The Ugly Duckling

by Iris Johansen

  She flinched. She couldn’t blame him for his resentment, but it still hurt. “After today I promise not to see her until all this is over. I just want to tell her how— May I see her?”

  He shrugged. “After Kabler is through talking to her.”

  Her glance flew to the door. “Kabler is here?”

  “He got here a few minutes ago. He said he had to question her about Maritz.”

  “Do they have a chance of catching Maritz?”

  “Kabler says he’s probably already on a plane out of the country.”

  “But Tania saw him do it. What about extradition?”

  “Extradition is good only if they can find him.”

  “He’ll go back to Gardeaux for protection.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. I just want him to stay away from Tania.”

  “So do I.” She touched his arm. “Surely he wouldn’t dare come back now that he’s been identified.”

  “No? The bastard’s crazy. He could do anything. He’s been watching her, stalking her, and he just walked into the house and—” He broke off. “Just have your say and get away from her. She’s had enough of—”

  “I expected you, Mrs. Calder,” Kabler said as he closed the door of the hospital room behind him. “Where’s Tanek?”

  “I came alone.” She asked Joel, “May I go in now?”

  “As soon as I check to make sure Kabler hasn’t done any damage.” He went into Tania’s room.

  “Too bad about young Phil,” Kabler said. “You knew him well?”

  “Yes. No, I guess not. What are you doing here?”

  “I’ve had a man monitoring the situation here in Minneapolis since we heard about Birnbaum’s disappearance. You remember I was curious about his involvement?”

  She leaned against the wall. “Evidently your man didn’t monitor it close enough.”

  “You weren’t aware that Maritz was stalking Ms. Vlados?”

  “Of course I didn’t know,” she said impatiently. “Do you think I’d let her run the risk of—”

  “Easy.” He held up his hand. “I’m just asking. Since Reardon was on the scene, it appears that Tanek knew.” He shook his head. “I told you he couldn’t be trusted. If he used Ms. Vlados for bait, do you think he wouldn’t use you?”

  “He didn’t use her for bait.”

  “Then why didn’t he tell you?” He shook his head in despair when she didn’t answer. “You still believe him.”

  “He wouldn’t put Tania in danger.”

  “Did he tell you what he found out from Nigel Simpson?”

  “Yes.”

  “No, he didn’t. You wouldn’t be so calm about it.” His lips tightened as she turned away. “I’m not going to let this happen again. Meet me downstairs in the lobby when you’re finished talking to Ms. Vlados.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m going to show you proof that Tanek can’t be trusted. Not for a minute.”

  She watched him walk away. She was furious with Nicholas, but she had instinctively defended him. What a fool she was. Clutching at her trust in him as if it were a lifeline.

  She had never felt so alone.

  “You can go in now.” Joel stood in the open doorway. “But only for a few minutes. She needs to rest.”

  Tania looked pale and terribly fragile propped up against the white pillows.

  Her words, however, were brusquely characteristic. “Stop looking like that. There’s nothing much wrong with me. My ankle will be fine.”

  “I guess you know how sorry I am.” Nell came forward. “I never dreamed this would happen. It should have been me. I was the one he was after.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself. Maybe at first, but he found me a very appealing victim.” She smiled without mirth. “He thinks I’m special. Isn’t that nice?”

  “How can you joke?”

  Tania’s smile vanished. “It’s the only way I can cope,” she whispered. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that frightened. He just kept coming at me. I couldn’t stop him. It was like that with you, wasn’t it?”

  Nell nodded.

  Tania’s eyes filled with tears. “He killed Phil.”

  “I know.”

  “Phil saved me and Maritz killed him. I saw one of those horror movies once about a bogeyman whose sheer evil kept him alive. No matter what happened.” Tania’s hand tightened with bruising force on Nell’s. “He just kept on going, killing. It wasn’t like that in Sarajevo. They didn’t have faces. Maritz has a face. But he looks so ordinary, like anybody else.”

  “I’m upsetting you. I’d better go. Joel will have my head.”

  Tania tried to smile, but it was a weak effort. “Yes, he’s being very protective, isn’t he? Maybe you’d better go. I’m not very good company right now. Keep in touch.”

  “I will. I promise.” She bent down and brushed a kiss on Tania’s cheek. “Get well.”

  Tania nodded.

  “Nell.”

  Nell stopped at the door.

  “Be careful,” Tania whispered. “He really is the bogeyman.”

  Tanek stood waiting outside the door. “How is she?”

  “Not good,” Nell said coldly. “How did you think she’d be? She was almost killed and saw Phil stabbed to death in front of her eyes.” She started down the hall.

  “Where are you going?”

  “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 exh
austed 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.

  She turned to leave.

  “Nell.” Richard’s hand closed on her arm, stopping her. “I know this has upset you, but it’s important that no one know I’m here.”

  He was smiling at her, that charming, boyish smile that had smoothed his way through life.

  “Let me go.”

  “I loved Jill too,” he said gently. “You know I wouldn’t have done anything to hurt her or you.”

  “Let me go.”

  “Not before you promise to keep silent. You know I’m right. Just—”

  “For God’s sake, let the poor woman leave, Richard,” Nadine said.

  “Be quiet, Nadine,” he said without looking away from Nell. “This is between the two of us. It’s not my fault Jill is dead. I was downstairs. I wasn’t there to protect her like you were, Nell.”

  She stiffened, staring at him in disbelief. He was trying to use guilt to manipulate her. Why not? she thought bitterly. He had done it all through their marriage. “You son of a bitch.”

  He flushed, but his hand tightened on her arm. “I just wanted to get ahead. I was moving too slow. I took good care of you and Jill.”

  “Let me go,” she said through her teeth.

  “You know I—”

  She punched him in the stomach, and when he bent over in pain, she gave him a chop to the neck. He dropped to the floor and she pounced on top of him. He had started it all, the chain that had led to Jill’s death. One well-placed blow and he would be dead. She raised her arm. One blow and—

  “No.” Kabler was lifting her off Richard. “You don’t want to do this.”

  She struggled wildly. “The hell I don’t.”

  “Well, I can’t let you. I need my witness.” Kabler grimaced. “Though I can’t say I blame you.”

  He was holding her firmly, but Nicholas had taught her ways of getting out of most holds. But to do it would mean hurting Kabler, and he didn’t deserve to be hurt. Not when he had been trying to help her. She drew a deep breath. “You can let me go. I won’t hurt him … now.”