“But I... I can’t drive... ”
“That’s what the traffic cops told me.”
Slowly, her memory started coming back. “There was a bright light, all around the car. It made me go off the road... ”
Arvo nodded. “Police helicopter. Thirty-point-five billion candlepower. No wonder it damn near blinded you. They’d been chasing you since about the sixth car you drove off the road. Which says a lot about the general level of driving in LA, don’t you think?”
Sarah suddenly remembered something important and tried to sit up. “Stuart? Is Stuart all right?”
She felt Arvo squeeze her hand and push her gently back down onto the pillows. “Stu’s going to be okay. He lost a lot of blood but they got him here in time. He might not be eating any burgers with the works for a while, but he’ll live.”
“Thank God,” Sarah murmured. “He was after us. I think he stabbed Stuart. I had no choice. I didn’t know any hospitals, how to get to one... I was scared of turning corners.”
“I know,” said Arvo. “You did the right thing. You saved his life. Do you think you can tell me what happened?”
“I... I’m very thirsty... Do you think... ?”
Arvo passed her a plastic container of water with a bent straw and she sipped it greedily. When she’d finished, she gave a little burp and blushed. “’Scuse me,” she said, putting her hand to her chest. “What about me? You said I was okay, but I feel like I’ve been through the wringer. I can’t move my neck. Am I paralysed?”
“No. You’re fine. It’s mostly shock. Some minor cuts and bruises. Mild concussion. Nothing broken. They kept you in overnight for observation, that’s all. You’ve been sedated. That’s why you feel a little strange. And your neck’s in a brace. Whiplash. You should have worn your seatbelt, you know.”
“Yes, well, I had other things on my mind. Does Karen know?”
“She’s with Stu right now. Really, Sarah, don’t worry. You both came through it okay. Would I lie to you?”
The left corner of her mouth twitched in a smile. “You’d better not. Was I right? Did he stab Stuart?”
“Yes. Twice, in the stomach. Like to tell me what happened?”
Sarah collected her woolly thoughts and found that they were getting sharper. The sedative was wearing off and she was regaining her normal clarity. As best she could, she told Arvo everything, right from the start, when Stuart stumbled back into the car and she saw the man beckoning her. There was something she’d forgotten. The silver Toyota in the carport, that was it.
“Zak. Have you caught him? It was Zak, wasn’t it?” she said. “My so-called bodyguard.”
Arvo shook his head. “I must admit that’s what I thought, too, for a while. But no. Zak was in an auto accident on the west-bound Santa Monica Freeway earlier that evening.”
“The accident Stuart saw,” she said. “The one that made him late. But I don’t understand. It doesn’t make sense. He can’t have been. It was Zak’s car at Stuart’s. I saw it.”
“Maybe it was like his, but it wasn’t his car.”
“Is he all right?”
“A few broken bones, but he’ll live.”
“Thank God for that. I don’t think I could stand another death on my conscience.”
“It’s not your fault, Sarah. Try to remember that. Now what did the man look like? Did he look like Zak? Do you remember?”
“You haven’t caught him?”
“No. He didn’t bother hanging around when the cop car came after you.”
She shook her head. “He was in the shadows, or my face was reflected over his in the window. He was dressed in black.”
“What color was his hair?”
“Blond.”
“How tall was he?”
“Not really tall. Medium, I’d guess.” “Fat or thin?”
“Medium, again. That’s why I thought it must be Zak. I’d only seen him from a distance and they were the same size and coloring.”
“I know. Was this man muscular?”
“I don’t know. I mean, he wasn’t skinny or fat. It could have been muscle. I’m sorry I’m not being much help. I was so scared, so worried about Stuart, so confused.”
“It’s okay. Did you recognize him?”
Sarah frowned. “I didn’t get a good look. Why? Should I?”
“Do you remember someone called Mitch? Mitchell Cameron?”
Her brow furrowed. “The name sounds vaguely familiar.”
“From the tour with Gary. He was a kind of unofficial bodyguard, wanted to write songs for Gary, be part of the band. You met him in Vesuvio’s in San Francisco. He looked after—”
“Yes,” Sarah said, her hand tightening on Arvo’s. “Yes. I think I know who you mean. I always called him ‘The Creep.’”
“I was given to understand that he liked you very much.”
“Are you saying this Mitch is the one?”
“I don’t know for sure,” Arvo said, “but it’s looking more than likely. We know he came here to LA with the tour and we think he’s still here. Could he have been the one?”
Sarah tried to picture the face at the car window. The problem was that she really hadn’t got a good enough look, and she couldn’t remember Mitch Cameron clearly. She knew the name, had a vague memory of his being around with his quiet brother, opening doors for her and such. But the truth was she had been either too stoned or too depressed to really notice anyone at that time. Sadly, she shook her head on the pillow. “I’m sorry.” She felt something pushing at the surface of her memory, trying to get out, like a hand reaching through the darkness, clawing away the cobwebs. “Just a minute.”
“What?”
“I’ve remembered something. It was my birthday. We were in San Diego, I think, and someone — maybe even Gary — hired a restaurant for a party with a cake and everything. They were all there. All stoned. I just have this mental image of someone starting to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and everyone joining in. I think it was him who started it. Mitch.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! Yes.” She started to sit up but Arvo pushed her back gently and told her to take it easy. “I knew I remembered it from somewhere,” she went on. “I’m sorry, I really wasn’t holding back before. When I first saw it written there, on the letter, it rang some sort of distant bell, but I didn’t know why, or where. Now, all of a sudden, I can picture him singing it very quietly, almost under his breath, and looking at me with those eyes.” She shivered at the memory.
“Can you remember anything else about him?”
“Not really. I mean, he was a presence. He was around. He must have liked me because he was always smiling at me and calling me pet names, but he gave me the creeps.”
“Did he ever make a pass at you?”
“No. I don’t think so. He never got that close, really. He was always just on the periphery, in the background. I think the closest he ever got physically was opening a car door for me.”
“When did you see him last?” Arvo asked.
“Before I went to stay with Ellie. He was... ”
“What?”
“Nothing. Just something I thought I’d remembered, but it slipped away again.”
“You broke all contact with Gary and his entourage?”
“Yes. I never saw or talked to any of them again, and none of them ever tried to contact me.”
“Could they have found you?”
“Not easily. I was either at Ellie’s or at the Shelley Clinic.”
“Did Gary know about Ellie?”
“Gary might have, yes. But Gary died.”
“No one else in the group knew you had a friend in the area called Ellie?”