Belladonna, page 19
He let ten more seconds tick by before slowly nodding. “I’ll watch my step,” he agreed. And my back, he thought. He allowed the Bird woman to precede him through the door—in fact, he insisted on it. This time, no games. He would locate and capture Bella Conlan before the clock struck twelve.
“CAN’T IMAGINE WHY, but someone’s painted two red circles on his cheeks. And there are a bunch of lines radiating outward from the center of those circles.” The policeman scratched his head in perplexity. “Done in lipstick, too. That might give us a lead, but I doubt it’ll amount to much. Probably a woman’s doing.”
Absolutely a woman’s doing, Bella thought, resting her forehead against Malone’s shoulder. Chen-Li hadn’t established the gender of Hobson Crowe’s murderer, because, as he’d explained, his visions didn’t extend to such things. He’d been accurate about the location, though, and also about the bullet hole in the late Bird’s forehead. But a woman was responsible, all right. A deadly Bird woman.
Stroking Bella’s hair, Malone murmured disgustedly, “He was shot from behind.”
Bella battied back a jumble of disconnected memories. “How do you know?” Although she didn’t want to, she looked at the corpse again. Something about the circles on the dead man’s cheeks unsettled her.
“I’ve seen exit wounds before.” Malone felt her shiver and drew her closer. “Look, let’s get out of here. We’ve already told the police everything we can.”
Everything they could, but not everything they knew, Bella reflected. They hadn’t mentioned her connection to Hobson Crowe, or the fact that, if her memory was accurate, his name was really Hobson J. MacCawdor—”Caw” being the key to the change, Bella presumed. The police knew he was a Bird, which was a sufficient coup for them. If that satisfied them, she supposed the rest could wait.
As if sensing their predicament after his vision, Chen-Li had volunteered to contact the police. He’d explained calmly and patiently the nature of his vision. Although skeptical, the police had responded. But they’d wanted Chen-Li present at the pier, and that meant Bella and Malone had had to accompany him.
“A most distasteful business,” Chen-Li said now, joining them. “I think it’s time we returned to my apartment.”
We? Bella wondered about that. She was putting all of them in jeopardy. Hobson Crowe had, in his own twisted fashion, tried to help her. Now he was dead. It would be too easy for Malone, Chen-Li, Matthew and even Ronnie to wind up in the same state. The question was, how could she slip away without them seeing her?
They drove back to Chinatown in another rental car procured by Malone. The old man shuffled into the building via a narrow outer staircase. Bella would have followed if Malone’s fingers hadn’t closed firmly about her arm.
“Uh-uh. Not so fast. We have to talk.”
She pushed down her fear and former frustration over his vanishing act. “About what?” she returned calmly. “Us?” She eased her arm free. “You can relax on that score, Malone. I’m not going to make any demands of you. I don’t expect you to change your entire outlook because of one night.”
“One beautiful night.”
Oh, yes, it had been beautiful, all right. If Bella’s thoughts hadn’t been in such a tailspin, she would have searched for a deeper meaning in his words. But as things stood now, she was no longer certain she wanted to find one. The Birds were killers, and like it or not, she was tied to them. Maybe that made her a bad person, maybe it didn’t. She only knew for certain that it made her a definite danger to Malone—trouble, as Lona would have said, with a capital T.
To her relief, Malone let the subject slide. When she started up the staircase, he followed without another word. If only he would stop staring at her with those beautiful Irish eyes of his.
Chen-Li was waiting when they entered the apartment. He sat in his high-backed chair and motioned for them to join him. “Perhaps if we review all that you know of this situation, together we’ll be able to sort matters out.”
Oh, matters would be sorted out, Bella thought, but not by the three of them. Rather by her alone, the moment the opportunity arose.
Nodding at Chen-Li’s suggestion, she searched discreetly through her pockets for the packet of prescription sleeping pills she’d been given the day of her accident with Rudge.
“Please, start your tale at the beginning,” Chen-Li invited.
With Malone’s help, Bella poured out her story, down to the smallest detail. She removed from her jeans the silver case that Lona had given her, and would have showed it to Chen-Li had Malone not reminded her of a detail she’d neglected to mention: Lona’s last words.
‘"I saw…’” he repeated. “’Amanda’s not…’”
“Not what?” Chen-Li asked. He poured the tea that Matthew had brewed and left steeping for them.
Bella eyed the pot, but made no move toward it. “Not a Bird?” she suggested with a feeble attempt at humor. She wasn’t sure why she bothered. Maybe she was hoping to divert their attention from the teapot. In any case, the attempt failed.
Malone’s dark eyes flicked to her face, but as usual, she couldn’t interpret their expression. Lounging back on the sofa, he made an impatient gesture. “We know that Amanda wasn’t Lona’s daughter, so what does that leave?”
“Well, let’s see.” Bella ticked off items on her fingers. “We know that Hobson Crowe is, or rather was, really Hobson J. MacCawdor. We know that someone, presumably Mick Tock, shot and killed Lona instead of me.”
“We don’t know that for sure, Bella,” Malone replied with aggravating logic. “He could have been aiming at Lona, intending to kill her before she could tell you something that might conceivably jog your memory.”
“Maybe. But he came after me, too, and Rudge did say that Tock’s orders were shoot to kill.”
Malone pressed a thumb to his lip. “Yes, he did. But those weren’t Rudge’s orders. He was told to bring you in alive, or so he implied the night of the restaurant fire.”
Bella sighed. “Whatever. One of the Birds apparently wants me dead on the spot, Hobby was going to ship me to Shanghai and the third Bird would prefer that I was brought in alive. Somehow I don’t find the differences comforting.”
Chen-Li’s gaze shifted to the window, but when Bella looked, she saw nothing of interest on the other side. “It was a shadow,” he assured her. “Do not trouble yourself.” Malone’s eyes narrowed suspiciously on the old man, but he made no comment. A moment later, Chen-Li said, “Tell me more about your dreams, Miss Conlan. What is this pink knife you spoke of earlier?”
“It’s a long, skinny knife with some sort of funny carving on the handle. First it was a parrot on a stick in my dream, but then it turned into the pink knife.”
“And you saw this knife clearly?”
“Not at first, but I do now. It’s funny though, Chen-Li, but when I look at it in my dreams, the knife isn’t really clear to me. I can only see it in the mirror across the room from where I’m hiding. It’s visible in the mirror, but not in front of me, where it should be.”
“I see,” Chen-Li said.
“Then would you mind explaining it to us?” Malone asked, exaggeratedly polite.
For a moment Bella forgot her worries and hid a smile at his tone. Why couldn’t he love her? Why couldn’t they have met under less-horrific circumstances? Why was he staring at her again?
Chen-Li sipped his tea. “I cannot explain what I did not witness,” he said at length, “but I’m intrigued nonetheless. You say you cannot see the face of the person who murdered your father. Do you see the face of the woman who led you away from the stable?”
Bella thought back. “No…” She drew out the word. “But she was wearing a black silk coat, and she had blond hair. And a Mississippi accent. They both had that.”
Malone frowned. “Both?”
“The murderer and Amanda. At least they sounded similar. Hobby and Robert—my father—sounded British.”
“What about you?” Chen-Li inquired. “How did you sound?”
“I…” She paused, uncertain. “I’m not sure. Like I do now, I suppose.”
“Were you angry?”
“In the dream? No. Well, except for once or twice. The first time when I said I hated red bicycles, and again when I shouted that I hated someone.”
“But you don’t know who that someone was?” Malone questioned.
She opened her mouth to answer, but exclaimed, “Bicycle!” instead. Her fingers found Malone’s forearm. “A red bicycle, Malone!”
“Yes, what about it?”
“Bicycle tires. That’s what those circles on Hobson Crowe’s face reminded me of. Red bicycle tires. The lines radiating outward from the center could be spokes.”
“Bella…” Malone began wearily.
“No, listen.” She shook his arm to emphasize her point. “It’s a message of some sort, a symbol. It must be.”
“Bicycle tires are a symbol?”
“Yes. I told you, Malone, Hobson Crowe mentioned a red bicycle to me. It could be…” Bella caught the skeptical look in his eyes and her enthusiasm subsided. “Oh, all right,” she said with a resigned breath. “Have it your way. But what else could those circles represent?”
“An unwell mind?” Chen-Li suggested.
The look on Malone’s face would have brought a smile to Bella’s lips if she hadn’t consciously stopped it.
“Yes, presumably,” he said, his tone dry. “But for the moment I’d rather concentrate on this blond mystery woman in Bella’s latest dream. You said that she said she had an appointment.”
“Two,” Bella confirmed. “One with her dressmaker and another with her cosmetician.”
Malone knit his brow. Bella wished he wouldn’t do that. It made him look even sexier than he already did, and she was having a difficult enough time just sitting next to him.
“Your mother had an ex-designer dressmaker—didn’t you tell me that once?”
“I think so. But I don’t think the woman in my dreams was my mother. I mean, she sounded a little bit like Amanda, but she didn’t act the same way at all.”
“Really,” Malone said enigmatically.
The telephone rang, and a moment later the beaded curtain clacked. Bella noticed that Chen-Li’s eyes were once more fixed on the window, yet again she saw nothing. When she turned back, the old man was staring at her from under half-closed eyelids.
“Hey, Malone,” Matthew called through the curtain. “Phone for you. Says he’s your soon-to-be ex-cousin.”
“Sooner than he thinks, making cracks like that,” Malone muttered, rising.
The moment he left, Chen-Li removed his hands from the bell of his sleeves and, leaning forward, gripped Bella’s cool fingers. “I have seen the shadow of the raven, Miss ConIan,” he told her without preamble. “Twice since I have been sitting here I’ve noted it outside my window. Not the bird itself, but its shadow.”
Not normally superstitious, Bella nevertheless felt a chill feather along her spine. “What are you implying, Chen-Li? That I’m standing in the shadow of death?”
His troubled eyes offered no solace. “Perhaps. I cannot say for certain what any shadow portends. Let us drink more tea and discuss your dreams on a deeper level.”
Drink more tea…
“I’ll pour,” Bella promptly offered.
Chen-Li’s eyes closed, as they tended to do when he wanted to think. Seizing the opportunity, Bella emptied the powder from several of the prescription sleeping capsules into her palm. On the pretense of stirring the tea, she uncovered the pot and dropped the powder in. She was pouring when Malone returned with an excited Matthew trotting on his heels.
“They’re gonna meet in an hour,” Matthew revealed, his black eyes shining. “Malone says I can go, too. May I, Grandfather? Please?”
Bella’s fingers tightened on the china handle. She’d forgotten about Matthew. Could his young system handle this drug? But if she didn’t put him to sleep with the others, she’d have to explain her actions to him.
She set the teapot down carefully. She could always wait until Malone and Matthew left, but then who knew where they were meeting Ronnie, or how long the rendezvous would last? They might return and spot her, or worse, she might run into them.
“You may go,” Chen-Li was saying to his grandson. “But first you must do your reading exercises.”
Bella’s heart gave a relieved thump. Thank heaven for homework.
Matthew made a face. “Aw, Grandfather. It’s New Year’s Eve.”
“For you it is simply a new day of learning. Go upstairs and begin. Mr. Malone will call you when he’s ready.”
Matthew looked at Malone. “You won’t forget, will you?”
Bella picked up one of the teacups. “He won’t forget, Matthew. Do as your grandfather says.”
Reassured, Matthew ran off to his bedroom. Bella fought the lingering pricks of her conscience long enough to give Chen-Li his cup. For herself, she picked up a cookie and sat back.
Both men drank, first Chen-Li, then Malone. Since neither of them said anything, Bella assumed the powder was tasteless. Still, Malone, being British, was picky about his tea, and Chen-Li with his visions might have “foreseen” her plan at any time. Her fears were assuaged when they emptied their cups and even took refills.
Returning his hands to his sleeves, Chen-Li regarded her through calm dark eyes. “May I see the picture case given to you by your grandmother?”
Bella handed it to Malone, who opened it before passing it on to the old man. “Mississippi,” he said, stifling a yawn. “She looks more like Utah to me. Very wholesome. Not the type…” His head bobbed, but he recovered and blinked. “Not the type to have a dress…at her beck and…” His head dipped forward; his grip on the silver case relaxed.
Chen-Li blinked deeply as Bella rescued the sliding case. “He has been worried about you.”
Bella hadn’t realized how strong guilt pangs could be. “Yes, I know.” She stroked the hair from Malone’s eyes, then laid his head back against the sofa cushions. “He’s helped me a lot. I didn’t trust him at first, but I do now.”
“And you love him?” At her reaction, an impish smile tugged on the old man’s lips. “You needn’t look so surprised, Miss Conlan. I understand love quite well. I loved my grandson and his wife very much. And of course Matthew is part of my soul.” He sat back in his chair. “We do many things in the name of love. Will you hold up the picture case for me to see?”
Bella couldn’t bring herself to talk. How could she have done this horrible thing? This was a Bird tactic. Maybe she was as ruthless as they were, after all. She ran her fingers through Malone’s hair one last time, then held up the picture case.
“The woman—you called her Amanda?—she wears a silver ring on her right forefinger.”
Bella nodded. “Uh, Chen-Li? I think there’s something I should… Oh, my God, are you all right?”
The sudden widening of Chen-Li’s eyes had her catapulting from her seat. He was an old man. She’d put the contents of five pills into his small teapot. What if the drug proved too strong for his system? He might be allergic, for all she knew. Malone, thank heaven, was sleeping peacefully, but he was young compared to Chen-Li. Young and heathy and—oh, Lord, what had she been thinking?
Panic gripped her when Chen-Li gasped out what seemed to be his last painful breath. Then his startled expression melted into one of understanding. He whispered gently, “Ah, Miss Conlan,” before a smile settled on his lips. Eyes closing, he laid his head against the chair back.
Bella immediately checked his breathing. It seemed fine to her—deep and steady, like Malone’s.
Should she wait? she wondered. No. For all her anxiety, the pills weren’t that strong, not diluted in tea. She’d been letting her nerves rule her brain. They were asleep—which was precisely what she’d wanted. All she had to do now was escape before Matthew came trotting downstairs in search of cookies and milk.
She donned her leather jacket, considered for a moment, then crossed to the desk and scrawled a hasty note. She signed it instinctively “Love, Bella,” placed it in Malone’s hand and, bending, kissed him on the mouth and forehead.
“Please understand,” she whispered. Then, taking a deep breath to bolster her courage, she marched to the door. It was time for the remaining Birds to flock together. Before midnight struck and the China Rose sailed for Shanghai.
“MALONE! Wake up, man. Come on, now, wake up. Malone, can you hear me? It’s Ronnie, your cousin, Ronnie.”
Malone heard the familiar voice, but couldn’t place it until the man shaking him repeated his name. What was Ronnie doing shaking him awake in the middle of the night? “Go away,” he mumbled crossly, but Ronnie only shook him harder.
“Malone, you have to wake up. It’s Bella. Matthew says she’s gone.”
Bella?
Malone forced his eyes open, but felt too groggy to concentrate. “Oh, damn,” he groaned. “Don’t tell me the little idiot…” With Ronnie’s aid, he hauled himself upright. “She must have slipped us a mickey. How could she be so stupid?”
Ronnie sniffed the teacups, then the pot. Dipping in his pinky, he tasted the residue. “It’s a bit chemical, all rightprobably those sleeping pills that doctor of yours gave her.”
Malone rubbed his eyes with his fingertips to clear them. “Chen-Li?” he asked.
“I’m here,” said the old man. He sounded weak but awake. “I didn’t expect… Should have, though. A most resourceful young woman.”
“A most foolish young woman, you mean,” Malone countered, scowling. “How long have we been out, Ronnie?”
“Two hours, give or take. Matthew came down to remind you of our meeting and found the pair of you sound asleep. When he couldn’t wake you and couldn’t find Bella to help him, he came to our arranged meeting place alone.”
“I thought the big blond dude might have taken Miss Bella and knocked you and Grandfather out cold,” Matthew interjected from Chen-Li’s side. “I never figured she’d go off on her own.”
