Mind Games (25 page)

Derrick didn’t know if the authorities would need to exhume Dana’s body to have a medical examiner evaluate his brain for any potential surgical procedures Dr. Von Langley could have performed, or if justice could be served using the CT scans. He still worried that Sparrow’s repressed memories, even with testimony from Violet Crosby, would not suffice in a request to authorities to excavate the Von Langley estate in search of his sister’s body. The ping-ponging in his stomach started again. Would they find more bodies? Considering the potential death and destruction of other innocent teenagers, Derrick wouldn’t mind seeing the entire estate turned inside out and then razed.

Sparrow braced herself for impact. Derrick took a sharp turn into the parking lot and slammed into a parking space in front of her condo. She breathed a sigh of relief and exited the car.

Tony was leaning against his car with his head in a small notebook. He looked up at them with annoyance in his glowering blue eyes.

“I wish you would have called me sooner before you started to play detective,” he said.

Sparrow pulled back her shoulders and held her head high to meet his serious-looking eyes.

“I know this can’t be easy for you. Finding out the things I have about Dana in the last couple of days hasn’t been easy for me either,” she said.

“We both have been dealt a crappy hand,” he said, smacked his hand to the back of his neck, and rubbed at the fatigue showing on his face and in his eyes. “I want you to know, I don’t blame you for what your father has allegedly done. It’s obvious he hurt you, too. I can’t believe he didn’t stop you from dating Dana. I mean…” He paused. “Knowing what he knew about him.”

Was she supposed to feel comforted by that?

“What do you mean you don’t blame me for the things my father has allegedly done?”

“I had forensics unlock Dana’s computer. They found out that he had a blog he called ‘psychodoc.’”

Derrick raised his hand, alerting Tony that he had something to add to the conversation.

“Don’t forget that your brother left a stack of
Psychology Today
magazines in that box you dropped off, and on each cover he blocked out the title so it reads
Psycho Today
. Can you legally invade a persons’ privacy from comments made on Dana’s blog and get them to come forward?”

“It’s sketchy. I’d have to convince that person a crime has been committed against them. Dana’s blog had some weighty accusations against Dr. Von Langley, referencing some of his better-known therapy techniques, but since he doesn’t come right out with Dr. Von Langley’s name, a judge wouldn’t issue me a search warrant. That’s changed. I have a patient of his who will testify in a judge’s private chambers. She has asked to remain anonymous. We should talk inside.”

Sparrow fumbled in her purse for her house key, and with a shaky hand opened the door. Derrick stood at her side. The brain scans remained tightly secured under his right arm. His left hand cupped the top of her shoulder.

“This isn’t going to get any easier. Do you want Tony to come in?” he asked.

She craned her neck and looked into his kind eyes. His hand pushed open the door, taking her with it. Her head snapped forward, and she let go of the door handle. They stumbled into her home. Derrick’s left hand pushed at the small of her back, keeping her upright. Tony nipped at his heels.

“I can’t go, Sparrow. This is an official police investigation now. I’ll need to talk to you and Derrick and collect the magazines and other stuff Dana left in that box for you. Assistant District Attorney Belinda Henriquez is already processing the search warrant for your parents’ estate. My team is assembling.”

“But I haven’t even given you my statement,” Sparrow said, glancing up at Derrick.

She hated the helpless look her eyes no doubt conveyed to him. Obviously, he couldn’t stop a police investigation, and she wouldn’t get a chance to confront her father for answers first.

“That’s why I’m here. We’ve got to act quickly. Another young girl’s life is in jeopardy.”

“She’s with my father. He’s not going to hurt her knowing we could point fingers at him.”

“That might be true, but I don’t want this to turn into a hostage situation.” His eyes moved from hers to Derrick’s. “I’m going to ask Derrick to go in and get Angel before we arrest Dr. Von Langley.”

Sparrow couldn’t believe this was happening. Her father would be arrested tonight. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear the charges, but knew Tony would make a triumphant announcement soon enough. She knew in her heart what her father had done was wrong, but that didn’t change the fact that he was her dad. She loved him the way any daughter would affectionately care for a parent.

“No problem, but I’m going in with my gun,” Derrick said.

Her heartfelt sentiment about her dad was broken. Derrick’s threat to take a gun into her parents’ home nearly brought her to her knees. Someone could end up dead.

Tony spread his legs and shifted his weight back and forth.

“Not a good idea,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “No, and I don’t care if you’ve got a permit.”

“What if he suspects something? I’m not taking any chances. You said it yourself—what if he holds Angel hostage?”

Tony remained stoic. The look on his face told her he wasn’t backing down. He would not allow Derrick to go into her parents’ home armed.

“Derrick, you know how to defend yourself. No one else in their right mind would risk his life driving around some of LA’s toughest neighborhoods if he couldn’t protect himself. You’re smart. Grab the girl quick and get the hell out. No gun. You’ll be wearing a wire, so my team will know if something goes wrong. We’ll be carrying the guns.”

“Fine. Fine,” Derrick said, tossing the CT scans onto her dining room table. He dragged both of his hands through his hair. Sparrow could tell from the frustrated look on his face that the day’s events were getting to him. “What do you want first, the evidence we’ve pieced together or Sparrow’s statement?”

Tony relaxed his crossed arms for a moment and then reached across his chest and flipped up the flap of his pocket. He pulled out a small notepad and pen.

“Let’s have a seat in the living room, and I’ll tell you everything,” Sparrow said, feeling like she needed to gain some control of the situation. She followed behind Derrick and Tony and plunked herself down on the floor in front of the mess of magazine articles. She looked up at Tony and asked, “Do I need to be read my Miranda rights?”

“No. I’m not arresting you. I’m taking your statement. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll need you to start at the beginning.”

“Would you believe me if I told you my brain had been hijacked by my father, Dr. Theodore Von Langley?”

She explained how Violet Crosby had confirmed her visions were repressed memories slowly coming back to the surface of her long-term memory. Her father had suppressed her memories from the time she was a child by locking her in a dark closet. He had told her the blackness would erase her mind of the things he suggested she forget. She became conditioned to the dark isolation stimulus and intentionally voided certain memories from her mind.

“I’ve been able to remember more and more because I practice deep meditation, and Violet thinks my memories were on the verge of erupting from my brain.”

Tony shifted on the couch. “What do you know about my brother’s suicide?”

“I’ve been practicing deep meditation since I was a little. This has never happened to me before, and I’m not sure how to explain it other than it seems like there’s a wavelength that I can access to connect to people I care about. I believe your brother was trying to reach out to me that day, and that’s when I saw his hand come down and pluck me out of the lotus position—not literally, but that’s how I saw it in my vision. I wanted to stop him, Tony, but something went wrong and these bad thoughts filtered into my brain, and I couldn’t even force myself to calm with a simple Om. I looked at him and repeated, ‘You know what you must do.’” Her voice faltered; tears simmered and boiled over her eyelids. “I’m sorry.” She mumbled, “Excuse me, I need a tissue.”

“Take your time,” Tony said.

The couch creaked, and Derrick forced himself up and went to her, standing behind her with his hands caressing her shoulders. She patted the tops of his hands and then motioned him away. She needed to steel herself for this. His sister was dead because of her father. She couldn’t take from Derrick anymore.

“Tony, if you read Dana’s final journal entry, you’ll see that he believed the only way to stop Dr. Von Langley was through his death,” Derrick said, picking up the journal from the coffee table and handing it to Tony. “I’d recommend you read the first and last entries.”

Tony took the journal from Derrick and skimmed through the pages. “This first entry establishes the fact he was a sex addict.” He turned to the last page and began to read the cry for help he’d addressed to Sparrow. His eyes rolled up from the page to Derrick. “Well, if this doesn’t scream for a conviction, I don’t know what does.”

“He murdered my sister, Katie. Kathlyn ‘Kat’ Sloan died at his hands and your brother witnessed her murder,” Derrick said.

Sparrow returned in time to hear Tony announce his intent to convict her father, and Derrick accusing him of murder. Her heart beat pounded faster and faster in her chest. She coughed, forcing them to acknowledge her presence.

“I’ll need your statement regarding her death, Sparrow.”

She nodded. “Follow me.”

They walked the short distance to her yoga studio. She forced her salivary glands to moisten her flat, immovable tongue then explained the visions she’d had of Derrick’s sister to Tony.

“My father killed her. It’s in Dana’s journal.”

“Where?”

Tony handed the journal to Sparrow and waited for her to find the entry. She handed it back to him, and he read the awful description of the brain surgery gone wrong and how the girl on the operating table took her last breath and told Dana, “I’m Kat.” Tony closed the journal.

“Derrick, I’m sorry. I’ll do everything in my power to get a murder charge, but without a body to link him to the crime, it’s going to be tough.”

Sparrow planted her hands on her hips, pressing her fingers into her sides. She stared down at the Barbie display for the Alternative Doll Convention.

“Tony, I didn’t hurt Katie or Dana.”

“I know. Violet Crosby is a respected hypnotherapist. My department has worked with her in the past,” Tony said, squinting at the display. “I’m trying to wrap my brains around this creepy Barbie carnage. What is this?”

Sparrow turned her head and looked up from the display to Derrick, who was standing by her side. She ignored Tony’s question. What she had to tell Derrick was way more important.

“Her body is in the rose garden.”

“What are you talking about?” Tony asked, and bent down to get a closer look at the display. “What the hell is this?”

She didn’t take her eyes off Derrick, who stood looking at her like she wasn’t making any sense.

“It’s a project I’m working on for the Alternative Doll Convention. That’s not the important part. I just realized that I’m recreating the burial grounds.”

Tony stood up from his crouched position and looked at Derrick with questioning eyes. Derrick dragged his hands through his hair and paced the room.

“She’s telling you the truth. But Sparrow, what about what you told me at Our Lady of Sorrow? You said the body is buried near the potting shed.”

She furiously shook her head. “I had another vision of your sister. She was in the rose garden with my father and Angel. She became agitated and whacked my father in back of the knees with a board. Her body must be there. But I swear I remember seeing him one night near the potting shed digging and then dragging a body from the shed to the grave.” An uncontrollable tremble zipped through her body, making her limbs shake. Her eyes fogged and she said, “There’s more.”

Derrick rushed to her side, and she fainted into his arms.

*               *               *

Tony helped Derrick lift her limp body. They settled her onto the floor. Derrick immediately worked on checking her vital signs.

“Is she okay?” Tony asked.

“She will be,” Derrick said, and reached for a jelly-rolled yoga mat in the corner to place under the back of her heels. “Sparrow?” He lightly tapped her face with his hands, trying to revive her. When that didn’t work, he got up from his bended knees and went across the hall to soak a washcloth in cold water.

“Are you sure she’s gonna be all right?” Tony asked at his back.

“Yes. In layman’s terms, she’s been through hell today. Can you imagine how terrified she is about her role in my sister’s and your brother’s deaths?”

Derrick crouched next to her and patted her face with the cool washcloth. “Hey, hey, Sparrow, come on, baby. Let’s sit you up.” Derrick put his arm around her back to steady her.

“I feel sick.”

“Tony, please run out to the kitchen and pour her a small glass of orange juice? Cups are in the cupboard near the fridge,” Derrick said.

“Sure, sure,” Tony said, and left the room.

“What happened?” he asked. “You were talking to us and then out of the blue you faded on me.”

“I remember the others.”

Tony came back with a glass filled with juice and handed it to Derrick. “Here, baby, take a few sips and then tell us what you remember.”

*               *               *

She swallowed down the sweet and pulpy juice and let the sugar work on her body and brain before she tried to scoot closer to the Barbie display. “It’s all here.”

Sparrow looked down at the flowerbed she had created out of the dolls’ eyes and understood why she had always felt like she was being watched when she was near them. The beach Barbie doll whose chest she’d pierced with the scalpel was Katie. She came to life when Sparrow had stuck the tiny rose in her chest, and then her ghost hunted her father in the rose garden the day he was with Angel. Sparrow had witnessed all of it in her vision. She picked up a doll with a shaved head. “I can tell you their names.”