Free Lucky Thirteen by Janet Taylor-Perry

her.
    “What’s so funny?” she asked. “I was starving.”
    “So I see .” Larkin’s captor sobered. “I really am sorry. And I’ve been thinking. You might be right. Latrice might be the crazy one. I’m not so confused any more. You see, I’ve been on meds for a long time, since my senior year in college. My mom made sure I took them. She would call me every morning and say, ‘Ray, did you take your pills?’ She died, and I sort of forgot to take my pills every day. Then the prescription ran out. Now, I’m taking them again, and I’m hearing Mom’s voice. But that’s okay.” He held up both hands and pushed gently on the air. “She always gives me good advice. She’s telling me I shouldn’t listen to Latrice anymore.”
    “And turns into a chatterbox?” Larkin asked with a grin . “So, your name is Ray?”
    He nodded. “My name is really Raiford. My folks called me Ray for short. It’s not what I’ve always wanted to be called, but that’s okay. You may call me Ray. Will you talk to me for a while? Latrice was right about one thing. Your voice is strong.”
    Larkin argued, “Only because deep inside you wanted to hear the voice of reason . Ray, is Latrice a real person?”
    Ray nodded again. “Yes. I told you she wasn’t a voice. The voices have never made any sense. They were just intangible voices, like I could hear other people’s thoughts—the more people, the more voices. Yeah, Latrice is real, very real. I went to the health department to get my meds. It’s easier to go there than to drive into New Orleans where my shrink is. She was new. I thought she actually liked me—me a whacko who hears voices. Yeah, right!”
    “You’re not a whacko, Ray . You have an illness, and you need your medicine. Ray, don’t leave again.”
    “I have to get us something to eat.”
    “Yeah. Well, go to the store. Bring an ice chest and something we can make. We need to talk a lot.”
    “All right, but may I do it in the morning ? I’m tired. Although I apparently slept for two days, I am really tired.”
    “It’s your body trying to heal itself the way God intended . All right,” she conceded, “we’ll sleep, but where will you sleep?”
    Ray shook his head . “I’m not going to hurt you, Larkin. I would never force myself on you. I’ve never been that crazy. I’ll sleep right here on the floor if you’ll share one of your blankets.”
    She handed him a blanket, and he lay on the floor by the bed and fell asleep instantly.

8
    Determined Detective
     
    R a y and Chris arrived back at the police station. At his desk, Ray reached in the drawer and pulled out his Amidrine. At his partner’s frown he quipped, “I need my meds!”
    She laughed . He took a pill with a swig from the bottled water on his desk. Looking at Chris, he winked and joked, “At least, I don’t hear voices.”
    “True . But you do have another headache, huh?”
    “One’s trying to come on, but I’m determined to stop it before it starts .” He guzzled more water. “That’s beside the point. This case just gets more bizarre by the day. We really need to find this guy. Apparently, he’s some lunatic who’s heard God tell him to do it.”
    “I don’t think so,” Chris argued. “I’m not at all sure this guy has hurt anybody.” They heard footsteps. “There’s Baker with the search warrant. You gonna fall asleep on me?”
    “No way ! Somebody with my face is making me look really bad. Allons .”
    Chris shook her head with a wry smile as she was beginning to pick up some of Ray’s Cajun French. He laughed lightly at her expression, his dimples showing, the right one a bit deeper than the left. “Let’s go. I wanna know what makes this guy tick.”
     
    ♣♣♣
    After a short drive, Ray and Chris arrived at a modest, but classy, neighborhood of relative ly new townhouses. Inside the suspect’s home, it was apparent he probably had not been there in a while. They walked through just looking around