The Ugly Duckling by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online Page A

through the reception room.
    “His housekeeper. Tania Vlados is a mutual friend.” He jabbed a button at the bank of elevators.
    “Will she help persuade him?”
    “I doubt if he’ll discuss it with her. Tania would make him too uncomfortable. She’s a bit of a bulldozer. Besides, we don’t need her. He’s already wrestling with himself. He grew up poor as dirt and it’s always difficult for him to put the quest for wealth behind human kindness.”
    Jamie looked back through the glass doors into Lieber’s luxurious office. “He seems to do all right.”
    “But he also donates his services one day a week to help abused children.” The elevator stopped and he entered. “And it won’t be the kids he’ll drop if he takes on Nell Calder.”
    “You could offer him enough to sweeten the pot.”
    “Not now. It would insult him. Once he’s committed, I assure you he’ll make me pay through the nose.”
    “You’re going to a hell of a lot of trouble.”
    “So?”
    “You’re not to blame for this.”
    “The hell I’m not.” He wearily shook his head. “And don’t give me that bull about her being responsible because she was dealing with Gardeaux. I don’t think she did.”
    “Then why did he want to take her out?”
    “I don’t know. None of it makes sense. There has to be some reason.” He paused. “She and the kid were both stabbed, when a bullet would have been quicker and more efficient.”
    “Maritz?”
    “Probably. He was a Seal and he’s the only one of Gardeaux’s men who’s in love with a knife. Nell Calder must have been his sole target. Her husband and the others were killed in the ballroom, but he stalked her.”
    “Prime target.” Jamie nodded. “Which makes your innocent-bystander premise distinctly suspect.”
    “Then prove me wrong. It would make me happy as hell to find out she was working for Gardeaux. If you’re going to trace any connection, we’ll need more information than the dossier Conner’s compiled on her. I want to know what she had for breakfast when she was six years old.”
    “And when do you want me to start?” He held up his hand. “Never mind. After dinner, right?”
    “I can get someone else. It’s donkey work, and I’m not sure it will bring us any closer to Gardeaux.”
    “Well, the pub’s a bit slow right now. I might as well do it myself. Anything else?”
    “A guard on her hospital room. Gardeaux might notlike the fact that she’s still alive.” He made a face. “Better make him unobtrusive, or Joel will have a cow.”
    “Not easy. Those medical types are very territorial.” He thought about it. “Maybe a male nurse. I could call Phil Johnson in Chicago.”
    “Whatever. Just have him in place by tomorrow morning.”
    “What about tonight?”
    “I’ll be with her tonight.”
    “You didn’t sleep on the plane.”
    “And I won’t sleep tonight. I’m not going to make another mistake.”
    T anek again.
    He looked different, and for a moment Nell couldn’t realize why.
    The green sweater. He wasn’t wearing a tuxedo. And he no longer looked angry and tense, only tired.
    She could understand that. She was tired too. So tired she could barely hold her eyes open. She seemed to be floating.…
    That’s right, she was dying. If this was what it was like, it wasn’t so bad.
    She must have whispered, because he leaned forward. “You’re not dying. You’re fine.” He grimaced. “Well, not fine, but you’re not going to die. You’re in a hospital back in the States. You have quite a few broken bones but nothing we can’t fix.”
    She felt vaguely comforted. No, there was nothing he couldn’t fix. She had known that the first time she had seen him.
    “Go back to sleep.”
    But she couldn’t go back to sleep. There was something wrong. Something to do with that dark horror before she fell. Something she had to ask. “Jill …”
    His expression didn’t change, but she felt a ripple of panic. Yes, something was wrong.
    “Go