David Kessler - No Way Out

“So is he in custody now?”

“As far as I know. I think he’s in the hospital or something, ‘cause he broke his leg when then the cops side-swiped his auto. But I think they’ve got him under arrest.”

Gene took a deep breath.

“And you think that because this Louis Manning is the man who raped Bethel I should just blame him and forget about what you put Andi through in that courtroom — forcing her to relive the experience.”

“Like I said, I wasn’t sure it was her. And what was I to do? I didn’t want her defending me. I even tried to say so. But I couldn’t say why without making it worse — for both of us. But how come she never said anything? I mean she must have known it was me?”

“ Because she bottled it all up inside her. That’s what I meant about keeping it all locked up. It wasn’t me I was talking about. It was her . She sat next to you the whole trial and she didn’t even remember that twenty five years ago you were the one who raped her!”

Claymore’s head dropped. Only now the full measure of his shame and guilt weighed down upon him.

“Turn that up!” snapped Gene.

He looked up to see a mug shot of Louis Manning on the TV. Picking up the remote hesitantly, he complied with Gene’s command.

“Manning was only be guarded by a single police officer at the time and it appears that he took advantage of a moment of distraction to drug the officer’s coffee with sleeping pills that he had been stockpiling while at the hospital. Police are refusing to say anything about the state of the injured nurse, but according to unofficial sources he said something to her just before he left, about having an old score to settle. Neither the police, nor the hospital, will confirm or deny these reports.”

“Oh my God!” said Gene as the report continued.

She turned sharply on her heel and raced out.

Claymore could breathe again. But not breathe easily. That maniac Louis Manning was on the loose with a grudge. Who would he go after? Sarah Jensen? Bridget Riley? Bethel Newton?

As if reading his mind, his cell phone beeped and flashed, alerting him to the fact that he had a message. He picked up the phone and pressed the button to retrieve the text.

You may have thwarted my plan, but there is a price to be paid for doing so. I am now going to kill Andi. Her blood is on your hands.

Lannosea.

“Hallo can I speak to Martine Yin please… I’m not sure what room she’s in.”

Again the receptionist checked the name via the computer in the most perfunctory fashion.

Louis Manning was still checking hotels in Oakland. He was getting to the bottom of his list and wondering if perhaps she was staying in San Francisco. Certainly they had better hotels on the other side of the Bay Bridge. But she had been sent here to cover a trial in Oakland and it was unlikely that she’d want to face that commuter time crush on the bridge.

Then again, she had come off the case — probably because of her relationship with the lawyer. So maybe she was staying with him. Or maybe at a hotel nearer to where he lived or worked.

He realized that he’s probably have to check out the hotels in San Francisco too.

“Putting you through now sir.”

His heart leapt! He had found her!

A few seconds later, he heard the ringing tone. He should ring off now, so as not to alert her. But he had to make sure. Maybe they had misheard the name.

“Hallo.”

He recognized the voice — the voice that he had heard on the TV. The voice of the woman whom he had tried to rape. The woman who had sprayed pepper spray in his face and escaped his clutches. The woman who was responsible for the fact that he had broken his leg and his collar bone and been arrested… and now been ID’d as the man who had raped Bethel Newton.

He put the phone down, slamming it harder than he intended.

That bitch is going to pay.

Martine Yin was undressing in her room at the Waterfront hotel on the East Bay, curious about the phone call that hadn’t got through. It was probably from Alex, she thought. But then he’d have tried her cell phone.

Whatever , she told herself. If it was important, they’d call back.

She had used the excuse of the trauma of the attempted rape to get herself relieved of reporting on the Claymore case. This avoided having to the station anything about her relationship with Alex. But she had also used the trauma as a pretext to ask for a leave of absence until Monday the seventh. That left her free to spend more time with Alex, including — she hoped — another weekend.

It was a little to early to think about moving in together. For a start, it wouldn’t be easy to co-ordinate work-wise. She was based in Southern California and he was firmly rooted in San Francisco. Secondly, he wasn’t yet ready to tell David and Debbie. And it wasn’t yet clear whether or not they approved of her. She didn’t want this to turn out into one of those ongoing feuds between the daughter and the “step-mother” who is only a few years her senior.

Still, Martine was already hoping… and planning.

Alex had invited her out for dinner tonight at Sens , an Exotic Southern Mediterranean restaurant in the Embarcadero Center. She had spent the morning on retail therapy, but still hadn’t decided what to wear. It would definitely have to be white. The question was, should it be the one with the single shoulder strap and long slit up the leg or the medium length little number with the tantalizing keyhole? She had laid them both out on the bed, but couldn’t make up her mind.

But there was still time. Meanwhile, she headed for the shower.

Alex was in his office cleaning up the paperwork from the Claymore case, when another call came. Juanita had gone home, so Alex took it himself.

“Alex Sedaka.”

“Hallo Mr. Sedaka.”

It was a woman’s voice. He hadn’t expected that. He thought it would be Claymore calling about Andi. He was all set to tell him that he had no news and that he should stop worrying. Women weren’t as emotionally fragile as men seemed to believe. Martine had proved that when she had brushed off his excess of sympathy and concern after the rape attempt. But this woman did sound emotionally fragile, even from the few words she had uttered.

“Yes. Who is this?”

“It’s Gene — Gene Vance.”

“Oh hi Gene. What can I do for you?”

“I’m worried about Martine.”

“ Martine? ” He had thought she was going to say Andi. Alex hadn’t seen her since he went off to make a statement to the press about how his client was relieved that it was all over. But Claymore had told him that Andi was in a state of distress when they parted. And when Gene came on the line, he thought it was going to be more of the same. But Gene had said Martine .”

“Why? What’s the problem?”

“I think she may be in danger.”

“ Danger? What sort of danger?”

“Didn’t you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“Louis Manning escaped from the hospital-”

“How-”

“He drugged the cop who was keeping an eye on him and got the key to the handcuffs. Then he stole the cop’s uniform and escaped.”

Alex was in shock at this revelation. But he stayed calm until his sense of logic kicked in.

“But I don’t see that he’d be stupid enough to stick around. I mean he must know the cops’ll be looking for him. And if they know he’s wearing a cop’s uniform then they’ll be looking for that too. And that means he’ll be looking for a change of clothes. He’s more likely to attack a man to get some new threads then go after Martine.”