Echoes in Death (In Death 44)

“It’s the meds.”

“It feels good to float. It feels free. I can’t see my husband. Not through the curtain, not when I float. I can’t see what happened to him. Maybe he’s not dead. He’s very important. He’s very strong. He’s a very skilled surgeon. He’s—”

“I’m sorry,” Eve interrupted. “I identified his body.”

“His body,” Daphne whispered.

“What do you see? What do you remember?”

“The devil. But it’s not the devil. It’s a man. How can the devil be a man? I think a man can be a devil.”

“What does the devil look like?”

“His face is red, burning red, and there are little horns here.” She touched the top of her forehead. “He has a terrible smile. I think his eyes are red, but then I think they’re yellow. The lights are flashing, red and yellow. Someone’s screaming. Someone’s laughing. Anthony? No, my husband’s not laughing. He’s not screaming. I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”

“Yes, you can.” Eve laid a hand on Daphne’s shoulder as the woman jerked up gasping. “You can breathe. No one’s hurting you now.”

“But it hurts. It hurts.” The tears came now, spilling out of those wide eyes. “You can’t go away because he brings you back. I had sex with the devil, and it burns, it tears. I don’t want to. I don’t want to.”

“He can’t touch you now.” Eve slapped down the bed guard, sat on the side of the bed. “He can’t get to you now.”

“He’ll find me.” Daphne gripped Eve’s arm, used it as a lever to sit up, then still holding tight, looked wildly around the room. “He can find me. He can find me anywhere.”

“No, he can’t. He won’t.”

“He chose me. Devil’s whore. It hurts when he makes me his whore. It burns. It glows red and it burns.” She gripped Eve’s hands hard, spoke in a whisper. “If you beg, if you fight, he’ll make it hurt more.”

“You’re safe here.”

Daphne collapsed back, shut her eyes as tears ran down her cheeks. “Nowhere is safe.”

Del rushed in. “Hey. Back off,” he snapped at Eve, then laid a gentle hand on Daphne’s wet cheek. “It’s okay now. It’s all good. Remember me?”

She opened her eyes, stared at him. “You’re the doctor. You’re noble.”

“That’s my name. I want to take a look at you, okay? See how you’re doing.” He glanced back as a female nurse stepped in. “And this is Rhoda. She’s going to help me with the exam.”

“Do you have to touch me?”

“We’ll be careful. I promise.”

Rhoda stepped up, smiled. “Dr. Nobel’s a sweetheart.”

“Aw,” he said.

“He’s been looking out for you. He’s going to keep looking out for you.”

“If the devil comes—”

“The police won’t let the devil in here. Neither will Dr. Nobel.”

Del glanced over his shoulder at Eve. “Give us a minute.”

In the corridor, Eve paced. “Get that fresh uniform in here.”

“She’s on her way. I thought, under the circumstances, a female officer.”

“Yeah, yeah, good. She’s not faking.”