Chapter 10 Family Matters
The light inside the social club was dim, smoke hung in the air and Rae wondered whether it was kept this way to fit a stereotype or if the patrons actually preferred it.
Making her way between the round tables she finally arrived at the bar and, in no hurry to be served, leant with her back against the counter and looked about her.
There might be about thirty cars parked outside, but they certainly didn't all belong to the men in here. Rae reckoned that at most there were twenty people spaced out around the room and she realised with a sinking feeling that her victim might not have even been coming to or leaving from here.
"What d'you want, Lady?" The voice behind her confirmed her feeling that someone was moving closer to her and she turned, a smile on her face.
"I'm looking for this guy. You seen him?" She held out the Polaroid picture and watched as the man, with 'Dave' written on his waistcoat, took hold of the photo with fat but apparently clean fingers.
"Can't say, he don't look too good, why d'you want him, you a cop?"
Rae just nodded, she was used to being made in an instant, it had surprised her at one time, but not any more. "Yep, I'm a cop, and I just want to know if anyone can tell me if they've seen him or if you can give me his name."
The man turned and held the picture up to the fluorescent glare reflecting off the glass splash backs and then shook his head. "He don't look no better in the light. Nope, I don't know him. I'm guessing you wanna ask around, huh?"
"Oh yeah, and I'll have a mineral water too please." Rae rummaged in her jeans pocket and pulled out a ten-dollar bill. "There you go."
"Thanks. You got ID?"
Rae nodded her head and took her wallet out of her inside jacket pocket. Again Dave moved over to the lights and looked at the picture, at her and then back at the picture again.
"Well, you look better than he does!" Her wallet was returned to her as he spoke.
"Oh, thanks a lot!" Rae laughed and shook her head, not really sure how to respond. She held her hand out as her change was counted into it and then took a sip of her drink. It was ice cold and refreshing as she felt it slip down her throat. The smoke was beginning to make her eyes sting, she disliked the smell of beer and she hoped she wouldn't be in here much longer.
"Want me to look after it while you ask your questions?" Dave reached his hand out for the drink but Rae shook her head.
"No, thanks, I'll take it with me." She picked it up and walked over to the closest table, the photo and her ID held together in her left hand, the glass in her right, and wondered whether or not she was wasting her time.
ooo
By the time school had finished and Daniel had been met by Juan he was so worried and concerned about his mom that he thought he might break down and cry. When the Hispanic manservant told him that his father had called and that he was to go straight to the hospital Daniel had just nodded his head and let himself be driven there in silence.
The differences between Juan and Michael became more apparent than ever when the car drew up in the ordinary parking lot and Daniel climbed out.
"Aren't you coming in too?" He watched as the butler sat quietly behind the wheel not even releasing his seat belt.
"No, Sir. I shall return home, if the Lieutenant or Mrs Sloan require me I am sure they will be in touch. If you wish me to pick you up from here later in the evening, Master Daniel, you only have to call."
"No, no that's ok. Grandpa'll take me to his house, or I'll come home with Dad, but thanks." The black BMW pulled away and then as if suddenly realising why he was there Daniel turned and ran into the building.
In less than five minutes he was walking out of the elevator on the third floor and looking around for any familiar face who might help him find his parents.
"Jesse!" The relief he felt was almost overwhelming as his dad's best friend came into view and smiled at him.
"Well, hey, Big Brother. How y'doin'?" Jesse moved closer to the boy, slapping him on the shoulder as he spoke.
"She had the baby? Mom had the baby, Jesse, is she ok? Is … the baby? Can I … can I go see?"
"I've just seen both of them, and there are still some concerns, but well, look, sit for a minute." Jesse stopped talking and guided the young man towards the seats. He had just visited with Jo and Jayden, and been on his way to the main reception to try and meet Daniel there when they had run into each other in the hallway.
"What, what concerns?" Daniel looked worried, the tears he had fought in the car were back, and this time he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to hold them in.
"I spoke with your dad, your mom is sedated right now, and he said to tell you all I know, he wants to stay with the baby. Then, if you want to you can go sit with Jo. Mark is with her, she isn't alone."
"So tell me already, I want to see Mom, and the baby."
"You can't see him, not yet."
"Him? It's a boy? I have a brother? Jayden, right, they did go with Jayden?" He was talking fast, too fast really, but the words just fell out over each other.
"Yep, a boy, and yes his name is Jayden. Jayden Daniel Michael Sloan … you didn't know?" Jesse's voice became soft as he saw the look of astonishment and delight on the boy's face.
"No, I didn't know. M will be real chuffed, um that's British for really pleased."
"I always thought it had to do with trains, but yeah, I know. I'm married to Rae remember."
Daniel just nodded his head, and the delight he felt stayed in place a moment or two longer before he looked serious again. "But it isn't all good news is it?"
"No, but it's a whole lot better than it could have been. Your mom had to have a caesarean otherwise there was a very real chance that she and the baby could have died. I know that they told you Jayden was at risk, but the truth is Jo was at just as much risk herself."
"And now?"
"And now she isn't. She'll take a while to get on her feet. For one thing she had a major operation, but it's more than that…" A nurse nodded at the two of them as she passed by, so Jesse stood up and Daniel did the same, a puzzled look on his face. "Let's go in here, it's more private." There was an empty suite directly opposite them and with a nod of understanding the young man and the doctor entered and then closed the door.
Once they were comfortable on the two chairs in the room Jesse began to speak once more.
"Daniel, your mom had a seizure, in fact she had two, and so we need to monitor her very closely. Although she is way safer now that the baby is here, she could still have more seizures, and even when she goes home she is gonna have to be checked up regularly here and I'm sure your Grandpa will be doing home visits too."
"For how long? How long does she have to stay, how long does she have to be checked?"
"Seizures have been reported up to 26 days after the birth of a baby in these circumstances, so for about a month. And she stays until the blood pressure is back to near normal, she is feeling vaguely human and we know she has help at home. Ok, the last one of those isn't a problem, but the other two still stand."
"Jesse, thank you. I have so many questions, but I just want to see my mom." This time the tears were right there in his eyes, and he felt Jesse squeeze his arm.
"Ok. We'll tell you about your brother a little later. The main thing is he's here, he's alive, and the last time I checked his condition, although critical, was stable. Now come on, let's go find Jo and Mark."
Daniel nodded his head. He felt like he had grown up a lot in the last ten minutes and, pulling himself up to his full big brother height, he followed Jesse out into the hallway to go see his mom.
ooo
The bag hadn't taken very long to pack, once he had decided which things to take from each woman, it had been relatively easy to put them all into a holdall, and still get the zipper closed.
He had thought long and hard about what had happened earlier in the day and it had become just a memory, but not a special one and so it was discarded, pushed to the recesses of his mind, never to be visited with again. Instead he would touch the silky garments, comb the hair, inhale the special scents, which each woman had left him with, and remember, oh how he loved to remember.
Now that he was alone again, with no one knowing who he was or, more importantly, where he was, the need to run had receded. The bag was still a necessity though, a fail-safe, a crisis supply of that which he held most dear, to be removed in case of emergency or catastrophe.
He needed to rest, to decide what to do next, now that things were, for the time being at least, a little less urgent. Food, he would need food, but that was ok, he could go buy that in the evening, dress for jogging, with a hooded top and dark glasses. No one would have any idea who he was.
If he was careful it would be a while before he needed to work, and when he did, well the heat would have died down a little from his picture in the paper and he wouldn't be recognised. Dominic-Matthew knew that, for the time being at any rate, Krista's killing and Leigh Anne's were keeping him satisfied. There was no immediate longing to do it again, no need to change parts of the ritual which hadn't worked out properly, they had been almost perfect, the only difficulty was that they hadn't been The One, could never be The One, that was an insurmountable problem and one which, he knew, would, in the end lead him to kill again.
For a moment he thought about the stables where he had taken Leigh Anne. The feeling when he had found out that they were owned by that cop and his wife, it had been all encompassing, not in the way it was when he needed a date, needed to find his woman, but in a powerful, intimidating way.
Sloan: he had got into his life, he'd taken his picture, used his horses, what else could he do? The chance to tease, to frustrate and annoy, excited him, emboldened him and he laughed out loud as he realised that finally he had a chance to get one over on someone who so obviously thought he was better than everyone else. Well he was wrong, and that British cop, she was wrong too, and he would have great pleasure in planning their downfall.
ooo
It was eight o'clock before Rae got home; she was cold for some reason, as well as tired and fed up. Still she had a partial ID on her victim, two offers of a date for Friday night, and a jacket that needed to go to the dry cleaners to get rid of the smell of cigarette smoke.
Jesse had called her and told her about Texas and the new baby and she was excited but saddened by the news. Rae remembered clearly the feelings she had experienced when Eliana had been born too early, the separation had been so painful, and she wished that she could be there for her friend, as Texas had been for her. It was only family allowed to visit right now though, and so, unwillingly, she had driven home without taking a detour via the obstetrics ward.
Her own two daughters were in bed when she arrived and so she had quietly climbed the stairs and gently eased open the door to the nursery. Anneya was fast asleep, lying on her back; her golden hair fanned out on one side of her head and knotted up into clumps the other. Rae grimaced; she was in for another screaming match with the little girl the following morning when she tried to brush the tangles out.
Eliana, so different from her sister, was curled up on her side, a soft toy clutched tightly in her arms as she slept. She was still small, not that much bigger than her little sister, even though there was over two years between them. She was four years old now, almost five, and after all the concerns due to her early birth, as bright as a button. She had inherited her dark hair and skin from her mother, although where her curls came from they had no idea. Rae would have been proud of her daughters no matter what, but when she heard Eliana read to Anneya, even though the younger girl couldn't hear any of the words, and then point out things in the pictures and she saw the little girl look up at her big sister and smile, her heart swelled with pride and she realised just how blessed she and Jesse had been.
For a moment she sent up a silent prayer that Steve and Texas would find the same joy with their two children and then, with a contented sigh, she closed the door behind her and went off in search of something to eat.
ooo
Mark had offered to swap places with Steve just after Daniel had joined him. All the readings on the monitors in Jo's room were showing what he would want them to, and he knew that before too long she would begin to wake up and need to see her husband sitting with her although he was hopeful that she would sleep until morning.
If he was honest he also wanted a chance to sit with the baby, a chance to watch over the little guy for a while, make sure he was getting everything he needed. Mark looked at Daniel, sitting so close to his mother that he was almost on the bed with her. He would always be his eldest grandson and Mark knew he would never forget the thrill he had felt when he finally heard himself being called grandpa, but Jayden was his first baby grandchild, and the chance to watch him grow as he had done with Steve and Carol filled his heart with joy.
Whispering his plans to Daniel, Mark stood up and stretched before making his way out into the hallway smiling at a young nurse who greeted him. He was concerned for Jayden, but he was also confident that the little boy would make it. The fact that he was alive and fighting was a good sign; the medication was available to help his under-developed lungs and barring any unforeseen complications he should be home about the time that he was due to have been born.
Mark rubbed his glasses on his shirt to clean them a little bit as he entered the NICU and then looked around for his own son. There were four cribs with babies in them, the other three had two people sitting by them and for a moment his heart ached as Mark saw Steve sitting alone, staring intently in through the glass sides of his son's isolette.
"Hi, how's he doing?" Mark's words were again whispers; it didn't seem right to speak aloud right now.
"You know I think he is doing really well." Steve looked at his father and Mark could see the cautious optimism in his face. "They just did whatever it is they do every half hour or so and the nurse said he was even better than they had hoped."
Mark was looking at monitors again and, as he had seen in Jo's room, the figures pleased him.
"Sometimes there's doubt as to whether to operate or not, but I have to say, Son, this time there was no option, and the condition of your child and your wife both confirm that."
"Jo?" A look of panic crossed Steve's face and he stood up quickly.
"No, listen, she is doing just fine, Daniel's with her, and I have come to swap places for a while. Then, as I know you won't be wanting to go home tonight I will take Daniel with me again."
"Thanks, Dad." Steve stared down at his son again for a moment, drinking in the sight of him, he was so small, the diaper seemed to be more suitable for an elephant, and the little hat on his head, well, he hadn't thought it big enough to fit anything until it had gently been placed on Jayden. For an instant it had reminded him of something he had seen in Rae's kitchen once, an egg cosy, although at the time he'd had no idea what it was.
"I'll see you later, Dad and thanks again." Steve moved off, a bemused look on his face, where did these thoughts come from?
ooo
Steve sat and looked at his wife and eldest son, eldest son, he had two boys now, he was the father of two boys. A smile split his face and Daniel joined in.
"What?"
"Pardon?" Steve looked at the boy, confused for a moment.
"You suddenly started smiling; I just wondered what caused it."
"Oh." For a moment Steve felt himself blush slightly but then he reached out and took his son's hand.
"I was just thinking about the fact that I am the father of two boys. That is a great feeling."
"Do you wish that Jayden was a girl?" Daniel looked closely at his father's face and knew the answer before he spoke.
"No. You know, sometimes you can tell the sex from the ultrasound, but I wouldn't have asked, it didn't matter to me, I just want him to be ok, y'know, just ok."
The conversation faded away and Daniel, feeling the same concerns as his father, was very glad he hadn't let go of his hand.
ooo
The newspapers that she hadn't had a chance to read during the day were now spread out across the dining table. Vicky had retired to her part of the house for the evening, and Rae was alone. She was glad that she hadn't looked at the papers while she was at the station, or she might never have made it home in time for breakfast.
'How to avoid being a victim' the headline screamed at her from one of the less serious publications, a woman's magazine had an article on self defence which had also been linked to the Red Rose Killer and, in a magazine she had bought at the gas station on the way home, there was an article by a man who was sure that Dominic came from Mars, right now Rae wasn't so sure she didn't agree with him.
Even the more solemn papers, the ones that, in London, would be called broadsheets, had articles covering page after page of the publications. There were articles from so-called experts who she had never heard of, as well as a couple she had, and eventually Rae knew she would have to read them all. Picking up the cup of steaming coffee from just in front of her Rae pulled forward one of the papers she would call a rag, and began to educate herself on just how she could, if she were blonde, stay one step ahead of their killer.
The final suggestion was to dye your hair, obviously not blonde, and Rae wasn't at all impressed to see a picture of herself next to the text with her shoulder-length mousy brown locks blowing in the wind. 'A non-descript colour such as that of Detective Reagan Yeager, shown here investigating the Red Rose Killings, would be just fine' was the caption underneath.
"Non-descript! I'll have to dye my hair too, and get it cut, I look like a wild woman." Rae caught herself running her hand through her hair and stopped what she was doing for a moment to laugh. The sound cheered her and, draining her cup, she stood up for a moment, catching sight of herself in the mirror above the fireplace. She moved closer, and looked at herself for a minute or two. Her hair was non-descript, and when she was younger she had dyed it all sorts of colours, blonde being one of them, but it had always been very obvious, to her at least, when she wasn't her original colour.
All the victims had been natural blondes, but she realised it was more than that. They had been that lustrous golden blonde which was so hard to replicate. Going back over to the table she pulled a box file towards her. Inside were copies of the main documents plus photos of all the victims not only in LA but other parts of the country as well, and Rae rummaged through them until she found the one she was looking for.
Sara Ann Miller, the first victim, as far as Rae was concerned, and the only one who hadn't had her hair cut. "So, why didn't she have it cut, why didn't she have long hair in the first place?"
Rae began pacing the room, she wasn't by nature a pacer, but she didn't want to sit down, something was suddenly bothering her, and she needed the motion to help her with it.
Every one of the victims had had their hair cut. It was part of his signature, something he had to do, something he had a psychological need to perform before his rituals and actions were complete, but the first one, the victim who had set the pattern for the rest, hadn't had her hair cut off, and she needed to know why.
Rae knew that signatures changed, but only slightly. The basic needs were always catered for every time and in this case those needs were maybe slashing the feet, and definitely leaving a rose and cutting the hair. No one knew about the hair, they had kept that fact to themselves, but it had happened every time. Jenna, the fatality who had been the first one they had encountered in LA, hers had been cut only slightly, or slightly compared to other victims, and at the time they hadn't realised how important a clue it was, which was one of the reasons it hadn't been released to the press. The other unreleased piece of evidence, the slashing of the feet had begun to puzzle Rae, and although she hadn't let the thoughts take root before she began to do so now.
She started to wonder whether their killer wasn't actually very strong, or at least hadn't been in the beginning and, if he hadn't had the ability to render his victim as helpless as he would have liked, he lashed out hoping to make them submit far quicker because they couldn't walk.
Rae knew that the blonde hair was the first thing that drew their killer, it had to be, but what other similarities were there? They had concentrated on the obvious; maybe they had done so too much. She needed to get into this guy's mind, try and see what he saw, and to do that she needed all the physical evidence so she could go over it again. With a deep sigh, and wishing that she hadn't thought of it, Rae slid the photo back into the folder and then began folding up the newspapers, it was after eleven at night, there would be no more delving until morning.
With a smile she suddenly remembered the other thing she had wanted to do and made her way over to the computer. In her favourites was a page from a baby store a little way down the coast and as she called it up she was glad to see that the item she had highlighted still seemed to be available.
With a few clicks of her mouse Rae had ended her evening far more pleasantly than she had at first thought possible. She knew that Jayden was still in the NICU but she wanted to be positive, and so she had ordered a crib bedding set. It had horses and stars on it which she and Jesse had thought was quite apt for the baby of a Texan heiress, but what had really clinched it was that the set was called 'the travis', once they had seen that, the decision had been made.
It would take six weeks for the specially made bedding to be delivered, and by then she, and everyone else, would know just how Jayden was doing. Rae sat, the screen thanking her for her payment and let her mind concentrate on Steve and Texas, and their little family. She wondered how Daniel would cope with no longer being the only child, she had a feeling it would be difficult for him. That boy had been through so much, but he was happy and secure now, and Rae knew that both her friends would make sure he continued to feel that way.
The sound of the front door opening made her jump and she logged off the Internet and made her way out into the hall. Jesse was re-setting the alarm and she stood, just a little way from him a satisfied smile on her face as he turned.
"Well, hi, beautiful, I thought you would be in bed." Jesse returned the smile and moved across towards his wife.
"I was working, and then I ordered something for the baby, and then I heard you, and here I am. He is still ok isn't he, Jayden?" Rae counted the things off on her fingers, smiling as she spoke.
"Oh yeah, he's doing well, he's strong like his dad, but he'll need to be. He shouldn't have been here for another nine maybe ten weeks or so, it's gonna be hard.
"But Eliana did it, and she's fine, she isn't behind in her schooling or anything, she's just small, but then so are we so she could have been that way anyhow."
"I am not small, just beautifully proportioned." Jesse looked at his wife as he spoke and she saw the laughter in his eyes.
"Yeah, right, well, when you're ready, oh beautifully proportioned one, I shall be in bed, unless you are coming up with me right now."
Jesse appeared to think about the offer for a moment or two, and then laughed as Rae slapped his butt.
"Ok, ok, I'm coming, I ate at the hospital anyway, and I would rather be with you than on my own."
The words warmed her heart and, taking his hand into her own, she walked up the staircase with her husband, the case all but forgotten as she did so.
ooo
The morning dawned dull and wet and Steve, looking out of the window in his wife's room was glad he was in the warm and dry. He had sent Daniel home with his grandfather a little after ten and had been on his own ever since. He had spent the night scooting from one bedside to another, not wanting to leave either of them alone, but having little choice in the matter.
Jesse had volunteered to stay but he had refused the offer. Alex had come and seen him too, and as he had been working a double shift and planning to sleep at the hospital he had spent a little time with Jayden while Steve had nodded off in the chair by Jo's bed.
Now, as he sat there again, he saw her begin to stir and, after pressing the call button, Steve took her hand in his and watched her fight her way back to him, knowing that once she was conscious again his world would be complete.