Blood Memory

Chapter 38

I feel like I’m in a falling elevator, the basement rushing up beneath my legs. The idea that my aunt would pay Nathan Malik’s bail seems utterly beyond belief.

“You have to be wrong.”

“No mistake,” says Kaiser. “Ann Hilgard, née Kirkland. Resident of Biloxi, Mississippi. Two hours from New Orleans. She brought the bail bondsman a briefcase filled with cash.”

My mouth is open, but I can’t form words. The implications of Kaiser’s revelation are too enormous to grasp. “Why didn’t Sean call me about this?”

“That’s probably something you should ask him.”

No thanks.

“I only learned that she was your aunt a few minutes ago, Cat. Ann DeSalle Kirkland. Daughter of William Kirkland, sister of Gwendolyn DeSalle Kirkland Ferry. Maternal aunt of Catherine DeSalle Ferry, forensic odontologist. Is your aunt a patient of Dr. Malik’s? Is that why you have a special relationship with him?”

“If she is, I hadn’t a clue until ten seconds ago.”

“She’s definitely got the history for it. Confirmed bipolar disorder going back three decades. A string of bad marriages-”

“My God,” I breathe. “No wonder Malik knows things about me. Jesus Christ ”

“We’re trying to locate your aunt,” Kaiser says, “but we’re not having any luck. She’s apparently involved in a bitter divorce. Her husband says she hasn’t been living at home for the past couple of weeks.”

“I saw her in Natchez yesterday. She was” I trail off, remembering the manic gleam in Ann’s eye.

“What?” Kaiser asks. “She was what?”

Borrowing money from my grandfather. Bail money, maybe? “Talking to my mother about her marital problems. You said you had a couple of things to tell me. What else?”

“We just found one of Nathan Malik’s patients in a coma on the floor of her apartment in Metairie.”

“Male or female?”

Kaiser answers softly. “Female. Her name was Margaret Lavigne. Twenty-seven years old. She lives about three minutes away from you.”

“Was it the same crime signature? Two gunshots with bite marks?”

“No, this was a suicide attempt. We only found her because we’d got her name from the psychologist who referred her to Malik.”

“You mean she wasn’t on the patient list Malik gave you?”

“Exactly. He never really obeyed the court order.”

Malik’s voice sounds in my mind: They’re part of a very special group. An experimental group. Women only. I formed it after years of watching conventional therapy approaches fail. I chose patients who were at the stage where the eruption of delayed memories was beginning to destroy their lives. My experimental group is called Group X.

“What kind of suicide attempt?” I ask, trying to keep my voice even. “How did it happen?”

“We sent two agents over there to talk to her. They saw Lavigne through her bedroom window, lying in a pool of vomit. She’d given herself a massive dose of insulin.”

A lot of suicides try insulin because it offers hope of a painless death. But usually all they manage to do is turn themselves into vegetables. I researched and discounted this method long ago. “Did she leave a note?”

“She did. You ready for this?”

“Come on, damn it.”

“It reads, ‘May God forgive me. An innocent man is dead. Please tell Dr. Malik to stop it. I couldn’t reach him.’ What do you make of that?”

Please tell Dr. Malik to stop it. “I’m trying to put it together.”

“I had a head start on you. I think your friend Malik has been executing child molesters, Cat. I think he listened to his patients recount their horrors for one too many years. He finally snapped and decided to do something about it. I can’t say I blame him. I snapped myself for almost the same reason. But we can’t let Dr. Malik go around removing criminals from the planet without benefit of trial. Do you agree?”

“Of course. If you’re right.”

Kaiser says nothing for a few moments. “The trouble with vigilante justice is that eventually an innocent person gets lynched. Ms. Lavigne’s note is telling us that’s just what happened. I wonder what Malik will do when he hears that? Do you think he’ll turn himself in?”

“I don’t know. You’re still speculating. Why did Lavigne’s note say tell Malik to stop it rather than simply stop?”

“We’ll probably never know.”

“Was Margaret Lavigne related to any of our victims?”

“Not by blood. But I think you’ll find this interesting. Ms. Lavigne’s biological father was arrested just before her suicide attempt and charged with multiple counts of distributing child pornography. Interesting timing, no? He broke down under questioning and confessed to several incidents of sexually abusing children. Then his daughter tried to kill herself.”

“I’m not sure I understand. Are you saying you think he’s a potential target of our killer?”

Kaiser laughs drily. “He may be now. But remember victim number three? Tracy Nolan? The CPA?”

“I’ll never forget him.” I had my first panic attack at the Nolan crime scene.

“Tracy Nolan was Margaret Lavigne’s stepfather.”

“Holy God. Lavigne told someone her stepfather abused her, and that person murdered him?”

“Bingo,” says Kaiser. “Then it turns out that her real father was the molester.”

“Jesus.”

“I think Ms. Lavigne was sexually abused as a child,” Kaiser says. “She repressed her memories of these events. Dr. Malik tried to help her recall those events, and she did. Only she made a mistake about who the molester was. I mean, wouldn’t most kids prefer to think their stepfather raped them rather than their father?”

All I can think about is Group X, and Malik’s “groundbreaking” treatment protocols. What the hell did Malik do to those women? Or convince them to do?

“Cat? Are you there?”

“Yes.”

“Have you talked to Dr. Malik since we last spoke?”

I want to tell Kaiser the truth-that I talked to Malik and that he denied committing the murders-but until I know exactly how Aunt Ann is involved with him, I’m not saying a word. If I knew the identity of anyone in Group X, I would. But I don’t. “Look, I can’t talk to you anymore right now. I’ve got to find my aunt. She could be in real danger.”

“Help us find her, Cat. We’ll protect her.”

“If you need my help to find her, you can’t protect her. She’s bipolar, John. Do you have any idea what that means? She’s tried to kill herself twice that I know about. Malik has obviously been manipulating her. Can you imagine what kind of stress she must be under? She could be with Malik now, for all we know.”

“Yes, she could. So-”

“Listen to me. Those two patients of Malik’s who were related to the victimsRiviere’s daughter and LeGendre’s niece?”

“What about them?”

“Ask them about something called Group X.”

“Group X? What’s that?”

“A therapy group. I think they might have been part of it. That’s all I know that could help you right now. I have to go.”

“Wait! How do you know that? Did Malik tell you about it?”

“I’m sorry, John.”

I click END and almost leap out of bed, startling Michael to his feet.