• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

“Adam, did anyone find anything in the hem of my nightgown?”

He shook his head.

“Then he must have found it,” she said. “He let me go to the bathroom. I knew I had to do something. I managed to unscrew one of those enamel bolts that hold the toilet to the floor. I pulled open the hem in my nightgown and worked it in. He must have found it.”

“Yes,” said Hawley, “he found it. He left the toilet bolt in the room, on Agent Marlane’s bed. The techs found it and I read it on the collected evidence sheet—‘one toilet bolt’—and I just forgot about it in all the chaos. Actually when the techs found it, they thought some nurse’s aide had dropped it and they were laughing about it. Well, it wasn’t any joke. That proves conclusively it was the same guy.” He shook his head. “A toilet bolt, a damned toilet bolt.”

“He was taunting us,” Thomas said. He got to his feet and began pacing the long living room. “I wish to God I knew where he was. I’d just put an end to it. Face him, just the two of us.”

Becca said, her voice overloud, too sharp, “No.” And everyone stared at her. “I will not let you face him alone, Father. No way.”

They took a break in the kitchen, drinking coffee. Then Thomas took them to his office to see some of his high-tech goodies. Then they went back to the living room. It was then that Agent Cobb said to Becca, “May we try one more time to put you under?”

She agreed. What else could she do?

This time, though, Agent Cobb handed her a small white pill. “It’s a Valium, to help relax you, to keep you from focusing on something else that might be holding you back. Nothing more than that. You game?”

She took the Valium.

And ten minutes later, when Agent Cobb said, “Are you completely relaxed now, Becca?” she answered in an easy, light voice, “Yes, I am.”

“You’re aware of everything going on here?”

“Yes, Adam is over there staring at me as if he’d like to wrap me into a very small package and hide me inside his coat pocket.”

“What is your father doing?”

“It’s still hard for me to think of him as my father. He was dead for so very long, you know.”

“Yes, I know. But he’s here now, with you.”

“Yes. He’s sitting there wondering if he should let you continue with this. He’s afraid for me. I don’t know why. This can’t hurt me.”

“No, it can’t.”

“She’s right,” Thomas said. “But I’ll deal with it. Continue, Agent Cobb.”

Agent Cobb smiled and patted her hand. “Now, Becca, let’s go back to that night when you awoke to that prick in your arm.”

She moaned, then jerked.

“It’s all right,” Agent Cobb said quickly. “Listen to me now. He’s not here. It’s okay, you’re safe.”

“No, it’s not okay. He’ll kill him. I know he’ll kill him. What am I going to do? It’s all my fault. He’ll kill him!”

Just a slight pause, then Agent Cobb said, “You mean that he’ll kill you, Becca? You’re afraid that he injected some long-waiting poison in your arm?”

“Oh no. He’ll kill him. I’ve got to do something. Oh God.”

“Do you mean he’ll kill your father?”

“No, no. It’s Sam. He’s got Sam.” And then she started crying, deep, tearing sobs that jerked her wide awake. “Oh, no,” she said, staring at all the appalled faces. “Oh, no.”

“It’s all right, Becca,” Agent Cobb said. “You’ll be just fine now.”

Thomas said very slowly, “So that’s what McBride had to say to you. Krimakov kidnapped Sam and had McBride call the director to find you and have you call him.”

“No,” she said. “No. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Valium, she thought. She’d just killed Sam, just killed her father, God knew who else, all because of one damned Valium.

Adam was on his feet. “Where’s your address book? I’m going to call McBride, find out what’s going on here.”

“No,” she said, jumping up to grab his arm. “No, you can’t, Adam.”

“Why the hell not?”

25

The room was dead silent.

“No, you can’t have my address book.”

“Fine. I’ll call information.” Adam walked toward the phone. “We’ve got to know exactly what’s going on here.”

Becca didn’t say another word. She ran out of