Cast An Evil Eye (17 page)

They walked out of the Chapel as Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Zachary Davis. The first thing they did was to pick up Zack’s things at La Grande Veue Hotel and take them back to Renee’s apartment.

After hanging up his clothes in the spare closet, he turned to Renee and swept her up in his arms. “The investigation can wait for another few hours,” he told her.

He carried her to the bed. “My darling wife,” he whispered. “I’ve waited long enough to hold you in my arms. Let’s get to know each other.”

CHAPTER
XXVI
 

A
fter making his statement to the police, Jay rushed out of the station to his car in the parking lot. The moment he was inside, he locked the door and called home on his cellular phone.

Hildy answered. “Jay! What happened? Are Nate and Julia okay?”

“I don’t know,” Jay told her. “Manny shot them. I’ve been at the police station giving a report. They’re in the hospital. I’m on my way there now to check up on them.”

“Do you want me to come to the hospital?”

“No, it’s not necessary. What I want you to do is to call Cammie and Jeremy and tell them what happened. I’ll keep you posted. I should be home shortly. If I’m going to be any later I’ll let you know. Keep the doors locked and set the security alarm. Manny may still be in the vicinity.”

Hildy paused. “Shall I call Zack in Paris?”

“No. He’s busy trying to get information on Manny. That’s very important. We’ll handle things here.”

As soon as he got to the hospital he walked up to the desk. “Can you tell me anything about Julia and Nathaniel Drake? They were shot. I’m the one who called the police.”

“Are you a relative?” the nurse asked.

“No. I’m a neighbor. Dr. Drake is our veterinarian.”

The nurse looked on the chart in front of her. “They’re still in the operating room. That’s all I can tell you.”

Just then one of the orderlies wheeled Julia out. Jay rushed over. “Julia? Julia, can you hear me?”

“She’s unconscious,” the orderly told him.

“Where’s Nate?”

“Is he her husband?” the orderly asked him.

“Yes. They were both shot.”

“He’ll be out soon, but they’re both unconscious. They won’t be able to talk for a while.”

Jay spied one of the doctors and rushed over to him. “Doctor, how are they? Are they going to be okay?”

“Are you a friend or relative?” the doctor asked him.

“A friend and a neighbor,” Jay replied. “I heard the shots and called the police. Please—tell me—will they be all right?”

The doctor took him aside where they could talk out of earshot of others in the waiting room. “It’s touch and go at the moment,” the doctor informed him. “We’ve done everything we can. Now it’s up to them. Since they’re husband and wife, we’re putting them in the same room. Who shot them? Do you know?”

“Yes,” Jay replied. “I know who it is, but I’m not sure I can prove it.”

The doctor put a sympathetic hand on Jay’s shoulder. “They won’t regain consciousness for some time. I suggest you go home and come back tomorrow.”

Jay nodded and handed his card to the doctor. “Please call me if there’s any change.”

He walked out to his car and drove home, deeply saddened and angry.

Hildy greeted him at the door. “How are they?” she asked anxiously.

Jay shook his head. “Not good. They’re still unconscious. The doctor said to call back tomorrow. Did you call Cammie and Jeremy?”

“Yes. They’re as shocked as we are. I told them to tell Courtney. This should be a lesson to her to be alert, and not give in if Manny tries to hypnotize her again. Nate isn’t around at the moment to bring her out of it.”

Jay entered the family room and collapsed on the easy chair in front of the fireplace. The roaring fire, leaping and crackling, gave him a cozy, homey, feeling of protection, and was soothing to his frazzled nerves. Just what he needed right now.

Hildy poured him a brandy and brought it to him. “Here,” she said. “This should calm you down.”

Jay felt weak from worry. If Manny got away with this, there was no telling what he’d try next. Is anyone in my family safe from his devious schemes? he wondered. Why is he doing this? Who is behind it? Could it be that Gregory Wilcox, Jr. and Countess Lilli are involved? He knew that was what Zack suspected, and he was rarely, if ever, wrong.

Angus came over and nudged his nose into Jay’s hand. The dog had an uncanny sense, and knew whenever one of his loved ones was hurting. He looked up at Jay as if to say, “I’m here. I’ll comfort you.”

The dog’s sympathy was too much for Jay. It broke down his defenses. Angus licked away the tear that stole down Jay’s cheek. Jay cleared his throat in an effort to hide his emotions.

Hildy came over and put her arms around him. She pressed her cheek to his. “It’s okay, Jay. Let it all out. It will relax the tension.”

Jay drew his hand across his eyes. “Julia looked so white. I didn’t see Nate. They were just wheeling him out of the operating room when I left.”

Hildy looked at him tenderly. “We’d better get to bed and get some rest. We won’t be any good to anyone if we’re too tired to think straight.”

As they started upstairs to their room, the phone rang. Jay rushed to answer it.

It was Jeremy. “What’s going on?” he asked. “How are Nate and Julia?”

“They’re still in the hospital. We can’t get any more information till tomorrow. I’ll keep you posted. Did you tell Courtney?”

“No. She’s in bed asleep. I’ll tell her in the morning. Are you sure it was Manny who shot them?”

“I can’t prove it,” Jay said, “but there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s the culprit. He’s a slippery character. If I were you I’d go next door and make sure Courtney is okay. She’ll feel pretty awful when she hears about this, but I think you should tell her now, and not wait till morning.”

Jeremy thought for a moment. “Perhaps you’re right,” he agreed. He started to hang up, then spoke to Jay again. “Please—keep us informed. We want to know how Julia and Nate are. Nate did us a huge favor. Without his help, Courtney would never have been able to finish tonight’s performance. We’re very grateful.”

Jeremy hung up and faced Cammie. “Jay says we should check on Courtney and make sure she’s all right. It’s two hours since Nate and Julia were shot. That’s plenty of time for Manny to drive back to New York. He might try to get to Courtney. There’s no telling how far he’ll go.”

Jeremy and Cammie donned their robes and went next door to Courtney’s room.

They knocked on the door.

No answer.

They knocked again and called her name.

Still no answer.

They rushed back to their room and asked for someone to come up to their floor with a key. “Hurry, please! This is an emergency!”

In five minutes Cammie and Jeremy were in Courtney’s room.

The bed was empty.

Cammie looked in the bathroom.

No Courtney!

They looked in the closet.

Her clothes were gone.

They rushed back to their room and put in a call to Glen.

He sounded half asleep when he answered. “Courtney isn’t here,” he told Jeremy. “Isn’t she in her room?”

“No, she’s not!” Jeremy replied. “I don’t mean to scare you, Glen, but you have a right to know. We’re pretty frightened. Julia and Nate are in the hospital. They were shot. Jay says Manny shot them. He could be after Courtney now that he’s made sure Nate isn’t available to undo his dirty work.”

Glen was clearly shocked. “My God!” he exclaimed. “He won’t stop at anything, will he? I’ll be right over. Do you really think Manny has her? How could he manage that? Never mind! I’ll be right there.”

Glen arrived at the hotel in just twenty minutes and raced up to Cammie’s and Jeremy’s room. “What can Manny possibly want with Courtney?” he asked them.

Jeremy looked as though someone had beaten him. “I don’t know.”

Cammie’s face was drained of color.

Glen looked at them searchingly. “Is there something you haven’t told me?”

Jeremy nodded. “Please sit down,” he told Glen. He proceeded to tell him everything that had happened in the past—back to the time when Gregory Wilcox, Sr. tried to kill Hildy, up to the time when Cammie was kidnapped by Gregory Wilcox, Jr. And now Gregory, Jr. and his mother were out of prison.

When he finished telling him, Glen was almost as pale as Cammie.

The whole thing had brought back terrible memories to Cammie. The horror of being locked up in that room at the Chateau de Boulanger, and later in the secret room at the Chateau in Biarritz, knowing that at any minute she might be killed, all washed over her like a tsunami.

Even though the secret room in the Biarritz Chateau had been blown away with the bomb that Gregory Wilcox, Jr. had planted when he held her prisoner, and she had managed through the years to at least partially erase it from her memory, the whole sordid past was back, haunting her like a ghost she thought had been banished long ago. The fear she had felt then was the same fear she now felt for Courtney.

Was it possible that Manny had kidnapped her and planned to hold her for ransom?

What ransom?

Why?

Would history repeat itself, this time with Courtney? Was there a connection of some kind?

Déjà vu!

CHAPTER XXVII
 

Z
ack and Renee had been married for a week, and were happier than they had ever been. Every night was spent in each other’s arms.

Zack was delighted each morning to wake up and find Renee’s sweet face next to his. It seemed so natural, as though they had been together all their lives.

He hadn’t yet told his friends back in the States about the marriage. He knew they’d be delighted and want to meet her, but uppermost in the minds of both Zack and Renee was the need to find out what it was that made someone so desperate that he tried to kill Gus to keep him from divulging the information he had on Manny. They were working hard to uncover any trail that Gus might have left behind.

One thing was sure. It wasn’t Manny who attacked Gus. Manny was in the States at the time. No one, not even Manny, could hypnotize himself into being in two places at once! Why Manny was so bent on controlling Courtney, Zack didn’t know yet, but he was determined to find out. Thank God for Nate, who brought her out of it.

So who attacked Gus? He had the gut feeling that when he found out, he would also know why Manny was after Courtney.

As he lay there with his arms around Renee and her head on his shoulder, the phone rang. Who could this be? No one knew he was here except Gus. It’s probably for Renee, he figured.

He picked it up, and was surprised to hear Jay’s voice on the other end. “Jay!” he exclaimed. “How did you know I was here? Oh, the hotel gave you the number.” He paused, listening. “You sound upset. Jay—what is it?” He had an ominous feeling in the pit of his stomach as he waited for Jay’s explanation—a terrible foreboding. “What?!” He sat up in bed in a state of shock.

By this time Renee was wide awake. “Zack? What is it?”

Zack covered the mouth piece as he answered her. “Terrible news!” he said. He spoke into the phone again. “You say Manny shot Nate and his wife? Are they all right?” He waited. “Keep me posted. What else? What? There must be something wrong with this connection. I thought you said Courtney is missing.” As he listened, his face paled. “How long ago? Two days? Have you reported it to the police? I see. You have no idea where she is? This isn’t like her.”

Renee rose from the bed and put on her robe. “Zack, are you going to tell me what—”

Zack held up his hand while he tried to hear what else Jay was saying. “What about her performance in ‘Déjà Vu?’ Oh—her understudy is filling in for her. I hope you’ve kept her disappearance secret from the public. Good! That’s very wise. Jay, I’m coming back to the States. I feel I can do more good there. We’re getting nowhere here. No, I insist. We’ve got to find Courtney.”

He hung up and faced Renee. “Honey, I’ve got to go back to the States.”

“What’s going on?”

“Courtney Dubonnet is missing. Jay is terribly upset. I suspect Manny.”

“You think Manny has something to do with her disappearance?”