Answering the Call

by Ali Vali

  “What the hell then?” Nathan asked.

  Sept smiled as she looked at Keegan, who nodded as if understanding this wouldn’t be a cinch. “We have to guess this is our killer and he’s showing me how smart he is. It’s a taunt that we caught Perlis, but this time won’t be so easy.” The headache was mostly gone, but the frustration of being in the dark was starting to drive the pain in the base of her skull up to the middle of her head. “Who’d Fritz put on this task force?”

  “Me, for one, so tell me who you want,” Sebastian said. “You get your pick as long as most of the people around this table are on your list. This is your investigation, but you’re my kid, so I want family looking out for you.”

  “Thanks, Dad, and I think we’ll start with the folks we had last time and add to that. These crimes have a twisted meaning of the Santeria religion, so we need to pull Lourdes Garcia from whatever patrol she’s on.”

  “Are you okay to work today?” Gustave asked.

  “I am, but one low-pressure day won’t set us back too much,” she said, and Keegan squeezed her fingers. “In my gut these killings aren’t related to Perlis, but it’s time to move forward, so I think the best thing to do is go back.”

  “What are you talking about?” Francois asked.

  “Nathan and I need to go down to central lockup and visit Perlis. He’s not going to give up if Teacher’s real, but we need to push him to start talking.”

  “Make sure you go through his attorneys. His trial’s not for another few months, but you don’t want to throw anything into that path to slow it down,” Gustave said.

  “I’ll make the call,” Nathan said and headed for the front of the house.

  “If we can get in to talk to that bastard Perlis,” Sept said, smiling when Keegan pushed her plate closer and pointed to it, “then let’s meet this afternoon and go over what they’re able to pull out of that motel room.”

  “How about the crowd in the yard?” Jacqueline asked.

  “They just want to make sure I’m still breathing,” Sept said and laughed. “The fact there was food was an added bonus, so they’ll leave once all those chafing dishes are empty.”

  Sept took some time outside chatting with the folks who’d stopped by before she went in search of Keegan, who was changing for work. The staff at Blanchard’s had taken care of the lunch prep, but Keegan wanted to be there for the lunch rush, since she’d left the night before.

  “Changed your mind about saying yes?” she asked when she walked up and put her arms around Keegan from behind. The chef pants were on, but Keegan hadn’t reached for the pristinely white top with the restaurant’s logo over the right breast pocket.

  “You’re not getting off that easy.” Keegan fell back against her, wearing only her bra. “I remember the first time we made love and what you told me.”

  “Consistency,” she said and kissed the side of Keegan’s neck. “I’ll leave every day and I’ll come back. If I ever break that promise, it’s not because I want to. I love you too much to leave you.”

  “You waited until I fell madly in love with you before you added that last part,” Keegan said, and Sept could tell she was crying. “I was so scared.”

  “I’m so sorry.” It was all she could think to say.

  “You don’t have to be sorry, baby,” Keegan turned in her arms and pressed her face into her chest. “This isn’t your fault or something you need to apologize for, but it terrifies me that someone’s out to kill you.”

  “I’m always careful, and I know you don’t want to hear this, but I can’t quit now.” Keegan nodded against her chest. “I’ll never show you the crime-scene photos, not because I don’t trust you, but because they’re horrible. Nobody deserves to die the way that woman did, no matter what they do for a living.”

  “I know that, but I’m selfish.” Keegan leaned back a little and gazed up at her. “I want a long life with you, and I don’t want to be robbed of one second of it.”

  “And you won’t.” She kissed Keegan and slid her hands to her ass. “It’s going to take all those years for me to express how much I love you.”

  “Go to work, then, before I strip you naked and handcuff you to the bed,” Keegan said, hissing when Sept pinched one of her nipples. “Not nice, Seven.”

  “You’d better get dressed before I have to toss the dog off the bed and strip you naked.” Mike was lying on his back with all four paws in the air, gently snoring. “And he’d probably bite my ass if I tried.”

  “Call me later so I won’t be completely insane all day.”

  “I promise, and if I’m done early enough, I’ll come by and have dinner. Only I promise to ditch the crowd before then.”

  “I have a veal chop with your name on it,” Keegan said as her head cleared her T-shirt that she wore under the chef’s coat. “And we both know what you’ll do for one of those.”

  “True, so I can’t wait.”

  * * *

  “Ms. Harrison.” Nicole took the tall, blond woman’s hand and shook it briefly. “Thank you for agreeing to this.”

  “Please call me Gretchen.” Gretchen waved her to a seat at the small conference table in her office. “And I think this might be good. I did a little research, and you’re not opposed to interviews before your books are published.”

  “That’s true,” Nicole said as Gretchen’s assistant placed cups of coffee in front of them.

  “It wouldn’t hurt for the world to see that my client has come untethered from reality,” Gretchen said, raising her hand. “That’s the best way I can describe it.”

  “How did you come to represent Mr. Perlis?” The firm, the partnership, the corner office—all the wins in Gretchen’s career added up to her being way out above Alex’s pay grade.

  “His parents and mine are lifelong friends, and they insisted on paying for his defense,” Gretchen said, shrugging slightly. “I’d rather our association not go too far in your book. That’s not the most pertinent thing in his case, and his family’s been put through enough.”

  “Not a problem. I’ve focused all my time on Mr. Perlis, so I don’t know anything about his family. Is that something we can talk about?”

  “Alex’s father is a part owner in a very successful oil-field supply company, his mom is a professor here at the UNO campus, and his two younger brothers work for their father.” Gretchen seemed somewhat hesitant, but obviously the Perlis family had agreed to this part of the conversation. “They’re all horrified that Alex was capable of this, but his past mental issues have made it clear to all of us that he deserves to be hospitalized, not put on death row.”

  “Understandable, but I don’t believe diminished-mental-capacity cases do well in Louisiana, so that might be a stretch,” she said, letting some of her father’s argument out to play. “Your jury pool is full of black-and-white thinkers.”

  “Once you talk with Alex, we’ll meet again and see if your opinions stay the same,” Gretchen said, shrugging again. “The family and I agree to give you full access but do reserve the right to have final say in what you print. Alex isn’t always talkative, but I can’t allow anything he might volunteer to torpedo his defense. That would be negligent on my part.”

  “Yet you agreed to this?” she asked, briefly touching Gretchen’s hand. “That doesn’t fit with the type of woman who was given such a prestigious office.”

  “I earned this office one successful case at a time, but Mr. and Mrs. Perlis are determined to show the world how sick their son is, Ms. Voles. All I can do is follow their wishes while still doing the best job I can to protect my client.”

  “Ah, I see,” she said, picking up on Gretchen’s reluctance. “If he’s nuts, the blame doesn’t taint the old family name.”

  Gretchen smiled but shook her head. “Your words, not mine, so let me know when you’d like to go visit him, and I’ll arrange it.”

  “Ms. Harrison,” a woman said over the intercom. “I hate to bother you.”

  “Excuse
me a moment,” Gretchen said, lifting the receiver and not saying anything for a long moment. “Not without me there,” she said eventually, not sounding pleased. “He has legal counsel, so that’s out of the question. Did she leave her number?”

  “Problem?” Nicole asked.

  “The police want to question my client again.” Gretchen folded the page she’d written on and stood. “I apologize, but if you have anything else, we’ll have to reschedule.”

  “Do you mind if I come with you?” She tucked her notebook back into her bag and placed it in her lap as a signal she was ready to go. “I can observe how Alex interacts with the police and might gain some insight into how to get him to open up to me.”

  “As long as you stay quiet, I don’t see a problem.”

  * * *

  The jail had a peculiar odor Nicole couldn’t quite place, but it reminded her of some kind of cold cut. There were more people than chairs in the waiting area, but that was fine since she didn’t really want to touch anything in the room. The place defined physical misery.

  “There she is,” Gretchen said, cocking her head toward the door marked Official Business Only.

  Nicole recognized Sept Savoie and her white hair from the numerous pictures of her but wasn’t prepared for the woman’s presence. Sept’s face was bruised over her left eyebrow, but she seemed to exude confidence with a healthy dose of cocky. It made her even more attractive, since Nicole figured she wasn’t a pushover no matter the circumstances.

  “Gretchen,” Sept said, offering the lawyer her hand.

  “Sept.” Gretchen answered in the same tone. “What’s this about?”

  “Not out here, okay,” Sept said, leading them into an interrogation room complete with a two-way mirror. “I need to talk to him even though he probably won’t say anything real.”

  “Give me a good reason.” Gretchen spoke, but Sept’s focus wasn’t on her.

  “Who’s your friend?” Sept asked, and Nicole smiled at the question. She was used to both women and men looking at her with the same curious and wanting expression.

  “She’s with me, so forget that and answer my question,” Gretchen said.

  “I’m not going to discuss this situation in front of someone I don’t know, so who’s your friend?”

  “Detective Savoie,” she said and held her hand out. “I’m Nicole Voles. I’ve called you numerous times, but we haven’t connected yet.”

  “Nice to meet you, and if you don’t mind waiting outside, I need to speak to Ms. Harrison about her client,” Sept said, her face losing all expression.

  “Ms. Voles isn’t just writing a book. She’s helping me, Roger, and Fred with this case,” Gretchen said, picking her briefcase off the table. “If you can’t handle that, then my client’s off-limits for any conversation.”

  “I really need to talk to him, preferably without the circus.”

  “Nicole, excuse us a moment, won’t you?” Gretchen said as she left with Sept, whose partner stayed behind.

  “Busy day?” she asked the man.

  “Not yet, but it’s still early,” he said as he sat and concentrated on the glass wall.

  “With any luck, it’ll pick up for you.” She crossed her legs and waited. She didn’t see any reason to waste breath on someone who couldn’t give her what she wanted. “It’ll give me something to write about eventually.”

  “Maybe,” he said, not looking at her.

  “Maybe indeed.”

  Chapter Ten

  “What are you saying?” Gretchen asked, slumping into a chair.

  “There was another ritualistic murder last night,” Sept said, holding her hand up when Gretchen opened her mouth. “I know what you’re going to say, but it won’t exonerate Perlis. I can’t get into it, but there were plenty of differences.”

  “Then why talk to Alex?”

  “I don’t have the authority to deal the needle out of his arm, but if Perlis had an accomplice he hasn’t given up, we might be able to save his life.” Sept raised her hand higher. “We can do that if he’s ready to answer questions.”

  “Let me talk to him,” Gretchen said, taking a thick file from her bag. “I’m not promising anything, but I’ll see what I can do.”

  “We have to leave Nicole Voles out of this for now. She might be helping you, but I’m not going to lose control of my investigation to some sideshow when she starts talking to the media to hype her next book.”

  “Have Nathan walk her out, and give me the room to talk to him.”

  Nicole didn’t appear amused as Nathan escorted her back out to the waiting room. How Nicole Voles thought she could help the defense made Sept curious, but she didn’t have time to think about that now. Every one of her conversations with Perlis took concentration, because he usually divulged something, and all of it amazingly played into his defense of not being responsible because he was nuts.

  “And I’m about to give him his strongest argument yet,” she muttered as she drummed her thumbs on the table.

  “Are you talking to yourself?” Nathan asked, reaching up to feel her forehead, but she slapped his hand away. “So, what do you think about the writer? She’s hot, huh?”

  “She’s also here for a story that’ll make you and me look like idiots.” She put her hands in her pockets. “Remember that before you decide to do something cute.”

  “Don’t worry. No meetings or conversations without you,” Nathan said, then shut up when Gretchen came back in.

  “Let’s lay some ground rules,” Gretchen said.

  “It’s not warfare, just a conversation,” Sept said but sat down.

  “I’m taping this, and nothing he says can be used against him or to strengthen his case.”

  She laughed, but Gretchen didn’t join her. “That’s a redundant statement.”

  “I get paid by the word,” Gretchen deadpanned. “I’m just being careful, so if you can live with that, we can talk.”

  “Off the record then,” she said, and Gretchen nodded. “You want me to get an ADA in here before we start? I know you, so I’m thinking this isn’t your favorite case, so don’t do anything that’ll come back to bite you.”

  “Thanks, Sept, and maybe that’ll be the best course of action.”

  It took twenty minutes for the district attorney’s office to send the prosecutor’s second chair. Allison Chase agreed to Gretchen’s demands, and only then did Gretchen divulge that Alex had been medicated by necessity to keep from hurting himself. Sept remembered the first time she’d seen him after his arrest, and he was bloody from beating his head on the wall, supposedly to quiet Teacher’s voice in his head.

  The doctors had started calming him pharmaceutically, but Sept had no idea just how many drugs they were giving him. When Gretchen shared the list with her, she figured this would be a waste of time as Perlis was led into the room. With this cocktail, Perlis was probably close to comatose.

  “Alex,” Sept said, surprised how quickly he went from a doped catatonia to being alert and aggressive. The cuffs the deputy had locked to the table were the only things that had kept him in his seat. “Take a breath.”

  “What the fuck do you want?” Alex asked, barely opening his mouth.

  “There are ladies in the room, so calm down. I want to talk to you.” How was he fighting the effects of the sedative so well?

  “You should be dead,” Alex said, the spunk in him suddenly gone. “I should’ve killed you.”

  “Alex, when you talked about Teacher, you always said he spoke to you in your head, but it’s time to tell me who he really is.” She rapped her knuckles on the table, trying to get him to stop his chant about killing her.

  “Who he really is? What do you mean by that?” Gretchen asked, putting her hand up to keep Alex quiet. “What’s going on, Sept?” Gretchen asked as if they hadn’t had a conversation a few minutes earlier. “You think Teacher’s real?”

  “I need him to tell me that.” She pointed to Perlis. “Now’s the time to save y
ourself, so you need to talk to me.”

  “Teacher’s mine. He wouldn’t dirty himself by talking to you. He’d never allow it.” Alex yanked hard to try to free his hands.

  “A repeat of the crime isn’t going to open the door to this place for you. So, who is he?” Sept said, raising her voice. “If you don’t tell me, I promise I’ll put the needle in your arm myself.”

  “The sacrifice was the same?” Alex stopped moving and stared at her. “That can’t be right. He wouldn’t do that.”

  “Alex, if you know something, it’s okay to tell us. It’ll take the death penalty off the table,” Gretchen said, sounding like a soothing kindergarten teacher trying to calm a small, unruly child.

  “Teacher wouldn’t do that,” Alex screamed. “He’s mine. He’s here with me, and you’re trying to steal him for yourself.” The tears and anguish in Alex’s tone seemed real, but Sept wasn’t ready to completely believe him.

  “He said he could do it better, so he doesn’t need you anymore. You screwed up, so he’s doing it on his own.” She spoke softly, which quieted him enough for him to hear her. “He betrayed you, but you can punish him by answering my questions. Who is he?”

  “He’s mine,” Alex mumbled. He suddenly pitched himself to the left, fell over, and hung by his hands, beating his head on the side of the table. “He promised,” he yelled as Nathan and the deputy tried to get him up. “You promised not to leave me. Talk to me. You promised.”

  “I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere, Sept,” Gretchen said and nodded when the deputies came back to remove Alex. “Let me talk to him when he’s more receptive and see if I can make progress. If I can find any answers I’ll let you know.”

  “This is important, Gretchen, especially if whoever this is decides to repeat all the crimes. You don’t want that on your head.”

  “I give you my word I’ll talk to him as well as his parents. Maybe they can get through to him, especially if Allison is serious about dropping the death penalty. I know the DA really wants to bury Alex.”