What was she thinking? This man preyed on young girls. He was indirectly responsible for the death of that twelve-year-old at the chalet. “Don’t listen to him, Beth.”
But it was Eve Beth wasn’t hearing. Beth was totally focused, totally absorbed in her father. She was paying no attention to Eve. “I knew that you weren’t to blame. I still have my key, Rick. When I saw it, I knew that you hadn’t stopped caring about me.”
“Of course I care about you. Nelda gave me reports about you every month.” He paused. “But I’ve been so worried about you since you left the hospital. Why did you do that? Everyone wants to do what’s best for you. Nelda said it was some young orderly who filled your head with lies and caused you to run away.” He added harshly, “I wanted to break his neck for putting you in danger like that. You weren’t prepared to face life outside of the hospital. Anything could have happened. Everyone was searching for you, even the police. Did you know that?”
“Yes, and Billy is my friend. He wanted to help me. He could see that I wasn’t really sick.”
“You are sick,” Rick said gently. “All the doctors say that’s true. You have to believe it, so that we can try to get you well.”
“And keep me there another ten years or more?” Beth asked jerkily. “I’m not sick. I’m not crazy. Eve says that it was all a plot.”
“Do you know how paranoid that sounds?”
“Rick, you have to believe me. Please.”
“I want to believe you. Do you think I wouldn’t be over the moon if I thought you were getting well after all this time? But Dr. Pierce says that you haven’t altered the—”
“Pierce is dead.”
“What?”
“You didn’t know? A car accident here in L.A. At least the police think it’s an accident. Joe and Eve aren’t sure it’s not murder.”
“Good God, it’s no wonder you’re paranoid with them pouring poison like that in your ears. Dr. Pierce took care of you for years, and your half sister appears on the scene, and you forget everything he did for you.”
Eve couldn’t let that go by without a response. “Imprisonment, drug addiction, theft of everything that made life worth living.” She was speaking loud enough so that he could hear her. “That’s what Pierce did for her, Avery.”
“You’re mistaken,” Rick said. “And I’m sorry that you feel that way. It’s clear that you wish to help Beth and I’m grateful. But you couldn’t be more wrong. You don’t believe her, do you, Beth?”
Beth looked at Eve. “I think I do, Rick. Things have … happened.”
Silence. “Then we have to talk this out. I was just going to ask you to come back to the hospital with me, but I want to be fair. If there’s any possibility that you’re right, I’ll be there for you. We’ll get everything straightened out, and I’ll take you home with me. But if you can’t convince me, then you’ll go back to therapy. Maybe a new doctor at a facility close to me, so I can visit you. It’s what I always wanted anyway.”
“Close to you?” Beth repeated. “I will convince you, Rick. I swear there’s nothing wrong with me.”
“You’re already convincing me.” He chuckled. “Now you remind me of my tough, beautiful girl who put all those other girls in your school in the shade.”
“You’re the only one who ever called me beautiful.” Her hand reached up and clasped the key pendant. “They say … something happened at the chalet that night. I don’t remember, but I know it wasn’t your fault.”
“You don’t remember?” He sounded suddenly relieved. “Then it’s better forgotten. We’ll start new and bright after we get all this straightened out.” He added crisply, “I’d come to you, but we couldn’t really talk with you surrounded by all those people who think I’m not doing what’s best for you. It’s better if you come to me.”
Beth frowned. “South Carolina?”
“No, I’m in Los Angeles. Nelda said that no one could find you but that I might be able to help. As soon as I knew you needed me, I hopped a plane and came here.”
“A little late,” Eve said. But she had little hope that it would have any effect. “And, of course, Nelda had no ulterior motive.”
“I won’t let you malign my mother. She wants me to be happy and Beth to get well. That’s her only agenda. Beth, will you come to me so that we can talk?”
“No!” Eve said.
“Where are you?” Beth asked.
“I had to keep away from the big hotels. The media are always after me these days. I’m at a small beach house near Malibu. As soon as you get on the way, I’ll give you the address.”
“She’s not going,” Eve said. “I don’t trust you or your mother or whatever slimeballs you might have waiting for Beth.”
“I’ll be alone. I promise, Beth.” He paused. “But you’ll have to be alone, too. Don’t bring Quinn or your friend, Billy. They would only get in the way. I love you. I’ve always loved you. Will you trust me?”
Beth spoke without even a hesitation. “I trust you. I’m coming, Rick.” She hung up.
“Don’t be crazy, Beth,” Eve said. “It’s a trap.”
“It’s not a trap. Couldn’t you tell? Rick meant every word he said. He’s never lied to me.” She met her gaze as she got to her feet. “He cares about me.”
She couldn’t argue with Rick Avery’s sincerity. It was no wonder Beth had believed him. Eve had tried to punch holes in his words, but she couldn’t fault that part of his story. She could see how Sandra, and now Beth, had been caught and held by him all these years. If he was a liar, he was the greatest one she had ever met. “So he appeared to be telling the truth. It doesn’t mean that he’s not being used.”
“What if he’s not? We’re not sure if his mother is to blame for what happened. I can’t remember anything. Maybe it was all Pierce’s fault, his plan.” Her eyes were glittering in her taut face, and her expression was alight with excitement. “I have to go to Rick. He wants to talk to me. We may be able to go home together.”
“You’ve never had a home with him,” she said in despair.
“Not because he didn’t want to give me a home. It was just … difficult.” She gazed at Eve pleadingly. “It’s my chance, Eve. I don’t want to turn my back on it.”
“It’s a trap.”
“No. Rick wouldn’t do that.” She turned and started toward the garden gate. “I’m going. Don’t try to stop me.”
She meant it, and there was no way to argue her out of it.
“Okay, I won’t.” She jumped to her feet and strode toward the gate. “But I’m going with you. Don’t argue. You’re not going alone. I’ll drive you.”
“Rick told me not to bring—”
“Then Rick will have to change his mind,” she said grimly. “You can leave Newell and Joe out of the mix, but you’re not going to leave this house without me. I’m going with you, I’m taking my gun, and I’m going to search that beach house before you take a step inside it.”
“It’s going to be all right, Eve,” Beth said. “I feel it. Whatever you believe about his mother, I know Rick is a good guy. I just have to show him that I’m not a mental case, then we’ll put our heads together to try to find out what happened to me.”
“We’re already trying to do that.” Eve made an impatient gesture. “And we’ve come pretty damn close without Rick Avery’s help. But I can’t convince you of that, can I?” She didn’t wait for an answer as she pulled the garden gate closed behind her and headed around the house toward the car in the driveway. “So we’ll do it your way and hope that you’re right. But there’s no way that I’ll bank on it. If your father wants to get cozy with you, then he’ll have to take me with the package.” She got into the driver’s seat of the Toyota and started the car. “Get in. Faith is a wonderful thing, but I’m sadly lacking in it at the moment. Let’s get this over.”
“You don’t have to have faith,” Beth said. “I have it. You’ll realize when you meet him how—”
“Eve!” Newel
l was running out the front door. “What the hell is happening? Where—”
“I’ll call you,” Eve called to him as she drove off down the street. “I promise.” She turned the corner and headed for the entrance of the subdivision. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I don’t like leaving Newell in the dark. I don’t like anything about this.”
“Then let me take you back, and I’ll drive myself,” Beth said quietly. “You’ve done enough for me. Let me take over now.”
“I can’t do that.” She drew a deep breath and tried to release the frustration that was both useless and emotionally wearing. “I have to see it through to the end. I understand that sisters do that for each other. Give me my phone. I’m calling Newell. Although it’s probably too late to stop him from calling Joe.” She dialed Newell’s number. “I’m sorry, Newell. Rick Avery called Beth, and she insisted on going to him when he said he needed to see her.”
Newell cursed long and emphatically. “Are you nuts, Eve? Do you want to set her up? It has to be a trap.”
“She won’t believe it, and I couldn’t let her go alone. I had no choice.”
“I would have had a choice. I’d have knocked her out, then given her a shot to keep her that way.”
“No, you wouldn’t. You’d be doing the same thing I’m doing. Trying to keep her safe. I’m not going to take any chances. I have my .38 and I’m not going to go in blind.”
“But you’re going in alone. And Joe is going to go ballistic. I’m calling him as soon as I hang up. Where are you going?”
“Malibu somewhere.” She saw Beth shaking her head. “I can’t tell you exactly where. He’s going to give us an address as soon as we get in the general area.” She added, for Beth’s benefit, “He didn’t want anyone but Beth, but that’s not an option. He’ll put up with me. And I’ll give you and Joe the address when I pull up to the house. That should give you both a chance to get here within a reasonable length of time and still let Rick have his opportunity to convince Beth that he’s only misunderstood. Tell Joe that I’m not answering my phone. I’ll talk to him at Avery’s place.”
“Coward.”
“You bet. I know how stupid this is. I just have to do it.” She hung up.
“Rick’s not going to like not having much time alone with me,” Beth said reproachfully.
“Compromise.” Eve turned onto the freeway. “He gets what he wants. We get what we want.”
It sounded good, but it might be a shallow victory. Was Drogan behind her on the freeway?
Or was he waiting at that house in Malibu?
“You’re worried,” Beth said. “You have a right to worry considering all you’ve been through for me. You think I’m foolish. But don’t we have to trust the people we love? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?”
She opened her mouth to tell her that Rick didn’t deserve trust. But she glanced at Beth and sighed resignedly. Her expression was no longer luminous and excited, but the wonder and wistfulness was just as touching. God, she was hoping Beth’s trust wouldn’t be betrayed in any brutal way. She reached out and gave her sister’s hand a quick squeeze. “So they tell me. We’re certainly giving it a good try.” She took her hand away. “Now do a return on Rick’s call, tell him we’re on our way, and get an address from him.”
* * *
“SHE DID WHAT?” JOE TRIED to keep his voice even when he wanted to shout at Newell. “I told you to keep watch over—” He broke off. This wasn’t Newell’s fault. Eve had made the decision.
And that decision was scaring him shitless.
“I thought I was watching to keep the bad guys from coming in and attacking,” Newell said. “I didn’t think they’d be running away to meet them.”
“I know.” He strode away from the flashing lights of Pierce’s accident scene toward his car. “And Eve wouldn’t have done it if she’d had any way to persuade Beth.”
“At least Eve’s on guard. She’s not all dewy-eyed like Beth,” Newell said. “She said Avery is in Malibu, and she’d call us with the address. I’ve called a taxi to take me to the nearest rental-car place to pick up a car, but you’ll probably get to Malibu before I do.”
“Maybe. I’m a good hour away.”
And a second could mean the difference between life and death.
Kendra.
“Look, don’t go to the rental agency. I’ll call you right back.” He hung up and dialed Kendra. “How close are you to Valencia now?”
“About twenty minutes.”
“Try to make it sooner.” He rattled off the address. “Pick up Newell. I’m across town, and he has to move fast.”
“Problems?”
“Mega problems. Newell will explain.” He hung up and called Newell back. “Kendra Michaels will pick you up. Get out there to Malibu.” He hung up and called Eve.
No answer. He didn’t expect one, but he’d had to try. Eve had made her decision and wouldn’t permit any interference. She’d committed to Beth and was attempting to walk a fine line to keep Beth safe and let them have their chance if she was in danger. She was trying to be all things to all people, dammit.
And she could get herself killed.
CHAPTER
17
THE COTTAGE IN MALIBU WAS very modest, but it was not crowded on top of its neighbors. It was on one of the back streets, not on the beach, and the neighboring cottages were a good hundred yards away.
Rick Avery came out on the wraparound deck as they pulled up in the driveway. He smiled, a beautiful smile that lit his face. “Beth. Come up here and let me hold you. It’s been too long.”
“Rick.” Beth jumped out of the car and tore up the steps toward him.
“Shit,” Eve muttered as she ran after her, her hand closing on the gun in her jacket pocket. All her plans of searching the house before she let Beth meet with her father were out the window in the first minute. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t still try to make it as secure as possible. As she reached the deck, she stopped to look at Beth and Rick Avery a few yards away. Rick was holding Beth close, and she was clinging desperately to him.
Love.
Eve had known that Beth loved her father but had doubted that the feeling was returned. She had been wrong. Gentleness, sadness, love were all in his expression at that moment.
And, good heavens, the man was wonderful looking. There were a few threads of gray in his hair, but she could that see he still exuded charisma and magnetism and, yes, youth. You wanted to walk closer to him, speak to him, have him look at you with that beautiful smile.
I understand now, Sandra.
Rick lifted his head and saw Eve. “You’re Sandra’s daughter? You don’t look like her.”
“We’re very different.” She pulled her gaze away and looked around the deck, then to the sliding glass doors. “How many rooms are there in this house?”
His brows rose. Evidently, he wasn’t accustomed to anyone’s dismissing him. “It’s quite tiny. Two bedrooms, a bath, living room, and kitchenette.”
She slipped her gun out of her pocket and headed for the glass doors. “You’ll probably not have more than twenty or thirty minutes before Joe and Newell get here. If you’re going to talk to Beth, you’d better not waste time.”
“A gun?” He was smiling as he shook his head. “I’m sure you have the best of intentions, but it’s not necessary. This is all a misunderstanding. No one is going to hurt my daughter.”
“You’re right, you’ve already done that. It’s not going to happen again.”
“That’s not fair,” Beth said as she stepped back from Rick. “I know it wasn’t Rick’s fault.”
“Yes, it was his fault. You were his daughter, he had a duty to protect you.” She ignored Beth’s exclamation of protest and went inside the house. The lights were all on, and the floor plan allowed her to see from one end of the cottage to the other. It took only a few minutes to go through the rest of the house. No one lurking. Nothing suspicious.
Ex
cept the entire concept that Rick Avery had suddenly been called upon to lure his daughter to meet with him.
It had to be a trap.
Yet, if it was, she was beginning to believe that Rick didn’t realize that it was a trap.
She came back on the deck to see Rick and Beth talking quietly, their hands clasped. How beautiful they were together, she thought suddenly. The resemblance was striking, silky dark hair, wonderful features, that eager smile.
He turned to Eve as she came out of the house. “Satisfied?”
“No, but there’s no one in the house. That doesn’t mean your mother hasn’t arranged something else to surprise us.”
He frowned. “Don’t accuse my mother of anything. You can talk about me, but leave her alone. She only wants what’s best for Beth.”
“Is that why she kept Beth drugged and in that prison of a hospital for over a decade?”
“Beth was ill.”
“Look at her, Avery.” Eve gestured to Beth. “You’ve seen her, talked to her. There’s nothing wrong with her. There was never anything wrong with Beth. Putting her away was just a convenient way for your mother to protect herself and still not let you know she was even more of a monster than you were.”
“She wouldn’t do that. You’re being ridiculous. She’s not a monster. She couldn’t be more loving or protective of me.”
“She protected you a little too much. All your life, Avery. But it became more difficult for her when you developed a passion for young girls. It was a dark passion and not acceptable for the career Nelda was planning for you. I’d bet she provided you with safe amusement in Asia to keep you from staining your reputation here in the States. But you decided to bring one of the girls here. That girl you had at your chalet that night was only twelve years old. The chalet was secluded, and you thought it would be safe to have the girl there. But your mother found out about it and came to tell you that you had to get rid of her.”
“I don’t want to discuss this.” Rick glanced at Beth. “Beth, she’s making it all sound ugly. It wasn’t like that. You know me. I would never hurt anyone. Tell her what kind of person I am.”