Lucky Thirteen (15 page)

“
That’s
why Latrice asked if I’d touched you,” Raif commented.

“I’m sorry,” mumbled Ray, “but how did that fact escape me?”

“You didn’t expect it. Just like you
assumed
I was sexually active.”

“I’m sorry
,” Ray said, feeling his own flushed face. “I wasn’t being judgmental. I find it admirable, but, forgive me, you’re very pretty. How can you not have ever had a lover?”

She rolled her eyes and turned half her mouth down
. “Trust me, I’ve had opportunities. It’s my choice.” She put her hair behind her ear. “I’ve also scared a few men away with that choice.” She shrugged. “So be it. The man who loves me will accept me.”

Chris muttered, “Yeah. We met Brad.
He’s a prick.”

“You did?” Larkin asked.

The FBI agent nodded. “We questioned him briefly after Dr. Fairchild reported you missing.”

Larkin beamed. “I
knew
she’d be looking for me.”
She’ll make sure Cyclops is okay too. Thank you, God.

“Again,” said Ray, “admirable, but
back to business. How did you figure that out about the others?”

“This is how I drew my conclusion
.” Talking as much with her hands as her voice, she explained. “I know I’m a virgin.” She touched her chest. “Raif said several times Latrice wanted me to be pure and unblemished. Obviously, from the things in your notes unblemished couldn’t mean without scars or markings. Even
I
have piercings and a tattoo.”

“You have a tattoo?” asked Ray.

“Yes,” she replied.

“What is it?” he asked
, his stomach suddenly doing loops.

“A Celtic guardian.”

His mind wandered for a moment. “Where?” he asked as the other three looked at him.

“My left shoulder blade
. Why?”

“I just didn’t expect you to have a tattoo
.”
Especially not the same one I have.
He subconsciously touched his own left shoulder blade where a Celtic guardian dragon tattoo was located. His thoughts fell to the day he got it.

Mardi Gras with several fraternity brothers during
my senior year in college. My roommate and I were lit. We stopped at a tattoo parlor on a side street off Bourbon Street. Half a dozen other brothers wandered on. Rob chose a bizarre two-headed serpent.
He unconsciously shivered.
I felt a connection to the Celtic guardian, thought it might actually offer protection. It must have because when the brothers rejoined us, they bragged about beating up some guy that looked like me. Said the guy locked his girlfriend in the car when they went for her. I thought it just a drunken tall tale, but still felt I might’ve been spared something by my Celtic guardian.
He glanced toward his twin.
Now, I’ve met my twin who was mugged in New Orleans during the same Mardi Gras. Why would Larkin have the same tattoo? Does she feel the need to protect herself? Will it actually protect her? Oh, I hope so.

“Hello, Ray,”
Larkin said. “Are you listening?”

The detective shook himself.
“I’m sorry. Please, enlighten me.”

“As I was saying, it couldn’t be without physical blemish
. It had to be something else—moral purity, at least sexual purity.” She counted off each victim with her fingers as she spoke. “LaQuesha’s car accident might’ve kept her pure. Her scars from all the repair work might’ve kept men away. Sister Mary Michael was a nun, the Virgin Mary, the Christmas or Yule sacrifice. Betty Kim came from a fairly traditional Chinese family. If they’re old school, they’d expect her to remain a virgin until marriage. Chinese culture places a high value on female virginity. Lucia Torres’s limited English was a barrier to her dating. I know how much she struggled with English because she served me several times at the Mexican Cantina, and she seemed very shy. Mira Samir was a devout Muslim. She
definitely
would’ve been a virgin. Isabeau’s fiancé is in Iraq according to your notes. I guessed on her. Molly Jensen’s diabetes most likely made her very cautious even if she was in love with Dr. Epps. She might’ve been extra afraid of getting pregnant. Diabetics often have serious complications. You note how conservative the Winters girl was, and she was away at an all-girls’ boarding school. She didn’t sound like the type to sneak out and disappoint her father. Your reporter was too much of a ‘B’ word to be involved with anyone but herself from what I’ve read in your notes. The Waters girl was lesbian, but that was still an assumption on my part. The Native American”—She shrugged—“I know the reservation she lived on in Mississippi offers free abstinence courses. Maybe she was waiting; again, a guess. Bianca was a baby who was
planning
to have sex from what you wrote down, which means she had
not
had sex. The wedding dresses, the sacrificial element.” She struck a pose as if to say,
Ta-da!
“Voila! Virgins.”

Ray nodded thoughtfully. “All right
. I see your logic, but how would the killer have known all these women were virgins?”

19

Investigation

T
h
e
four people in the old wine cellar of the deserted monastery exchanged glances. After a short time, Chris offered a conjecture. “Their gynecologist.”

Ray countered, “I don’t think Bianca had a gynecologist.”

“No, but she went to the health department where I met Latrice. Latrice might’ve started working there before Bianca’s visit,” Raif offered.

“Good thinking,” concurred Ray
. “All we have right this minute though is theory and the fact that this woman manipulated my brother in his weakened state into snatching Larkin. We need a lot more in order to bring her down.”

He addressed Larkin.
“First, we need to get you somewhere safe.”

“This is the safest place I can be right now,” argued Larkin.

“
Fooyay
!” Ray snapped and jumped to his feet. “Don’t you wanna get out of here?”

“Of course
I do, but Latrice expects Raif to keep me here. If we give her no reason to suspect complications to her plot, both Raif and I will be safe. In addition, it’ll give you time to build your case. I just have one request. Make sure my cat is okay.”

“Already taken care of,” Chris said with a grin.

Ray rubbed his temples.
Not now. No headache allowed.
“I’ve got reservations, serious reservations, but I’m gonna pull the stakeout on the cemetery and put a watch on this place.”

“All right,” agreed Larkin and Raif in unison.

Ray whipped out his cell phone and made the call before he addressed his brother again.

“Raif, what do you know about the rest of this place
?” The detective looked around the cellar. “This room is obviously not where the murders took place, but I smell decay.”

“I have no idea
. Latrice forbad me to go anywhere but here. I don’t know what’s above us other than what you’d expect a church to have.”

Ray turned to Chris, “Go get everybody else to work on finding out about these women’s doctors, and I’ll get us a search warrant for this place
. I want every jot and tittle in place so this maniac doesn’t get off on a technicality.”

“We could just bring her in for questioning,” Chris suggested.

“Yeah, but that would alert her that something is going on, and without some more concrete evidence, we couldn’t hold her for more than seventy-two hours. If she’s the one we want, she could do something once she’s released and hurt somebody or disappear.” Ray shook his head. “I hate to agree with the notion of letting y’all stay, but you could be on to something. We’ll be back as soon as possible.”

“We’ll be fine,” assured Raif and Larkin together.

“And, I’m sending somebody here to baby sit the two of you. Chris, which little stooge would be best?”

“Patrick
,” she answered.” He wouldn’t stand out in a crowd.”

“
I agree. Arrange it with him.” Reluctantly, Ray and Chris left, after speaking with the reassigned patrolmen. He instructed them to look for Agent Swift soon.

As
he drove back to the stationhouse, Ray phoned Judge LaVigne at home and was assured his search warrant as soon as the judge had enough information in his hands to issue one.

Back at the
station, Ray sent Baker to the Hall of Records to find out who owned the old monastery. “I hope you get the sweet little college co-ed who works part time. The clerk is a bitch.” Ray shrugged at Baker’s scowl.

Chris immediately
began investigating who the victims used as gynecologists and sent Swift to the monastery. The agent entered with a sleeping bag and burgers for the evening meal. His two charges found him down-to-earth and delightful company.

Disgruntled officials who had already gone home grudgingly returned to their offices for Baker to look through records
. The same woman who had given Ray and Chris grief about the birth records let Brian Baker in. She grumbled, “Couldn’t this have waited until tomorrow?”

“No, ma’am,” said Brian
, remembering Ray’s warning. “If we wait, another woman might die. Do you want that on your conscience?”

“Humph!” grunted the woman
. “Will it go faster if I help you look, Detective Baker?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with an uneasy feeling
.
She rubs me the wrong way.
“That would be quite helpful, but I think I need to do this more discreetly. Thanks for the offer.”

He gave her a disarming smile, causing her to shrug and open a novel from beneath the counter. She read while Baker searched.

His hunt complete, Baker called Ray in transit. “Investigation turned up the owner of the monastery to be Restoration and Revival, Inc.”

“Who owns the company?”
He held his breath.

“None other than Latrice Descartes.”
Baker chuckled. “Get this, pal. It’s the ‘Mark of the Beast.’ The woman’s address is 666 Causeway Annex, Eau Bouease, Louisiana. You got everything you need to obtain a valid search warrant. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“Who came to let you in?”

“Your friend. I ignored her. I didn’t even tell her exactly which property I was looking for.”

“Good call.”

Chris’s inquiries by phone to the victims’ relatives found that three of the women had used Dr. Bill Sullivan, just as Larkin had. Two of them had used Dr. Sessums, and six, Dr. Jimenez. Bianca had gone to the health department. Knowing there would be great resistance to personnel records being handed over, Dantzler pulled some strings and got court orders for personnel files at each of the doctors’ offices.

As soon as
physicians’ offices opened the next morning, Dantzler, Chris, and Ray each went to a different office. Dantzler visited Dr. Sessums and Chris took the doctor’s office with the most victims.

Unable to
explain his need to interview the man personally, Ray felt compelled to see Larkin’s doctor, almost as if a voice guided him. He shivered at the thought. He did not approach the personnel office. Rather, he went directly to Dr. Sullivan, an amiable giant at six-six and a good two hundred fifty pounds.

Ray broke the ice by saying, “You should be on the football field.”

“Was,” he clipped. “Played five years as a defensive lineman for the Chargers. After three concussions, I came to my senses before I lost my senses. I changed direction in life. Delivering babies brings me joy. What can I do for you, Detective? You do
not
appear to be pregnant.” The doctor gave his unusual patient an impish, but good-natured grin.

“I’m not,” laughed Ray
. “I need to ask you about a possible employee, Latrice Descartes.”

“Oh, yes
. Latrice. She was a trip.” He opened a candy dish and popped a lemon drop into his mouth, offering Ray one. The detective declined with a hand wave. Dr. Sullivan characterized Latrice around his lemon drop. “I often wondered if she should be named Larry. Latrice was former military, a Marine. She was most unladylike. More like a lumbering bull. I had a hard time believing she wanted to be an obstetrics nurse, but she was highly qualified. However, the only position I had at the time was in billing. She worked several months part time here and at the health department. She left us to go full time at the health department. She was a good employee. Is she in trouble?”

“
She might be of real help in an investigation. I need her file.”

“Do you have the proper documents compelling me to give it to you?”

“Of course I do.” Ray handed the court order to Dr. Sullivan.

The doctor
gave the paperwork a quick read and nodded. “Come with me, Detective Reynolds.” As the two men walked down the hall, the doctor asked, “Detective, does this have anything to do with Larkin Sloan?”

“Perhaps.
Why do you ask?”

“Intuition.” The doctor shrugged.
“
She’s
a trip, too. You’ll fall in love with her when you meet her.”

“Are you in love with her?”

Dr. Sullivan laughed. “I’m married, Detective, but if I weren’t, Miss Sloan would be my kind of gal. I don’t remember all my patients so vividly. She’s unusual. Of course, I’m also nearly twenty years her senior. If Latrice has had anything to do with Larkin’s disappearance, find both of them, whatever it takes.”

He
pulled a file and handed it to Ray. “Good luck, Detective. If I can be of any further service, let me know.”

All three investigators obtained information showing that Latrice Descartes had worked for each doctor at the time the various victims had been kidnapped and killed
. She had indeed had access to all their records for medical billing purposes. She had only worked part time at the health department until a month before Larkin disappeared.

Dantzler frowned looking at Ray and Chris. “You two don’t look as if you had any trouble getting information.”

“I didn’t,” Chris said. “Why do you think I took the office with the most victims?”

“Beats me.”

Chris chortled. “Really, Lawrence. I’m a woman. Sometimes it does have its advantages. I talked openly and showed the proper documentation. The human resource coordinator gave me just what I needed.”

Dantzler looked at Ray. “How’d you fare?”

“I made a new friend, one that really likes Larkin Sloan. You?”

“I met with serious opposition—patient confidentiality. I had to prove I didn’t want patient information, just employment confirmation. I got what I needed even if the HR person in that office probably will never speak to me again. And she was hot and not wearing a wedding band.”

Chris rolled her eyes. Ray caught the look and raised an eyebrow in question. She just shook her head.

♣♣♣

Ray and Chris returned to the wine cellar
two days later to find Raif, Larkin, and Patrick having a relaxed late breakfast. “Perhaps, you should’ve waited to eat,” suggested Ray. He held up the search warrant. “Do you wanna see what’s upstairs?”

All
agreed they did, and Ray cautioned the civilians not to touch anything. However, he gave them rubber gloves just in case.

The unusual assortment of sleuths made their way up the creaking stairs to a locked door on which Ray deftly picked the lock
, thankful he had trained with a locksmith. They entered a corridor lined with cells where monks had once slept. The cubicles appeared to have been undisturbed for eons. A thick layer of dust covered everything, and cobwebs invaded the corners and spaces. The small narrow rectangular windows covered in decades of grime allowed very little light to filter in. Feeling certain it would be a mistake to use the electric lights installed around 1900, Ray distributed flashlights. The beams sent rats and roaches scurrying. Sandwiched between Ray and Raif, Larkin shivered at the scratchy noises. Ray touched her hand. Raif caressed her shoulder.

Further snooping found a kitchen and dining hall in the same condition as the small bed chambers the monks and acolyt
es had used. Out the other side of the kitchen rose another set of stairs with a locked door at the top. Once again, Ray picked the old lock.

The group entered the side door of the sanctuary, and the pungent odor of decay sent them back into the stairwell
. Ray reached into his back pocket and pulled out a packet of scented wipes. He gave one to each person and asked, “Shall we try again?”

Inside with the wipe against their noses, the group could not believe what they beheld
. The stained glass windows, which should have drawn breaths of awe for their craft and beauty, instead cast eerie dancing shadows and a deathly pall over the room. The dark pine pews remained undisturbed, but the marble altar and communion utensils stood defiled and cursed, caked with dried blood.

Ray, Chris, and Patrick
snapped pictures from every angle of the room and scraped numerous samples of the dried blood into evidence vials. “Do you think she drinks the blood?” asked Larkin in innocent disgust.

“How repulsive!”
Chris gagged.

The group made their way back to the relative safety of the wine cellar
. With a severe scowl on his face Ray said, “We have a lot of circumstantial evidence. Unless our victims’ DNA turns up in these blood samples, all we can get her for right now is conspiracy to kidnap, and
that
on the word of a man a good lawyer could make seem completely unreliable. I’m sorry, Raif, but you know it’s true.”

Raif nodded.

His brother continued, “She could say all the grossness upstairs was there long before she bought the place, and we would be hard pressed to prove otherwise. Right now, we can’t say for certain it’s human blood. Santeria practitioners kill chickens. Some Voodoo rituals might use animal blood. We need more than this if we want to nail her. What we need is to catch her in the act.” He handed Patrick all the evidence vials and envelopes. “Get this stuff to the lab ASAP. I want to get these two housed somewhere safe.”