The light over the hospital bed fell on Athena, making her skin look like polished marble and her hair shine like gold. She’d always been the most beautiful of the sisters. Admitting it jarred the other memories of her that he’d buried.
Athena slowly opened her eyes, and he sucked in a deep breath.
“Drew, you didn’t go!” she gasped, then sat straight up in bed and held out her arms to him.
Christ, he didn’t know what to do. Was she faking? Playing some sort of game with him? He knew she couldn’t be trusted.
She grabbed his hand, and he let her tug him down beside her. He’d taught himself to hide his emotions, and he hoped he had erased the surprise from his face.
Slowly, he forced a smile. “Athena—”
“Shh.” She cupped his face in her hands and kissed his mouth. Her lips were velvety, warm, full.
Shock held him next to her. Déjà vu. Like life rewound so he could change it this time.
Anger at her, at himself, jarred him away. He hated the way his pulse pounded.
He needed to take control of the situation. “Athena, I’m here—”
She placed her fingertips over his lips. “Please, let me talk first. Oh, Drew, I’ve missed you so.” She pressed against him, and all Drew’s blood rushed to his head, like a broken dam, filling his mind with old memories of her. He knew she’d always been a good actress. Lewis had said intermittent hallucinations. Diana had said she seemed fine now.
If Athena’s playing, I’m willing to go along to get at the truth.
He let her trace his jaw line with her lips, holding his feelings in an iron grip.
“You taste the same.” Once again she cupped his face and stared into his eyes. He didn’t flinch nor drown in their depths. “I’m so happy you didn’t go. I’m so happy you understand why I did it.”
Sighing, she collapsed against his chest. “Oh, Drew, I’ve been so confused about you and my dad and everything. Will you help me figure it all out?” She tilted her cheek against his shoulder and gazed up at him, her eyes fathomless aquamarine pools. “Promise you’ll help me. Like you’ve always done.”
His pulse did another odd skip. Probably anger at the young fool he’d once been.
He stared down into her beautiful face, remembering the last time she’d made him a promise.
What’s one more lie between us?
“Yeah, I promise to help you. But first you need to close your eyes and try to sleep.”
With the innate charm that had carried the Smith sisters into the hearts and minds of more than their fair share of men, Athena gave him a dazzling smile and slowly lowered her eyelids.
He eased her back onto the pillows and stood up. He backed out of the room, trying to figure out what the hell was going on and what he could do to minimize the damage.
Venus and Diana hovered outside in the hall. “We need to talk to Lewis Stemmer. Come with me,” he commanded, once again in control.
In the ER waiting room, Connor still hovered over Bridget. To Drew, her eyes looked too bright. Like Athena’s had.
Lewis beckoned them to the quiet corner. “All right. Here’s what I’ve got.” Lewis threw a long glance at the circle gathered around him. “My diagnosis is always based fifteen percent on tests, five percent on my physical exam, and eighty percent on questioning the patient. At the moment I can’t get answers from Athena, so I need to get them from all of you.”
Lewis leaned closer to Bridget. “Tell me about Athena’s behavior in the car on the way to the closet.”
“A little quiet. Everythin’ seemed fine until we got to the vault.”
“What happened then, Bridget? Did you see anything? Smell anything?”
“It’s chilly down there. Which Athena said was good for storage. She was actin’ just fine until I found her lyin’ on the floor with her head up the skirt of a beautiful champagne-colored gown. The one with the train.” Bridget gazed around at all of them. “When I made her come out from under it, she looked stoned. And started talkin’ like I was Bertha Palmer herself and Jackie Kennedy was roamin’ through the closet.”
Drew glanced at her sisters. “Does Athena do recreational drugs?”
“Athena hardly takes aspirin,” Venus snapped.
Drew met Lewis’s eyes before he turned back to Bridget. “What happened in the car before she passed out?”
A grimace of pain flashed across Bridget’s face. “I put in a CD, thinkin’ the music might relax her. She started singin’ at the top of her lungs.”
Drew didn’t miss the look passing between the sisters or the way Venus bit her lip.
Yeah, I remember, too.
Diana smiled sweetly at Bridget. “I’m sorry.”
“You’ll never find a more beautiful young woman, inside or out, than your sister. But I’ve never heard worse caterwaulin’ in my life. Worried sick about her, though. What’s the matter with all of you?” Bridget glared at Lewis. “Drew says you’re the best, so you must be. Tell us what’s wrong so we can fix it.”
Unflappable, Lewis nodded. “I believe Athena has been exposed to a toxic substance that caused a rapid adverse neurological reaction. It could conceivably be four other illnesses, so I’m prescribing antibiotic and saline drips to cover a broad spectrum. I’m admitting her and moving her to the third floor as soon as I can find a room. I expect the effects of the toxic substance to have worn off by morning.” Lewis studied Bridget’s flushed face. “I’ve been observing you, and I believe you were exposed to the same toxin but to a much lesser degree.”
“I feel great.” Bridget flung up her head and laughed. “In fact, if I can’t do any more to help Athena, I’m headin’ home to snuggle with Connor’s uncle Tony.”
“Way to go, Aunt Bridget,” Venus muttered, heading back to room one with her sister.
Connor shot her his narrow lawyer look before he followed Bridget, who marched toward the exit.
Drew couldn’t help the worry eating at him, even though he knew Connor would take care of her. “Do you want us to talk Bridget back in here?” he asked Lewis.
“No need. I took Bridget’s vitals while you were seeing Athena. I’m positive that Bridget will experience nothing more than a pleasant euphoria or I wouldn’t have let her leave.”
“Good. Then what else should we be doing?”
“We need to get all four of those Bertha Palmer dresses out of the Secret Closet and in my lab by ten o’clock tomorrow morning.”
“Done.”
Drew’s instincts told him he would get to the bottom of whatever had affected Athena, and he would make sure no one else became infected.
Those same instincts warned him that doing so might involve keeping his promise to Athena, after all.
CHAPTER
Athena forced her eyes open, and her black world with shots of orange around the edges disappeared. Now she was in a swirling white mist. She blinked and saw her sisters’ disembodied heads, wearing shockingly solemn expressions, floating toward her.
This isn’t right.
She blinked again and kept blinking until the mist cleared so she saw Venus and Diana’s heads were definitely attached to their bodies. Her body ached all over, especially where an IV needle stuck out of her right arm.
“Why am I in the hospital? Is Bridget all right? Did we have a car wreck?” Her mouth felt dry and her voice sounded thin.
Venus broke into a wide smile. “Bridget is fine. And so are you.”
Snatches of scenes drifted through her aching head. Clayworth Secret Closet. Bridget. Bertha’s dresses.
Woozy, like she’d had too much champagne, but without the memory of a good time, she inched herself higher on the bed pillows. “The last thing I remember is lying beneath the Bertha Palmer gown she wore to her presentation at the Court of Saint James’s. What happened to me?”