‘‘Rose. How bad is your companion?’’ she said.
‘‘Bad enough. I’m concerned about his temperature. I’m afraid the bleeding will start up again. He’s recovering from a car accident he had a few days ago, and now this. He needs to see a doctor,’’ said Diane.
‘‘You are a doctor,’’ said Rose.
‘‘I’m not that kind of doctor,’’ said Diane.
‘‘You know anatomy. I’m afraid you will have to do. Do you need dressings?’’
‘‘No. If I change them, he’ll start bleeding again,’’ said Diane. ‘‘You know it’s not a good idea to keep us here, don’t you?’’
‘‘Yes, I do,’’ she said. ‘‘He shouldn’t have brought you here. But what’s done is done.’’
Diane had been watching Rose and the guy she thought was Bobby Banks. They favored each other.
‘‘Is he your son?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘My son?’’ She looked startled again. ‘‘No. Joey’s my brother.’’
Joey. Diane could see him as a baby kangaroo.
‘‘You will have to stay in here while I sort this out,’’ she said. ‘‘In the meantime, do you need food?’’
‘‘They just ate,’’ said Joey.
‘‘Did they? Well. I guess we won’t prepare anything for them,’’ said Rose.
The two of them left and locked the door.
‘‘At least they left the light,’’ said Diane. And their names, she thought. Not a good sign at all—like it didn’t matter.
A new wave of fear swept over her. She ignored it and looked inside the bucket. There was one roll of toilet paper and a bottle of hand sanitizer. Well, you couldn’t say the Delaflotes weren’t good hosts. She wished she were MacGyver. She was sure he could do something with hand sanitizer. Maybe blow open the back wall or something. Diane went to the door to see if there was a crack or hole where she could wedge some tool she hadn’t found yet between the boards and pry them open.
‘‘Splitting them up may get us somewhere,’’ Kingsley said.
Diane walked back to the bed and put a hand on his head. It seemed warm. She untied his hands.
‘‘I’ll just tell them that since we are locked up and you are sick, it won’t make any difference if your hands are untied and you will be more comfortable,’’ she said. ‘‘Less strain on your injured shoulder.’’
‘‘It is more comfortable.’’ He rubbed his wrists.
‘‘How do we split them up?’’ said Diane. ‘‘Jacobs said they are probably inseparable.’’
‘‘He’s right, to a point. The key, I think, may be with the boy. He’s what, eighteen or nineteen going on thirteen? I’ll bet he was born after Clymene was gone. I don’t know where his mother fits into this, if she’s alive, but it was Rose he went to get. He sees Rose as a mother figure. I’ll bet she sees him as more of a son than a brother. I think Rose and Lily raised him. When did Clymene come back into their lives? We don’t know, but her two sisters had already bonded with him. To Clymene he is just a kid. I’m just guessing.’’
‘‘It sounds reasonable . . . but how do we exploit it?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘I don’t know. Just seize an opportunity when it presents itself. We know he screwed up big time and he’s concerned that ‘she’ will be mad. I’m betting that the ‘she’ he’s concerned with is Clymene and he is afraid of her. She’s laid all these careful plans and this little runt comes along and screws everything to hell. Rose was concerned enough to tell Joey that she would be the one to talk with Clymene. If we can make Clymene attack him and get them to defend him, we may be able to separate them enough that they will want to save themselves and the boy and sacrifice Clymene. It’s a thought.’’
Kingsley stopped talking. She thought he had fallen asleep. She searched the room, this time opening all the drawers, taking the light and examining the inside of each. Looking for even a nail file stuck between joints. All the drawers were empty. Nothing.
Diane sat down on the only chair in the room, a plain wooden chair with no cushion. It squeaked when she sat down. She was feeling guilty about Kingsley. Maybe if she hadn’t struggled with Joey the way she had, he wouldn’t have been shot. She had been clumsy and slow and used bad judgment. The only thing she could do now was get him out of here.
She took the lamp around to all the corners of the room, looking for anything. She looked under the bed. The floors were wooden, dark with age like the rest of the room. She walked back and forth, searching for anything that may have been dropped, listening for a squeak in the boards. Most of them did squeak, but she couldn’t pry any of them up. She went along the walls looking for loose stone. She found a couple, but they were not loose enough. Maybe she could use the chair leg. She went back to the chair to see how easy it would be to take apart and use a leg as a tool or a weapon.
‘‘Don’t you think you need your rest?’’ said Kingsley.
‘‘I need to get us out of here,’’ she said.
‘‘This isn’t your fault. It’s mine, if anyone’s,’’ he said.
Diane pulled the chair over to the bed and sat down.
‘‘Whoever’s fault it is, we need to get out,’’ she said. ‘‘You told the marshals you thought that if Clymene were cornered, she would give up to fight another day. Do you still believe that?’’
‘‘Yes, I do. But I have to tell you, now that I’m here in her clutches, I’m not quite as sure,’’ he said. He reached for her hand. He felt warm.
‘‘My wife is expecting me to check in with her. I’m sure Frank is expecting you to check in with him. I don’t know about Frank, but if my wife thinks something is wrong, she will worry the FBI until they do something. Several people know we went to see Carley Volker, including the marshals. The Volkers will tell them Gramma gave us directions to the island. If we can stay alive, we will be rescued. I think the best thing for you to do is to rest like I am. I’m fine; I’m just conserving my energy.’’
Diane got up and tried looking out a slit in the closest window. She could just see a sliver of ground. Maybe she could pry the boards off this window. There was something she could see out there if she could just get the right angle. She tried to remember the image she saw driving up to the building. A field? A pond? Not that anything outside could help her in here.
‘‘Come lie down beside me. You said we needed to eat and drink because it would be our last opportunity. That’s also true of rest,’’ said Kingsley. ‘‘You don’t have to sleep. Just rest.’’
He was right. She was just using up energy. She put the chair by the door just so they could hear the noise if someone opened it. Kingsley scooted over and Diane lay down. It was not a comfortable bed and she was tense. She tried to relax.
‘‘I implemented a plan just before Rose came in the door,’’ she said.
‘‘Oh? What was that?’’ he asked.
‘‘I put my cell phone under the chest of drawers,’’ she said.
‘‘That’s such a clever plan. I wish I had thought of it,’’ he said.
Diane started to laugh. So did Kingsley. The bed shook.
‘‘Please,’’ he said. ‘‘It hurts to laugh.’’
‘‘Joey didn’t take our cell phones because we get no service out here and he thought they were useless to us. What he didn’t think of was the GPS. Mine has a chip in it.’’
‘‘That’s right. Mine does too.’’ He reached in his pocket and dug it out. ‘‘Maybe if we put it somewhere. Or maybe I should just put it back in my pocket. If both our phones turn up missing, they might get suspicious. You can say yours was in your purse.’’
Diane tried to relax, and it must have worked because she was awakened by the sound of the chair scraping across the floor.
Chapter 50
‘‘Were you trying to keep us out? That was pathetic.’’ It was Joey. He had Rose with him.
Diane sat up. Kingsley stayed lying down. ‘‘I would like you and Agent Kingsley to join us in
the dining room.’’
It wasn’t Rose. That was Clymene.
Kingsley noticed the difference too. He sat up beside Diane.
‘‘Clymene,’’ said Kingsley.
‘‘My name, as you apparently know, is Iris. That is what I prefer to be called.’’
‘‘Hey, you untied him....’’ began Joey.
‘‘Hush, it doesn’t matter,’’ said Iris.
‘‘As you may notice, Joey has a gun, and he’s rather reckless with it, so don’t try anything,’’ she said.
Iris stood aside and let them pass. Diane toyed with the idea of jumping one of them, but the last time she’d tried something like that, she had gotten Kingsley shot. She was hoping that going to the main house would afford other opportunities that were less risky.
The inside of the house was much like the outside. It was not decrepit, or shabby chic, or even gently worn. It was a showplace. There was no one particular style, just high-end furniture that looked comfortable and was beautiful to look at. There were vases of flowers everywhere, as well as pictures of flowers. All irises, lilies, and roses. In her mind’s eye when Carley’s grandmother was telling them about the family, Diane had pictured the house having dark rooms. The house wasn’t dark; it was well lit and bright. She wondered whether Iris brought that to the house or it was always this lovely. With grounds that looked the way theirs did, and the house so clean, they had to have help. That made Diane feel more optimistic. There had to be other people around.
‘‘What was that place we were in?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘A place of contemplation,’’ Iris said. ‘‘Please . . .’’ She gestured toward a door.
It opened into a dining room. There was a long, light oak table with matching buffets and china cabinets. Iris’ sisters were putting food on the table. All three sisters were dressed alike. Diane thought they were a little old for that.
‘‘Rose said you had eaten, but you may want to eat again. All of us are great cooks,’’ said Iris.
‘‘I’m not really dressed for dinner,’’ said Kingsley.
Iris smiled. ‘‘We will forgive you.’’
‘‘Neither of us feels very well,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Please, let’s be honest. You’re afraid that I’m going to poison you,’’ said Iris.
‘‘Yes,’’ said Diane, ‘‘there is that. We are also sick. Your brother knocked both of us unconscious and shot Kingsley.’’
‘‘Point taken,’’ said Iris. ‘‘Please sit down. I’m interested to know how you found me. I don’t mind telling you I’m impressed,’’ she said. ‘‘I had such a good plan.’’
‘‘And it worked for a long time,’’ said Diane. ‘‘But with a little Internet research it’s amazing what you can do.
They all sat down and the three sisters and Joey filled their plates with some very delicious-smelling roast beef, potatoes, and roasted asparagus.
‘‘Are you sure?’’ said one of the sisters. She smiled. ‘‘I’m Lily. We haven’t met.’’
Carley’s grandmother was right. They were like three peas in a pod. They looked so much alike. Except that Iris had a small scar near her hairline and her nose was slightly crooked. She had been knocked around.
‘‘Why did you kill Rev. Rivers?’’ said Diane. ‘‘He was a very nice man and he genuinely liked you.’’
The three sisters looked at Joey. He looked at his plate.
‘‘It was an accident,’’ he said. ‘‘I’d never hit anyone before. I did better with these two,’’ he said in his own defense.
It worried Diane that they were being so forthcoming—as if she and Kingsley weren’t going to live anyway. But the more information she could get, the better. And who knows? Perhaps conversation with them would open a rift among the sisters.
‘‘You are right. He was a nice man and he kept his word to me. He was only meant to be knocked out. I regret that he was killed.’’ She paused to eat some of the food on her plate.
‘‘I’m interested in how much you know,’’ said Iris. ‘‘Agent Kingsley, you aren’t looking too good. Rose said you were in an accident—besides being shot, I mean.’’
‘‘Yes,’’ he said. ‘‘Little Joey’s drug made me fall asleep at the wheel,’’ he said.
Iris looked at Joey and he seemed to slink down in his seat.
‘‘Why did you drug him?’’ said Iris.
Joey looked at Rose, and she smiled at him.
‘‘Well, their table had another waitress. They were very picky about me waiting on someone else’s table. The best access I had was with doing the refills for their waitress. I couldn’t be sure which glass was going to Diane, so I had to drug both of them.’’
‘‘That was one of the first clues,’’ said Diane. ‘‘That was how we found out there was a ringer among the wait staff. The restaurant was the only place both of us could have been drugged. Then I discovered his name—Bobby Banks—and there was a Bobby Banks in my apartment building....’’
Iris shot Joey a look that was starting to appear angry. He cringed.
‘‘You were supposed to change your name,’’ she said.
‘‘I didn’t think it mattered. All my identification was for Bobby Banks, my driver’s licence and everything.’’
‘‘It obviously mattered,’’ said Iris.
‘‘I had to show my driver’s license to the old landlady,’’ said Joey.
‘‘Oh, so then you had to use that name.’’ She looked back at Diane. ‘‘That doesn’t explain how you came to be here.’’
‘‘Iris,’’ said Kingsley.
Diane thought his voice sounded strained and weak. She could see he was tempted by the glass of water in front of him. But he resisted, keeping his hands in his lap.
‘‘You have to realize that people know we are here,’’ he said.
‘‘Don’t worry about that. I have an escape plan,’’ she said.
‘‘For all of you?’’ he said.
‘‘My sisters weren’t involved,’’ she said, ‘‘and you can’t prove that they were.’’
‘‘They were contributors to the pool of blood in my living room,’’ said Diane.
Iris smiled. ‘‘Maybe. But we are identical.’’
All three sisters smiled at Diane.
‘‘I can prove it,’’ said Diane. ‘‘And you are not identical, not anymore.’’
For the first time, Diane saw fear pass over Iris’ eyes, and she didn’t think Iris was faking it. She wondered whether Kingsley saw it too. That meant something to Iris—to be identical to her sisters.
‘‘You’re lying,’’ said Iris, calmly.
‘‘Am I?’’ said Diane. ‘‘How about this. Lily and Rose donated the blood for my living room; you didn’t. While they recovered in apartment 1-D, you and pal Joey here let yourselves into my apartment— probably with a key lifted from the landlady. That’s happened before. You and Joey set the stage to look like you were killed there and your body was dragged out to my car. You wiped down Joey’s apartment with Clorox. But you missed a drop of blood on the bedframe and a needle in the floorboards, both containing your sisters’ DNA. How am I doing?’’
Iris was very still. Lily and Rose looked at her, alarm evident on their faces.
‘‘You’re guessing,’’ said Iris.
‘‘Lots of things change DNA. You were identical when you were born. But after you are born you have different experiences that leave markers on your genetic code. We can read those differences. Lily’s and Rose’s genetic profiles are very similar to each other, with only small differences. But because you lived in Europe, and Seattle, and Richmond, and a host of other places and had such different experiences and environmental exposure, your genetic profile is very different from theirs. That’s how we could separate your DNA from theirs.’’
‘‘That’s not true,’’ said Iris.
Diane had made another hit. She saw that she had shaken Iris’ composure.
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‘‘Iris,’’ said Kingsley, ‘‘right now there are only two marshals looking for you. If you don’t let us go, that number will increase exponentially. And they won’t be looking for just you, but all of you. They even know about Joey.’’
‘‘You just want to get away,’’ said Joey.
‘‘Hell yes,’’ said Kingsley, ‘‘but find the flaw in my logic. My desire to live doesn’t change the facts of what I said.’’
‘‘How did you find us here?’’ asked Rose. ‘‘Specifically here. That wasn’t in our DNA, was it?’’
‘‘No, that was written in your scrapbook,’’ said Diane.
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