Night Hunter (46 page)

“
You do what you must,” he said stiffly, putting on his dressing gown.

“
I won’t be needed for hours, Matthew, if, indeed, I’m needed at all. Come back to bed.” She pulled back the bronze satin sheet.

He stared solemnly at her, not moving.

“
Please,” she whispered seductively, undoing the row of tiny buttons on her white chemise. “There’s plenty of time. I feel in the mood to play act. How about you?”

He stood quietly, a reflective expression on his face.

“
Which one, darling?” she said coaxing. “You decide.”

Finally. “The naive virgin—no, cancel that.” He backed up to the black-and-silver chaise and leisurely reclined, grinning. “The famished war refugee, I believe,” he said softly, letting the dressing gown slide open to expose his body. “And today, utterly desperate, she will do anything for food and shelter.”

Donna heard footsteps in the hall and wondered if they belonged to Nolan. They passed. She missed Nolan terribly. Something had come up at the station the day before and he had been unable to visit her before the surgery.

He had probably come later that night, but with the anesthesia, she would have been too groggy to remember.

Nolan. Poor, dear Nolan. To have something like this happen to him just when things were going so well was sheer bad luck. There was nothing he wanted more than to have the show syndicated nationally. And they’d been close, so very close, before the assault. The dream was still possible. They’d had a setback was all. The doctor said the scars, in time, would be undetectable on camera. Nolan would just have to be patient for a little longer.

More footsteps, and this time the door opened. Donna’s heart began to beat faster. Nolan? But when she spotted the red hair and wide grin, she smiled wanly, feeling mixed emotions. Let down that it wasn’t Nolan, yet pleased to see Tom.

“
Hi,” Tom said softly, stepping into the room. “It’s just me.”

“
Hi, just me.”

“
How are you feeling today?” Tom seemed uncertain what to do with his hands. He finally shoved them in the pockets of his slacks. “What’s this about you going home in a couple days?”

“
They’re throwing me out. I heal quickly. At least the outer wounds are healing.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
I’m seeing a counselor. He’s coming this afternoon.”

“
A psychiatrist?”

“
Dr. Saxton suggested it. And I think it’s a good idea. He says it will help with the fear and depression. Victims of crime tend to have trouble coping, I’m told.”

“
I had no idea,” Tom said quietly. “You always seem so optimistic. If there’s anything I can do ...”

“
Your visits help.” She smiled. “You’re here early today.”

“
We’ve got the show this afternoon, so I thought I’d drop in before.”

“
How’s it going—the show?”

“
Ratings are great, but it’s not the same without you.” He lifted the canvas bag. “More cards and letters from your loyal fans. They’re biding their time till you’re back where you belong.”

“
Thanks, Tom. How is Regina working out —I mean, she’s great on camera, anyone can see that, but is she getting her way with Max and ... ?”

“
Nolan?”

She nodded,

“
Look, Donna, it’s not my place to interfere, I’m only the director, but ...” He let the words trail off.

Donna pressed the button to raise the bed. “What is it?”

“
You know the last thing I want to do is upset you.”

“
Tom, please.”

“
Well, that woman, the one on the program the day you were attacked? She has designs on taking over.”

“
Amelia?” Donna asked, knowing the answer.

“
Yes. The two of them are cooking up something to knock Regina out and put her in.”

“
How do you know this?”

“
The station grapevine. And it’s not an idle rumor. Nolan called her in today.”

“
What does Regina say about it?”

“
Not much she can say, since she’s out of town. Her car broke down somewhere on 101, but she promises to make it in time to get the show on. If she doesn’t, Nolan has insurance.”

Donna felt sick. Why was Nolan doing this? They had discussed it and he was aware of her feelings regarding anyone taking Regina’s place. Especially Amelia.

“
Sure, the woman is beautiful, but she has the warmth of an Eskimo Pie.”

“
Where does Max stand?”

“
Max is loyal to you and Regina. But hell, Donna, he has to think about the show. Regina’s acting real strange. She hardly showed up to work at all last week, then she leaves town right before a show. I’m not saying she can’t pull it off, but to a power-hun—to an ambitious guy like Nolan, it gives him a foothold.”

“
I’ll talk to him,” she said without conviction.

“
I’m behind you a hundred percent. I’ll do what I can.”

She forced a smile and patted the edge of the bed. “Why don’t you read me some mail from my fans. I need to know someone still cares about me.”

He stared at her, a softness in his light blue eyes. “I’m your number one fan. I have been for many years. I —we all love you.” He lowered his gaze.

She touched his hand and waited until his eyes met hers again, then she swallowed and said quietly, “You’re always here, aren’t you?”

He squeezed her hand.

CHAPTER 2
8

At eleven o’clock Regina left the restaurant to return to the service station. The temperature had climbed rapidly, and although it was still relatively cool, she knew the mercury would reach well into the nineties by noon.

Fifteen minutes later her car was fixed and she was on the road again. At noon she was at the apartment house. She sat in the car a moment, reluctant to go in. Then, taking a deep breath, she climbed out and quietly entered the building, hoping she could make it upstairs without intervention. But the moment she passed John’s door it opened.

He stepped out, grabbed her hand, and said evenly, “I think you owe me an explanation.”

She tried to pull free but he held both her arms.

“
I don’t owe you anything,” she replied. Anger and fear surged through her. “Let go, please.”

“
Not until you tell me why you ran out on me this morning.”

“
Look, just leave me alone. I never wanted to get involved in this. It’s over.”

“
What’s over?”

“
Everything. Everything that has to do with you and me.”

He pulled her toward his door. “Let’s talk about it at least. You owe me that much.”

“
Damn you,” she practically hissed. “Stop saying that. I don’t owe you anything.”

He had an arm around her now, forcefully propelling her inside his apartment. The door across the hall opened. Mrs. Szabo poked her head out.

“
Johnnie?” the woman said.

“
It’s okay, Aunt Anna. Go back inside.”

The head withdrew and the door closed firmly.

“
Regina, please. I won’t hurt you, you know that.”

“
You lied to me.”

She expected him to deny it. To lie again. But he looked her in the eyes and said sadly, “I know. I’m sorry.”

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it.

“
We have to talk.” He backed her into the apartment and quickly closed the door.

She pressed her back to the door, her body stiff, unyielding. She stared at him defiantly.

“
I can’t trust you,” she said quietly. “If you can’t be trusted to tell the truth, then you can’t be trusted at all. I’m not one of those people who you had to lie to to get the information you needed. I went along with you. I trusted you.
We ...
I let you —oh God.” She struggled in frustration. Tears filled her eyes and rushed out, and she tried to avert her face.

John placed a hand on each side of her face, urging her to look at him. “You ran out on me because you found out I lied to you?”

She nodded.

“
And no other reason?”

She shook her head.

“
You weren’t sorry about ... last night? You weren’t having second thoughts about us?”

“
I wasn’t at the time. I am now.”

“
I can explain everything.”

“
I don’t want to know. I don’t care to know. I just want my life back again. The way it was. Uncomplicated.”

“
I’m afraid that’s not possible. You can erase me from your life, but you can’t erase the one who’s after you. He’s out there and he’s very real. And I think I know who it is.”

“
Yes, of course,” she said caustically, “Fletcher Kincade.”

“
No.”

She looked at him, swiping the tears from her face.

“
I think it’s Matthew Corde.”

“
Amelia’s husband?”

He nodded.

Regina felt a chill from head to toe. She wanted to laugh in his face, tell him how ridiculous he was being, how he must be grasping desperately — but she couldn’t. She couldn’t because she felt a horrible, insane logic behind his words. Nevertheless, she found herself saying, “He’s a judge, he wouldn’t . . .”

“
He would and he could. I don’t know what his motive is, but he has the means and the opportunity. He was also one of the few people who would’ve known about the ‘City Gallery’ broadcast that day. Amelia would have told him.”

“
That’s crazy,” she said without conviction.

“
Remember the message, the one that said a sea will lead to the assailant—Regina, it wasn’t A. C. for Amelia Corde. It was, ‘a
C
will lead to the assailant.’
C
for Corde, yes, but not Amelia.”

Her silence prompted him to say, “Regina, we found the butcher tape at Kowalski’s and in the Corde freezer. Both Amelia and her husband were in Napa, but on the afternoon of Tammy’s death, the judge took a shuttle into the city.”

That horrible logic intensified for Regina. Matthew Corde. The pageant joke. The vile, bug-eyed man who’d leered at all the contestants as if they were strippers. He had come on to her the first day of the competition. Although young and naive, Regina, interpreting his advances for what they were, had feigned ignorance. And after the first encounter, she’d managed to stay away from him.

“
Regina?”

True, the man was a creep, but that didn’t mean he was capable of such vicious acts.

She started to answer when it suddenly dawned on her that the assailant was not the issue at the moment. John Davie, the man she feared she was hopelessly in love with, had lied to her. She suspected that he had lied more than once.