A Moment in Time (44 page)

Wyn began brushing his fingertips across her
shoulders, down her arms, then in circles around her creamy
breasts. Valerie gasped and drew nearer to him, almost as if she
needed to support herself against him, but in reality unable to
bear their separation any longer. She stroked his powerful
shoulders and chest, then brought her hands down onto his buttocks,
savoring their hard roundness. She felt Wyn's hot breath on her
neck and his maleness assert itself against her.

He took her hand and eased her back down onto
the chaise, positioning himself over her, poised as if to enter
her. But he waited, his eyes lingering on hers before his tongue
swept over her breasts and flicked at her nipples, arousing each
one in turn. Valerie reached for his throbbing manhood, her
fingertips brushing lightly down it and then encircling it with her
hand. Wyn gasped, then lowered himself atop her body, pressing his
hungry lips to hers once again, urgent now despite his wish to hold
off.

Valerie wrapped her arms around him as he
entered her, slowly, tenderly, relishing her enveloping warmth and
the sweetness of her juices. Her desire for him almost overwhelmed
her as she felt his manhood inside her, filling her up. She began
to move against him, her body craving glorious release. But Wyn
continued to move gently, restraining himself, drawing out their
mutual pleasure for as long as possible.

Valerie tried to check her own urgency,
concentrating on the ecstasy of each moment, trying not to rush the
inevitable. But with his deep, slow thrusts, her body suddenly
began to convulse with climax after climax, engulfing her in a
pleasure and happiness such as she'd never known, and, crying out,
she clasped him to her with all her might.

Wyn's passion for her was instantly
heightened by her powerful contractions, and he drew back,
hesitated a moment, then in a final mighty plunge found release.
His entire body spasmed atop her as he let out a joyful groan.

He collapsed onto her, panting as she did,
but peppering her face with kisses, his hands all over her at once.
"I. . . love . . . you, Val," he said breathlessly. "I love you ...
so much."

"And . . . and I love you," she replied,
holding him tightly.

They lay silent for a while, letting their
breathing return to normal before Wyn finally eased off of her and
lay at her side, an arm draped around her shoulders.

"Did I tell you that I love you?" he asked,
squeezing her shoulders.

"Yes," she said. "But you can say it as often
as you like . . . if I can."

"You're permitted," he said, nibbling on her
ear. "And encouraged."

"I love you, Wyn."

"Ah, Doc," he whispered, kissing her gently,
"I can't believe how lucky I am."

He hugged her, then drew back and looked into
her eyes. "Think we ought to repair to the library, as they
say?"

"I think we'd better do it quickly or we'll
never get there."

"You're right," he said and laughed.

They rose to their feet, then Wyn reached for
the long candle snuffer and slowly began extinguishing all the
candles before they dressed and left the magnificence of the
conservatory.

Valerie looked around the room, wanting to
remember its every detail before it was completely darkened.
This has been the most special night of my life
, she
thought.
And it happened here, in this wonderful, magical room,
a moment in time I'll never forget
.

"The Reinhardts didn't notice anything,"
Santo said. "Their lights are out, so they're in bed. They always
go to bed really early."

"I remember," Arielle said. "The screwballs
are almost never up after the sun goes down."

They sat on the couch in his cottage, drinks
on the coffee table in front of them.

"So nobody will know we've come in?" Arielle
asked.

Santo nodded. "It's highly unlikely that Wyn
and the vet would've noticed, and even so, it would just be me,
driving down to my cottage."

"What's this business about the video cameras
you were telling me about?" Arielle asked.

"It's very simple," Santo said. "The cameras
saw me leave earlier to pick you up. They saw me come back in alone
because you were hidden. They're going to see me leave alone again
because you'll be hiding, after Wyn's dead. Then they'll see me
come back in alone later. I can make it look like I was gone during
the time of the murder by replacing the videotape that shows me
coming back the first time and leaving the second time. I'd have to
fiddle with the timers, make the tape look continuous, because the
time is printed on them. I could wipe out everything but my trip to
pick you up and make out like I'd spent the night away. I've got a
girl lined up who'll let me spend the night, and she could be a
witness that I was there all night."

He paused and took a sip of his drink. "There
are several options, depending on how I want to play it."

"It sounds complicated to me," Arielle said.
"You'd have to be here to fix the timers and change the
videotapes."

He nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "That's why I'm
leaning toward ripping the damn cams out when we leave. We'll just
take them with us and get rid of them. Then tomorrow I cruise in
after being out on a hot date all night. Shocked as shit by what's
happened while I was gone."

"I like it," Arielle said. "It's not as
complicated." She took a long drag on a cigarillo and blew a
streamer of smoke toward the ceiling. Then she turned and looked at
Santo. "And how are you going to do it?"

"I'll show you," he said. He got to his feet
and went back into the bedroom, then reappeared with a dirty-
looking white towel in his hand. He sat down next to her and pulled
the towel back to reveal a gun, dark and oily and menacing.

"This is a Smith & Wesson Mark 22," he
said, "With a silencer. It's called a Hush Puppy."

"A Hush Puppy," Arielle said mirthfully. She
reached for it, but Santo grabbed her hand.

"It's loaded," he said, "and we don't want
any mistakes."

"Don't you trust me?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, "but accidents happen."

Arielle looked miffed and took a swallow of
her drink, then set the glass down. "When's this going to happen?"
she asked.

"Every time she's out here," he said, "they
end up in the library. Wyn virtually lives in that room, and it has
several sets of French doors. So I'll wait until a little later,
when I think they've had time to finish dinner and get to the
library. Then I'll mosey up there and wait outside for the right
moment. Too bad he told his doctors about stopping the injections.
That would have been much easier. This way, there are two of them
to worry about."

"I want to watch," Arielle said.

"We discussed that at the motel," he said.
"You're here in case I get hurt. You can get us out of here. I've
got to be able to get the videocams, but you'd have to drive."

"Santo," she cried, "what if you get hit and
knocked out or something? What then? I won't be able to move you,
and you won't be able to get the cameras."

"We've been through all that, Arielle," he
said. "It isn't going to happen. They'll be like sitting ducks in
there, and I'll be outside. I'm an expert shot. Plus, the timing's
perfect. It will look like whoever poisoned the horses did them in.
It's a win-win situation."

She still looked worried.

"If anything happened to me, which is
extremely doubtful," he went on, "you get in the Range Rover and
drive like hell out of here. Cover your head with a towel or
something going through the gates, then get Lolo to help you ditch
the car."

She smashed the cigarillo out in an ashtray.
"I would still like to watch," she said. "Watch Wyn and his new
girlfriend go down."

"You've got to be here," he said
emphatically. "Ready to leave. It's really important." He put a
massive arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. "Come on,
Arielle," he said, "you're getting what you always wanted. All of
Wyn's money. And me."

She kissed him hard on the lips. "You're
right, Santo," she said. "It'll work out perfectly, and I'll get
everything I want."

Wyn and Valerie walked to the library arm in
arm and were greeted, as usual, by the Irish wolfhounds, who leapt
up from their various positions and bounded over for licks and
pets.

Valerie began her routine of petting and
stroking and cooing to the dogs, trying to divide her attention
among them equally, only making certain tonight that their large
tongues laved her new diamond in the process.

"See that?" she said, looking up at Wyn.
"They know this is a new ring, and they have to put their special
good luck licks on it."

He looked at her with an affectionate grin.
"You think of everything, don't you?"

"I try to," she said.

"I'm going to put on some music," Wyn said.
"Any requests?"

"No," she said, "I'll let you choose."

The dogs settled down, and Valerie wandered
about the room, looking at the books, paintings, and bronzes,
picking up bibelots, examining them, then putting them back down
again. She noticed several leather boxes on a bookshelf, their tops
propped open to display the fantastically embellished guns nestled
in specially fitted satin-covered niches. She took one out and
looked at it closely. It was decorated with elaborately carved
gold, silver, and bronze. She'd never seen anything like it, except
in pictures in some of her father's old auction catalogs.

"Watch it," Wyn said from across the room,
where he was rifling through CDs that were stacked next to the CD
player. "Some of those are loaded," he said.

"They're really beautiful."

"They were my father's," he said. "Some of
them are Purdy's, Holland and Holland, different makers. You
wouldn't believe what they go for nowadays."

"Have you ever used them?" she asked, placing
the gun back in its niche.

"Sure," he said. "Growing up, Dad would take
me out to shoot. It was target practice, though. He didn't get into
hunting at all, and neither did I."

"I bet you were a good marksman," she
said.

"Not as good as Dad was," he said, "but
pretty fair." He put a CD in the player and pressed the play
button.

Suddenly the room was flooded with melodious
instrumental chords. "Whoa!" he said. "That's a little loud." He
adjusted the sound, then picked up his brandy snifter and went over
to a wall switch, where he turned off the big chandeliers, leaving
only the painting lights, a desk lamp, and a couple of table lamps
burning. He sat down on one of the big Chesterfield couches,
watching her.

"What is it?" she asked. "The music, I mean."
She picked up another of the elaborately carved guns and looked at
it closely.

"Spanish Renaissance music," he replied.
"From the fifteen hundreds. I like to listen to it in this room
sometimes."

"It's very . . . haunting," she said.
"Beautiful." She replaced the gun in its case, then went to the
couch and sat down beside him. She held her hand up in front of
them, looking at it with a smile of satisfaction on her face. "Like
this," she said. "Beautiful." She leaned over and kissed him.

Wyn set his brandy snifter down and embraced
her, and they began to kiss in earnest, their lips and tongues
exploring, their hands traveling the terrain of one another's
bodies. In moments that seemed somehow outside of time or place,
they became lost in each other, suspended within a paradise that
was of their own making and for them alone. They reached a point of
breathlessness, as if from a fever brought on by their desire.

Valerie drew back reluctantly and looked into
his eyes. "I-I'll be right back," she said, almost in a whisper. "I
want to freshen up."

"Hurry," he said. "I'll be waiting."

She rose and leaned down, kissing the top of
his head. Then she padded across the needlepoint rug and through a
passageway between bookshelves, on her way to the nearest bathroom,
anxious to return to his waiting arms.

The lone figure, dressed in black, had
watched Valerie and Wyn through the conservatory's big glass
windows, cursing the Bohemian glass inserts that were difficult to
see through. Watched, fascinated, as Wyn gave her a ring, and she
slipped it on. Watched as they went at it like horny teenagers.
Then moved with them as they inevitably migrated to the big
library, watching through binoculars from beyond the terrace as she
wandered about the room and he messed with the CDs. Watched as she
fiddled with antique guns. Watched in disgust as they made out on
the couch.

Then watched as Valerie got to her feet and
left the library.

Now! It's time!

Bending down and scurrying across the terrace
practically on all fours, the black-clad figure rushed through the
open French doors and stood up.

Then:

Pop!

Pop!

Pop!

Pop!

All four dogs slumped, the powerful
tranquilizer darts immediately knocking them out.

Wyn, standing at the CD player, thought he
heard a strange cracking sound above the music. He turned around
and stared in horror at the black-clad figure.

"Daphne—?" he began.

Phump!
The Heckler & Koch P9S made
a muffled explosive sound, barely detectable above the music,
thanks to the pistol's Qualatech silencer.

He jerked back, his eyes enormous, then down
he went, blood spraying from his head.

Valerie came down the hallway and entered the
room just as Wyn fell. From between the bookcases, she looked
across the huge room, and her mouth opened in terror. But she
clamped it shut before any sound could come out, then dropped down
to a crouch and scuttled to the bookcase where the gun cases were.
She pulled out the first one her shaking hand could find, then
stood up, ready to fire.