“And you learned this… how?”
All the possible responses ran through Baxter’s brain. Vast intelligence. Exhaustive research. Pummeling informants.
Aw, what the hell? He was her partner, after all. “I learned this because the joint was really busy and I happened to get waited on by the district manager.”
“What joint?” he asked, grabbing her by the shoulders. “What are you talking about?”
“Haven’t you guessed? The two hearts with the flat bottoms are actually Bs lying sideways. The wispy art style is meant to suggest aroma and the hearts are intended to represent bliss.” She paused. “Burger Bliss, to be precise.”
Peter Rothko twisted Hayley Bennett’s arm behind her back, sending searing blades of pain cascading through her body. The pain was so intense that tears sprang involuntarily from her eyes. He threw her down onto the floor in a corner, banging her head against a sink. He whipped out a pair of handcuffs and attached one end to her wrist, the other to the pipe beneath the basin.
Behind them, Gabriel Aravena stood like the castle sentry, his face emotionless.
“You must be feeling pretty lucky right now,” Rothko muttered, tossing back his orange bangs. He was dripping with sweat.
No, Bennett thought, she was definitely not feeling very lucky.
“If that nosy neighbor of yours hadn’t wandered into the office at the wrong time, you’d be dead right now. Wasn’t very lucky for him, though.” A smile curled across Rothko’s face-a smile Bennett did not like in the least. “Don’t worry. Your time will come.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” she said, trying to catch her breath. She knew it was probably useless, but she had to try. “I never have.”
“You never have because you never figured it out, until today.” He reared back the palm of his hand and slapped her, right across the face. “As for the rest, I agree. You won’t tell anyone.”
Bennett couldn’t stop her chest from heaving, couldn’t prevent her arms from shaking. “Wh-what are you going to do to me?”
“I won’t do anything, my dear. But your friend, Mr. Aravena… Well, that is another matter entirely.”
“Gabe,” she said. “I know you’re a good person at heart. I know you want to be good. You don’t have to do this.”
“Oh, but he does,” Rothko said, leering. He nudged Aravena. “Don’t you, Gabe?”
Aravena obviously would’ve preferred to remain silent, but forced himself to speak. “I must do as he says, Dr. Bennett.”
Tears spilled out of her eyes. “You can take control of your life, Gabe! You can be whoever you want to be.”
“Enough of this psychobabble,” Rothko said. “Gabriel, perhaps it’s best you wait outside. I’ll call if I need you again.”
Aravena nodded, then slowly trudged out of the tiny room.
Rothko knelt down and squeezed Bennett’s face. “I saw what you had in Frank’s file. Your little description of me. That could’ve been very damaging, you know. Very damaging.”
“I would never have told anyone.”
“I wish I could believe you, my dear. But you appear to have been doing that very thing when I arrived. I can’t trust you.”
“You can! I promise-”
“Don’t insult my intelligence.” He shoved her back against the pipe. Bennett felt as if her head had been split open. She could feel blood trickling from her scalp.
“I’ll… do… whatever you want me to do…” she gasped.
“A generous offer. But there’s not really much you can do for me at this point, is there?” He stood and brushed off the front of his exercise suit. “I’m going back to your office now, Doctor, to make sure there aren’t any other incriminating bits of information lingering in your files. Maybe I’ll just burn down the whole damn place. I’d rather take care of you first, but there’s no telling when another of your nosy neighbors might drop by. Don’t worry, dear-I’ll be back for you.”
“Please don’t hurt me!”
“I may need to ask you some questions about what I find-which is the only reason you’re still alive. But after that-”
She clenched her eyes shut.
“Don’t harbor any illusions about being discovered. I shut this place down weeks ago. No one comes here anymore. No one even comes close. You could scream your head off. No one will know-except Gabriel. And do you really want to attract his attention? When you’re so lovely and so… vulnerable?”
Her stomach was in such turmoil she felt she could be sick at any moment. Her entire body was shaking uncontrollably.
He leaned in close, so near that she could smell his hot breath. “But I will return. Very soon. And when I do… it will be time for you to go. Just as it was for Erin. Just as it was for Sheila.”
He gave her a kick to the side of the ribs, then left the room, leaving Bennett alone.
Even in her tears, even in the midst of the fear and panic that consumed her, she knew she had to do something. And quickly. Because it was evident Gabriel had not been taking his medication, and she knew him-and his problems-well enough to realize that she was a temptation, an opportunity for vengeance, that he would not be able to resist long.
And even if he did, when Rothko returned, he would kill her. For certain. And with pleasure.
Chapter 29
Baxter and Mike were both still in his office. Since Baxter had made the “Burger Bliss” breakthrough, they hadn’t paused for a moment.
“Got it,” Mike announced, slamming down the phone. “They’re going to fax over a list of top executives and managers-everyone who had access to their private dining room.”
“At this time of night?” Baxter was hunched over a short bookcase she had turned into a makeshift desk in the corner. “Nice work. How’d you manage that?”
“No biggie. Just proves what my ex-wife taught me.”
“Hard work pays off in the end?”
Mike shook his head. “If you yell loud enough, you usually get what you want.”
The fax machine in the hallway began to hum. Mike started toward it.
“Not only compliant, but expeditious. You gotta love it. I’ll make a copy of the list and-”
“Mike!”
He stopped just inside the doorway. “Yeah?”
“Isn’t Peter Rothko the guy who started Burger Bliss? And now he’s like the third richest man on earth?”
“Yeah. So?”
She raised her head out of a mess of papers. “I was just reviewing the list you got from the marina. Out at Grand Lake, where Sheila Knight was killed.”
“And?”