The Seventh Victim (Texas Rangers 1)

“Sit anywhere.” She sounded resigned, beaten even.

Santos and Beck moved to seats at the end of the conference table behind her.

Dr. Granger took the seat next to Lara. “You’ve done this before.”

Lara nodded. “Yes, and I remember the drill.” She closed her eyes. “I’m to breathe deeply and clear my head.”

“That’s right, Lara. Just close your eyes and try to relax.” Dr. Granger’s voice took on a relaxing quality that had her muscles easing. “I just want you to let your mind float back to a time when you were truly happy, with no worries in the world.”

At first Lara could not relax her shoulders. And the more she told herself to relax the tenser she became.

“Don’t try so hard,” Dr. Granger said. “May I call you Lara?”

“Sure.”

Dr. Granger laid a steady hand on Lara. “Lara, just think about a happy moment.”

Eyes closed, she shifted in her seat. She took several deep breaths. Her muscles eased, and her fisted fingers unfurled.

“Where are you?” Dr. Granger said.

“I’m in Austin. I’m visiting my grandmother, and I’m hiking in the hills with Rex.”

“Who’s Rex?”

“He’s my grandmother’s dog.”

“What kind of day is it?”

“It’s warm but not hot. There is a breeze, and the sky is crystal clear.”

“Is it just you and Rex?”

“No, I’m with my friend Johnny. Grandmother doesn’t let me hike alone. There was some trouble in the area last fall and she worries.”

“What kind of troubles?”

“She wouldn’t tell me. Only said to be careful.”

Beck scribbled down the dog’s name, Rex, his mind turning to the animal slayings. And he also wrote down the name Johnny.

“Okay. Let’s not worry about the troubles. Walk along the trail with Johnny and Rex. Enjoy the day. Let your mind float and relax. You are safe. Perfectly safe.”

Lara released a sigh and smiled.

“Now I want you to go back to Seattle. What does your last apartment look like?”

“It’s small—a portion of a larger house. It has high ceilings and a fireplace that works. I loved that apartment.”

“And what do you do for a living?”

“I’m an intern to a clothing buyer.”

“Are you good?”

“I’m very good. I’ve just been offered a full-time position in Seattle, and I’ve decided to stay.”

“You weren’t going to stay?”

“If I didn’t get the job I’d promised Grandma I’d come back to Austin and work in her shop.”

“Sounds like life was good.”

Lara’s smile was soft and relaxed in a way he’d never seen before. “It was excellent.”

“When you left your job that final day, where were you going?”

“Out to drink with friends. We were celebrating my job.”

“And where did you go?”

“The marketplace downtown.”

“Were they happy for you?”

She smiled. “They were thrilled.”

“What were you drinking?”

“White wine.” She bit her bottom lip. “I overdid it. I had four glasses. I shouldn’t have had so much to drink. . . .”

“Lara,” Dr. Granger said. “Don’t worry about that now. You didn’t do anything wrong. You were celebrating with friends.” She laid her hand on Lara’s shoulder. “When you left the restaurant where did you go?”

The furrow in Lara’s brow eased but didn’t vanish. “I decided to hail a cab. I knew I couldn’t walk home.”

“What did the outside of the cab look like?”

“Yellow. Standard city cab.”

“What was the inside like?”

“Black. Plain. Spartan. I remember seeing the cabbie’s profile through the partition. I don’t remember him so much. The wine had hit me hard. I remember trying to count out dollar bills when he told me the fare.”

“Did he take the money from your hand?”

She opened her palm. “I don’t remember.”

“Okay. Did you hear anything?”

“Talking. The driver talking.”

“Was he talking to you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Try to remember if you heard an answer.”

Her fingers curled into tight fists, and for several long seconds she didn’t say anything. “I don’t remember.”

“It’s okay. It’s okay. What do you remember next?”

Beck leaned forward in his seat, his hands clasped tightly.

“The nurse in the emergency room. She was ordering a rape kit.” She was silent for a moment and then a tear slid down her cheek. “I hurt so much. My throat. My insides. It hurt to breathe. I’d never felt that way before.”

A deep, dark rage rose up in Beck. There was nothing he could ever do to prevent that moment she’d endured alone.

Dr. Granger squeezed her hand. “Let’s take a break for a moment, okay?”

Lara swiped away a tear. “Okay.”

“Before, she only remembered her hospital room and not the emergency room,” Beck said. “She’s remembering.” He glanced at Lara. “Let me talk to her.”

The doctor shook her head. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

Beck sensed the fear snapping through Lara and though he saw the necessity of it all, he didn’t like seeing her upset. “We have nothing to lose. Nothing.”

Dr. Granger adjusted her glasses. “She has serious trust issues.”

“Today, she came here to see me, and she allowed me to stay. I might not be as unredeemable in her eyes as you think.”

“Don’t push her too hard.”

“Sure.” But he would push if he believed it would wrestle free the memories. Lara needed to remember not only for the sake of the case, but also for her own sanity.

Beck took the seat beside Lara.

“Lara,” Dr. Granger said. “Sergeant Beck would like to speak with you. Is that all right?”

Her fingers curled into knots again. “Yes.”

Beck nodded to the doctor. “Lara, think back to the cab ride. What did the driver look like?”

“I only saw the back of his head.”

“What color was his hair?”

She pursed her lips. “His hair was blond and thinning. When he turned to ask me where I wanted to go I noticed he had a hooked nose.”

“Good. Good. Do you remember how long you were in the cab?”

“No. I lost track of time.”

“Did you normally drink a lot of wine?”

“No. I’m not a good drinker. But it was a special night.”

“We all like to enjoy ourselves when we’re with friends. Not a bit of harm in that.” He resisted the urge to touch her. “Did you ever lose sight of your drink?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you set it down and go to the ladies’ room or the dance floor?”

“A couple of times.” His jaw tightened. She’d been found approximately twenty-four hours after she’d gotten into the cab, and it had been several more hours before the hospital had done a tox screen and found the date rape drug. The levels had been low, but there was no telling how much had metabolized out of her system.

“What did the cab smell like?” he said.

“Stale and it was warm. I’d only been in the rain a couple of minutes, and I felt chilled to the bone.”