Sidney Sheldon (28 page)

A
S THEY DROVE
into White Plains, twenty-five miles north of Manhattan, Diane said, “This looks like a nice town. What are we doing here?”

“I have a friend here. She’ll take care of us.”

“Tell me about her.”

Kelly said slowly, “My mother was married to a drunk who enjoyed beating her. When I was able to afford to take care of my mother, I persuaded her to leave him. One of the models who had run away from an abusive boyfriend told me about this place. It’s a boardinghouse run by an angel of a woman named Grace Seidel. I took my mother there to stay until I could find an apartment for her. I used to visit her at Grace’s every day. My mother loved it and became friends with some of the boarders. I finally found an apartment for Mother and went to pick her up.” She stopped.

Diane looked at her. “What happened?”

“She had gone back to her husband.”

They had reached the boardinghouse.

“We’re here.”

G
RACE SEIDEL WAS
in her fifties, a dynamic, motherly ball of energy. When she opened the door and saw Kelly, her face lit up.

“Kelly!” She threw her arms around her. “I’m so glad to see you.”

Kelly said, “This is my friend Diane.”

They exchanged hellos.

“Your room is all ready for you,” Grace said. “As a matter of fact, it was your mother’s room. I had an extra bed put in.”

As Grace Seidel walked them to their bedroom, they passed through a comfortable-looking living room where a dozen women were playing card games or doing various other activities.

“How long will you be staying?” Grace asked.

Kelly and Diane looked at each other. “We’re not sure.”

Grace Seidel smiled. “No problem. The room is yours for as long as you want it.”

The room was lovely—neat and clean.

When Grace Seidel had left, Kelly said to Diane, “We’ll be safe here. And by the way, I think we made the
Guinness Book of World Records
. Do you know how many times they’ve tried to kill us?”

“Yes.” Diane was standing by the window. Kelly heard her say, “Thank you, Richard.”

Kelly started to speak, then thought,
It’s no use
.

A
NDREW, DOZING AT
his desk, dreamed that he was asleep in a hospital bed. It was the voices in the room that had awakened him. “…And luckily, I discovered this when we were decontaminating Andrew’s safety equipment. I thought I should show it to you right away.”

“The goddamn army told me it would be safe.”

A man was handing Tanner one of the gas masks from the army experiment.

“I found a tiny hole at the base of the mask. It looks like someone cut it. That would be enough to cause your brother’s condition.”

Tanner looked at the mask and thundered, “Whoever is responsible for this is going to pay.” He looked at the man and said, “I’ll look into this immediately. Thanks for bringing it to me.”

From his bed, Andrew groggily watched the man leave. Tanner looked at the mask a moment and then walked over to a corner of the room where there was a large hospital cart filled with soiled linens.

Tanner reached down into the bottom of the cart and buried the gas mask under the linens.

Andrew tried to ask his brother what was happening, but he was too tired. He fell asleep.

T
ANNER, ANDREW, AND
Pauline had returned to Tanner’s office.

Tanner had asked his secretary to bring in the morning newspapers. Tanner skimmed through the front pages. “Look at these: ‘Scientists are baffled by freak storms in Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, and Italy.’ ” He looked at Pauline exultantly. “And this is only the beginning. They’re going to have a lot more to be baffled about.”

Vince Carballo came running into the room. “Mr. Kingsley—”

“I’m busy. What is it?”

“Flint is dead.”

Tanner’s jaw dropped. “
What?
What are you talking about? What happened?”

“Stevens and Harris killed him.”

“That’s impossible!”

“He’s dead. They escaped and took off in the senator’s car. We reported it stolen. The police found it in White Plains.”

Tanner’s voice was grim. “Here’s what I want you to do. I want you to take a dozen men and go to White Plains. Check every hotel, boardinghouse, and flophouse—any place where they could be hiding. I’m giving a five-million-dollar reward to anyone who turns them in. Move it!”

“Yes, sir.”

Vince Carballo hurried out the door.

I
N THEIR ROOM
at Grace Seidel’s boardinghouse, Diane said, “I’m sorry about what happened when you got to Paris. Did they kill the concierge?”

“I don’t know. They just disappeared.”

“What about your dog, Angel?”

Kelly said tightly, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I’m sorry. Do you know what’s frustrating? We were so close. Now that we know what happened, there’s no one we can tell it to. It would be our word against KIG’s. They would put us in an asylum.”

Kelly nodded. “You’re right. There is no one left to go to.”

There was a momentary silence and Diane said slowly, “I think there is.”

V
INCE CARBALLO’S MEN
were spread all over town, checking every hotel, boardinghouse, and flophouse. One of his men showed pictures of Diane and Kelly to the clerk at the Esplanade Hotel.

“Have you seen either of these ladies? There’s a five-million-dollar reward for them.”

The clerk shook his head. “I wish I knew where they were.”

At the Renaissance Westchester Hotel, another man was holding up pictures of Diane and Kelly.

“Five million? I wish I could collect that.”

At the Crowne Plaza, the clerk was saying, “If I see them, I’ll sure let you know, mister.”

Vince Carballo himself knocked at the door of Grace Seidel’s boardinghouse.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning. My name is Vince Carballo.” He held up a picture of the two women. “Have you seen these women? There’s a five-million-dollar reward for them.”

Grace Seidel’s face lit up. “Kelly!”

I
N TANNER’S OFFICE
,
Kathy Ordonez was overwhelmed. Faxes were coming in faster than she could handle them, and her e-mail inbox was inundated. She picked up a pile of the papers and walked into Tanner’s office. Tanner and Pauline Van Luven were seated on a couch, talking.

Tanner looked up as his secretary came in. “What is it?”

She smiled. “Good news. You’re going to have a very successful dinner party.”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

She held up the papers. “These are all acceptances. Everyone’s coming.”

Tanner got up. “Coming where? Let me see those.”

Kathy handed him the papers and went out to her desk.

Tanner read the first e-mail aloud. “ ‘We would be delighted to come to dinner at KIG Headquarters on Friday to see the unveiling of Prima, your weather control machine.’ From the editor of
Time
magazine.”

His face turned white. He looked at the next one. “ ‘Thank you for your invitation to see Prima, your weather control computer, at KIG Headquarters. We look forward to being there.’ It’s signed by the editor of
Newsweek
.”

He skimmed the rest of them. “CBS, NBC, CNN, the
Wall Street Journal,
the
Chicago Tribune,
and the London
Times,
all eager to see the unveiling of Prima.”

Pauline sat there, speechless.

Tanner was so furious, he could hardly speak. “What the hell is going on—?” He stopped. “Those bitches!”

A
T IRMA’S INTERNET
Café, Diane was busily operating a computer. She looked up at Kelly. “Have we left anyone out?”

Kelly said,
“Elle, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Mademoiselle, Reader’s Digest…”

Diane laughed. “I think this does it. I hope Kingsley has a good caterer. He’s going to have a big party.”

V
INCE CARBALLO WAS
looking at Grace Seidel excitedly. “You know Kelly?”

“Oh, yes,” Grace said. “She’s one of the most famous models in the world.”

Vince Carballo’s face lit up. “Where is she?”

Grace looked at him in surprise. “I don’t know. I’ve never met her.”

His face reddened. “You said you knew her.”

“I mean—everybody knows her. She’s very famous. Isn’t she beautiful?”

“You have no idea where she is?”

Grace said thoughtfully, “I do have kind of an idea.”

“Where?”

“I saw a woman who looked like her get on a bus this morning. She was traveling with someone—”

“What bus was it?”

“It was the bus to Vermont.”

“Thanks.”

Vince Carballo hurried away.

T
ANNER THREW THE
pile of faxes and e-mails to the floor and turned to Pauline. “Do you know what those bitches have done? We can’t let anyone see Prima.” He was thoughtful for a long moment. “I think Prima will have an accident the day before the party and blow up.”

Pauline looked at him a moment and then smiled. “Prima II.”

Tanner nodded. “That’s right. We can travel around the world, and anytime we’re ready, we’ll go to Tamoa and start operating Prima II.”

Kathy Ordonez’s voice came over the intercom. She sounded frantic. She buzzed into Tanner’s office. “Mr. Kingsley, the phones are going crazy. I have the
New York Times,
the
Washington Post,
and Larry King, all holding for you.”

“Tell them I’m in a meeting.” Tanner turned to Pauline. “We have to get out of here.” He patted Andrew on the shoulder. “Andrew, come with us.”

“Yes, Tanner.”

The three of them walked over to the redbrick building. “I have something very important for you to do, Andrew.”

“Anything you want,” Andrew said.

T
ANNER LED THE
way into the redbrick building and walked over to Prima. Tanner turned to Andrew. “Here’s what I want you to do. Princess and I have to leave now, but at six o’clock, I want you to turn this computer off. It’s very simple.” He pointed. “You see this big red button?”

Andrew nodded. “I see it.”

“All you have to do is press it three times, at six o’clock. Three times. Can you remember that?”

Andrew said, “Yes, Tanner. Six o’clock. Three times.”

“Right. See you later.”

Tanner and Pauline started to walk out.

Andrew looked after them. “You’re not taking me with you?”

“No. You stay here. Just remember: six o’clock, three times.”

“I’ll remember.”

As they walked outside, Pauline said, “What if he doesn’t remember?”

Tanner laughed. “It doesn’t matter. It’s set to explode automatically at six o’clock. I just wanted to make sure he’s there when it happens.”

I
T WAS A
perfect day for flying. KIG’s 757 was speeding over the Pacific Ocean under an azure blue sky. Pauline and Tanner were snuggled together on a couch in the main cabin.

Pauline said, “Darling, do you know it’s a shame that people will never know how brilliant you are?”

“If they ever found out, I’d be in big trouble.”

She looked at him and said, “No problem. We could buy a country and proclaim ourselves the rulers. Then they can’t touch us.”

Tanner laughed.

Pauline stroked his hand. “Did you know that I wanted you from the first time I saw you?”

“No. As I remember, you were very impertinent.”

“And it worked, didn’t it? You had to see me again, to teach me a lesson.”

There was a long, erotic kiss.

Far away, lightning flashed.

Tanner said, “You’ll love Tamoa. We’ll spend a week or two there and relax, and then we’ll travel around the world. We’re going to make up for all the lost years when we couldn’t be together.”

She looked up and grinned impishly. “You bet we will.”

“And every month or so, we’ll come back to Tamoa and put Prima II to work. You and I can pick our targets together.”

Pauline said, “Well, we could create a storm in England, but they wouldn’t notice.”

Tanner laughed. “We have the whole world to choose from.”

A steward approached. “Is there anything I can get you?” he asked.

Tanner said, “No. We have everything.” And he knew that it was true.

In the distant sky, there were more flashes of lightning.

“I hope there isn’t going to be a storm,” Pauline said. “I—I hate flying in rough weather.”

Tanner said reassuringly, “Don’t worry, darling. There’s not a cloud in the sky.” He thought of something and smiled. “We don’t have to worry about the weather. We control it.” He looked at his watch. “Prima’s about to blow up.”

Sudden drops of rain began to pound against the plane.

Tanner held Pauline closer. “It’s all right. It’s just a bit of rain.”

And as Tanner said it, the sky suddenly began to darken and tremble with loud peals of thunder. The huge plane started to bounce up and down. Tanner was looking out the window, puzzled by what was happening. The rain began to turn into large hailstones.

Tanner said, “Look at—” The realization suddenly hit him. “Prima!” It was a cry of exultation, a look of glory in his eyes. “We can—”

At that instant, a hurricane hit the plane, bouncing it around savagely.

Pauline was screaming.

I
N THE REDBRICK
building at KIG, Andrew Kingsley was operating Prima, his fingers flashing over the keys in remembrance. Watching his target on the screen, he could see an image of his brother’s plane being buffeted by three-hundred-mile-an-hour hurricane winds. He pressed another button.

A
T A DOZEN
branch offices of the National Weather Service, from Anchorage, Alaska, to Miami, Florida, meteorologists were staring at their computer screens in disbelief. What was happening seemed impossible, but it was happening.

W
ORKING IN THE
redbrick building, Andrew was grateful that there was still one thing he could do to help make the world a better place. He carefully guided an F-6 tornado he had created—up—up—higher and higher….

T
ANNER WAS LOOKING
out the window of the wildly tossing plane when he heard the telltale freight train sound of the approaching tornado over the roar of the storm, traveling 320 miles an hour. Tanner’s face was flushed, and he was trembling with excitement, watching the tornado spinning up toward the plane. He was ecstatic. “Look! There’s never been a tornado this high. Never! I created it! It’s a miracle! Only God and I could—”

I
N THE REDBRICK
building, Andrew moved a switch and watched the screen as the plane exploded and pieces of wreckage and bodies were hurled into the sky.

Then Andrew Kingsley pressed the red button three times.