Harlan Coben - Play Dead

‘… to show you, Laura. Show you…’

Her eyes suddenly flew open.

‘… show you, Laura…’

‘Dr Clarich?’

‘… Take it…’

Eric stopped scribbling and looked up. ‘Yes, Mrs Baskin?’

Her mouth felt very dry. ‘My personal possessions.’

‘They’re in a plastic bag in your closet.’

The blaze had almost been upon them. Laura could still feel Judy press something into her hand, forcing her to pocket the items while the fire moved in around them. ‘May I have it, please?’

Eric sighed heavily. ‘You really should get some rest. The fire chief is going to want to talk to you later.’

‘I will,’ Laura promised. ‘I just need my things for a moment.’

Eric spotted the desperation in her voice. ‘Okay,’ he agreed. ‘But then I want you to rest.’

Laura nodded eagerly. She watched Dr Clarich step toward the closet. Seconds dragged.

What did you hand me, Aunt Judy? What was so important that imminent death became merely a distraction?

Eric opened the closet, bent down, and came up holding a red plastic bag marked Emergency Room. Laura tried to sit up, each movement of her body rubbing a burn the wrong way. She thought for a moment of how close she had come to being burned alive and wondered once again about the mystery man who had saved her life.

Dr Clarich walked back over to the bed. ‘Here you go. I’ll leave you alone now.’

‘Thank you, Doctor.’

He smiled gently and left the room. When the door shut, when Laura had been left completely alone, she opened the plastic bag and began to sift through its contents.

A clue, Aunt Judy. Did you save a clue from the treacherous fire?

The first thing that caught her eye was the Svengali label on her ripped and slightly scorched blouse. Part of the sleeve and back were burnt black, the cotton and silk threads seared beyond repair. She found the rest of her clothes, her wallet, her pocketbook, her shoes, her car keys. Then she came upon one of the two things Judy had handed her.

A set of keys.

Disappointment shot down Laura’s hopes. Why would Judy hand her a set of keys? What significance could that have? There were four keys on the chain. One she recognized as Judy’s house key. Two others were for the car. Laura had no idea what the fourth opened.

So why did Judy hand her a set of keys?

Maybe her aunt’s mind had been confused at that stage. Maybe she was trying to find her way to the car to make her escape.

You’re reaching, Laura.

Any better ideas?

She put the keys down and reached back into the red plastic bag. This time her hand located a thick piece of paper or maybe a thin piece of cardboard. It felt wrinkled and old. She gently lifted the paper/cardboard and brought it into view.

It was a photograph.

Laura’s eyes narrowed in confusion. The photograph was an old black and white one. Her mother had a lot of these kind but this one had obviously been handled many times over. Brown spots dotted the photograph with age. But Laura was not interested in the technical aspects of the picture. She was interested in its content.

The picture showed a happy couple staring lovingly into each other’s eyes. The man’s arms were wrapped passionately around the woman’s waist. The woman was Judy. She could not have been more than twenty years old. How happy she looked, Laura thought, how her face glowed in a way Laura had never seen before. It was more than just the simple glow of youth. There was love here, real love.

Laura turned her attention to the man in the photograph. Her throat constricted. It took but a few seconds for her brain to register the impossible truth. When she recognized the man’s face, when she was absolutely sure who the man was, she wanted so very much to scream.

The man in the photograph smiled playfully at young, pretty Judy Simmons. His hair was tousled, his face strong and handsome like…

… like his youngest son’s.

Her head began to swim. David’s father. David’s father who committed suicide thirty years ago. Sinclair Baskin and Judy were holding each other in a passionate embrace.

The picture dropped from Laura’s hand. Judy’s last clue. With death just moments away, this photograph had been her aunt’s last desperate effort to tell Laura the truth of what had happened to David, of why he was killed.

But what did it mean?

‘Hurry, damn it.’

‘Hey, buddy, I’m already going too fast. You want to end up in the hospital too?’

James sat back. ‘Sorry. It’s just that – ’

‘I know, I know,’ the taxi driver interrupted. ‘Your daughter is in the hospital in Hamilton. I got kids too, you know. I understand what you’re feeling.’

James tried taking a few deep breaths. ‘How much longer?’

‘Five minutes. Considering the weather, I’d say we’re making great time. Airport to Hamilton in a half-hour. That could be a record.’

‘Could you go just a little faster please?’

‘No need,’ the driver replied. ‘We’re here.’

James tossed the driver a fifty-dollar bill. ‘Thanks.’

‘Thank you, buddy. Hope your daughter’s feeling better.’

He stepped out of the car and sprinted into the hospital. His heart raced. The record-breaking, thirty-minute drive from the airport to St Catherine’s had felt like weeks.

Laura is okay, he reminded himself. You heard the doctor. Just a few burns and some smoke inhalation. Nothing a little rest won’t fix.

And James would make sure she rested. Oh yes, he would stand guard over her twenty-fours a day if necessary, but he would not let anyone ever hurt his baby again. No one. Not ever.

He stormed through the doors. Hospitals were familiar territory to him. He quickly found the on-duty receptionist and asked for his daughter’s room.

‘Down the hall and to the right,’ the receptionist replied. ‘Room 117. I believe Dr Clarich is in there now.’

James sped down the corridor. He circled right, his legs propelling him with surprising velocity – and then he stopped cold. His heart jerked to one side.

Oh no.

Down at the end of the hallway, just a few feet in front of Laura’s hospital room, his wife sat crumpled into a plastic chair. Mary looked so small, so fragile. Her face was pale and harried.

‘Mary?’

Her head swiveled slowly toward the familiar voice. ‘Oh, James.’

How did you get here so fast, Mary? How…

She stood and ran toward her husband on wobbly legs, but James moved forward hesitantly, almost afraid to go near her.

She was here the whole time. She was at Colgate.

‘I… I called the answering machine and heard your message,’ she explained weakly. ‘I got up here as soon as I could.’

In less than three hours? Talk about breaking speed records.

‘Where is the doctor?’ James asked, trying like hell to sound like his usual cool, controlled self.

‘He’s in with Laura. He said she’s doing just fine.’ Mary started to cry. ‘Oh James, say it isn’t true. Not Judy. She can’t be dead. She just can’t be.’

James took her in his arms and held her closely. His eyes closed and a transformation took place within him. This, after all, was what it was all about. He loved her. God forgive him, he loved her so damn much. She had sinned and done some horrible things, things most husbands would never forgive. But try as he might, James could not help but love her more every day. She was so seemingly innocent, so helpless and beautiful. He had to protect her…

… no matter what she may have done in the past.

‘It’s okay, my love,’ James whispered, his eyes still tightly shut. ‘I’m here now. Everything is going to be okay.’

The tender moment, perhaps the last Mary and James would ever share together, came to a sudden halt when the door of room 117 opened. James released his wife and automatically fixed his professional mask back onto his face. He turned toward Dr Eric Clarich.