“That’s almost exactly what Drew used to say about him.” Bonnie leaned forward in her chair and folded her arms on her knees. “None of Ethan’s previous wives understood that about him.”
Zoe wrinkled her nose. “I’d rather not discuss Ethan’s previous wives, if you don’t mind. It brings to mind the fact that, because of me, he will soon have a fourth ex.”
“Not necessarily.”
Zoe blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
“Ethan has done a lot of things for his clients in the past, but he’s never married any of them.”
Zoe waved that aside. “Probably because he never saw the necessity to go that far. My case is somewhat unusual.”
“Ethan has had some very unusual cases. Something else you should know about him. He doesn’t sleep with his clients, either.”
Zoe was starting to feel cornered. “Yes, well, I wouldn’t read too much into the fact that he and I are involved in a relationship. It was just one of those things, you know?”
Bonnie said nothing.
Zoe felt a tingle of inexplicable panic.
“Well.” She put down her pencil and got to her feet. “I don’t know about you, but I could use some coffee. There’s a little place around the corner. Why don’t we take a short walk?”
“Good idea.”
Singleton Cobb showed up at two.
Zoe was interested to see that Bonnie suddenly seemed a bit more animated, almost as if there was some extra energy running through her. For his part, Singleton had a hard time looking away from her. He seemed oddly flustered.
He turned to Zoe. “Looks like I’m your company until closing time. I’ll drive you to Nightwinds after work.”
“Okay,” Zoe said, trying to appear pleased. This business of having a constant escort was going to get old fast. She wondered how Arcadia was making out with Harry Stagg. Maybe the phrase making out was not the best way of putting it.
Singleton cleared his throat. “Ethan invited me to join the rest of you for dinner. Heard tell we’re ordering in pizza and salads.”
“The basic food groups,” Bonnie assured him. She collected her shoulder bag and found her car keys. “I’d better be on my way or I’ll be late to pick up Jeff and Theo. See you all later at Nightwinds.”
At five o’clock Zoe locked the door of her office and dropped the heavy doorknob key chain into her tote.
“I need to stop by my apartment and pick up some things,” she told Singleton.
“No problem.”
They walked together to the small lot where Singleton’s large SUV was parked. He opened the passenger door for her with a touching gallantry and then he climbed in behind the wheel and fired up the big engine.
“This business of having a constant companion is probably starting to wear thin,” he said, reversing out of the parking slot.
“How did you guess?”
“I know how I’d feel if I were in your shoes.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I don’t think this situation will go on for long. Ethan will get it sorted out.”
“Probably.”
“You and Truax going to give your marriage a chance?”
Great. He’d brought up the very last subject she wanted to discuss today.
“This isn’t what you’d call a marriage,” she said crisply.
“Yeah? What would you call it?”
“Ethan’s notion of an expedient solution to a pressing problem.”
“Truax says you’ve got a license and had a ceremony and everything.”
“That doesn’t make it real.”
“Can’t argue that,” Singleton said. “Makes it legal, though.”
“Makes this whole situation very strange, is what it makes it, if you ask me. And getting stranger by the hour.”
“I talked to Bonnie while you and Truax were in Vegas. We both think the two of you sort of fit together somehow. Why not let things go on as they are for a while after this is all over? What have you got to lose?”
She was getting that panicky feeling again. Time to change the subject.
“Turn left here,” she said firmly. “You can park in front of that green wrought-iron gate.”
“Sure.”
Singleton did as instructed. She opened the door and jumped down from the high passenger seat before he could get around the front of the vehicle. She walked quickly to the green gate and reached into her tote for the key chain.
Singleton eyed the brass doorknob. “Heck of a key chain ornament. Isn’t it a little heavy to haul around in a purse?”
“I’m used to it.”
She opened the gate, led the way through the small garden, and unlocked the lobby door.
“You can wait here,” she said. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
“Take your time.”
She hurried up the stairs to the upper floor, trying to remember all of the items she wanted to transport to Nightwinds. When she reached the top, she turned and went down the hall. She stopped in front of her door and inserted the key into the lock.
The door of the trash disposal room opened behind her. Startled, she turned to greet whichever neighbor had just finished getting rid of his garbage.
But the man who rushed out of the small room crossed the narrow hall in a single stride and grabbed her before she realized he was not a neighbor.
Ron.
“Gotcha, bitch.”
He wrapped one arm around her throat, cutting off her air and slapped a palm over her mouth. Her shout to alert Singleton died in her throat.
Another man emerged from the doorway of the vacant apartment on the left.
Where Ron went, Ernie was sure to follow.
“Get her inside,” Ernie muttered. “Hurry.”
“Take it easy.” Ron dragged her across the threshold of her apartment. “None of the neighbors are here.”
She struggled, trying to grasp the edge of the door frame. Darkness hovered at the edge of her vision.
“There’s someone downstairs in the lobby.”
“Got the needle?” Ron demanded.
“Yeah, sure. Just get her inside where we can do this in private.”
She became conscious of the weight of the brass doorknob dangling from the key chain clutched in her fist. It centered her as nothing else could have done. She carried this sucker around for a reason, she reminded herself. Her brain cleared a little and some of her training in self-defense kicked in at last. She could almost hear her instructor, about time you started thinking.
She swung her arm up and back as far as she was able, aiming the doorknob at the side of Ron’s head, praying she would not strike her own skull instead.
She was not sure of her target but she did connect with some portion of Ron’s anatomy.
“Shit.” He jerked back reflexively, briefly loosening his lock on her throat. “She’s got something in her hand.”
“Singleton.”
Ron tightened his arm around her throat again, hurting her.
She swung a second time, a wide sweeping arc that would have caught Ernie in the chest if he hadn’t hurriedly stepped back.
“Just wait, bitch,” Ron hissed in her ear. “Just wait until we put you in those stirrups back at the Manor.”
“You got her?” Ernie asked nervously.
“I got her. Stick her. Hurry up, damn it, someone’s coming.”
Ernie closed in, syringe in hand.
She swung the doorknob again, wildly, trying to hit his arm and managed to knock the syringe out of his hand.
The front door of her apartment slammed open. Singleton burst into the room, roaring.
“Let her go.”
He grabbed Ernie, hauled him around, and slammed a fist into his face. Ernie hit the wall.
“Get outta here,” Ron shouted furiously at Singleton. “She’s crazy. We’re taking her back to the hospital. We’re medics.”
“Yeah, she’s dangerous, man.” Ernie scrambled to his feet, clutching his jaw
. “We gotta take her in.”
“Bullshit,” Singleton said. He rounded on Ron.
“We’re medical professionals,” Ron snarled.
Zoe swung the doorknob up and back a second time, striking solid flesh again. Ron’s ribs, maybe.
“You crazy bitch.”
He let her go so suddenly that she had no chance to catch her balance. She tumbled to her knees.
“Let’s get outta here,” Ron shouted to Ernie.
Ernie did not respond. He was already barreling toward the door. Singleton seized him just as he started through the opening and hurled him back into the room. He slammed into Ron. The two hulks went down like bowling pins.
“Come on.” Singleton grabbed Zoe’s hand and hauled her to her feet.
Together they ran out into the hall. When they were clear, Singleton stopped, whirled around, and yanked the door shut. He held it closed with a two-handed grip on the knob.
“Call 911,” he bellowed. “Then call Truax.”
She dug her phone out of the fallen tote and started punching in numbers.
They ate cold pizza and salads on the patio beside the pool. Jeff and Theo had finished their dinner while Ethan shepherded Zoe and Singleton through the police questioning process. When they got back to Nightwinds, the boys had disappeared into the theater to watch television on the big screen.
Ethan was not in a good mood.
“By the time we heard the sirens, the two had managed to lower themselves from my bedroom window,” Zoe told Bonnie. “But Singleton and I saw them get into a car. We got a description and a license plate.”
“The police arrived just as Ron and Ernie went tearing off down the street.” Singleton helped himself to another slice of pizza. “They caught them within two blocks.”
“They called Ian Harper from jail.” Zoe fortified herself with a swallow of red wine, got up, and started to prowl the patio in front of the pool. “Tried to get him to tell the authorities that they were trained medical personnel, if you can believe it. They wanted him to explain to the cops that he had sent them to pick me up.”
“Harper denied everything, of course.” Singleton munched pizza. “He called the cops immediately and made it clear that Ron and Ernie were no longer employed by Candle Lake Manor.”
“Is that right?” Bonnie glanced at Zoe and then turned to Ethan. “He claimed he’d fired them?”
“According to Ian Harper,” Ethan said slowly, “the orderlies were acting on their own.”
“But why would they come all this way to get Zoe if someone wasn’t paying them?” Bonnie said.
“Good question,” Ethan said. “The official explanation from Harper is that the two held a personal grudge against Zoe because of something that happened when she and another unnamed patient escaped. Harper said they wanted revenge.”
“Yeah?” Singleton looked interested. “What exactly did happen when you two busted out of the Manor?”
Zoe stopped and gazed down into the pool. “I bashed Ron in the head with a fire extinguisher. Arcadia used a needle full of heavy-duty sedative on Ernie.”
“Cool,” Singleton remarked.
Bonnie smiled. “Yes. Cool.”
“No charges were filed and the incident was never reported because Harper didn’t want his clients finding out that Arcadia and I were no longer in residence there.”
“Got it,” Singleton said.
“But now you’re going to press a few charges, right?” Bonnie asked.
“Oh, yeah.” She took another swallow of wine. “Assault and breaking and entering, for starters.”
Singleton looked at Ethan. “Do you think Ron and Ernie were acting on their own?”
“Not initially,” Ethan said. “I’m pretty sure that Harper did send them after Zoe when he found out where she was. He probably also tried to call them off after she informed him that she was married and no longer a good candidate for Candle Lake. But by then it was too late.”
“Because by that time Ron and Ernie were in Whispering Springs and lusting for revenge?” Singleton asked.
“I’d rather you didn’t use the term lusting,” Zoe said with feeling.
“Sorry.” Singleton gave her an apologetic glance. “But it does explain why they threatened you in such, shall we say, personal terms.”
“Mmm.” She stopped briefly and frowned at Ethan. “Do you think they might have killed Leon Grady?”
Ethan rested his elbows on the arms of the pink padded lounge chair, stretched out his legs, and pondered the question.
“It’s possible,” he said. “The cops traced their movements. They arrived in Whispering Springs the same day Grady died. But they don’t seem to know anything about his presence here in town. They got a motel room and staked out Zoe’s apartment, waiting for her to show up. Evidently that’s the only address they had. After waiting for her all afternoon, they took a break that night and went to a bar. The next day, they went back to Zoe’s apartment and broke into the empty place next to hers. Also, there’s no strong motive.”
“Unless Harper instructed them to get rid of Grady because he was causing problems,” Singleton said.
Ethan shook his head. “Like I said, they were in a bar, drinking, that night. Got a hunch their alibis will hold up. Their only goal seems to have been to grab Zoe.”
Zoe shuddered. “Bastards. I wonder if they’ll actually do any time.”
“I think so,” Ethan said softly. “Maybe a lot of it. Detective Ramirez told me that they both have prior convictions for assault, and Ron was arrested on a rape charge a few years ago.”
“Just the sort of fine, upstanding employees you’d expect Harper to hire,” Zoe said through her teeth.
Bonnie winced. “I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for you and Arcadia there.”
“They’re out of the Manor now,” Ethan said evenly. “And they aren’t going back.”
Bonnie nodded. “Understood.”
They finished the rest of the pizza in silence. The soft chirps and calls of the night rose from the canyon; somewhere in the distance a coyote howled. Above, the stars were brilliant in a way that Ethan had discovered was only possible in a desert sky.
After a while Bonnie checked her watch. “Well, it’s getting late. I’d better get the boys home and into bed.”
She got up and started toward the French doors.
“Time I was on my way, too.” Singleton hauled himself up out of a pink lounger. “Enjoyed the pizza, Truax.” He cast a quick, veiled look at Bonnie, who was inside the living room now. “And the company.”
“Any time.”
Ethan and Zoe followed Singleton through the house into the entry hall. Zoe hung back, waiting for Bonnie and the two boys.
Ethan and Singleton went outside onto the front patio and stood looking at the parked cars in the drive.
“I owe you,” Ethan said.
“No, you don’t.” Singleton shoved his big hands into his pockets. “You hired me to baby-sit. I was just doin’ my job. Hell, didn’t even do it very well, when you get right down to it. I should have gone upstairs with Zoe when she went to pick up her things.”
“You got there in time. That’s all that matters in the end.”
“Maybe.” Singleton chuckled. “Gotta tell you, though, she was doing a damn fine job of handling both of them with that big ole doorknob she carries.”
“There were two of them and one of her. Those aren’t good odds. Thanks, Singleton.”
“Sure.”
The door opened behind them. Theo and Jeff shuffled outside with obvious reluctance, followed by Bonnie.
“Do we have to go home already?” Theo whined.
“Yes, you do,” Bonnie said.
Jeff looked at Singleton. “Mom says you saved Zoe from some bad guys today.”
“Zoe helped save herself,” Singleton told him.
“Mom says you’re a hero,” Theo announced.
Singleton blinked behind the
lenses of his glasses and turned red. “Nah.”
“Yes,” Bonnie said. “You are a hero.”
“She’s right,” Ethan said.
Zoe appeared in the opening. “He sure is.”
“Cool,” Theo said.
“Will you show me how you saved Zoe?” Jeff asked excitedly.
“I’ve gotta go home,” Singleton answered, edging backward toward his vehicle. “Now. ’Night, everyone.”
He swung around, hurried to the SUV, got behind the wheel, and revved the engine.
“I think we embarrassed him,” Bonnie said.
Chapter Twenty-nine
You could tell a lot about a person from the sound of his or her footsteps. Ethan listened to the steady, determined tread on the stairs. Too heavy for a woman. A man in good physical condition. Used to getting what he wanted. Accustomed to being in charge.
He heard the outer door open and close. The door of the inner office was ajar about a third of the way, as usual. He watched the mirror, studying the reflection of the tall, well-dressed man in the other room. Expensive suit. Expensive haircut. Expensive shoes. Early fifties. Polished. No obvious indication of a weapon.
This was the reason he had placed the desk in this corner and why the mirror was positioned opposite near the window. Okay, so maybe the energy flow was lousy from a feng shui point of view, but the arrangement had one humongous business advantage, he reflected. From this angle he could see visitors and clients before they saw him.
“Is anyone around?” the man in the other room demanded in a loud, irritated voice.
“In here,” Ethan said.
The door opened wider. The man looked around the edge. “Are you Truax?”
“Yes.” Ethan sat forward and folded his hands on the desk. “Forrest Cleland, right?”
“How did you—? Forget it.”
Forrest walked into the office as if it belonged to him and took the chair that Zoe disliked so intensely. On Forrest it looked more or less the right size.
“Did Ian Harper give you my address?” Ethan asked casually.
“He provided me with the information that you probably lived here in Whispering Springs because that seemed to be where Sara was living, yes. I got your address out of the phone book.”