Virginia was thankful for that today. She did
not want to face Morgan just yet. Her head ached from the lack of
sleep the night before and her nerves were on edge. There was still
a lot of planning to be done, things that had to be meticulously
set up and ready to go before she handed Morgan Wolfe her
resignation.
Hours of lying in the dark, thinking,
planning, tuning the events of the night over and over in her mind,
Virginia had come to one conclusion. If Clarissa lived, Morgan was
finished. Her testimony would lop one of the many heads off the
international crime syndicate in which Morgan was a major partner.
The time to get out was now, before the empire crumbled and took
her down along with it. The inevitable destruction had already been
set in motion with the murder of Avery Roth. The hairline cracks
were spreading too fast. Morgan had first blundered when he
underestimated the resilience of the Roth brothers. No one ever
succeeded in trying to run from Morgan, let alone try to turn the
tables on him. It was rumored that Avery was taking two million out
of the country with him. But that would not have caused Morgan to
do any killing. That was petty cash to Morgan. Virginia had to
smile at Avery Roth. Avery had something on Morgan Wolfe. Hard
evidence of some kind that caused Morgan to take a step he would
never had otherwise. Virginia's bet was that the Roth brothers had
somehow found proof of Morgan's ties to the Sobrieto or Lu cartels
and were threatening to go to the federal authorities with
it.
Whatever it was, it was dangerous enough to
Morgan for him to be at Byron Roth's execution. He must already be
under tremendous pressure to chance being directly involved in the
murder. The longer Clarissa stayed hidden, the worse the pressure
would pile up on Morgan until it began to crush him.
Virginia knew with a sickening reality exactly
what Morgan Wolfe would do. He would dismantle his end of the
cartel and go underground. Untraceable, buried deep, to resurface
later with a new identity and a new empire. First, all of the old
ties to him would have to be eliminated, one by one, beginning with
the weakest link. Virginia would be near the top of that
list.
Her own survival depended on beating Morgan
into hiding. She had to make the break immediately, cleanly, and
secretly. The longer she could keep Clarissa hidden, the easier her
own escape would be. If she was found out, Clarissa would be her
ace in the hole, her bargaining chip, the sacrificial
lamb.
Morgan would never let Virginia just quit. He
had threatened in a joking manner several times that he could not
do without her and for her own safety, she should not even consider
other employment offers. The veiled threats scared her. Not that
she had ever wanted to leave him. He was more than an employer. He
knew that and used it expertly. But the hate had grown, slowly and
unmistakably over the years until the trap had become worse than
the love. It was a one sided, emotionally draining love, a love
that was eating her inside. Now, there was so little left to
cushion against the fear.
She had to do it now, while she still had some
grasp on her life. The fact that she was even thinking of leaving
Morgan Wolfe was proof enough that her sanity dangled by a thin
thread. She thought again of Avery Roth and wondered if her ace was
stronger than what Avery had on Morgan. She probably would never
know and she suddenly shivered with a chill.
Virginia was on the brink of her own private
abyss. She had looked into her future and saw only an endless void.
To change that future would take a drastic move, a gamble for all
or nothing. Freedom or death. Until Clarissa Hayden appeared on her
doorstep, Virginia had accepted her fate, succumbed to Morgan's
web.
Virginia knew she had to have everything
planned to the smallest detail. The timing was crucial. She had
wired Andrew Hayden at the American oil company offices in Cairo
for a plane ticket and a thousand dollars in cash that Clarissa
would never see. It should arrive by Monday. Then she would wait
for the first opportunity to catch an outbound plane. During the
scheduled lay over in London, she was going to fence Clarissa's
diamonds to a Saudi dealer that she was certain Morgan knew nothing
about. From London, she would never make the connecting flight to
the Middle East but planned to lose herself in the small hamlets of
Europe with almost a half million in cash and a new
identity.
Virginia had run the plan over in her mind all
night. She checked and rechecked it for flaws and pitfalls. She
wasn't greedy. Although she had access to several minor expense
accounts from which she made purchases for Morgan, she decided not
to touch any of them. She would not be foolish enough to try to
blackmail Morgan. She had her own stash of ready cash hidden in the
cardboard core of a roll of plastic wrap in her kitchen pantry
amounting to seven thousand dollars in hundred dollar
denominations. She would not risk even making a withdrawal from her
own savings accounts. Morgan had his ways of finding out about bank
activity and transfers.
Everything depended on secrecy. Virginia had
to keep her nerves in tact until everything was firmly in place.
Then she could slip away. She wanted to just leave without a
problem. She really did not want any harm to come to Clarissa but
the poor woman was probably as good as dead anyway. When Virginia
managed to get away successfully, Clarissa was on her own. Morgan
would eventually find his witness and that was Clarissa's problem.
If he didn't, well, the woman had kept herself alive this far
against the odds. She would have pulled off the impossible and
witness something no one close to Morgan ever would; his
downfall.
Virginia parked the Mercedes in her usual spot
next to the garage and went around by a brick path to the rear of
the house and the french doors to Morgan's den. She paused for a
moment near the swimming pool, the place where Clarissa had said
the shooting took place. There was nothing unusual, nothing
disturbed. No visible blood stains and the water in the pool was
crystal clear. A twinge of doubt flicked at Virginia, then she
brushed it off. Clarissa could not have lied, otherwise Morgan
would not have left the message on her answering machine about
Clarissa on drugs. The nagging doubt persisted. What if Clarissa
was high last night and made up the story? Clarissa's physical
appearance and extreme nervousness last night could have been drug
induced. Virginia was not experienced enough to tell. What if there
had been no murder and Morgan could care less if Clarissa came home
or not? Virginia pushed the thought out of her mind. Clarissa
didn't seem the drug user type and Morgan probably wouldn't care
that much if she was. But last night he cared what happened to her.
He wanted her dead. The shredded bags of bullet-riddled clothes in
her trunk were proof positive. Clarissa had to have been telling
the truth.
Virginia let herself into the den/office with
her key. She checked Morgan's appointment schedule. He had a
racquetball game at nine this morning with Theo Barnett of Barnett
Industries. That would give her time to finish whatever Morgan
wanted her to do and be out of the house before he returned.
Virginia slipped off her shoes, turned on the computer terminal,
and read Morgan's message on her e-mail. "Steadman meeting moved up
to Tuesday morning, ten o'clock in New York. Need project proposal
revisions typed by Monday morning. Then I need the contracts on the
Baylor Lodge construction project done immediately to take with me
for a meeting in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. Have a good
weekend."
Her heart leaped. She would not have to go to
New York with Morgan on Monday afternoon. If Clarissa's brother
sent the plane ticket and the cash, Tuesday would be the perfect
day to make her escape. She would not have to face Morgan with her
resignation. She could just get on a plane and disappear before
Morgan returned to Los Angeles. Virginia's excitement was hard to
contain and she smiled as she brought up the Steadman file on the
computer screen and dug her revision notes out of the file cabinet.
She worked for nearly three hours on a business proposal that
should have taken her only two. Her mind kept drifting to her
plans, what she would take with her, and from what airport she
should leave.
John Wayne Airport in Orange County or Ontario
Airport seemed the most logical. Or maybe leave from an airport
even farther away like San Diego or Las Vegas. Los Angeles
International would be the first place Morgan would look if he
discovered her plan before she got out of the city. She had to rent
a car to get to the airport, as all Morgan's cars had radio
transceivers and could be located by the signal they emitted. That
was no problem. She could rent the car Monday morning as soon as
she put Morgan on his private jet. Then she could......
"Morning."
Morgan stood holding open the den's double oak
doors. He was dressed in white slacks and a powder blue polo shirt,
his black hair still damp from the shower. Virginia's heart was
pounding as he studied her intently, then smiled.
"Steadman proposal?" She nodded. "I didn't
mean to startle you. You alright, Virginia? You look
tired."
"I didn't sleep very good last night, Morgan,"
she replied in a strong a voice as she could muster. "It was rainy
and my asthma bothered me a little. Radio said there was another
front moving in today. Might get some thunderstorms. Besides, I did
a pretty intense workout on the treadmill just before bed. Bad
idea."
"You don't have central heat and air
conditioning in that place of yours? That would take the dampness
out of the air."
"You know I don't like to run that too often,"
Virginia said, gaining a foothold on her composure. "It dries my
skin out."
Morgan continued to scrutinize her as he
closed the den doors and walked slowly toward her. She tensed
slightly but managed a smile.
"You usually don't work on Saturdays," she
reached up and patted his hands as he stood behind her and laid
them heavily on her shoulders. "I'm surprised to see you here. No
game?"
"Postponed to later this afternoon. Couldn't
get a court this morning." He began to slowly massage her neck and
shoulders. No one dared to refuse Morgan anything at the sports
club. If Morgan had been the one to move the game to the afternoon,
then Clarissa's disappearance was getting critical. Virginia's
fingers clicked over the computer keyboard, apprehensive that
Morgan could feel the tautness of her muscles underneath the red
silk blouse. Silently, she chided herself when she made a typing
error and had to go back and correct it. She willed herself to
relax, to slow her fingers, conscious that Morgan was not only
watching, but studying her every move.
"Do you want to go over what I've done so far
on the Steadman contract?" she asked, as she saved the partially
completed file and gave the computer the "print"
command.
"Yes," he whispered in her ear as he leaned
down and kissed her neck below her ear. She prayed that the warm
sensation of his touch masked the slight shiver that escaped her
control.
"How did Miss Hayden like the necklace?"
Virginia inquired as Morgan ran his fingers along her throat and
down into the front of her blouse. She swallowed
involuntarily.
"She hasn't been home for me to ask," Morgan
replied. "She promised me no more drugs. I'm disappointed. She
probably took off with someone at that party. I'll send Marco to
get her later today."
The suddenly terror was like a slap across the
face but Virginia could not move. She fought desperately to
maintain her usual aloofness and poise. To send Marco for someone
had always meant a death sentence. Did Morgan already know? Was he
toying with her? He turned her around in the swivel chair and took
hold of both her hands. Gently, he drew her to her feet and pulled
her close to him. He kissed her and she let herself be drawn into
the passion of his kisses. He studied her again, looking into her
eyes and holding her gaze to him like a vice. He slowly unbuttoned
her blouse. Virginia struggled to hide the unaccustomed
vulnerability as his dark eyes bore into her. She managed to summon
enough inner strength to parry his scrutiny with an alluring
smile.
"She'll turn up, Morgan." She always does. I
just didn't know about her habit."
Morgan cupped one of her bare breasts in his
hand and exerted just a little pressure. "She hasn't called you has
she?" The pressure increased slightly. Virginia gathered her
reserves again and met Morgan's intense gaze head on.
"We're not exactly close," she said, adding as
much contempt to her voice as she dared. "That's why I was a little
apprehensive about picking out the necklace. I wasn't sure she'd
like it." As soon as it was out of her mouth, Virginia realized it
had been the wrong thing to say. It had always been her
responsibility to buy the gifts. Morgan was amused that she had
done so without any regard to whether the women would like them or
not. It was just a requirement of the job that Virginia detested.
Damned what the women thought.
Morgan slipped the red silk off of Virginia's
shoulders. It floated to the floor. "You have excellent taste. I'm
sure she was thrilled."
He took her face in both of his hands and
pressed his mouth hard on hers. It gave her no time to recover her
bearing. His thumbs slid down her throat and she tried not to react
to the pressure he applied. Her mind reeled and she knew what her
responses should be. She had made love to this man for ten years,
knew what he wanted, what was expected of her. Her hands seemed
almost paralyzed at her sides. She forced them to move, to caress
his thighs and hips, raking her nails gently up his back under his
shirt. The movements were jerky and stiff and she cursed herself
and the fear that tensed every muscle. She could not make the
movements fluid and she was certain that Morgan could sense her
terror, her guilt.