InSight

turned to one of the uniforms. “Take him in, officer. Check to see how long we can hold him before he can see a lawyer.”
    Scanlon’s eyelids fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings. “What do you mean, how long?”
    Luke’s frustration bordered on explosive. Scanlon went on, but Luke couldn’t follow what he was saying. The arrogance in Scanlon’s posture propelled Luke to push Norm aside and reach through the open car window to grab the psychiatrist by the shirt collar, almost yanking him through the opening. “Look here, you scrawny, colorless sack of shit. Tell us where Abigael Gallant is right now or I’ll make sure when you get to prison, every gangbanger in there will want you for his sex slave.”
    “That’s disgusting,” Scanlon said. “This is police brutality. I’ll have your badges.”
    Now Norm pushed Luke aside. “This man isn’t a police officer here. He’s a civilian. So much for police brutality. I have to go, and so do these officers. I’ll leave you with him and his friend until someone comes back to take you to the precinct to make a statement. That’s if you can still talk.”
    Scanlon tried to start the car, but Luke reached in and snatched the keys.
    “You…you can’t leave me with him. He’ll k-kill me.”
    Norm grinned, focused on Luke. “You wouldn’t do that, would you?”
    “Huh? I can’t make out what you’re saying.”
    Norm sneered at Scanlon. “I said I’m going.”
    “Jeff and I will watch him for you. It’ll be like a citizen’s arrest.”
    Scanlon shook uncontrollably, his words a series of stutters that Luke could barely understand. “You…you can’t…important man. I-I have rights.”
    Norm switched places with Luke, never flinching at Scanlon’s threats. “Then tell me what I want to know.”
    Scanlon appealed to Luke and Jeff, fear blazing in his eyes. “It’s that…that building there, all by itself. She’s on the second floor. Collyer’s there. I think he’s going to blow up the place.”
    “What about Gentry.”
    “He’s, he’s…”
    “He’s what?”
    “Dead. He’s dead. Collyer killed him. I had nothing to do with it. Nothing. You have to believe me.”
    “Yeah, I believe you,” Norm said. “You get that, Luke?”
    Luke watched the ghost-like runt through the front windshield. He pushed Norm aside. “What about Doctor Gallant?”
    “She’s alive. At least she was when I left.”
    “Where on the second floor?”
    “In back. On the opposite side there are three rooms with other people.”
    “How many people?” Norm asked.
    “I don’t know for sure. About a dozen, I think.”
    Jeff stuck his head into the car. “What’s Collyer driving?”
    Scanlon dodged back. “A black Honda, I think.”
    “Sure. Like a million other cars on the road. Smart bastard.”
    “He mentioned something about Richmond ,” Scanlon said.
    Luke waved the keys in his hand. “Which key opens the front door?”
    “The big brass one. You believe me, don’t you?”
    Luke turned toward the building. Norm grabbed his shirt, making sure he saw every word. “You yank one of my suspects like that again, and I’ll bring you up on charges myself.”
    “Do it,” Luke said. “I won’t give a shit if Abby’s dead.” Then he turned and ran.

Chapter Forty-Four
    Can Anyone Hear Me?

    A bby fought blacking out. I can’t let them win. Not again. She crawled toward the door and inched her rubbery body up against it until she was on her feet. She couldn’t see the room spinning, but she felt it, recalling the one time in college when she drank so much she had to sleep with one foot on the floor to keep the world from spiraling away. She remembered thinking later that she must have fallen asleep with her eyes open because closing them only made the merry-go-round worse. This was different.
    She groped the door for the knob. It wouldn’t turn, but she kept jiggling it, expecting it to magically open because she willed it. When it didn’t, she pounded on it.
    Doors need keys to open. I have keys in my purse. But doors open from the outside not the inside. She found the crack of the door. “Help. Is anyone there?” A potent smell seeped into the room. With every breath she inhaled more fumes that burned her lungs like fire in her chest. “Help.” Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper.
    Have to get away from the door.
    She tried putting one leg in front of the other, but nothing worked, so she slid down to the floor and started crawling.