Quinlan said nothing more, just watched him light his pipe. He imagined that he used the delay to good advantage when he was in negotiations. It also gave his hands something to do when he was nervous or scared shitless.
“You’re the man who took Sally away from me, aren’t you? You’re the one who broke into the sanitarium?”
James smiled at Beadermeyer. “Yeah, right on both counts. How are the German shepherds? They’re fine dogs, both with a taste for good raw steak.”
“You had no right to break into my facility. I’ll sue your butt off.”
“Just be quiet, Alfred,” Noelle said, “and you too, Mr. Quinlan. Sally, why don’t you sit down? Would you like a cup of tea? You look exhausted. You need to rest. You’re so thin.”
Sally looked at her mother and slowly shook her head. “I’m sorry, Noelle, but I’m afraid you’d let Doctor Beadermeyer drug the tea.”
The woman looked as if she’d been hit. She looked frantic. She took a step toward Sally, her hand out. “Sally, no, I’m your mother. I wouldn’t hurt you. Please, don’t do this. All I want is what’s best for you.”
Sally was shaking. James took her arm in a firm grip and led her to a small settee. He stayed close to her, knowing it was important for her to feel him beside her, feel the warmth of him, the solidness of him. He put his hands behind his head and eyed them all from beneath his lowered lashes.
He said to Scott Brainerd, who was now puffing furiously on his pipe, “Tell me about how you first met Sally.”
“Yes, Scott, do tell him,” Sally said.
“If I do, will you tell him to get the hell out of our lives?”
“It’s a possibility,” Quinlan said. “Tell you what I can promise for sure. I won’t throw Sally in the slammer.”
“Good,” Noelle said. “She needs to be kept safe. Doctor Beadermeyer will see to it. He’s promised me he would.”
Their litany, Quinlan thought, their damned litany. Was Noelle a part of this? Or could she be this gullible? Couldn’t she really see Sally? See that she was perfectly all right?
Scott began to pace, looking at Noelle, who was staring intently at her daughter, as if to read her thoughts, then at Beadermeyer, who was lounging in his large wing chair, trying to copy the damned agent.
“I met her at the Whistler exhibition at the National Gallery of Art. It was an exciting evening. They were displaying sixteen of Whistler’s Japanese paintings. Anyway, Sally was there partying with her friends, like she always did. One of the Smithsonian lawyers introduced us. We talked, then had coffee. I took her to dinner.
“That’s how it began, nothing more, nothing less. We discovered we had a lot in common. We fell in love. We married.”
Beadermeyer rose and stretched. “Vastly romantic, Scott. Now, it’s late and Sally needs her rest. It’s time for us to leave, Sally.”
“I don’t think so,” Sally said, her voice as calm as could be. James felt the shaking in her arm. “I’m twenty-six years old. I’m perfectly sane. You can’t make me go back with you. Incidentally, Scott, you didn’t tell James why you neglected to mention that you worked for my father until after we were married.”
“You never asked, did you, Sally? You were caught up with your own career, all your fancy parties and wild friends. You didn’t really care what I did. You never asked, damn you.”
“I asked, but you never came right out with it. You told me it was a law firm and left it at that. I remember asking you, but you wouldn’t give much out, ever.”
Quinlan felt the ripple beneath the flesh of her hand. He squeezed slightly but kept quiet. She was doing just fine. He was pleased and optimistic. He was fast getting the measure of all three people. Soon, he thought, soon now.
Sally paused just a moment, then said calmly, “I certainly didn’t care after I found out you were having an affair.”
“That’s a lie! I wasn’t having an affair. I was faithful to you. I’ve always been faithful to you, even during these past six months.”