Chapter Three
Steve was so unnerved when he saw Jaime that all he could do was sweep her into his arms. She was sitting bolt-upright, tears flooding her cheeks and her whole body trembling visibly. Her teeth appeared to be chattering. "What is it, Sweetheart?" he asked, a little frightened himself, now. "Bad dream?" Jaime shook her head and, without looking up from Steve's shoulder, she pointed to the bedroom window, which - to Steve's finely-tuned and well-trained eye – appeared normal.
Steve frowned, but continued to try and soothe her. "Was someone there?" he asked, very gently.
Jaime looked up at the empty window and a new wave of sobbing overtook her. "It was...another doll..." she managed to tell him. "A girl...and...Steve, she was covered in blood!"
With one arm still holding Jaime close, Steve reached for the bedside phone and dialed Oscar's emergency number. "Something's happened," he told their boss-and-friend grimly, without greeting or preamble. "You and Hansen need to come over here." He glanced at Jaime's stricken, tear-stained face. "And bring Rudy."
- - - - - -
The cat exulted in this new triumph. It was amazing how little money it took to persuade people to do almost anything with no questions asked. The cat, shrouded in a cloak of anonymity, could savor the game indefinitely before moving in for the kill.
- - - - - -
Steve waited tensely in the living room while Rudy was down the hall with Jaime. "Somebody's playing with us," he told Oscar and Hansen (hitting closer to the truth than he could possibly know). "If they wanted to hurt us – physically – they had a clean shot at Jaime through that window." Steve cringed inwardly at the thought.
Oscar hesitated, but had to say it. "Are you sure there was really something at the window, Pal? Maybe Jaime was dreaming."
Steve shook his head emphatically. "No way. She was practically in hysterics; this was NO dream!"
"I could send you both underground," Oscar offered, "to one of our safe houses, while this is being investigated. Be almost like a vacation -"
"Except there's nothing to investigate," Steve pointed out.
"He's right," Hansen affirmed. "Not one grain of evidence to go on – yet."
"Did you get the fingerprint results from Jaime's house yet?" Steve asked.
"We did, but it's another dead end. Every single print has a reason to be there: you, Jaime, Oscar, Russ, Peggy Callahan and Rudy. Also Chris Williams and Michael Marchetti. Whoever did this either wore gloves or was very, very careful."
"So we have nothing," Oscar said, quite unhappily.
"My gut says it isn't over, though," Steve added, "and I don't think Jaime can take much more -"
"She can't," Rudy agreed as he joined the group.
"How is she?" Steve asked anxiously.
"Asleep, but it took two shots to get her there."
"Was she dreaming?" Oscar wondered.
"It's possible that what happened earlier could have traumatized her badly enough to trigger a nightmare...but I don't think so. This is affecting Jaime physically, to an almost dangerous degree. I believe she saw something."
"That settles it," Oscar concluded. "Steve, you're taking her to a safe house – tonight. I'll have Russ and Callahan make the arrangements."
- - - - - -
Jaime sent everyone's carefully-made plans into a tailspin when she woke up. "No," she insisted, arms folded across her chest and her lower lip jutting out in true Jaime-style. "I'm not going."
She still looked pale and somewhat shaky, but Steve knew when he saw the look in her eyes that it was pointless to argue. "Jaime -"
"No! If we run away and hide, then they've won – whoever they are."
"Sweetheart, please -"
"I refuse to let them win, Steve!"
Steve sighed with resignation. "I'll call Oscar." He returned a few minutes later. "He wants us both in his office, first thing in the morning."
- - - - - -
The cat reveled in the victory of the newest developments. Plans would have to be altered – again – stepped up a notch or two, but this was not a problem. With the right contacts and appropriate pay-offs, the cat could accomplish anything. The mice, already running scared, would stumble blindly into the new trap as well, and never even know what hit them.
- - - - - -