"Its not up to you any longer, Frye. Lets let the doctor decide."

Rebecca began to protest again when she saw his gaze diverted to the squad room behind her. With a sense of dread she turned to see Catherine entering in the company of one of the night patrolman. She looked fresh in a cream colored silk suit, her face, as always, composed and elegant. Rebecca rose, more vehement words on her tongue, when Watts quickly stepped between her and her superior, whispering urgently, "Not now, Frye. Its not going to help you any. And youre no use to the lady if the Cap pulls you off the case."

Rebecca slowly settled back into the chair, waiting in stunned silence while Catherine was brought in and introduced to Captain Henry.

Catherine looked at Rebecca as she took the only other chair in the room. This was going to be harder than she expected. Rebecca looked shell-shocked. Catherine knew that physically Rebecca was nearing the end of her reserves. Adding this kind of emotional strain might be more than even Rebecca could handle. Still, she didnt feel she had any choice. She would have to hope that she could convince Rebecca that she would be fine, a fact she herself was not entirely sure of.

"Were hoping that this killer will contact you again soon, Doctor," Henry began.

"He already has. He called at three am"

"Bastard," Rebecca swore.

"He told me he had murdered a girl tonight, a prostitute. Is that true?"

The Captain looked at Rebecca for confirmation.

"Were not sure yet," Rebecca responded, her face a mask.

Catherine contemplated Rebeccas impassive features, then said softly, "The truth, please, Rebecca."

"Yes," Rebecca replied, her ice-blue eyes meeting Catherines deep emerald ones. She saw the flash of pain, quickly hidden.

"He saidIkilled her -- because I wouldnt meet with him as he had asked."

"Thats bullshit, pardon me, maam," Watts interjected. "Nobody killed that girl except the person who crushed her skull, and it sure wasnt you."

"He said that he would kill one woman for every day I delayed."

"Catherine, you cant let him make you feel responsible," Rebecca said, her voice harsh with feeling. "Its just a trick to trap you into seeing him. Hes deadly for gods sake! I wont let you do it!"

Catherine saw Watts grimace and realized that Rebecca could be jeopardizing her entire career out of fear for her. She understood it. Shed do anything to keep Rebecca from harm; but she couldnt let Rebecca risk everything she had sacrificed so much for.

"Im afraid you have nothing to say about it, Detective. What I choose to do about this situation is none of your concern." She turned her back on Rebeccas stunned face and said to Henry, "What is it you have in mind, Captain?"

"When he calls again, I want you to agree to meet him. Well attach a recording device to you, and well know where you are every second. Youll be quite safe."

"Hes lying, Catherine. A million things can go wrong when youre wearing a wire, and we wont be able to put a tail on you because it might scare him off. Youll be alone with him, with plenty of time for him to kill you before we could reach you," Rebecca said flatly. She met the astonished eyes of her superior officer without flinching. "Tell her, Captain, that youre asking her to risk her life."

Catherine reached a slim-fingered hand out and rested it protectively on Rebeccas clenched fist. "Its all right," she said in a soft, soothing voice. "I know. But this is something I must do. Please, Rebecca, I need you now. Please trust me."

Rebeccas fist slowly relaxed and her fingers entwined with Catherines. Her voice was steady when she stated, "If shes going to do this, it will be my show. Ill call the shots all the way."

Captain Henry regarded the two women before him -- one a stranger he felt he knew, one a cop he was just beginning to understand.

He took a deep breath and nodded. "Youve got it, Frye."

Chapter Twenty-Seven

They waited in tense silence. Catherines phone had been patched in to a line at the station, and she, Rebecca, Watts and several other detectives were crowded into a small room filled with stale smoke and littered with half-filled paper cups, soda cans and fast food wrappers. Catherine had no chance to speak with Rebecca privately. Rebecca had been on the phone for much of the first hour, demanding surveillance equipment, requesting particular officers for special assignment, setting the wheels in motion to create an enormous web designed to trap her prey. To the other cops in the room she appeared focused and self-contained. They were used to her calm under pressure and took no notice of the tension betrayed in the brusque tenor of her voice and clenched muscles of her jaw.

Catherine, however, was watching her carefully. Rebecca had shed her jacket and leaned against the desk, one slender hip up on the edge, her sleeves rolled up to reveal tanned, well-muscled forearms. Her height and leanness were accentuated by the fine tailoring of her shirt and gabardine trousers. The only interruption in the elegant line of her form was the slash of leather across her back which secured her weapon to her side. Catherine had never felt so far from her, nor more captivated by her. Here was the strength that defined Rebeccas essence -- her dedication, determination, and ability fused to produce the exceptional professional she was.

Catherine was too sensitive to the nuances of behavior to miss the signs of agitation and stress that Rebecca thought she was hiding. Catherine wanted desperately to touch her, talk to her, make some connection with her-- anything to let her know how much she cared, and how much Rebecca meant to her. She was continually frustrated in her attempts to draw Rebecca aside by the arrival of yet another person who had to see Rebecca or by the constant ringing of the phones. When Rebecca glanced her way there was the barest flicker of warmth before her eyes became impenetrable again. Whatever she was feeling toward Catherine, she hid well.

The low level of conversation in the room halted abruptly when the "red" phone rang. That was the phone which was receiving calls forwarded from Catherines home. Twice before it had rung; both were clients. This time even the ring seemed different. Catherine waited for Rebeccas signal, then they both picked up at once.

"Hello?" Catherine said.

Rebecca could detect no nervousness in her voice. Even though she expected it, she still flinched at the next words.

"Hello, Doctor,"the smooth, well-modulated voice said."Did they find the girl yet?"

"What girl?"

"The one I left them. The one I killed for you."

"Yes," Catherine replied at a nod from Rebecca.

"Are you ready to meet me now, or will I have to kill another one tonight?"

"Where?" Catherine answered quickly, no longer looking at Rebecca. She would have to let her instincts guide her now. It was she, after all, he had chosen to contact, and she had the expertise to deal with him. She hoped.

"I cant tell you now, can I? We must keep it a secret a little longer. Drive to the statue of St. Joan in the park. Youll find an envelope under three bricks on the left side. Read the instructions and do as it says. And remember, Doctor, Ill be watching you the entire time, just as I watched the others."

"When?"

"Seven oclock tonight."

The line went dead. Catherine looked to Rebecca, the receiver still gripped in her hand. Rebecca went to the attached tape recorder, pushed rewind, and played the tape for the others in the room. For some it was their first exposure to the sound of his voice.

Watts finally spoke, breaking the tense silence. "It wont play. Theres no way we can stake out the meeting place, because we wont have advance notice of where it is. A wire wont help much if were too far away to get to her in a hurry. Hes got the upper hand, which means that we might lose. Its no good, Frye."

Rebecca studied the disheveled man whose very presence she had resented up until now, and she couldnt help wondering if he had spoken first so that she wouldnt have to. For he was right. And if she had said the same thing, there always would have been some suspicion that she had not acted impartially -- that her judgment had been clouded by her personal involvement in the case. Those who knew her well would never believe it, but, still, her reputation would be tainted. She owed him, and she wasnt sure she liked it.

"Youre right, Watts. Lets send someone out to pick up the note. Maybe theres something in it that will give us a handle on him."

"Wait!" Catherine cried. "You cant do that! If I dont go, hes going to kill again. Believe me, hes serious. Theres every possibility that he wont harm me. Im special to him -- he needs me to share his victories with. Im his audience. And theres a chance I might be able to convince him to surrender himself to me!"

"Can you guarantee that he wont harm you, Dr. Rawlings?" Rebecca asked pointedly.

"No, I cant. But I can guarantee hell harm someone else if Im not there to pick up his note at seven oclock. There must be a way!"

"There is," Captain Henry said from the doorway, where he had been standing quietly. "Its almost three now. We have time to fill the park with undercover people between now and seven. Well put a wire on you and a tracer on your car so we know where youre going at all times. And well put one detail behind you so someone can follow on foot when you get out of your car."

"Its loose, Captain," Rebecca interjected, her voice steady. "She might go where we dont have any people, or the tail might lose her. Its too risky."

"I want to do it," Catherine said, pleading with her eyes for Rebeccas support. Rebecca kept her gaze locked on Henry.

"We go," he said. "I want everyone in the command room in ten minutes for a briefing."

He left behind a room of stunned faces. Every person there knew Rebecca Frye had put her career on the line by openly defying her superior officer, who had ,in turn, put his career on the line by okaying an operation which was more than a little risky. Once again, Watts recovered first.

"Lets clear out. We got ten minutes to piss before things really heat up."

He succeeded in emptying the room. Catherine found herself alone with Rebecca for the first time in eighteen hours.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Is there any way to make you see reason?" Rebecca asked, her voice heavy with defeat.

"No."

"For gods sake, Catherine,why?"

"Because hes got to be stopped, Rebecca. And this may be the only chance!" Catherines heart ached at the desolation in Rebeccas eyes. She did not want to be the cause of the anguish which was so clear to her. "Im not a fool, darling, and believe me, I have no desire to be a hero. But, surely you must see that I am the only one who can draw him out."

"What I see," Rebecca replied angrily, "is you as his next victim!" Even as she spoke the words, Rebeccas mind rebelled at the thought. How could she survive if Catherine were lost to her now? What reason could she find to go on, living day to day with such emptiness in her heart?

"I couldnt bear it," Rebecca said, her voice breaking.

Catherine went to her, her arms closing around the slender form she was learning to cherish. She pressed her face to Rebeccas chest and said in a muffled voice, "I love you, Rebecca Frye. And I have absolutely no intention of leaving you."

Rebecca closed her eyes, shutting out everything except the nearness of Catherine. Her lips brushed the soft skin of her cheek as her hands gently caressed her. For a moment, all she knew was the rightness of holding Catherine.

Their brief interlude was broken by a sharp knock on the door.

"Captain wants us, Frye," Watts announced, entering after a moment. "He wants to review the operation, get the Doc wired, and start moving people into position."

Rebecca fixed anxious eyes on Catherines calm ones.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes."

**********

The hours passed all too quickly. Suddenly it was time for Catherine to drive to the rendezvous site in the heart of the park lands surrounding the river that bisected their city. Rebecca and Watts would follow her. It was Rebeccas intention to follow Catherine on foot and to intercept their quarry as he made contact with Catherine. She reasoned that there were only so many routes he could take into or out of the park, and that he couldnt possibly hope to leave undetected with Catherine in tow. There were officers posted at all the parking areas and at the crossroads which intersected with the Drive. The only time Catherine would be unprotected would be between the time he made contact with her and the time it took for Rebecca to reach her. They estimated that interval to be thirty to sixty seconds, and if it wasnt his intention to kill Catherine immediately, Rebecca would have enough time to close the gap. Rebecca knew full well how slim the margin of safety was; she fervently hoped Catherine did not.