on it. Now, are you up to telling us about this guy who took you?”
“You mean Krimakov.”
Yes.
“Just a moment, Adam. Sir, you sent Adam to protect me, didn’t
you?”
“Yes, he did, but I screwed up, big-time.”
Becca said, “Sorry, Adam, but you can’t take all the credit. What
that monster did was very clever. None of us would have ever
guessed that he came back to the house while we were out looking
for him. How’d he get me out of the house without being seen?”
“Sherlock figured that one out really fast. Also he knocked out
Chuck and tied him up. That’s how he escaped with you.” He saw
the worry in her eyes and quickly added, “He’s okay—just a
headache for a while. I’m sorry, Becca, so sorry. Did he hurt you?”
God, it hurt to say it, but he did: “Did he rape you?”
“No. He licked my face. I told him not to do it again because it
was creepy. That made him really mad, but you see, that drug he
shot into me, it also calmed me, made me all loose, so when I woke
up that first time I wasn’t afraid of him. I don’t think I was afraid of
anything. It was a side effect of the drug, he said, and he didn’t like
it. He wanted me to be real afraid, he wanted me to beg and plead,
just like Linda Cartwright did.” She shuddered as she said the
name. “He said she didn’t matter. She was just his present to me.”
“Did he tell you his name?”
She shook her head. She said to her father,”! can’t even describe
him. He never let me see him. When he had me tied down to a bed, he always stood in the shadows, just beyond what I could
make out. I don’t think he was old, but I can’t be one hundred percent
certain. Was he young? I just don’t know. But when he cursed,
he used a mixture, some American, some British, and some in a
language I didn’t recognize. Isn’t that strange?”
“Yes, but we’ll figure it out.”
Thomas was standing beside her bed, opposite Adam. He was
wearing a dark suit, the dark-red tie loosened. He looked tired and
worried and, oddly enough, happy. Because of her? Evidently so,
and that pleased her very much. He picked up her left hand and
held it. His hand was strong, lightly tanned. He was wearing a
wedding ring. She stared at that ring, just stared and stared, touched
her fingers to it, then said finally, “My mother gave you that ring?”
“Yes, when we got married. I wore it all our married lives. I plan
to wear it until it finally dissolves off my finger sometime in the
distant future. I loved your mother very much, Becca. Like I said, I
had to leave both of you so you wouldn’t be killed. I know it’s all
still very confusing. There are lots of facts and details, but the bottom
line is exactly what I already told you. I accidentally killed a
man’s wife and he swore he would kill my family, and then he
would kill me, but only after I saw, firsthand, how he had killed
everyone I loved. I had no choice. I had to leave my family in order
to protect them.”
Adam said, “We believe this man who is stalking you, who murdered
that old bag lady, who shot the governor, we believe it’s Krimakov
and somehow he found you and began terrorizing you.” He
paused for a moment, nodding to Thomas.
Thomas was looking down at this lovely young woman who
was his only child. It took him a moment before he said, “Vasili
Krimakov was one of the KGB’s top agents back in the seventies,
as I was for the CIA. Again, there’s a whole lot more, but it can wait
for a while. Right now, what’s important is that we find him, that
we neutralize him once and for all.”
“You’re sure it’s Krimakov.”
He smiled then. “Oh yes, I’m very sure, particularly after what
he told you.”
” ‘Say hello to your daddy.’ “