Promise Me Eternity (28 page)

“Bandito, I want you to follow my wife
wherever she goes. Something isn’t as it should be.”

When he put the phone down, something stabbed
his heart again.

Chapter 52

_______________________

When Dr. Patterson walked into the Eden Park
Hotel, his face reflected the bad mood he was in. The same woman
with red hair was at the reception desk.

“Can I help you?” she said in a friendly
manner.

“I think you have a room reserved for
me.”

“Your name, please?”

“Dr. Patterson.”

The receptionist opened a large book. “Yes,
we do. Room 205.” She took a key on a wooden key ring and offered
it to him. “Mrs. Vucci will be twenty minutes late. She called a
little earlier.”

Simon felt faint from embarrassment. Never
before had he met a woman in a hotel.

“Sorry, Simon. Carlo was home when I was
leaving. I couldn’t just go.” She sat on the bed next to him.

“It’s OK. I’ve got plenty of time. I’ve been
fired.”

“What? From the hospital? I don’t believe
it.”

“You’d better start believing. But I don’t
care about the hospital. When I prove my innocence, they’re sure to
call me back and I—”

“Of course, Simon. Everything will work out.”
She took his hand and squeezed it gently.

“But how? Ever since I was arrested I’ve been
trying to think how to save myself, but don’t seem to be able to
find a way. I can’t tell them that I was with you the evening Helen
was killed, can I?”

Christine lowered her eyes sadly. “That’s
true. There’s no way you can say that.”

“Don’t worry, Christine. I’d rather go back
to jail than have Carlo Vucci on my back.”

Without looking at him, she said, “My husband
is extremely revengeful. After he’d finished with you, he’d
definitely kill me.”

He let go of her hand. “You see, I knew it.
We should never have got involved with each other.”

She got up and started pacing up and down.
“Listen! Us being together was the most wonderful thing that has
ever happened to me.”

“It was good for me too, but—”

“Simon, I don’t know what you feel for me,
but I keep thinking about you all the time. In the morning, when I
wake up, I think about you. At midday, when I’m having lunch, I
think about you. Wherever I am, I think about you all the time.”
She stopped and looked at him. “Finally, my life has a meaning. And
I’m willing to die for that.”

He moaned loudly as if he had heard something
terrible. “Oh, Christine, I’m glad you think so, but Helen and I …
how shall I put it? She’s dead. … You and Carlo …. Nothing is
right.”

She sat next to him again and leaned on his
shoulder.

“We’ll manage somehow. There’s always a way.
We’ll manage.”

“But how? Tell me what to say to the police.
If I don’t give them something more tangible, they’ll put me back
in jail. And then you’ll be able to visit me there.”

She took a tissue from her purse and wiped
her nose. Sobbing, she said, “Simon, I’m so scared. You’ve no idea
how scared.”

He didn’t know what she wanted to tell him.
“You’re scared? Why? I don’t get it.”

“I’m scared of losing you. I can’t even
imagine it.” Tears streamed down her face.

“Oh, Christine, stop crying. Why are you
crying? You won’t lose me. Why are you saying that?”

She pushed away the hair that had fallen
across her eyes. “If they put you in jail, I’ll lose you. I
definitely won’t be able to visit you there.”

“Oh, who said they’d put me away?” he said
angrily. “If I didn’t kill Helen, they can’t do that.”

“You said yourself that they would.”

“Yes, but I didn’t mean it.” He was getting
nervous and felt a fear in his bones that was increasingly
troubling. “We have to say something. Do you know anybody who could
say they saw me that night?”

“Simon, any false testimony would only worsen
your situation. What if they found out?”

He took a deep breath, becoming more and more
aware of what a mess he was in. He had been relying on the thought
that Christine would find a solution, but now ….

“You’ve got to promise me something,
Simon.”

“Of course, anything.”

“Irrespective of what happens, you must never
say that you were with me. That would mean death for us both.”

He got up and started walking around the
room. “Of course I’ll never do that.” It irritated him that she had
said it again. He felt as if she had dug her nails in his stomach.
“It’s perfectly clear what would happen to both of us. There’s no
need to go on about it.”

“Sorry, I’m terrified and don’t know what we
can do.”

He walked faster. In his anger with the whole
world, Simon shouted, “The damn murderer! Who would have killed
Helen?”

Christine covered her ears. Simon’s behavior
made her cringe. “Stop shouting. I can’t stand it. Please, Simon,
stop shouting. Stop shouting.”

He turned to her in surprise and was
immediately sorry for having raised his voice. He knelt in front of
her and put his arms around her. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m
sorry! I really didn’t mean to …”

She rocked in his arms and continued crying.
Simon’s fingers were tangled with her hair. “It’ll be alright,
Christine. Don’t cry. Things will get sorted out.” Instead of her
comforting him, he was consoling her.

“Nothing will get sorted out on its own,” she
said after a while. “If we don’t do anything, nothing will get
sorted out.”

He pushed her aside gently and slowly so that
he could see her face. “What do you mean?”

“Simon, I’m very sorry. But I have a feeling
no one will believe you if you say that you were out walking while
somebody killed Helen. And you said they found a scalpel, too.”

“That’s no proof. They can’t convict me just
like that.”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think that will
convince the jury. We’ll have to come up with something more
original.”

“Don’t you think I know it? I keep trying to
decide what to do. I’d so like to get the guy who killed her—”

“Hold on, you said you saw a guy. So, it was
a man?”

“I didn’t see anybody. I assume it was a man.
How could it have been a woman?”

She ran her fingers through her hair. “Simon,
you have to be very precise at court. If you say one thing and then
another, they certainly won’t believe you. You must never say you
think it was a man. That’s not your job, it’s the police who’ll be
making assumptions.”

“I know, you’re right, I’ll only say what
actually happened. Oh, Christine, what if they really do put me
away? God, I couldn’t take that. To be among all those
criminals.”

She reached out and gave him a hug. “I won’t
let them. I’ll never let them, trust me.”

They lay on the bed and pressed together.

When they had finished making love and
nothing but their breathing could be heard in the room, Christine
said, “There is one solution.”

“A solution? Tell me.”

“I don’t know where to start. You’ll think
I’m crazy.”

“Say it, please. I’ll do anything to save
myself.”

Christine’s phone rang. She checked who it
was: an unknown number. “Hello?”

Simon listened intensely, but couldn’t hear.
He could see that Christine was upset. “What’s wrong?” he asked as
soon as she put the phone down.

“Something’s happened to Carlo. One of the
servants called to let me know that he was found unconscious on the
floor. They’ve already called for an ambulance. I must go to the
hospital.”

“I hope it’s nothing serious,” he said
encouragingly.

She nodded coldly and said, “Sorry, but I
really must go. I suggest we meet again tomorrow or the day after.
I’ll call you.”

When she was gone, he became aware of the
four empty walls of the hotel room. A terrible feeling of
loneliness forced him to go straight home.

Chapter 53

_______________________

Richard Ross came home tired and drained of
energy. He hung his jacket on the door handle and flopped into the
new armchair in the living room. Supporting his head with his right
hand, he thought about all the problems at work.

First thing in the morning, the mayor had
called him because of the Ralston case, involving the murder of a
little girl whose killer had still not been found. The mayor spent
over twenty minutes humiliating him, even threatening to replace
him if he didn’t find the murderer.

A few minutes later, Richard’s mother called
and spent the next half-hour moaning about how ill she was and how
she would die soon. Richard tried to tell her how busy he was, but
she wouldn’t stop. “You never find any time for me,” she reproached
him.

When he finally managed to get rid of her,
his secretary, Edwina Garner, came into his office telling him that
Officer Travis had been badly injured. He had to go immediately to
the hospital. There, he spent all his time on the phone, sorting
out different matters. Luckily, the officer survived.

When Richard got back to the office, he found
out that Lionel Bank on Stewart Avenue had been robbed.

Finally, he was home, enjoying the silence.
He had just decided to get a beer and something to eat, when he
felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around in fear and saw the
face of a man he knew.

“What the hell are you doing in my
apartment?”

It was Jack, one of Carlo Vucci’s men. “The
boss doesn’t like it if someone is breathing down his neck.”

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to
say.”

Will walked in with a sandwich in his hand.
“Hi, Richard. I helped myself to cheese and salami. I have to say
the salami isn’t very fresh.”

Richard forced a laugh.
Why would Vucci’s
men break into my apartment?
he asked himself.

Jack said, “A special agent in your
department is snooping around Vucci. You know the boss doesn’t like
that.”

Richard sighed loudly. “That’s Sandra, damn
it. I told her not to. I don’t know why she keeps investigating
him.”

Will was eating his sandwich awkwardly and
some of the fatty salami fell on the sofa.

“Be careful!” Richard barked. He quickly
picked it up.

“The boss was furious about it yesterday,”
Jack said while walking around the room. “Have you bought new
furniture? This wasn’t here the last time we visited you.”

Richard nodded nervously. “I’ll sort it out
tomorrow. You can tell Carlo that no one will bother him
again.”

Jack took a large knife out of his pocket and
started playing with it. “You’ve recovered nicely.”

“As I’ve already said, there’s no need to
worry.”

The knife blade slid into the armchair a few
inches away from Richard. “What the hell … are you nuts?” he said
to Jack. “You’ve destroyed my chair. It cost me a fortune.”

“Let me just remind you that you’ve received
a considerable amount of money from Mr. Vucci.”

And once more Jack stuck the blade into the
leather and pulled it toward himself. The other man, who stood not
far away, kept eating his sandwich, watching the performance.

With his hands to his head, Richard said, “It
won’t happen again. Please, I’ll take care of it tomorrow. Tell
Carlo I’m very sorry. Why did you have to destroy my
furniture?”

Jack looked at Will. “Should we believe
him?”

“I don’t know if we can.”

“I promise it won’t happen again,” Richard
assured them.

Jack put the knife back in his pocket. “OK,
we’ll believe you this time, but ….”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“OK, we trust you. Come on, Will, let’s leave
him to enjoy the rest of the evening.”

The next morning, Richard Ross called Sandra
Grant to his office. He was so furious with her that he felt like
firing her.

When she sat down opposite him, he said, “I
hear you’re still snooping around Carlo Vucci.”

“I’ve got some incredible leads. I just need
another few days—”

“I told you to leave Vucci alone, did I
not?”

“You did, but I think that Carlo Vucci is a
murderer and I want to prove it.”

Richard thought of his furniture, which made
him move his lower lip strangely inwards and almost close his
eyes.

“Listen, Sandra, has no one ever told you
that there are certain rules in this world? One of them says that
subordinates must listen to orders from their superiors.”

“Yes, of course, but—”

“Don’t keep interrupting me!” His voice began
to tremble, which meant his anger had reached its peak.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“Since you have acted against orders, I can
no longer trust you. You’re no longer on the Gowan and Gratti case.
Do you understand?”

“What? You can’t do that, all I need is—”

“I’m warning you, Sandra. I don’t like people
working off their own bat. If you can’t stand superiors, get a job
as a private detective. Or obey orders.”

She pressed her lips together in anger.

He threw a thin folder on the table. “A Dr.
Patterson is supposed to have murdered his wife. Somebody paid bail
for him. Go and see him and find out what actually happened.”

Only half listening, Sandra was thinking
about the evidence she had found against Carlo Vucci.
Even if I
have to do overtime, I’ll get that crook, whatever the cost. I know
he’s guilty.

Chapter 54

_______________________

Simon came home in an extremely agitated
state of mind. He had hoped that he and Christine would find a
solution.

In the kitchen, he brewed some coffee and
thought about that evening when the murderer was with Helen. With
horror he thought that Helen was perhaps still alive when he had
heard the noises.
Maybe she was fighting for her life while I
was down here. That was the punishment for having been unfaithful
to her. If I had been at home ….