“ Damnit, Agent, you’re not listening to me!” Her coolness to his upper-echelon problems didn’t sit well. “The goddamn Economic Development Council, the Metro Vision for the Year 2000, the 1050 Beach Street Business Coalition, the Downtown Development District Council, the Miami Chamber of Commerce-you name it-they’re all on the mayor’s back, so the mayor’s naturally on the police commissioner’s back, and the lot of them are on my back!”
A thick, palpable hush fell over the room as the two FBI agents breathed in the political and economical realities of their situation. Eriq found a chair and sat, raised his hands apologetically and added, “Jess, the average Miami salary is in the neighborhood of twenty thousand dollars. Now the United Miami Coalition and some professors out at UM have figured it all out, and I tell you, an average pay of thirty-five thousand… Well, that’s big- time bucks to these people. They have very, very few industries in and around the city that can generate that kind of money.”
“ Money talks.”
“ It always has, and we’re both adult enough to understand its impact, even here on our case, Jess. Now perhaps you better understand where I’m coming from? In a few weeks the government steering committee to decide if Miami gets those centers will be back in the city. We… I… had hoped to nail this Crawler bastard before then.”
“ We can still clean house within three weeks, if we work together. Dr. Desinor forwarded this to me this morning. It’s from additional psychic readings she’s done on the case.” Jessica handed Santiva the list of physical characteristics which Kim Desinor had created. They matched the description given them by Judy Templar.
“ Something you want to share?” Eriq asked as he took the fax from her, a razor edge to his voice. He still hadn’t had time to forgive her qualified allegiance to him. Like most men, he’d expected and wanted total and blind fidelity, without having to offer the same.
“ Kim only called very late last night. Don’t get spooky on me, Eriq.”
Eriq read the fax aloud in a near whisper. “Taurus… astrological sign of the bull, but actions are more like recluse spider…”
“ She’s got that right.”
Eriq continued to read, pacing as he did so. ‘ ‘Comes out only to feed. Safe only in his own surroundings. Light, sandy-brown hair, dark, mystical eyes, possibly aquamarine, handsome, pleasant, even-tempered, manners impeccable in public. May wear a T-cross around his neck, an emblem of his obsession. Stargazer.”
“ That was Kim’s first read, which she called me about last night. This morning, she conducted a second reading. Her results on the second go-round came over right after she faxed the first. Here it is.”
She handed him a second fax, which Eriq now stared at. It read: height: 6’1 or 2 weight: 160-80 lbs broad- shouldered, large-face, big forehead neck and shoulders all one large, oval, dark and piercing eyes, possibly blue, dark green either birthmark or bad tattoo of a star on right shoulder wears loose-fitting clothes, sneakers, boat shoes size 10–11 lives in isolation, yet within close proximity of many has fascination for stars and water deep- seated hatred for his mother has generalized hatred for all women…
Eriq read aloud the psychic’s final words. “Sorry, nothing more. Caution you to think symbolically and not literally regarding my findings.”
“ She is full of disclaimers,” Jessica muttered, digging her palms now into her eyes, trying to will the fatigue off. “Obviously general enough to fit most of the male population of the planet,” he replied, not overly impressed.
They again stared at one another; then first she and next he began to laugh until their laughter filled the room. “Damnit, Jessica, we’ve got to be together on this thing,” Santiva finally said. “That’s all I’m going to say about your rank insubordination at this time-”
Jessica started to protest, but thought better of it and kept still. “-except to say that in the future, we decide things of major consequence together. For now, we drop it and move on from here. We still have a killer to catch.”
She nodded. “I couldn’t agree with you more.”
“ I’ve got a tight net around every boat dock and riverside establishment for fifty miles either direction of Miami,” he informed her.
“ Are you talking Port Authority, Coast Guard, Florida Marine Patrol or your buddies in the Cuban underworld?”
“ All of the above. Somewhere along the line, this bastard’s going to slip up, and when he does, we’ll be there, Jess,” he assured her.
“ You’d better extend your net to every conceivable slip, including boat repair shops, dry docks, and maybe any shops where they preserve fish as trophies.”
“ How’s that?”
“ A strange new development. Let me tell you about it.”
Eriq felt his flesh crawl. “All right, fill me in.”
In the midst of making Eriq’s stomach turn, Jessica was told she had a long-distance call. She grabbed the nearest phone and identified herself and was suddenly surprised and elated to hear James Parry’s voice on the other end, asking, “Are you taking care of the woman I love?”
“ Oh, James… Where-where are you?” She pictured James Parry at the other end of the line, pleased beyond comprehension that he’d located her. “I’m calling from the islands, which have lost a great deal of their luster since you left. I’ve dearly missed you, darling.”
“ God, I’ve missed you.” Out of the side of her eye, she noticed Eriq impatiently waiting. She turned her back on him and continued her conversation.
They had a long talk in which they exchanged vows of love. It was enough to send Santiva from the room. She asked Jim to call her later before bedtime, to tuck her in. He promised that he would. She was happy for the first time since arriving in Miami. What was that all about?” asked Eriq when he returned to finish with her.
“ Personal.”
“ Oh, I see…”
“ Let’s get back to work.”
“ Long distance?” Santiva was smiling for her. “Hawaii maybe?”
“ Maybe…”
Ten Days Later
When America’s Most Wanted did its segment on the killings in Florida, it appeared the trail of the killer had gone stone cold. No more notes coming in from the killer and, thankfully, no more bodies either. It was as if the creature had simply vanished while camera crews had replaced police and medics, film barricades had replaced police tape and Jessica had been replaced by an actor, Santiva by a director.
The images on the TV screen of women floating in the sea, although simulations, were emotionally stirring- but not when Jessica considered the fact that those young women would, off camera, lift their heads from the surf, stand, wade back to shore and go home to dinner. And as for truly simulating a bloated drowning victim, prime-time TV simply wasn’t ready.
There was both relief and anger in the Miami area when, a week and a half after the discovery of three victims of the Night Crawler in the space of hours, there were no further developments and no new leads in the case, so far as the public knew. Meanwhile, the national attention given the case, the TV exposure and the fact that it remained open had helped persuade the government steering committee on payroll centers to steer elsewhere.
Theories regarding the whereabouts of the killer abounded: He’d killed himself; he had been arrested on some other charge, been convicted and put away, and from behind bars he could only contemplate murder at some future date. Others theorized that he had left the country for more fertile ground-virgin turf, as it were. Missing Persons departments all over the state continued as always to file reports on young women disappearing or running away from their homes, but not all of these fit the victim profile. There was a growing, sinking feeling among law enforcement officials that the Night Crawler had simply been frightened off by the news accounts and the police sketch, which had gone out across the state and the nation, and that despite his flirtation with the news media, he had turned out to be extremely camera-shy after all.
