first sex experience with someone she didn’t really care about, in case she wasn’t good at it.”
“Okay,” he said slowly. “Did you tell her that one glance doesn’t guarantee a safe or happy experience?”
“No, I was flattered that she thought my choice of you guaranteed that for her.”
“Oh, so you decided to give me to her for the experiment?”
She smiled. “No way in hell. Let her find her own man.”
“Good.” He kissed her. “And I’m sure she’s not going to have any problem. She’s exceptionally attractive.”
She nodded. “Sleeping Beauty. Only very much awake and alive now.” She started toward the library. “And we’ve got to keep her that way.”
“You said you think Pierce’s orders were to keep her quiet. I don’t believe that was a slip of the tongue.”
“No, don’t you think the same thing? It’s all too pat. A mysterious accident, and she’s whisked thousands of miles away to a hospital where the Averys establish a connection with a rising young doctor who soars even higher under their patronage. She’s kept there for years and virtually buried away from the Averys, the media, and everyone who has ever known her. Then there’s the business with Dr. Gelber. Another layer in the attempt to silence her.” She met Joe’s gaze as they paused at the library door. “I think she saw something or found out something that made her presence in the Averys’ lives very inconvenient.”
“And they chose to send her to that hospital rather than kill her? If what she saw was that dangerous, wouldn’t they have wanted a permanent solution?”
“She was an Avery. Family might have made a difference.” She frowned. “I just don’t know. And I don’t know what changed that made Beth a luxury they couldn’t afford. Why bring in a hired killer after all these years?”
“Then maybe we’d better ask Beth a few questions.” Joe stepped aside to let Eve precede him into the room. “Not that I have much hope.”
* * *
“YOU THINK I SAW SOMETHING I shouldn’t have seen?” Beth asked blankly. “What?”
“If we knew that, then we wouldn’t be asking you,” Eve said dryly. “I know you said you had very little memory of the time before the hospital, but I was hoping if you tried … You did say that things were coming back to you.”
“Not about the accident. I guess it was too traumatic for any memories to survive. Or maybe it was just that it was so quick that there isn’t a memory.”
“Of maybe it was that all of those, logical, fine reasons were suggested by Dr. Gelber,” Newell said as he lifted his coffee cup to his lips. “What about before the accident? You were at a lodge skiing?”
“Yes. My roommate from school, Cara, and I were up in the mountains practicing for the big ski competition.”
“Cara?” Joe repeated. “I didn’t hear any mention of a Cara when I was talking to the people at the lodge about your accident. Only about you, Beth.”
“Then they must have made a mistake. After all, it was a long time ago. Cara was there with me.” She stopped hesitating, then said firmly, “No, dammit, she was there. I know it. I won’t doubt myself. I’m not that person I was in the hospital. Cara Sandler was there with me.”
“Easy,” Eve said. “We’re not suggesting that you’re having hallucinations because of the drugs. We’re just trying to get to the bottom of this mess. Is that your friend you mentioned to me?”
“No, Cara wasn’t a friend, just my roommate. Sometimes, I didn’t even like her.”
“Was Cara skiing with you that day?”
“No.” She thought for a moment. “She said that her skis needed waxing, and she’d see me at lunch. I didn’t care. I’d rather have skied alone anyway. I’m a better skier than Cara, and I’d have to wait for her.”
“That must be annoying. You must like her more than you said to put up with it,” Joe said.
“She’s okay.” She shrugged. “I liked her when she was first assigned to my room, but she was nosy, and she kept asking me questions. But I had to put up with it because the school wouldn’t let me go anywhere alone. They said it wasn’t safe.”
“What kind of questions?” Eve asked.
“All kinds,” she said vaguely. “About the places I’d visited, what I knew about Rick’s mother, lots of questions about Rick.”
“Rick Avery?” Eve paused. “Your father?”
Beth nodded. “Only he didn’t seem like a father. Other girls’ fathers were all boring. Rick was my