"The next step in my heroic struggle has begun," Rickie said to Judy. "Dr. Black wants me to recapture my kitchen. Once that's done, we'll have a victory party and consume large amounts of quail and cheesecake."
"Recapture the kitchen," Judy stated flatly as she opened the door of the Voyager, admitting Rickie to the jump seat. They were on the third tier of the public parking structure adjacent to Black's office, wherein they were afforded a beautiful view of the formerly quake-damaged Sherman Oaks Galleria mall. Rickie found herself admiring the tenacity of the people of Los Angeles, who had reclaimed the structure from the ravages of the infamous Northridge quake. She wondered if she herself would be reclaimed in that same spirit.
"We have to recapture my kitchen because it's where I was the most severely injured," Rickie explained. "It's the site of Hershey's murder of Jessica Edwina. Emotionally, I lost ground there, conceded the space to Hershey. Dr. Black says I won't have closure until I reclaim the spot."
Judy stood outside the Voyager, staring at the silent, closed structure of the Galleria which, like they, had seen happier times. "Rickie," Judy said, "there's no nice way to say this. Just Plain Dot is dead."
"Awww."
"Her claws were caught in the terry towel. Apparently, during her struggle to free herself, she somehow tumbled into the tub and drowned."
"My God, she drowned at the same instant I did. It's almost as though we shared the same soul, only in two different bodies. Why didn't she join me in Paradise?" Rickie climbed out of the Voyager and joined Judy on the railing. Arm in arm, the two women presided over the lonely rooftop as the twilight darkness shifted uneasily to full night, transforming the landscape of the parking lot into an urban shadow box of humming halogen lamps.
"I'm sorry," Judy said.
"You know, Judy, I was telling myself right up to this very moment my star was rising, that all this bad stuff was just about over. I can see I was wrong. Way wrong. To tell you the truth, I was lying to myself. I don't know how much more I can take. What kind of a universe is it where I am returned from the dead to rescue a cat that's already dead? I feel as if the whole doggone universe is conspiring against me."
"I put her corpse in a Gelson's shopping bag and put her in your freezer. Thinking maybe we should give her a decent burial. I thought maybe we could try that place in Calabasas where Hopalong Cassidy's horse is buried."
"A decent burial for Just Plain Dot," Rickie said. "Next to Hopalong's horse. It'll be more than Jessica Edwina got. After they vacuumed me out, she probably got tossed into an incinerator by some surgery gopher. That is, if she was lucky and her stem cells weren't shipped off to the late great Christopher Reeve's German laboratory."
"Rickie, don't despair. I called Forest Lawn Memorial Park yesterday. They're setting up a memorial service for Jessica Edwina. It's tentatively scheduled for three weeks from this Friday."
"That long?"
"It could have been sooner, but we're going to have a headstone specially carved, with an angel on top and everything. It's being prepared someplace in Georgia on account of they have the best marble carvers there."
"Thank you, Judy. I couldn't have made those arrangements the way you did."
"It's what friends are for."
"This is all Hershey's fault. His sick desire to control me has led to a lot of death in the past couple of days. You know what really makes me bonkers? He's probably lying in his hospital bed right now feeling sorry for himself, telling himself what a victim he's become because of my pathetic attempt on his sorry life."
"Hirschfeld's a pig from down below. When he finally dies, the devil is going to use his carcass for a huge luau."
"I had big plans for Just Plain Dot. I was going to have somebody make me a set of tiny strap-on rear wheels for her so she could get around, only like the cat I saw on TV last month on the Amazing Animals show."
"Rickie, it's getting cold out here. We should get going."
"You go ahead, Judy. I'm not going back to the beach just yet."
"You're staying here? I don't think so. Rickie ... you're planning to jump."
Rickie laughed, the forced sounds coming from her throat falling flat against the backdrop of flowing traffic. "I'm not about to jump. I just took a Xanax and it's creating a numb space in my head. It's probably what's holding me together. I'm going to grab a cab back to Beverly Hills to pick up my car and rescue Just Plain Dot from the freezer. It's a step I have to take to start regaining control of my life."
"I'll drive you, Rickie."
"Go home, Judy. You've done enough for today. This is something I have to do by myself."
"You shouldn't go back to The Dell alone."
"Worry wart. If it gets too heavy, I won't stay, I'll only dash in to the kitchen to get my keys and then I'll be gone."
"Don't go over there, Rickie. The place feels like a haunted house."
"I have to. Don't you see? Until I can walk in there by myself, I'll never be able to move on with my life. I have to start thinking and acting for myself. I can't keep going around on automatic pilot."
"Call me the minute you get there. I'll keep my cell phone on."
"Judy?"
"Yeh?"
"I love you. You're a good friend. I'm sorry it's been such a tough assignment lately, but I promise you one thing--"
"--You don't have to promise anything to me, Rickie. I love you, too. You know that."
"No, Judy, love isn't enough. I promise you things are going to get better. I know it's true because I feel deep down inside I'm becoming a different woman than I was before."
"Okay," Judy said, climbing into the Voyager. Rickie watched as her friend slowly wound down the ramp and exited onto the street below. Whipping her cell phone from her purse, she placed a call to the cab company and leaned against the railing to await her ride. The ride appeared in record time and the cabby opened her door. Rickie settled in as they made their way down the ramp to the exit.