That was good news. Not that she doubted her effect on Nelda was anything but a success. She was always able to gauge her power over people. She lifted her glass. “I’ll keep that in mind. I can see how you’d want to please the boss. How long have you worked for the Averys?”
His brows rose. “Oh, I don’t work for them. This jet is leased to New China Porcelain. We have no direct connection with the Averys.” He shrugged. “Though occasionally we’re hired to do a discreet run for them. But then they always have their own crews and insist that their names are never listed on any record. They just show up at flight time and board the plane. Like you, Ms. Lenslow.”
“Discreet?”
He grinned and winked. “Top secret.”
“How interesting.” Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t you find it curious enough to explore?”
“No, I like my job just fine, and they’re only one client among dozens. Not really important.”
It might be important to Stella. Another weapon to use against Nelda? She would have to keep her eyes open to make sure that she was always one step ahead of her. “Perhaps we could talk about it later.” She smiled. “Do you get to Fiji very often?”
His smile remained, but he looked suddenly wary. “Now and then.” He turned away. “Be sure and buzz if you need anything. I’m at your service.” He hurried back down the aisle.
Definitely gay. She took another sip of champagne. But she might still be able to use him. She would have to think about it and see who he—
“I almost forgot to give this to you.” Mark was standing beside her chair again with an envelope. He glanced at his watch. “But I’m right on time—7:27. Mrs. Avery said it had to be right on the nose. Please tell her that I obeyed instructions.”
“Mrs. Avery?” She looked at the envelope as she took it from him. Heavy, rich, stationery, faintly scented. The same scent she’d smelled when Nelda had been in the motel room that morning. “She sent it to you?”
He nodded. “Together with my personal letter and instructions.” He started back down the aisle. “Nice perfume, isn’t it?”
She stared down at the envelope. She didn’t like this. It gave her an uneasy feeling. She slowly tore open the envelope. Nelda’s handwriting was bold and clear and struck with the force of a hammer blow.
Stella—
Did you really think that I’d let you dominate me? Your arrogance is incredible. Yes, I found you desirable, but as you grow older, you learn to pick and choose what you will allow yourself and how to say no to alluring toys. You wish to follow in my footsteps and perhaps supplant me someday, but you would never have learned that, Stella.
So good-bye, temptation.
Two minutes, Stella. Enjoy them.
Nelda
Stella’s heart jerked in her chest as panic struck.
Two minutes. In two minutes, it would be seven thirty.
What was going to happen at seven thirty?
They … insist their names are never listed on any record.
Like you, Ms. Lenslow.
The airline company has no direct connection with the Averys.
She sent a box of “after-dinner chocolates.”
The mountains below looming dark and hard … and waiting.
“No!” She threw her champagne glass to the floor and jumped to her feet. “No, you bitch. It’s not going to happen.”
She ran to the door of the cockpit. She was aware of the Korean couple staring at her with startled expressions. Mark Telfer, the flight attendant, was running down the aisle toward her as she tried to jerk open the cockpit door.
“You’ve got to land!” she screamed as she pounded on the door. “Let me in. This can’t happen to me.”
“Go back to your seat,” the flight attendant said soothingly. “Have some more champagne. I’ll ask the pilot to come out and talk to you.”
“Too late. You fool, it’s too late. Those damn chocolates. It has to be—”
She screamed.
Because precisely at seven thirty, the Learjet exploded into flaming shards of metal and hurtled into the Rocky Mountains below.
* * *
“I’VE TALKED TO EVERYONE at the hospital who could have any access to special info,” Newell said several hours later as he poured coffee into Beth’s cup. “As far as anyone knows, Pierce has done a flit with his luscious lady.”
“He’s gone?” Beth shook her head in wonder. “I can’t believe it. Those last months at the hospital I’d watch him whenever he was anywhere around me. Before that, the drugs made him only a hazy figure to me. He liked what he did. He liked the power and everyone’s deferring to him. I don’t think he’d walk away from it.”
“I don’t, either,” Joe said. “But where the hell is he?”
“But I was told one other interesting thing when I was checking,” Newell said. “The woman who was impersonating Beth is no longer occupying the room where she was quarantined. Before they left the hospital, Stella Lenslow gave an order, supposedly from Pierce, that the woman be moved back to the ward where she evidently was before Pierce pulled the switch.”
“Why didn’t Pierce give the order?”
Newell shrugged. “He’d already gone to the car. It didn’t ring true to me, either.”
“I don’t like it,” Joe said flatly. “Even if he was going to leave the area, why pull the phony patient and leave the suspicion that Beth was still on the loose?” He was channel flipping through the news channels. “They’ve checked the local airports for his car and didn’t find it. No Pierce. No Stella Lenslow.”
“Maybe not Stella.” Eve came into the kitchen from the living room where she’d been monitoring the other set. “But they’ve just found Harry Pierce. Turn on Fox.”
Joe switched to the station to see a shot of a BMW wrapped around a telephone pole. Police and ambulance trucks surrounded the vehicle. “Pierce? Where is this supposed to be?”
“A northern suburb,” Eve said. “He’s dead.”
“Suspects?”
“They don’t even know if it’s murder. It may take days for the medical examiner to determine it,” Eve said. “No obvious lethal wounds.” She paused. “But also no broken bones that they can determine.”
“Dead,” Beth said dully. “Another one.”
“Be happy,” Newell said. “No, don’t be happy. It would have been better if they’d stuffed him into a prison to rot like he did you.”
“Dammit, I wanted him alive.” Joe got to his feet. “Hell, everyone who could testify to Beth’s sanity is being sent to the morgue.” He headed for the door. “I’m going out there to see if I can find out anything more.”
“Like what?” Eve asked.
“Like where’s Stella Lenslow and does she have any evidence that can help.” His lips tightened. “And if there’s anything in that wreck of a car that could prove what a lying son of a bitch Pierce is to the Santa Barbara Police, even though he had them in his pocket. We need something fast.”
“Why? What’s suddenly put you on edge?”
“The deaths are piling up, and we have to stop worrying about Beth’s being thrown back into the hospital and start worrying about her being arrested for murder. It’s a little too convenient that a mental patient’s two doctors have shown up dead when she’s still wandering around loose.”
My God, he was right. First Gelber, now Pierce, Eve thought. Not only convenient, but chilling.
“I’ll see if I can find anything to use to deflect attention from her and gather any clues out there.” Joe turned at the door. “Newell, you stay here with Beth and Eve. I should be back in an hour or two.” He looked at Eve. “I’ll call you from the accident scene and let you know what’s happening.”
“You’d better.” She made a face. “I’m not all pleased at staying here and holding down the fort. I believe that position is vastly overrated.”
“But you’ll do it.” He glanced at Beth. “You have a reason to hold down this particular fort. Keep safe, Eve
.” The door shut behind him, and he strode toward the car parked at the curb. He paused before he opened the driver’s door to look up and down the street.
Nothing.
Yet he was still uneasy even though he had no reason to be. There had been no sign that Drogan had been able to follow them to L.A. from the Seventeen Mile Drive. He had even checked the car for bugs before they left the Strip and found nothing. However, there were all kinds of devices available these days that weren’t detectable except with equally sophisticated equipment.
But Drogan had been very busy if he’d managed to kill both Gelber and Pierce in the span of such a short time. It wasn’t likely he’d have also been able to stake out Beth in Valencia.
Not likely. But possible.
He glanced back at the glowing windows of the house he’d just left as he backed out of the driveway. It appeared warm and cozy and safe. It would be okay, he told himself. Newell was there, and he would be on guard.
His cell phone rang as he drove toward the subdivision entrance.
Kendra.
“You persisted in telling us how busy you are, Kendra,” he said when he picked up the call. “But you seem to have plenty of time to harass us.”
“What a treasure is gratitude,” Kendra said sarcastically. “And you don’t know anything about harassment. It’s an art form. I’ll have to teach you someday.”
“I am grateful,” Joe said quietly. “And Eve is even more grateful than I am. But she wants to keep you out of this. Things are a bit dicey.”
“You mean like Pierce’s ending up smashed into a telephone pole?”
“You saw the news story.”
“Why else would I be calling you? It’s all over the news channels. Look, I know how Eve feels, and I’ve been trying to respect it. On the surface, Pierce’s getting killed could actually seem to make it safer for Beth and Eve. If you tell me that’s true, then I’ll reconsider my plans.”
“What plans?” he asked warily.
She ignored the question. “Is the fact that Pierce bought it going to make Drogan less of a danger to you?”
She wasn’t going to give up until she had the answer. What the hell. Talk to her. That uneasiness was still with him, and he wanted to surround Eve and Beth with every barrier he could find. Kendra could be one hell of a valuable barrier. “No, someone else has entered into the mix.”
“Nelda Avery. Rick Avery. Which one?” Kendra asked. “I was wondering whether they’d come out of their golden shells and take over the action. Pierce seems to have been a royal screwup.”
“I think Nelda Avery is tired of hiding in the shadows and paying hush money. She wants a new deck and is determined to get it. But the stakes are very high for her as well as her son.” He paused. “She committed the murder that started all this business rolling.”
Kendra gave a low whistle. “Yeah, that would give her a giant stake. Should I know anything else before I get there?”
“You’re coming here?”
“I’m on my way. I just got on the San Diego Freeway. Where am I going?”
He chuckled. “Yes, that would be a good thing to know. Valencia. You know that Eve’s not going to be pleased with either one of us.”
“She’ll get over it. Are you going to the site of Pierce’s smashup?”
“I just left the house. I thought I’d see if I could find out anything from examining the wreckage.”
“I’d have a better chance. But I can go to the impound lot later and take a look if you don’t see anything.”
“Which you don’t think I will?” he asked dryly, with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. Kendra was moving with her usual full head of steam. “I’ll try to prove you wrong. How soon will you be here?”
“About an hour, maybe less. Keep me informed.”
“Why, Kendra? Why are you being so determined about this?”
“As I told Eve, I hate leaving anything unfinished. It bothered me that I had to leave without having everything wrapped up.”
“And?”
“Stop pushing me, Quinn. Why should there be anything else?” She was silent a moment. “Except that I like Eve. I’ve never had that many friends. When I was blind, I was always defensive and working hard at overcoming my handicap. Then, after I gained my sight, I’d get impatient when others who’d had their vision all their lives couldn’t see what was right before them. I wanted to shake them. Not exactly an attitude that endears people to you.”
“No, and Eve certainly wasn’t enamored of you in the beginning.”
“But we worked our way through it. I felt close to her. And, when I found out about her daughter, Bonnie, I kept thinking about it. I wanted to help her to find something or someone to replace her.”
“Not possible, Kendra.”
“Oh, I know that, and she’d hate it if she knew I felt … but I thought that if I could give her Beth, it might help a little.”
“Give her Beth. Good God.”
“Too arrogant? Okay, you’re right. Besides, I didn’t get the chance. But now maybe I can do something to help her keep her.” She paused. “If it’s worthwhile. How does she feel about Beth? Was she a disappointment?”
“Eve had no preconceived ideas of what her sister would be or what she wanted from the relationship. But, no, Beth wasn’t a disappointment. I’m not exactly sure what Eve feels for Beth, but she wouldn’t want to give her up.”
“Good, then it’s settled. I’ll see you soon.” She hung up.
Joe was smiling as he pressed the disconnect. That last remark had been typical Kendra, full of confidence and decision. It was her previous words that had surprised him. She had always shown him only her toughness and keen intelligence. Evidently, Eve had managed to reach down and touch another side of her. But, then, Eve was able to touch most people just by being Eve.
His smile faded as he thought about how much Eve had touched and changed him through the years. God, he loved her.
And everything might be settled in Kendra’s eyes, but there was a darkness looming. He just hoped he could keep it from enveloping Eve as well as Beth.
His foot instinctively pressed the accelerator at the thought. Check out that accident scene, then get back to the house.
Keep Eve safe. Keep Eve close to him.
* * *
“YOU’VE BEEN VERY QUIET since Joe left.” Eve dropped into the lawn chair beside Beth and handed her a cup of tea. “It’s going to be okay, Beth.”
“You keep saying that.” Beth smiled. “You treat me the way Billy does, as if I’m a little girl. By the way, where is he?”
“Making his rounds. He took Joe’s order about watching out for us seriously.”
“He takes everything seriously.” She lifted the tea to her lips. “He’s a good man, Eve. He doesn’t deserve all that’s happened to him.”
“He’s not complaining. Stop having all these guilt feelings. Though I know everything seems confusing, and it was a shock to realize that Pierce is dead.”
“It is a shock.” Beth looked down into the amber depths of her cup. “But then I seem to be dizzy with shocks. Every time I turn around, something else happens.” She made a face. “But it’s not as if I cared anything about Pierce. If what everyone tells me is true, he was a monster to me. I can’t be sorry he’s dead.”
“Which is an entirely healthy response.”
Beth smiled. “From a woman who everyone was sure was loony as a hoot owl.”
“Are hoot owls loony? I wonder where that saying came from. At any rate, no one will say that about you for long. We’ll make sure they don’t.”
“I can almost believe you.”
She looked her in the eye. “No almost. Believe me, Beth.”
She nodded. “I do believe you, Eve. It’s just that it’s—”
Eve’s cell phone rang. “That must be Joe. I wouldn’t have thought he’d have been able to make it to the accident scene by—” She frowned. “It’s not Joe. No ID.” She accessed the call.
“Eve Duncan.”
“Rick Avery, Ms. Duncan.”
She stiffened, stunned. “What?”
“I know this must be a surprise to you, but I’ve been told you’re with my daughter. I need to talk to her.”
“Go to hell. You’re the last person she needs to talk to.”
“You have a right to be angry. You’ve been told lies, and you only want to help my daughter. I’ve heard you’re a fine woman, but you don’t understand. Let me help you to understand.”
“Your daughter? Where have you been for Beth all these years?”
Beth suddenly sat up straight in her chair, her eyes wide. “Rick?” she whispered. “He wants to speak to me, Eve?”
“Yes. Don’t talk to him, Beth.” But she could see she was talking to the wind. Of course she was going to talk to her father. “I’m pressing the speaker. I need to hear what he says.”
“I don’t care.” Beth snatched the phone from her. “Rick? It’s been so long. I’ve missed you.”
“Do you think I haven’t missed you?” His voice was a little husky. “My best friend, my little girl? They told me that it was better for you if I didn’t see you, that I’d disturb you and make you sad when I had to leave.”
“I wouldn’t have cared.”
“I cared for you. I told them everything had to be just right for you after you got hurt. You had to be treated like a princess, and nothing must hurt you. They did what I told them, didn’t they?”
“Yes, no one hurt me.”
Eve’s nails dug into her palms. No, nothing hurt Beth because of the drugs that kept her from feeling. She wanted to scream that out at him. Beth’s face was radiant with love and joy, and she was believing every word he said.
And heaven help her, Eve was beginning to believe him, too. Rick Avery’s voice was deep with feeling, and his words utterly sincere. Maybe he did believe that what he was saying was true. Maybe Nelda had been so convincing that he had believed her without question. Why not? It would have been easy to believe that Beth didn’t need him, and he should go on with his life.