Part 14 (2/2)

”I'm in the hospital?” Her words were slightly slurred, but at least she was coherent.

”Yes, that's right,” I said holding up one hand, palm facing out. ”You're safe now. Let me run and get a doctor. Please, I'll be right back.”

The slight slurring continued, but Dr. McTiernan was focused, scarily so.

”Hold on a minute. I am am a doctor. Let me get my bearings before we invite company in to visit. Just let me collect my thoughts. You're a policeman?” a doctor. Let me get my bearings before we invite company in to visit. Just let me collect my thoughts. You're a policeman?”

I nodded. I wanted to make this as easy for her as I possibly could. I wanted to hug her, hold her hand, do something supportive and yet not threatening, after what she'd been through the past few days. I also wanted to ask her about a hundred important questions.

Kate McTiernan looked away from me. ”I think he drugged me. Or maybe all that was a dream?”

”No, it wasn't a dream. He used a powerful drug called Marinol.” I told her what we knew so far. I was being so careful not to push Kate the wrong way.

”I must have been really tripping.” She tried to whistle, and made a funny sound. I could see where she was missing a tooth. Her mouth was probably dry; her lips were swollen, especially the upper lip.

Odd as it seemed, I found myself smiling. ”You were probably on the planet Weirdness for a while. It's nice to have you back.”

”It's really nice to be back,” she said in a whisper. Tears welled up in her eyes. ”Sorry,” she said. ”I tried so hard not to cry in that horrible place. I want to cry now. I think I will.”

”Oh, please, you just cry your eyes out,” I whispered, too. I could barely talk or keep back tears myself. My chest felt tight. I went over to the hospital bed, and I lightly held Kate's hand as she wept.

”You don't sound like you're from the South,” Kate McTiernan finally spoke again. She was grabbing control of herself. It amazed me she could do that.

”I'm from Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., actually. My niece disappeared from Duke Law School ten days ago. That's why I'm down here in North Carolina. I'm a detective.”

She seemed to see me for the first time. She also appeared to be remembering something important. ”There were other women at the house where I was kept prisoner. We weren't supposed to talk. All communication was strictly forbidden by Casanova, but I broke the rules. I talked to a woman named Naomi-”

I stopped her, cut her off there. ”My niece's name is Naomi Cross,” I said. ”She's alive? She's all right?” My heart felt as if it were going to implode. ”Tell me what you remember, Kate. Please.”

Kate McTiernan grew more intense. ”I talked to a Naomi. I don't remember a last name. I also talked to a Kristen. The drugs. Oh, G.o.d, was it your niece? ... Everything is so hazy and dark right now. I'm sorry...” Kate's voice trailed off as if someone had let the air out of her.

I gently squeezed her hand. ”No, no. You just gave me more hope than I've had since I came down here.”

Kate McTiernan's eyes were fixed and solemn, staring into mine. She seemed to be looking back at something horrifying that she wanted to forget. ”I don't remember a lot of it right now. I think Marinol has that side effect.... I remember that he was going to give me another injection. I kicked him, hurt him enough to get away. At least I think think that's what happened... that's what happened...

”There were thick, thick woods. Carolina pines, hanging moss everywhere.... I remember, I swear to G.o.d... the house... wherever we were being kept, it disappeared. The house where we were being held captive just disappeared disappeared on me.” on me.”

Kate McTiernan slowly shook her head of long brown hair back and forth. Her eyes were wide with astonishment. She seemed amazed at her own story. ”That's what I remember. How could that be? How could a house disappear?”

I could tell that she was reliving her very recent, terrifying past. I was right there with her. I was the first one to hear the story of her escape, the only one so far to hear our witness speak.

Chapter 51.

CASANOVA WAS still disturbed and highly agitated about the loss of Dr. Kate McTiernan. He was restless and had been wide-awake for hours. He rolled over and over in bed. This was no good. This was dangerous. He had made his first mistake.

Then someone whispered in the darkness.

”Are you all right? Are you okay?”

The woman's voice startled him at first. He had been had been Casanova. Now he seamlessly switched over to his other persona: Casanova. Now he seamlessly switched over to his other persona: the good husband. the good husband.

He reached out and gently rubbed his wife's bare shoulder. ”I'm okay. No problem. Just a little trouble sleeping tonight”.

”I noticed. How could I not? The human Mexican jumping bean strikes again.” There was a smile in her sleepy voice. She was a good person, and she loved him.

”Sorry,” Casanova whispered, and kissed his wife's shoulder. He stroked her hair as he thought about Kate McTiernan. Kate had much longer brown hair.

He kept stroking his wife's hair, but he drifted back into his own tortured thoughts again. He really didn't have anyone to talk to, did he? Not anymore. Not around here in North Carolina certainly, not even in the highfalutin Research Triangle belt.

He finally climbed out of bed and trudged downstairs. He shuffled into his den and quietly shut and locked the door.

He looked at his wrist.w.a.tch. It was 3:00 A.M. That would make it twelve out in Los Angeles. He made the call.

Actually, Casanova did did have someone to talk to. One person in the world. have someone to talk to. One person in the world.

”It's me,” he said, when he heard the familiar voice on the line. ”I'm feeling a little crazy tonight. I thought of you, of course.”

”Are you implying that I lead a wanton and half-mad life?” the Gentleman Caller asked with a chuckle.

”That goes without saying.” Casanova was feeling better already. There was was someone he could talk to and share secrets with. ”I took another one yesterday. Let me tell you about Anna Miller. She's exquisite, my friend.” someone he could talk to and share secrets with. ”I took another one yesterday. Let me tell you about Anna Miller. She's exquisite, my friend.”

Chapter 52.

CASANOVA HAD struck again.

Another student, a bright beautiful woman named Anna Miller, had been abducted from a garden apartment she shared with her lawyer-boyfriend near the State University of North Carolina in Raleigh. The boyfriend had been murdered in their bed, which was a new twist for Casanova. He left no note, and no other clues at the crime scene. After a mistake, he was showing us he was letter-perfect again.

I spent several hours with Kate McTiernan at the University of North Carolina hospital. We got along well; I felt that we were becoming friends. She wanted to help me with the psychological profile on Casanova. She was telling me everything that she knew about Casanova and his women captives.

As far as she could tell, there had been six women held as hostages, including herself. It was possible that there were more than six Casanova was extremely well organized, according to Kate. He was capable of planning weeks and weeks ahead, of studying his prey in amazing detail.

He seemed to have ”built” the house of horrors by himself. He had installed plumbing, a special sound system, and air conditioning, apparently for the comfort of his women captives. Kate had only seen the house in a drugged state, though, and she couldn't describe it very well.

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