Programmed for Peril

talked to the police today. They should know about this.”
    Nicholas shrugged. He didn’t look at her as he said, “I’ll take the cameras out, if you want.”
    “Yes!”
    “He’ll know, then.”
    “Know what?”
    “That you know about him. That I know.”
    Trish tapped her foot nervously. “I can’t be spied on like this!”
    Nicholas nodded vigorously, his Adam’s apple seeming to rise and fall. “Blitzing the cameras will announce you’re resisting.”
    She guessed what that would mean to Carson. The more she struggled, the more he would be provoked, the more extreme his responses.
    “Take them out tomorrow,” she said in a dry voice. “I’ll give you a key.” She was joining a battle she could never win.
    She asked Nicholas if he had been able to locate the receiver to which the PC-Pros’ bugs sent their signals. He shook his head, turning away as though in shame for having failed her. What an odd man! “It’s okay,” she said. “Just keep trying. If you find it, I’ll tell the police. They can go in and arrest Carson.”
    Somehow she knew it wouldn’t be that easy.
    Shortly after she put Melody in bed Foster phoned. He wanted to visit. She sensed some urgency in his voice. He walked through the door, arms out. He gave her a tremendous hug. She melted against him. He took off his glasses and kissed her. She couldn’t mistake his desire.
    He sat and pulled her down on his lap. “This—business that’s going on. This man who’s making these threats . .
    He turned her face up. “We can’t let him interfere with our happiness.”
    She nodded. “I know.”
    “I assume you’re continuing to make wedding plans.”
    “My mother’s lunging ahead full tilt. I’m doing what she asks. It’s... backwards. But it’s working.”
    “There will be a wedding!” he said, hugging her harder than ever.
    “Yes!”
    “I came to tell you that I love you, Trish! The last few weeks have been awkward for us. I know how you feel about my seeing Lois. But your asking Nicholas’s help has drawn her into view again. It can’t be helped. Don’t doubt how I feel about you. Compared to you, Lois is... very much less what she once was to me. I want to add that I’m sympathetic to your anxiety about this man Carson Thomas, even though I feel you’re exaggerating. I’ll stand beside you until he’s taken care of one way or the other.”
    She hugged him, needing the feel of his smooth back.
    “Please believe that even though the Palmer/Morley duo has been under some pressure, we’re more together than ever,” he said.
    She recalled her mother’s advice. “Foster, let’s go away together for a long weekend! I very much want to—and soon. Why don’t you pick a place and make the arrangements?”
    He nodded and smiled. “I will, my love. Great idea!”
    She kissed him. He was here for one further piece of business....
    When he tried to lead her to the bedroom she hesitated. The camera... Then she reconsidered. Carson was watching. Let him! Let him know that her commitment to Foster Palmer was total. The message would be so direct, so ruthless, that even he might realize the impossibility of his demands. She and Foster would marry and live happily ever after. They had resealed their vows just moments before. Let her nemesis behold their consummation. Then Nicholas would remove the cameras....
    Atop her and eager as ever, Foster slowed his pace to prolong the act, practicing his modest sexual techniques. My little vanilla wafer in the vast bake shop of the erotic, she thought wistfully, and she wished for Linzer tortes, Black Forest cakes, bûches de Noël! No matter. She loved him. She gripped his shoulders when a ripple of pleasure stirred. As he grunted toward completion her fingers curled. She felt the points of her nails against his skin—and drove them in. Three bent and broke with the pressure. He cried out, startled at the mild, unexpected pain that drove his own pleasure to its crest. He bellowed at release—something new! Sly Trish had spurred his delight. Sweet surprise, my love! I carry so many more to share, if you wish, piled up like Christmas gifts in a loving mother’s arms. She cooed and slithered her tongue up his trembling shoulders to suck away the few salty drops of blood.
    Carson who?
     

13
     
    CHAMP STEERED THE RENTAL CAR WITH HIS LEFT HAND. The right was busy on the portable console lying on the passenger seat. Ahead Trish’s Acura was caught in heavy traffic. He