"As I said, you're quite welcome here."
"I've listened to every one of the tapes Harry Furth created from your phone tap, Jess, and this guy scares the hell out of me. Just listening to him… and me in a safe, well-lit office… Well, it honestly has taken its toll on me. Harry and I have listened to the tapes at every speed, and Harry has separated out the back-scatter noises in the earlier tape."
"And?"
''Harry tells me that much of the back-scatter noise before the roar of the fire engulfs every other noise is of two distinct sounds."
"Yes, go on, Warren."
"One is of a… a moaning, groaning as if of a sexual nature and a click-zip, click-zip sound, a noise we've duplicated as-"
"A camera, the self-developing kind, right?"
"Yeah, but how did you know?"
"Found a scrap of processing paper at the El Tovar scene."
"Jess, this madman could be there in Page, in the lodge with you right this moment. You may want to sleep with that Browning of yours tonight, but I'm flying up first thing in the morning."
"One consolation," she said.
"What's that?"
"We're closer on his trail than I'd thought. And if he figures I'm on his trail, if he knows I'm here, perhaps he'll make the mistake of coming back this way to make contact with me again."
"You need to get that phone bugged."
"I will, as soon as possible."
When she hung up, Jessica felt her heart sink. Just moments before, she'd felt safe here at the Wahweap Lodge, subconsciously telling herself, At least the creep won't be telephoning you anymore. He can't know where you are.
Jessica had been feeling both relief and guilt- over the fact that she would not be getting another phone call from the Phantom. If and when he did call again, someone else, the actress hired by Bishop and Furth in Vegas, would be having to deal with it, answering the phone calls of a maniacal killer. But now she didn't even have this cushion.
These thoughts flowed through her weary mind riverlike when suddenly the phone under her fingertips shrieked to life. She didn't want to answer; didn't want to chance its being the monster.
She no longer felt safe at her bedside here at Lake Powell's Wahweap Lodge.
Finally, on the third ring, she said aloud to herself, "It's got to be Eriq Santiva or someone else connected with the case."
She lifted the receiver and tentatively spoke into it, saying, "Hello, this is Dr. Coran."
"Jess?" The voice instantly put her at ease. It belonged to psychic and coagent, Dr. Kim Desinor, calling from Quantico, Virginia.
"Kim? It's so wonderful to hear from you!" Kim hadn't any idea how wonderful, she thought.
"I'm just reassuring myself you're all right out there. I'm astonished about what's going on out there, and frankly, I don't like it, not one damned bit."
"Eriq forwarded your reading of the situation. It's much appreciated."
"I have my good days; others, the well seems dry, the source gone, you know."
"In any case, it's great to hear from you. How's Ginger?" Jessica always asked after Kim's calico cat.
"Never mind Ginger. I want to caution you about what you're dealing with. Santiva's just as concerned over this madman's obsession with you. We're both very worried. How do I know Santiva's worried? Easy! He came straight to me for my input on this creep, and I've become increasingly worried, too, so look-"
"I'm all right, Kim, really."
"Listen to me. There's no worse a fanatic lunatic than a religious nut, and it feels to me as if this guy has some religious quest he's on, and you, dear, are at the heart of it all. Obviously enough."
"The hardest part is knowing that others are dying because of me," Jessica replied.
"Stop it right there, kiddo. You mustn't and cannot ever blame yourself for this screwball's actions."
Kim always knew precisely how to cut through the bullshit, Jessica thought now. "I will try not to-"
"Don't try anything, just do it!"
"All right, I'll do as the Nike ads say."
"I just had to make sure you're all right there, Jess."
"Seems you're not the only one."
"Really? Don't tell me, a new man?"
"No, nothing like that."
"Well, dear, Ginger is fine, and it is quite late this side of the Rockies, so good night."
"Night, Kim, and thanks for the support."
"Always. Ciao."
Jessica decided sleep wasn't going to come until she telephoned J. T. with the latest news on the whereabouts of the killer at the time he had called in his second kill. If the killer was as close by as she feared, J. T. had as much right to know as she.
She lifted the receiver and began dialing for J. T.'s room when she realized someone else was on the line. She heard breathing. It sounded like flames being fanned.
"You can't hide from me, Dr. Coran," he said. "Nor from the truth, from this!" Jessica froze on hearing his now familiar voice, replaced now with a whining gibberish, as of someone attempting to speak through a gag- yet another fright-filled, slurred voice, the voice of a fourth victim on the other end, she surmised.
She desperately held on to her calm and resolve to learn more about the Phantom, this creature behind the awful string of fire murders. She recalled the calmness of the actress who'd played her, and grasping at straws, she pretended to be that actress.
"Are you in the lodge?"
No answer, just the gasping noise of the poor sacrifice at the other end.
Jessica shouted, "At least tell me where the hell you are! You coward!"
Taking the phone off the victim, the raspy-voiced killer replied, "I am climbing from the depths of Hell, which takes courage. I am no coward."
"We can help you out of the pit," she assured him.
"You can help me? Really?" he asked, his voice rising maniacally.
"Yes, we can get you the best doctors in the country to-"
His laugh drowned her out. "You are going down into the pit as I rise from it, Doctor. Don't you see that? Don't you feel it? You can help no one. Not even yourself."
"Where are you?"
"You must know by now. You must see."
"No, I don't see a thing. Make it clear for me."
"You're a smart woman. You can figure it out. Isn't that how you normally play out your petty games, Doctor?
I just want you to know that we are both cut of the same cloth, Dr. Coran…"
"Really? How so?" Damn this bastard, damn his soul and his body, she thought.
"We are both concerned with the same… fears, phobias, you and me."
"What the hell fears are you talking about? And what's your name?" she challenged, hoping to keep him on the line for as long as possible, to somehow reason with him, to somehow save the poor victim he held hostage somewhere in the lodge, or somewhere beyond.
"Call me… call me Nessus."
"Ness? Ness-suss? How do you spell that?"
"Spell it how you wish."
"Is that your name?"
"It is the name my god calls me. I am his messenger and your guide."
"I see, Nessus. So you're not responsible for your actions, your having killed three people? You're just an instrument of some power you cannot control. Is that it, Mr. ahhhhhh…?" It isn't working, she realized. He's not giving out any names or reasons that make sense.
"Perhaps if you'd crack a book once in a blue moon, you'd know what the fuck's happening here!" The sound of the torch and the screams of his latest victim suddenly filled Jessica's ears, along with the back-scatter noise of a clicking camera, followed by the deafening stillness after he, the man of the moment, the godhead in control, slammed down the receiver.
"Where are you, you cowardly freak bastard?!" Jessica shouted into the dead receiver. "Cowardly bastard!" Tears of frustration filled her eyes.
Jessica was left alone with the sound of the victim's screams filling her ears and her silent room. The phone was untapped. No one knew that the monster had again somehow reached out and touched her. She felt angry, confused, outraged all at once. She wanted to lash out at the creature causing her such pain. But how? How did she fight what she could not see?