The first thing she was aware of was a sharp scent of disinfectant. It stung her nostrils and made her flinch. It also pushed her towards wakefulness. Her chest ached dully. She moaned and shifted in the bed. She could hear a soft beep keeping time with her pulse. Also a soft voice: Oh, I think she's waking up.
Clarice Starling opened her eyes and looked around. A nurse in flowered scrubs hovered over her. Behind the nurse, Josh Graham and Jack Crawford stood. They watched her carefully. Clarice shifted again in the bed and tried to sit up.
"Hey, guys," she said softly.
"Hi," Josh said.
"How are you, Starling?" Crawford asked. "And what the hell happened?"
She let out a breath. "My chest hurts," she said. "It all…it all happened so fast. One minute these people were saying they worked for the hospital, the next minute they were shooting me."
Both of their faces twisted. Clarice knew what they were thinking. Starling screwed up. But she hadn't. She had done everything she could do. And for that matter, Alice had behaved herself perfectly fine. Actually, Alice had asked the girl not to kill her.
"Well," Josh said, "at least you're all right." The words I told you so were obvious in his tone, but he didn't say them.
"Starling, the hospital is livid," Crawford said. "You stay in the hospital for as long as you need to. Once you're out, both you and Josh will be on this case. You know her best."
Clarice nodded.
"What can you tell me about the people who did this?" Josh asked. Clarice's lips twisted. Alice had been his first case. Now here he was, treating her like an interviewee. Anger coursed through her and she pushed it away. She couldn't expect Josh to wait on this.
"The girl…the girl was young," she said. "Black girl. Light-colored skin, like coffee with cream. More or less like Ardelia. You've met her, haven't you, Josh?"
Josh nodded.
"She was short," Clarice continued. Even if all of this was going to land on her head, she'd still do her job as best she could. "Short hair, really cut close to her head. She had glasses but they may have been part of the disguise. She spoke regular English but switched back and forth between accents. She knew Alice from somewhere and Alice knew her. I think Alice called her 'Teek'. The guy was big. Tall and sort of running to fat. He had sort of dirty blonde hair. Taller than you, Mr. Crawford. Really open face, not bad looking. Blue eyes, I think, but I'm not sure. He looked like a sort of middle-American boy. You'd never look twice at him."
Josh's pen scratched over his pad. "Great," he said. Then Clarice remembered what the middle-American boy had done.
"How…how is Agent Hemd?" Clarice asked.
Josh's face twisted. He glanced wordlessly at Crawford. An awful lurch struck Clarice's stomach.
"Is he…is he alive?" she pressed.
Crawford pressed his lips together and shook his head. "Dead at the scene," he said slowly. "There was nothing you could have done for him, Starling."
Clarice felt tears sting her eyes. A good agent was dead, because she'd felt sorry for a killer. It was a heavy weight to have to bear.
"We're going to try and put names to these people," Josh said carefully. "I'll keep you posted. But we're going to get these people put away. Whatever it takes."
"I'll help any way I can," Clarice promised. She wondered idly if they were going to suspend her. She hoped not. Nobody knew Alice Pierpont quite as well as she did.
Except Josh, her mind reminded her.
"OK, Starling," Crawford said. "Listen…it'll all be okay. You just concentrate on getting better. Once you're out, we'll put you on the case too."
They left then. Clarice stared up at the ceiling. Lots of ceiling tiles. She counted forty-two of them and then double-checked them.
Who were these people and why had they freed Alice? What were they planning now? The ceiling tiles offered her no answers.
…
The sun shone in the window of the farmhouse. The bedroom itself was anonymous and quiet. The bed was soft and comfortable. Down the hall, the sound of a running shower droned.
Alice Pierpont awoke slowly, easy and uncomfortable under the sheets. A good night's sleep had cleared her system of the Stelazine and the other drugs they had made her take. She glanced around the unfamiliar room and blinked.
A knock came at the door. Alice sat up and rubbed her eyes. She felt a lot better now. More herself. And she was ready for some fun.
"Come in," she called.
The door opened to admit the large form of Colin Barksdale. He smiled happily at her and waved.
"Morning!" he said merrily. "Out of bed, lazybones. We have a shoot today!"
Alice grunted. "You try Stelazine and see how active you are," she said. The shower cut off, and footsteps echoed down the hall. Chatiqua Miller entered the room in a bathrobe. In her hands she held two envelopes, which she held out to the other people in the room.
"Morning, Alice," she smiled. "Now you take a shower. I need you looking good. We're going to do our first shoot today!"
Alice slid out from under the covers and took the proffered envelope. It contained several thick papers. As she peered at it, she realized it was a screenplay.
"Which role am I playing?" she asked. Then she examined it a bit further. "Trying some documentaries?"
Chatiqua grinned. "It's just a little taste," she said. "Also, it'll put the people watching us off their speed. We're shooting this one on location, dear Alice, dear Alice." She chuckled. "Now go shower."
A shower served to wake Alice up further. Chatiqua ran her actors out to the car, grinning happily. The house in Baltimore that they had chosen to hide out in was not far from the shoot location. Alice frowned at it as they got closer.
"Hey," she said thoughtfully. "This is my place."
Chatiqua nodded.
"They never sold it," Alice said thoughtfully, staring at the house she had lived in. "My victims are still suing me. Most of my money is hidden now."
"Atta girl," Chatiqua said. "I saw the specials they did on you on Lifetime TV. Your place is just perfect for the shoot. Won't take too long. Colin's gonna set things up. You and I need to go hire some stuntmen."
The house itself was preternaturally quiet. Dust motes danced in the air. The house was still and silent. The front door was locked and marked with the seal of the FBI. Alice crossed around and opened a window she knew was unlocked. It screeched open and they climbed inside.
The power was off, but that was no matter. Colin went around to the meter, cut off the wire lock holding it shut, and pulled the meter free. On the back of it were four metal prongs covered over with plastic covers. Colin removed the covers and plugged it back in. Several lights promptly came on. Alice grinned.
"So," she said. "All we need to do is hire some stuntmen, hmmm?"
Chatiqua nodded. Her brown eyes gleamed at her friend. This had been her plan ever since she had begun to work in the movie industry.
"Perhaps a better term is 'disposable actor'," she said calmly. "C'mon. Basically we go to the bus station and see if someone wants to be in a movie. You'd be amazed."
Alice sighed. "This better not be porno, Teek," she admonished.
"Alice, girlfriend. That is not part of my vision. Have faith in me, dear girl. I'll make you famous."
"I already am famous," Alice said, grinning. "I'm a serial killer. Plus I'm Hannibal Lecter's daughter."
Chatiqua took her friend's arm and began yanking her out the door. "I know, I know. Come on. Time is money, you know."
Alice rolled her eyes but let her friend take her out to the car. "You're so bossy, Teek," she said playfully.
For two attractive women, picking up a couple of guys was relatively easy. As Chatiqua had planned, they went to the bus station and scouted out victims. They settled on two guys, rather clean-cut. Alice figured them for penny-pinching college students, and Chatiqua concurred. They would do; it wasn't like their roles would involve much acting anyway. Alice made the initial approach, smiling brightly at them.
"Hey, guys," she said, smiling pleasantly. "I'm Alicia and this is my friend Sarah. Wanna be in a movie?"
"A movie?" one of them said. "What kind?"
"An independent film," Alice said. "We need some actors for some secondary roles. It'll be fun."
The two guys looked at each other and grinned. They were clearly thinking porno. Alice chuckled.
"We'll pay you, too," she offered to clinch the deal. "Five hundred bucks apiece. You'd be able to buy a plane ticket to wherever you're going. Or a train ticket. That would be a lot cleaner than here and quicker, too. You interested?"
The guys took them up on their offer, identifying themselves as Scott and Chris. Alice didn't care what their names were. The foursome returned to the house, where Colin had been setting up scenery in Alice's den and basement.
"We're all ready," he said, grinning. With some pride, he showed the two women what he had done with the basement and den. Alice was suitably impressed. He had really done quite a bit.
"Okay, okay," Chatiqua said demandingly. She clapped her hands. "Quiet on the set. Alice, sweetheart, go get changed, will you?"
Alice sighed and returned in a man's white shirt and trousers. She grabbed her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail, holding it in place with a rubber band. She stared at Chatiqua, who was already crouching behind her camera.
"I can't believe you want me to play this role," she said dubiously.
Chatiqua aimed the camera and zoomed back and forth, moving the tripod a few times to find an angle.
"Nonsense," she said distractedly. "Who better to play this role than you?"
Alice shrugged. She moved to the desk and sat down behind it. Scott, one of their disposable actors, appeared at the door. He glanced over at Chatiqua and grinned.
"Do I stand right here?"
"Right there," Chatiqua assured him. "Have you gone over the script? Good. Quiet on the set…and…action."
Shooting the first scene proved to be more fun than Alice had thought it would be. And this was so very fitting; their audience would love it. It was good to be back.