“Do you really mean that, Ken?”
“You bet I do.”
She put her arms around him. “Thank God! Oh, darling. I was so worried. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. From now on, everything is going to be wonderful.” You’ll never know how wonderful. “Look, I have Sunday night off. Are you free?”
She grasped his hand. “I’ll make myself free.”
“Great! We’ll have a nice quiet dinner and then we’ll go back to your place for a nightcap. Do you think you can get rid of Paige and Honey? I want us to be alone.”
Kat smiled. “No problem. You don’t know how happy you’ve made me. Did I ever tell you how much I love you?”
“I love you, too. I’ll show you how much Sunday night.”
Thinking it over, Mallory decided it was a foolproof plan. He had worked it out to the smallest detail. There was no way Kat’s death could ever be blamed on him.
It was too risky to get what he needed from the hospital pharmacy because security had been tightened there after the Bowman affair. Instead, early Sunday morning, Mallory went looking for a pharmacy far away from the neighborhood where he lived. Most of them were closed on Sunday, and he went to half a dozen before he found one that was open.
The pharmacist behind the counter said, “Morning. Can I help you?”
“Yes. I’m going to see a patient in this area, and I want to take a prescription to him.” He pulled out his prescription pad and wrote on it.
The pharmacist smiled. “Not many doctors make house calls these days.”
“I know. It’s a pity, isn’t it? People just don’t care anymore.” He handed the slip of paper to the pharmacist.
The pharmacist looked at it and nodded. “This will only take a few minutes.”
“Thank you.”
Step one.
That afternoon, Mallory made a stop at the hospital. He was there no more than ten minutes, and when he left, he was carrying a small package.
Step two.
Mallory had arranged to meet Kat at Trader Vic’s for dinner, and he was waiting for her when she arrived. He watched her walking toward the table and thought, It’s the Last Supper, bitch.
He rose and gave her a warm smile. “Hello, doll. You look beautiful.” And he had to admit that she did. She looked sensational. She could have been a model. And she’s great in bed. All she lacks, Ken thought, is about twenty million dollars, give or take a few million.
Kat was aware again of how the other women in the restaurant were eyeing Ken, envying her. But he only had eyes for her. He was the old Ken, warm and attentive.
“How was your day?” Ken asked.
She sighed. “Busy. Three operations in the morning and two this afternoon.” She leaned forward. “I know it’s too early, but I swear I could feel the baby kicking when I was getting dressed.”
Mallory smiled. “Maybe it wants to get out.”
“We should do an ultrasound test and find out if it’s a boy or a girl. Then I can start buying clothes for it.”
“Great idea.”
“Ken, can we set a wedding date? I’d like to have our wedding as soon as possible.”
“No problem,” Mallory said easily. “We can apply for a license next week.”
“That’s wonderful!” She had a sudden thought. “Maybe we could get a few days off and go somewhere on our honeymoon. Somewhere not too far away—up to Oregon or Washington.”
Wrong, baby. I’ll be honeymooning in June, on my yacht on the French Riviera.
“That sounds great. I’ll talk to Wallace.”
Kat squeezed his hand. “Thank you,” she said huskily. “I’m going to make you the best wife in the whole world.”
“I’m sure of it.” Mallory smiled. “Now eat your vegetables. We want the baby to be healthy, don’t we?”
They left the restaurant at 9:00 P.M. As they approached Kat’s apartment building, Mallory said, “Are you sure Paige and Honey won’t be home?”
“I made sure,” Kat said. “Paige is at the hospital, on call, and I told Honey you and I wanted to be alone here.”