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The nap started out great but soon morphed into a nightmare. Even asleep, I realized this dream was about the last time I spent with Aunt Alice and Uncle Clive. I knew I needed to get through this last dream, but knowing what was coming, I was terrified. This dream began exactly where the last one had left off with me crouched behind the oleander hedge, desperately trying to figure out what to do. Slowly, I stood and walked around the end of the hedge and back toward the door. Part of me was horrified by my action, but I knew I couldn't be responsible for allowing another child to go through what I'd been through.
I made it as far as the center of the kitchen before Clive turned and saw me. Instantly, they were both on me. I don't think either of them could have held me by themselves, but together they could and did. Clive said, “Don't panic. Nobody is going to hurt you. We just want you to take a little ride with us. We have a nice room set up just for you at a friend's house.”
I would have thought they were just going to haul me off to another gang rape if I hadn't overheard their conversations and known better. Because I knew they were lying, I fought like a wildcat while both of them cursed me at the top of their lungs. They tried to knock me out and I knew if they succeeded, I was dead, but somehow, I avoided blow after blow. Knowing I couldn’t fight forever and that they would eventually win, I went completely limp. They were so surprised they almost dropped me. Before they could drag me to the car, I said, “Gee, Clive, it seems to me that before you take me off to whatever you have planned, you'd want one more romp in the sack. You know Alice likes to watch to make sure it's as painful as possible for me.”
They stopped pulling me toward the door, and looked at each other. Alice said, “I suppose it wouldn't hurt. After all, we aren't in any special hurry, and it would be a fun way to say goodbye.”
Clive said, “If that's what you want, it's fine with me. She may be older than we like, but she's still good sport.”
They only had me half undressed when there was a knock on the door. Alice cursed under her breath, but when she answered the door, she put on her best and friendliest manners. Inwardly, I sighed with relief when the visitors announced they were from Child Protection. There were three of them. One was a stocky matron with iron gray hair. The other two were middle-aged police officers and, with any luck, were fathers themselves. After some heated discussion, they announced they needed to come inside. Clive was frantically trying to put my clothes back in order while keeping one hand over my mouth, but I resisted all his efforts so the authorities would see firsthand how things stood. All three pushed past Alice and into the living room while Clive was still wrestling with me over the clothing. The woman gasped. The older of the two officers said, “Step away from the girl now. You are both under arrest.” For a moment, I thought they meant me, but when the police grabbed Alice and Clive, I knew it was over and I fainted.
I couldn’t have been out long, because even though my recollection of rest of that day is blurry, I was aware that my tormentors were taken away, the house was searched, and my carefully planted evidence was found. It took almost two years of trials and appeals, but both Clive and Alice eventually received long prison terms.
This time when I woke, I was smiling just as I had been on the day my “aunt” and “uncle” had their last day in court. Long before the trial, I had disappeared into the bowels of Phoenix. The evidence I'd left behind was all the police needed, and the prosecutor did just fine without my testimony. They were tried, not only for what they'd done to me, but also for their abuse of several of the other girls they had tortured. Even though I wasn't needed, I sat inconspicuously in the back of the room and watched with satisfaction. This time I was also smiling because I believed now that I had dreamed about the last day, my dreams would surely stop.
With that happy thought in mind, I showered and dressed for my night out. I was in such a good mood that I stopped in at more places than usual for one night. By the time I dropped by the Calico Club to check on Zelda, I was a little tipsy. That was unusual for me. My timing was good, though, because when I arrived, she was between dances. As usual, I found her in the alley behind the building smoking. I broke down and smoked with her while we talked, so maybe I was more than tipsy. Zelda seemed fine and assured me their boss going to jail was a real plus. She found the new boss to be fair, and her assessment was so glowing, I wondered if she had a crush on the man. She told me sadly that Candy had quit not long after the last time I talked to her, and she hadn't heard from her since. We both hoped that wherever she had gone, she was making a better life, but I doubted she had been that wise.
By the end of the night, I was more than a little soused, but I got home without bringing the ripped, good-looking guy that expertly put the moves on me while we danced home with me. I'd been tempted, but for the last few months I'd only been with Kit. I was wondering if this was wise, because I knew there was no future there. I was considering other possibilities, but wasn't ready to do that by getting involved in a series of one-night stands.
In the morning, I had a beauty of a headache. When the doorbell rang around ten, I hoped it was someone I could get rid of quickly. I did my best to be friendly when it turned out to be the mechanic bringing back my car. I walked outside with him to inspect the Porsche. I couldn't find a single flaw. The whole car looked brand new. I couldn’t imagine how he’d accomplished so much so quickly. I let the man wait inside as I wrote a check for the work. The work was so good I included a hefty bonus. He wanted to chat, but I wasn't up to polite conversation. He kept saying, “Boy, that was some job. I hope whoever did that to such a great car doesn't try again.”
I tried to reassure him, but I don't think he believed me. That I was operating under a hangover didn't help. When he finally left, I collapsed on the sofa and must have fallen asleep almost immediately because it was one-thirty, and I was starving when the phone woke me up. I was instantly wide awake when I realized my caller was Roland Defrain. I said, “Where in the world are you? Even more important, how are you? You looked in bad condition the last time I saw you.
“I must admit I've been better. At the moment, I'm at a private hospital. The vest I was wearing that night prevented the heart shot from getting through, but somehow the other shot punctured a lung. The doctors assure me I'm going to recover, but they want to keep me here for another two weeks. The most important thing is, did you retain possession of the book?”
“No thanks to you, I did. I guess you were in no position to help, but you left me in kind of a tight spot. The shooter must have only been after you, because after you were gone, he stopped firing. I don't suppose you'd like to tell me how you pulled off that disappearing act or why you were wearing a bullet-proof vest?”
“One of these days, I just may do that. Now, the nurse is telling me I have to hang up. I just called to tell you to keep the book safe for now. When I get out of here, I'll call you and arrange to complete our transaction.”
With that, he was gone. I had no way to contact him, so I had no choice but to do as he asked. At least he was alive, and I would probably eventually get my fee for procuring the book. Defrain hadn't given me any information about the shooter or his motive, so unless something came up in the future, I let that be his problem. He was the one that had been shot, and I didn't have the background information necessary to discover the shooter's identity. Unless something changed, there was no way to solve that mystery. Still starving, I went to rustle up some lunch. As I was gathering up food, I realized I'd just slept with no dreams. I'd done that before, but even so I took it as a good sign that I'd excised the nightmares permanently.
Food had helped to back off my headache, and I was wondering what I should do with the rest of the day when Blake Slater called. Even though he wasn't calling on my most private line, the first words out of my mouth were, “How did you get this number?”
“Now, darlin', that's not friendly. You should know by now a good thief can get anything if he wants it bad enough.”
“So, from that I should assume you had a strong desire for my number?”
I could hear the laughter in his voice. “Oh, I don't know. I think I've had your number for quite some time. Today I'm just calling to offer you a job.”
It was my turn to laugh. “In case you haven't noticed, I already have all the jobs I can handle. Gossip around town says that lately someone has beaten you to the prize a couple of times. Now, I wonder who that might be?”
“Oh, I admit you're good at what you do. I wouldn't be calling you otherwise. The job I have in mind should be most interesting. How about meeting me for supper so we can talk about it?”
“I'm always willing to talk. Where do you want to meet?”
“How about La Prima Donna? The food is excellent, and the name certainly suits you. I'll reserve a quiet table where we can talk. Say seven-thirty?”
“Italian sounds great. Just remember, you called this meeting, so you're paying. I know you well enough to suspect you of devising some elegant way of sticking me with the bill.”
“Ah, your poor opinion of me is painful. Don't worry, the evening won't cost you anything but a smidgen of your time. See you tonight, darlin'.”
As soon as I'd hung up the phone, doubts began creeping in. Blake was a dangerous man with the reputation as a master thief, but I was never sure of his motives. He was definitely great to look at and fun to flirt with, but I didn't like the little flutter of excitement in my stomach when I thought of spending the evening with him. I hoped it wasn't the danger I was attracted to.
I spent more than my usual amount of time getting ready for the dinner. I had to admit to changing clothes more than once and spending a fair amount of effort on my hair rather than just washing it and letting it do as it pleased. I'd started with a red dress, but that seemed too obvious. I switched to an emerald green, but it seemed more appropriate for a date than a business meeting. I finally settled on a silver-gray dress I'd never worn. The top was fitted and sleeveless, the waist tiny, and the skirt floated softly at knee length. Remembering that Blake was tall, I wore appropriately high heels. Taking a last look in the mirror, I considered changing again, but I'd run out of time. It wasn't my nature to be fashionably late, and I had no intention of making an exception tonight. This was a business meeting and I planned to treat it as such.
For once, traffic was reasonable, and I got to Scottsdale in plenty of time. The minute I entered the restaurant, I spotted Blake. The hostess approached me immediately and said, “Ah, you must be here to meet Mr. Slater. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to his table.”
The woman was about my age, and I noticed her looking me over, wondering what my relationship with Blake was. I didn't blame her. He rose as we approached the table, and there was no denying he was good to look at—tall, tanned, and muscular, his black suit fitting him perfectly. Whatever it had cost must have been staggering. Combined with his slightly long but fashionably styled rose-blond hair, he looked both dangerous and delicious.
Once I was seated, he said, “You are even more beautiful dressed for pleasure than in your typical black outfit. Would you like to discuss business first over an appetizer or enjoy the food first?”
“Let's eat first. I wouldn't want whatever cockamamie idea you've come up with to spoil my appetite.”
“Ah, ye of little faith, but if that is your wish, by all means, let's enjoy the wonderful food here before we discuss my offer.”
The moment he looked up, a waiter appeared as if by magic, offering menus and a description of the day's special dishes. Right behind the waiter was the wine steward. As always, the restaurant's service continued to flow with perfect timing and the food was to die for. When we were happily full and enjoying an after-dinner coffee, Blake broached the reason for the meeting.
I wasn't totally immune to the sexily raised eyebrow and sardonic look when he said, “I asked you here tonight to propose a one-job partnership. Before you reject the idea out-of-hand, let me tell you about the job.”
“You realize I only work alone, I presume?”
“I do, and I also only work alone, but also like you I don't appropriate many items just for the fun of it anymore. Most of the time, I find things my clients want, obtain them, and then get an exorbitant fee for turning them over. It's my understanding you do the same type of thing.”
“This is true. I think in the past we have worked for some of the same collectors. I run into you too often for it to be completely coincidence.”
“Yes, I think you're right. This time, one of my buyers has set a Herculean task. The item won't be hard to transport, but the location is huge. I know the building it's in, but I haven't been able to find out exactly where it is in the building. I figure I can do all the legwork scouting out the place to determine the best time to enter, and all you'd need to do is help me search for what my client wants.”
“If I were interested, which I wouldn't be until I knew where and what the item is, I wouldn’t go along, based on your scouting report. We'd have to do it together or not at all. Also, there's no way I'd do anything without knowing what the fee is, since it would need to be huge for me to risk going along for just half.”
“Okay. All that seems fair. I think it would be best to start by telling you the fee. If you like the sound of that, we can start surveillance tomorrow evening. When we come up with a good time to do the job, I'll tell you what we're looking for. Before the actual theft, you can pull out if you're unhappy. The only conditions I'd impose are that if you decide not to go through with the job, you don't do it on your own and you don't tell anyone anything I've revealed to you.”
“I can live with those terms. What's the fee?”
When he told me, I'm sure my jaw dropped. It was even more than I'd been promised by Defrain for the book. “Okay, I'm beginning to see why you're willing to take on a partner. When and where do you want to meet to take a look at this place?”
He gave me an address I wasn't familiar with and asked me to meet him there an hour after dark the following night. As soon as I got home, I'd have to look it up on Google Earth. I was still a long way from being sure I wanted to do the job, but the compensation made it worth considering.