. You will, won't you?"

"Amanda, whoever put that mark on you
murdered my baby sister. I'll do whatever you want."

Amanda nodded. The door burst open, and she
bent over again, sank onto the edge of the bed, resumed gasping for
breath.

Dr. Graycloud crowded into the room, flanked
by Vince and Selkirk. He took hold of Amanda's shoulders, and eased
her down onto the pillows. He held a paper bag to her mouth.

Amanda looked past him, her eyes on Holly's,
then rolling toward the men. Holly gave a nearly imperceptible nod,
and turned to Vince. "You two get out of here, will you? You've
upset her enough."

Vince met her eyes. He looked puzzled and a
little hurt before he controlled his expression. "I'm sorry. I
didn't mean—"

"You're doing your job," Holly said, and her
tone was gentler with him. "But I know what she's going through.
You know I do. Don't second-guess me on this. She needs some space.
Please, can you take your FBI friend out of here? Just for a little
while?"

Vince nodded, holding her eyes with his. He
saw something. She knew he did, it showed in that slight narrowing
of his eyes and the way they dug and probed. He curled his hand
around the nape of her neck, leaned in close. "Are you okay?" He
asked it quietly, for her ears alone.

She nodded firmly.

"You sure?" He looked as if he doubted
it.

"I promise. I'm okay."

Vince moved closer, kissed her on the mouth,
lingering there. "We need to talk."

"Later, Vince."

Finally, he let her go. Then he turned. "Come
on, Selkirk, we're outta here."

"I need to question her," the agent
protested.

"She just told you, she doesn't remember
anything. It'll do you no good, and maybe do her some harm if you
push her too hard right now."

"I'm going to sedate her anyway," Dr.
Graycloud told them. "You can ask your questions in the morning."
He straightened away from Amanda, who was breathing slowly now into
the bag, and he turned to Selkirk. "I'm in charge here. This girl's
been through enough tonight. Come back in the morning. That's
final."

Scowling fiercely and looking mean, Selkirk
warned, "I can get the authority to question her now. If you force
me to, I will."

"Go get it then. By the time you come back
she'll be out for the night. I promise you, you will not be
questioning this girl before morning."

Sighing, the agent glared at the doctor, then
finally turned and stomped out of the room. Some of the tension
left with him.

"You should know that Reggie is past the
crisis. Amanda," Dr. Graycloud said. His voice was gentle now.
"He's stable. He'll be here for several days, but he's stable."

She started to sit up, but he put his hands
on her shoulders. "You can't see him before morning. He'll be
unconscious until then. But he's going to be all right, child. I
promise you that." He took the crushed paper bag from her hand, set
it aside as he went on, giving her more gentle, encouraging news
about her uncle's condition.

Holly didn't catch all of it, because Vince
was tugging her into the hall. He glanced around, she guessed for
Selkirk, but he was gone. Then Vince stared hard at her, started to
say something, stopped again, and finally just pulled her close,
and held her against him. Her head on his chest Holly hesitantly
lifted her arms, settled them around his waist.

"You're so tense you feel like you might snap
in two." He ran a palm across the small of her back. His touch was
warm. Firm. "How are you holding up—and tell me the truth this
time, Holly, I mean it."

"Fine."

Frowning, he stepped back slightly, looking
down at her. "That's not an answer."

She closed her eyes. "What do you want me to
say? I can lie to you and tell you that I'm rock solid here, but
what would that accomplish? I can tell you the truth and watch that
look come into your eyes again. But I don't want to see it Vince.
Not now."

"What look?"

"The one that tells me you can't wait to get
the hell away from me."

"You've got it all wrong, Red."

"Do I? Fine. I'll tell you how I'm holding
up, and then we'll see. I'm sick inside. I'm wide awake and tense
as hell, and I know, every part of me knows, that if I go to sleep
tonight—or maybe any night ever again—the nightmares will come. If
I lower my guard for as much as a second, even enough to take a
deep breath, my heart's gonna start pounding like a racehorse in
the homestretch, and I won't be able to breathe. My darkness is
squatting like a demon, right around the next corner, lurking in
every shadow, just waiting for me to slip. And when I do it's gonna
grab me, Vince, and I don't know if I can fight my way free the
next time it does. I really don't." She paused, looking back toward
the hospital room she'd just left, and the one beside it, taking a
breath. "The only thing keeping me from curling into the fetal
position, in a corner somewhere, is knowing that Amanda needs me,
and my mother needs me, and Bethany needs me. And all of the sudden
I get it. I totally get why you don't want that burden of being
needed put on you. I get it, Vince, because I'm scared to death I'm
going to let them down. The way I let my sister down."

He didn't say anything for a long time.
Didn't touch her. Just stood there, looking at her until she forced
herself to lift her head and look back. She expected to see pity in
his eyes. The kind of pity you feel when you pass a homeless person
talking to herself on the streets in a big city. But she didn't see
anything like that.

"I got news for you, Holly Newman. I need
you, too."

She sucked in a breath, wondering what the
hell that was supposed to mean.

"You are one of the strongest people I've
ever met. And you
can
fight your demons. And you
will
win."

“That's bullshit and you know it."

A muted, cotton muffled voice came over the
P.A. system. "Detective O'Mally to the E.R. Detective O'Mally to
the E.R."

He lifted a hand, stroked her hair. "You're
doing great. Stay here, keep Amanda company, see to your mother.
Hang tough just a little longer. I have a feeling things are gonna
be all right this time, Red. I really do."

She shook her head. "I'm gonna lose it and
you're gonna walk away. Bethany's either going to be scarred for
the rest of her life, or die in the next day or so. I don't see
anything all right about any of this."

Doc Graycloud came out of the room, cleared
his throat. "Detective, I need a word with you."

"Walk with me down to the E.R. then," Vince
told him. He kept his eyes riveted on Holly. "I'll be back up later
on. As soon as I can. Wait for me. We really do need to talk."

She nodded, but turned away. She didn't watch
him go. She felt his eyes on her though, as he left with Doc. She
felt them on her until she heard the elevator doors slide closed,
and the soft ping of its bell.

Holly went back into the room, and saw Amanda
on her feet, putting on her coat

"What are you doing?"

"We have to get out of here," Amanda said.
"I'll never remember anything here, and they aren't going to leave
me alone. Dr. Graycloud will order meds. The nurses will be in with
them soon. Will you help me, Holly? Will you help me go to where I
can remember?"

Holding the other woman's gaze, Holly nodded.
"You're damn right I will."

“DID YOU GET a blood sample from Amanda?"
Vince asked, as he and Dr. Graycloud rode the elevator down two
levels.

"Yes, though I can't imagine why you need it.
Reggie has already admitted to you that she's not a blood
relative."

"Yeah, well that begs the question of just
who the hell she
is,
then, doesn't it?"

The doctor grunted as the doors opened, and
they headed down the hall toward the E.R. Halfway there, Chief
Mallory met them, Selkirk on his heels. "They're ready to move
Reggie to a regular room. I think you should be there when they go
in to question him, but Selkirk and his cohorts disagree."

"It's our case now," Selkirk said. "O'Mally
has no jurisdiction."

"Well I do." The aging doctor straightened to
his full height and looked Selkirk right in the eye. "And I don't
want you or your men anywhere near him until I give the okay. Good
God, if I won't allow you to question Amanda when she's on the
verge of emotional collapse, what makes you think I'd let you grill
a man who's just suffered a coronary?"

"We need to question him as soon as
possible," the agent said, his tone dismissive. "There's a little
girl's life at stake, Doctor. I suggest you keep that in mind."

“I’m keeping it firmly in mind, Agent
Selkirk. What you need to keep in mind is that if you push Mr.
D'Voe into another heart attack, you'll never get the chance to
question him at all. And any information he might have that could
help save that little girl will be gone with him."

That brought Selkirk to attention, and the
doctor rose a notch in Vince's eyes. He was holding his own and
then some with the imposing federal agents, and looked as proud and
powerful as a tribal chieftain. Then he delivered the clincher.
"The man won't be conscious for several hours anyway. You couldn't
question him if you wanted to until then."

"Fine. We'll wait," Selkirk said grudgingly.
"But we'll post a guard at his door. One of ours," he added with a
meaningful look at Vince, and then the chief.

Jim Mallory nodded. "Fine by me. I'm
shorthanded as it is."

Several attendants rolled the gurney out of
the treatment room, and the men stopped speaking to watch. Reggie's
skin was nearly indistinguishable from the sheets around him. He
was chalk white, except for the blue veins showing through his thin
eyelids, and ghostly gray of his lips.