Sidney Sheldon (15 page)

T
HE MANDARIN HOTEL
was a seedy, two-story building in the heart of Manhattan’s Chinatown, three blocks from Mott Street.

As Kelly and Diane got out of the taxi, Diane saw a large billboard across the street with a picture of Kelly in a beautiful evening gown, holding up a bottle of perfume. Diane looked at it in surprise. “That’s who you are.”

“You’re wrong,” Kelly said. “That’s what I do, Mrs. Stevens. It’s not who I am.” She turned and walked into the lobby, and an exasperated Diane followed.

A Chinese clerk was seated behind a desk in the small hotel lobby, reading a copy of the
China Post
.

“We would like a room for the night,” Diane said.

The clerk glanced up at the two elegantly dressed women and almost said aloud,
Here?
He rose. “Certainly.” He took a closer look
at their designer clothes. “That will be a hundred dollars a night.”

Kelly looked at him, shocked. “A hun—?”

Diane said quickly, “That will be fine.”

“In advance.”

Diane opened her purse, took out some bills, and gave them to the clerk. He handed her a key.

“Room ten, straight down the hall, on the left. Do you have luggage?”

“It’s coming,” Diane told him.

“If you need anything, just ask for Ling.”

Kelly said, “Ling?”

“Yes. She’s your chambermaid.”

Kelly gave him a skeptical look. “Right.”

The two women started down the dreary, dimly lit hallway.

“You paid too much,” Kelly said.

“What’s a safe roof over your head worth?”

“I’m not so sure this place is such a good idea,” Kelly said.

“It will have to do until we think of something better. Don’t worry. Mr. Kingsley will take care of us.”

When they reached number ten, Diane unlocked the door and they stepped inside. The small room looked and smelled as though it had been unoccupied for a long time. There were twin beds with rumpled bedcovers and two worn chairs next to a scarred desk.

Kelly looked around. “It may be small, but it sure is ugly. I’ll bet it’s never been cleaned.” She touched a cushion and watched the dust rise. “I wonder how long ago Ling passed away.”

“It’s only for tonight,” Diane assured her. “I’m going to phone Mr. Kingsley now.”

Kelly watched as Diane went to the telephone and called the number on the card that Tanner Kingsley had given her.

The call was answered immediately. “Tanner Kingsley.”

Diane sighed in relief. “Mr. Kingsley, this is Diane Stevens. I’m sorry to bother you, but Kelly Harris and I need your help. Someone is trying to kill us and we have no idea what’s going on. We’re on the run.”

“I’m very glad you called, Mrs. Stevens. You can relax. We just found out what’s behind all this. You won’t have any more problems. I can assure you that from now on, both you and Mrs. Harris will be perfectly safe.”

Diane closed her eyes for an instant.
Thank God.
“Can you tell me who—?”

“I’ll tell you all about it when I see you. Stay where you are. I’ll have someone there to pick you up in thirty minutes.”

“That’s—” The connection was broken. Diane replaced the receiver and turned to Kelly, grinning. “Good news! Our problems are over.”

“What did he say?”

“He knows what’s behind all this and he says from now on, we’re safe.”

Kelly gave a deep sigh. “Great. Now I can go back to Paris and start my life over again.”

“He’s sending someone to pick us up in half an hour.”

Kelly looked around the dingy room. “It will sure be hard to leave all this.”

Diane turned to her and said wistfully, “It’s going to be strange.”

“What is?”

“Going back to a life without Richard. I can’t imagine how I’ll be able to—”

“Then don’t,” Kelly snapped.
Don’t take me there, lady, or I’ll fall apart. I can’t even think about it. Mark was my whole life, my only reason for living…

Diane looked at Kelly’s emotionless expression and thought,
She’s like a lifeless work of art—beautiful and cold.

K
ELLY WAS SEATED
on one of the beds, her back to Diane. She closed her eyes against the pain inside her and slowly…slowly…slowly…

S
HE WAS WALKING
along the Left Bank with Mark, chatting about everything and nothing. Kelly felt that she had never been so completely comfortable with anyone before.

She said to Mark, “Tomorrow evening there’s a gallery opening if you’re interested in—”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Kelly. Tomorrow night I’m busy.”

Kelly felt an unexpected stab of jealousy. “Going on another date?” She tried to keep her tone light.

“No. No. I’m going alone. It’s a banquet—” He saw the look on Kelly’s face. “I—I mean it’s just a dinner for scientists. You’d be bored.”

“Would I?”

“I’m afraid so. There—there will be a lot of words you’ve probably never heard before and—”

“I think I’ve heard them all,” Kelly said, piqued. “Why don’t you try me?”

“Well, I don’t really think—”

“I’m a big girl. Go ahead.”

He sighed. “All right.
Anatripsology…malacostracology…aneroidograph…term ag—
”

“Oh,” Kelly said, taken aback. “Those kinds of words.”

“I knew you wouldn’t be interested. I—”

“You were wrong. I am.”
Because you’re interested.

T
HE BANQUET WAS
held at the Hotel Prince de Galles and turned out to be a major event. There were three hundred people in the ballroom, among them some of the most important dignitaries of France. One of the guests at the front table where Kelly and Mark were seated was an attractive man with a warm, engaging personality.

“I’m Sam Meadows,” he said to Kelly. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I’ve heard a lot about
you,
” Kelly replied. “Mark says you’re his mentor and best friend.”

Sam Meadows smiled. “I’m honored to be his friend. Mark is a very special person. We’ve worked together for a long time. He’s the most dedicated—”

Mark was listening, embarrassed. “Would you like some wine?” he interrupted.

The master of ceremonies appeared onstage, and the speeches began. Mark had been right about the evening being uninteresting for Kelly. Technical scientific prizes were being awarded, and as far as Kelly was concerned, the speakers could all have been talking in Swahili. But Kelly watched the enthusiasm on Mark’s face, and she was glad she was there.

When the dinner plates had been cleared, the president of the French Académie des Sciences appeared onstage. He began by praising the scientific accomplishments that France had made in the past year, and it was not until the end of his speech, when he held up a gold statuette and called out Mark Harris’s name, that Kelly realized that Mark was the star of the evening. He had been too modest to tell her.
That’s why he tried to talk me out of coming.
Kelly watched Mark get up and go onstage as the audience warmly applauded him.

“He never said a word to me about this,” Kelly told Sam Meadows.

Meadows smiled. “That’s Mark.” He studied Kelly a moment. “You know he’s madly in love with you. He wants to marry you.” He paused and said pointedly, “I hope he doesn’t get hurt.”

And as Kelly listened, she felt a sudden rush of guilt.
I can’t marry Mark. He’s a dear friend, but I’m not in love with him. What have I been doing? I don’t want to hurt him. It’s better if I stop seeing him. I can never give a man what he would expect from a woman. How am I going to tell—?

“H
AVE YOU HEARD
a word I’ve said?”

Diane’s angry voice shook Kelly out of her reverie. The beautiful ballroom disappeared, and she was in a crummy hotel room with a woman she wished she had never met. “What?”

Diane said urgently, “Tanner Kingsley said someone’s going to pick us up here in half an hour.”

“You told me that. So?”

“He didn’t ask where we were.”

“He probably thinks we’re still at your apartment.”

“No. I told him that you and I are on the run.”

There was a moment of silence. Kelly’s lips pursed into a long, silent “Oh.”

They turned to look at the clock on the bedside table.

T
HE CHINESE CLERK
glanced up as Flint entered the lobby of the Mandarin Hotel. “Can I help you?” He saw Flint’s smile and returned it.

“My wife and her friend just checked in here. My wife is a blonde. Her friend is a hot black chick. What room are they in?”

“Room ten, but I’ll have to announce you. You’ll have to teleph—”

As he picked up the telephone, Flint raised a .45-caliber Ruger pistol equipped with a silencer and put a bullet in the clerk’s forehead. Flint shoved the body behind the counter and started down the hall,
the gun at his side. When he reached number ten, he stepped back, took two steps forward, shouldered the door open, and stepped into the room.

The room was empty, but through the closed bathroom door, Flint could hear the sound of a shower running. He walked over to the bathroom door and shoved it open. The shower was turned on full force, and the closed curtains were gently swaying. Flint fired four shots into the curtains, waited a moment, then pulled them open.

There was no one there.

I
N A DINER
across the street, Diane and Kelly had watched Flint’s SUV arrive and then had seen him go into the hotel.

“My God,” Kelly had said, “that’s the man who tried to kidnap me.”

They waited. When Flint came out a few minutes later, his lips were smiling, but his face was a mask of fury.

Kelly turned to Diane. “There goes Godzilla. What’s our next false move?”

“We have to get out of here.”

“And go where? They’re going to be watching the airports, train stations, bus depots….”

Diane was thoughtful for a moment. “I know a place where they can’t touch us.”

“Let me guess. The spaceship that brought you here.”

A
LL THE MORNING
newspapers were filled with the same story. A drought in Germany had caused at least a hundred deaths and had wiped out millions of dollars’ worth of crops.

Tanner buzzed for Kathy. “Send this article to Senator Van Luven, with a note: ‘Another global warming update. Sincerely…’ ”

T
HE WILTON HOTEL
for Women was thirty-five minutes and a world away from the Mandarin. The Wilton was an attractive, modern-looking five-story hotel. An elegant, dark green canopy awning hung over the walkway leading to its entrance.

In the lobby, Kelly and Diane were registering under false names. The woman behind the desk handed Kelly a key. “Suite 424. Do you have luggage?”

“No, we—”

“It got lost,” Diane cut in. “It will be here in the morning. By the way, our husbands are picking us up in a little while. Would you send them to our room and—”

The clerk shook her head. “I’m sorry. Men are not allowed upstairs.”

“Oh?” Diane gave Kelly a complacent smile.

“If you wish to meet them down here—”

“Never mind. They’ll just have to suffer without us.”

S
UITE
424
WAS
beautifully appointed, with a living room containing a couch, chairs, tables, and an armoire, and in the bedroom two comfortable-looking double beds.

Diane looked around. “This is pleasant, isn’t it?”

Kelly said acidly, “What are we doing—going for the
Guinness Book of World Records
—a different hotel every half hour?”

“Do you have a better plan?”

“This is no plan,” Kelly said scornfully. “This is a game of cat and mice, and we’re the mice.”

“Right. When you think about it, the head of the biggest think tank in the world is out to murder us,” Diane said.

“Then don’t think about it.”

“Easier said than done. There are enough eggheads at KIG to make an omelet the size of Kansas.”

“Well, we’ll just have to out-think them.”

Kelly frowned. “We need some kind of weapon. Do you know how to use a gun?”

“No.”

“Damn. Neither do I.”

“It doesn’t matter. We don’t have one.”

“How about karate?”

“No, but I was on the debating team in college,” Diane said dryly. “Maybe I can argue them out of killing us.”

“Sure.”

Diane walked over to the window and looked out at the traffic on Thirty-fourth Street. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she gasped, “Oh!”

Kelly rushed to her side. “What is it? What did you see?”

Diane’s throat was dry. “A—a man walked by. He looked just like Richard. For a moment, I—” She turned away from the window.

Kelly said contemptuously, “Would you like me to send for the ghost catchers?”

Diane started to retort but stopped.
What’s the use? I’ll be rid of her soon.

Kelly looked at Diane and thought:
Why don’t you shut up and go paint something.

F
LINT WAS SPEAKING
on his cell phone to a furious Tanner. “I’m sorry, Mr. Kingsley. They weren’t in their room at the Mandarin. They were gone. They must have known I was coming.”

Tanner was apoplectic. “Those bitches want to play mind games with
me
? With
me
? I’ll call you back.” He slammed down the receiver.

A
NDREW WAS LYING
on the couch in his office, and his mind drifted to the huge stage of the Stockholm concert hall. The audience was cheering enthusiastically and shouting, “Andrew! Andrew!” The hall echoed with the sound of his name.

He could hear the audience applauding as he walked across the stage to receive his award from King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden. As he reached for the Nobel Prize, someone started cursing him.

“Andrew, you son of a bitch—get in here.”

The Stockholm concert hall shimmered away and Andrew was in his office. Tanner was calling him.

He needs me,
Andrew thought happily. He slowly rose and walked into his brother’s office.

“I’m here,” Andrew said.

“Yes, I see that,” Tanner snapped. “Sit down.”

Andrew took a chair.

“I have a few things to teach you, big brother. Divide and conquer.” There was a note of satisfaction in Tanner’s voice. “I have Diane Stevens thinking that the Mafia killed her husband, and Kelly Harris is worried about a nonexistent Olga. Understand?”

Andrew said vaguely, “Yes, Tanner.”

Tanner patted his brother on the shoulder. “You’re a perfect sounding board for me, Andrew. There are things I want to talk about that I can’t discuss with anyone else. But I can tell you anything, because you’re too stupid to understand.” He looked into Andrew’s vacant eyes. “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” Tanner was suddenly all-business. “We have a problem to solve. Two women have disappeared. They know we’re looking for them, to kill them, and they’re trying to stay out of sight. Where would they go to hide, Andrew?”

Andrew looked at his brother for a moment. “I—I don’t know.”

“There are two ways to find out. First, we’ll try the Cartesian method, logic, building our solution one step at a time. Let’s reason it out.”

Andrew looked at him and said vacuously, “Whatever you say…”

Tanner began to pace. “They won’t return to the Stevens apartment because that’s too dangerous—we’re having it watched. We know that Kelly Harris doesn’t have any close friends in the States because she’s lived in Paris for so long, so she wouldn’t trust anyone here to protect her.” He looked at his brother. “Are you following me?”

Andrew blinked. “I—yes, Tanner.”

“Now, would Diane Stevens go to friends for help? I don’t think so. It might jeopardize them. Another alternative is for them to go to
the police with their story, but they know they would be laughed at. So, what could their next step be?” He closed his eyes for a few seconds, then went on. “Obviously they would have considered the airports and train stations and bus stations, but they would know we’re having them watched. So where does that leave us?”

“I—I—whatever you say, Tanner.”

“It leaves us with a hotel, Andrew. They need a hotel to hide in. But what kind of hotel? These are two terrified women running for their lives. You see, no matter which one they choose, they’ll figure we might have connections there, and they’ll be exposed. They won’t feel safe. Do you remember Sonja Verbrugge in Berlin? We finessed her with that instant message on her computer. She went to the Artemisia Hotel because it was for women only, so she thought she would be safe. Well, I think Mesdames Stevens and Harris would feel the same way. So where would that leave us?”

He turned to look at his brother again. Andrew’s eyes were closed. He was asleep. Furious, Tanner walked over to him and slapped him hard across his face.

Andrew jerked awake. “What—?”

“Pay attention when I’m talking to you, you cretin.”

“I—I’m sorry, Tanner. I was just—”

Tanner turned to a computer. “Now, let’s see what women’s hotels there are in Manhattan.”

Tanner did a quick search on the Internet and printed out the results. He read the names aloud. “The El Carmelo Residence on West Fourteenth Street…Centro Maria Residence on West Fifty-fourth Street…The Parkside Evangeline on Gramercy South, and the Wilton Hotel for Women.” He looked up and smiled. “That’s where Cartesian logic tells us they might be, Andrew. Now let’s see what technology tells us.”

Tanner walked over to the painting of a landscape on the wall, reached behind it, and pressed a concealed button. A section of the
wall slid open, revealing a television screen with a computerized map of Manhattan.

“Do you remember what this is, Andrew? You used to operate this equipment. In fact, you were so good at it, I was jealous of you. It’s a Global Positioning System. With this, we can locate anyone in the world. Remember?”

Andrew nodded, fighting to stay awake.

“When the ladies left my office, I gave each of them my business card. The cards have microdot computer chips about the size of a grain of sand imbedded in them. That signal is picked up by satellite, and when the Global Positioning System is activated, it pinpoints their exact location.” He turned to his brother. “Do you understand?”

Andrew swallowed. “I—I—yes, Tanner.”

Tanner turned back to the screen. He pressed a second button. Tiny lights began to flash on the map and started downward. It slowed at a small area, then flowed ahead again. A moving pinpoint of red light swept along a street, going so slowly that the names of businesses were clearly visible.

Tanner pointed. “That’s West Fourteenth Street.” The red light kept moving. “There’s the Tequila Restaurant…a pharmacy…Saint Vincent’s Hospital…Banana Republic…Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.” The light stopped. A note of victory came into Tanner’s voice. “And there’s the Wilton Hotel for Women. That confirms my logic. I was right, you see.”

Andrew licked his lips. “Yes. You were right…”

Tanner looked at Andrew. “You may go now.” He picked up his cell phone and dialed. “Mr. Flint, they’re at the Wilton Hotel on West Thirty-fourth Street.” He turned off the phone. He looked up and saw Andrew standing in the doorway. “What is it?” Tanner asked impatiently.

“Will I be going to—you know—Sweden, to pick up my Nobel Prize they just gave me?”

“No, Andrew. That was seven years ago.”

“Oh.” Andrew turned and shuffled back to his office.

Tanner thought about his own urgent trip to Sweden, three years earlier….

H
E HAD BEEN
involved in a complicated logistics mishap when his secretary’s voice came over the intercom. “Zurich is on the line for you, Mr. Kingsley.”

“I’m too busy for—never mind. I’ll talk to them.” He picked up the phone. “Yes?” As Tanner listened, his face became grim. He said impatiently, “I see…. Are you sure? She—No, never mind. I’ll handle this myself.”

He pressed down the intercom button. “Miss Ordonez, tell the pilot to have the Challenger ready. We’re flying to Zurich. There will be two passengers.”

M
ADELEINE SMITH WAS
seated in a booth at La Rotonde, one of the finest restaurants in Zurich. She was in her early thirties, with a lovely oval face, bobbed hair, and a beautiful complexion. She was visibly pregnant.

Tanner walked over to the table, and Madeleine Smith stood up.

Tanner Kingsley held out his hand. “Please, sit down.” He sat down opposite her.

“I am happy to meet you.” She had a lilting Swiss accent. “At first, when I got the call, I thought it was a joke.”

“Why?”

“Well, you are such an important man and when they said you were coming to Zurich just to see me, I could not imagine—”

Tanner smiled. “I’ll tell you why I’m here. Because I’ve heard that you are a brilliant scientist, Madeleine. May I call you Madeleine?”

“Oh, please, Mr. Kingsley.”

“At KIG, we treasure talent. You’re the kind of person who should be working for us, Madeleine. How long have you been with Tokyo First Industrial?”

“Seven years.”

“Well, seven is your lucky number, because I’m offering you a job at KIG at twice what you’re making now, and you’ll be in charge of your own department and—”

“Oh, Mr. Kingsley!” She was beaming.

“Are you interested, Madeleine?”

“Oh, yes! I am very interested. Of course I could not start right now.”

Tanner’s expression changed. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I am having a baby and getting married….”

Tanner smiled. “That’s no problem. We’ll handle everything.”

Madeleine Smith said, “But there is another reason I cannot leave right now. I am working on a project at our laboratory and we are just getting—we are almost at the end of it.”

“Madeleine, I don’t know what your project is and I don’t care. But the fact is that the offer I just made must be accepted immediately. In fact, I was hoping to fly you and your fiancé”—he smiled—“or should I say your future husband—back to America with me.”

“I could come as soon as the project is finished. Six months, maybe a year.”

Tanner was silent for a moment. “Are you sure there is no way you can come now?”

“No. I am in charge of this project. It would be unfair for me to walk out.” She brightened. “Next year—?”

Tanner smiled. “Absolutely.”

“I am so sorry that you had to make this journey for nothing.”

Tanner said warmly, “It wasn’t for nothing, Madeleine. I got to meet you.”

She blushed. “You are very kind.”

“Oh, by the way, I brought you a gift. My associate will bring it to your apartment tonight at six o’clock. His name is Harry Flint.”

T
HE FOLLOWING MORNING
,
the body of Madeleine Smith was found on her kitchen floor. The stove had been left on and the apartment was filled with gas.

T
ANNER’S THOUGHTS CAME
back to the present. Flint never failed him. In a little while, Diane Stevens and Kelly Harris would be disposed of, and with them out of the way, the project could continue.