'They can't do this!' she said angrily.
'Forget it, Elise. Let it go,' he told her softly.
He'd felt this kind of calm a few times in his life. It was a nice feeling. As if some gentle saint had taken up residence in his body. 'It's okay.'
'It's not okay.'
'I wasn't going to last here. We both knew that. Everybody knew that. Didn't expect it to happen this way, but does it really matter?'
He was actually surprised to find that it did matter. To him.
All along, he'd been thinking he maybe needed to get out of law enforcement completely. But now that it was happening, it seemed wrong.
And then there was Elise.
She'd been a good partner. And they were really starting to click.
'Of course it matters!' Elise said. 'I can't believe you're giving up so easily. That you allowed Mason and Avery to get to you.'
'Who are Mason and Avery?'
She glared at him. 'Starsky and Hutch.'
'Oh. Them.'
He let out a heavy sigh. 'Elise, this has nothing to do with them. It has nothing to do with the fact that I keep losing popularity contests around here. I'm a murder suspect.'
'That's bullshit if you think this has nothing to do with your status. Do you think Mason-Starsky- would be fired over this? No! They would cover it up until the real killer was found, and then all would be forgotten. He might get a little slap on the wrist for such a personal endorsement of prostitution.'
'I'm sorry.' He really was. He liked Elise.
'What were you thinking? Calling a prostitute to begin with? Getting mixed up with her?'
'That's rather self-explanatory.'
His answer seemed to make her uncomfortable.
'David… did your ex-wife have long dark hair?'
'Yeah, but-'
'You know what people downstairs are saying? They're saying that the anniversary of your son's death was May twelfth, the same night Flora visited your apartment.'
'That's right.'
'And when Flora arrived that night with her long dark hair, you flipped out and killed her, thinking she was your wife.'
He stared at her for a long time as she waited for an answer, a reaction. Not Elise… that hurt. That really hurt. 'Thanks for the vote of confidence,' he said.
He left the office.
As he passed a trash receptacle, he paused and pulled the photo from his jacket. He held it above the container for what seemed like minutes, but in real clock time was probably only a second or two.
He'd lived a lot of lives. Even though the photo now represented the end rather than the beginning, he couldn't make himself pitch it.
He stuck it back in his pocket and kept walking.
Outside, the media was waiting.
Bad news traveled fast.
Chapter 40
Someone was knocking.
David tried to ignore it while continuing to pack.
The knocking didn't stop.
Annoyed, he tossed a shirt in the suitcase on the foot of his bed, went to the door, and checked the peephole.
In the dim hallway stood a woman in a black veil and long black dress.
Lady in a black veil Babies in the bed…
Strata Luna. Was she stalking him now?
He opened the door. 'Come to remove your curse?'
She lifted a gloved hand and blew at her cupped palm.
He didn't see anything, but suddenly a bitter, metallic taste filled his mouth. Instantly, his tongue swelled and went numb.
Fuuuckkk.
He took two steps back and struggled to close the door.
She shoved it open, followed him into the apartment, and slammed the door.
Just the two of them.
Strata Luna. Who had probably killed her daughters. Had probably killed Enrique. Had probably killed Flora. Obsessed with death. Obsessed with killing. Playing God. It was just too easy… too obvious…
He lurched and grabbed his cell phone from the kitchen counter.
How much time did he have before he was completely paralyzed? Two minutes? Three? At the most?
But he'd snorted the shit. That would be faster.
He stared at the phone in his hand.
He knew what he wanted to do, but his brain couldn't get the message to his fingers.
Where did he fit in? What did she want with him?
Woman in a black veil Looking for something male Fuck him till his eyes turn blue Bury him when she's through.
He'd never claimed to be a poet.
The phone slipped from his numb fingers.
He began to float.
Up, up to the ceiling.
She caught him by the arms and pulled him earthward, holding him in front of her so he couldn't float away again.
His legs gave way and he crumpled to the floor and lay there, unable to move.
She swooped down and straddled him. She sank into him, the billowing folds of her gown swallowing him. Looming above, her veil fell over his eyes as she cupped his face in her hands.
She smelled like mold and mildew and damp rot. Plus something else. What? Something familiar… Formaldehyde and rotten meat. She pressed her lips to his, her breath filling him with poison. The air that came from her lungs tasted like rubbing alcohol.
He couldn't move. He couldn't close his mouth or
turn his head away.
'Little boy,' she crooned against his lips. 'Sexy little boy.'
Chapter 41
Elise was trying not to let the situation with David interfere with her investigation of the TTX case. And the best way to help David was to try to clear his name. With that in mind, she decided to drop by the Chatham County Jail for another visit with their buddy LaRue, to see if he might be in the mood to divulge any new information.
He seemed happy to see her.
