Promise Me Eternity (37 page)

Lifting his head, he looked into Carlo’s
eyes. He thought he saw a spark of life in them. For a moment he
froze. The men stared at each other.

Chapter 73

_______________________

That night, Dr. Miner couldn’t sleep. In the
adjoining room was Caroline, and his biggest desire was to be
physically next to her.

About one in the morning, he needed a drink
of water. As soon as he opened the door to the larger living room,
where she was, he spotted her moving her head slightly. As he went
by her bed, he hoped that Caroline would say something. In the
kitchen he deliberately made a lot of noise with the water and then
stayed by the window with the glass in his hand. On his way back
through her room, his wish came true.

Caroline asked him, “Can’t you sleep?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.
No, I can’t sleep, and besides, I was thirsty.”

“I can’t sleep either,” she said.

“Oh, really?” He wanted to offer to bring her
a glass of water, but his tongue got stuck in his mouth.

She said, “You don’t have something stronger,
by any chance? I was thinking of maybe vodka or whiskey. It usually
helps with insomnia.”

“Sure!” His mood went up as he stepped to the
drinks cabinet. He offered her a twelve-year-old whiskey.

“Yes, that’ll do,” she said,
and sat down
to
a small
round table
.

He half-filled two small crystal glasses.
“Here, this will warm our hearts and calm our minds. Then we’ll be
able to fall asleep in peace.”

He sat down a couple of feet from her. He
stared at her breasts that were clearly visible through the blouse
of her police uniform. He was wearing a pair of light brown
pajamas.

When they clinked their glasses together,
hers almost cracked.

“Sorry!” she said.

“Don’t apologize. Instead, why don’t you tell
me something about yourself? I’ve done most of the talking until
now and I hardly know anything about you. For example, why did you
decide to join the police force?”

“Are you really interested, or are you just
asking out of politeness?”

“I really am interested.”

“You’re a surgeon and my work is worth
nothing compared to yours.”

“Don’t be so modest. To tell you the truth,
the work of a surgeon is similar to that of a car mechanic. We fix
and change parts that aren’t working properly.”

She smiled, exposing her perfect teeth. “OK
then. I’ll tell you why I became a policewoman. Actually, even as a
young girl I looked up to the police and the military, those in
uniform. I knew their profession required a great deal of
discipline and that was the thing I liked most about it. I kept
asking my father to buy me toy military cars and weapons. Of course
he refused to, but I was stubborn and cried until he gave up in the
end. So I already knew then what I wanted to do later in life.”

He thanked God for sending him this woman
while saying, “Interesting. I didn’t know until the last moment
what I wanted to do, but then, my parents forced me to study
medicine.”

“I was forced, too. They told me to go for
anything except the police, but that was exactly where I wanted to
go. You won’t believe it, but I’ve never regretted it. I like being
a police officer.”

“Anyone would envy you that,” he told her
openly.

“I don’t know, maybe. But I’ll never have
such a wonderful house as yours. I’ve never seen so much classy
stuff in one place.”

“Oh come on, I was lucky that my wife was
quite rich.” He complained that in spite of all that fortune, he
was lonely and would like to meet a woman with which he would be
able to travel around the world.

Caroline listened with interest. Never in her
wildest dreams did she think that such a man as Dr. Miner would be
interested in her. “Whoever marries you will be a really lucky
woman,” she said politely.

Dr. Miner immediately reached for his glass
and gulped down half of it. He shook his head. “It’s quite
strong!”

She also reached out for her glass and drank.
“You’re right, very strong.”

After this, their conversation continued in a
more relaxed manner. He repeated to her how happy he’d been as a
married man; she told him stories from work. They talked for three
hours, after which Caroline yawned a few times.

Even though he didn’t want to, the doctor
wished her good night. Just the thought of doing something wrong
and losing her made him shudder.

In bed he closed his eyes and thought of her.
She’s so pretty and strong.
I have to have her. I have to
have her ….
Robert Miner fell asleep with a smile on his
face.

Chapter 74

_______________________

Simon talked himself into again feeling for a
pulse on Carlo’s neck. Of course there wasn’t one. “You really are
a fool, Simon,” he said, talking to himself aloud. “How do you
think he could come back to life? How could you be so stupid?” He
laughed and fixed Carlo’s hair. Simon had a feeling that his own
hair was standing on end.

He was still giggling when getting out of the
car. It wasn’t the kind of laughter that turns the corners of one’s
mouth, but the sort that made his features harden. His hands were
shaking, too. “So, dear Carlo, I’m going to leave you now. Stay
put. The police will find you in the morning. Don’t do anything
stupid.” He took the flashlight and put it in his inside
pocket.

Then he closed the car door and stood there,
thinking. Something wasn’t right and that’s why he didn’t want to
leave.

He opened the door again and started cleaning
the passenger seat. Turning on the flashlight, he took one last
look to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. He pulled Carlo’s
body toward him so that the upper part of the body fell onto the
other seat. “There, now it’s how it should be.” He closed the door
and wiped the parts he might have touched, and cleaned the other
car seat.

“For the last time, check you haven’t
forgotten anything.” He looked around the inside of the car with
the flashlight, thinking. Everything was as planned.

He didn’t want to shine the light at Carlo,
for even though he was dead he still felt an indescribable fear of
him.

Finally, he set off. He walked toward the
road since that was the only way to find his vehicle. If he went
through the woods, he would definitely get lost. He walked along
the side of the road, hiding in bushes every time a car approached.
After twenty minutes of running and fast walking, he finally made
it to his car, sweaty and tired. He could barely stand. His hands
and legs were full of cuts from the sharp thorns. But that was of
no importance now; he just wanted to get back home.

Turning the key, he slowly accelerated.
Because of his shaky legs, the car was jumpy, as if running out of
gas. After some yards of this, his driving finally settled down and
with the lights off he made it to the road and waited for the right
opportunity.

When Simon was absolutely sure there was no
one anywhere near, he quickly drove onto the road and turned the
lights on. He drove steadily and didn’t want to rush, as he didn’t
want the police to stop him for speeding.

Even though he was exhausted and sleepy, his
vision was sharp, which helped him realize at the last moment that
someone was standing at the front door of his house.
That’s the
last thing I need right now!
He had a feeling it was one of
those annoying agents. He quickly turned left into a side street
and prayed to God that the man had not spotted him.

Simon drove around town for some time and
then parked in a dark parking lot.

An hour later, he returned home in hopes that
the agent had given up and left. He was right.

Simon had just enough energy left to take his
clothes off and throw them into the washing machine. Something was
bothering him. He couldn’t find the tissue he had used to wipe away
the fingerprints. He searched and searched but couldn’t find it
anywhere. In rage he turned on the washing machine, putting a lot
of detergent in. Under the shower he kept trying to remember where
he could have lost the tissue, but couldn’t.

“Well done, Simon. Well done. You’re going to
get caught because of one little tissue,” he said to himself in
bed, before closing his eyes and falling into a deep sleep.

Chapter 75

_______________________

Special Agent Sandra Grant was sipping a
coffee from the vending machine, staring into space, a speech
forming in her head.
I’m going to present him with all the
evidence I’ve got against Carlo Vucci and demand that he give me
back the case. When he hears about what I saw at the zoo yesterday,
he’s going to be proud of me.

She entered her boss’s spacious office.
“Richard, I would like to talk to you about—” She noticed he was on
the phone.

“Yes, yes, yes …” he said, nodding his
head.

She had to wait for half a minute until he
hung up and gave her a nod.

“Good morning, boss. I wanted to tell you
that I have evidence against Carlo Vucci. I know that he murdered
all those people.”

Richard Ross shot her a piercing scowl.
“What, you’ve been snooping around him in spite of my orders to the
contrary?”

“I know I wasn’t supposed to, but I was
sure—”

“I can’t believe it! Even though you were
under strict instructions, you ….” He got up, went around his desk,
and took a few steps toward her. “Your stubborn attitude is going
to get you in trouble one day, are you aware of that?”

“But I was sure. Yesterday at the zoo—”

“You’re not even listening, I may as well be
talking to a wall!”

“But I …”

Raising both hands in the air, he returned to
his chair. “If you really want this case, you can have it.”

She blushed, not expecting him to give in so
fast. “Well, if that’s the case—”

Ross said, “He’s just been found dead, so go
and investigate the matter.”

“What? How?”

“Like I said, the case is yours.”

Surprised and speechless, she left his
office.

Chapter 76

_______________________

After completing an operation on a tumor, Dr.
Jerry Duncan went to a small cafe close to the main hospital
reception, and bought a candy bar and a black coffee.

While leaning on the table, he ate his candy
and thought about his life. Lately, he and Anita had been having
problems. He had mentioned marriage a few times but she always
skillfully avoided the matter. He didn’t dare mention kids.

Then he considered how he’d been so tense at
work. Ever since he’d started operating on his own, he’d been like
a balloon that could burst at the slightest touch. He popped the
last piece of candy into his mouth and thought of eating another.
He’d read somewhere that bingeing on chocolate was connected with
dissatisfaction. But he wasn’t unhappy; he had everything a man
could want: he was with an attractive and successful woman and he’d
finally become an associate neurosurgeon. Actually, he admitted to
himself, officially he was still just an assistant, but that wasn’t
important. It was only a matter of time.

Five minutes later, as Dr. Duncan was about
to return to his office, Brad Horras called him. “Please come to my
office,” he said.

Jerry’s mood improved and he decided not to
get another candy bar. “At last that idiot has decided to raise my
pay. If I had to wait another week ….”

While walking along the corridor and
whistling to himself, he wondered what restaurant he should invite
Anita to in the evening, to celebrate the good news.
Maybe I’ll
ask her again to marry me,
he mused. Now there was no reason to
put it off. They’d both reached the peak of their careers, so why
not?

Dr. Horras was waiting for him in his office
with someone Jerry had never seen before. They were both smiling
broadly.

Dr. Horras said, “You won’t believe what good
luck we’ve had. This is Dr. Henry Lawson.”

Jerry Duncan politely offered his hand and
introduced himself.

Dr. Horras said, “I mentioned to a few
colleagues of mine from different hospitals that we’d lost Dr.
Patterson. But I never imagined that someone as important as Dr.
Henry Lawson would come knocking on my door.” With bright eyes he
looked at Jerry Duncan and then at Dr. Lawson.

“Oh, yes?” Jerry remarked while staring at
the tall man who looked to be in his mid-forties.

“Dr. Henry Lawson is a top neurosurgeon. He
has published a great many articles and books.”

“Don’t overdo it, Dr. Horras. I did write a
few small things.” He turned to Jerry. “My wife and I decided to
move from Los Angeles to Medford. We’ve had enough of big-city
life. We’d like to lead a quieter life, enjoy the countryside.”

Dr. Horras jumped in. “Having you here is an
incredible privilege.”

“Apart from my regular job, I also did
research at medical school. But that’s behind me now. I don’t
intend to do anything but my job from now on,” Dr. Lawson
added.

Jerry’s burning cheeks were the first sign of
his deep disappointment. He opened his mouth to say something, but
only managed to nod a few times.

“I’m certain you’ll work well together,” Dr.
Horras said.

“Yes, yes,” Jerry stammered. Everything that
followed flew past his ears; because of the great letdown, he
closed his mind to what was being said. In a fraction of a second,
quitting and running away from the hospital came into his head.
What will Anita say?
kept going through his mind.
She’s
sure to be disappointed.
He looked into Dr. Lawson’s eyes and
thought about punching him on the nose.
The damn idiot! It’s all
this idiot’s fault!
Then he slowly lowered his gaze, his eyes
coming to rest on a long, silver letter opener.