"We've known each other for a long time," she said in a tentative voice.
"Yeah, we go back a long way. You got high for the first time with me. Remember that, babe? After that you were insatiable." He laughed again, sounding pleased with himself.
During their conversation Alisha watched for landmarks. If she could keep him talking, if, somehow, she could continue to allow him to think she was Sherye, he would have no reason to suspect that she wasn't happy to stay with him. She'd have a much better chance of making a phone call if she didn't give him any reason to become suspicious of her.
For the next hour she asked him questions that he seemed pleased to answer about what he'd been doing since last summer. She coaxed him into reminiscing about their past together, responding vaguely when he brought up places and happenings for her to remember.
She kept reminding herself that he wouldn't harm her as long as he thought she was Sherye. It was obvious that he loved Sherye very much. She knew he was going to be devastated when he learned the truth.
By the time they arrived at the small cottage tucked away in the hills, Alisha wasn't certain she could make it into the house unaided. The past few hours had taken their toll on her. The nagging ache in her back that had started in Raoul's office hadn't gone away. If anything, it had become more persistent. Her body wasn't used to carrying so much extra weight and she was in the habit of resting every few hours.
Now she had no trouble convincing Mario that she needed to lie down. He solicitously helped her into the bedroom, one of three rooms in the house, and encouraged her to rest.
Her heart sank when she saw no sign of a telephone anywhere on the premises. How was she going to contact Raoul? She was shaking as though she were having a chill. She was scared and the pain in her back wouldn't go away. She knew it was nerves and reminded herself to calm down. She had to think about the baby.
From every indication, she could see that she wasn't in any immediate danger from Mario, particularly as long as he thought she was Sherye. She'd played that role enough to have some understanding of what he expected Sherye to be. What she had to do was to keep Mario distracted until she could think of a way to get help.
Alisha knew she was too on edge to sleep, but at least she could stretch out and ease the strain on her back. She slipped off her shoes and lay down, pulling the folded quilt on the bed over her.
The soft mattress felt wonderful after the long hours she'd spent moving around today. She rolled to her side and pulled up her knees in an attempt to get comfortable. At this stage in her pregnancy, true comfort was only a memory. She placed her hand on the baby protectively and closed her eyes, willing herself to rest.
A kiss awakened Alisha sometime later and she smiled as she stirred, knowing Raoul would—
She opened her eyes and stared into Mario's smiling face. "Hey, sleepyhead, are you going to sleep the evening away?" He straightened. "I made us something to eat. We've got to keep up your strength, you know."
She was back in the nightmare once again. She was with Mario, and Raoul had no idea where she was. More important to her immediate well-being, she was physically uncomfortable.
Alisha pushed herself up until she sat on the side of the bed. "I, uh, need to—" She looked around the room, embarrassed by her situation. She was alone with a man she didn't know, the man who was responsible for her being in France in the first place. Howicould she hide her negative reaction to him?
"Yeah, sure," he said, nodding. "The bathroom's right in here. That's one of the things that sold me on this place. It's been modernized and updated but still manages to keep its rustic charm."
Thankfully Alisha found herself alone for a few very necessary minutes. She had to gather her courage. She'd been gone for several hours now. Surely Danielle would have immediately contacted Raoul to tell him what had happened. She knew him well enough to know that he would waste no time looking for her. All she had to do was to keep Mario from discovering her real identity. She would let him think she was ready to leave Raoul in order to be with him. She must do whatever she had to do to save herself and the baby.
When she could find no other excuse to linger, Alisha joined Mario in the kitchen. He'd set the table with colorful pottery and had a simple meal prepared.
"You know, babe, you're really looking good, nice and healthy compared to the last time I saw you. I guess maybe we kind of overdid our partying last summer." He shook his head, remembering. "I know you scared the hell out of me. I tried to convince myself you were just kidding around, but I couldn't take the chance. That's why I told the others. They insisted we get you to a hospital. I knew you'd be furious when you woke up and found me gone." He reached across and took her hand. "I'm sorry for running out on you like that, babe. Real sorry. I'll make you a promise. I'll never leave you again." He patted her hand and smiled, his eyes glowing. "I figure with us having a kid and all we need to back off from the heavy-duty stuff, kinda take it easy. Who knows? We might make damn good parents. Wouldn't that be a laugh?"
Alisha didn't know what to say. She didn't want to think about the results of their drug-using spree last summer.
Here she was, once again playing the role of Sherye DuBois. How could her life continue to be so bizarre? She felt as though she was in a nightmare. Instead of waking up, she kept finding herself in a new and different nightmare.
Alisha fought her panic. What if she couldn't make contact with reality again? What if she was doomed to play out various roles of another woman's life? What if—
"What's wrong? Are you feeling all right?"
She stared at the stranger sitting across from her and registered the worried expression on his face. "Not really," she murmured. "My back is bothering me. I can't seem to get comfortable and I—"
"Here. These chairs aren't the most comfortable things I've sat in. We'll go into the other room and sit in front of the fire. How does that sound?"
She nodded. He slipped his arm around her waist and helped her into the other room. "Your face is flushed," he said, lowering her to the small sofa. "Is it too warm in here?"
She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "No. I'm just not feeling very well."
"I'm sorry, babe. I guess all of this has been hard on you, hasn't it? Me deserting you like that, leaving you to face your husband on your own. I've been a real heel, but I promise you things are going to be different for us. Wait and see. I'll be everything you need. I'll help you with the baby, I'll-"
"Mario, I-"
"Tell me what happened last summer after I left. I've got so many questions... like, how long you were unconscious, how you got back to France, what you said to the schoolteacher, did that stuff we gave her really work on her memory the way it was supposed to, did Raoul ever catch on to the switch? You know all the stuff we planned. Did it work out okay?"
She had to concentrate on What he was saying, not how she was feeling. She didn't dare think about the increasing frequency of her back pain, or the way her abdomen seemed to clench and draw, then release. It was too soon for the baby. She had to relax, that was all. She had to force herself to remember what he was saying. "The, uh, the schoolteacher went home," she panted, forcing herself to fill her lungs with air before releasing her breath in a sigh.
"Yeah, yeah, I knew that. Did she remember me meeting her at the airport as soon as she landed?"
That was easy enough to answer. "I don't think she remembered anything."
"Great, then the psychotropic drug worked the way it was supposed to. I kept telling you the guy who sold it to me insisted there was nothing to worry about."
He stroked her hair and Alisha fought not to react to his touch. If only—
"What a touching scene," came a voice from the doorway, a voice that had never sounded so wonderful to Alisha before. She almost cried out with relief when Raoul walked into the room and paused beside the sofa. "That happens to be my wife you're mauling, Pirini." He didn't look at Alisha. Instead he kept his attention on M
ario.
Mario had risen at the first indication that someone was in the room. He stared at Raoul in shock. "How the hell did you find us?"
"I alerted the police that you were somewhere in the area as soon as my wife mentioned seeing you."
Mario spun around and glared at Alisha. "You told him? You actually told him that I was here?" he repeated incredulously.
Raoul went on. "Fortunately my sister had enough presence of mind when you showed up again to follow you on foot until you drove away. She memorized the license and described the make, model and color of your car to the police."
Only then did Raoul sit beside her and take her hand. "I've been worried about you." He searched her face, frowning. "Are you all right?"
She was so relieved to see him that it was allshe could do not to throw her arms around him and burst into tears. She'd been so frightened that he wouldn't find her. At the moment all she could do was bite her bottom lip and nod her head.
"Of course she's all right. She's been with me, where she belongs," Mario said, striding back to the sofa. "I guess it's time for you to hear some unpleasant truths, DuBois. Sherye always insisted that you would divorce her if you found out about us. Well, that's exactly what I want." He gestured toward Alisha. "Surely you aren't so stupid as to think that's your baby. Sherye would never have had another one of your brats. She could barely tolerate living in the same place as you."
Raoul didn't move from Alisha's side. He looked up at Mario, standing belligerently in front of them, and quietly said, "She could have left at any time. I never forced her to stay."
"Maybe you didn't," Mario sneered, "but your money did, and your prestige did. Sherye always wanted a home and family, that was her dream... until she got it and realized what a boring life that was. She needs me to help make life more exciting for her. Now that we're finally together again, I don't intend to give her up, to you or anybody. We belong together. We're going to become parents together. We're going to build our lives together. I'm the man she truly loves."
Raoul's eyes met Alisha's and she saw compassion and understanding for the other man in his eyes. He was aware that whatever this man had done had always been for Sherye. Whether Sherye had deserved such devotion was irrelevant.
Alisha knew that the relationship she and Raoul had established had gone a long way toward his accepting the truth about Sherye and his marriage to her. Somewhere along the way he must have come to terms with and accepted Mario's presence in Sherye's life.
Raoul looked over at Mario and nodded his head to one of the chairs. "Sit down, Pirini. I've got some bad news for you,"
Warily the man sat down across from them, glaring at Raoul when he slipped his arm around Alisha. "Yeah? What sort of bad news?"
"Whose idea was it to have someone take Sherye's place last summer?"
Mario looked at Alisha, frowning, before glancing back at Raoul. "You found out about that?" He clearly wondered why Alisha hadn't warned him.
"Just answer the question."
Mario looked at Alisha again, shrugged and admitted, "We both thought it up, didn't we, babe?"
"How did you find Alisha Conrad?"
"Who? Oh! You mean the schoolmarm." Once again he shrugged. "Hey, we got lucky. I guess that's what first gave us the idea, right, Sherye?" Alisha kept her eyes focused on her hands, refusing to meet his eyes. When she didn't answer him, Mario continued. "I was visiting some friends in Dallas last spring and their daughter was showing us a bunch of pictures she'd taken and I got a glimpse of the teacher. Except for her hair color, she was a dead ringer for Sherye. I asked if I could keep one of the pictures to show a friend, and I got the lady's name." He scratched his ear and said, "Of course, she isn't as beautiful as you, babe. No one could be, but she came close by the time we colored her hair and put her in some of your clothes."
"That's kidnapping, Pirini," Raoul said in a low voice.
Mario straightened in his chair. "So who's gonna complain? Don't forget that Sherye's in this up to her neck. You gonna tell the police on me? You think I won't explain how she was just as much a part of it as me? And for what! Nobody was hurt. The teacher's back home, happily teaching her little classes, me and Sherye are getting that divorce you're so willing to give her, so everything's working out fine without the police having to know anything about what we did. After all, there was no harm done."
Raoul stood, placing his hands in his pockets as though to prevent himself from reaching for the other man. "I'm afraid it's not quite that easy, Pirini. You see, you and Sherye did too good a job. I identified Alisha as Sherye just as I was obviously meant to do. While you and Sherye took off on your cruise I spent those weeks with Alisha. I fell in love with her."
Mario got a pained look on his face. "So why are you bothering to tell me all this stuff? Who cares? No wonder you're so willing to let Sherye go. I can't believe you're standing here telling me all of this right in front of her. So what have you been waiting for, her to have my baby so you can kick her out and chase after the other gal?"
"There's no easy way to tell you, Pirini. Sherye never recovered from that drug overdose last summer. She died in November of last year."
Mario stared at him, looked over at Alisha blankly, then returned his gaze to Raoul. "What is this, some kind of sick joke?"
"There's no joke."
Mario looked back at Alisha. "C'mon, Sherye, explain to the man. He's suffering all kinds of delusions or something. Tell him the truth."
For the first time since Raoul had entered the room Alisha spoke. "He's telling you the truth, Mr. Pirini," she said quietly. "I'm not Sherye. I'm Alisha and I taught school in Dallas. When I regained consciousness in the hospital I didn't remember who I was. Raoul convinced me and the doctors that I was his wife, so I went home with him and spent several weeks there." She touched her stomach. "That's when I became pregnant."
Mario jumped up from the chair. "But that's impossible! You—Sherye—whoever—doesn't, sleep with him. You haven't slept with him in years."
She looked him in the eye and said, "I did. He came to see me in Dallas several weeks after Sherye died. When he discovered that I was pregnant he insisted on marrying me. That's why you saw us together in Paris."
Mario's skin turned a pasty gray. "Sherye's really dead?" he whispered. "She died? No. That isn't possible. She couldn't have died. I would have known somehow. She wouldn't have done that. She wouldn't have left me...." He sank back into the chair as though his legs would no longer hold him.
Alisha caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and turned. Two men stood in the doorway, one wearing a police uniform.
Raoul looked at Alisha and said, "Are you ready to go home?"
She nodded and he helped her from the sofa and past the two men. When she glanced around at Mario, she saw that he was sitting hunched over, his hands covering his face. She wasn't certain whether or not he'd seen the other men, or if he was aware that she and Raoul were leaving.
Once they were in the car Raoul said, "Are you sure you're all right? I've been out of my mind with worry."
"He wouldn't have hurt me. He thought I was Sherye. That's why I decided not to try to explain. He was too convinced and I was afraid of what he might do if he knew the truth."
"Danielle thought he was rough when he grabbed you out of the car. I was afraid he might accidentally injure you."
"I can't deny that he frightened me, showing up that way, but he was really very gentle with me." She sighed. "I'm glad it's over... I mean, completely over. All the questions have been answered. I can't help but feel sorry for Sherye. She never understood how blessed she was, bow much she had."
"Each of us has a different idea of what it takes to be happy. Hers was different from yours."
"That's really obvious. Even without my memories, my life seemed so perfect to me last summer. I was living the life I had always wanted... only to discover it wasn't my life, after all."
He reached over and took her hand in hi
s. "It is now."
"I do have one rather minor problem."
"What's that, love?"
"I'm afraid this child has decided not to wait any longer to become a part of the family."
Raoul jerked his head around and peered at her in the shadowy car. "Alisha! Are you having labor pains? When did they start? How far apart? Do you need to get to the hospital now?"
She closed her eyes and counted for a brief moment before she sighed and said, "I know that first babies usually take their time, but this one seems to be in something of a hurry. Since I'm not nearly brave enough to have it at home, I think we need to go to the hospital."
"A simple yes would have done it," he muttered, stepping on the gas and shaking his head. "I can't believe you never said anything. How long have you been—"
"I'm really all right, Raoul. Stop worrying. We've got plenty of time."
He brushed his palm against her cheek for a brief moment before returning it to the wheel. "That's true, love. We've got the rest of our lives."
Epilogue
She fought her way to the surface, knowing there was something she needed to do. She hated to leave the soothing, restful place where she had found peace, but it was time—time to surface and face whatever it was that awaited her.
She opened her eyes. The room seemed to be filled with golden sunshine, pouring through a large window. She blinked from the brightness and waited for her eyes to adjust. Once she could see, she discovered that she was not alone in the room.
Raoul stood next to her bed, holding her hand between both of his. He looked tired, but extremely pleased with himself and with her. Sleepily she peered around the room, recognizing the faces of Danielle, Maman and Janine.
"Janine," she whispered. "What are you doing here?"
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