He smiled slyly, “I was down in the library with Beth.”
“What? Is she okay?”
He sighed. “That’s not the response I was hoping for. I was enjoying the idea that you were a little possessive. I think you’re taking me too much for granted.”
“No, I’m not. And you’d be mad as hell if I didn’t trust you. Now why were you with Beth?”
“I was using the computer in the library to see if I could check out background info on Drogan. I need to get to know everything I can about him.” He met her gaze. “Because I believe that Beth isn’t going to be his only target from now on. I made him very, very angry.”
She slowly sat back down on the bed. “Why? Talk to me, Joe. Everything.”
“I was about to do that. But I thought I’d take a shower and change first.”
“No way.”
“Whatever you say. But it will take a while. There have been developments.” He leaned back on the headboard. “And then we’re going to have to make a few decisions.”
* * *
“NASTY.” WHEN JOE HAD FINISHED speaking, Eve got to her feet and went over to the window to look down at the surf pounding against the beach. “Three innocent people, Joe?” She shook her head. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised after what he did to Beth and Newell, but I am. He’s even worse than I imagined.” She turned to look at him. “What decisions?”
“One, we have to leave here and find somewhere safe for Beth. We probably won’t be able to leave the area safely until evening. It’s a break that the Lamborghini was ditched outside the drive, but they’ll still do a cursory search since his rental car was found down the street. I’ll have time to make some calls to contacts I have in Los Angeles and set up a safe house.” He made a face. “But I guarantee it won’t be as luxurious as this one Newell arranged for her.”
“What else?”
“Dr. Hans Gelber.”
She nodded. “The psychiatrist Pierce brought in to do the hypnosis on Beth when she first arrived at the hospital. But that was years ago. He may not even still be alive.”
“He’s alive. After I checked out Drogan, I went on the Net and verified Gelber. He moved from Germany the same year he was involved with Beth’s therapy. Evidently he earned a nice fat fee from Pierce and was able to set up offices in Beverly Hills. We won’t be able to squeeze any information out of Pierce, but Gelber may cave if we put some pressure on him. He’s the only one besides Pierce who knows the story behind why Beth was supposedly so traumatized. If his job was to make her forget that episode, he must have known exactly what happened.”
“That fat fee was probably supposed to guarantee Gelber’s silence. And, if there was anything criminal behind it, he’s not going to incriminate himself.”
“Unless we can scare him. And I’m willing to do my damnedest.” His lips tightened. “I hate the idea of anyone’s circumventing a person’s will, and for anyone to deliberately twist Beth’s psyche pisses me off royally.”
And she had no doubt Joe would be able to do it. He could be extraordinarily intimidating when he chose. And seeing his expression at that moment, she knew that he would choose. She wasn’t going to try to dissuade him when she felt the same way. Pierce might have been the guiding hand behind his tool, Gelber, but the doctor had let himself be used and kept his silence for many years. Years when Beth was being held prisoner. “Do you have his address?”
“Oh, yes. I figured I’d pay him a visit once I got you and Beth settled again.”
She shook her head. “Not this time. I’m going with you. Newell can stay with Beth.”
He lifted his shoulders. “I thought that would be the way it would go.” He was silent. “Shall we tell Beth?”
“Of course; it’s her right to know what we’re doing. She was that bastard’s victim. Hell, she’ll probably want to go with us.”
“If she believes that he actually hypnotized her. It’s all a blur to her. I think she’s having trouble believing that there was any plot against her by the Averys. She’d rather think that Pierce was the sole guilty one who kept her at the hospital so he could milk the family for money.”
“It’s easier than having to believe Rick Avery had anything to do with it.” She wrinkled her nose. “She clearly adores the man. I don’t see how she could— Yes, I could. She didn’t have anyone else. Everyone needs someone to love, and he evidently has a certain charisma.” She added, “She can ignore the truth if she wishes, but we’ve still got to give her the opportunity to face her demons. Maybe she’ll remember something from the therapy sessions if she sees him again.”
“Perhaps.” Joe got up from the bed and moved toward the bathroom. “And maybe she’ll close her mind and refuse to see anything. I’m heading for the shower. I left Beth in the library. If you want to discuss this with her, I’m sure that she’ll still be awake. I suggested that she take a nap, but I dangled the possibility of finding out more about you by tapping the Internet. Considering that she has a boundless curiosity about the world in general and you in particular, which suggestion do you think she’d choose?”
“You’ve learned a good deal about her.”
“I like her. She’s very human. And I can see similarities with you. That automatically puts me on her side.”
“We’re nothing alike.”
“Wrong. You’re both mentally and physically tough but have a certain vulnerability. Physically, there’s little resemblance, but every now and then, I see her tilt her head in a certain way…” He smiled. “And I can see Bonnie in her.”
She stiffened. “Her hair … it’s curly like Bonnie’s.”
“No, that’s not it. I can’t put my finger on it but it’s there.” The door of the bathroom shut behind him.
Crazy. Beth was really nothing like Bonnie. Beth was stubborn and wonderfully vital and as changeable as quicksilver.
But would there have been a character resemblance if Bonnie had grown up in the same environment as Beth? Bonnie had been taken from Eve when she was only seven, and she had been so special. But she had always been surrounded by love. Beth had not had that advantage and had grown wary. Would the years have changed Bonnie if she’d had to live a life like Beth’s?
No, not Bonnie. Eve could not imagine Bonnie wary or afraid to give love.
And it was ridiculous standing there and mentally trying to compare them just because Joe had made that comment. She was already feeling the start of a fierce protectiveness toward Beth. Which was completely ridiculous. The woman had threatened to shoot her, been completely rude, then suggested that she would like to sleep with Joe.
Yet Beth had managed to touch her in a way that was completely mystifying.
They were approaching each other tentatively, half-afraid to commit, unsure of what they would find. Beth was surrounded by lies and terror and death, and Eve was beginning to feel as if she had entered into that suffocating cocoon with her.
Forget it. All this emotional fretting was getting her nowhere. Do what Joe suggested and go downstairs and discuss Hans Gelber with Beth and give her the chance to say yea or nay.
She threw on a robe and ran a comb through her hair. She’d shower later, when Joe was finished, but she wanted to get this talk over and done with. She ran down the stairs and down the hall to the library and threw open the door.
Joe was wrong.
Beth was not still awake.
But she was not curled up on the couch. She was sitting in front of the computer, her head cradled on her arm on the desk. Eve moved quietly across the room and looked at the computer screen.
A newspaper photo of a skull and Eve herself in her old blue work shirt, her hands caked with clay as she worked on a reconstruction. The skull had been that of little Marty Brodwin, Eve remembered. She didn’t like to give interviews, but the reporter had promised that if Eve cooperated, she’d see that photos of the completed reconstruction would be circulated throughout Ohio, where his body had been found in a shallow grave. It h
ad been worth having her privacy invaded. Marty had been identified within a month after Eve had completed the reconstruction, and his murderer arrested six months later.
She looked down at the pad beside the computer. Web sites. Four of them crossed off, ones that Beth must have accessed before she dropped off to sleep.
But she’d be stiff as a board if she remained huddled in that office chair for much longer.
She reached out and touched Beth’s hair. She received a tiny shock as she felt the soft texture of Beth’s riot of curls against her palm. She remembered that last night before Bonnie had been taken from her, when her daughter had curled up in her lap while they sang together. The softness of Bonnie’s hair against Eve’s cheek had felt the same as Beth’s curls did now beneath Eve’s hand.
“Hey,” she said softly as she gently stroked Beth’s hair. “You can’t sleep here. Go lie down.”
“Eve?” Beth stirred drowsily, then went rigid. She sat bolt upright in her chair and hurriedly pushed her hair back from her face. “I thought I was dreaming.” She grimaced as she glanced at the monitor. “Dreams? What you do is the stuff of nightmares.” She added quickly, “I don’t mean to offend you, I’m sure that it’s all very worthwhile. But I’d never be able to do it.”
“It’s all in the mind-set and getting used to it. My job isn’t as morbid as you might think, and you’ll be surprised at what you’ll find you can do.” She smiled. “My nightmare would be going through what you’ve suffered all these years.” She gestured to the couch. “Now go curl up and get some sleep.” She turned off the computer. “Joe said you’d been up all night with him.”
“I wanted to help.” Beth got to her feet and moved toward the couch. “He told you all about Drogan?”
“Of course.” She waited until Beth lay down before tucking her under the throw. “That’s why I came down.”
“Are you mad because I was looking you up on the Net? Joe thought it would be all right.”
“Why should I be angry? Everything on the Net is out there for all to see.”
“But it’s a violation of your privacy.”
“Beth, I don’t give a damn about my so-called privacy. I’d fight to the death if someone tried to invade my personal space, but if you’re not ashamed of your past, there’s no reason to try to hide it.”
“That’s good. I was afraid you’d resent my being curious.”
Her lips quirked. “But you did it anyway.”
“I decided I didn’t have time to worry about whether you resented it or not.” She yawned. “There’s just no time, Eve…”
Because Beth had lost so much time already. “There’s time for you to sleep.” Eve turned off the desk lamp, and the room was suddenly plunged into darkness. “It’s after five, but you have a few hours before you need to worry about anything else.” She turned to leave. “I’ll wake you by ten.”
“Eve?”
“Yes?”
“Why did you come down to the library? You said Joe told you about Drogan, and that was why you came down to see me.”
“It can wait.”
“No, tell me now. I won’t sleep if you don’t.”
“We’ve decided we have to go after Hans Gelber. I wondered if you’d want to go with us.”
Beth didn’t speak for a moment. “I’m a little afraid.”
“Why? If Pierce is the only one involved, we still have to know what happened. If someone else was behind it, we have find out the details. You won’t be safe until we do.”
“It was Pierce. I know it was Pierce.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
“What if Gelber was brought in because I really did have a trauma? What if I was being treated for some authentic mental disease? What if I still have it? Sometimes, I think I must be crazy.” Her voice was shaking. “I get so scared, then I’m angry. I want to strike out and hurt someone. Maybe I belong in that room on the third floor.”
“Bullshit,” Eve said flatly. “Wanting to knock someone down and trample on them is the most normal response you could have after what you’ve been through. But I don’t like that talk from you. I told Joe that I was going to give you a choice, but I’m not going to do it. You’re going with us to see Gelber, and he’s going tell us everything he knows. I’m going to let you see the weasel try to wriggle out of telling the truth; and then you’ll know it’s one big lie.”
“You truly believe that?”
“Yes, and so would you if you were thinking straight. All this uncertainty is crap. Newell wouldn’t have helped you if he hadn’t been sure that you were a victim. Joe and I wouldn’t waste our time. So it’s up to you to straighten up, stop hiding, and start going after the bad guys. This is your life, and you have a right to live it.”
Beth was silent, then suddenly chuckled. “I’m really not thinking straight, am I? You’re damn right, I’m going to live my life. You want me to go with you to see Gelber? No problem. And if I think he’s lying, I’ll slap him around.”
“Let’s not get carried away.” Eve headed for the door. “You may not need violence. Joe can usually accomplish the same effect just by being Joe.”
“Yes, I’ve never known anyone like him. He’s … larger-than-life.”
“He just twists it to suit himself.” She headed for the door. “I’ll see you at ten.”
“Eve, what’s my…” She stopped. “What’s my mother like?”
She turned to look back at Beth, but she was only a shadow in the darkness. Perhaps that was why she had waited until Eve had turned out the light. “I thought you weren’t interested.”
“I’ve changed my mind. I want to know. Is she like you?”
“No, Sandra is small and pretty and likes everything pretty around her.”
“You call her Sandra?”
“From the time I was a child. She prefers it. It makes her feel younger.”
“And that’s important to her?”
“It’s important, it’s part of how she sees herself. She’s really hard to describe. You should wait and judge yourself when you meet her.”
“You don’t want to talk about her. Don’t you like her?”
“I love her.”
“But do you like her?”
“She’s … difficult for me. We’re at different ends of the spectrum. She’s never been able to understand the way I think. There have been times when we got along very well. She loved my daughter, Bonnie.”
“But you still came out here to find me when she asked you.”
“She loves you. I don’t care what the Averys told you about her. She does love you, Beth. She loved my Bonnie, and she loves you. I couldn’t say no to her.”
“How can you say that she loved me? She gave me up.”
“You can believe me or not. That’s your choice. But if she could have, I think she would have kept you. She was a kid herself, and life was against her.”
“Did she love me as much as she loved you?”
Eve was silent. “Some people don’t have the capacity to … Love is rare for them. Maybe only a few people in a lifetime.”
“You’re saying she didn’t love you.”
“I think she tried. But she didn’t have to try with you, Beth.”
Beth was silent, then burst out, “She should have loved you. Look who you are. You deserve to—”
“Are you defending me, Beth?”
“Yes, why not? You came here to defend me. I don’t want to talk about our mother any longer.”
“Then we won’t, but don’t blame Sandra for something she couldn’t help. Just accept her affection as a gift. When this is all over, I know she’d like to meet you.”
“But I don’t want to—”
“Don’t make any hasty decisions.” Eve opened the door. “Think about it. None of us can afford to reject love in any form. There’s not enough of it around. Sleep well, Beth.”
CHAPTER
13
5:45 P.M.
THEY WERE STILL THE
RE!
The car was exactly where Quinn had parked it when they’d arrived at the Tudor.
Drogan felt a surge of fierce pleasure as he lowered the binoculars. He’d guessed that he would have enough time to double back before they took off, but he hadn’t been positive. Quinn was an unknown element, and he could have decided that he had to get Beth Avery out of the area immediately.
Quinn.
Smother the flare of rage. Now it was time to plan, to hunt, then to strike.
First, he had to get to Quinn’s rental car and plant a bug to make sure he could track him. He wished he had a bomb to blow up the son of a bitch. Or, better still, bury him alive, as he had Mama Zela. The Snake God knew how to deal with Drogan’s enemies. But he could wait for that final vengeance; he just had to be able to track him when he took off.
His thumb throbbed with pain as he started to wriggle up the side of sand dune on the north side of the house. That fool of a doctor had amputated the tip of it and given him pain pills, but he had not taken them. He couldn’t afford not to have a clear head. Keep close, don’t show himself. He’d like to wait until dark, but he couldn’t risk it.
His phone vibrated in his jacket pocket.
Not now. Ignore it.
No, he couldn’t do that. The prize was too big to risk the losing. He took out the phone and glanced at the ID. He froze where he lay on the dune. Then he picked up the call.
“Dammit, I can’t do everything at one time. Leave me alone. I’ll do what I promised, but it has to be on my schedule. And I can’t talk now. I’ll call you back.” He hung up.
He had his list. He’d carry out his job. But he wouldn’t put destroying Quinn on hold to do it.
He had his own private list now.
And the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of burying Eve Duncan in that coffin with the rattlesnake instead of Quinn. He had chosen a very special snake and begun to prepare it for duty. He had captured it near his house in the desert, and it was almost ready.
A very shallow grave.
So that Quinn could hear her screaming as the snake writhed around her body, striking and striking …