Sidney Sheldon - Nothing lasts forever

“Aren't you going to get undressed, Ken?”

“Of course.” He remembered the time she had gotten him to undress and then walked out on him. Well, now she was going to pay for that.

He took his clothes off slowly. Can I perform! he wondered. He was almost trembling with nervousness. What I'm going to do is her fault. Not mine. I gave her a chance to back out and she was too stupid to take it.

He slipped into bed beside her and felt her warm body against his. They began to stroke each other, and he felt himself getting aroused. He entered her and she began to moan.

“Oh, darling … it feels so wonderful …” She began to move faster and faster. “Yes … yes … oh, my God! … don't stop …” And her body began to jerk spasmodically, and she shuddered and then lay still in his arms.

She turned to him anxiously. “Did you … ?”

“Of course,” Mallory lied. He was much too tense. “How about a drink?”

“No. I shouldn't. The baby …”

“But this is a celebration, honey. One little drink isn't going to hurt.”

Kat hesitated. “All right. A small one.” Kat started to get up.

Mallory stopped her. “No, no. You stay in bed, Mama. You have to get used to being pampered.”

Kat watched Mallory as he walked into the living room and she thought, I'm the luckiest woman in the world!

Mallory walked over to the little bar and poured scotch into two glasses. He glanced toward the bedroom to make sure he could not be seen, then went over to the couch, where he had placed his jacket. He took a small bottle from his pocket and poured the contents into Kat's drink. He returned to the bar and stirred Kat's drink and smelled it. There was no odor. He took the two glasses back to the bedroom, and handed Kat her drink.

“Let's drink a toast to our baby,” Kat said.

“Right. To our baby.”

Ken watched as Kat took a swallow of her drink.

“We'll find a nice apartment somewhere,” Kat said dreamily. “I'll fix up a nursery. We're going to spoil our child rotten, aren't we?” She took another sip.

Mallory nodded. “Absolutely.” He was watching her closely. “How do you feel?”

“Wonderful. I've been so worried about us, darling, but I'm not, not anymore.”

“That's good,” Mallory said. “You have nothing to worry about.”

Kat's eyes were getting heavy. “No,” she said. “There's nothing to worry about.” Her words were beginning to slur. “Ken, I feel funny.” She was beginning to sway.

“You should never have gotten pregnant.”

She was staring up at him stupidly. “What?”

“You spoiled everything, Kat.”

“Spoiled … ?” She was having trouble concentrating.

“You got in my way.”

“Wha'?”

“No one gets in my way.”

“Ken, I feel dizzy.”

He stood there, watching her.

“Ken … help me, Ken …” Her head fell back onto the pillow.

Mallory looked at his watch again. There was plenty of time.

It was Honey who arrived at the apartment first and stumbled across Kat's mutilated body, lying in a pool of blood on the floor of the bathroom, obscenely sprawled against the cold white tiles. A bloodstained curette lay beside her. She had hemorrhaged from her womb.

Honey stood there in shock. “Oh, my God!” Her voice was a strangled whisper. She knelt beside the body and placed a trembling finger against the carotid artery. There was no pulse. Honey hurried back into the living room, picked up the telephone, and dialed 911.

A male voice said, “Nine-one-one Emergency.” Honey stood there paralyzed, unable to speak. “Nine-one-one Emergency … Hello … ?” “H … help! I … There's …” She was choking over her words. “Sh … she's dead.” “Who is dead, miss?”

“Kat.”

“Your cat is dead?”

“No!” Honey screamed. “Kat's dead. Get someone over here right away.”

“Lady …”

Honey slammed down the receiver. With shaking fingers, she dialed the hospital. “Dr. T … Taylor.” Her voice was an agonized whisper.

“One moment, please.”

Honey gripped the telephone and waited two minutes before she heard Paige's voice. “Dr. Taylor.”

“Paige! You … you've got to come home right away!”

“Honey? What's happened?”

“Kat's … dead.”

“What?” Paige's voice was filled with disbelief. “How?”

“It … it looks like she tried to abort herself.”

“Oh, my God! All right. I'll be there as soon as I can.”

By the time Paige arrived at the apartment, there were two policemen, a detective, and a medical examiner there. Honey was in her bedroom, heavily sedated. The medical examiner was leaning over Kat's naked body. A detective looked up as Paige entered the bloody bathroom.

“Who are you?”

Paige was staring at the lifeless body. Her face was pale. “I'm Dr. Taylor. I live here.”

“Maybe you can help me. I'm Inspector Burns. I was trying to talk to the other lady who lives here. She's hysterical. The doctor gave her a sedative.”

“What … what do you want to know?”

“She lived here?”

“Yes.”

I'm going to have Ken's baby. How good can it get!

“It looks like she tried to get rid of the kid, and messed it up,” the detective said.

Paige stood there, her mind spinning. When she spoke, she said, “I don't believe it.”

Inspector Burns studied her a moment. “Why don't you believe it, doctor?”

“She wanted that baby.” She was beginning to think clearly again. “The father didn't want it.”

“The father?”

“Dr. Ken Mallory. He works at Embarcadero County Hospital. He didn't want to marry her. Look, Kat is— was—it was so painful to say was— a doctor. If she had wanted to have an abortion, there's no way she would try to do it herself in a bathroom.” Paige shook her head. “There's something wrong.”

The medical examiner rose from beside the body. “Maybe she tried it herself because she didn't want anyone else to know about the baby.”

“That's not true. She told us about it.”

Inspector Burns was watching Paige. “Was she alone here this evening?”

“No. She had a date with Dr. Mallory.”

Ken Mallory was in bed, carefully going over the events of the evening. He replayed every step of the way, making sure there were no loose ends. Perfect, he decided. He lay in bed, wondering why it was taking doorbell rang. Mallory let it ring three times, then got up, put on a robe over his pajamas, and went into the living room.

He stood in front of the door. “Who's there?” He sounded sleepy.

A voice said, “Dr. Mallory?”

“Yes.”

“Inspector Burns. San Francisco Police Department.”

“Police Department?” There was just the right note of surprise in his voice. Mallory opened the door.

The man standing in the hall showed his badge. “May I come in?”

“Yes. What's this all about?”

“Do you know a Dr. Hunter?”

“Of course I do.” A look of alarm crossed his face. “Has something happened to Kat?”

“Were you with her earlier this evening?”

“Yes. My God! Tell me what's happened! Is she all right?”

“I'm afraid I have some bad news. Dr. Hunter is dead.”

“Dead? I can't believe it. How?”

“Apparently she tried to perform an abortion on herself and it went wrong.”

“Oh, my God!” Mallory said. He sank into a chair. “It's my fault.”

The inspector was watching him closely. “Your fault?”

“Yes. I … Dr. Hunter and I were going to be married. I told her I didn't think it was a good idea for her to have a baby now. I wanted to wait, and she agreed. I suggested she go to the hospital and have them take care of it, but she must have decided to … I … I can't believe it.”