Sleep No More

CHAPTER

7

IT WAS CLOSE TO SEVEN in the evening when Eve and Kendra left the hospital. In spite of Piltot’s marked annoyance, Kendra had gone over all the records of the eighty-seven patients in the two wards. She had interviewed twelve of that number, and Eve had been surprised at the thoroughness and intensity of those interviews. She had questioned, taken notes, and even played bits of music on the small iPod she had with her. If she had wanted to appear authentic, there was no doubt in Eve’s mind that she’d accomplished her goal.

“So what do you think, Kendra?” Eve asked. “Are those patients getting good treatment? Everyone seemed very caring and efficient to me.”

“As far as I can tell without in-depth investigation. I’m no psychoanalyst. I wouldn’t expect anything else. Pierce wants to be a shining star of the community, and he wouldn’t do anything to damage his image. He had one ugly skeleton in his closet, and he couldn’t afford any more.”

“You were very good,” Eve said, as they walked toward the rental car. “Even I was convinced that you intended to accept those patients as students.”

“You should have been convinced,” Kendra said. “I’ll probably accept eight out of the twelve. I don’t believe the other four are ready yet. I can’t help them.” She smiled crookedly as she saw Eve’s expression. “I don’t cheat, Eve. Life has already cheated those poor souls. I’m not about to compound it. I can fly up here every other week and help them. Usually, I prefer dealing with patients before they reach the point where they have to be confined, but I won’t raise hopes, then walk away.”

Eve’s gaze narrowed on her face. “That’s why you didn’t want to take this job. You knew that it would mean a long-term commitment for you.”

Kendra laughed and shook her head. “I’m not that noble. I told you the truth. I would have turned the job down anyway. Yes, I knew I might get caught, but I wasn’t thinking about anyone but Justin.” She got into the passenger seat. “And he’s still my main focus. We need to get this business over with tonight, so I can keep my appointment with him tomorrow.” She turned to face Eve. “Now talk. What do you mean ‘keys to the kingdom’?”

Eve fished in her pocket and pulled out an off-white keychain fob. “While you were taking stock of the DVDs on that nurse’s desk on the second floor, I unclipped this from a dietician’s lab jacket hanging on a chair back.”

Kendra’s eyes widened. “Damn. I didn’t even see you do that.”

Eve chuckled. “Is that chagrin? I take that as a great compliment. Not much gets past you.” She brandished the fob. “I saw a nurse swipe one of these over a reader at a computer workstation. It gave her access to a patient’s medication list.”

“That I did see,” Kendra said. “But we also need to get back inside the building. Are you going to get Joe to help you?”

She shook her head.

“Somehow I didn’t think so.”

“He’s a detective. Breaking and entering could destroy his career. Beth is my sister. This is my job.”

“I should point out that we could report our suspicions to the local police,” Kendra said. “But then they’d come and wave badges around, and whatever useful records there are in that office will be wiped clean if they haven’t been already. It makes sense for us to go in and get them right away. Okay, you’ve been able to get us access into the computer. Now how do we get into the office?”

“I haven’t gotten that far. Do you have any ideas?”

Kendra was silent for a moment, and Eve could almost see the wheels turning, rapidly processing all the information she had assimilated that afternoon. What must it be like to experience the world as Kendra did?

Kendra finally said, “We’ll walk in through the side gates.”

Eve raised an eyebrow. “Just like that?”

“Two members of the kitchen staff come in at 3:30 A.M.” Before Eve could ask, she added, “The schedule is posted in the office of the food services director that we passed. We’ll be waiting in the trees that line the driveway. When the gate opens for one of their cars, we’ll scramble in under the cover of darkness.”

“That doesn’t get us inside the building.”

“No. But we know that the early-morning kitchen staff takes frequent smoke breaks and is fond of propping the outside door open.”

“Oh, we know that?” Eve asked, deadpan.

“Sorry, I got ahead of myself. The concrete walkway outside of the kitchen entrance is heavily stained by tobacco ash, like no place else in the entire complex. Even if the kitchen workers try flicking their ashes over the railing, the offshore breeze no doubt blows them right back. Early-morning condensation also causes the ash to stick and stain more easily than it would later in the day, when it would tend to blow around even more. And there’s a wood-wedge doorstop on the walkway, meaning that they probably prop the door open to take advantage of those cool, morning sea breezes.”

Eve nodded. “So we wait around the corner and slip in through the open door while they’re standing outside smoking?”

“At least while one of them is out there. Even if the other employee is inside working, we don’t have to cross through the kitchen to get to the food services office.”

“Food services? We need to get to personnel.”

“Not necessarily. Food service has a computer. If you have someone skilled enough at accessing the info, they might be able to get what we need if the system is linked.”

“But won’t that office be locked?”

“Doubtful. It looked like it doubles as a kitchen storage area for cleaning and paper products. The staff needs ready access. Once we make our way there, there’s a computer that we can use to try to access your sister’s file.”

Eve held up the fob and shook her head. “This will get me into the system, but it might not give me the kind of deep access I’m looking for, into her confidential patient records, psychiatrist’s session notes, that kind of stuff.”

“You’re probably right.” Kendra thought for a moment. “But I think I know someone who can help us. I was mulling possibilities over while we were touring the hospital.” She took out her phone and accessed the directory. “I tried to squeeze a moment to make a call earlier in the afternoon, but Piltot was sticking to us like glue. I’ll be lucky to get hold of Sam now.”

“And who is this Sam you’re going to call?” Eve asked.

“Our way into those computer files. I was also considering using him to get us back into the hospital, but I believe we’ve got that covered.” She made a face. “Voice mail. Sam, this is Kendra Michaels. I’m in Santa Barbara, and I need your help tonight. Pack up your tools and head my way. If I don’t hear from you in two hours, I’ll try to find someone else.” She hung up. “We might as well grab something to eat while we wait and see if I can use Sam. I have a couple other prospects, but they’re second-best.”

“And this Sam is tops on your list?”

“He’s tops on everyone’s list. Just ask him.”

“It would be difficult since I don’t even know his last name,” she said dryly as she drove out of the parking lot. “How would he be able to get us into the hospital? Is he some kind of thief?”

“Don’t be crude. Sam Zackoff is an expert at entry and exit.”

“A cat burglar?”

“Closer. I’ve never seen a lock or security system he couldn’t get around. But he doesn’t do it for a living any longer. That was during his misspent twenties. He’s the shining sun of Silicon Valley.”

“Computers?”

“He’s a genius.” She shrugged. “And a nerd. He’s involved with defense against cyberwarfare now. It suits him just fine. He gets to invent ways to get beyond all the firewalls, then close them up so no one else can.” She grimaced. “My only problem is that he’s so valuable to the Pentagon that they have him guarded night and day. We don’t want him followed here.”

“Wait a minute,” Eve said. “You think he’d leave a job like that to break into the hospital and tap sensitive records for you? Not likely.”

“Not for me. For himself. Sam gets bored occasionally and has to step beyond that gold-lined fence they try to keep around him.”

“And risk landing in jail?”

“It’s only a slight risk. Unless he burgled the White House, his bosses would find a way to get him off. He’ll be a lot safer than we are.”

“That’s comforting.”

“We don’t have to do this, Eve.”

An almost invisible deadly streak on the wall.

“Yes, we do. There have to be answers in those files in the office.” She pulled into the parking lot of an Applebee’s restaurant. “I’m just having a few second thoughts about whether I should call Joe and get him out here. I hate leaving him out of this. He’s going to be royally pissed.”

“If you’re wondering, I don’t think you’re going to do it,” Kendra said shrewdly. “As you said, you consider Beth Avery your responsibility, and you wouldn’t want to involve Quinn in something that would possibly be detrimental to his career as a police detective. I agree that his police captain would not consider breaking and entering particularly cool.”

Neither did Eve, and even though Joe had indicated that it might be necessary, he shouldn’t be the one to take the risk. “No, when we were looking for the body of my daughter, I ignored everything but my obsession to find her. I risked Joe then, but I’m not starting back down that trail.” She added soberly, “I should make that same rule apply to you, Kendra.”

“My choice. I’m not a cop, and if I break the rules, I can find a way to talk my way out of it.” Her lips tightened. “And I don’t like the idea of Beth Avery helpless, tied to that bed by those damn pills and just waiting to die. It pisses me off.” She got out of the car. “Come on, let’s grab a burger and a cup of coffee and wait and see if Sam is going to come to our rescue. I want to be—” Her cell phone rang, and she smiled. “Sam.” She answered it. “It’s the personnel office of a mental hospital. We’ll need to copy computer files, possibly break into file drawers, then get out without anyone’s knowing we were there. Yes or no.” She listened. “What do you mean I’ll owe you? You’ll owe me. I can tell when you’re bored out of your mind. The Chinese haven’t been inventive enough for you lately, have they?” She smiled. “We’re at the Applebee’s restaurant on Sunrise Drive. We’ll be waiting.” She hung up. “Sam’s on his way. He’ll be here in a little over an hour.”

“He sounds … extraordinary. And you must know him very well,” Eve said as she opened the glass doors of the entrance. “How did you meet him?”

“I was playing keyboard in a cheap little club in San Francisco about a year after my operation. Sam would come in after hours and play clarinet with the band.”

“He’s a musician, too?”

“Not a very good one. But you don’t have to be good, you just have to love it. He loved it. But I couldn’t stand him to be quite that bad, so I gave him a few lessons. We got to know each other pretty well.”

“How well?”

She smiled. “Now that’s another tale.” She smiled at the hostess who was approaching. “Two for dinner, and we’ll have someone joining us later.”

* * *

SAM ZACKOFF ARRIVED AT THE RESTAURANT fifty-five minutes later.

“There he is.” Kendra waved at the man in jeans, a black T-shirt on which something was written in bold white letters, and black-and-white tennis shoes who had just strolled into the restaurant. “He made good time. Too good. All we’d need was for him to be stopped by a traffic cop when we’re trying to be low-profile.”

“He doesn’t look like he’d care,” Eve murmured.

Zackoff was probably in his middle thirties, but he appeared younger. A little above middle height and very muscular, his hair was dark, curly, and cut close to his head. Blue eyes lit a square face that was more interesting than handsome. He swaggered with confidence as if he owned the restaurant. No, Eve corrected her impression, as if he owned the universe. “Interesting. But can you control him?”

“For short periods of time.” She got up from the booth as he reached them. “Hi, Sam.” She gave him a quick, hard kiss and pushed him down in the booth. “This is Eve Duncan. Sam Zackoff. Sam and I are old friends.”

“Delighted.” Sam didn’t take his gaze off Kendra. “I’ve missed you. Why do you only call me when you need me?” He added mockingly, “I feel so used.”

“Stop it. We’ve discussed this before, and I don’t want Eve to feel awkward.” She gazed directly into his eyes. “You can’t take too much of me. I scare the hell out of you. You can’t figure me out, and it drives you crazy.”

He smiled crookedly. “You’re right, you drive me crazy. You always have, and you always will.” He turned to Eve. “Sorry. She’s right, I’m being rude. I have a tendency to go after what I want and toss everything else aside.”

“You’re forgiven.” She found herself smiling as she was finally able to discern the words written on his black T-shirt.

The geek shall inherit the earth.

It appeared she had mentally overestimated him. He was claiming to own only the earth, not the universe.

“Thanks.” He gazed at her curiously. “And how do you figure in the game?”

“It’s not a game.” Eve’s smile disappeared. “I have a sister who may have been a prisoner and a victim for over a decade in that hospital. I have to know who is responsible and how I can find her.”

“She’s not in the hospital?”

“No, though they’re trying to tell me that she is.”

He glanced at Kendra. “What do you think?”

“I think she escaped, and if they ever catch up with her that she won’t last a day. Here’s the layout of the hospital. I have an idea how we can get in. I don’t think we should try to get in until after three in the morning.” Kendra drew up the layout of the hospital on her phone. “Can you do any prep work to find out what you’ll need to access their computers?”

“I’ve already done most of it on the way down here. I’ve— It will only take a little while longer.” He took his computer out of his bag. “Order me a pot of coffee.” He glanced up at Kendra with sudden mischief. “You should say, ‘Yes, sir.’ Don’t I deserve a little ego stroking? It’s only in a situation like this that you’d ever take orders from me.”

Kendra’s lips turned up at the corners. “Yes, sir.” She lifted her hand to summon the waitress. “Anything else?”

“Just sit there and let me look at you while I’m working.”

She snorted. “As if you’d pay any attention to anything once you’re in the zone.”

“Subliminal.” His gaze was on the computer screen. “You know about things like that…”

“I seem to be de trop.” Eve got to her feet. “I’m going outside to call Joe. He’ll worry if this is going to go on into the wee hours. I’ll see you later.”

“I was rude again, wasn’t I?” Sam made a face. “She’ll make me pay.”

“No, she won’t. I don’t care if you’re rude. Not if you can get me what I need. Get to work.”

“Yes, Sam, do what she says.” Kendra was chuckling as she leaned back in the booth. “Get to work.”

* * *

EVE STEPPED OUTSIDE THE RESTAURANT and sat down on the wrought-iron bench at the curb. She was glad to get away from Kendra and Sam for a few moments. They were both clever, quick-witted, and trying their best to help her, but Eve had been trying to suppress the shock and sickness she was feeling ever since she realized that suspicion had become fact. She drew a few deep breaths of cool air before she pulled out her phone. She was dreading this call. Joe wasn’t going to be pleased about being excluded from the action. And she didn’t like going forward without him.

Too bad. Beth Avery was her sister and her responsibility, and she wouldn’t involve Joe in something that was potentially illegal. Potentially? Definitely, illegal. But what then was attempted murder? Just make the call, tell Joe everything that Kendra had found and deduced, then take it on the chin when Joe displayed his displeasure.

She quickly dialed his number. “Joe, here’s what’s happening.”

He was very quiet, asking no questions until she had finished. “So it was poison? No wonder she ran for her life.” He paused. “But I wouldn’t imagine that conium would be used by any of the doctors or staff at the hospital. I’d think that if they were trying to kill her, they’d use a medical derivative to simulate an overdose. Conium is a little exotic.”

“A hit man?”

“Possibly. If Pierce didn’t want to get his hands dirty. He impressed me as a man who always covered his ass.”

Eve had gotten the same impression. “Kendra thinks she had to have someone help her get away that night. And to start her drying out from those drugs.”

“Then we’ll have to see who was around her during the last months.”

“Yes.”

He was silent. “You’re hesitating. Does that mean what I think it means?”

“I have Kendra and Sam. You don’t have to go along.” That sounded wimpy as hell. She added firmly, “You’re not going, Joe. I’m not having you risk your job breaking into that place. Forget it.”

He was cursing softly.

“It’s going to be fine. This Sam evidently knows what he’s doing.”

“And I’m supposed to be comforted by the fact that one of Kendra’s old buddies is a professional thief?”

“He not a thief now. He’s reformed.”

“Except that he jumped at the chance of delving into the old life. No, Eve.”

“I’m not asking, Joe,” she said quietly. “I’ll call you when we leave the hospital. As I said, it will be fine. Sam’s not going to let anything happen to Kendra. Good-bye, Joe.” She hung up and leaned back on the bench, trying to relax the tension that was gripping her muscles.

“I take it he’s not happy.” Kendra sat down beside her on the bench. “Are you still going to go for it?”

“Of course.” Eve stuffed her phone in her pocket. “I have to find her. This isn’t about Joe.”

“You could have fooled me,” Kendra said. “I believe he thinks everything concerning you is about him, too. You’re like two halves of a whole.”

She shook her head. “That sounds sappy. We’re two individuals who happen to love each other so much that it causes us to worry.”

Kendra shrugged. “Describe it how you like. I’m just a simple woman, and I prefer to be sappy.”

“Simple? You?” Eve chuckled. “Not likely.”

“Well, inexperienced in that particular area. I don’t like to dive into deep waters.”

“What about Sam?”

“Oh, we made a few mistakes together. I’ve learned better, but Sam still likes to skate on thin ice. It’s the male thing. But most of the time, we can maintain a decent friendship.” She got to her feet. “Sam’s going to take another hour or so. Don’t stay out here. Come in and have a cup of coffee with me.”

Eve smiled. “Are you being protective now? I assure you that I wasn’t feeling deserted.”

“Why should I be protective? You’re a grown-up. Maybe I want company to ward off Sam.”

“And maybe not.” Kendra was complicated and strange, and Eve couldn’t quite read her. She had an idea that it had been a desire to protect and help that had drawn Kendra out here in spite of her denial. An idea but she wasn’t sure. Yet there was no doubt that talking with Kendra had relieved a little of the tension that had gripped Eve. She was feeling less upset than when she had disconnected from Joe. So accept the good and ignore the uncertainties.

She started toward the glass doors. “At any rate, I could use a cup of coffee.”


Seahaven Behavioral Health Center

EVE CHECKED HER WATCH—3:22 A.M. She glanced at Kendra and Sam kneeling beside her, huddled behind the row of trees lining the service driveway. No sign yet of the kitchen workers arriving for their three-thirty shift.

“Anytime now,” Kendra whispered.

Eve nodded. She could tell that Kendra was as tense and alert as she was, but Sam looked perfectly at ease. If anything, he appeared a little absentminded. He was probably performing mental gymnastics to prepare for his assault on the hospital computer system. He had spent much of the hours after they had left the restaurant in the backseat of the car, trying to hack the system from his laptop. But he eventually realized that the most confidential records would only be accessible within the complex itself.

Dammit.

“Are you good to go?” Kendra asked Sam.

“Yeah, I have a good idea what software package they’re using.” He grimaced. “But I’d feel better if we could access the computer in the personnel office.”

“Too risky. I have faith in you, Sam.”

“Then I can change the rules of time and space if I have to do it.” He added in a low voice, “And I may have to do it. The food services computer may not even be linked. But I’ll do my best.”

Kendra chuckled. “If the Pentagon trusts you to foil the Chinese, who am I to—” She broke off as a pair of headlights speared from the road and swept across the trees in front of them. “Here we go.”

A dark sedan stopped only yards away as the motorized security gate groaned and slowly swung open. The car moved through the gate and turned the corner that would take it to the complex’s subterranean parking garage.

The gate started to swing closed.

“Now!” Eve whispered.

She, Kendra, and Sam bolted for the entrance and slipped through just as the gate clanged shut behind them. They sprinted down the dark driveway and climbed the narrow set of stairs that would take them to the upper-level sidewalk.

“There,” Kendra mouthed as she waved them around the corner to a dark alcove on the side of the building. They ducked into the shadows as they heard the gate opening below them and saw another set of headlights turn into the garage.

“That’s the other kitchen worker,” Kendra said. “The next one will be here in ninety minutes. When he opens that gate, we need to be ready to get ourselves on the other side of it.”

“No pressure or anything,” Eve said to Sam.

“Oh, of course not.” He turned to Kendra. “What now?”

“We wait for that first smoke break. Or for that door to be propped open, whichever comes first.”

Kendra kept watch on the door while Eve and Sam scouted around for any sign of a security patrol. “Security camera down the walkway,” Sam murmured as he spotted the glowing red eye fastened to a tree. “I’ll take care of it.”

He was gone only a few minutes, the red light went out, and Sam was back with them. “All clear.”

Less than thirty minutes later, the door swung open, and a heavyset man dressed in white lumbered toward the outdoor railing. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tapped one out, and lit up.

“He didn’t prop the door open,” Eve whispered.

Kendra shook her head. “Plan B.”

“Right.” Eve bent over and tightened the laces on her tennis shoes. “How much time will I have?”

“About seven seconds once the door starts to close.”

Eve smiled and shook her head. Of course Kendra had thought to time the door’s closing when the man stepped outside.

After a couple minutes, the kitchen worker stamped out his cigarette, picked up the butt, and turned back toward the door. He pulled out a keycard, waved it over the sensor, and pulled open the door.

It would have been a hell of a lot more convenient for all of them if he’d propped the damn thing open, Eve thought. Why wasn’t anything ever easy?

As the kitchen worker stepped inside, Eve quietly bolted toward the door as it swung closed. Shit, she thought in panic. She couldn’t make it. The door was just—

Got it!

She gripped the edge of the door and froze, waiting to see if either of the kitchen workers had heard her or noticed that the door hadn’t entirely closed.

They hadn’t. She heard a door close across the kitchen, and the room appeared empty.

She hoped.

Kendra and Sam were directly behind her. Eve peered through the crack between the door and the frame and saw nothing but a short, dim hallway. From the left she heard running water and clanging pots. From the right, in the direction of the office, there was total silence.

She turned back toward Kendra and Sam, nodded, and crept through the doorway. Kendra and Sam were right behind her. They quickly moved down the hall and ducked into the open office. Kendra silently closed the door and lowered a roll-down shade that covered the door’s large glass pane. They switched on their tiny xenon-bulb flashlights as Sam moved toward the computer and punched the spacebar to wake it up.

“What do you think?” Eve asked.

Sam studied the monitor. “Well, it’s the system I thought they were using. I hoped this user would still be logged in, but he’s not.”

“Is that a problem?” Kendra asked.

Sam pulled a USB thumb drive from his pocket and inserted it into the computer tower next to the desk. “This may coax some of the user history out of this baby.”

While he worked, Eve shined her flashlight around the office. As Kendra had noticed, it doubled as a storage room, with tall metal shelves holding supplies, paper products, and linens. “If the kitchen staff needs something, they might pop in here at any time.”

“I locked the door,” Kendra said. “But I’m sure at least one of those men has a key.”

“More pressure,” Sam murmured. “Hand me that fob, Eve.”

Eve gave him the cream-colored fob she had lifted earlier. He swiped it across the reader, and the computer responded with an approving beep.

“I’m over the wall,” he said, his gaze intent on the screen. “Now let’s see how far I can get.”

His fingers moved furiously over the keyboard as Eve saw scores of user menus and graphical representations of the complex. “Any sign of the patient histories?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Not yet. It looks like I can access everything else in this place except what we want. I’m really afraid it may be on a separate—” His eyes lit up. “Wait a second.”

Kendra leaned closer. “What is it?”

“This is it!” His fingers worked even faster over the keyboard. “It’s not where I thought it would be, but it’s here.”

Kendra suddenly tensed. “Shit.” She backed away from the computer.

“What is it?” Eve asked. But after another second, she heard it, too.

Footsteps in the hallway.

“Quiet,” Kendra whispered.

They held their breaths as the footsteps grew louder outside.

The doorknob jiggled.

Eve saw a shadow appear under the door.

A voice in the hallway called back to the kitchen. “Steve, I need your keys. The damn door is locked.”

Eve looked frantically around the office. There was absolutely nowhere to run, to hide in the small area.

“Sam.” Kendra whispered as she thrust herself back in front of the computer monitor. “Can you control all the systems we just saw here?”

“Yeah, of course I can.”

“Call up two menus. Now.”

He frantically typed while trying to keep the keys from clicking too loudly. “What am I doing?”

Kendra pointed to the screen. “Turn on the sprinklers in the kitchen zone. Can you do that?”

As if in response, the sound of spraying water echoed down the hallway, followed by the shouts of the other worker down in the kitchen. The shadow under the door vanished, and the footsteps pounded away.

Kendra pointed to another part of the screen. “Now cut the lights in this entire zone.”

A second later, the light under the door disappeared.

“Let’s go,” Kendra said. “No flashlights.” She threw open the office door and raced down the completely dark hallway.

Eve struggled to keep up, straining to hear Kendra’s footsteps over the sound of the sprinklers. Kendra was moving through the dark quickly and with complete ease. Almost as if—

As if the woman had been blind for the first twenty years of her life, Eve thought with self-disgust.

Kendra opened the back door and held it open long enough for Eve and Sam to join her on the walkway outside. They sprinted down the stairs and ran alongside the driveway, once again hiding behind the row of trees.

Eve inhaled sharply as she saw the gate looming ahead of them. “It’s open!”

Sam smiled. “I did that, too. Didn’t feel like waiting for the next shift to get here. It will close behind us. I’m known to be a little impatient.”

“In this case, impatience is definitely a virtue,” Eve said as she ran through the opening.


Seventeen Mile Drive

SAFE!

Or maybe not, Beth thought as she tossed and turned on the couch. She should be safe. The lights of the kitchen had gone out. Water was pouring down inside the kitchen of the hospital.

Water? Not rain?

And how had she gotten back to the hospital when she had thought she was free?

She was still free. She was running down the hill toward the rental car. Her heart was beating wildly, and she could hardly breathe. They had gotten out of that place, and she only hoped Sam had managed to get the records before he had set off the sprinklers.

Sam? Who was Sam? Beth didn’t know any Sam. Maybe he was one of the security guards from the hospital.

No!

Beth’s eyes flew open in panic, and she jerked upright on the couch. She wasn’t back at the hospital, she realized with relief. It had only been a nightmare.

She was in this spacious, beautiful study, lying on a brown leather couch and covered with a soft throw. There was a portrait of a woman and a dog over the fireplace. She had been afraid to use one of the bedrooms. They had seemed too large and intimidating.

She drew a deep, shaky breath, and slowly lay back down. She supposed she was lucky that she hadn’t had any nightmares about the hospital since she’d been on the run. She wasn’t used to bad dreams. The pills made her sleep too deeply for dreams. Or maybe she had dreamed, then not been able to remember. Perhaps that was another thing she had lost.

Go to sleep. She was safe here. Billy had said that she would be given a chance to heal and make her plans at this deserted house.

But evidently she was not safe from dreams.

She had been so afraid …

No, the fear had been there, but it had not been Beth’s, she realized drowsily. She had been dreaming of someone else, feeling someone else’s fear …

Who?

It didn’t matter. After all, it was only a dream.

But the name came to her just before she drifted back asleep, perhaps to prove just how much it didn’t matter. Because it was a name she didn’t know, a stranger she had never met.

Eve …


Seahaven Behavioral Health Center

EVE COULD HEAR THE GATES clang shut behind Kendra and Sam as they all hugged the shadows and ran down the hillside road to where Eve’s rental car was parked. They deliberately parked some distance away, and they were all breathing heavily as they climbed in the car.

As soon as she caught her breath, Eve turned toward the backseat and looked at the USB thumb drive still in Sam’s hand. “Please. For God’s sake, tell me you were able to get Beth’s patient files on that thing.”

“Sorry, Eve, no time. There was just too much. A couple gigs at least. It looks like they have interview notes, hours of audio and video of her sessions, maybe some photos…”

“Dammit.” Eve’s fist pounded the steering wheel in frustration. “All this for nothing?”

Sam smiled. “Hey, remember who you’re talking to here. I took care of you.”

“Took care of her how?” Kendra asked.

Sam pulled a pen from his pocket and scribbled something on a fast-food hamburger wrapper. “Your sister’s entire file is uploading as we speak. It’ll take an hour or two, but it’s all going to a secure Web site that I set up. You can access it and download the whole kit and caboodle anytime you want. And after it’s done, my program will delete itself. No one will ever know. Here’s the Web site’s address and password.” He tore a piece from the bag, handed it to Eve, then leaned back in his seat. “Hey, all this spiking adrenaline is making me hungry. Anyone in the mood for pancakes?”