Perfect Victim, The (44 page)

'
'
True
,
but if I can c
o
nvince him the attempt on
y
o
ur lif
e
and Bernstein's murder
a
re related, I may be able t
o ge
t him to begin an inves
t
igati
o
n."

The drive to the hotel was a twisting, high speed, sin
g
le
-
car chase that had Addison clutching the dash and wishing she'd passed on coffee back at the hospital. Randall covered the entire city and half its suburbs at least twice before hauling the Jeep into the parking garage of the Loews Giorgio Hotel just southeast of downtown.

"I'm going back to the hospital with you
,
" she said as he made a final
c
heck of the room. She barely noticed the Italian decor and European antiques strewn about like expensive beanbags
.
"I'
l
l sit with Jack while you talk to Van-Dyne."

"No."

"I can
'
t just sit around and do no
t
hing
."
Her stomach clenched e
v
ery t
i
me she envis
i
o
n
ed him walking out that door without her
.
"
I won
'
t be able to s
l
eep
."

"Yes, you will
.
" He slipped a small chrome pisto
l
fr
o
m his parka. "Take this
.
"

Addison gaped at the gun
.
"You re
a
l
l
y know how to make a girl feel sa
f
e.
"

"
It
'
s a Colt Mustang semiautomat
i
c
.
Take
i
t into the shower with you
.
Take it to bed with you
.
Whatever you do, don't let anyone
i
n
t
o the room unless it
'
s me.
"

When she didn
'
t mo
v
e
t
o take the gun
,
he reached for her right hand and placed the pistol in her palm
.
"Damm
i
t, do as I say
.
"

The gun felt like a chunk of ice in her hand
.
Surprisingly, the grip fit comfortably
i
nto her palm; her fingers reached the trigger easily. She listened half
-
heartedly as he explained how to use it.
"
The clip holds seven rounds
.
That ought to be enough to stop any
o
ne if you get into trouble."

"How long are you going to be gone?"

“
A few hours."

"Any longer and I'll come looking for you."

He looked haggard and tired and as dangerous as a cobra staring back at her.

She had the crazy urge to tell him she loved him. The idea shook her so violently she had to blink back tears. "Be careful," she said instead.

Raising his hand, he brushed his knuckles against her cheek. "Get some sleep." At that, he slipped away from her and left the room without looking back.

Chapter 18

Addison sensed his presence before she actually awoke. She heard the muted sound of his shoes against the Aubusson carpet, felt the bed shift as he moved over her
.

She jerked awake, terror at the back of her throat, a scream buried beneath it
.
The room was dark. Blindly, she flung herself across the bed, toward the gun
.

Two strong arms gripped hers. "Whoa
,
Addison. Honey, it's me."

The gentle voice lapped at the fear, smoothing it down, and it drained away, like water discarded after a cleansing bath. She stopped struggling. Randall
.
Close to her, touching her
.
She reached for him.

"Tate was here." She shivered as the memory of the nightmare swooped down on her. Garrison Tate had stood by the window and smiled at her
.
He'd spoken to her, but she couldn't recall the words. His presence had been powerful, oppressive and terrifying. Worst of all
,
she'd sensed that he wanted to hurt her
.

Randall stretched out on the bed beside her. "It was a
nightmare. Nobody knows we're here. We're safe."

A thin gray ribbon of light filtered in through the window. A glance at the crystal timepiece on the night table told her it was nearly eight A.M.

"How's Jack?" she asked.

"Critical, but stable. They removed the bullet earlier this morning. The doctor says he's going to make it, but he's got a long, hard road ahead of him."

Addison relaxed back into the pillows. "It just doesn't seem fair that he should have to go through this after everything he's already been through."

"Fairness just doesn't enter into it sometimes."

She thought about Agnes Beckett and her parents and silently agreed. "Did you find anything at the office?"

''The fire took everything. The computers. We didn't have fireproof files."

"I'm sorry, Randall. About the fire. About Jack. I'm sorry about everything."

"It's not your fault. You don't have control over any of this."

"How did it go with Van-Dyne?"

"He agreed to put two detectives on the case locally. If things pan out, he'll contact the feds in Washington"

"Just two men?"

"Says he's understaffed. He probably is. He's going to start with Jack's case, then delve more deeply into the Bernstein murder and the shooting at your shop. He agreed to contact Sheriff White up in Summit County about your parents."

She considered everything he'd said, but knew in her heart it wasn't enough. "What about Agnes Beckett?"

"We're going to have to play our ace."

"I didn't know we had one."

''The media. I called an acquaintance of mine who works for the Wall Street Journal. He's not a reporter, but he's got connections."

For the first time since this nightmare had started, she felt empowered. "They won't print anything that's not verified."

"No
,
but they damn sure have the resources to dig up the same information we did. I faxed him a copy of the newspaper article and told him everything. He's going to send someone to Siloam Springs."

"That's going to take some time."

"We need to lie low." He sighed
.
'
'
Tate is a powerful, connected man. We'll come off as crackpots if we don
'
t keep a low profile. We've got to be very careful. We know he won't hesitate to kill."

"Isn't there some way the police can protect us?"

"I asked Van-Dyne about putting you in a safe house. He hedged. They don
'
t have enough proof to wa
r
rant the expense. We
'
re on our own."

"What about Jack? He's vulnerable."

"I talked Van-Dyne into putting a twenty-four-hour guard on him. If he hadn't agreed, I would have hired private security
.
" Randall regarded her through dark, somber eyes. "It's going to take indisputable proof before the authorities cross Tate
.
"

"What can we do? There's got to be something ..
.
."

"I know a retired private detective from D.C
.
, Clint Holsapple. He used to work the political circle. He's from Texas
.
He's good and may be able to get me close enough to Tate so I can flush him out
.
"

Her pulse kicked when she rea
l
ized he hadn’t mentioned her
.
"I'm
the one Tate wants dead."

''This is no longer just about you."

"Don't try to shut me out
.
I'm involved, and I intend to stay involved until Tate is either behind bars or dead."

"I've already made reservations to fly to D.C. I'm not taking you with me
.
I'll put you up in a hotel in another city
—
"

"No! If you go to Washington, I'm going
,
too, damn you." Her voice shook with a sudden, wrenching burst of anger.

"It's too dangerous."

"I don't care about that. Don't you dare try to keep me out of this."

Cursing beneath his breath, he hit her with a look that would have sent a sane woman scrambling off the bed. Too bad he didn't know she'd traveled beyond the point of running away from him.

"This is dangerous, Addison. People have been killed—"