Sidney Sheldon - Tell me your dreams

Ashley said carefully, "He was interested in me, Deputy, but I was not interested in him. I made that quite clear to him."

He nodded. "Well, I think it was nice of you to deliver those papers to his apartment."

Ashley almost said, "What papers?" and then suddenly remembered. "It—it was no trouble. It was on my way."

"Right. Someone must have hated Tibble a lot to do what they did."

Ashley sat there tense, saying nothing.

"Do you know what I hate?" Deputy Blake said. "Unsolved murders. They always leave me frustrated. Because when a murder goes unsolved, I don't think it means that the criminals were that smart. I think it means that the police weren't smart enough. Well, so far, I've been lucky. I've solved all the crimes that have come my way." He got to his feet. "I don't intend to give up on this one. If you can think of anything that will helpful, you'll call me, won't you, Miss Patterson?"

"Yes, of course."

Ashley watched him leave, and she thought. Did he come here as a warning? Does he know more than he's telling me?

Toni was more absorbed than ever in the Internet. She enjoyed her chats with Jean Claude the most, but that did not stop her from having other chat-room correspondents. At every chance, she sat in front of her computer, and the typed messages flew back and forth, spilling onto the computer screen.

"Toni? Where have you been? I've been in the chat room waiting for you."

"I'm worth waiting for, luv. Tell me about yourself. What do you do?"

"I work at a pharmacy. I can be good to you. Do you do drugs?"

"Sod off."

"Is that you, Toni?"

"The answer to your dreams. Is it Mark?"

"Yes."

"You haven't been on the Internet lately."

"I've been busy. I'd like to meet you, Toni."

"Tell me. Mark, what do you do?"

"I'm a librarian."

"Isn't that exciting! All those books and everything...."

"When can we meet?"

"Why don't you ask Nostradamus?"

"Hello, Toni. My name is Wendy."

"Hello, Wendy."

"You sound like fun."

"I enjoy life."

"Maybe I can help you enjoy it more."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I hope you're not one of those narrow-minded people who are afraid to experiment and try exciting new things. I'd like to show you a good time."

"Thanks, Wendy. You don't have the equipment I need".

And then, Jean Claude Parent came back on.

"Bonne nuit. Comment ca va? How are you?"

"I'm great. How about you?"

"I have missed you. I wish very much to meet you in person."

"I want to meet you, too. Thanks for sending me your photograph. You're a good-looking bloke."

"And you are beautiful. I think it is very important for us to get to know each other. Is your company coming to Quebec for the computer convention?"

"What? Not that I know of. When is it?"

"In three weeks. Many big companies will be coming, I hope you will be here."

"I hope so, too."

"Can we meet in the chat room tomorrow at the same time?"

"Of course. Until tomorrow."

"`A demain."

The following morning, Shane Miller walked up to Ashley. "Ashley, have you heard about the big computer convention coming up in Quebec City?"

She nodded. "Yes. It sounds interesting."

"I was just debating whether we should send a contingent up there.

"All the companies are going," Ashley said. "Symantec, Microsoft, Apple. Quebec City is putting on a big show for them. A trip like that could be kind of a Christmas bonus."

Shane Miller smiled at her enthusiasm. "Let me check it out."

The following morning, Shane Miller called Ashley into his office.

"How would you like to spend Christmas in Quebec City?"

"We're going? That's great," Ashley said, enthusiastically. In the past, she had spent the Christmas holidays with her father, but this year she had dreaded the prospect.

"You'd better take plenty of warm clothes."

"Don't worry. I will. I'm really looking forward to this, Shane."

Toni was in the Internet chat room. "Jean Claude, the Company is sending a group of us to Quebec City!"

"Formidable! I am so pleased. When will you arrive?"

"In two weeks. There will be fifteen of us."

"Merveilleux! I feel as though something very important is going to happen."

"So do I." Something very important.

Ashley anxiously watched the news every night, but, there still no new developments in the Dennis Tibble murder. She began to relax. If the police could not connect her with the case, there was no way they could a connection to her father. Half a dozen times she steeled herself to ask him about it, but each time she backed off. What if he were innocent? Could he ever forgive her for accusing him of being a murderer? And if he is guilty, I don't want to know, Ashley thought. I couldn't bear it. And if he has done those terrible things, in his mind, he would have done them to protect me. At least I won't have to face him this Christmas.

Ashley telephoned her father in San Francisco. She said, without preamble, "I'm not going to be able to spend Christmas with you this year, Father. My company is sending me to a convention in Canada."

There was a long silence. "That's bad timing, Ashley. You and I have always spent Christmas together."

"I can't help—"

"You're all I have, you know."

"Yes, Father, and... you're all I have."

"That's what's important."

Important enough to kill for?

"Where is this convention?"

"In Quebec City. It's—"

"Ah. Lovely place. I haven't been there in years. I'll tell you what I'll do. I haven't anything scheduled at the hospital around that time. I'll fly up, and we'll have a Christmas dinner together."

Ashley said quickly, "I don't think it's—"

"You just make a reservation for me at whatever hotel you're staying at. We don't want to break tradition, do we?"

She hesitated and said slowly, "No, Father."

How can I face him?

Alette was excited. She said to Toni, "I've never been to Quebec City. Do they have museums there?"

"Of course they have museums there," Toni told her. "They have everything. A lot of winter sports. Skiing, skating..."

Alette shuddered. "I hate cold weather. No sports for me. Even with gloves, my fingers get numb. I will stick to the museums...."

On the twenty-first of December, the group from Global Computer Graphics arrived at the Jean-Lesage International Airport in Sainte-Foy and were driven to the storied Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City. It was below zero outside, and the streets were blanketed with snow.

Jean Claude had given Toni his home telephone number. She called as soon as she checked into her room. "I hope I'm not calling too late."

"Mais non! I cannot believe you are here. When may I see you?"

"Well, we're all going to the convention center tomorrow morning, but I could slip away and have lunch with you."

"Bon! There is a restaurant, Le Paris-Brest, on the Grande Allee Est. Can you meet me there at one o'clock?"

"I'll be there."

The Centre des Congres de Quebec on Rene Levesque Boulevard is a four-story, glass-and-steel, state-of-the-art building that can accommodate thousands of conventioneers. At nine o'clock in the morning, the vast halls were crowded with computer experts from all over the world, exchanging information on up-to-the-minute developments. They filled multimedia rooms, exhibit halls and video-conferencing centers. There were half a dozen and seminars going on simultaneously. Toni was bored. All talk and no action, she thought. At 12:45, she slipped out of the convention hall and took a taxi to the restaurant.

Jean Claude was waiting for her. He took her hand and said warmly, "Toni, I am so pleased you could come."

"So am I."

"I will try to make certain that your time here is very agreeable," Jean Claude told her. "This is a beautiful city to explore."