He smiled as he heard the familiar slither within the case. He had chosen well. This Mama Zela was restless and eager to strike. It was his habit to call all the snake gods by his mother’s name whenever he decided a death deserved the proper ritual. Sometimes, as he watched with fascination a snake writhe and strike, he wondered if his mother had come back to earth and could truly be one of the snakes he used to kill. It wouldn’t surprise him. His mother had been as vicious and full of poison as a rattlesnake until the day he had shoved the bitch into that coffin and given her the snake to keep her company. The idea of her coming back as a serpent amused him; he liked the idea of being able to keep her caged up and made to do his bidding. “Don’t be impatient, Mama. I’ll have plenty of work for you soon,” he whispered. “Everything is ready. We only have to wait until that other bitch comes through with what I need. We don’t get the chance of doing kills the way we want them very often, do we? But this is worth a little time and risk.” His hand stroked the smooth metal of the case. “You’re going to like Eve Duncan, dear Mama Zela.”
* * *
“WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY?” Beth asked as she closed the last page. “You’re looking at me as if you think I’m going to explode or something.”
“I didn’t know what you were going to do,” Eve said. “But I thought there would be more response than this. I was more upset than you are.”
“I’m upset. I think it’s terrible. But it’s as if it happened to someone else. I can’t remember it, Eve.” She moistened her lips. “And how can I believe it if I don’t remember it?”
“You don’t believe it happened?”
“I think some of it might have been true.”
“Why not all of it?”
“The part about Rick and that young girl. It’s … ugly. I won’t believe he’d do that kind of thing. Rick isn’t like that.”
“Isn’t he? You must have noticed that he was attracted to young girls. What about your friends? Didn’t he ever comment on them? Didn’t you notice that he liked to be around them?”
“No!” Beth’s eyes were suddenly blazing. “Stop saying things like that. It’s natural that he’d like to be around my friends. He knew I was lonely because he couldn’t be with me. He told me that he wanted me to have lots of friends around me to make up for it. Of course he liked all of my school friends. And they liked him, everyone likes Rick.”
“I’m sure they did. He seems to be a charmer.” Eve added quietly, “But a charmer with a terrible flaw, Beth. We think the Asian girl you saw that night was a Chinese prostitute who was only twelve years old. And there’s a good chance she died because Rick’s mother thought she was a danger to her son’s career.”
“If it did happen, it was his mother’s fault. Rick had nothing to do with it.” Her hand reached up and desperately clutched the golden key on the chain at her throat. “He would never hurt anyone.”
“There are many ways to hurt besides the physical.” Her gaze was on the golden key. “I’ve noticed you grab that pendant whenever you’re upset. Did he give it to you?”
“Yes, when I was sixteen.” Her voice was uneven. “He told me to wear it forever, and I’d know that I had the key to his heart. No matter how far apart we were, we’d still be together.” She stared at Eve defiantly. “It was on my neck all the time I was in the hospital. He must have told them to make sure it was never taken from me.”
“Very sentimental. It would have been better if he’d dropped the sentiment and tried to find a way to get you out of that place.”
“I’m sure he would have done it if he could. They must have lied to him. He wasn’t to blame. He loves me.”
Eve gazed at her helplessly. Beth wasn’t going to believe anything against her father, and, since he was the center of what happened that night at the chalet, she was looking at the entire report skeptically. How was Eve going to reach her?
“Beth, I believe that Gelber told the exact truth in those notes. Why would he lie?”
“How do I know?” she said jerkily. “I’ve been surrounded by violence and lies since Billy helped me escape from that hospital. Black is white. But I have to hold on to something. The only person I believe in is Rick. I won’t give him up because of some scribbling of that idiot doctor.”
“Beth…”
“No, Eve.” She shook her head forcefully. “Don’t talk about it anymore.”
“I will talk about it,” Eve said. “Cling to Rick if you have to do it, but believe that what happened that night was the reason that you lost all those years. You saw something you shouldn’t have seen, and Nelda Avery had to be sure that you didn’t talk. You may be right that Rick did love you and that—”
“Of course—and he still loves me.”
“Let me finish. If Nelda Avery wanted to keep her hold over her son, she couldn’t risk killing you. Even an accidental death would appear entirely too ‘convenient’ to him under the circumstances. But a tragic skiing accident in which your injury required permanent care and restraint would fit the bill. It actually must have been very satisfying for her on several levels. Your very existence must have been a constant thorn in her flesh since her son insisted on keeping in touch with you. It was much safer to have you under strict control. Will you accept that as being reasonable?”
“Maybe.” She went on in a rush of words, “I know that you think I’m being foolish. But what if that report was twisted and not true? All that about me not being able to breathe … Wouldn’t that posthypnotic suggestion have some kind of an effect on me now if it wasn’t pure bull? I’m fine, Eve.”
“Because in your heart you’re still believing what Gelber told you to believe, that you never went to that chalet. Because you’re afraid it’s going to hurt too much if you believe what really happened. You’d take the physical pain but not the emotional.”
“Think what you like.” She tossed the pages on Eve’s lap. “Everyone has gone to a lot of trouble to try to help me, and I appreciate that you—” She had to stop, her eyes glittering with tears. “I’m sorry, Eve,” she whispered. “It hurts me to have you believe I’m not grateful for all you’ve done. I want to think what you think, do what you think is best, but I can’t. I have to go my own way. Please forgive me.”
Eve could feel her throat tighten as she looked at her. In a way, she had tortured Beth as much as that bastard Gelber by bringing her face-to-face with her father’s sins and his involvement in her imprisonment in that hospital. How could she expect her to be willing to accept it? It might take a long time for her even to come close.
But they didn’t have a long time, she thought desperately. Things were moving at light speed.
Maybe they could work around Beth in some way, Eve thought wearily as she got to her feet. They seemed to have no choice at the moment. “There’s nothing to forgive.” She put the notes back on the bed. “I only ask you to read it again and see if—just read it again.” She turned toward the door. “I’ll see you later. I’m going to check with Joe and see if he’s been able to contact Cara Sandler. We’re trying to verify Gelber’s notes. I know you didn’t like or trust her, but we have to do what we can to—”
“Eve.”
Eve looked back at her.
“I … have to tell you something.”
“So tell me.”
“This is … difficult for me. I think I— I don’t know much about affection and stuff like that except with Rick. But I think I like—” She lifted her chin. “No, I think I … care for you. After all, we’re sisters. I guess that’s not weird or anything. You don’t have to feel the same way about me. That’s okay. We’ve barely gotten to know each other. I just wanted to let you know. Things happen, and if you don’t say the words, then they might get lost, and I wouldn’t—”
“Hush, Beth.” Eve smiled at her. “It’s difficult for me, too. We seem to be alike in more than blood. I think I care for you as well. But we’re as different as night and day in most things, and it’s going to take some doing to bridge those differences. We’ll have to take our time.”