“Jake,” Carnegie said slowly. “You do that sketch yourself? That was how those crazy People for Principle dressed.”
“Right, and I think that one of their members, presumed dead, is walking the streets of Miami. A man named John Mast. He supposedly died in a plane crash, but his body was never found. He might just be your David Wharton.”
“How does it all add up, though? The victims associated with the cult were women, and their throats were slashed. My boy was struck by a car.”
“I don’t know how it adds up, but I’m starting to think it just might. Anyway, Bordon may still manage to say something. I’ll wait it out. When I get back, I’ll start moving heaven and earth to find Mast if he is alive and out there. I don’t know why…I can’t help thinking they might be one and the same.”
“Gut instinct?” Carnegie said.
“Yep. Gut instinct.”
They rang off. Jake walked back into the hospital room. He sat, watching Bordon die. Once, he would have thought that watching the man die slowly would give him some sense of justice. He couldn’t have known then that he would be praying for the man to live.
Despite the fact that Ashley felt like an idiot, her party was a success. Every one of her classmates turned out for it. She was lauded with silly toasts. Everyone agreed with Arne’s comment that the rest of them would have been fired for coloring in class, but Ashley had been turned into a heroine. Despite the ribbing, she had a great time.
She had wanted to sit at the opposite end of the table from Len, but he had parked himself beside Karen, who was next to her on one side. Jan, across the table from her, had heard the commotion and been profusely apologetic that she hadn’t called once she’d gotten Karen to explain their friend was all right, but they would be a little late because of traffic.
The whole story had come out at the table.
“You knew I would show up tonight!” Karen said, looking meaningfully at Len, who, in turn, stared at Ashley, shaking his head.
“I knew where she was. I had promised not to tell,” he said.
“So where were you?” Ashley demanded.
“Lord, try to keep a secret,” Karen murmured. “Well, heck, I should just announce it to the entire restaurant.”
“Karen, do you know that I scraped little specks of something out of your bathtub and had them analyzed, and they were blood?”
“Jesus!” Len exclaimed. “I guess I didn’t know until this moment how close I came to spending the night in jail.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t have gone to jail—you just would have had to tell the truth,” Karen said.
“What is the truth?” Ashley demanded.
“Liposuction.”
“What?” Ashley said incredulously.
“Well, you know, I’ve always thought my butt was way too fat. And I knew that if I told you and Jan, you’d give me a speech about plastic surgery being stupid and dangerous and say that my thighs weren’t really fat.”
“But it’s an outpatient procedure,” Ashley said. “Why didn’t you go home last night?”
“I did go home. Late. And I didn’t answer any calls because I was popping pain pills, not being the kind to enjoy suffering. And don’t let anyone fool you. I have on this ridiculous…girdle thing, and the only reason you can’t tell is because I’m wearing a skirt.”
Ashley was still staring at her incredulously. “You told Len that you were having liposuction, but you didn’t tell Jan or me?”
“I didn’t mean to tell him.” Karen glanced at Len and smiled warmly. “We just got to talking, and it came out.”
“You go, girl!” Gwyn applauded from the other side of the table.
“Well, now you all know,” Karen said lightly. “I should have just taken out an ad in the Herald. But seriously, it’s wonderful that you guys care about me enough to worry.”
“She’d better suck up to us both,” Jan said, and everyone at the table laughed, and then the conversation moved on.
Ashley opted for three margaritas in a row—she wasn’t driving. It had turned out to be a great night. Stuart was starting to recover. Karen was fine. All was well, except….
She had never felt more alone. Maybe because she had never felt quite as together as when she’d been with Jake.
He’d said he would be back tonight, but his plans had changed. Her classmates had brought the news. Peter Bordon had been knifed in a prison fight. He was dying and Jake was staying by his side.
She sipped her margarita and watched Karen and Len. They were laughing. Their eyes were alive when they looked at one another. Karen’s surgery had probably curtailed her sex life for a while, but Ashley suspected Karen hadn’t wasted any time the night Len had driven her home. No wonder he had seemed to know her house so intimately.