Frame Change: A Nina Bannister Mystery (The Nina Bannister Mysteries Book 5) (24 page)

Then the question:

“News?”

A shrug from the fairy tale figure:

“Yes, there is news.”

“And?”

“I received word from one of Red Claw’s people this morning.”

“How?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Also. So what is this ‘word’ you have received?”

“He and his men will be coming.”

“To Eggenburg?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Soon. The next few days.”

“You told him I have men, too.”

“He knows that. Red Claw seems to know everything.”

“Well. Then we shall do what these armor-covered fellows around us spent their lives doing. We shall have a little war. And that, I think, will be the last of the inscrutable Lorca Reklaw.”

“Do you want me to…”

“I don’t want you to do anything. I myself shall know what to do when the time comes. I shall know how to protect my paintings.”

He rose, then said:

“And tonight I shall entertain a guest.”

“An art lover?”

“A lover.”

“I see.”

“Thank you for your services. You may disappear now, as is convenient for you. I shall know how to contact you, if I need you again.”

“Jawohl.”

Beckmeier turned and left.

When he returned to the Café Europe, fresh coffee had been poured.

Both for him and the dark-haired woman sitting at his table.

She rose, smiled, extended her hand:

“Herr von Beckmeier.”

He took the hand and kissed it, bowing as he did so.

“We do not use the ‘von’ for some decades now.”

“I apologize.”

“No need.”

They sat.

She was, he thought, ravishingly beautiful.

Even more so offstage than on.

“I took the liberty,” she said, “of ordering more coffee.”

“Excellent. I had to leave for a short time to do an errand.”

“I’m sure you’re a very busy man.”

“Not so much now. These are the first days of my…well, my ‘retirement.’”

“Oh!
 
You are not so old as all that!”

“I am a mere relic.”

“Do not say such things. I would never consent to spend the next two evenings with a relic.”

“All right. I shall, from now on, simply view myself as an experienced man of the world.”

“Much better. A man of the world, who collects paintings.”

“I do have a modest collection.”

“So I have been told.”

“But I should apologize.”

“And why?”

“I was not able to attend the performance last night. The flight arrived late.”

“Oh. A pity.”

“A great pity, since all of Graz is talking this morning about the great Anya Celline, who is the greatest Violetta in the world, in the greatest performance ever of
La Traviata
.”

“I hope it went well. You will come…”

“For Tuesday’s performance, of course.”

“Wonderful.”

“But between now and then, I will have you as my guest.”

“As we have arranged?”

“As we have arranged.”

And so, for a time, Franz Beckmeier sipped his coffee.

And stared wonderingly into the eyes of one of the most beautiful and talented women in the world.

And forgot about Lorca Reklaw.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
 
AN INVITATION

At eleven AM, the door to Carol Walker’s hospital room burst open and three nurses, in single file, entered carrying flowers and baskets.

“Good morning, lazy bones!”

She raised herself on an elbow and smiled back at them, but said nothing.

“How do you feel?”

“All right.”

“Your vital signs are fine.”

“That’s good.”

“Everybody in town has sent you flowers or written you cards. These are only part of the whole shebang.”

“I didn’t know that many people in Bay St. Lucy even knew me.”

“Well, they do, honey.”

She knew nothing to reply to that.

“The doctor’s going to want to see you again in an hour or so. After that, it’s a little unclear. We don’t know where would be best for you to stay tonight. The main thing is, you’re all right now. Nothing will happen to you.”

“Thank you.”

“You just went through a bad trauma. It’s going to take a while, but everybody in Bay St. Lucy is looking out for you. For you and Nina.”

“Am I,” she asked, “going to need to go to the police station?”

A shake of the first nurse’s head:

“I don’t know, honey. Maybe later on, but only when you feel like it. I wouldn’t worry about it. You have some very fine folks looking after you.”

“I know. And I appreciate it.”

“Now,” said the nurse, placing the letter basket on a chair next to the bed, “we’re going to get out of here and let you enjoy the flowers, and read some of these cards.”

The nurses left, the door closing quietly behind them.

Carol began to feel her way through the cards:

“We’re all pulling for you!”

Alanna Delafosse.

“All Bay St. Lucy is thinking about you.”

Edie Towler

“Be brave, be strong, trust in the Lord.”

Emily Johnson

“The Bennett family is with you!”

Jackson Bennett and Family.

And on and on.

Until, the next one in the pile, a letter and not a card.

She opened it.

It had been carefully typed, on an elegant, though unmarked, sheet of stationary.

It read:

IT IS TIME.

LORCA REKLAW WILL RETRIEVE THE PROPERTY OF HIS PEOPLE

ALL THE THIEVES WILL LEARN WHAT THE JEWISH PEOPLE HAVE HAD TO LEARN, AND ENDURE WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN FORCED TO ENDURE.

AS SOON AS YOU READ THIS, COME TO THE WHARF, SLIP 15.

YOU ARE BEING AWAITED.

IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS IMMEDIATELY, YOU AND MS. BANNISTER MAY WELL BE KILLED.

THIS WAY, SHE WILL REMAIN SAFE.

AGAIN; THE TIME HAS COME FOR LORCA REKLAW TO DO WHAT MUST BE DONE.

The letter was not signed, but there was a crude drawing of a claw where the signature would have been.

She lay in bed for a moment, staring at the ceiling.

Then she got up and walked to a closet, where her clothes were hanging.

She got dressed, folding the hospital garments neatly and putting them on the bed.

She took pen and paper out of her purse, sat down beside a small bedside table, and wrote a letter, sealed it in an envelope and placed it when finished on the table beside the hospital bed.

She walked out of the room, her purse slung over her shoulder.

The corridor was deserted.

She went down the stairs and out into the entry vestibule, where people—nurses, doctors, patients, visitors—were coming and going.

No one noticed her. She walked out the main door, blinking in the sunlight.

There were several ambulances and police cars scattered around, but, again, no one noticed her.

She made her way toward the ocean. In fifteen minutes, she had reached the wharf.

Slip 5.

Slip 10.

Slip 15.

She sat down.

Within five minutes, a boat arrived.

She made her way onto it.

And in that way, Carol Walker was taken by agents of The Red Claw.

Nina Bannister, having surveyed the damage done to Elementals and satisfied herself that the first reports had been accurate (the damage being surprisingly minor) returned to the hospital at noon carrying a bouquet of roses and a box of Kentucky Fried Chicken (breast, wing, mashed potatoes),which she knew Carol would love.

Damn all hospital food, anyway.

She waved to the woman at the desk, spoke cheerily to two nurses in the main corridor, pushed the button beside the elevator door, stepped inside, and pushed the button for the third floor.

She got out of the elevator and entered the quiet corridor.

Room 302. Room 304. Room 306.

She pushed open the door, saying, as she did so:

“Chicken time.”

The empty bed smiled back at her. She noticed an envelope with her name on the side of the bed. She slipped it into her pants pocket.

She walked into the room and put down the things she was carrying.

“Carol?”

The bathroom.

Empty.

Carol was clearly not there.

She walked back out into the hall, where a nurse was leaving one of the rooms at the far end.

“Hey!”

The nurse looked at her.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Where’s Carol?”

A shake of the head:

“I’m sorry?”

“Carol Walker. The patient in 306.”

“Isn’t she in there?”

“No, she isn’t.”

The nurse approached her, then passed her, then stuck a head in the room.

Then the nurse emerged, saying:

“Well, she’s not in there.”

“That’s what I just told you. Where is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“Somebody has to know.”

The nurse pulled a pager out of her pocket and said quietly into it:

“Assistance in 306.”

Then she put the pager away, and re-entered the room.

She walked around it, brushing her hand against the flowers, peeked into the bathroom, and came back out into the corridor.

“She’s definitely not in there.”

“No. No, she isn’t.”
 

Two more nurses arrived, one a younger woman, the second clearly someone in charge.

This was the person who said, with an authoritarian ring to her voice:

“What’s happening here?”

“The patient in 306 is gone.”

“What do you mean, gone?”

“She’s just not in there.”

“Has she gone for testing? Maybe they took her down to the lab.”

“Can you call down there?”

“Here. I’ll do it.”

Another pager produced.

“Hey. We’re trying to locate a patient. Room 306. Walker. Carol. Dr. Stephenson. No. No, I’m not showing any testing on the schedule, but we’re checking anyway. Is she down there?”

Pause.

Shake of the head.

Pager back in its holder.

“She’s not in the lab.”

Nina:

“Well where the hell is she then?”

“Ma’am, if you’ll just…”

“I don’t want to ‘just’ anything. I want to know where my friend Carol is!”

“I’m sure she’ll turn up.”

“‘Turn up?’ This is a hospital! People don’t just ‘turn up!’”

“She must be somewhere.”

“Well, that’s a profound statement!”

“Please, ma’am. If you’d lower your voice…”

“My voice is not the problem here! Do you realize someone tried to kill this woman last night?”

“Yes, ma’am, we do.”

“There ought to have been a guard at her door!”

“Yes, ma’am, but the doctor thought an armed guard would disturb the rest of the patients. There are officers downstairs to be sure no one suspicious came in.”

“Ok, so no one did. But are you sure no one suspicious went out? Like your patient?”

“She may simply have taken a walk down one of the corridors…”

“Oh, the hell with you!”

And, so saying, Nina turned and walked away.

She was running when she reached the stairway.

There was a welter of people coming and going in the entry vestibule. She looked around madly but could see no sign of Carol.

Outside, a young policeman was leaning against a corner of the building, smoking a cigarette.

“Hey!”

He turned and looked at her:

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Did Moon Rivard assign you to be here?”

“Yes, he did.”

“What were your orders?”

“I’m not sure I’m supposed to…”

“What were your orders, dammit?”

“Well. I was just supposed to be sure nobody suspicious came into the hospital.”

“And has anybody suspicious come into the hospital?”

“No, ma’am. Not during my shift here.”

“How long has that been?”

“Four hours.”

“You’ve been here at the door all that time?”

“Yes.”

“And you haven’t seen Carol go out of the building?”