SEE HER DIE (12 page)

Elizabeth’s blood turned to ice when the next logical thought occurred to her. “The videos.”

Annabelle nodded. “They make videos of their conquests, each attempting to outdo the other, and then play them on the Internet via private chat rooms for the entire Association’s viewing pleasure.”

Gloria’s gaze locked with Elizabeth’s. “He did that to us.” Her words were scarcely a whisper but filled with the same emotions crashing through Elizabeth.

Anger, humiliation. The feelings almost overwhelmed her, but she fought to maintain her composure. She had to hear all of this. Had to find a way to protect herself. And her friend.

“Once you become a member of the Association,” Annabelle explained, looking from Gloria to Elizabeth, “there is no turning back. The only way out is death.”

Elizabeth felt her face drain of color. “You think they killed him?”

Annabelle nodded grimly. “That’s the only logical answer. Ned had a weakness, ladies. He became addicted to these darker needs. The more perverse the better. I believe that addiction cost him his life. The Association is responsible for what he became.”

“So you mean, “ Gloria ventured, “they were responsible the same way a drug dealer is for someone who OD’s. You don’t mean they literally stuck the dagger in his chest?”

Elizabeth winced at her words. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t block those images from her head. The dagger she’d given Ned had been used as the murder weapon. Had someone done that on purpose? To connect her to his murder? That didn’t seem possible since she hadn’t even told Gloria about the gift.

“I’m not sure,” Annabelle said in answer to Gloria’s pointed question. “Exclusivity and anonymity are crucial to the Association. I worry that Ned had grown reckless and perhaps garnered the wrong sort of attention. Either that or one of his patients discovered what he’d done and decided to stop him.”

Worry twisted in Elizabeth’s belly. “But what about the women? I doubt they even knew this Association exists. Why kill them?”

Annabelle seemed to ponder the question for a moment. “There’s always the possibility that the two aren’t related. But Ned told me only a few days before his death he thought someone was watching him. He feared he’d crossed the line in some way.” She shrugged. “I have no idea what he’d done or thought he’d done. I only know he was concerned.” She hesitated. “No, he was afraid.”

“Oh... my... God,” Gloria murmured.

Both Elizabeth and Annabelle stared at her.

“That’s why the FBI is involved. We should have known it would be something bigger than his murder.”

Sex videos, the Internet. Made sense to Elizabeth. “You could be right.”

“Think about it,” Annabelle said, picking up the ball and running with it. “If the Association thought Ned’s affiliation had been compromised and the FBI had an eye on him, they would certainly want to neutralize any threat to them. What better way than to execute him?”

Elizabeth still had her doubts. “But what about the women?”

Silence reigned for what felt like an eternity.

“They must think one of you knows something.” Annabelle gave a decisive nod, warming to her theory. “Obviously they’re not certain who knows what, so they’ve decided to take out all of you, one at a time. Or perhaps the other murders are simply to cast suspicion elsewhere. Have the police chasing their tails.”

“That’s crazy!” Elizabeth hadn’t meant to sound so vehement but the whole thing was ludicrous. This was real life. Why would some anonymous Association risk killing three women over one jerk they’d already taken out of the picture? “The risk is too great. Why would these people risk so much over one weak link?”

“I don’t have all the answers,” Annabelle admitted with an urgency that struck a chord of dread deep inside Elizabeth. “The only thing I feel certain of is that both of you,” she glanced from one to the other again, “are in serious danger.”

“What do we do?” Gloria whispered, fear darkening her face.

A stillness settled over Elizabeth as realization dawned with stunning clarity. Annabelle was right. Though this illusive Association might not be the threat, someone was. Whether the killer had an agenda that included Ned and the patients with whom he’d carried on an affair or he just wanted to muddy the waters to keep the police off his trail, he could just be getting started. She or Gloria could be next on his kill list. “There’s only one thing we can do.”

Gloria and Annabelle looked to Elizabeth, both obviously having reached the same conclusion. Even Annabelle looked as if she feared she might somehow be on that list. Who knew? Maybe she was. When it came to animal attraction and raw sex, type wasn’t always an immediate concern.

“We fight back.” Elizabeth felt the weight of her own words. She’d been there once, had prayed she’d never have to go back, but here she was, eyeball deep in a battle to prove her innocence. And quite possibly to protect her life. “They already think I’m guilty,” she continued solemnly. “All they need is one real piece of evidence. If they can’t prove I did it, they’ll move on to the next likely suspect.” Her gaze slid to Gloria’s. “Can you prove where you were that night?”

Gloria’s eyes widened. “I...” She shook her head.

“I don’t know about this Association,” Elizabeth confessed, “but the police and the feds won’t stop until they have someone to prosecute. If not me, then you.” She turned to Annabelle. “Or you.” She paused, gathering her courage before she said the rest. “The way I see it, the real problem is staying alive until the police either nail someone or we do it for them.”

The three simply stared at one another for a minute that became two.

“How could we possibly—”

“That was my thinking,” Annabelle interrupted whatever protest Gloria was about to launch. “We don’t even know where to start but what we do know is that we can’t trust anyone else. We’d have to work together, just the three of us, and solve this mystery.” She pressed a hand to her throat. “Our very lives may depend upon it”

Gloria held up both hands. “Wait. Wait. Wait. How are we supposed to do this?”

Before anyone could answer, the waitress arrived with their order. Elizabeth had pretty much lost her appetite at this point, but she needed energy for work, as well as for what lay ahead where this murder investigation was concerned.

As soon as the waitress had moved on, Annabelle made a suggestion. “We need to know more about this Gentlemen’s Association.”

Elizabeth laughed. She couldn’t help it. It just popped out. She fiddled with her fork to avoid the expectant looks from the other two. “If the FBI can’t find enough evidence to take them down and obviously they can’t, how are we supposed to?” It was her turn to insist on a reality check. She’d been thinking more along the lines of checking out everyone who knew or associated with Ned. People right here in New York, not some phantom-like organization they couldn’t even prove existed.

“My sentiments exactly,” Gloria reiterated.

Annabelle sat in silent consideration for a time. “The FBI will be searching his computers, at the office and at home, but they won’t find anything.”

Apprehension inched its way up Elizabeth’s spine. “What do you mean? How do you know that?”

“The Association’s business is conducted in cyberspace, the Bureau will try tracking where Ned has been, but they won’t find anything, because he used a special system for his little hobby.”

Elizabeth didn’t know much about computers, but she did know that, like a cell phone or a landline, anything a person did on the computer could be traced. Somehow a trail was left. “So where is this system he used?” She felt her pulse quicken at the idea of bringing down this Association. Her stomach pitched a little at the thought that the members of the demented group had likely seen her video. She tamped down the urge to gag. She didn’t even want to think about some of the games Ned had prodded her into playing. God, how could she have been so stupid?

“At his office there’s a secret room. It was a part of the original architecture—a bomb or storm shelter of some sort. It’s like a vault. But when the building was renovated some forty years ago, it was filled in, or at least that’s what the blueprints said.” Annabelle smiled knowingly. “Apparently the contractor on the job at the time decided to save himself a little money and just boarded it over. Anyway, Ned discovered it when he had the office remodeled a couple of years ago. He decided to make it a vault for his most private files.” She sighed as she peered down at her salad. “Eventually he turned it into a media room for his forbidden pleasure.”

Elizabeth felt sick. The more she learned about Ned the angrier she grew at herself for being such a fool.

“You’ve seen it?” Gloria asked, appalled. “This vault room?”

“Well, I haven’t actually seen it, but he did tell me about it. He had some sort of shield installed so the room’s presence couldn’t be detected. It’s all quite high tech.”

“We have to go there!” Gloria exclaimed, an extra portion of desperation in her voice.

Elizabeth shook her head. “No. We have to go to the authorities.” MacBride’s image loomed large in her mind. He would know what to do. Maybe she was an even bigger fool than she knew, but she really believed he wanted to find the truth.

“How do we know we can trust the authorities?” Annabelle argued. “What if one or more of them belong to the Association? After all, they haven’t brought the Association down in all this time. I happen to know that Ned has been affiliated with the group for more than a year now. What’s the holdup?” Her fierce gaze cornered Elizabeth. “I’ll tell you why—because they’re
men.”

“We can’t trust men on this issue,” Gloria agreed. “We get the goods on the Association and we take it to the press. We could blow the whole thing wide open, then the authorities would have to take action.”

“Not we,” Annabelle corrected. Again she looked from Gloria to Elizabeth. “His office is certainly being watched. One person slipping past anyone who might be watching will be problematic enough. But all three of us...” She gave her head a brisk shake. “It would never work.”

Seemingly endless seconds of tension-filled silence passed as each digested what her assessment meant.

“I would have done this myself as soon as I was notified of Ned’s murder, but the police were everywhere,” Annabelle said. “I couldn’t risk revealing anything to them.” Anger etched troubled lines into the features of her face. “I suppose, on some level I wanted to find whoever had done this to him myself.”

Elizabeth and Gloria exchanged a look of uncertainty.

“Even if I had been able to get into his office I couldn’t have managed,” Annabelle went on. “I was in an accident a few years ago. My right shoulder and my left arm were damaged. I have almost no upper-body strength. The hidden door is extremely heavy and there is no automatic opener. Ned explained the mechanism would be too easily detected. The entryway has to be opened and closed manually.”

“I’11 do it,” Gloria offered without hesitation. “I can do it.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “No. I’m stronger than you. I’ll do it”

“I said,” Gloria challenged, her Irish temper flaring in those green eyes, “I would do it”

“I’m accustomed to
manual
labor,” Elizabeth pointed out “I know I can do it. If you get in there and then you can’t—”

Gloria heaved a sigh of exasperation. “Fine. You do it.”

“Time is of the essence,” Annabelle reminded them. “We shouldn’t waste any. We need to act now.”

“Just one question,” Elizabeth wondered aloud. “Why did Ned tell you all this? Wasn’t it dangerous for him to tell anyone?” She watched Annabelle closely as she responded. Even a repeat fool like her had her boundaries. She’d only just met this woman.

“I’m—was—his attorney. He wanted me to know,” her voice faltered and her eyes grew suspiciously bright, “in case something happened to him. Can you imagine a future renovation uncovering his naughty secrets?”

Well, Elizabeth didn’t know this Annabelle from Adam’s house cat but she did know Gloria. She trusted Gloria. And if Gloria thought she was okay, then she must be. Besides, what choice did they have? Annabelle knew far more about Ned and his secrets than the two of them put together.

Elizabeth, for one, did not want a future reno uncovering a video of her in a compromising position.

~*~

Brian Novak was not accustomed to being rousted from bed like a common criminal. His money generally bought him a blind eye. But, Mac mused, there was a first time for everything.

“You know, Agent MacBride,” Novak said, his hangover obvious in his rusty voice, as well as his disheveled appearance, “my attorney will be calling your superiors first thing tomorrow morning.” He reached, for the crystal decanter on the sideboard that served as a bar in his spacious great room. “I’m quite certain there’s a law against this type of behavior.”

Agent Duncan had worked half the night and all morning to locate Novak, who’d recently moved into a criminally expensive midtown high-rise. Not one of his colleagues or cronies seemed to have his new address, but Mac had his own ideas about that. Finally Duncan had managed to run down the secretary at Novak’s design firm. Being young and new to the firm, she had been more easily intimidated. She’d rolled over on her boss like a playful puppy.

Now, at half-past noon, Mac finally had Novak’s attention. He’d asked him where he’d been on the Friday night the doctor was murdered.

Novak took a sip of his whiskey and made a sound of approval before smiling at the question. “You think I killed Ned Harrison?”

What Mac really thought was that Novak had a connection to the Gentlemen’s Association, but he hadn’t wanted to press his luck by bringing up that theory unless it became absolutely necessary. Right now Novak was the only possible thread they had left on that case, and even that connection was thin. Too thin. Unlike with Harrison, they had no hard proof that tied Novak to the group. Even with Harrison the only true evidence they’d managed to gather in months of work was one intercepted telephone conversation. Mac had clung to that link, knowing Harrison would eventually make another mistake.