Why doesn’t Veronica wake up? She could call for help, Regan thought. She twisted to the side, frantically trying to escape her attacker. She tried to scream again. The sound was muffled as a pillow closed over her face. She kicked the blankets free. With all her strength she flailed her feet against him, catching him in the stomach. As he doubled over she got a faint glimpse of his face and recognized the man she had asked Livingston to investigate. Cameron Hardwick!

She rolled off the bed onto the carpet, sprang to her feet and started for the door. Her one advantage was her ability to move very quickly. The thought flashed across her mind that Veronica must have been drugged. Don’t waste your breath screaming yet, she thought wildly. If she could get into the corridor . . .

Her hand was on the knob. She twisted it as an arm whipped around her waist, lifting her from the floor, a hand covered her mouth and she was pulled backward. An instant later the terrace door was sliding open. A cold blast of night wind hit her face. In her mind Regan could see the dark churning waters far below.

Gavin and Sylvie were just saying good night at the landing. He thought he was seeing an apparition. A barefooted Nora Regan Reilly, clad only in a clinging peach nightgown, sobbing wildly, was trying to keep up with her pajama-clad husband, who stopped uncertainly, realizing the staircase did not continue upward. Nora spotted Gavin.

“Gavin,” Nora cried. “Regan, Lady Exner, how do we get to them?”

Luke grabbed his shoulders. “You’ve been there. Where are they?”

Gavin took in their distraught expressions and did not waste time with explanations. “Follow me!” he yelled.

Regan managed to grab the outside handle of the terrace door. She held on to it although her fingers felt as if they would break. The grip on her mouth was released. Hardwick was using that hand to try and pry her fingers loose. Now she was able to scream. It seemed to her that her anguished cry was carried away by the sound of the wind. Hardwick managed to break her grip on the handle. His hand rushed to cover her mouth. She threw her head to one side. He lost his balance on the slippery deck and they fell heavily together.

It was a scream, Immaculata thought, that definitely was a scream.

“Mario,” she called urgently, “Mario, wake up.”

In an instant, Mario was beside her. “What’s the matter?”

She pointed to the Exner suite. “There’s something wrong in there. That’s the second time I heard someone scream. I’m sure of it.”

At that moment footsteps pounded down the hall. Gavin Gray was running shoulder to shoulder with a man Mario had noticed in the restaurant. The man’s wife and Sylvie were close behind them.