Sidney Sheldon (25 page)

T
HE SOUND OF
her cell phone startled her. She picked it up cautiously. “Hello?”

“Hi, Kelly.”

“Diane! Where are you?”

“In Munich. Where are you?”

“On a train to London.”

“How did your meeting with Sam Meadows go?”

Kelly could still hear his screams. “I’ll tell you about it when we meet. Did you get any information?”

“Not much. We have to decide what to do next. We’re running out of options. Gary Reynolds’s plane crashed near Denver. I think we have to go there. Maybe it’s our last chance.”

“All right.”

“The obituary said that Reynolds has a sister living in Denver. She might know something. Why don’t we meet in Denver at the
Brown Palace Hotel. I’m flying out of Schoenfeld airport, in Berlin, in three hours.”

“I’ll get a plane out of Heathrow.”

“Good. The room will be booked under the name of Harriet Beecher Stowe.”

“Kelly—”

“Yes.”

“Just…you know.”

“I know. You, too…”

T
ANNER WAS ALONE
in his office, talking on the gold phone: “…and they managed to escape. Sam Meadows is not a happy man, and Greg Holliday is dead.” He was silent for a moment, thinking. “Logically, the only place left for them is Denver. In fact, that’s probably their last option…. It looks as though I’m going to have to handle this personally. They’ve won my respect, so it’s only fitting that I take care of them properly.” He listened, then laughed. “Of course. Good-bye.”

A
NDREW WAS SEATED
in his office, his mind floating, creating hazy visions. He was lying in a hospital bed and Tanner was saying,
You surprised me, Andrew. You were supposed to die. Now the doctors tell me you can get out of here in a few days. I’m giving you an office at KIG. I want you to see how I’m saving your ass. You just wouldn’t learn, would you, you imbecile? Well, I’m turning your penny-ante operation into a gold mine, and you can sit there and watch how I do it. By the way, the first thing I did was to cancel all the bullshit do-good projects you started, Andrew…Andrew…Andrew…

The voice was getting louder. “Andrew! Are you deaf?”

Tanner was calling him. Andrew pulled himself to his feet and walked into his brother’s office.

Tanner looked up. “I hope I’m not interfering with your work,” Tanner said sarcastically.

“No, I was just…”

Tanner studied his brother a moment. “You’re really not good for anything, are you, Andrew? You don’t reap, neither do you sow. It’s good for me to have someone to talk to, but I don’t know how much longer I want to keep you around.”

K
ELLY ARRIVED IN
Denver ahead of Diane, and she registered at the venerable Brown Palace Hotel.

“A friend of mine will be arriving this afternoon.”

“Would you like two rooms?”

“No, a double.”

W
HEN DIANE’S PLANE
landed at Denver International Airport, she took a taxi to the hotel. She walked up to the front desk and spoke to the clerk.

“Oh, yes. Mrs. Stowe is expecting you. She’s in room 638.”

It was a relief to hear.

Kelly was waiting. The two of them exchanged a warm hug.

“I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed
you
. How was your trip?” Kelly asked.

“Uneventful. Thank God.”

Diane looked at her and said, “What happened to you in Paris?”

Kelly took a deep breath. “Tanner Kingsley. What happened in Berlin?”

Diane said tonelessly, “Tanner Kingsley.”

Kelly walked over to a table, picked up a telephone directory, and brought it back to Diane. “Gary’s sister, Lois Reynolds, is listed in the telephone book. She lives on Marion Street.”

“Good.” Diane looked at her watch. “It’s too late to do anything tonight. We’ll go there first thing in the morning.”

T
HEY HAD DINNER
in the room and talked until midnight, then got ready for bed.

Diane said, “Good night,” and reached for the light switch. The bedroom was plunged into darkness.

Kelly screamed. “No! Turn on the lights.”

Diane quickly turned them back on. “I’m so sorry, Kelly. I forgot.”

“I used to be afraid of the dark, until Mark. And after he was killed…” Kelly began hyperventilating, fighting to control her panic. She took a deep breath. “I wish I could get over this.”

“Don’t worry about it. When you’re feeling very secure, you will.”

T
HE FOLLOWING MORNING
,
when Diane and Kelly walked out of the hotel, there was a line of taxis in front of the entrance. The two women got into one, and Kelly gave the driver the number of Lois Reynolds’s house on Marion Street.

Fifteen minutes later, the driver pulled up to the curb. “Here we are.”

Kelly and Diane stared out the window, aghast. They were looking at the charred rubble of a house that had burned to the ground. There was nothing left but ashes, bits of burned wood, and a crumbled concrete foundation.

“The bastards killed her,” Kelly said. She looked at Diane despairingly. “This is the end of the road.”

Diane was thinking.
There’s one last chance.

R
AY FOWLER, THE
acerbic manager of the Denver airport, scowled at Kelly and Diane. “Let’s see if I have this straight. You two are investigating a plane crash, without any authority, and you want me to arrange for you to question the air traffic controller who was on duty, so he can give you some privileged information? Do I have that right?”

Diane and Kelly glanced at each other.

Kelly said, “Well, we were hoping—”

“You were hoping what?”

“That you would help us.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Mr. Fowler, we just want to make sure that what happened to Gary Reynolds really was an accident.”

Ray Fowler was studying them closely. “It’s interesting,” he said. He sat there, bemused, and then spoke. “This has been on my mind a lot. Maybe you
should
discuss this with Howard Miller. He was the air traffic controller on duty when the accident happened. Here’s his address. I’ll call him and tell him you’re coming over.”

“Thank you. That’s very kind of you,” Diane said.

Ray Fowler growled, “The only reason I’m doing this is because I think the FAA crash report is bullshit. We found the remains of the plane, but interestingly enough, the black box was missing. It just disappeared.”

H
OWARD MILLER LIVED
in a small stucco house six miles from the airport. Miller was a small, energetic man in his forties. He opened the door for Diane and Kelly. “Come in. Ray Fowler told me you were coming. What is it I can do for you?”

“We’d like to talk to you, Mr. Miller.”

“Sit down.” They sat on the couch. “Like some coffee?”

“No, thanks.”

“You’re here about the Gary Reynolds crash.”

“Yes. Was it an accident or—?”

Howard Miller shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I’ve never experienced anything like it in all the years I’ve been working here. Everything was going according to protocol. Gary Reynolds radioed for permission to land, and we cleared him. The next thing I know, he was only two miles away, reporting a hurricane. A hurricane! Our weather monitors were clear. Later, I checked with the weather bureau. There was no wind at that time. To tell you the truth, I thought he was drunk or on drugs. The next thing we all knew, he crashed into the side of a mountain.”

Kelly said, “I understand that the black box hasn’t been found.”

“That’s another thing,” Howard Miller commented thoughtfully. “We found everything else. What happened to the black box? The damned FAA came in and thought we had our records wrong. They didn’t believe us when we told them what had happened. You know when you can feel something is not right?”

“Yes.”

“I feel that something is not right, but I can’t tell you what. I am sorry I can’t be of more help.”

Diane and Kelly rose, frustrated. “Well, thank you very much, Mr. Miller. We appreciate your time.”

“Not at all.”

As Miller started to lead the two women toward the door, he said, “I hope Gary’s sister will be all right.”

Kelly stopped. “What?”

“She’s in the hospital, you know. Poor thing. Her house burned down in the middle of the night. They don’t know if she’s going to make it or not.”

Diane froze. “What happened?”

“The fire department thinks it was caused by an electrical short.
Lois managed to crawl out of the front door, onto the lawn, but by the time the firefighters got to her, she was in pretty bad shape.”

Diane tried to keep her voice calm. “What hospital is she in?”

“The University of Colorado Hospital. She’s in the burn center there.”

T
HE NURSE AT
the reception desk at Three North said, “I’m sorry, Miss Reynolds is not allowed visitors.”

Kelly asked, “Can you tell us what room she’s in?”

“No, I’m afraid I can’t.”

“This is an emergency,” Diane said. “We have to see her and—”

“No one sees her without written authorization.” There was a note of finality in her voice.

Diane and Kelly looked at each other.

“Well, thank you.”

The two women walked away. “What are we going to do?” Kelly asked. “This is our last chance.”

“I have a plan.”

A
UNIFORMED MESSENGER
carrying a large, beribboned parcel approached the reception desk. “I have a package here for Lois Reynolds.”

“I’ll sign for it,” the nurse said.

The messenger shook his head. “Sorry. My orders are to deliver it to her personally. It’s very valuable.”

The nurse hesitated. “Then I’ll have to go with you.”

“That’s fine.”

He followed the nurse to the end of the hall. When they reached room 391, the nurse started to open the door and the messenger handed her the package. “You can take it in to her,” he said.

O
NE FLIGHT DOWN
,
the messenger walked over to the bench where Diane and Kelly were waiting.

“Room 391,” he told them.

“Thanks,” Diane said gratefully. She handed him some money.

The two women took the stairs to the third floor, stepped into the corridor, and waited until the nurse was on the telephone. Her back was turned to them. They quickly started down the hall and entered room 391.

Lois Reynolds was lying in bed with a spiderweb of tubes and wires attached to her body. She was heavily bandaged. Her eyes were closed as Kelly and Diane approached the bed.

Diane said softly, “Miss Reynolds, I’m Diane Stevens and this is Kelly Harris. Our husbands worked for KIG.”

Lois Reynolds’s eyes slowly opened and tried to focus. When she spoke, her voice was a shadow of a whisper. “What?”

Kelly said, “Our husbands worked for KIG. They were both killed. We thought that because of what happened to your brother, you might be able to help us.”

Lois Reynolds tried to shake her head. “I can’t help you…. Gary is dead.” Her eyes welled up with tears.

Diane leaned close. “Did your brother say anything to you before the accident?”

“Gary was a wonderful man.” Her voice was slow and pained. “He was killed in a plane crash.”

Diane said patiently, “Did he say anything to you that might help us find out what happened?”

Lois Reynolds closed her eyes.

“Miss Reynolds, please don’t go to sleep yet. Please. This is very important. Did your brother say anything to you that might help us?”

Lois Reynolds opened her eyes again and looked at Diane, puzzled. “Who are you?”

Diane said, “We think your brother was murdered.”

Lois Reynolds murmured, “I know…”

The two of them felt a cold chill.

“Why?” Kelly asked.