Eve dropped down in a chair across from him. “That ugly?”
His lips twisted. “That ugly.”
Eve hesitated and then started to read.
Gelber:
“Now you have to stop resisting, Beth. Our last session didn’t please me, and you know how important it is to please me. Say it.”
Beth:
“I—want to please you.”
Gelber:
“And you know that I’m the only one who tells you the truth. Someone has been telling you lies and making you believe them. You’re confused, but I’m going to straighten it all out for you. But you mustn’t resist me. It will hurt you. You know what happens. Every time you tell me one of the lies, your throat will tighten and your heart will pound and you won’t be able to breathe.”
Beth:
“No! Please. It scares me.”
Gelber:
“It’s not up to me. You’re the one who tells the lies.”
Beth:
“I don’t mean to lie. Keep it from hurting me.”
Gelber:
“I’ll try. Let’s go through it again. Open your mind. Trust me, Beth.”
“Trust him?” Eve lifted her gaze from the page. “You’re right, Newell. Gelber was a complete son of a bitch. He actually used torture?”
“He was a brilliant hypnotist. He used it as one of his tools. Diabolic. No evidence of what he’d done or marks on the body of the subject. But you can imagine the pain and panic of not being able to breathe.”
“I can imagine,” Joe said grimly. “And how eager that subject would be to avoid undergoing it after the first time.”
“There were many, many times,” Newell said. “I caught a glimpse of its use in several sessions. Beth was very stubborn. But they kept after her until they had what they wanted. She was almost there when she was in this session. Finish it.”
Eve didn’t want to finish it. It made her sick. But she had to go on. It wasn’t fair to Beth to avoid reading it if her sister had managed to survive it.
Beth:
“But if I don’t think about it, if I don’t talk about it, then I won’t lie. Won’t that be good enough?”
Gelber:
“You know it won’t. You have to believe it, Beth. Now tell me about the night before your accident. That’s where all the lies start.”
Beth:
“I don’t remember that night.”
Gelber:
“That’s not acceptable. Can’t you feel the pain start?”
Beth:
“Yes, I can’t—I remember. I do remember. I was so happy. Rick had called to tell me that he’d rented a chalet for a week. It was only about ten miles from the lodge, and he said that he’d be able to see me the next day. Maybe we’d even go skiing. He laughed and said that I had to take it easy when we were on those slopes together. I was getting too good for him.”
Gelber:
“You’re lying again.”
Beth:
“No, I’m not. I don’t feel any pain yet. That must mean I’m telling the truth.”
Gelber:
“No, it only means that the lies have to hit home first. Stop being defiant. Go on.”
Beth:
“I was so excited. I hadn’t seen Rick for over a year. I didn’t want to wait until the next day. I wanted to see him right away. I decided to go to his chalet and surprise him. But I didn’t have a car, and I had to ask Cara to take me.”
Gelber:
“Your friend, Cara Sandler.”
Beth:
“That’s right. But she wasn’t really my friend. She said she’d take me, but she wouldn’t just drop me off at his chalet. She wanted to come in and meet him. She’d heard about Rick from me, but she was more impressed by the stories about how he was going to be the next senator from South Carolina.”
Gelber:
“And you agreed to her terms.”
Beth:
“I wanted to see him.”
Gelber:
“What time did you get to the chalet?”
Beth:
“I’m not sure. A few hours later. Ten or ten thirty.”
Gelber:
“Tell me about it. You arrived at the chalet. What did you see?”
Beth:
“Rick’s car. He’d bought a new Mercedes the year before and took me for a ride in it.” Pause. “And another car, a black Cadillac with rental plates. I was disappointed. I was hoping Rick would be alone. But I was going to go knock on the door anyway. Cara parked down the road, a little distance from the chalet, and I unlocked my door.”
Gelber:
“But you didn’t get out of the car.”
Beth:
“The front door opened, and a woman came out. She was older and dressed in a fur coat with a hood. She hurried down the steps and turned to call to the man behind her. ‘Hurry, Rick. I have to get her to the hospital.’ Then Rick came out of the chalet. He was carrying a girl wrapped in a green blanket. She had long black hair, and I think she was Asian. She had her eyes closed, and one bare arm was outside the blanket.”
Gelber:
“Dead.”
Beth:
“I didn’t say that. I don’t know. If the woman was going to take her to the hospital, then she wasn’t dead. Right?”
Gelber:
“But you were afraid she might be.”
Beth:
“I didn’t know what to think. I was just confused and scared.”
Gelber:
“What happened next?”
Beth:
“Rick put the girl in the backseat of the Cadillac. He looked scared, too. He slammed the door of the car and stepped back. He said, ‘You shouldn’t have done it, Mother. Why did you hit her with that statue? It wasn’t her fault.’ She said, ‘No, it was yours. You know the rules. And it was only an accident, but I’ll fix it. She’ll be fine once I get her to the hospital. You just stay out of it.’ He nodded. ‘She’s only a kid. You take good care of her.’ She pulled away from the chalet. ‘Don’t I always take good care of everything? I’ll call you later, Rick.’ Then she started down the road.”
Gelber:
“That was when she saw you and Cara parked by the side of the road.”
Beth:
“Yes, her headlights were directly on us, and she saw us sitting there. I knew she saw us. She turned her head and stared at us as she passed. She looked … angry.”
Gelber: