She wrenched away and the needle popped out, leaving some of the liquid in the syringe. Enough entered her body that warmth began to spread up her neck, and her mind went fuzzy.
She sagged and closed her eyes. Liver? But she couldn’t survive without a liver.
39
September 1970
It was all going to come out her way. Judy smiled and smoothed the fine fabric hanging on a rack in the yard. Lightened by the lemon juice, the sea silk shimmered in the sunlight. Her radio playing “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” added to her sense of satisfaction.
Huey dropped his arm around her. “It’s beautiful, Judy. I think this is going to make us rich. Once people see it, it’s going to be a status symbol to own something made from sea silk, just like it was in ancient times. It’s so unique. I can’t believe you figured out how to make such a fine fabric.” He picked up a piece and squeezed it in his fist. “It compresses to nothing.”
She’d read every ancient reference to sea silk, and the final product she’d come up with seemed to mimic all the texts. “Once we have the business established, you can break your engagement.”
He hugged her. “I was so certain this would free me that I already told her, honey. She wasn’t happy, but she accepted it. She only asked that I not tell anyone for a couple of weeks until she could make plans to go to Paris. She didn’t want to be here to be around all the questions.”
She threw her arms around his neck. “Oh, Huey! I’m so happy. I’ll work hard, and we’ll be free of her money. You’ll see.”
He dropped a lingering kiss onto her lips, then stepped back. “I have to get to work. Where’s Annabelle?”
“With Grace and Silvia. I wanted to concentrate on finishing up the fabric, and Grace offered to take her.”
“I’ll stop by later tonight to see her. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
She watched him walk off across the grass to his car, a new Plymouth Road Runner his fiancée had bought him for his birthday. One day they’d be able to afford things like that themselves. He’d no longer feel he had to stay with that woman because of money. She’d understood he had ambitions, and his fiancée’s wealthy family could provide so much opportunity for him, but money wasn’t everything. Annabelle had wrapped her little fingers around his heart, and he’d been unable to resist her dimpled smile.
She rubbed the ache in the back of her neck and stretched out her back. Birds chirped, and the cicadas took up the chorus too. She had one more basket of byssus to wash and spin into thread, and then she could rest. She went back to her cabin and began to gather the byssus from the pen shells.
When she heard the door behind her, she thought Huey had come back, and she turned with a welcoming smile. It died on her lips when she saw her. “What are you doing here?”
Liz’s eyes looked crazed. “Why couldn’t you leave him alone? He loved me before you came along.”
“I didn’t seek him out. He pursued me, and it just happened. I never meant to hurt you, but I love him.”
Liz advanced a few feet. “Please, let’s end this. I can give you two hundred thousand dollars. That’s enough to keep you in style for a very long time. You’ll have everything you need for the baby, and you’ll never even need to work. You can stay home and take care of her.”
The money wasn’t even tempting. “Annabelle would rather have her daddy than pretty clothes. And we don’t need your money. I’m going to make us rich with my sea silk technique.”
Liz’s eyes narrowed. She picked up a pen shell and turned it over in her hands. “So that’s why he’s willing to walk away. It’s all about money, not love.”
“That’s not true!”
Why couldn’t this woman just let them be? She was beautiful and wealthy. She didn’t need Huey, not like Judy did. Not like Annabelle needed him.
Judy turned her back on the woman and bent to her task again. “I don’t have time to argue with you. You need to accept the circumstances and move on with your life. Huey said you understood and were going away to Paris.”
“Quit calling him Huey! It’s ridiculous.”
Judy realized Liz’s voice was closer, and she looked up to see the woman rushing at her with the pointed end of a pen shell aimed at her head. She threw her hand up and grabbed at something shiny on the woman’s arm, but it was too late.
Annabelle’s sweet face flashed into her mind before the blow crushed into her and blotted out everything.
* * *
Ridge and Scott sat in the car outside Eric Kennedy’s more modest home. Though in a pricey neighborhood, the beautiful Spanish-style home was a fifth of the size of his parents’ lavish estate. They’d been here over an hour, but no lights were on inside the house, and no one had answered the door.
Ridge moved restlessly. “Time is running out. We could try his office. He’s running for city council.” His mouth tasted like stale coffee, and he uncapped his water bottle to take a swig.
Scott shook his head. “I had a car go by there, and it’s dark too. Let’s wait a few more minutes. If he still doesn’t come home, we’ll go back to the Kennedy place and try again with the senior Mr. Kennedy.”
Ridge’s phone played, and he saw Brown and Sons Jewelers on the screen. “Mr. Brown, do you have information for me?”
“I spoke with my father, and he identified the bracelets as being commissioned by Thomas Kennedy as a gift for his fiancée and her bridesmaids. I hope that’s helpful.”
“It is. Please give him my thanks.”
“Will do.”
Ridge put his phone away and told Scott the news. “So we’re definitely on the right track.”
Car lights came down the street, and Ridge leaned forward and prayed it was Eric. The car drove by slowly, then turned into Eric’s drive. Ridge’s pulse quickened. It was a gray Cadillac. The garage door rose, and the car drove inside.
“Let’s go.” Ridge threw open his door and got out.
Scott was right beside him, and they both rushed the garage before the door descended.
“Mr. Kennedy,” Scott called. “I’m a police detective, and I have an urgent matter to discuss with you.”
Eric shut his door and turned toward them. He was dressed in khaki slacks and a polo shirt as if he’d just come from the golf course.
Irritation flashed across his face before he went expressionless. “What’s this all about?”
Where to start? Ridge wasn’t quite ready to assume the Kennedys had arranged for Harper’s abduction, but he suspected they knew something that could help them. He kept quiet and let Scott take the lead.
“Sorry to bother you so late,” Scott said in a calming, even tone. “We’re looking for Harper Taylor, and we’re aware of an altercation between you and her.”
Brilliant move. Scott knew his interrogation techniques. Ridge prayed the man would reveal something.
“Altercation? There’s no animosity between the two of us. I merely asked her to move her bivalve beds. No crime in that. I haven’t seen her since the fund-raising party.” Eric’s gaze went to Ridge. “You were there too. I’m sure you noticed our exchange was friendly.”
“Yes, I remember. Your parents were there too.”
Eric nodded. “It’s not likely my father will see another party. His liver continues to fail.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Is there anything the doctors can do?” Scott asked.
Eric shrugged. “A liver transplant is about all the hope we have, but he’s hard to match. A relative would be best, but he has a rare blood type, and no one is lining up to offer up part of their liver.” His wry grin didn’t reach his eyes. “I’d give him part of mine, but I’ve already got some liver issues.”
A relative.
It all clicked into place as he remembered seeing the ads for Eric’s campaign. “Your grandfather was a US senator, right?”
Eric nodded again. “My mom’s father, yes.”
And Annabelle’s father had bee
n engaged to a woman whose dad was a senator. Had they stumbled onto the identity of Harper’s father?
Who needed a liver.
The blood drained from his head at what this might mean. “Your mom is a doctor of some kind.”
“A transplant surgeon. She’s exhausted every possible way of helping Dad, but there isn’t much she can do.”
Scott was looking at Ridge with a quizzical expression. He still didn’t get it.
Ridge wet his lips. “Which hospital does your mom use?”
Though she wouldn’t be harvesting Harper’s liver in a hospital. She’d likely take her somewhere and render her unconscious, then take the harvested liver to her husband. Was there any chance Eric knew this? Ridge studied the man’s face and decided he probably didn’t know anything about this organ search.
Had it been Tom Kennedy’s idea or Elizabeth’s?
“She’s certified at any hospital,” Eric said. “These are strange questions. What’s this all about?”
“Do your parents have any other property other than the big mansion on the bay?”
Eric’s frown deepened. “I’ve said all I intend to. None of your questions have anything to do with Harper.”
“I suspect one or both of your parents have taken Harper in order to harvest her liver for your father. I think she’s your half sister.”
Ridge watched the words register on the man’s face. Disbelief flickered in his eyes, and he took a step back. “That’s an absurd claim.”
“If we’re right, there isn’t much time to spare, and you’ll be held culpable in her death. She was abducted in a gray Cadillac. Where did you take her?” Ridge demanded.
Eric went pale. “I’ve been golfing all day. You can call the course. My car was handed over to the valet. The golf course will confirm I had nothing to do with this.”
“Where might they have taken her?”
Eric blinked at Scott. “Th-There’s a small building out in the woods. I can tell you how to get there.”
Scott pulled out a notepad. “Go.”
Eric rattled off directions down country roads and small highways. The location was about thirty minutes away. “But I think you’re wrong.” His voice lacked conviction.
“Let’s go.” Scott turned and raced for the car.
Ridge threw himself into the car and slammed the door. “Is there anyone who can reach them sooner?”
Scott stomped on the gas pedal, and the car took off with a squeal of tires. “No. We’re closer than anyone in Orlando, and the only officers out there might be a sheriff or deputy. It would take longer to tell them about this and get someone on the way than for us to drive there. I’ll call on the way.” He switched on the siren and lights. “I can make it in twenty minutes.”
Ridge felt like adding his own scream to the siren’s as they raced off into the night. It might already be too late.
40
She was cold, so cold.
Harper strained to open her eyes. She heard the distant murmuring of voices, and she moved her hand. The sting of some kind of antiseptic burned her nose.
“She’s waking up. Get another syringe.”
The woman’s voice was familiar. Harper forced one eye open and winced at the blinding light above. It hurt her eyes and made her head pound. Nausea churned in her stomach.
Don’t go back to sleep. If she slept now, she’d never awaken, and her baby would die with her. With monumental effort Harper opened her eyes and looked up into the eyes above the doctor’s mask. She knew those eyes.
Elizabeth Kennedy. And she was holding a scalpel.
“Why are you doing this?” Harper pushed the words past dry lips, but they came out in a whisper.
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “Get more drugs,” she snapped at the nurse. “She should never have awakened.”
“I don’t have another syringe,” the nurse said. “When your husband attacked me, he broke several of them.”
“I don’t want to take her liver while she’s staring at me!”
Take her liver.
Harper rolled her head back and forth. “No, no. You can’t do this.”
“I’m sorry, Harper.” But Elizabeth didn’t look sorry. The brown eyes above the mask were stony and determined.
Harper’s head was clearing more by the minute. She could move her hands again, and she was beginning to feel her feet. If she could just get off this table, she might be able to walk. Only Elizabeth and the nurse were in the room. The big man was gone and so was Mr. Kennedy.
Maybe she could keep Elizabeth distracted. “Where’s your husband? I don’t think he wants you to do this. And why me?”
“He needs a liver from a relative. I’ve been looking for you and your sister for a year. I ran Tom’s DNA but adjusted his settings so he wouldn’t show up as a result. However, I monitored results showing up for him, and voilà. There you were. You and Annabelle, just as I thought. I always knew you were out there somewhere.”
Harper pitched her voice weaker than she felt as strength continued to course back into her limbs. “You killed Judy. Tom was going to leave you for her, wasn’t he?”
“Silly twit thought she could take what belonged to me.”
“And my mother. You had her brake lines cut. Why punish the women when Tom was the one with the wandering eye?”
“All men are like that. They can’t stay faithful to a woman.”
Ridge would. “That’s a false generalization. I know many men who are steadfast and love one woman.” Could she anger the woman enough to throw her off balance? “Maybe it was you all along. Tom saw into your heart and found it dark.”
“That’s not true! I loved him. None of this would have happened if he’d stayed true. But this will prove to him how much I love him. He’s upset now, but he’ll thank me when he feels how much stronger he is with a new liver. Then he’ll love me as much as I love him.”
The woman’s obsession had cost two women their lives, and Harper wasn’t sure she’d be able to escape with Elizabeth looming over her with the scalpel poised to plunge into her body and steal her life.
She glanced at the nurse on the other side. She didn’t have a weapon, so Harper’s best chance was to roll off the table on that side. There was a tray of other scalpels and tools next to the nurse, too, so she could try to grab a weapon.
Harper tensed for her move. “What if he doesn’t forgive you? All this might show him you were the one who killed the two women he really loved.”
“I’m sure he already suspects that. He’ll never leave me though.” She raised the scalpel.
Now or never. Harper coiled every ounce of strength she possessed into her muscles and rolled violently to the left. She swung her leg over the edge of the table and came off it. Her legs weren’t as strong as she’d hoped, and she stumbled into the stainless-steel tray table holding the operating tools. The tools went flying and clattered to the ground as she fell there herself. A scalpel was by her right hand, and she snatched it up as she got to her feet.
She held it out in front of her as the nurse came her way. “Stay away. I can gut you like I do a fish.”
The graphic warning stopped the nurse for a moment until she gave a pretty smile. “You don’t have the courage.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You’re not taking my liver. I’m pregnant, and I’ll do anything to protect my baby. I’m shocked you’d help this madwoman.”
The nurse circled her and the smile never left. “And you’re not stealing the money she’s paying me. I hate the operating room, and I’ll have the funds for a new life.”
She feinted toward Harper, and Harper slashed the woman’s wrist with the scalpel. Blood dripped to the concrete floor.
“You cut me!” The woman clapped her hand over the cut.
“Oh for heaven’s sake, must I do everything myself?” Elizabeth came around the operating table. “Put that scalpel down, Harper. I’m much stronger than I look, and I’m an expert at using one of these.”
Harper waved the scalpel in a menacing arc. “It’s not much different from a fillet knife. I’ve gotten the hang of it.”
Her heart pounded in her chest as she waited for Elizabeth to make her move. If the nurse came back with a scalpel, too, it would be two against one, but Harper didn’t have anything to lose. She’d go down fighting.
* * *
Ridge peered through the sweep of headlights for the driveway. “There’s the turn. Switch off the lights. We don’t want to tip them off.”
Scott slowed the car and killed the lights. The world ahead plunged into darkness with no streetlights or security lamps in the area. The car scraped a high spot as he turned it into the narrow drive, overgrown with weeds and grass.
Ridge unfastened his seat belt and leaned forward. “There’s a light in that building. A couple of cars are there, too, including a gray Caddy. Looks like there’s a chauffeur inside.”
A shadow moved to the right of the building, and a man moved toward the front of the building. In the light shining out the front window, Ridge spotted a glint of metal. “I think he’s got a gun.”
“I’m calling for backup.” Scott grabbed his phone and called in the request. “I don’t think he’s seen us yet.”
“Let’s back up out of the drive and walk in so he doesn’t spot us. Maybe we can get the jump on him.”
“I think he’ll see us. I’ll switch off the inside lights, and we’ll slip out.” Scott reached for the dash and fiddled with the controls. “Leave the door open so there’s no noise.”
Ridge opened his door and stepped into the weeds beside the drive. Noiselessly, Scott joined him. It was a dark night with the last of the storm clouds blotting out the moon and stars. He thought he heard someone running toward them and tensed with his fists up before he realized it was the wind rustling through the pines and oaks.
Scott pointed for him to go one way while he went the other, and Ridge nodded. Scott pulled out his gun and crept forward through the weeds. The man in front of the building patted his shirt pocket, then withdrew something. A flicker of flame showed him lighting a cigarette, and a curl of smoke drifted above his head. A few moments later Ridge caught the scent.
Strands of Truth Page 24