I'll Walk Alone - Mary Higgins Clark [39]
Josh’s expression did not change. “Zan, exactly how can you clear yourself?” he asked, his voice trembling with emotion. He pointed to the front page of the two newspapers that were lying on the desk.
“Josh, I’m not in those pictures,” Zan said. “That woman looks like me, but she isn’t me.” The protest came from lips that were suddenly dry. Josh has been my dear friend as well as my assistant, she thought. Last night he came rushing to get me out of the Four Seasons and past all those reporters. But he hadn’t seen the pictures yet.
“Zan, a lawyer named Charles Shore called you,” Josh told her. “He said that Alvirah had recommended him. I’ll dial him back for you. You need to be protected right away.”
“Protected from whom?” Zan demanded. “The police? Ted?”
“You need to be protected from yourself,” Josh shot back, as tears glistened in his eyes. “Zan, when I first came to work for you after Matthew disappeared, you told me about those blackouts you had after your parents died.” He came around the desk and put his hands protectively on her shoulders. “Zan, I love you. You’re a brilliant interior designer. You’re the big sister I never had. But you need help. You’ve got to prepare a defense before the cops start questioning you.”
Zan pushed his hands away and stepped back. “Josh, you mean well, but you’ve got to understand. I can prove I was with Nina Aldrich when Matthew was taken from the stroller. I’m going to see her right now. Tiffany took Matthew to the park at about 12:30. By two when she woke up, he was gone. I can prove I was meeting with Nina Aldrich during that time. I tell you, I can prove it! Something crazy is going on, but I am not the woman in those photos.”
Josh did not look convinced. “Zan, I’m calling that lawyer for you right now. My uncle is a cop. I talked to him this morning. He said it’s obvious you’re a suspect now in Matthew’s disappearance, and he’d be surprised if you’re not brought in for questioning before the end of the day.”
Nina Aldrich is my only hope, Zan thought. “Call that lawyer,” she said. “Tell me his name again.”
“Charles Shore.” Josh reached for the phone.
As Josh was dialing, Zan steadied herself by putting both palms on the desk. The panic was building up. She felt herself wanting to retreat to escape it. Not now, she prayed. Please God, not now. Give me the strength to hang on. Then from a distance, she heard Josh shout her name, but she no longer had the strength to answer him.
It all became a blur. She thought she felt people pressing around her, people shouting at her, the wail of an ambulance. She heard herself sobbing, calling for Matthew. Then she felt a prick in her arm. It was real.
When she finally woke, she was in the emergency room of a hospital. Josh and a man with iron gray hair and steel-rimmed glasses were sitting beside her in the curtained-off cubicle. “I’m Charley Shore,” the older man said. “I’m Alvirah’s friend, and your lawyer if you’ll have me.”
Zan struggled to focus on him. “Josh called you,” she said slowly.
“Yes. Don’t try to talk now. We’ll have plenty of time tomorrow. As a precaution, the doctor would like you to stay here overnight.”
“No. No. I have to go home. I have to talk to Nina Aldrich.” Zan tried to pull herself up.
“Zan, it’s nearly six o’clock.” Shore’s voice was soothing. “We’ll talk to Mrs. Aldrich tomorrow. It would be better if you stayed here, I promise you.”
“It would be so much better if you stayed, Zan,” Josh told her soothingly.
“No. No. I’ll be all right.” Zan felt her head clearing. She had to get out of here. “I’m going home,” she said. “But first, I promised Alvirah I would have dinner with her and Willy tonight. I want to go there now.” Alvirah will help me, she thought. She’ll help me prove that I am not the woman in those photos.
Things were coming back to her. “I fainted, didn’t I?” she asked. “And