Sleep No More (29 page)

“But you didn’t tell me that you’d destroyed your own records. I don’t trust you, Gelber.”

“I’m shocked. We’ve been partners for a long time, and we’ve both prospered enormously from that single transaction. Why would I wish to hurt you?”

“To turn state’s evidence against me and save your neck. But you’d be hurt as well. Your fine cars and that mansion paid for by your books, all those starlets standing in line to be hypnotized to keep those size-zero figures—your little bubble would burst.”

“You don’t have to threaten me, Pierce. I’ve no desire to make trouble for you.” He couldn’t quite keep the edge from his voice. “Even though it’s entirely your fault we’re having to have this discussion. You could have continued just to keep the woman as a patient, but you decided to take an action that was dangerous for both of us. Then you botched it and now you come to me frantically trying to plug every hole to save your skin.”

“I won’t be lectured by you, Gelber. What I did was necessary. It wasn’t my choice, but now everything is coming unraveled. I just received a call from Nelda Avery with information regarding Joe Quinn. It’s true he’s a detective with Atlanta PD, but he was never assigned to Beth’s case. And his live-in lover is Eve Duncan, Beth Avery’s half sister. Duncan was here at the hospital day before yesterday. She found a way to attach herself to a music therapist touring the place, but she had to be snooping around. There’s no telling what she found out.”

“You’re panicking for no reason. You’ve told me that Beth Avery’s maternal family has never displayed an interest in her.”

“Before she ran away from the hospital. Something has changed. I’ll have to deal with Quinn and Eve Duncan as well as Beth. Now, will you cooperate or not?”

“I might consider it. What do you wish me to do?”

“Send me all the Beth Avery records.”

“I believe you realize that is impossible. After all, they are confidential. You wouldn’t want me to break my Hippocratic oath. They are quite safe with me. Anything else?”

Pierce was viciously cursing, and it took a moment for him to answer. “Leave town. Disappear. Go back to Germany for a while. Show off for the natives how well you’ve done.”

“It’s a global society. It wouldn’t be long before I could be found.”

“But it would take time, and I’d be able to finesse the problem out of existence before that time ran out.”

“‘Finesse’?” He chuckled. “What a word to describe the act I assume you mean. Very amusing.”

“I’m not amused. Will you disappear until I tell you it’s safe to come back?”

“I’ll think about it. But it’s not at all convenient. My new book just came out last week, and it has a chance to make the
New York Times
bestseller list with the right promotion. I have a signing at Century Mall tomorrow.”

“Then leave right after the signing. I’ll have Stella make the reservations for you. Just tell me where you want to go.”

“Ah, the lovely Stella. If you’d lend me her company for a month or two, I might be persuaded to find a sunny beach in some out-of-the-way island chain.”

“It can be arranged.”

“But lust can’t compare with the
Times
at my stage of life. Sad but true. Besides, I have no problem acquiring women. You’ve forgotten what a talented man I am.”

“What do you want? I’ll give it to you.”

Desperation, Gelber recognized. It pleased him that he could make the arrogant son of a bitch dangle on his string. He would probably eventually give in to Pierce’s demands. He had no desire to be caught up in the mess that appeared to be looming for Pierce if he didn’t locate Beth Avery soon. He would do better to make himself scarce and be out of the range of the tornado. He would make a discreet exit and only return if he found that it was to his advantage.

“Let me think about it.” Actually, it might make his new book sell even better if there were hints that he was involved in such a notorious case. Only hints, there had to be a balance. “Suppose we get together and discuss it before my signing tomorrow.”

“You can call me.”

“Breakfast is better. If I decide to accede to your request, I’d want to leave at once, directly after my autographing. I’d require that you bring a cashier’s check for $800,000 to take care of expenses on my journey.”

“What?”

“Don’t squeal. I know how well you’ve been doing all these years. It’s time you shared. After all, I’m giving up a generous income to accommodate you.”

“I’ll think about it. Bring the records.”

He ignored the demand. “It would probably be better if we met in private. There’s a small motel north of Los Angeles where I occasionally go when I wish to have a discreet liaison with a client.”

“You mean fuck your patient.”

“Don’t be crude. Be there at seven in the morning. It’s the Twin Branch Arms and I’ll be in Room 7 unless I call and tell you different.”

“How do you expect me to get a cashier’s check at that hour?”

“You’re a man of influence in the community. Call one of your banker friends. You can arrange it.”

“You actually think I’m going give you that money.”

“I actually do. Good night, Pierce.” He hung up.

He smiled with satisfaction as he stood up from his easy chair and went into the bedroom to shed his robe and get dressed. Not a bad deal. He might have saved his own ass by this move, and he’d managed to stick it to Pierce.

But he had to go to the office immediately to retrieve those Avery records and hide them. Pierce had been too insistent. He wouldn’t give up easily after Gelber had held him up for that money. Perhaps he’d put the computer records in a safe-deposit box in his bank in Geneva. He’d known eventually those records would come in—

He froze.

A sound, soft, barely audible from the sitting room.

What the hell?

His gun in the nightstand. He had his hand on the cool metal when he heard another sound, closer, near the window.

Imagination?

Better be sure …

He moved toward the window.

*   *   *

“THE SON OF A BITCH
is holding me up for eight hundred thousand.” Pierce told Stella as he hung up the phone. “He doesn’t give a damn what kind of trouble we could both be in.”

“With Nelda?”

“Not only with Nelda.”

Stella’s eyes narrowed. “But it’s Nelda who is pushing you. Why did you suddenly decide you had to send Gelber out of the way?”

“It wasn’t suddenly. I always knew that he could be a problem. So did Nelda. But the problem didn’t raise its head until Beth took off. Now Nelda wants every loose end tied up, and she’s pressuring me. The bitch won’t accept anything less.”

“And Gelber won’t cooperate without a fat bribe.”

“He thinks he’ll come out of this smelling like a rose.”

“Is that possible?”

“Yes, if he decides to hand my head on a platter to the district attorney. He could make a deal.”

“Then wouldn’t it be safer just to give him the money?”

“Easy for you to say,” he said harshly. “It’s not your money.”

“No, and I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. You need to give me a bigger allowance. You don’t like me to wear the uniform when we’re alone, but how can I afford to buy anything decent on the money you give me?”

“I don’t want you to be decent. That’s the last thing in the world I intend for you.” His gaze wandered over Stella as she sat with one naked leg over the arm of the black velvet easy chair. She was dressed in a gold silk robe that hugged her body and almost fully revealed the swelling of her breasts. Her red hair shone against the shimmering material, and she was totally and temptingly arousing. “But I like that gold thing you’re wearing. Wear it tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“I’m taking you with me when I meet Gelber at the motel tomorrow morning. In fact, I think we’ll check into the motel before he gets there so that you can be ready for him. He thinks you’re hot. He wants to screw you.”

“Of course he does.” She smiled as she pulled the robe down to totally bare her breasts. “Isn’t he a man? But I thought you were mad at him. You want to give him a present?”

“Hell no, but I don’t want to be robbed by the bastard either. There’s a chance that I can bargain with him. I’ll bring two cashier’s checks for $400,000 each. I’ll see if I can trade one of those checks for a few months with you and your promise to do any service he asks of you.” His lips tightened. “And you’d better get him so hot that he can’t think of doing anything else but screwing you. You can do it. You can drive him crazy.”

“But only if I want to do it.” She got to her feet and stretched like a cat. “Beg me.”

“I don’t have to beg you. You belong to me.”

She took off the gold robe and dropped it on the floor. “Only when I choose. Haven’t you found that out yet? I’m becoming stronger and stronger every time we do it and you’re becoming weaker. You have more stamina than most men, or I would have left you before this.” She tilted her head. “A few months is a long time to be another man’s whore. Gelber isn’t you. I could drive him crazy. He doesn’t realize that I could break him in a few weeks.” She moved toward him. “Do you want me to do that?”

“Maybe.” His mouth was dry, and his heart was beating painfully hard. She was all silken naked sexuality and every step she took toward him was giving him an electric, tingling jolt of pure lust. “I’ll let you know.”

“You do that.” She slid onto his lap and wrapped her naked legs around his hips. “I think you’ll tell me to do it.” She rubbed her breasts against him as she made the adjustment. “Because you couldn’t do without me for more than a week or two, could you?”

“Of course I could, you arrogant bitch. You’re not—” His head went back, and he gasped as she started moving.

“Beg me,” she whispered. “I want you to beg me, Pierce. Like I’m going to make Gelber beg for it.”

“No, damn you.”

She laughed, and her pace increased. “You will, Pierce. You will…”

*   *   *

“SHOULDN’T JOE HAVE CALLED BY NOW?”
Beth asked as she leaned back in the lawn chair and looked up at the night sky. “He and Billy have been gone over two hours.”

“Unless he decided just to come back and pick us up.” Eve lifted her coffee to her lips. “Don’t worry. Either way, I have a feeling it’s okay.”

“A feeling isn’t knowing,” Beth said. “And I can’t believe you’re taking this so calmly. They could be in trouble. Feelings don’t mean anything. I need to have facts.”

“Can’t help you there,” Eve said. “And I’m so close to Joe that I believe I’d know if anything had happened to him.” She smiled faintly. “I’d
feel
it. Sometimes, you have to look beyond hard-and-fast reality to find answers.”

Beth was silent a moment. “I … don’t know how to do that. All I know is reality. The reality of the hospital, the reality of school and sports and competition.” She paused. “Unless you mean when Rick asked me not to tell anyone I was his daughter. That wasn’t real, that was pretense.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. It’s not the same at all.”

“Now you sound angry.”

“Not at you.”

“Rick, again. You shouldn’t be angry with Rick. You wouldn’t be angry if you knew him.”

“It’s better not to discuss him. We tend not to agree. As I said, by looking beyond reality, I believe I’d sense it if Joe was in trouble.”

“Would you? That’s strange. Kind of spooky.”

“I guess I believe in spooky stuff sometimes. I found it was the only way I could survive.”

Beth didn’t speak for a moment. “I read about what happened to your little girl when I looked you up on the Net. I’m sorry. It must have been pretty bad.”

“Understatement of the century.”

“I know,” she said awkwardly. “I’m not very good with words. I don’t even know what I am good at yet. I just wanted to tell—you’ve gone through so much. You’ve lost a child. You’ve had a career. You found the love of your life. You’re still young, but you’ve lived through more than most people.” She said haltingly, “That makes you a person who—it makes you … rich inside … and wonderful.”

“Bullshit.”

“No, it’s true. Me, I’m still pretty much of a blank slate.”

“That only means you have all the time in the world to write your own story on it.” She reached out and touched Beth’s arm. “I hope your story will be a little happier than mine from this time forward. You deserve it. We’ll have to see that it does.”

“‘We’ll’? That sounds as if you’re going to stick around after this is—I’m not asking you to—I know you’re busy and you have Joe and Jane and your work—”

“That you find very spooky,” Eve interrupted. “Stop stuttering. We’ll just have to see how this plays out. You may want to walk away and never see me again.”

“I don’t think so. And I don’t mind your being spooky. I’ve just never felt anything like that myself.” Beth was silent. “Except maybe once. I had a dream about you, Eve.”

“What? When?”

“A few nights ago. I dreamed you were at the hospital, running away, running down the road. It was crazy.” She made a face. “Because I’d never met you. But I knew who you were. Oh, not that you were my sister. Just your name. I knew your name was Eve. I
knew
it. And when you showed up at the house, I recognized you. It kind of scared me. I guess that was one reason I reacted so … violently. Yeah, that was pretty weird.”

Eve stiffened. More than weird. She touched her jaw. “Remind me not to scare you again.”

“I’m sorry. I always seem to be saying that to you, don’t I? But it’s true, I just struck out without thinking.” She looked away. “I was wondering … do you think my dreaming about you is a … sister thing? I was watching one of those paranormal shows on TV, and they said that sometimes dreams and stuff like that happen.”

“Yes, it could happen.”

“I thought maybe it was the drugs that could still be lingering in my system.” She moistened her lips. “Unless you had the same kind of dream … But I suppose you didn’t. That would be even more weird.”

“No, I didn’t have the same kind of dream.”

“Oh,” she said, clearly disappointed. “Of course you didn’t.”

“When I dreamed about you, I thought I was dreaming about myself. I was at our cottage in Atlanta, and it was before I knew anything about you or your history. But I swear, I was feeling what you were feeling. Only I didn’t understand what I was thinking. It didn’t make sense.” She met Beth’s gaze. “Because I kept thinking about a hospital and someone named Billy.”