“Just barely,” Regan answered as she scrambled over to Chip’s body, tried to shake him awake, then grabbed his wrist. “His pulse is low,” she cried. “He won’t wake up. Call an ambulance.”
“I already did,” Kit shouted as she crutched down the hill. “They’re on their way. I think it’s coming now.”
As the sound of the approaching ambulance grew louder, Jack growled to Georgina, “You’d better pray that this guy makes it. What did you slip him?”
“I didn’t give him anything!” she protested. “We had a couple of drinks, that’s all.”
Regan held Chip’s hand and tapped his face. “Come on, Chip. There are a lot of people who love you and are so worried. Your parents and your sister and your friend Phil…there were search parties of people you don’t even know out looking for you tonight…they can’t wait to see you and talk to you…”
The ambulance screeched to a halt on Riverside Drive, followed by several patrol cars. Paramedics hurried into the park with a stretcher. As Regan explained what happened, they quickly placed an oxygen mask on Chip’s face, took his vital signs, and gave him a shot of flumazenil. “We’ll get him to the hospital.”
“Is he going to be all right?” Regan asked anxiously. Jack was standing next to her, his arm draped protectively around her shoulder. Kit and Billy were standing a few feet away.
One of the emergency medical workers nodded. “I think so. His vital signs are okay. If she did slip him chloral hydrate and he was drinking alcohol, he’ll be out of it for a while. But he’s young and looks strong.”
Regan sighed with relief. “I’ll contact his family. We’ll meet you at the hospital.”
“Yes, ma’am. St. Luke’s,” he said as the paramedics started wheeling the stretcher out of the park.
Jack pulled Regan close. “Are you sure you’re okay? You yelped in pain. Let me see where she got you.” He shone his flashlight on her left arm. An angry red mark stood in stark contrast to Regan’s pale skin. “Regan! Look at that!”
“Oh, Regan!” Kit echoed.
Regan shrugged. “I’m just so grateful she didn’t drop that brand on Chip or throw it at his face when I grabbed her. Can you imagine if…”
Melanie came running toward them. She had gotten cold water and an icepack from the ambulance. “Here, Regan, this is for your arm. The paramedics couldn’t believe you didn’t tell them you were burned.”
“I didn’t want them to waste time on me. Honestly, it’s just now that I’m starting to feel it. It doesn’t hurt much,” Regan insisted, as Jack took the water and poured it over her arm. “That does feel good, though. I’ve gotten burns much worse than this when I’ve tried to cook dinner,” she joked. “Remember, Kit?”
Kit smiled. “Yes, I do.”
“Now, if she had branded me with I AM A SNAKE, then I’d be upset.”
Jack shook his head as he tenderly held the icepack against her arm.
Regan smiled. “Listen, everybody. I’m really okay. We’ve got to get to the hospital. Let’s go.” She reached into her pocket for her cell phone as they started to move. “And before another minute passes, I’ve got to make some very important phone calls.”
Georgina was ahead of them, being led out of the park in handcuffs. A small group was gathered on the sidewalk, watching the events unfold. Georgina barely glanced at them, but her brain registered a flicker of familiarity, and she looked again. The color drained from her face. It was as if she’d seen a ghost.
In a way, she had.
Huck Darling was standing just a few feet away.
“I’m sorry, Georgina,” he said as he approached her. “I didn’t mean to hurt you…
Georgina glared at him, and with a perfect aim, spit in his face. As the onlookers gasped, she got in the back of the patrol car.
52
“Well, we’re almost there, finally!” Clay said testily. “Did you have to spend so much time talking to that woman about your fan club?”
“If she wants to start one, I couldn’t be rude.”
“I hate to tell you, but if you don’t get those letters back, there won’t be a need for a fan club.”
“Call the Reillys again and make sure they aren’t home.”
Clay did as he was told. “No answer. Maybe they’re out of town. That would be a treat.”
As they approached Tribeca, the streetlights flickered on. “Oh, no!” Lorraine cried. “It would have been better for us if the power were still off and the Reillys’ building was dark!”
Clay shook his head. “I told you not to waste time. It’s just a couple more blocks. Let’s hope the key still works. If it does, we’ll get in and out and be on our way. Do you think you can jog?”
“Of course I can,” she insisted, even though the sides of the borrowed shoes were chafing her skin. Mind over matter, she thought as they ran down the narrow street. We’re almost there.
53
Sue and Chris Jones were driving in agonized silence. It was too painful for either of them to talk. They were both praying for the safe return of their son. As they were traveling on the Massachusetts Turnpike, the ring of their cell phone through the car speakers made them both flinch. Regan Reilly’s number appeared on the dashboard screen. Sue steepled her hands and closed her eyes as Chris answered.
“Regan?”
“Yes. We found Chip! He’s unconscious but the paramedics think he’s going to be fine.”
A cry of relief emanated from Sue’s mouth. Her head fell to her knees. Chris’s eyes blinked back tears. “Oh, Regan,” Sue said as she slowly sat back up. “Thank you. Thank you. Did she—”
“No, she didn’t brand him. It was a little close for comfort, but we got there in time.”
“Thank you, God,” Sue whispered.
“Where is Chip now?” Chris asked.
“An ambulance is taking him to St. Luke’s Hospital on the west side of Manhattan. It’s on Amsterdam Avenue, two blocks west of Columbus Circle.”
“We’re going to get there as soon as we can,” Chris said. “It’ll be a few more hours, which will seem like forever to us. But nothing can be as bad as the last few.”
“Godspeed.”
54
Arthur was fit to be tied. Zora had stopped in the bathroom on the way out of One Police Plaza and had taken her sweet time.
“All this excitement. My tummy’s a little off,” she explained when she finally climbed in the back of Wally’s car.
Spare me any details, Arthur had thought. Regan and Jack had taken off several minutes earlier, and Arthur had the feeling that every minute counted.
When Wally’s car finally approached the exit off the West Side Highway at Seventy-second Street, the flashing lights of several patrol cars stopped at Riverside Park came into view.
“There they are!” Arthur cried, pointing to Regan and Jack. He punched the seat. “We missed everything!”
Wally stopped the car. “Oh there’s Rod,” he said. “He made it.”
“Who cares?” Arthur mumbled as he jumped out and hurried over to Regan, who was getting off her cell phone.
“Arthur!” she said, greeting him with a hug. “Thank God you found Huck’s address. Georgina was right here in Riverside Park with Chip. We arrived just in time. One more minute and she would have scarred him for life. She must have drugged him—he was out cold—but he’s going to be okay.”
Inwardly Arthur fumed. That idiot Zora, he thought. “I’m glad I could be of help,” he muttered.
“You can’t imagine how Chip’s parents feel. They are beside themselves with relief. And his friend Phil is racing over to the hospital right now. He wants to have a celebration party tomorrow night at Lonnie’s, the bar on the Upper East Side where the search parties were formed. You have to come. They are all going to want to meet you and thank you for what you made possible.”
Conrad’s Rolls-Royce pulled up.
Jack slapped Arthur on the back. “Arthur, I think I should offer you a
job. You can do no wrong, buddy.”
“Yes, I can.
“Oh, Arthur, don’t be so modest,” Regan teased.
“I have a confession to make.”
“No!” Wally moaned. “Please don’t!”
Uh-oh, Rod thought. I’m afraid I know what’s coming.
“I can’t live with myself if I don’t come right out with it.”
“With what?” Regan asked.
“I was the one in your apartment tonight.”
Regan blinked. “You?”
“It’s true. I was the one who locked you out on the roof. Wally discovered a hidden safe in your new apartment. We just wanted to see if there was anything in it that you wouldn’t have missed anyway because you didn’t know about it. That’s all I was doing there. Wally said it was the contractor’s ultimate fantasy to find hidden treasures at a renovation site. Well, it’s been a nightmare for me!”
“What?” Conrad bellowed. “A hidden safe? Where?”
“In the front closet.”
“Daddy!” Alexis squealed. “I bet you Lorraine had it installed. And I bet that’s where she was headed when we saw her on the street!”
“Why would she be going there now?” Regan asked.
“It was just tonight that I broke the news to her that I sold the loft. She’s been in England for three months.”
“And we never changed the keys,” Jack blurted.
They all jumped in their cars and raced down to Tribeca.
55
Lorraine and Clay had entered the building with her key, which thankfully still worked. They snuck up the stairs to the apartment. When her second key opened the door to the apartment, her knees went weak.
“Here we go,” she whispered as they stepped inside.
Carefully and quietly, they crossed the room to the closet. As Clay held the flashlight, Lorraine squatted down, removed the false wall, and entered the code to the safe—0101, for her January first birthday. The safe beeped, and she turned the key.
As she pulled open the door, Clay was trying to decide which area of town he’d look in for a new apartment.
For the second time in an hour, Regan and Jack were racing up a stairwell. At the door to their new apartment Jack turned the key and flicked on the lights.
A gasp was heard from the closet, and the door was quickly yanked shut.
Jack rolled his eyes and hurried over. He pulled on the door. “Come out with your hands up!” he ordered.
The door slowly opened. Lorraine Lily and her cohort were standing there in shock.
“She’s here!” Alexis cried gleefully as she pulled out her cell phone and began to record the proceedings. “Becky, is this awesome or what? My mother is going to love this! Especially the sight of those awful shoes!”
“Those shoes are shocking,” Becky agreed.
“Out!” Jack ordered.
“The stuff in the safe is mine!” Lorraine screamed. “I came back to get what belongs to me!”
“What’s going on?” Clay protested. “Lorraine, you mean you don’t live here any more?” He turned to the others. “We rehearsed here several times. We were scene partners—”
“You’re a lousy actor, Clay,” Lorraine screeched. “You were in on this with me and you know it.”
Conrad shook his head, delighted at the scene. “Oh, Lorraine, I’m so surprised at you. Now what’s in that safe anyway? Some of the money you withdrew from my accounts?”
“All I want are my letters,” Lorraine protested.
“What?” Clay gasped.
“They must be some letters,” Conrad said. “I can’t wait to read them.”
“No!”
“I’ll make a deal with you. You can have your letters back if you agree you don’t want a cent of alimony, or any part of the house. We’ll keep the letters in a safe-deposit box in case you change your mind and take me to court. Of course, the Reillys have to decide if they want to press charges…”
Wally and Arthur and Rod were standing by the door with Kit and Billy and Melanie and Zora and Leon.
“Well, well. If they catch the stinker who broke into our gallery, it would be a perfect end to the evening,” Zora said. “Wouldn’t it, dear?”
“The perfect ending,” Leon agreed, nodding his head up and down.
Rod turned to Wally. “Thanks for ruining my business. You and your friend here.”
“He saved me from ruin!” Conrad said gleefully. “Don’t worry, Rod. This won’t ruin your business. I’ll make sure you get plenty of work. And I’ll be glad to pay for any lawyers. If Arthur hadn’t confessed, we wouldn’t have caught Lorraine up to her tricks.”
“And if it weren’t for Arthur, we never would have gotten our beautiful statues back,” Zora said.
The room was silent for a moment.
“Arthur, was it your stun gun?” Regan asked.
“Yes. But I would never ever have used it on you, Regan. Never would I have zapped you! And I bought it in a state where they’re legal.”
56
It was daybreak when Chip’s parents came racing into the hospital. “Our son, Chip Jones. Where is he?”
The attendant smiled. “He’s been waiting for you. Follow me.”
Sue and Chris clasped each other’s hands and were led through the emergency room. The attendant finally stopped and pulled away a curtain. Phil was sound asleep in the chair next to Chip’s bed.
Chip smiled weakly and pointed at his friend. “Can you believe the nerve of this guy?”
Tears in their eyes, they both laughed and reached down for what they knew would be the best hug of their lives.
July 15th, 9 P.M.
57
The next night there was quite a celebration at Lonnie’s. Power had been restored to New York City, and Chip was back in the company of his family, friends, and a group of new friends whom he would never forget. His sister had flown in from California on the first flight possible.
“I would have walked here,” she told Regan. “Thanks so much.”
“Natalie, it wasn’t just me. As you can see there were a lot of people who were out looking for your brother,” Regan said as she glanced around the bar.
Conrad was next to his ex-wife, Penny, his arm around the back of her chair. Alexis was beaming. “I’m going to invite everyone here to my birthday party. Dad, don’t forget. The party’s a week from Saturday.”
“Of course I won’t forget! Maybe I’d better come home with you and your mother tonight and help with all the plans,” he suggested, squeezing his ex-wife’s shoulder.
Penny sipped her drink. “I have girlfriends who would never speak to me again if I took you back.”
“Who cares what they think?” Conrad leaned over and kissed her cheek.
She raised her eyebrows and laughed.
Never say never, Conrad thought hopefully.
Kit and Billy were on stools at the bar, finally getting a chance to know each other. Wouldn’t that be nice? Regan thought. Phil had his arm around Dodie. Melanie was telling everyone she wanted to move to New York. Becky was toasting Chip’s foray into comedy. Larry had made room for him in the first class. Chip and his parents happily clinked glasses.
Nora and Luke had arrived from Los Angeles that afternoon. “Regan, I can’t believe we missed everything,” Nora said. “But I’m glad we’re here for the celebration.”
Rod and Wally and Arthur were stuck at a corner table with Zora and Leon. Zora was chewing their ears off. “And, Arthur, I think if anyone is going to catch that bandit who stole our sculptures, it will be you. I just know it. I’m telling you, if you just put your mind to it…”
Jack smiled and looked at Regan. “Honey, I can’t believe we’re letting them get away with breaking into our apartment.”
“But, Jack,” Regan said with a glint in her eye. “We’ll be the first people in the history of renovations who have their apartment finished on time.” She glanced over at Wally and Rod, who both looked a little
glum. “Something tells me it might even be ready early…”
Laughing, Jack leaned down and kissed her. “Regan, I don’t care where I live or under what conditions…as long as I’m with you.”
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