Heart of the Night

by Barbara Delinsky

  “He should be intimidated because I have money, but he isn’t. He couldn’t care less about that.”

  “Sam is Sam.”

  “Uh-huh, and where does that leave me?”

  “Where do you want to be left?”

  “I don’t know!” Susan cried, then went silent.

  For a time, none of them spoke. Then Savannah said in a pensive voice, “I do think life is about potentials. You say my expectations are too high, Suse, and maybe they are. But I want to be everything I can be. So I push myself. Sometimes I make it, sometimes I don’t. But if I don’t push, I’ll never know. I don’t want to be an old lady thinking of what might have been.”

  Her words lingered in the night air for a long, long time. When the silence was broken again, it was on a lighter note, which was what they all needed just then.

  * * *

  By Sunday morning, the pace of the island had fully infiltrated Savannah’s system. She didn’t even try to read, but lay quietly on the beach listening to the rhythmic rush of the waves. When she moved, it was at half-speed and, even then, she moved reluctantly.

  Megan and Susan seemed lost in a similar state. It was just like it used to be.

  “This is heaven,” Susan murmured, barely moving her mouth as she lay utterly still on a lounge chair in the sun.

  Feeling warm and relaxed, Megan hummed her agreement.

  Savannah was feeling decidedly irresponsible. “Why is it that the more we rest, the more we want to?”

  “It’s the sun,” Megan answered, moving her mouth no more than the others. “It’s a sedative.”

  “That’s not the sun,” Susan said. “That’s old age.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Savannah told her.

  “I don’t care what it is,” Megan decided. “I’ll take it.”

  Such was the general consensus of opinion. But time was passing, and Monday approached. Savannah didn’t want to return to work without having gotten some information from Megan. Still, she was torn. Megan was relaxed on the island. To start prodding would jeopardize that relaxation. So Savannah put it off for as long as she could, though she feared that if she waited until they were back in Providence, Megan might retreat inside herself again.

  It actually started on the plane ride home. Megan got a distant look, and maintained a troubled silence. At that point, Savannah figured she had nothing to lose. Taking advantage of the fact that Susan had dozed off, she slipped into the seat beside Megan.

  “How’re you doing?” she asked softly.

  Megan continued to stare at the pitch black of the sky. “The weekend was too short.”

  “You must be looking forward to seeing Will.”

  She was, but not unequivocally. She wished she were coming home under different circumstances. “Susan’s right. Life has become very complicated.” Her eyes filled with tears and her chin trembled. “Oh, Savvy,” she whispered, “what am I going to do?”

  Savannah grasped her arm firmly. “You’re going to go back home and take control of your life.”

  “Fine for you to say. You’re the master of control. It’s your forte. I’ve been trying to get it all my life, but I keep coming up short. How do you do it? How do you manage to make everything work?”

  “I don’t. I have problems just like everyone else.”

  “But you end up on top.”

  “That depends how you define on top. I look at you and see how close you and Will are. I’ve missed that, Meggie. I’ve missed the loving. I have a super job, but when the job’s done, what’s left? Not much more than the silence of an empty room.”

  “You have Jared now.”

  “But for how long? How long can I keep him?”

  Megan was surprised by Savannah’s doubt. “As long as you want.”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “You’ll keep him.”

  Savannah shrugged.

  “Where’s your optimism?” Megan asked.

  “Giving way to realism, I guess. I’m trained as a lawyer; I’ve never had much experience holding a man. So what’s down the road for me? More empty rooms? If that’s what you call being on top, you’re crazy. But look at you. You have Will. Do you have any idea how sick with worry he was when you were gone? He worships you, Meg. In that sense, you’re the one on top.”

  Megan brushed the corner of her eye with the side of her thumb. “He’s a good man.”

  “Yes, he is. So you’re going back to Providence. You and Will are going to do what’s necessary to put the business back on its feet.” She paused for a fast breath. “And you’re going to work with me to find the men who hurt you. You need that, so you can put the kidnapping behind you, and I need it, but I can’t do anything without your help. You’re the one in control.”

  The pleading look on Megan’s face was a precursor to silence.

  “Don’t clam up on me, Meggie. I need your help.”

  But Megan had already turned her eyes back to the window.

  “Please,” Savannah whispered. “Anything, Meggie. I know how painful it must be to think about, but I need you to do that. For me?” When Megan said nothing, she pushed. “For you. Do it for you. So many times you’ve said you wanted to be in command of your life. Do it, Meggie. This is your chance.”

  Savannah’s words sunk in, but it wasn’t until the following morning that Megan acted.

  CHAPTER 18

  Megan made the call from a phone booth on the outskirts of town. Her palms were damp; her stomach felt tied in knots. But she forced herself to punch out the number and sound fully in command.

  The voice that answered the phone wasn’t the one she wanted. “I’d like to speak to your boss,” she demanded.

  “Hold on,” she was told seconds before the phone clattered onto a hard surface. Amid strains of Mahler, she heard a distant shout, and the ensuing wait seemed interminable. When she heard voices again, her stomach twisted so sharply she actually feared she’d throw up. But she breathed in through her nose and steadied herself.

  “Hello?” came the male voice she knew she would detest until the day she died.

  Slowly, distinctly, and icily, she said, “I want my money.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “My money. As planned.”

  “Who is this?”

  “You know exactly who it is and exactly what you’re supposed to do. I’ll be in tomorrow. You’ll put two and a half million in my trunk.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said in a syrupy tone that stuck to the fine hairs on the back of her neck. “You must have the wrong number.”

  “I don’t think so. I’ll be in tomorrow for my money.”

  “Then you’ll be in for a disappointment.”

  “You don’t have it?”

  There was a pause, then a patently light, “Money? I don’t have anyone’s money. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who is this?”

  Megan wasn’t surprised by his denial. She expected it, just as she expected the fury she still felt. She had lived with it for days.

  “You don’t have my money?” she asked, her voice trembling with anger.

  “No, I don’t have your money,” came the answer.

  Clenching her jaw so hard that it hurt, Megan hung up the phone before she said something rash. Her breathing was shallow. Her entire body was tight. Fearing a breakdown, she remained there for another minute with her eyes closed, praying for strength. She knew he would welch on the deal. She had known it from the first time he touched her, and nothing he had done afterward had hinted otherwise. Still, she’d had to ask, just to know for sure. With certainty came an odd wave of power. It was, indeed, her turn to take command.

  Returning to her car, she headed home.

  * * *

  Two hours later, shortly before noon, Megan entered Savannah’s office. Will was with her, wearing the fury on his face that she felt inside. On the outside, though, she was subdued and pale. At Will’s urging, once the door to the office had been closed, she
said in an ominously quiet voice, “The man you want is Matty Stavanovich. He was the one who kidnapped me.”

  Savannah was sure she had heard wrong. “Matty Stavanovich?”

  Slowly and with genuine distaste, Megan nodded.

  “That can’t be,” Savannah murmured, sagging back against her desk. “Matty’s a cat burglar. He’s never gone in for kidnapping, much less rape.”

  “It was him.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Megan wouldn’t lie about something like that,” Will said curtly.

  Still, Savannah looked at Megan in bewilderment. “Are you sure?”

  The look on Megan’s face answered the question even before she said in a tense monotone, “Two months ago, I took my car in for new brakes. I had to take it back a month later because the brakes didn’t feel right. One of the pads was defective. At least, that’s what he said when he replaced it.” She caught in a sudden breath. “At the time, I thought he was a disgusting man. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I swear, I had a premonition.”

  Savannah put a hand to her heart, which was thudding wildly. After a minute, she reached for the phone. “Let me get some of our people in here.” She placed an emergency call to Sam, then to Mark Morgan at the local FBI office. After leaving a message for Paul, who was at a meeting, she drew up a chair close to Megan’s. “Tell me again. Are you absolutely sure it was Matty?”

  “Yes.”

  “You recognized him because of the work he did on your car?”

  “Yes.”

  Savannah took a shaky breath. She had always known they would get the Cat one day, but never in a million years had she dreamed it would be on a kidnapping rap.

  Will touched Megan’s shoulder. “Tell Savannah about the other man.”

  Megan wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Stavanovich called him Pal, nothing but that. I’d never seen him before. He was bigger, more physical.” She stopped short.

  “Go on,” Savannah urged gently.

  “He raped me first.”

  Savannah wanted to wrap her arms around her own stomach, but she knew this was not the place or the time to indulge her own feelings. So she put a gentle hand on Megan’s arm and said softly, “Matty Stavanovich has been out there for the last two weeks, carrying on business as usual. Sam took Susan to his place last week; she left the Jaguar for him to fix.” She paused for a bewildered second before asking, “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

  Megan swallowed hard. “I couldn’t. He threatened me with even worse things than he’d already done, and he threatened to hurt Will.”

  “But you’re telling me now.”

  With another swallow, Megan rose from her chair. She crossed the room and stared unseeingly out the window. “I can’t live with his threats hanging over my head. I thought about it all last night and then again this morning. I drove around and around thinking about it. I liked being in Florida because I felt safe there. But it’s not my home, and I can’t spend my life running.” She turned to face Savannah. “You were right when you said that I had a chance to take control of things. I want that control. I want my life back. I want Matty Stavanovich punished.”

  Savannah was watching her, wide-eyed, still having trouble believing that the Cat had suddenly changed his style. “Are you sure, Meggie? Before the others get here, are you absolutely sure that Matty was the one?”

  “For God’s sake, Savannah!” Will exclaimed.

  Megan stiffened. “You don’t believe me.”

  “I do, but it’s a serious charge and there are a world of emotions involved. I want you to be certain that you’re pointing a finger at the right man.”

  “I am.”

  “Matty?”

  “Yes.” She tightened her arms around her waist, and, though she was even paler than before, she forced herself to go on. “You can check his blood type with the tests they ran at the hospital. And you can check his body. He has a birthmark shaped like a light bulb just under his right nipple, and he’s not circumcised.”

  Savannah let out a helpless moan.

  Will swore, crossed the floor, and took Megan in his arms. Despite the rigidity of her body, he held her tightly, pressing her head to his chest in a futile attempt to shield her from thoughts that were repulsive to them both.

  Just then, Sam arrived. Savannah met him at the door and, keeping her voice low, filled him in on the turn of events. She was barely done when Mark Morgan joined them. Both men questioned Megan gently. It was an unpleasant necessity. Though tense and upset, Megan stood firm in her conviction that Stavanovich had been her abductor.

  The wheels of justice began to roll. Within hours, Megan had identified mug shots, blood types had been matched up, a search and arrest warrant was issued. At five o’clock that afternoon, the Cat was taken into custody.

  Savannah didn’t get home until well after nine that night, and when she did, it was to find Jared waiting in her living room. She had never been so glad to see anyone in her life.

  Taking one look at her, he folded her in his arms and held her while she trembled. In time, her body began to relax. Only then did he speak.

  “You shouldn’t have to go through this, babe. It’s not right, so much tension.”

  “It’s part of the job,” she said quietly, then looked up at him. “Besides, this time there’s excitement, too,” and it was there in her eyes. “We got him, Jared. We may not have nailed him for burglary, but if I can get a conviction for what he did to Megan, he’ll spend the rest of his life behind bars.”

  Jared had caught the evening news, but that had only given him the bare outlines of the case. “Isn’t it a little bizarre—the Cat doing something like this?”

  “I thought so. I honestly didn’t believe Megan at first. But she was insistent, and Megan’s never been an overly imaginative person. She’s down to earth. She’s always had an eye for details. Matty’s blood type was right. She identified things on his body that she couldn’t have possibly known unless she’d seen him naked.” She paused, looking at Jared all the while, then said in a low voice, “I know what you’re thinking. Sammy was thinking it, too. So was Mark. You’re thinking that maybe Megan had an affair with Matty totally independent of the kidnapping. You’re thinking that if it went awry, she could pin this on him out of revenge, but none of that’s possible. Megan loves Will. There’s no way she’d have an affair with Matty or any other man. Besides, she was kidnapped. Money was demanded and delivered. And she was brutalized. We have concrete proof of that.”

  “How about the second man who was involved? Have you found him?”

  “Matty claims total innocence, so he’s not about to talk of a second man. Megan gave us a detailed description of him, though. The police are working on it.”

  Tempted by her upturned face, Jared lowered his head and kissed her. It had nothing to do with what she was saying, but he had felt the urge, and she didn’t protest. Her mouth molded to his with the sweetness he’d come to expect.

  Taking her to his side, he headed for the kitchen. “Why did Megan take so long to come forward?”

  Savannah took comfort from his nearness to discuss things that might well have set her to shaking again. “Trauma. Fear. That’s how it works. But she’s angry now, too, and that’s given her a strength she didn’t have before. Still, we’ve assigned a police detail to watch her until we get the second man.”

  “Have you found any of the money?”

  “No. And I doubt we will. Just as we’ve never been able to recover the money Matty made on his burglaries. We find the goods from time to time, but I’m sure the money’s been safely stashed.” Her fingers tightened on a handful of sweater at his waist. “The man is incredible, Jared. He pulled a burglary the night after the kidnapping and tossed it in as a red herring. He had a standard alibi to offer when he was questioned. He always has an alibi. This time it was a trip to Mexico, and it covered five days, starting one before the kidnapping.”

  “The police a
re checking it out?”

  “You bet. He had travel brochures and plane tickets and hotel receipts to show, but he’s done that before. It’s his typical MO. He’s always gone, always, when one of these brilliant burglaries takes place. No doubt he sends someone in his place while he hangs around here to do his thing. In the past our resources have been limited, so we’ve only been able to go so far in our investigation. This time, the FBI’s working right along with local and state police. Unless we get a positive ID from someone like a flight attendant or hotel clerk, Matty will be in big trouble. Megan’s testimony will hang him.”

  Jared could feel her anger. “You want that.”

  “Yes, I want it. Life in prison is too lenient for someone who did what he did to Megan.” Hearing her own vehemence, she let out a breath and said meekly, “I take that back. The death penalty gives me the willies. I’ll settle for life in prison.”

  Jared shot her a half-grin. “You’re a tough one.”

  She returned the half-grin a bit dryly. “Don’t you know it.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose this time. “What’ll it be? Coffee, tea, or me?”

  “Tea now. You later.”

  “I work later.”

  “So?”

  He grinned and went for the tea. Savannah watched him, thinking how comfortable he was in her home, how natural it felt to have him there. And how good it was not to be alone. Because on nights like this, when she couldn’t easily put aside the events of the day, she liked having someone to talk with. She had never fully realized what she had been missing before. Talking to Jared gave her an outlet for her tension.

  “Savannah?” His back was to her.

  “Mmm?”

  “What about music? Did Megan say anything about his listening to CIC?”

  Savannah didn’t answer at first. He had to turn to catch her headshake. “I asked her about that when we were questioning her about where she was held. Apparently, Matty played music constantly. Not country, though. Classical.”

  “Classical.” Jared was relieved. “Then he wasn’t inspired by the station.”

  She shook her head.