Sleep No More

CHAPTER

11

IT WAS THE BITCH!

Drogan focused his binoculars on the two women who stood in the doorway of the house as Quinn approached them. The first woman was the one he’d followed with Joe Quinn. The other was Beth Avery. He recognized her not only from the photo that Pierce had given him but also the glimpse he’d had of her in that hospital room. He would have known her anywhere. He had been thinking of her, lusting for too long after the moment he’d have her in his sights.

She was smiling faintly at Quinn as she took a step back into the house. He lost sight of her.

Again.

But not for long, bitch. I’m not going to lose you again. You think that Quinn and those others can protect you? Now it’s only a matter of time. When you least expect it, I’ll be there. Did you see what I did to Newell? That’s nothing to how I’ll cut you. Pierce wants it to look like an accident, but that’s not going to happen. I’ve waited too long for you. My dear Mama Zela taught me how to make death take a long time, and I’ve missed those nights in the bayou with only the fire and the prey and the Snake God.

He wriggled down the hill to the trees and stood up as soon as he had cover. He’d wait until they got settled, then start reconnoitering the property to see if he could find a way into the house that wouldn’t set off the alarms. If that wasn’t possible, he’d just stake it out until they left the place. Then he’d pounce and—

His phone was vibrating.

If it was Pierce, he wasn’t about to answer. Not until the bitch had been put down in the way he wanted.

It wasn’t Pierce. He looked at the ID in shock. What the hell?

He slowly pushed the access button. “Well, what a surprise. I wasn’t expecting you.”

* * *

“YOU WERE LONGER THAN I thought you’d be,” Eve said as she closed the front door after Joe entered. “What’s wrong?”

Joe shrugged. “Maybe nothing. I just decided to be extra careful. I needed to reassure myself that—” He stopped and glanced at Beth.

“It’s okay,” Eve said. “You’re not going to have to worry about her crumbling away or crawling under the bed to shiver in terror because of Drogan. She met Newell and me in the hall with a Luger.”

“Really?” He tilted his head. “Interesting.”

“Not really,” Beth said. “I knew enough to pull the trigger, but I wasn’t sure I could hit anything.”

“It’s not difficult to hit a target if you’re close enough,” Joe said. “Just keep on shooting, and you’ll have it covered.”

Beth smiled. “I’ll remember that. But I’m glad I didn’t have to shoot at Eve and Billy.” Her smile faded. “What did you want to tell Eve that you were afraid would scare me?”

“Nothing concrete.” He looked at Eve. “But Drogan’s out there. I can feel it.”

“But you didn’t see him?” Beth asked.

“That doesn’t matter,” Eve said absently. “I’d trust Joe’s instincts every time. So what do we do, Joe? I don’t believe it’s likely that Drogan will bring in the police or some help from the hospital.”

“I don’t either. I think he’s a loner. But if he’s a professional, then he’ll have contacts and might decide to call in someone else that he knows he can dominate.” He shrugged. “Which means that we can’t stay here too long. My bet is that he’ll try to find a way to get to her. We’ll have to find another safe house.”

“Newell needs rest,” Eve said. “How much time do we have?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Joe said. “I’ll go out in an hour or so and see if I can track Drogan down.”

“Don’t do that,” Beth said sharply. “I saw what he did to Billy. That’s not going to happen again. I’m not going to be to blame for anyone else’s being hurt because of me. Just find a way for me to leave here.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Joe said. “In the meantime, I’ll do what I think is right.” He met her gaze. “Eve wants you safe. That means you will be safe. Back off.”

Beth’s hands clenched into fists as she stared at him for a moment. Then she turned on her heel and strode down the hall toward the library.

“Not what I expected,” Joe murmured as he watched her disappear. “She won’t be easy to manipulate.”

“I don’t want to manipulate her, dammit,” Eve said through set teeth. “For years she’s been stuffed in that hospital bed like a lifeless doll, with Pierce and his buddies trying to keep her quiet and not bother him and the Averys. She’s been manipulated too much already.”

“Shh.” He brushed his lips across her cheek. “Wrong word. I didn’t mean to stir you up. It seems she’s arousing your sense of protectiveness. She may not need it. I notice that she has a mind of her own.”

“That they tried to take away from her.” She shook her head. “I can imagine how I would have felt in the same circumstances, and I wasn’t like her. She was an athlete, and you could see from that photo how much she loved life.” The anger was growing as she thought about it. “Hell, no, she’s not going to be easy. She’s only been out of that place for a few days, and she’s already questioning, probing, trying to get back a little of what’s been stolen from her.” She suddenly smiled. “Actually, I think she’s going to get back more than a little. She asked if she could go to bed with you, Joe.”

“What?”

“She liked the look of you and thought that it would be better to have her first sex experience with someone she didn’t really care about, in case she wasn’t good at it.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Did you tell her that one glance doesn’t guarantee a safe or happy experience?”

“No, I was flattered that she thought my choice of you guaranteed that for her.”

“Oh, so you decided to give me to her for the experiment?”

She smiled. “No way in hell. Let her find her own man.”

“Good.” He kissed her. “And I’m sure she’s not going to have any problem. She’s exceptionally attractive.”

She nodded. “Sleeping Beauty. Only very much awake and alive now.” She started toward the library. “And we’ve got to keep her that way.”

“You said you think Pierce’s orders were to keep her quiet. I don’t believe that was a slip of the tongue.”

“No, don’t you think the same thing? It’s all too pat. A mysterious accident, and she’s whisked thousands of miles away to a hospital where the Averys establish a connection with a rising young doctor who soars even higher under their patronage. She’s kept there for years and virtually buried away from the Averys, the media, and everyone who has ever known her. Then there’s the business with Dr. Gelber. Another layer in the attempt to silence her.” She met Joe’s gaze as they paused at the library door. “I think she saw something or found out something that made her presence in the Averys’ lives very inconvenient.”

“And they chose to send her to that hospital rather than kill her? If what she saw was that dangerous, wouldn’t they have wanted a permanent solution?”

“She was an Avery. Family might have made a difference.” She frowned. “I just don’t know. And I don’t know what changed that made Beth a luxury they couldn’t afford. Why bring in a hired killer after all these years?”

“Then maybe we’d better ask Beth a few questions.” Joe stepped aside to let Eve precede him into the room. “Not that I have much hope.”

* * *

“YOU THINK I SAW SOMETHING I shouldn’t have seen?” Beth asked blankly. “What?”

“If we knew that, then we wouldn’t be asking you,” Eve said dryly. “I know you said you had very little memory of the time before the hospital, but I was hoping if you tried … You did say that things were coming back to you.”

“Not about the accident. I guess it was too traumatic for any memories to survive. Or maybe it was just that it was so quick that there isn’t a memory.”

“Of maybe it was that all of those, logical, fine reasons were suggested by Dr. Gelber,” Newell said as he lifted his coffee cup to his lips. “What about before the accident? You were at a lodge skiing?”

“Yes. My roommate from school, Cara, and I were up in the mountains practicing for the big ski competition.”

“Cara?” Joe repeated. “I didn’t hear any mention of a Cara when I was talking to the people at the lodge about your accident. Only about you, Beth.”

“Then they must have made a mistake. After all, it was a long time ago. Cara was there with me.” She stopped hesitating, then said firmly, “No, dammit, she was there. I know it. I won’t doubt myself. I’m not that person I was in the hospital. Cara Sandler was there with me.”

“Easy,” Eve said. “We’re not suggesting that you’re having hallucinations because of the drugs. We’re just trying to get to the bottom of this mess. Is that your friend you mentioned to me?”

“No, Cara wasn’t a friend, just my roommate. Sometimes, I didn’t even like her.”

“Was Cara skiing with you that day?”

“No.” She thought for a moment. “She said that her skis needed waxing, and she’d see me at lunch. I didn’t care. I’d rather have skied alone anyway. I’m a better skier than Cara, and I’d have to wait for her.”

“That must be annoying. You must like her more than you said to put up with it,” Joe said.

“She’s okay.” She shrugged. “I liked her when she was first assigned to my room, but she was nosy, and she kept asking me questions. But I had to put up with it because the school wouldn’t let me go anywhere alone. They said it wasn’t safe.”

“What kind of questions?” Eve asked.

“All kinds,” she said vaguely. “About the places I’d visited, what I knew about Rick’s mother, lots of questions about Rick.”

“Rick Avery?” Eve paused. “Your father?”

Beth nodded. “Only he didn’t seem like a father. Other girls’ fathers were all boring. Rick was my best friend.”

“Did your best friend ever visit you at the hospital?”

“No, I don’t think he did.” Then she shook her head. “I’d remember if he’d been there. Even if my head was messed up from the drugs, I’d remember Rick.”

Because she loved him, Eve thought, as she saw Beth’s glowing expression. That love couldn’t have been more evident. What kind of man was this Rick Avery, who could charm Sandra and now his daughter, Beth, into forgiving whatever sins he committed?

“Stop looking at me like that.” Beth’s chin lifted defiantly. “I know what you’re thinking. But if Rick didn’t come to see me, he must have had a good reason. Maybe Pierce told him it would be bad for me. I could understand that. Rick would never want to hurt me.”

“I’m not going to argue with you. I don’t know Rick Avery,” Eve said. “And it’s natural for a daughter to defend her father. I’m just trying to put the pieces together. Rick Avery may be a very big piece.” She paused. “You were raised by a Robert and Laura Avery until you went to school in Geneva. Did you always think that they were your parents?”

“No, they had the same name but they told me that I was to call them Aunt Laura and Uncle Robert since they’d only been hired to take care of me until I was old enough to go to school.” She grimaced. “They said we should all be grateful to Nelda Avery for being so generous.”

“Were they good to you?”

“They weren’t bad to me. They did their duty. It was clear to me even as a little child that I mustn’t expect any more than that.” Beth shook her head. “And I always knew Rick was my father. He’d come to see me and bring me presents and take me to amusement parks. When I was old enough to understand, he told me that I was his little girl, but it had to be a special secret between us so that no one would say bad things about me.”

“Or about him?”

“He loved me. He protected me. All the other kids at school had parents, but I didn’t care. Every now and then, Rick would come, and it would be wonderful.”

“Was Rick at the lodge that weekend?”

She frowned. “No, I told you I went there with Cara.” She lifted her cup to her lips. “But that’s all I remember.”

“Except that she was always asking you questions.”

“Not that day.” She thought about it. “It’s strange that it seems like yesterday. But I guess it was to me. All the other days were like shadows…”

“Cara didn’t ask you questions that morning,” Joe prompted.

“No, she seemed abstracted. She wasn’t like me. She liked to have a lot of people around all the time. Maybe she was bored.”

“It’s possible.”

“Why are you asking me all these questions about Cara?”

“Because she’s the person who wasn’t there,” Joe said. “Or no one remembers she was there. Intriguing.”

“Are you going to call the lodge back?” Eve asked.

He nodded. “And see if I can find Cara Sandler and get a statement. What do you know about her background, Beth?”

“Not much. She was from Vancouver, Canada. Her mother was dead, and her father was an important politician. She never talked about either one.”

“You didn’t like Cara, but did you spend time with other people from school?” Eve asked.

“Of course I did.” She lifted her chin. “I was smart, head of my class. And I was very good at sports. I won all kinds of awards in swimming and skiing. Everyone likes a winner.”

“No, I mean someone you liked and who liked you because you just hit it off. Not because you were a star.”

“Perhaps. I don’t remember.” She moistened her lips. “I guess you noticed that I’m a little— It wasn’t that I didn’t want to have friends. It was just safer to keep to myself.”

Safe because she had been jerked away from her foster parents when she was scarcely more than a toddler and been sent to one foreign school after another. It was no wonder that she had been afraid to form attachments. “Yes, I can see that.” Eve smiled faintly. “I have a tendency in that direction, too.”

“Do you?” Beth’s expression was suddenly eager. “I wouldn’t think that you’d—you seem to be so—” Her expression changed, became closed. “But what do I know? I don’t know you at all, do I?”

Eve’s brows rose. “And you don’t appear to be too upset about that.”

“I didn’t say that I didn’t want to know you,” Beth said quickly. “Or maybe I did, but I—” She turned to Newell. “Do you want another cup of coffee, Billy?”

He shook his head. “I still have a bit.” His brows rose. “And I don’t appreciate your using me as a distraction when you get yourself into verbal jams.”

“I wasn’t doing that.” She sighed. “Or maybe I was. I’m sorry, Billy.”

“You’re forgiven. I just wanted you to recognize that you have to face things head-on and not try to hide behind me.” He added softly, “I know it’s hard, but you’ve gone through tougher experiences. Remember when you were getting off the drugs and had to keep anyone from knowing that your body was being torn apart? I was very proud of you, Beth.”

She glanced away from him. “And you should have been. I felt as if I were dying.” She hesitated, then turned to Eve and met her gaze. “He’s right. I was trying to hide from telling the truth. I can’t do that again. Life is too short, and too much of it has already been taken away from me. I won’t waste one word, one sentence, trying to protect or lie to myself or anyone else.”

“Heaven help us,” Eve said. “That could get all of us into bad trouble. I remember a Jim Carrey comedy that stressed the dangers of complete truth.”

“Too bad. I’m not good at doing things halfway. You saw that when I started stuttering and running to Billy.” She drew a deep breath. “Because I didn’t want to admit that I … might want to know what kind of person you are and if there’s really any bond between sisters.” She added in a rush, “I’ve told you I’m very curious. I know those kinds of stories about family closeness are probably bogus. After all, people are just people. But I’ve never had a family, so I’d just like to make sure that’s true.”

Eve was touched. Those words had been poignantly vulnerable, and it must have been difficult for Beth to open herself by speaking them. “Yes, people are just people. Sometimes outsiders become closer than blood relatives. I have an adopted daughter, Jane, who is my true daughter and best friend in everything but blood.” She held up her cup in a half toast. “But I’m curious, too. It wouldn’t hurt to explore our relationship a little.”

Beth gave a sigh of relief. “Then that’s settled.” She turned to Joe. “So what’s next? When can you get me out of here?”

“Not tonight. I’m going to do a little scouting. Then I’m going to go over some more of the records Pierce was keeping on you. I’ll wait until tomorrow morning to call the lodge again.”

“Tomorrow afternoon, then.” She jumped to her feet. “Billy, you need to get some sleep. There’s a maid’s room at the end of the hall near the kitchen that has a bed and attached bathroom.” She was pulling him to his feet and throwing his arm around her shoulders. “That way you won’t have to climb the stairs. Eve, you and Joe can have the bedroom at the top of the stairs. I changed the sheets and got it ready to sleep in when I first got here. But then I found out I couldn’t bear to curl up in a bed, so I came down and slept on the couch.” She was half leading, half carrying Newell toward the door. “I guess it’s because I practically lived in a bed at Seahaven. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to sleep in a bed again.”

“Beth, you don’t need to help me,” Newell said. “For God’s sake, I can walk.”

“You didn’t need to help me, either,” Beth said. “You could have turned your back and left me in that place. Instead, you got me away from Pierce and got yourself chopped up doing it. Now shut up and let me get you to that room. Lean on me. I’m strong, Billy.”

“Yes, you are.” He smiled down at her. “I knew it the moment I saw you. It was just waiting to come out.”

“I’ll help.” Joe came and took his other arm. “It will be quicker.”

“I didn’t notice your being this solicitous after you got me away from the hospital,” Newell said dryly. “I was on my own.”

“That’s what you wanted,” Joe said. “And I wasn’t sure how much of a victim you were.” He looked over his shoulder at Eve. “Take my computer up to the bedroom, will you?”

Eve nodded. “Be careful out there, Joe.”

“I doubt if Drogan is going to be on the attack unless I get lucky and locate him. His objective is Beth right now. He won’t want to scare her off by slitting my throat.”

“That’s comforting,” Eve said as she started up the stairs. “That’s a pretty big ‘unless’ you just threw out. Good night, Beth, Newell.”

“Good night.” Beth’s voice was surprised. Then repeated, “Good night, Eve.”

“Why do you sound so startled?” Eve asked over her shoulder.

“They never said good night to me at the hospital. I guess they thought I was so hazy from the drugs that I wouldn’t understand it. Or maybe they didn’t really consider me a person. I guess I was just a job, or someone to—” She shook her head as she walked with Billy down the hall. “That sounds like whining again, and it’s not really important. It’s crazy that all the little things are bombarding me. They didn’t say good night…”

Those little things were bombarding Eve, too, she thought as she watched Beth walk away from her. And the bombardment of small slights and sharp pinpricks were causing the anger to begin to build within her. The loneliness, the neglect, the careless disregard of humanity. She wanted to strike out.

Get a grip. As Beth said, this was a small thing in the big picture. Think about those years of captivity and subjugation. Focus the anger on Pierce or that monster Drogan or the Avery family, who seemed to be standing in the shadows, directing the action.

Her hand tightened on Joe’s computer as she turned and started up the stairs.

Not for long.

We’re going to bring you bastards down.

* * *

“WILL YOU BE OKAY?” Beth asked as she opened the door of the maid’s bedroom. “Do you need me to do anything else, Billy?”

“Hell, no.” His lips indented at the corners with the faintest touch of amusement. “What would you do, undress me and put me to bed?”

“If that’s what you need.”

“It’s not what I need.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “I’m doing fine. Stop worrying. Tell her, Quinn.”

“He can take it from this point,” Joe said. “And you might damage his pride if you carry it any further. Marines tend to be a little touchy in that category.”

Beth frowned. “Marines?”

“You didn’t know Newell was in the Marines?”

“No, I didn’t know. He didn’t tell me.”

“It wasn’t important.” Newell gave her a little push and went into the bedroom. “I’ll see you in the morning. If you need me, come and get me. I’ll be fine after a couple hours’ sleep. Don’t you go too far away from the house, Quinn. She’s more important than taking down Drogan.” The door closed behind him.

Beth hesitated, staring at the panels of the door.

“He’ll be fine, Beth,” Joe said. “You can’t do anything more for him. Now go and get some rest yourself.” He turned toward the door. “But first, walk with me to the door and give me the security code so that I don’t have to disturb anyone when I need to come back in.”

“It wouldn’t disturb me.” She turned and walked beside him toward the front door. “I don’t sleep well anyway. Maybe I got too much rest during the last years.”

“Somehow, I don’t think that would have anything to do with it. You’ll probably straighten out once your body adjusts to the new rhythm.”

She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t seem to be tired, and that means I can do more.”

“More what?”

“Learning, absorbing,” She paused. “Living.” They had reached the door, and she swiftly punched in the security code. “It’s a sequence of eight numbers starting with two and—”

“Continuing with three, six, eleven, four, nine, fourteen, one.”

Her eyes widened. “You remember that from my entering it just one time?”

“No, I caught the last four numbers when you set the code when I came into the house. I only had to concentrate on the first four.”

“You have a good memory.”

“Training.” He smiled. “And concentration. Concentration is very valuable. Remind me to tell you someday about a lady who has recently reinforced just how valuable to both Eve and me.” He opened the door. “Set the security panel behind me. Good night, Beth.”

“I’ll be awake when you come back.” She moistened her lips. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Oh?” His expression was suddenly wary. “Is that right?”

She suddenly realized what he was thinking. “Eve told you? I didn’t think she’d do that.” She threw back her head and laughed. “You shouldn’t jump to conclusions, and there’s no reason for you to be uneasy. It wasn’t anything personal.”

“I’d think that the proposition was intensely personal. At least to me.” He tilted his head. “And I believe you and Eve have already discussed this. Why bring it up again?”

“I told you not to jump to conclusions.” She made a dismissing gesture. “I gave that idea up when it seemed to disturb her. I just thought it would save me time and trouble. From what I remember, everyone said most guys don’t care who they screw.”

“I’m not most guys,” he said. “So what is this favor?”

“I want you to tell me about Eve,” she said. “I want to know everything about her. I figure that you’d know more than anyone else since you’re lovers.”

“Why don’t you ask her?”

“She wouldn’t tell me everything. There are things she wouldn’t consider important. A person looking from a distance sees a different picture.” She paused, then said haltingly, “I’ve never had a family. Rick is more my friend than family. I kept telling myself when I was growing up that I didn’t need anyone but myself. That I’d be just fine as long as I worked hard and made sure I was the best at everything.”

“Everyone likes a winner?” Joe quoted her words.

“Yeah, but I’m beginning to feel … different. If I was wrong, then Eve could be important to me. I don’t want to blow it. She’s not like me, whose life just stopped. She’s been out in the world.” She stopped, thinking about it. “And I think she’s been hurt and has scars. I don’t want to open wounds. She’d hate me.”

“No, she wouldn’t.” Joe smiled. “But I’m surprised you’ve been able to sense that about her. Very perceptive, Beth.”

“Not really. I keep stumbling and making mistakes, but I believe I’m not wrong about Eve. Maybe there’s something about that family-bond thing.” She looked him directly in the eye. “So will you help me, Joe?”

He studied her for a long moment. “As long as you don’t demand any intimate details. I’m not comfortable about your idea of what’s personal.”

She gave a sigh of relief. “Okay, that would probably make me embarrassed anyway. It always did when my schoolmates described their sex with guys. I always wondered if some of the things they did weren’t made up. They would have had to be acrobats.”

“At that age, acrobatics are entirely possible. It gets more refined and satisfactory with time. Is that all? May I go now?”

She shook her head. “Billy. I didn’t know he was a Marine. I don’t really know anything about him. It was always all about me.”

“You were the prime objective. I’m certain Newell wasn’t offended.”

“But I should have asked. He made me talk about my life before I came to the hospital, and I never asked him any questions. How selfish could I be? He got me off those drugs. He saved my life, Joe.”

“There’s a good chance that’s true. But if you want to know all about Newell, you may have to ask him yourself. I can only give you the bare bones, and I think some of his dossier was probably doctored to keep Pierce from knowing that he was being investigated.”

“Then give me the bare bones. I’ll work it out from there.” She paused. “And I want to know about you, too, Joe. You’re important to Eve.” She frowned. “That didn’t sound right. It’s not that you’re not important in your own right. You seem to be a very formidable—”

“Enough.” He made a face. “I’m getting out of here before you add anyone else to the list.”

“I don’t know anyone else.”

“You did it again. You managed to disarm me just when I was becoming pissed off at you.” He started across the courtyard. “Go back to the library. I’ll face your interrogation after I expend some energy trying to track Drogan.”

Beth watched until he disappeared into the trees to the side of the courtyard before shutting the door. He was moving swiftly, and there was a sleek litheness to his carriage, a leashed eagerness.

A man on the hunt. No fear. No hesitation. He couldn’t wait to track down Drogan. He was a police detective, but there was no cool, analytical demeanor. She suddenly shivered as she realized that he appeared more deadly and dangerous than Drogan. She was learning more about him by watching him during these moments than she probably would by anything he would tell her. He would be like Eve and not be able or willing to share the view from the horizon. She would just have to put the pieces together and figure out how she could deal with them.

But that instant when she’d realized how dangerous Joe Quinn could be had disconcerted her. If he was deadly toward Drogan, could he also be a threat to Eve? How did Beth know who was bad or good? She had almost no practical experience, and there were so many dangers in this world.

She closed the door of the library and tucked herself in the leather chair in which Billy had been sitting. Her hand instinctively went to clasp the gold key at her throat. It always made her feel safe when she was most scared and confused. Rick had given the necklace to her on her sixteenth birthday and told her that she should wear it forever to remind her that he loved her.

She had been surprised that she’d still had it around her neck after the years on the sedatives. During the last few months, when she’d been totally drug-free, she’d noticed the nurses carefully put it back on her after they bathed her. Rick must have told them to do it. Which only proved that he still cared for her and had nothing to do with Pierce or that horrible Stella woman who had sometimes taken care of her.

But Eve and Joe had both been suspicious of Rick.

Forget it. Beth knew the truth about him. She would just have to explain and convince them of their mistake. Rick was the one good thing in that old life she could not do without. She had many changes she wanted to make in the way she lived her life. She wanted to reach out, instead of closing herself away from people.

She wanted to reach out to Eve.

One step at a time.

For the moment, she would sit there and wait for Joe Quinn to tell her how she could begin those steps.

* * *

DROGAN HAD BEEN IN THESE TREES.

Joe’s hunch about Drogan’s being in the long driveway of the house next door to the Tudor had paid off.

Joe knelt and shined his flashlight on the prints in the earth. One knee indentation, one foot bracing. Drogan had been kneeling there.

He would have had a good view of the courtyard from that spot.

Was he still around?

No car was parked in the trees. If there had been one there, he’d moved it.

Where?

Find out.

Fifteen minutes later, Joe found the car in the driveway of the third estate around the curve of the road. A red Lamborghini was in the driveway, but in the trees to the left was parked a tan Toyota rental car with plates from a dealer in Santa Barbara.

He glided forward. No one in the driver’s seat. Get inside the car and see if he could find any papers or evidence that would link—

The red Lamborghini roared to life and was barreling toward him!

A bullet creased Joe’s cheek, and the car clipped his hip as he jumped to the side.

Pain.

Ignore it. He drew his .38 and fired off a shot that smashed the sports car’s side mirror and ricocheted to hit Drogan’s hand on the steering wheel.

Joe heard a spate of curses, then a bullet struck the ground next to him. He rolled to the passenger side behind the protection of the Toyota.

But Drogan had already reached the road, and the sports car was screeching around the bend.

And the lights were coming on in the house behind him, dammit. The last thing Joe needed was to be found on the property and accused of being a car thief.

He got to his feet and limped into the trees. It wasn’t likely that they’d be searching for the man who had stolen that Lamborghini to be on foot. But he had to get back to the house before there was an uproar in the neighborhood. The owners would report the theft to the police, and they’d be out to intercept Drogan.

But Drogan wouldn’t risk being picked up. He’d abandon that car as soon as he could, and he no longer had his own rental to fall back on. Joe had come close to nailing the bastard, and he was mad as hell he’d blown it. But there were a few good results from a lousy evening. Drogan had a bullet in his hand, no car, and was in no position to go after Beth Avery at the moment.

And he’d bet that Drogan was going to be even more angry than Joe as he tried desperately to get away and cover his tracks.

* * *

HE WAS GOING TO KILL QUINN.

Drogan clutched the steering wheel while he tried to wrap his handkerchief around his bloody thumb with the other. He’d probably lose the thumb if he couldn’t get to a doctor in time. His teeth clenched as he tied the handkerchief above the wound.

Son of a bitch. Son of a bitch. Son of a bitch.

He had to get out of this car.

He couldn’t risk driving it any longer. This was a high-security area, and Highway Patrol would be breathing down his neck within minutes. The Lamborghini would be as noticeable as a flashing red light.

Get rid of the car.

Find some schmuck and force him to take him to a doctor.

Then find a way to get back here before Quinn took off with Beth Avery.

And find the most painful way on the face of the earth to kill the bastard. Destroy everything and everyone he cared about before his eyes, then take his time killing Quinn himself. Before it had been just a question of eliminating a cop who had gotten in his way, annoying but not particularly important.

But now it was very important. Now it was almost as important as killing Beth Avery.

And the woman who had been with Quinn at the house? He’d taken a photo of her earlier in the evening and been going to transmit it to Pierce for him to attempt an ID.

Do you sleep with her, Quinn?

Too bad. You’d better get used to sleeping alone for the little time you have left.