Sleep No More (28 page)

“You truly believe that?”

“Yes, and so would you if you were thinking straight. All this uncertainty is crap. Newell wouldn’t have helped you if he hadn’t been sure that you were a victim. Joe and I wouldn’t waste our time. So it’s up to you to straighten up, stop hiding, and start going after the bad guys. This is your life, and you have a right to live it.”

Beth was silent, then suddenly chuckled. “I’m really not thinking straight, am I? You’re damn right, I’m going to live my life. You want me to go with you to see Gelber? No problem. And if I think he’s lying, I’ll slap him around.”

“Let’s not get carried away.” Eve headed for the door. “You may not need violence. Joe can usually accomplish the same effect just by being Joe.”

“Yes, I’ve never known anyone like him. He’s … larger-than-life.”

“He just twists it to suit himself.” She headed for the door. “I’ll see you at ten.”

“Eve, what’s my…” She stopped. “What’s my mother like?”

She turned to look back at Beth, but she was only a shadow in the darkness. Perhaps that was why she had waited until Eve had turned out the light. “I thought you weren’t interested.”

“I’ve changed my mind. I want to know. Is she like you?”

“No, Sandra is small and pretty and likes everything pretty around her.”

“You call her Sandra?”

“From the time I was a child. She prefers it. It makes her feel younger.”

“And that’s important to her?”

“It’s important, it’s part of how she sees herself. She’s really hard to describe. You should wait and judge yourself when you meet her.”

“You don’t want to talk about her. Don’t you like her?”

“I love her.”

“But do you like her?”

“She’s … difficult for me. We’re at different ends of the spectrum. She’s never been able to understand the way I think. There have been times when we got along very well. She loved my daughter, Bonnie.”

“But you still came out here to find me when she asked you.”

“She loves you. I don’t care what the Averys told you about her. She does love you, Beth. She loved my Bonnie, and she loves you. I couldn’t say no to her.”

“How can you say that she loved me? She gave me up.”

“You can believe me or not. That’s your choice. But if she could have, I think she would have kept you. She was a kid herself, and life was against her.”

“Did she love me as much as she loved you?”

Eve was silent. “Some people don’t have the capacity to … Love is rare for them. Maybe only a few people in a lifetime.”

“You’re saying she didn’t love you.”

“I think she tried. But she didn’t have to try with you, Beth.”

Beth was silent, then burst out, “She should have loved you. Look who you are. You deserve to—”

“Are you defending me, Beth?”

“Yes, why not? You came here to defend me. I don’t want to talk about our mother any longer.”

“Then we won’t, but don’t blame Sandra for something she couldn’t help. Just accept her affection as a gift. When this is all over, I know she’d like to meet you.”

“But I don’t want to—”

“Don’t make any hasty decisions.” Eve opened the door. “Think about it. None of us can afford to reject love in any form. There’s not enough of it around. Sleep well, Beth.”

CHAPTER

13

5:45
P.M.

THEY WERE STILL THERE!

The car was exactly where Quinn had parked it when they’d arrived at the Tudor.

Drogan felt a surge of fierce pleasure as he lowered the binoculars. He’d guessed that he would have enough time to double back before they took off, but he hadn’t been positive. Quinn was an unknown element, and he could have decided that he had to get Beth Avery out of the area immediately.

Quinn.

Smother the flare of rage. Now it was time to plan, to hunt, then to strike.

First, he had to get to Quinn’s rental car and plant a bug to make sure he could track him. He wished he had a bomb to blow up the son of a bitch. Or, better still, bury him alive, as he had Mama Zela. The Snake God knew how to deal with Drogan’s enemies. But he could wait for that final vengeance; he just had to be able to track him when he took off.

His thumb throbbed with pain as he started to wriggle up the side of sand dune on the north side of the house. That fool of a doctor had amputated the tip of it and given him pain pills, but he had not taken them. He couldn’t afford not to have a clear head. Keep close, don’t show himself. He’d like to wait until dark, but he couldn’t risk it.

His phone vibrated in his jacket pocket.

Not now. Ignore it.

No, he couldn’t do that. The prize was too big to risk the losing. He took out the phone and glanced at the ID. He froze where he lay on the dune. Then he picked up the call.

“Dammit, I can’t do everything at one time. Leave me alone. I’ll do what I promised, but it has to be on my schedule. And I can’t talk now. I’ll call you back.” He hung up.

He had his list. He’d carry out his job. But he wouldn’t put destroying Quinn on hold to do it.

He had his own private list now.

And the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of burying Eve Duncan in that coffin with the rattlesnake instead of Quinn. He had chosen a very special snake and begun to prepare it for duty. He had captured it near his house in the desert, and it was almost ready.

A very shallow grave.

So that Quinn could hear her screaming as the snake writhed around her body, striking and striking …

He would hold that thought close as he faced all the delays and was forced to creep forward at a snail’s pace.

There was no question that he would kill Beth Avery, but she had suddenly taken on a minor importance. First, Eve Duncan, then Joe Quinn.

The Snake God was hungry.

Valencia, California

THEY DID NOT ARRIVE
in the L.A. area until 11:40 that night. Joe had insisted that they stop at a rental-car agency to get a second car. He didn’t like the idea of their movements being hampered by a lack of transportation. Newell gazed critically at the Spanish-style house, with its palm tree and row of plants dotting the front yard as he got out of the dark blue Toyota. “This isn’t bad, but every house in the subdivision looks the same. It reminds me of the setting of those early Spielberg movies. My safe house was much better.”

“Who knows? Maybe it was used by Spielberg. Don’t be a snob,” Eve said as she got out of the Mercedes. “It’s very nice. Joe was lucky that he had contacts and was able to get this for Beth on short notice.”

“All I cared about was that it had three bedrooms, and it’s not that far from Beverly Hills.” Joe slammed the car door and strode toward the front door. He located the house key underneath the decorative porch bench to the left of the entrance and unlocked the door. “I’m hoping to move fast enough that we won’t have to be here long. If we can get Gelber to give us an affidavit that will incriminate Pierce and protect Beth from being thrown back into that hospital, we won’t have to worry about keeping her under such tight security.”

“The hell we won’t,” Newell growled. “What about Drogan? No one should know better than I how single-minded he is. He’d been paid for a job, and he’ll do it. He’s not going to care about what Gelber does.”

Joe nodded. “But I may have managed to divert his attention from her.”

Newell thought about it. “It’s possible.”

“That’s not what I wanted,” Beth said tightly as she walked past them into the foyer. “All I ever hoped was that I’d find a place to hide until I could figure out what was happening to me. Now you all seem to be targets. It’s not right. I think I have to do something.”

Eve’s gaze narrowed on Beth’s face. She didn’t like that remark. Beth had been very quiet on the long trip down to L.A., and Eve could sense the fragile state of her emotions. Beth was feeling guilty and unsure … and afraid. She had put her fate in the hands of three people, two of whom she considered strangers. But then, everyone but Newell was a stranger to Beth, and that must be even more frightening. “What you can do is go with us to question Gelber. Maybe if he actually sees you as you are now, he’ll get a few qualms of conscience, and we might cop a break.”

“Appeal to his tender heart?” Joe asked sarcastically. “Not likely. Maybe an appeal to his wallet. I might try a bribe if we’re not getting anywhere.” He turned on the lights and illuminated a cozy living room-kitchen combination. “The bedrooms are supposed to be upstairs. I’ll make a pot of coffee and we’ll get settled.” He turned to Eve. “I’d like to go pay our call on to Gelber tonight, but I have a little research to do on the security system in his residence. He has a house in Beverly Hills about three blocks from his office. I’ll go out and take a look at it in case I decide we need to spring a surprise visit on him at home.”

“Will he see us in the middle of the night?” Beth asked.

“No.” Joe smiled. “But we could wake him up and persuade him. It would be more efficient to catch him off guard.” He shrugged. “But if it’s not a feasible option, then we’ll go after him tomorrow morning after his autographing. He’s signing his new book at ten tomorrow at Century Mall.” He grimaced. “But I’d rather run him to ground where we don’t risk an audience in a mall parking lot.”

“You’re worried about that security system?” Newell asked.

“I can manage to disarm most alarms,” Joe said. “If it gets dicey, I’m probably going to regret not having Kendra’s buddy, Sam, to help.”

“I know a little about—”

“No,” Beth said sharply. “You’ve done too much already, Billy. You’re not going with us.”

“The hell I’m not.”

“I don’t need you, Newell,” Joe said quietly. “But if you want to be helpful, you can go in another direction. You can try your hand at breaking into Gelber’s office and accessing his computer records on Beth. You said you managed to pull up most of Pierce’s records on her. I’m hoping to drag Gelber over there and get him to hand them over himself, but a backup is always good. I could drop you off at his office on my way to his residence.”

“I want Billy entirely out of it. You’re not listening to me,” Beth said, frustrated. “He could get into trouble.”

“Have a little faith.” Newell smiled at Beth. “I’ve been trained very well. This should be a piece of cake.”

“Coffee,” Eve said firmly as she saw Beth’s expression. “Newell, go to the car and get the bags.”

“I don’t like this,” Beth said between her teeth. “I feel like I’m being bulldozed.”

“You are,” Eve said. “But all done with the best of intentions. Newell would follow Joe if he left him behind. He might as well take a useful role off the front lines. That’s all I can promise you.” She checked her watch. “It will probably be a couple hours before Joe will know if he can breach the security at Gelber’s residence. There’s no use our going to bed, but we can wash up and have some of that coffee while we’re waiting. We’ll go out on the patio and try to relax. It’s important not to let your nerves start playing tricks on you when you’re waiting for the game to start.”

“‘Game’? You sound like Joe.” She studied Eve’s face. “But you don’t think like him, do you? He actually does think of it as a game. That’s what I was thinking when he left the house to hunt down Drogan.”

“I guess we’ve been together so long that we do think alike in some things. And I had to become a hunter, too, during the years we searched for my daughter.” She shook her head. “Do I enjoy it? No way. But I know what the elements are and how Joe and I can help each other toward a common goal. In a situation like this, that’s crucial if you want to stay alive. You’ve got to have a plan, and there can’t be any impulsive or emotional changes.” She turned toward the kitchen. “Go upstairs and wash your face and choose a bedroom. Coffee will be ready in fifteen minutes, and when you come down, don’t give Newell a hard time. You can’t have it your way. He’s made his choice.”

Beth didn’t speak for a moment, then turned on her heel and ran up the stairs.

“We’d be better off on our own,” Joe said as he filled the coffeemaker. “You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes.” She took down cups from the cabinet over the sink. “She says it’s her battle, but she doesn’t really realize what that means yet. If she sees Gelber try to lie his way out of the situation, it may hit home.”

“Or he may be so plausible that she’ll believe him when he tells her that she really needed all those years as a prisoner in that hospital.” He glanced at Eve. “And that she still needs help and should go back and let those good, competent doctors take care of her.”

“I don’t think so.”

“But you’re afraid that it could happen.”

“She’s confused.” She handed him the can of coffee. “But she’s smart and tough. I’ll bet on her.”

He nodded. “But not too heavily. It could be dangerous.” He suddenly smiled. “But what am I saying? It’s not going to do any good to try to dissuade you. For someone who was so reluctant and wary to come to Beth’s rescue, you’ve come almost full circle. I’ll just have to do what I always do when I see your soft side coming to the forefront.”

“And what is that?”

He turned on the coffeemaker, and brushed his lips across the tip of her nose. “Why, watch your back, my love.”

*   *   *

“I UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM,
Pierce. But you’re overreacting.” Hans Gelber looked critically at his nails. He really did need a manicure before he went to the book signing at the mall tomorrow. “All you have to do is locate the woman, and the issue is resolved.”

“Overreacting?” He could hear the barely controlled rage in Pierce’s voice. “You can say that. You sit fat and happy in that office in Beverly Hills while I’m on the hot seat. My career could be ruined.”

“Not to mention that you’d face criminal charges if Beth Avery could prove what you’d done to her.”

“What we’d done to her,” Pierce corrected.

“My part would be difficult to prove. I was very thorough in erasing her memories. She won’t remember any of the details of our little get-togethers.” He added, “And you told me that you’d not kept any in-depth records of the sessions. That was very clever of you, Pierce.”