Suspicion (27 page)

  "I’m going to have to put your friend in the hospital," he said gravely.

  "It’s that bad?"

  "I’m afraid so. She has a concussion, two broken ribs and some pelvic damage. I gave her something for the pain, but I’m worried there might be some internal bleeding, which is why I want her in the hospital. Unfortunately, she’s giving me a hard time about that."

  "Why?"

  "She has no insurance. And no money."

  Kate waved an impatient hand. "I’ll take care of her bills. Just get her there and back on her feet."

  He looked at her with his serious brown eyes. "This one will have to be reported, Kate. Hospital rules."

  She nodded. "I understand."

  "How are you doing?" he asked as he dialed the number of an ambulance service.

  "Compared to LuAnn, I could probably start training for the New York marathon."

  A smile tugged at his lips. "You two ladies need to find different jobs. The ones you have now have become hazardous to your health."

  To Kate’s dismay, the leading news in the next morning’s issue of the Washington Chronicle was a nearly complete account of Kate’s conversation with the assistant U.S. attorney regarding her withdrawal from the Lamont murder case. Thankfully, there was no mention of Mitch having spent the night at her house. Povich, for whatever reason, must have had second thoughts about that.

  As she read the inflammatory article and Ted Ren check’s statement to the press, "Mrs. Logan finally realized she had no case," Kate threw the paper aside.

  "That bastard," she seethed. "Why didn’t I realize that he would turn anything I said into a golden opportunity for himself?"

  Kate’s anger with the prosecutor was quickly forgotten when Frankie buzzed her to say that Rose was on the line.

  "Oh, Kate," Rose said, her voice filled with dismay. "Alison just found out you withdrew from the Lamont case. She read it in the Chronicle."

  Kate felt herself go numb. "I thought you didn’t subscribe to that paper."

  "We don’t. Douglas hates it, but apparently, Alison asked Joseph to get it for her every day. I didn’t find out until just now."

  "Did she say anything?"

  "I tried to tell her that there were circumstances she just didn’t understand," Rose continued, "but she wouldn’t listen. She left the dining room without touching her breakfast and went upstairs to her room. I’m not even sure she’ll be going to school."

  "Keep her there, Rose. I’m on my way."

  Alison was standing at her bedroom window, looking out. Her arms were folded and her back rigid.

  "Alison."

  Her daughter didn’t turn around. "Is it true?" Her voice shook as though she was on the verge of tears. "You’ve dropped the Lamont case?"

  "Alison, please turn around and look at me. I can’t talk to your back."

  "You said you would help Daddy!" she cried, spinning around and giving Kate the full impact of her fury. "You swore you wouldn’t let him go to prison. And it was all a lie!"

  "It wasn’t a lie. It’s just that…something happened."

  "What? What happened? What could be more important than Daddy?"

  "I can’t tell you…"

  The contempt in Alison’s voice was like a slap in the face. "You can’t tell me because there’s nothing to tell. You’re lying again."

  For a moment, Kate was tempted to tell her the truth and deal with the consequences later. Then she remembered her assailant’s threat and what he had done to LuAnn. She couldn’t take a chance on his doing the same to Alison. Or worse. If Alison had been older, Kate might have confided in her. But she was just a child. She could let something slip at school. It was just too risky.

  "I have to go," Alison said abruptly. "Joseph is waiting for me."

  Kate glanced out the window and saw Joseph standing beside the Mercedes station wagon he used to run errands. "I’ll come and pick you up at school," Kate said. "We can talk then."

  "Don’t bother. And don’t pretend that you care about me, either."

  "Alison, I do care." Tears of frustration pressed behind Kate’s lids. "Why else would I be here?"

  Her head held high, Alison brushed by Kate and left the room.

  From Alison’s window, Kate watched her daughter get into the station wagon. How could she have let things get out of hand the way they had? All she had wanted was to keep her daughter safe-and to win her back. Instead, she had managed to drive her further away. Feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders, she walked down the stairs, shook her head at Rose’s offer of breakfast and left.

  From Potomac, Kate drove directly to Washington Memorial Hospital where LuAnn had been transferred the night before.

  As per Kate’s instructions, LuAnn had been given a private room and around-the-clock nursing. She had also requested that no one, with the exception of herself, LuAnn’s nurses and doctors, and the police, be allowed to visit her. As Kate stepped into the sterile room, she held back a gasp. The left side of LuAnn’s face was bandaged as was the upper part of her torso. She lay very still, her eyes closed.

  "How is she doing?" Kate whispered to the nurse as LuAnn began to stir.

  Nurse Holt was a no-nonsense woman with a chest like a sumo wrestler, short curly hair and alert brown eyes. "The night nurse told me she had a restless night. Other than that, she seems to be doing fine."

  "Is she still bleeding?"

  "Some. And that’s her fault." She glanced at LuAnn over Kate’s shoulder, a stern expression on her face. "She’s been told to lie still, but does she listen? No, sirree. She keeps moving around, not giving a rat’s behind what anybody says to her."

  LuAnn, fully awake now, made a snickering sound. "Don’t listen to the warden, Kate. She’s spoiling for a fight."

  Kate walked over to the bed, glad that her worst fears hadn’t been realized. "Well, I see you’re in good spirits." She handed LuAnn the huge bouquet of yellow roses she had bought at the flower shop downstairs. "These are for you."

  "Oh, Kate, you shouldn’t have." LuAnn brought the flowers to her face, but was careful not to inhale too

  deeply. "You’ve done so much already-the room, the nurse… It must be costing you a fortune."

  Kate pulled up a chair and sat down. "Don’t worry about it. It’s only money, as they say."

  At Kate’s remark, LuAnn chuckled, then winced.

  "Are you in pain?"

  "Only when I laugh. The good nurse here has a pocket full of pretty purple pills, but they make me dopey as hell, so I’m not taking them anymore."

  "See what I mean?" the nurse said before burying her nose in a crossword puzzle.

  "Maybe you should take the pills, LuAnn. Why suffer if you don’t have to?"

  "No way. If that bastard decides to come back for me, I want to be ready for him." She made a fist of her right hand, then, pressing her head back against the pillows, she sighed. "Who am I kidding? He’d break my arm before I could even blink." She glanced at Kate. "How does he know you and I talked, Kate? And how did he find me?"

  Kate held back a sigh of frustration. "I don’t know. Do you think you were followed that day at the museum?"

  LuAnn’s expression remained worried. "I must have been. I told Brad I thought someone was watching me at the cemetery, but he said I was imagining things." She turned to look at Kate. "What if that man knows where I am and comes back for me?"

  "He can’t get to you in here, LuAnn. There are always two nurses on duty at the nurses’ station and one here in your room. You’re safe."

  "I’m glad to hear that." Her gaze rested on Kate’s left cheek. "I was feeling too lousy last night to ask, but… Is that a bruise I see? Our friend wouldn’t have paid you a visit, too, would he?"

  "As a matter of fact, he did." Before LuAnn could ask another question, Kate placed a finger on her lips and looked at the nurse, indicating that she didn’t want to discuss the incident with a third party in the room.

  LuAnn nodded.

  "Has anyone been in to see you?" Kate asked.

  "One of Washington’s finest was here-a detective by the name of Carl Cook."

  "What did you tell him?"

  LuAnn’s voice dropped to a whisper again. "That I fell down a flight of stairs." She looked sheepish. "Pretty unimaginative, huh?"

  Kate smiled, remembering she had been ready to use the same excuse. "Did he believe you?"

  "Nope. And you know what? I don’t give a damn. I’m not about to give the brute who beat me up a reason to come back and teach me another lesson."

  Kate laid a hand on LuAnn’s arm and squeezed it gently. "You did fine, LuAnn. Just don’t worry anymore, okay?"

  "Okay."

  As LuAnn moved her legs, a copy of The Washingtonian, folded to a page, fell to the floor. Kate bent to pick it up. "Can I get you anything else to read?" she asked, putting it back on the bed. "Another magazine? A newspaper?"

  "No, thank you." LuAnn glanced above Kate’s shoulder. "Nurse Holt," she said sweetly as she held the flowers out to her, "would you be a dear and put these in water for me? And if it’s not too much trouble, could I have another cup of tea? With milk this time. Not lemon."

  The nurse rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, but stoically did as she was asked. LuAnn waited until they were alone before picking up The Washingtonian.

  "I wanted you to see this," she said, handing the magazine to Kate. "And tell me if you think it means anything."

  "You wanted me to see what?"

  "This picture." She pointed at a color photograph. "I know this man. I mean…I’ve seen him before. At the Europa Hotel. With Maddy Mays."

  Openmouthed, Kate stared at a photograph of Douglas.

  Kate looked from the photograph to LuAnn. "Are you sure?"

  "Positive. It was June 16 of this year. I remember the date because it’s my birthday. Holly came to Washington that afternoon and took me to the Europa Hotel for high tea. We do that sometimes," she added with a small smile. "You know, play hoity-toity, as Holly calls it."

  "And you saw that man there?"

  LuAnn nodded. "I was looking for the ladies’ room when I heard people coming out of an elevator way in the back. Knowing it was the penthouse elevator, and being a little starstruck, I hid behind a wall and watched to see who it was." She let out a small laugh. "In a classy joint like that, you never know when you’re going to run into Paul Newman. Or Harrison Ford."

  "But you saw this man instead." Puzzled, Kate gazed down at the photograph again. In anticipation of the Washingtonian of the Year Award presentation in January, the magazine had published the photos of the fifteen winners along with a couple of paragraphs listing their accomplishments. Douglas shared page sixty-nine with a former Redskins running back who had funded a football clinic for underprivileged children.

  "Yes," LuAnn said. "He had his arm around Maddy’s shoulders. They were laughing."

  "Did they see you?"

  "They couldn’t. I told you I sneaked behind a wall."

  "Where did they go?"

  "Nowhere. The man kissed Maddy on the cheek and left through a back door that said Garage. The woman went back to the elevator."

  "Why didn’t you tell me this before?"

  She shrugged. "It never occurred to me to mention it. And I wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for that magazine photo. Then this morning, I heard one of the doctors say something about Douglas Fairchild being your ex-father-in-law." LuAnn glanced toward the door before asking, "Is that true, Kate?"

  "Yes, it’s true." Still stunned by what she had heard, Kate returned her gaze to the photograph. What was going on here? Was Maddy Mays a friend of Douglas’s? Or one of his clients? If so, why had he never mentioned her to Kate?

  Nurse Holt had returned. She carried a glass vase in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. "Here you are, Your Highness," she said, handing the cup to LuAnn.

  As the nurse went into the bathroom to fill up the vase, Kate bent over to kiss LuAnn’s cheek. "Do me a favor, LuAnn. Don’t mention this to anyone."

  LuAnn gripped her sheet with both hands. "Why? Is he the one who-"

  Kate shook her head. "No, no, of course not, but I need to talk to him. Until then, not a word, okay?"

  LuAnn nodded. "Okay."

  Moments later, Kate was on her way back to the office. As she drove, she remembered something Eric had said about Douglas once. "With Mother having lost her zest for sex, I wonder where the old man gets it now?"

  It had been one of Eric’s typically crude remarks, one she hadn’t even dignified with an answer. Now, she couldn’t get it out of her mind.

  "Douglas? You have a minute?"

  Douglas looked up from a stack of papers and smiled as he waved Kate in. "How are you, Kate? Beginning to feel better?"

  "Physically, yes."

  At the gravity of her tone, a look of surprise flickered across his face. "Something wrong?"

  "I’m afraid so." She gazed at him in silence, unable to imagine that the man she had known for almost fifteen years could be a friend of Maddy Mays without her knowing about it.

  "Well, Kate?" Douglas said a little impatiently. "What is it?"

  She dived right in. "Do you know a woman by the name of Maddy Mays?"

  Fear, just a flash of it, was the first expression she saw in Douglas’s eyes. As quickly as it had come, however, it was gone. "The hotel owner?" he asked, frowning slightly. "I know of her, but I don’t know her personally, no."

  "You’ve never been to the Europa Hotel?"

  "Of course I’ve been to the Europa Hotel. Many times. I’ve been there for drinks, for dinner meetings, even for a luncheon or two."