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Nico hid his grimace.He got what Mary was saying.This poor girl had been so badly marked by her harrowing experience that her mind had blocked it all out.Which meant she might not be able to tell him much about the killer.They were still desperately trying to ID the dead girl.It seemed highly likely it was Taylor’s best friend, Danika, but they were yet to get concrete confirmation.
He tuned back in to what Mary was saying.“Taylor can’t remember much of anything about the past few days.But her memories could be triggered by something in her surroundings, or even therapy,” she added with a warning tone to her voice, but Nico felt a small rush of hope.So shemightget her memories back.He needed to cling to that hope.
“However, it’s most important, that Taylor feels safe.Both in her surroundings and in the people she talks to,” Mary said.
Ah ha, that was what Mary was warning him about.She didn’t want him upsetting her with his probing questions.How else was he supposed to catch this guy?
“Victims may suffer severe depression or anxiety afterwards, which I believe Taylor is experiencing right now, and I’ve prescribed some anti-anxiety medication.”Both Mary and the doctor fixed him with baleful glares.He understood now that they saw him as the enemy because, by asking her questions, he was also asking her to revisit that terrible experience.But what choice did he have?Would they rather the perpetrator go free?
He chose his next words carefully.“Can I ask, in your personal experience, what do you think Taylor saw, or didn’t see that might’ve caused the amnesia?”
Mary and the doctor exchanged a look.It was Mary who finally spoke.“I could be wrong, but I think the killer might’ve forced her to watch as he murdered her friend.There are signs that her eyelids were taped open, as well as other signs that she was physically restrained, her head held in a particular position.”
Nico shook his head, shocked at the psych’s answer.He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but that wasn’t it.No wonder Lacey was being protective of this victim, as were the two doctors.
“Why on earth would someone do this to another person?”Dr.Monroe blurted.“I’ve seen some horrific things in my time, but this one takes the cake.”
He knew there were sick people out there who did despicable things, and he’d seen some of that firsthand.But you never became completely indifferent to it.
“Can I talk to her?I need to know what she does remember.”He held up his hands in supplication as both women glared at him.“I’ll be as gentle as possible,” he promised.
“As long as you keep it short.And as long as I can sit in on the interview, to be there if she needs me,” Mary finally conceded.
“That would be good,” Monroe added.“I still have ward rounds to complete.”He could see her focus already moving on, homing in on the next patient on her list.Her disgust at Taylor’s treatment had been real and raw, but the reality of being a busy doctor in a busy hospital was that she had other patients to care for.
“I’ll go in and talk to Taylor, prepare her for the interview,” Mary said.
“Could you send Constable Carmichael out, please?”Nico asked as Mary turned to leave.“She doesn’t need to be in there for this.”He wanted to debrief her before he went in; she may have some small but pertinent information that might help him direct his questioning.Besides, she’d already spent enough time with the victim.She needed to get back to the station and write up her notes, while the details were still fresh in her mind.Nico wouldn’t admit to himself that a small part of him also wanted her out of that room for her own protection.
Lacey’s gift was compassion.She often connected with a victim, or even a perp in some cases, in a deeper way than Nico ever could.It allowed her to form a trust with them, draw out details from a victim that he might never achieve.This was a gift, but it was also a weakness.Because she felt things so intensely, she was often left with a residue of pain on the victim’s behalf, especially if she was unable to help someone.And Nico could tell this case was special to Lacey.She was already a confidante to this girl, had already been drawn into her story in a profound way.And this worried Nico.Lacey was too close to this girl.She would hate to hear it, but he was scared this might trigger her PTSD again.Even though she kept telling him that with Imran helping her with therapy, and with Nico’s love, she was slowly conquering the beast.
Perhaps his gift was almost the opposite.That he could detach himself from a scene—most of the time.To make a good detective, you couldn’t allow yourself to get too drawn into the emotional side of things, or you might drown in those feelings, or become inadvertently biased.
Waiting beside the nurses’ desk, he caught Tyrell’s eye, conveying to the man that it was now doubly important he remain vigilant with this victim.If she had somehow escaped from this perp, rather than him just letting her go, then she might become a target again.The killer might want to come and finish what he’d started, especially if it got out that she couldn’t remember anything.He needed to keep this whole thing under wraps and Taylor well protected until they understood what and who they were dealing with.Tyrell merely nodded at their unspoken communication and stood a little straighter.
Then he was nearly bowled over as Lacey came marching through the door.
“Why won’t you let me stay for the interview?”she demanded, stopping her headlong rush mere inches from his nose.
“Because Mary will be there, so she’ll be in good hands,” he replied quietly, hoping that Lacey remembered it wasn’t her job to sit by the victim’s bedside.It was her job to help him catch the offender.“And because you need to go back to the station and write down everything she told you, the big and the small details, so you don’t forget anything.”
A little of the heat went out of Lacey’s flashing, green eyes.“Fine,” she spat, pursing her lips together, dropping her gaze to the ground.She was angry and unnerved and showing her distress by turning it into irritation toward him.He could deal with being her punching bag, if that’s what she needed, but he hated to see her so tormented.
He took her by the shoulders and pulled her into his body.Wrapping his arms around her waist, he looked down into her face, not caring that Tyrell or the nurses could see them.He didn’t need to say anything; his look conveyed it all.That he knew she was feeling helpless and angry all at the same time.But that he was there for her, both as a physical presence and to help her through the minefield of emotions this case seemed to have engendered.
“We have to catch this guy, Nico,” she said, her voice muffled by his jacket.“You should see her poor damaged body.He cut her everywhere.And I meaneverywhere.”Lacey was close to tears, he could hear it in her tone, and he pulled her in closer, hoping to absorb all her pain to help her move past this terrible episode.He didn’t make any false promises; he knew how notoriously hard these serial killers were to catch.But with every murder the bastard committed, they got a step closer to finding him.
Lacey melted against him for a few precious seconds before he felt her tense and then push him away, regaining her tough cop outer veneer.He led her to a row of plastic chairs on the other side of the nurses’ station and they sat down together.
“You need to know what she’s said so far?”Lacey said, requiring no prompting from him, so he just waited.“Right.”She took a deep breath as if centering herself, preparing to recall the facts.“Mary told you about the dissociative amnesia?”At Nico’s nod, she continued.“So, the first real memory she has is of waking up on the side of the road this morning.She has no idea how she got there, or how long she’d been there.He could’ve dumped her under the cover of darkness, probably drugged so that it took her a few hours to wake up.That’s my theory, anyway,” she said thoughtfully.“Prior to that, her last complete memory is of her and Danika walking down the road on the outskirts of Strahan.It was on Sunday, two days before we found the body,” Lacey added.“They were looking to hitch a ride into Cradle Mountain, where they were going to stay at the local lodge for the next few nights.She said they were only hitching because they’d slept in and missed the bus and the next one wasn’t until the following day.”Lacey’s brow furrowed at the thought of two young women being silly enough to hitchhike.“A brown sedan pulled over and the guy seemed nice, an older gentleman who said he was going to Devonport to visit his son and grandchildren and he could drop them at the turnoff to the national park, so they got in.”
Nico gritted his teeth.It was the nice ones you needed to look out for.“Does she remember much of what the guy looked like?Could we get her to work with a sketch artist?”
“Maybe.”Lacey didn’t sound that convinced.“I’m not sure how much we can trust of her memory, if what the doc says is true.She could be remembering the face of the man who served them their breakfast at the café that morning for all we know.She said the man was drinking from a bottle of water, and he offered them both one.They were thirsty from walking.So…”
“So, they drank from it,” Nico finished for her.
“Yep.”Lacey’s features were as grim as his own.“And that’s the last she remembers.”
