Suzanne Brockmann – Tall, Dark and Deadly: Get Lucky (страница 15)

Syd moved slightly on the couch, her head back, her lips slightly parted as she made another of those intense little sounds. Dear God.

“Why don’t we see if we can get to the end of this episode,” Lana suggested. “Maybe she’ll be more receptive to moving into the more recent past if we let her take her time.”

“What,” Lucky said, “we’re just going to sit here while she relives having sex with this guy?”

“I’ve never done this before,” Syd whispered. “Not really, and—Oh!”

Lucky couldn’t look at her, couldn’t not look at her. She was breathing hard, with a slight sheen of perspiration on her face. “Okay,” he said, unable to stand this another second. “Okay, Syd. You do the deed with Mr. Wonderful. It’s over. Let’s move on.”

“He’s so sweet,” Syd sighed. “He says he’s afraid people will talk if I stay there all night, so he asks a friend to drive me back to my dorm. He says he’ll call me, and he kisses me good night and I’m…I’m so amazed at how good that felt, at how much I love him—I can’t wait to do it again.”

Okay. So now he knew that not only was Sydney hot, she was hot-blooded as well.

“Sydney,” Lana’s voice left no room for argument. “Now it’s just a little less than a week ago. You’re on the stairs, in your apartment building. You’re coming home from the movies—”

“God.” Sydney laughed aloud. “Did that movie suck. I can’t believe I spent all that money on it. The highlight was that pop singer who used to be a model who now thinks he’s an actor. And I’m not talking about his acting. I’m talking about the scene that featured his bare butt. It alone was truly worthy of the big screen. And,” she laughed again, a rich, sexy sound, “if you want to know the truth, these days the movies is the closest I seem to be able to get to a naked man.”

Lucky knew one easy way to change that, fast. But he kept his mouth shut and let Lana do her shrink thing.

“You’re climbing the stairs to your apartment,” she told Syd. “It’s late, and you’re heading home and you hear a noise.”

“Footsteps,” Syd responded. “Someone’s coming down the stairs. Kevin Manse—no, he just looks for half a second like Kevin Manse, but he’s not.”

“Can you mentally push a pause button,” Lana asked, “and hold him in a freeze-frame?”

Syd nodded. “He’s not Kevin Manse.”

“Can you describe his face? Is he wearing a mask? Panty hose over his head?”

“No, but he’s in shadow,” Syd told them. “The light’s behind him. He’s got a short crew cut, I can see the hair on his head sticking straight up, lit the way he is. But his face is dark. I can’t really see him, but I know he’s not Kevin. He moves differently. He’s more muscle-bound—you know, top-heavy from lifting weights. Kevin was just big all over.”

Lucky could well imagine. God, this was stupid. He was jealous of this Kevin Manse guy.

“Let him move toward you,” Lana suggested, “but in slow motion, if you can. Does the light ever hit his face?”

Syd was frowning now, her eyes still closed, concentrating intensely. “No,” she finally said. “He swerves around me, hits me with his shoulder. Sorry, bud. He turns his face toward me and I can see that he’s white. His hair looks golden, but maybe it’s just brown, just the reflected light.”

“Are you sure he’s not wearing a mask?” Lana asked.

“No. He’s still moving down the stairs, but he’s turning his head to look at me, and I turn away.”

“You turn away,” Lana repeated. “Why?”

Syd laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I’m embarrassed,” she admitted. “He thought I was a man. It’s happened to me before, and it’s worse when they realize they’ve made a mistake. I hate the apologies. That’s when it’s humiliating.”

“So why do you dress that way?” Lucky had to ask.

Lana shot him an appalled “what are you doing?” look. He didn’t give a damn. He wanted to know.

“It’s safe,” Syd told him.

“Safe.”

“Lieutenant,” Lana said sternly.

“Back to the guy on the stairs,” Lucky said. “What’s he wearing?”

“Jeans,” Syd said without hesitating. “And a plain dark sweatshirt.”

“Tattoos?” Lucky asked.

“His sleeves are down.”

“On his feet?”

She was silent for several long seconds. “I don’t know.”

“You turn away,” Lana said. “But do you look back at him as he goes down the stairs?”

“No. I hear him, though. He slams the front door on his way out. I’m glad—it sometimes doesn’t latch and then anyone can get in.”

“Do you hear anything else?” Lucky asked. “Stop and listen carefully.”

Syd was silent. “A car starts. And then pulls away. A fan belt must be loose or old or something because it squeals a little. I’m glad when it’s gone. It’s an annoying sound—it’s not an expensive part, and it doesn’t take much to learn how to—”

“When you’re home, do you park in a garage,” Lucky interrupted, “or on the street?”

“Street,” she told him.

“When you pulled up,” he asked, “after the movie, were there any cars near your apartment building that you didn’t recognize?”

Syd chewed on her lip, frowning slightly. “I don’t remember.”

Lucky looked at Lana. “Can you take her back there?”

“I can try, but…”

“Gina’s door is open,” Syd said.

“Syd, let’s try to backtrack a few minutes,” Lana said. “Let’s go back to your car, after you’ve left the movie theater. You’re driving home.”

“Why is her door open?” Syd asked, and Lana glanced at Lucky, shaking her head.

“Her boyfriend must’ve left it open,” Syd continued. “Figures a guy can’t replace a fan belt also can’t manage to shut a door and…” She sat up suddenly, her eyes wide open. She was looking straight at Lucky, but through him, or in front of him, not at him. She didn’t see him. Instead, she saw something else, something he couldn’t see. “Oh, my God“

Her hair was damp with perspiration, and she reached up with a shaking hand to push it away from her eyes.

Lana leaned forward. “Sydney, let’s go back—”

“Oh, my God, Gina! She’s in the corner of the living room, and her face is bleeding! Her eye’s swollen shut and…oh, God, oh, God. She wasn’t just beaten. Her clothes are torn and…” Her voice changed, calmer, more controlled. “Yes, I need the police to come here right away.” She recited the address as if she were talking on the telephone. “We’ll need an ambulance, too. And a policewoman, please. My neighbor’s been…raped.” Her voice broke, and she took a deep breath. “Gina, here’s your robe. I think it would be okay if you put it around yourself. Let me help you, hon…”

“Sydney,” Lana said gently. “I’m going to bring you back now. It’s time to go.”

“Go?” Syd’s voice cracked. “I can’t leave Gina. How could you even think that I could just leave Gina? God, it’s bad enough I have to pretend everything’s going to be okay. Look at her! Look at her!” She started to cry; deep, racking sobs that shook her entire body, a fountain of emotion brimming over and spilling down her cheeks. “What kind of monster could have done this to this girl? Look in her eyes—all of her hopes, her dreams, her life, they’re gone! And you know with that mother of hers, she’s going to live the rest of her life hiding from the world, too afraid ever to come back out again. And why? Because she left the window in the kitchen unlocked. She wasn’t careful, because nobody had bothered to warn any of us that this son of a bitch was out there! They knew, the police knew, but nobody said a single word!”

Lucky couldn’t stop himself. He sat next to Sydney, and pulled her into his arms. “Oh, Syd, I’m sorry,” he said.

But she pushed him away, curling into herself, turning into a small ball in the corner of the couch, completely inconsolable.

Lucky looked at Lana helplessly.

“Syd,” she said loudly. “I’m going to clap my hands twice, and you’re going to fall asleep. You’ll wake up in one minute, feeling completely refreshed. You won’t remember any of this.”

Lana clapped her hands, and just like that, Syd’s body relaxed. The room was suddenly very silent.

Lucky sat back, resting his head against the back of the couch. He drew in a deep breath and let it out with a whoosh. “I had no idea,” he said. Syd was always so strong, so in control…. He remembered that message he’d found on his answering machine last night when he’d gotten home. The way she hadn’t quite managed to hide the fear in her voice when she’d called him for help, thinking she was being followed by a stranger. You scared me to death, she’d told him, but he hadn’t really believed it until he’d heard that phone message.

What else was she hiding?

“She clearly considers her stake in this to be personal,” Lana said quietly. She stood up. “I think it would be better if you were in the waiting room when she wakes up.”

CHAPTER SIX

“WHERE ARE WE GOING?” Syd asked, following Luke down toward the beach.

“I want to show you something,” he said.

He’d been quiet ever since they’d left Lana Quinn’s office—not just quiet, but subdued. Introspective. Brooding.