"Now? I need a cup of coffee. Seeing Tania like that wasn't pleasant." She needed more than coffee. She was shaking and she mustn't let him see it. She knew how good Nicholas was at attacking any weakness. She turned into the waiting room and fumbled in her purse for change for the coffee machine. "Not that it's any of your business."

"The hell it isn't." He punched quarters into the machine and watched as black liquid poured into the paper cup. "Why didn't you wait until I got back? I would have brought you here."

She took the cup from him. "I couldn't be sure, could I? You didn't even tell me that Maritz was stalking her."

"We didn't know. Not for sure."

"You were sure enough that you sent Jamie here."

"It was just a safety measure. I didn't want another Medas."

She sipped the black coffee. "Well, you got one. Phil's dead."

He nodded. "And how do you think that makes me feel? I'm the one who brought him here."

"Frankly, I don't care how you feel."

His lips tightened. "All right, I didn't tell you everything. I didn't want you to come running back here."

"That wasn't your choice."

"I made it my choice. I didn't want you dead, dammit."

"If I'd have been here, Maritz would have gone after me instead of Tania."

"Exactly."

"And who made you God, Nicholas? What right do you have to make decisions like that?"

"I did what I had to do."

She finished the coffee in two swallows and tossed the cup in the wastebasket. "And I'm doing what I have to do." She left the waiting room and walked toward the elevator.

He followed her. "Where are you going?"

She didn't answer.

"Look, I can see why you're upset, but what happened doesn't alter the basic situation. Maritz may be under Gardeaux's wing by now. We should stick to the plan."

She punched the elevator button. "I don't think that plan will work anymore. It requires a certain amount of trust."

He met her eyes. "You may not believe it now, but you'll trust me again."

"I hope I'm not that much of a fool." She went into the elevator and stopped him as he started to follow her. "No, I don't want you to come with me."

He nodded and stepped back. "Okay, I can understand how you'd need some space."

She felt a flicker of surprise. She hadn't thought he'd give up so easily. The door shut between them, and she leaned back against the side. She felt as bruised and exhausted as if she'd been in a battle and there was still Kabler to face.

Kabler was coming out of the gift shop when she got off the elevator. "Mighty Morphin, the Red Ranger," he said when he saw her glance at the sack he was carrying. "For my kid. They're hard to find in the stores in my neck of the woods."

"I don't think this is what you were going to show me," she said.

"I saw Tanek go up. What did he-"

"You said you had something to show me."

He took her arm. "It's not here." He led her out of the hospital to the parking lot. "You look tired. Just relax and trust me."

Why not? She supposed she did trust him. She had to trust someone. She got into his car, leaned back in the seat, and closed her eyes. "I'll relax, but you'd better not. Nicholas let me leave too easily. I'd bet Jamie Reardon is somewhere around. He's driving a gray Taurus rental car."

"He's five cars back. It doesn't matter. He can follow only so far."

"She's with Kabler?" Nicholas swore beneath his breath. "Keep on their tail. What the hell's he doing with her?"

"I can't keep on their tail. I'm calling from the airport. They just boarded a private jet that's taxiing down the runway."

"Can you find out their destination?"

"A DEA charter? Given a little time, maybe. Spur-of-the-moment? No way."

Nicholas had known that was not an option, but he was grasping at straws. Besides, he had a good idea where they were going. He hadn't thought Kabler would go that far. "I'm on my way. See if you can charter a flight and be gassed up and ready when I get there."

"I guess I know what flight plan we're going to file."

"Bakersfield, California."

The large Victorian house was set back from the street, surrounded by spacious lawns and towering oaks. It looked timeless, gracious, and dignified in the deepening twilight.

"Go on," Kabler said.

"I don't believe you," Nell whispered. "It's not true."

Kabler came around and helped her out of the car. "See for yourself."

Nell slowly walked up the steps of the huge wraparound porch and rang the bell.

Through the etched flowers on the glass door, she could barely see a woman coming down a staircase.

The carriage lantern beside the door suddenly lit the porch and the woman peered through the barely transparent glass.

The door swung open. "May I help you?"

Nell was frozen. She couldn't speak.

A tiny frown marred the perfection of the woman's forehead. "Are you selling something?"

"What is it, Marla?" A man was coming down the steps.

She was going to faint. No, she was going to be sick. Oh, God. Oh, God.

The man put his arm affectionately around the woman's shoulders. He smiled. "What can we do for you?"

"Richard." She barely managed to get the name past her lips.

The man's smile vanished. "You're mistaken. You must have the wrong house. I'm Noel Tillinger, and this is my wife, Marla."

Nell shook her head as much to clear it as to negate the man's words. "No." Her stunned glance shifted to the woman. "Why, Nadine?"

Nadine's gaze suddenly narrowed on her face. "Who-"

"Stay out of this, Marla. I'll handle her."

"I think she's been handled enough," Kabler said from behind her. "And not too kindly."

Richard's eyes widened. "Kabler? What the hell are you doing here?"

Kabler ignored him, his gaze on Nell. "You okay, Mrs. Calder?"

She wasn't okay. She wasn't sure anything would ever be okay again. "I didn't believe you."

Richard's gaze swung back to her. "Nell?"

"I think we'd better go inside," Kabler said.

Richard stepped aside, his eyes never leaving Nell. "He told me you'd had surgery, but-I can't believe it.... You're stunning."

She almost laughed hysterically. Was the change in her appearance all he could think about?

Kabler nudged her gently over the doorstep. "We should get off this porch. The first rule in a witness protection program is not to attract attention."

Nadine forced a smile. "You might as well come into the parlor." She led them from the foyer through an arched doorway into a room that looked as if it had been plucked from an Edith Wharton novel, all huge ferns and palms and dark, carved wood. She gestured to the tapestry-cushioned couch. "Sit down, Nell."

She was perfectly at home, as beautiful and confident as Nell remembered her. "Why, Nadine?"

"I love him. When he called me, I came," Nadine said simply. "I didn't want it to happen. I liked you. No one wanted to hurt you."

She moistened her dry lips. "How long?"

"We've been lovers for over two years."

Two years. He had been sleeping with Nadine for years and she had never suspected. He had been so clever. Or maybe she had just been stupid.

"Why did you bring her here, Kabler?" Richard asked. "You said she'd never know. You said no one would know."

"I had to prove a point. She was moving toward deep trouble. I thought she'd had trouble enough."

"What about me?" Richard asked. "What if she tells someone?"

"I seriously doubt if she'd confide in the people who killed her daughter, don't you?"

Richard flushed. "No, I guess not," he muttered. "But you shouldn't have brought her."

"I don't understand any of this," Nell said hoarsely. "Tell me, Kabler."

"The attack on Medas was aimed at your husband," Kabler said. "He's been laundering money through his bank for Gardeaux for some time. When the Kavinski opportunity came along, he told Gardeaux he wanted out. Not very bright. No one gets out until Gardeaux wants them out. Gardeaux needed him, so he decided he would send him a warning."

"What warning?"

"The death of his wife. You were the initial target."

"They were going to kill me to punish him."

"It's not an uncommon practice in their circle."

"And Jill?" she asked jerkily. "Were they going to kill Jill too?"

"We don't know. We don't think so. It could be that Maritz took it upon himself. He's not too stable."

Not too stable. He kept coming. The bogeyman.

"If I was the target, then why was Richard shot?" Then the answer occurred to her. "But he wasn't shot, was he? You faked it."

Kabler nodded. "A few hours before the party we found out that the information we'd received targeting you was authentic." He paused. "But there was an addendum also targeting Calder. It seems Gardeaux had discovered why Calder was so comfortable about giving up the fat percentages from the money laundering. He was skimming funds and funneling them into a Swiss bank account. I didn't have time to do much more than send a few men to the island."

"Then why weren't you there to save Jill?" she asked fiercely. "Why weren't you there?"

Richard smiled mockingly. "Yes, tell her. Let her know where your priorities were." He turned to Nell. "That's why you're here. That's why he seems so worried about you. They had orders to contact me first, to offer me a deal. My neck and a new life if I agreed to testify against Gardeaux when the time came."

"I thought we had time," Kabler said to Nell. "I thought you'd be downstairs in the ballroom with everybody else. I'd assigned a man to cover you."

"But getting Gardeaux was your number-one priority," Richard pointed out. "You even had a plan in place. You'd sent a doctor with the team, pretending to be one of the guests. I was to have a heart attack and be whisked off the island." Richard's lips twisted. "But you miscalculated, didn't you?"

"We got you out," Kabler answered.

"And sent me to this Podunk of a town. I wanted to go to New York."

"It wasn't safe."

"You promised me a new face. That would have made it safe."

"All in good time."

"It's been almost six months, dammit."

"Shut up, Calder." Kabler turned back to Nell. "Have you heard enough?"

Too much. Lies. Ugliness. Betrayal.