by Adrianne Lee
With anxiety prickling him, he called the transplant wing and told Denise to have Eden call him on his cell phone the moment she came in. Then he phoned Lynzy.
“Kollecki!” David slammed the phone down. “We’ve got to get to the hospital! My student assistant said she spoke with Eden over half an hour ago. Eden told her she was going straight up to see her sister, but the desk nurse claims she never showed up. What if she ran into Ariel?”
“THE QUESTION IS, what are you doing still alive?” Ariel’s hand was in her pocket. “I’ve got a gun in here. It’s little but it would make a nice hole in you.”
The heat drained from Eden’s body, and she realized she probably resembled the ghost Ariel had thought she was.
“Mrs. Prescott.” Denise Smalley’s voice brought Eden jerking around, grasping at the chance of rescue.
Denise was some twenty feet away. Eden took a step toward her, but Ariel snatched her by the upper arm, jerking her back. Eden felt herself slam against Ariel’s side, felt the hard barrel of the gun pressing her ribs.
Ariel whispered, “One word and I’ll use this.”
Eden doubted Ariel would do that... with Denise as a witness. But she knew if she cried out for help, Ariel was unstable enough, unpredictable enough, to do anything. Eden wouldn’t risk endangering others’ lives.
Denise stopped ten feet from them. A puzzled look crossed her face, but before she asked the question hovering on her lips, Ariel said, “It’s okay, Denise. I told her.”
“Good.” Denise retreated as if she’d been spared a distasteful chore.
Eden’s heart sank to her toes.
“Come on. We’re going for a walk.” Ariel pivoted again, dragging Eden with her.
Scrambling to think of some way out of this predicament, Eden offered no resistance. Like someone holding up an elderly patient, Ariel steered her into the hall away from the transplant wing until they reached the elevators to the BB Tower—the slowest elevators in the state of Washington.
As the doors lurched closed behind them, Eden felt Ariel’s grip on her slacken.
Eden peered up at her. “What did Denise think you told me?”
Ariel’s grin was nasty. “They’ve been trying to reach you at the hotel. Beth’s body is rejecting the kidney.”
Eden jerked as if the words were a fist smacking her. Dizziness wobbled her equilibrium.
“None of that!” Ariel jerked her up, fingers biting into Eden’s arms. She was strong—likely from handling patients, likely from a strain of madness.
I won’t think of Beth. Not now. If I do, I might die...and then my baby will die. So help her God, she would do everything within her power to prevent that. But how?
The elevator slipped past the fifth floor. The sixth. Hadn’t she read somewhere that murderers liked to boast about their feats? Maybe she could buy some thinking time by getting Ariel talking. “You’ve loved David a long time, haven’t you?”
She felt Ariel stiffen, but she remained tightmouthed. Eden guessed she had no intention of answering. The elevator rose past the ninth floor. Eden scrambled for another tack.
“Ever since I worked with his brother’s daughter.” Ariel’s voice slipped out so softly it was nearly inaudible.
The elevator passed the eleventh floor. Eden swallowed hard. If she said the wrong thing, it might set Ariel off. She chose her words carefully. “What attracted you to him?”
“He was the kindest man I’d ever met.”
Eden watched the lighted board illuminate floor thirteen. Then fourteen.
“He looked at me when he talked to me, you know, really looked at me, as if he actually saw me. Not like most men. They’re only after the package, not the woman inside.”
“You’re right. David isn’t that kind of man.”
The elevator ground to a halt. The sixteenth floor. Ariel gazed down at Eden, her gray eyes hard, flat stones. “You’d know that better than I, wouldn’t you?”
The elevator doors joggled open.
Eden cringed, her stomach writhing with fear. David was the wrong subject. She needed to steer clear of Ariel’s defeats, concentrate on what she probably considered her successes.
“Why did you kill Shannon?” Eden dropped the question like a bomb. Ariel tensed and glared at her. Then, as the elevator doors started closing, she hustled Eden out onto the sixteenth floor.
She steered her left, then left again, and Eden realized they were going to David’s office. Why? If Ariel intended to shoot her here, it wouldn’t be to frame him for another murder; David was still in custody. A damp chill brushed her skin. She couldn’t afford to waste time trying to figure out Ariel’s motives for anything.
Just keep her talking. Eden struggled to recall what she’d asked. Oh, yes. Shannon. “Why did you kill her? She had no romantic ties to David.”
“I feel bad about that.” Ariel grimaced, but if she actually felt remorseful, it didn’t show. “Denise is my friend. But it’s her own fault. She thought Shannon had the hots for David. I knew they spent time together, but he didn’t seem enamored of her the way Denise claimed. Then Denise told me she’d caught Shannon reading bridal magazines. I wasn’t about to let the little twit take David from me.”
She said this as if she believed David and she had some kind of special commitment. If she weren’t so frightened, Eden might have felt sorry for this woman. They passed one office, then another and another. It was lunchtime, and the corridor was deserted. “Surely you realized your mistake when you found her with Peter?”
“Well, that little joke was on me.” She laughed humorlessly. “I thought Shannon was alone. When he came out of the bathroom and found me standing over her body—let’s just say he scared me as badly as I scared him.” She laughed again. “Actually I’d say I scared him worse.”
Eden shoved the awful visions out of her mind. They stopped outside David’s office. Ariel tried the knob. Would Lynzy be there? Eden prayed not. She didn’t want the nice young woman harmed. The door was locked.
Eden’s relief was short-lived, as Ariel produced a set of keys from her pocket and unlocked it. She shoved Eden inside, relocked the door, then forced Eden through the first office and into David’s private one.
The door banged eerily behind them, and desolation settled around Eden with ugly inevitability, as gray as the clouds outside. She scanned the desk and bookshelves for something to use as a weapon. Her knees were wobbly. She spotted a paperweight on the corner of the desk farthest from the windows. Could she reach it?
Ariel brought the gun out of her pocket and pointed it at her stomach. “Get over by the windows.”
Shrinking away from the gun barrel, Eden walked backward until she bumped against the heating unit below the windows. She’d never reach the paperweight from here. Panic slithered through her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spied the jade plant on top of the heater. It was in a weighty-looking ceramic container. Could she divert Ariel’s attention enough to heft it? “What was Valerie’s crime?”
“If you must know, she saw me following you. Asked me about it when I went to pick up my check. I couldn’t have her telling anyone.” Keeping the gun leveled at her, Ariel moved around David’s desk and rummaged through the top drawer. She lifted out a pair of sharptipped scissors, then moved toward Eden like a panther stalking her prey.
Eden blanched, eyeing the scissors uncertainly. What did she mean to do with them? “Did you frame Rose Hatcher?”
That stopped Ariel. With the hand holding the scissors, she ruffled her wild hair and beamed with pride. “I went to a lot of trouble befriending that timid mouse. Then I just left a few incriminating items in her apartment.”
Her gray eyes suddenly narrowed into slits. “That sneaky Marianne DePaul. She meant to steal David away from me. She was always hanging around his office, eating in the lunchroom with him, calling him at his brother James’s house.”
She glared at Eden. “But you — you were the worst.”
She dropped the scissors, grabbed Eden by the forearm and jammed the gun against her belly.
“No. Please. I’m going to have a baby.”
Ariel’s eyes flashed with hatred. Eden realized she’d made a mistake mentioning the baby. Ariel shoved her back against the heating unit, then bent to retrieve the scissors. Eden crossed her hands protectively over her stomach.
Ariel thrust her body against Eden’s, jammed Eden against the heating unit, holding her there while she reached over Eden’s head and poked the scissor tip into the tiny, square window lock. A special key was required to open the windows on this floor, a key kept by security. To Eden’s horror, the scissors worked just as effectively. The window swung open.
Cold stole into the office, cutting through Eden’s clothes. Ariel stepped back, and Eden slumped, grabbing in a lungful of much-needed air. The gun barrel was pushed into her face, and Ariel pointed to the top of the heating unit. “Up you go.”
Eden shook her head.
“Now.” Ariel thumbed the hammer.
Eden froze. “Please don’t kill me.”
“I’m not going to kill you. You’re going to commit suicide.”
“No one will believe that.”
“Yes, they will. Your life is a shambles. Everyone thinks you killed your husband and his lover. You’re pregnant with the baby of a man who will hang for murdering—” Ariel broke off, tilting her head. “Who did I stab last night?”
Eden let out a ragged breath. “Rose Hatcher.”
“Rose?” Ariel shrieked with laughter. “That’s rich. What was she doing at David’s?”
“She was going to tell David about you. I think she saw you put the rose on his porch after you killed Valerie.”
“Serves her right, then.” She chortled. “I can’t wait to see tomorrow’s headlines. Former suspect throws herself out lover’s office window after learning he’s a killer, after learning her sister’s kidney transplant fails.”
She jabbed the gun in Eden’s ribs. “Now, get on the heater.”
Unless she could reach one of the jade plants and hit Ariel with it, she was going to die. Eden had never been more sure of anything in her life. “I can’t get up there without a chair.”
“Then drag one over.”
Eden stepped to the high-backed leather chair, grasped the arms and tugged. Despite the fact she was holding something solid, her balance wavered. She swayed, then lost her grip. The black curtain she’d experienced earlier that morning slid across her eyes.
Eden crumpled at Ariel’s feet.
Ariel swore. Then she decided an unconscious Eden was preferable to a conscious one: no more arguing, no fighting and no screaming. She set her gun down, squatted and scooped Eden up like an unwieldy grocery sack. As petite as she was, Eden’s deadweight was an armful.
Grunting, Ariel straightened and staggered toward the window. The outer office door creaked. Then the door at her back banged open, galvanizing her.
Kollecki shouted, “Freeze, Ms. Bell!”
Ariel didn’t even glance over her shoulder.
Kollecki said, “Turn around, real slow, and put Mrs. Prescott down.”
Ariel stood stiff with defiance.
David stepped into his office. His gaze was riveted on what he could see of Eden. What had happened to her? He spotted the gun on the floor. Had Ariel shot her? Fear raced his heart. But he knew any quick movements might set Ariel off.
“Please, Ariel. Don’t hurt her.” David didn’t know what else to say. Before Ariel had tried framing him for murder, he’d have used her affection for him to reason with her. Now she hated him. Nothing he said would convince her to trust him.
Kollecki repeated his command that Ariel turn around and put Eden down.
“The only place I’m putting her is out this window.” Ariel took a step forward.
Kollecki shot her in the knee.
The bang resounded in the confined space. Ariel screamed and crumpled backward, tossing Eden free as she fell. Eden’s head cracked against the desk. David ran to her. She was breathing. But a lump was forming at her temple, and he couldn’t get her to wake up.
Chapter Seventeen
Light prodded Eden awake. Carnations scented the air, and it took her a moment to realize she was not in a garden but a hospital bed. Her gaze focused on a beloved face, and she smiled. The effort hurt. “David...”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s so great to see those gorgeous eyes of yours.”
“Thank you for the flowers.” Dozens of red carnations seemed to occupy every available space in the room.
“They’re from Kollecki. It’s probably the only apology we can expect from him.”
Agreeing that his assessment of the detective was right on, Eden smiled wryly. “Thank God he had the sensibility not to send white roses.”
“More likely roses just cost too much.” David smirked, then leaned over her. “How are you feeling, love?”
She winced. “My head hurts like the devil.”
“Slight concussion.” He lifted her hand and kissed the palm. “It happened when Ariel dropped you. But the doctor assures me you’ll be up and around by tomorrow.”
Fear flushed through her at the sudden rush of memory brought to life with that one name. She gripped his hand. “Ariel?”
“Down the hall. Under arrest. Kollecki shot her in the knee.”
Eden shuddered and sank back on the pillow. She closed her eyes. Then, as the pain eased, she looked again into the eyes of the man she loved. “Ariel told me everything. She killed them all.”
“I know. The police searched her house and car and turned up enough evidence to put her away for several lifetimes.” He kissed her forehead. “So I don’t want you wasting one more minute worrying about her.”
Ariel was a worry Eden gladly relinquished, but her sister’s failed kidney surgery was utmost in her thoughts. Her throat was dry, her tongue thick. “Beth?”
David grinned. “Beth is great. The kidney is functioning as well as if it were an original piece of her anatomy.”
Had she heard him right? Yes. He was grinning. The icy cloak around her heart shattered, and a joyful sob spilled from her. “Ariel said her body was rejecting the kidney.”
“Ah, love.” His look of sympathy said more than words. “She lied. Dr. Ingalls says it is an incredibly good match. She’s already starting to heal.”
Tears of relief and happiness sprang into Eden’s eyes, wetting her lashes. She swept her hands from her chin up to her eyes and felt a lump in the general area of her right temple. Pain spiraled through her head at the gentle brushing of her fingers over it. “How did I get this?”
David edged onto the bed and braced his arms on each side of her body. He told her as much as he knew of the events. “You were unconscious when I arrived. Did Ariel hit you with something?”
“I fainted.” Eden blanched, recalling with a brand-new fear why she had fainted. Had Ariel dropping her harmed her baby? She placed her hands over her stomach. “David, did the doctor check? Is...everything else okay?”
He sighed, then sat straighter and placed his hands over hers. “If you’re asking about this little baby...yes, everything else is perfect.”
He knew. Eden’s heart climbed her throat. “The doctor told you?”
He nodded. His mouth stretched into a thin line. “Why didn’t you tell me about our baby, Eden?”
Eden’s pulse tripped at his assumption that the baby was theirs. How could she tell him she didn’t know who the baby’s father was? Would he hate her? Reject her?
Steeling herself, she spoke softly. “I knew I couldn’t keep it from you much longer.” Somehow she managed to sound more calm than she felt. “But I had two reasons for waiting. First, you have to know that I’d never use a child to
trap you into a lifelong commitment you didn’t want. And second, you also need to know... this baby might be Peter’s.”
She saw the shock register, then he grew thoughtful. His eyes changed from mossy to jade. “What if the baby is mine?”
She could barely breathe. “If he or she proves to be yours, I’ll make certain you have a part in your child’s life... if that’s what you want.”
“Do you love me, Eden?”
Did she love him? How could he even ask? She feathered her fingers along his strong jaw. “Enough to let you go... if that’s what you want.”
He threw back his head and drew in a long breath. Letting it out slowly, he sought her gaze. “I thought you didn’t want the commitment... so soon after being widowed, so soon after coming out of a bad marriage ... so I didn’t ask you to make any promises that would burden you.”
He kissed her fingertips. “But me... I want to spend the rest of my life with you and raise as big a family as we can together.”
Gently he placed his palm over her belly again, his gaze hot with the passion of his words. “I don’t give a damn about biology. I already know who the father of this baby is... me. Is that what you want?”
Despite the ache in her head, she grinned with all the wonder and hope and love that were filling her heart. “That is definitely what I want. For me and for our baby.”
ISBN : 978-1-4592-7582-9
EDEN’S BABY
Copyright © 1996 by Adrianne Lee Undsderfer
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.