If It Walks Like A Killer (The Carolina Killer Files #1)

by Kiersten Modglin

  “Hey,” Shayna said softly.

  Rachael nodded her head gently. “Am I going to make it?”

  Hampton spoke up, his voice stiff. “Everything looks good. You’re stable. They’re saying they want to keep you here tonight to make sure you stay that way.”

  “I wish I could say I was looking forward to getting out.” She gazed around the room as much as she could without moving her neck. “But this place sure beats the alternative.”

  Shayna tried to smile at the halfhearted joke. “Rachael, do you remember what happened?”

  Rachael closed her eyes for a second and Shayna wondered if she might be falling asleep. “I remember Blaire’s mom was there. She was at the jail.”

  “She visited you?”

  She attempted to shake her head, but stopped, wincing. “She was in jail, a prisoner, like me. She came up to me. She was so angry.”

  “What did she say?” Shayna asked.

  “Nothing, really. It wasn’t really what she said, it was how she stared at me. She hates me so, so much. I could see it. The doctors don’t really talk to me, they just sort of talk around me so I know she stabbed me, but I don’t remember it. I remember walking away. She must’ve done it then.” She moved her hand to her neck, rubbing the bandage.

  “It’s okay, Rach. You don’t have to talk anymore if it’s bothering you.”

  “It just feels weird, sort of numb.”

  “Well, I don’t want you to worry. We will get this taken care of. Mrs. Underwood will pay for what she’s done to you.”

  Rachael nodded, her fingers still rubbing the gauze. She looked as though she may be getting sleepy again. As silence filled the room, the door opened and an older nurse with boy cut gray hair entered. “Visiting hours are up. Only one visitor in the room overnight. I’m going to have to ask the other to leave.” She smiled politely at the three of them before ducking back out of the room.

  Shayna looked at Hampton who was staring at Rachael sadly. “You should stay.”

  “No, it’s all right, you stay with her,” Hampton argued.

  “Hampton, really. You should be the one here.”

  “Thank you,” he said, walking to touch Rachael’s hand. “But I have work to do. I need to find out exactly how this happened and make sure it never happens again.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to her pale hand. “I’ll be back in the morning.”

  Shayna nodded. He turned back to walk out of the room but met Shayna’s eyes once more. “You’ll take care of her?”

  “She’ll be fine.” She smiled, touched by Hampton’s obvious compassion for Rachael. He left the room quietly, leaving Shayna to listen to the buzzing of the machines. She walked to the chair beside the bed, sitting down.

  Rachael’s sea green eyes opened sleepily. “You don’t have to stay, you know. I’ll be fine.”

  “I know you will.” Shayna rubbed Rachael’s fingers as she’d seen Hampton do. “But I’d like to stay. Since you managed to get out of our sessions, I’ll be needing the company.”

  “You don’t like hospitals,” Rachael said intuitively.

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Have you spent a lot of time in them? With your patients?”

  Shayna swallowed. “With my sister.”

  “Your sister? The one in the picture?”

  Shayna nodded. “Lydia was in a pretty bad skiing accident when she was fourteen. She spent eight months in and out of hospitals. When she was finally released, she began acting odd. There were days when she’d just stay in her bed and refuse to speak to anyone. A few months later, she was diagnosed with DID.”

  “Oh, Shayna. That’s why this means so much to you. You research to save her?”

  “At first, yes. My sister was perfectly healthy before her accident. They gave her some medicine to ease her symptoms, some days she was Lydia and she’d wake up and take her medicine and be just fine. Then sometimes she’d claim she wasn’t Lydia, she wasn’t sick, and she’d refuse to take her medicine. The personality she’d dissociate into didn’t take care of herself. She wouldn’t eat, she wouldn’t drink. She’d just sleep constantly. We tried every kind of medicine they had, but in the end it wasn’t enough. She passed away when she was seventeen. We watched her die right in front of us and there was nothing we could do. Some part of her just didn’t care enough to keep living.”

  “That’s terrible. Please, please don’t stay because of me. I’d feel awful making you stay here.”

  Shayna smiled at her. “I don’t like hospitals. They freak me out. But I’d like to stay with you anyway. Maybe some of your bravery has rubbed off on me.”

  Rachael’s eyes widened in shock. “You think I’m brave?”

  Shayna nodded. “You know in my field of work, I see a lot of things. Some are crazy, some are tragic. It’s very rare that a client comes in and earns my respect like you have. You’ve been so brave and so strong through something I wouldn’t wish on the foulest person I could think of. I’m just so sorry that this is happening to you. It’s heartbreaking to watch.”

  “Thank you. Most days I don’t feel strong at all. I just hope Hampton can pull this off. I just want to get back to normal.”

  She was quiet for a while, Shayna listened to her breathing. “Will it?”

  “Will it what?” Rachael asked.

  “Will it go back to normal for you? After all you’ve been through? How will you return?”

  “I guess it’ll never go back to how it was before. The four of us. I pray that Caide isn’t guilty of this, but I’ll never forgive him for what he’s done. I don’t know if I’ll be able to stay here, I don’t want to face this town every day. We may just have to create a new normal, somewhere else. Just me and the kids. We don’t get enough snow here, I think. The kids love snow.”

  “You’re going to leave La Rue?”

  “I think it’d be best.”

  “I know one person who’d disagree.” Shayna frowned.

  “You?”

  “Well, I’d love it if you stayed, but I was thinking of someone else.”

  “You can’t mean Argus.” Rachael rolled her eyes.

  Shayna smiled, raising her eyebrows.

  “Argus is a great lawyer. He’s done more for me than I’ll ever be able to thank him for, but this is just a case to him. Once it’s over, that’ll be it.”

  “If you believe that, bravery has done nothing for your intelligence.”

  Rachael blushed. “What do you mean?”

  “Rachael.”

  “What?”

  “Alright. We can play that game. All I’m saying is that he cares for you. Don’t forget his feelings before you go disappearing into the Alaskan Wilderness.”

  “You really care about him.”

  “I care about him because he cares for my client.”

  “You really think he cares about me?”

  “If I couldn’t figure that out, the diplomas on my walls would be useless.”

  “He’s never said anything.”

  Shayna pursed her lips. “You’re married, to a jerk by the way, and Hampton’s a nice guy. Plus, he’s your lawyer. No one gets the treatment you get from him, trust me, least of all his clients.”

  Rachael blushed again. “What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “Are you married?”

  Shayna laughed. “No.”

  “Why’s that funny?”

  “I don’t have time to date. I stay so completely busy and absorbed in my work. My mom used to say I have a one track mind and it’s always on the same track. I guess I’ve only ever wanted success.”

  “That can’t be true. You haven’t ever been in love?”

  “Nope. I mean, I’ve dated, I’m just not really into the whole dating scene. It’s overrated. Getting all dressed up, going out, and being uncomfortable? No thank you. I just don’t like leaving my comfort zone and I see no reason to change that.”

  “But what do you do for fun? When you aren’t w
orking.”

  “I’m always working.”

  Rachael stared at her. “You don’t have hobbies? Or friends?”

  “Not really, no. I mean, there are a few people who I keep in touch with from school and colleagues I have brunch with occasionally but my hobby is my career. I’m one of those crazy people who actually, genuinely loves her job. I want to learn all I can about every aspect of it. Don’t you feel that passionately about anything?”

  Rachael thought for a second. “My kids. I mean, I love dance. I love my job, but my kids are my passion. I want to learn everything about them and spend every second I can with them.”

  “You seem like such a good mom.”

  “There are days where I don’t know if I’ll make it to the evening but they’re the best things that have ever happened to me.”

  Just then the nurse was back, she walked into the room with a ring of keys, jingling them into the air. “You’ve got a good lawyer, Kid.”

  Rachael looked confused. The nurse turned to Shayna. “You’re staying with her all night?”

  Shayna nodded.

  “She’s on your watch then.” She fumbled with the keys, finally pulling one out and unhooking Rachael’s cuffs. She smiled at them both and left. Silence filled the room, Shayna watched as Rachael’s eyes began to flutter and she drifted off to sleep. She watched her sleep soundly, for hours on end. She woke occasionally to ask for a sip of water. Shayna couldn’t make herself sleep in the hospital chair, no matter what position she maneuvered herself into. Instead, she sat quietly as Rachael slept, careful not to make much noise as she aimlessly flipped through the TV channels.

  Around 1:00 a.m. Rachael awoke and watched the end of a soap opera with her. “Audrey and I used to spend our summers watching shows like this.”

  “It must be really hard for you to question your friendship.”

  “She’s my only friend, you know? I hate myself for even believing it. I wish it were any other possibility. Why couldn’t it be the mailman? I have no personal attachments to our mailman.”

  Shayna chuckled.

  “When I found out about their affair, I should have left. I’m not that girl. The girl who stays while he cheats. If it’d been anyone else, if I’d known about Blaire too, I would’ve left. It’s just that admitting what I knew, leaving Caide, it meant I’d lose Audrey too. I just couldn’t do that. She’s all I have.”

  “That’s not true.” Shayna placed her hand on Rachael’s. “Not anymore. You have me, Rachael. You have me and Hampton. Even once all of this is over, you’ll still have us.”

  Rachael wiped a tear from her eyes. “To change the subject, this is pretty embarrassing but do you think you could help me to the restroom?”

  “Will they let you up?”

  “They did before. I should be fine, but I’m still a bit dizzy. As long as you help me get to the door, I’ll be okay.”

  Shayna nodded, standing up and pulling back the covers. Rachael’s hospital gown was pulled up to her belly button revealing a large brown spot on her left upper thigh, near her hip. They both blushed, Shayna looking away quickly. Once Rachael had adjusted her gown Shayna asked worriedly. “What happened?”

  “Huh?”

  “That bruise on your hip. Was that from the attack?”

  “Oh, that? No, that’s just a birthmark.” She laughed, throwing her arm around Shayna’s shoulders and hoisting herself out of the bed.

  “Oh, it caught me off guard. I was worried you’d been bruised up.” They made their way across the room slowly, Shayna lifting most of Rachael’s weight.

  “Nope, just a birthmark. It’s been there my whole life. It sort of looks like a tree, doesn’t it?”

  “A tree? Yeah, I guess it does. I hadn’t even realized it.”

  “You were looking at it upside down. From my angle it looks like a tree. I always thought it was neat. Like a giant oak tree or something.”

  Shayna lifted her slowly, making their way across the room. “Did you say an oak tree? Have you told me about that before?”

  “No, why?”

  An oak tree birthmark. Why does that sound so familiar? “I just feel like I’ve heard about someone having an oak tree birthmark. Maybe not.”

  “I don’t think I’ve told you about it. It doesn’t come up in casual conversation often.” Rachael laughed, swinging the bathroom door open. She leaned on the sink, shifting her weight to lean on the toilet. Shayna pushed her IV cart gently behind her and turned around. She was still searching her brain for the memory when it hit her moments later: a realization so completely unexpected she gasped aloud. Oh no. Oh no, oh no.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Audrey

  Audrey’s head swam with emotions as she pulled into her driveway. John’s car hadn’t been home in the weeks since she’d told him about the affair. Her devoted husband had finally had enough. Being alone didn’t bother Audrey, no, it was being without Caide that hurt her the worst. Since the day, so long ago, when the affair had begun she’s always had him in the back of her mind. She was always counting down until the next phone call or night together. For the first time in years, Audrey was unsure of where she stood with him and that had her nervous. She got out of her car, her feet noisily crunching on the snow covered grass. Her thoughts were halted as she noticed there was another set of footprints leading up to her doorstep. Had John come back?

  She walked quietly toward the door and stopped when she noticed a small, white envelope on her brown welcome mat. She bent to pick it up and pulled a small picture from it. Her heart pounded in her chest, so loud she was sure she could hear it. She stared at the photo of herself, arms wrapped around Caide’s neck, lips locked together. It was from earlier that day, her visit with Caide, someone had worked quickly. She couldn’t help but fear the sort of warning this must be. Someone cleared their throat behind her. She gulped, shoving the picture into her pocket quickly. She spun around and was surprised to see a very familiar face.

  “It’s you. What are you doing here?”

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Phoebe Moore

  Phoebe Moore loved three things in life: warm fires, hot tea, and chilling mystery novels. Her fire had long since burned out and her tea had grown cold when she put down her book and realized it was past 3:00 a.m. She remembered the days when four o’clock meant heading to work, but her days now were mostly filled with quiet evenings and books she couldn’t put down. Realizing it was so late caused her worry when her phone began to ring. Phoebe’s husband had passed away years ago and they’d never had any children. She had no relatives or neighbors close enough to be calling so she was left with confusion as she picked up the receiver.

  “Hello?”

  “Is this Phoebe Moore?”

  “Yes it is. Do you have any idea what time it is?”

  “Of course. I’m sorry to be calling so late, Phoebe. This is Shayna Steele. Do you remember me?”

  “Of course, Ms. Steele, what can I do for you?”

  “I think it’d be easier to explain in person. I know it’s a lot to ask, I know it’s the middle of the night but it’s important that I see you soon.”

  “Of course. How soon?”

  “The sooner the better.”

  “Should I come now?”

  “No, it’s so late. I wouldn’t want to bother you now. The morning would be fine. I mean, unless you just want to come now.”

  “It’s no bother. Are you still in the same office? I wasn’t planning to sleep tonight anyway,” she joked.

  “Yes. The same office. I’ll be waiting for you, just come on by.”

  “Sure thing, hon. Let me get dressed and I’ll be right over.”

  “Thanks.”

  Phoebe hung up the phone, catching her breath. She hadn’t spoken to Shayna in nearly twenty years. What in the world could she possibly need now, after all this time?

  ***

  Shayna

  Shayna paced circles around her office, watching impatien
tly for headlights in her window. She’d played Phoebe’s tape over and over again since she’d found it in her file. She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe the answer had been so close all this time. She just had to see Phoebe to hear it all from her one last time. Finally, headlights shone through the blinds, alerting her that Phoebe was there at last. She paused the tape and closed her file, walking calmly toward the door to let her in. Phoebe had aged terribly, Shayna realized, her face now weighed down by wrinkles, her hair gray. Shayna recognized her warm smile immediately though. “Phoebe.” She pulled open the door, wrapping her old client into a friendly hug. “How are you?”

  “I’m good, thanks. Hope you are?”

  “Thanks.” Shayna nodded.

  “So, what’s going on?”

  “Well, I think you’d better sit down. I’m afraid I may have some bad news.”

  “What kind of bad news? You’re scaring me.” She sat obligingly.

  Shayna sat across from her, attempting to steady her hands. She ran her fingers along her file. “Phoebe, I want you to know, first of all, that I’ve never told anyone what you told me. The details about that night have never left this room, but I have to ask you to help me now. Someone I care about very much is in trouble and I think you can help her.”

  “What can I do?”

  “Well, first things first, I need you to tell me everything there is to know about the baby with the oak tree birthmark.”

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Audrey

  Rachael stood in front of Audrey, her face filled with fury. Audrey remained frozen in fear. “Rach? What are you doing here? How did you get out? It’s so good to see you.”