Tall Dark and Hungry(27)
As the elevator doors opened onto the parking garage, Bastien raced to his Mercedes.
"How are you feeling?"Terri asked as Bastien set Chris back on the couch several hours later.
"Let me die in peace,"he said. At least that's what Terri thought he said. It was difficult to tell with his voice as garbled as it was. The editor's face was swollen and an angry red. It looked as if he'd been in a bad fight-and lost. She simply could not believe that the hospital had released him. He looked like they should have kept him at least a week. And his labored efforts at breathing were not reassuring. Yet the doctor had pumped him full of something, made them all sit about for hours so they could "observe"C.K., then assured them he would be fine; he'd got to the hospital in time to save his life.
Well, if C.K. died, his family should sue and Terri would be willing to testify for them. She was positive the place really should have kept him at least overnight for observation. Since they hadn't, she'd keep a close eye on him herself.
"Terri?»
"Hmmm?"She straightened away from Chris to glance at Vincent, who dropped wearily into a chair.
"The next time we have an emergency and you want to drive, remind me to say no.»
Terri grimaced. She had insisted on driving when they'd got down to the parking garage. Bastien had set Chris in the backseat of his car and climbed in, saying, "One of you get in on his other side in case I need help.»
That had been all she'd had to hear; Terri had snatched the keys from a startled Vincent, handed him the pen, and jumped in the driver seat. Then she'd had to slide across to the other side, because she'd forgotten that the driver side was on the left in America, while it was on the right in England.
"Speaking of which,"Bastien said idly, moving to the bar to fix a drink. "Do you have an international driver's license, Terri?»
"Er… no."She shifted uncomfortably, knowing that she really shouldn't have driven. But when faced with the choice of driving, or possibly having to help Bastien cut open the editor's throat, driving had been her choice. Terri wasn't very good with blood and stuff. That was why she'd grabbed the keys and hopped in the car, leaving Vincent no option but to climb in the back with Bastien.
Noting the exchange of glances between the two cousins, Terri felt it behooved her to point out, "But I got us there pretty fast.»
"And even in one piece,"Vincent added dryly. "I feel I should point out to you that the speed limits in England are higher than here.»
Terri bit her lip to keep from smiling. She would never forget glancing into the rearview mirror to see Vincent's blanching face, and the way he clutched the backseat in horror as she swerved in and out of traffic at breakneck speeds, trying to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. All while Bastien had shouted directions to her from the back seat. "Right at the next corner! Left here!"She'd been going so fast, she would swear she had taken a couple corners on two wheels.
"You did a fine job,"Bastien said reassuringly, pouring whiskey into a glass. Then he ruined the effect by downing the glass in one toss.
"I could use one of those, too,"Vincent decided as Bastien poured another.
"Well…"Terri glanced at Chris. The poor man was sound asleep, which made her hesitate. She'd been about to ask him if he needed anything to make him more comfortable. That wasn't necessary.
"I suppose I should call the publisher he and Kate work for,"Bastien said, walking back from around the bar with two glasses. "I'll have to call and leave a message on the answering machine, informing them that Chris won't be in any shape to go into the office tomorrow as he'd planned.»
The editor had decided yesterday that he could work just as comfortably in the office as in the penthouse, now that his leg wasn't paining him as much. He had said it would probably be better for him anyway, less distraction. Terri supposed it was out of the question for a while now.
Bastien handed Vincent the second drink he'd made, then turned slowly to contemplate the flowers on nearly every surface in the living room.
Terri glanced around, too. Miraculously, none of the remaining arrangements had been disturbed by the fracas. The breaking glass they had heard had apparently been Chris's cup of coffee smashing to the floor.
"I guess I should make that call, then get back to taking those pictures,"he decided.
"And I'll clean up the broken cup while you make the phone call, then I'll help you,"Terri announced.
"And I…"Vincent paused to down his whiskey. Setting the empty glass down, he said, "Have to go feed. I mean, find something to eat. I'm starved.»
Terri glanced at her watch at the announcement.
They had wasted the better part of the afternoon and early evening at the hospital. It was now past seven. They hadn't eaten since breakfast.
"Why don't you make yourself something to eat, Terri?"Bastien suggested. "I can handle the rest of the photos on my own while you cook.»
"Okay,"she agreed slowly. "Is there anything in particular you'd like?»
"I'm not hungry,"he said. "Just fix yourself what you want. I'll grab a… er… sandwich… later if I get hungry.»
Terri hesitated, then said, "I'll make a couple of sandwiches, and bring them into the office. We can eat while we work.»
CHAPTER 10
Well, that's one crisis taken care of,"Bastien announced as Terri entered the office. "Kate got the e-mail last night. She and Lucern looked over the pictures and picked the arrangements they wanted, then e-mailed them to me. They were in my in-box when I got up this morning, and I just called Roberto to pass along their decision."He narrowed his eyes when he noted Terri's grim expression. She approached the desk. "You don't look happy. You should be relieved. Tragedy has been averted. We saved the wedding.»
"I'm glad we've averted that problem. Now we have another one.»
She laid the newspaper she'd brought with her on the desk in front of him, and Bastien glanced down. She'd folded it in half. There were three stories showing.
"I'm guessing you aren't wanting me to look at the story on New York doing a doggie census?"he asked.
"Try the story next to it,"she suggested.
" 'Bankrupt Caterer Commits Suicide,' " he read aloud, then glanced up blankly. "So?»
"I'm pretty sure that's Kate's caterer.»
"Dear God,"Bastien breathed.
"Hmm."Heaving a sigh, Terri dropped into the seat facing his desk. "I'm not positive, though.»
They stared at each other for a moment, then Bastien reached for the phone.
"It's just after six A.M. in California,"Terri reminded him, having guessed his intention of calling Kate and Lucern.
Bastien hesitated. "Too early?»
"From what Kate's told me about conferences, they last until late at night. She probably won't be up for another hour. And I wouldn't want to wake her up with this news.»
"No. You're right."He set the phone back down. "I should wait another hour at least.»
"I would,"Terri agreed.
Bastien nodded, then began to drum his fingers on the desk. He wasn't used to inactivity in a crisis, but he also didn't have a clue what to do. And this time, even he could see it was a crisis.
"We could make up a list of caterers to contact in case this guy is her caterer,"Terri suggested after a moment.
"Good thinking. At least that way, we won't just be calling with bad news. If it is him,"Bastien added.
Sincerely hoping it wasn't, he pulled the Yellow Pages out from the drawer where it was stored. Terri stood and walked around the desk to look over his shoulder. Bastien leafed through, looking for the section with caterers. He relaxed a little when he saw that the list was several pages long.
"There are a ton of them,"Terri murmured.
"Yes. That's good. Isn't it?»
"Not necessarily,"she said. "Many of them will be booked up and unavailable, so we'll waste time calling those, and I haven't a clue which of those left over are good. Do you?»
"Damn,"Bastien breathed. He was the detail man, the decision man, the crisis man-the one everyone looked to when a problem cropped up. But he'd never been faced with these kinds of problems. Food wasn't a big priority in Bastien's life, and therefore it wasn't a problem he had any experience dealing with. The only time he had to worry about food was during business meetings that included mortals, and then he just handed the problem over to: "Meredith!»
"Meredith?"Terri asked.
"She'll know which are the good caterers and which are the bad ones, and…"Not bothering to finish his explanation, Bastien picked up the phone again. This time he punched in the number to his office. Meredith picked up on the second ring.
"Argeneau Enterprises.»
"Meredith, I think Kate's caterer killed himself,"he blurted by way of hello. "I need a list of the best caterers in town. We have to call them all and see which are available for the date of her wedding.»
The woman didn't exclaim in horror at this newest tragedy plaguing Kate's wedding, or bother with questions; she simply snapped, "I'm on it. Do you have her menu plan for what she wanted served?»
Bastien blinked, then glanced at Terri. "Do we have a menu plan for what she wanted served at the wedding?"he echoed.