Page 63 of The Lady Has a Past

She hadn’t minded the game. It had proven useful for obtaining the extortion photos. The fact that the women were clearly being assaulted in the pictures was not a problem. The images were just as potentially damaging as scenes of consensual sex would have been. When it came to sexual assault people always blamed the woman. She was viewed as having put herself into a reckless situation. Even if the police could be persuaded to act, the potential humiliation of having her naked body displayed in the scandal sheets or before a jury was more than enough to keep the victim quiet.

The new business plan had gone well in New York, right up until the disaster. Not even Billingsley’s money could save the spa.

Facing the threat of ruin yet again, she had closed her doors before the rumors hit the front pages of the New York papers. She had conceived a new plan, but once again the Billingsley fortune was required to implement it.

He was a New Yorker born and bred. She had not expected him to agree to finance her venture out west. To her surprise, he had been enthusiastic about the idea of buying the old resort in Labyrinth Springs and transforming it into a destination spa for the Los Angeles crowd.

Things had started off brilliantly, thanks to her sharp advertising skills. Her name was once again golden in the world of beauty. Therumors in New York had been squelched with the aid of the Billingsley money and a convenient heart attack that had killed the powerful man who had threatened to destroy her. She had never told Billingsley that she was the one who had caused the tycoon’s heart to stop in the middle of a lavish dinner.

Shortly after opening, the new California location of Guppy’s House of Beauty had established itself as an exclusive destination for the Hollywood set. That was more than enough to guarantee success in California. The wealthy socialites on the West Coast had soon followed, and now the resort was starting to attract guests from the other side of the country.

The state had lived up to its reputation as a land where reinvention was not only possible but was expected. It was a world where a woman could bury her past and build a new future.

There had been a few problems from time to time, but nothing she couldn’t handle. She had to keep control of Billingsley during the photography sessions. There was no question that he was unstable and getting worse. And one of the treatment ladies had tried to steal the drugs. That issue had been taken care of with an overdose in room two twenty-one.

Nothing had proven to be nearly as complicated or as dangerous as the problems she had taken care of during the war.

She went down the main hallway, past the treatment rooms and the exercise chamber. She stopped at the entrance to the paraffin bath and braced herself for the confrontation with Billingsley. He always acted as if he was the one in charge, but she knew his weakness. She had learned long ago that a woman who knew a man’s cravings always had the edge. She really was going to have to get rid of Billingsley. As soon as the current situation was resolved she would arrange for him to have a heart attack.

The lights were off inside the room. That was not unusual. Billingsley insisted they hold their meetings in the darkened room tominimize the possibility of someone noticing the unusual activity after hours in the spa. She had a hunch the truth was that he liked issuing his orders from the shadows. He had a taste for high drama.

She did not need to turn on the lights. She had designed the treatment room and knew every inch of it by heart. There was a deep porcelain bathtub, a large tank for the paraffin, and a pitcher that was used to pour the heated wax over the client.

She smelled warm wax and realized the paraffin tank had been left on. That was a violation of the rules. Not only was it dangerous, it was a waste of electricity. In the morning she would speak to the treatment lady responsible.

Annoyed, she switched on the lights and went across the space to turn off the heater. She stopped, stunned, when she saw what was in the bathtub.

The door opened. She spun around.

“You fool,” she said. “What have you done?”

Chapter 28

Lyra watched the headlights of Kevin Draper’s Buick grow faint and finally disappear into the night.

“Think he’ll choose Mexico instead of Burning Cove?” she asked.

“I don’t give a damn,” Simon said. “We got a solid lead from him. Right now that’s all that matters.”

“Yes, and you will note that we did so without resorting to violence.”

“Sure. Take all the fun out of it.”

“We got more information out of him doing things my way. Admit it.”

“He was a broken man,” Simon said. “Falling apart.”

“Yes.”

“One thing that is clear now is that this is not a normal kidnapping. We need to know why the gang changed the pattern when they grabbed Raina.”

Lyra shivered. “It feels like time is running out.”

They were standing on the front porch of the long-abandoned cabin in the desert foothills. In the distance small splashes of light marked the town and the Labyrinth Springs resort.

Lyra heard Simon move. She turned around in time to see him aim his flashlight at what appeared to be the only new element of the cabin—the lock on the front door.

He took out his lockpick and went to work. A moment later she followed him into the cabin. There was only one room. The floorboards were bare and scarred. There was no paint left on the walls. The curtains on the single window hung in shreds. A broken wooden chair and a filthy mattress were the only items of furniture.

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