Tell Me Your Dreams by Sidney Sheldon

“Yes. She met Jean Claude on the Internet. Ashley, when you were in Quebec, were there periods when you seemed to lose time? When suddenly it was hours later or a day later, and you didn’t know where the time had gone?”

She nodded slowly. “Yes. It—it happened a lot.”

“That’s when Toni took over.”

“And that’s when…when she—?”

“Yes.”

The next few months were uneventful. In the afternoons, Dr. Keller would listen to Toni play the piano and sing, and he would watch Alette painting in the garden. There was one more murder to discuss, but he wanted Ashley to be relaxed before he started talking about it.

It had been five years now since she had come to the hospital. She’s almost cured, Dr. Keller thought.

On a Monday morning, he sent for Ashley and watched her walk into the office. She was pale, as though she knew what she was facing.

“Good morning, Ashley.”

“Good morning, Gilbert.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Nervous. This is the last one, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Let’s talk about Deputy Sam Blake. What was he doing in your apartment?”

“I asked him to come. Someone had written on my bathroom mirror, ’You Will Die.’ I didn’t know what to do. I thought someone was trying to kill me. I called the police, and Deputy Blake came over. He was very sympathetic.”

“Did you ask him to stay with you?”

“Yes. I was afraid to be alone. He said that he would spend the night, and then in the morning, he would arrange for twenty-four-hour protection for me. I offered to sleep on the couch and let him sleep in the bedroom, but he said he would sleep on the couch. I remember he checked the windows to make sure they were locked, and then he double-bolted the door. His gun was on the table next to the couch. I said good night and went into the bedroom and closed the door.”

“And then what happened?”

“I—The next thing I remember is being awakened by someone screaming in the alley. Then the sheriff came in to tell me that Deputy Blake had been found dead.” She stopped, her face pale.

“All right. I’m going to put you to sleep now. Just relax… Close your eyes and relax.…” It took ten minutes. Dr. Keller said, “Toni…”

“I’m here. You want to know what really happened, don’t you? Ashley was a fool to invite Sam to stay at the apartment. I could have told her what he would do.”

He heard a cry from the bedroom, quickly rose from the couch and scooped up his gun. He hurried over to the bedroom door and listened a moment. Silence. He had imagined it. As he started to turn away, he heard it again. He pushed the door open, gun in hand. Ashley was in bed, naked, asleep. There was no one else in the room. She was making little moaning sounds. He moved to her bedside. She looked beautiful lying there, curled up in a fetal position. She moaned again, trapped in some terrible dream. He meant only to comfort her, to take her in his arms and hold her. He lay down at her side and gently pulled her toward him, and he felt the heat of her body and began to be aroused.

She was awakened by his voice saying, “It’s all right now. You’re safe.” And his lips were on hers, and he was moving her legs apart and was inside her.

And she was screaming, “No, Father!”

And he moved faster and faster in a primal urgency, and then the savage revenge took over. She grabbed the knife from the dresser drawer at her bedside and began to slash into his body.

“What happened after you killed him?”

“She wrapped his body in the sheets and dragged him to the elevator and then through the garage to the alley in back.”

“.. . and then,” Dr. Keller told Ashley, “Toni wrapped his body in the sheets and dragged him into the elevator and through the garage to the alley in back.”

Ashley sat there, her face dead white. “She’s a mon—I’m a monster.”

Gilbert Keller said, “No. Ashley, you must remember that Toni was born out of your pain, to protect you. The same is true of Alette. It’s time to bring this to a closure. I want you to meet them. It’s the next step to your getting well.”