receiver. «It is not possible to see Mr. Zander without an appointment.»
The receptionist turned to a messenger at the desk. A group of employees was coming in the door. Dana stepped away from the desk and joined them, moving into the center. They got into the elevator.
As it started up, Dana said, «Oh, dear. I forgot what floor Mr. Zander is on.»
One of the women said, «Vier.»
«Danke,»Dana said. She got off on the fourth floor and walked over to a desk with a young woman behind it. «I'm here to see Dieter Zander. I'm Dana Evans.»
The woman frowned. «But you have no appointment, Frдulein. »
Dana leaned forward and said quietly, «You tell Mr. Zander that I'm going to do a national television broadcast in the United States about him and his family unless he talks to me, and that it would be in his interest to talk to menow. »
The secretary was studying her, confused. «Just a moment. Bitte. » Dana watched her get up, open a door markedPRIVAT , and step inside.
Dana looked around the reception office. There were framed photographs of Zander Electronics factories around the world. The company had outlets in America, France, Italy…countries where the Winthrop murders had taken place.
The secretary came out a minute later. «Mr. Zander will see you,» she said disapprovingly. «But he only has a few minutes. This is most—most unusual.»
«Thank you,» Dana said.
Dana was ushered into a large paneled office. «This is Frдulein Evans.»
Dieter Zander was seated behind an enormous desk. He was in his sixties, a large man with a guileless face and soft brown eyes. Dana remembered Steffan's story of the teddy bear.
He looked at Dana and said, «I recognize you. You were the correspondent in Sarajevo.»
«Yes.»
«I do not understand what you want with me. You mentioned my family to my secretary.»
«May I sit down?»
«Bitte.»
«I wanted to talk to you about Taylor Winthrop.»
Zander's expression narrowed. «What about him?»
«I'm doing an investigation, Mr. Zander. I believe Taylor Winthrop and his family were murdered.»
Dieter Zander's eyes turned cold. «I think you had better leave now, Frдulein. »
«You were in business with him,» Dana said. «And—»
«Leave!»
«Herr Zander, I suggest that it would be better for you to discuss this with me privately than for you and your friends to watch it on television. I want to be fair. I want to hear your side of the story.»
Dieter Zander was silent for a long time. When he spoke, there was a deep bitterness in his voice. «Taylor Winthrop wasscheisse. Oh, he was clever, very clever. He framed me. And while I was in prison, Frдulein, my wife and children died. If I had been home…I could have saved them.» His voice was filled with pain. «It was true I hated the man. Butmurder Taylor Winthrop? No.» He smiled his teddy-bear smile. «Auf wiedersehen, Miss Evans.»
Dana telephoned Matt Baker. «Matt, I'm in Dьsseldorf. You were right. I may have hit pay dirt. Dieter Zander was involved in a business deal with Taylor Winthrop. He claims that Winthrop framed him and sent him to prison. Zander's wife and children died in a fire while he was behind bars.»
There was a shocked silence. «They died in afire ?»
«That's right,» Dana said.
«The same way Taylor and Madeline died.»
«Yes. You should have seen the look in Zander's eyes when I talked about murder.»
«It all fits, doesn't it? Zander had a motive to wipe out the entire Winthrop family. You were right about the murders all the time. I—I can hardly believe it.»
«It sounds good, Matt, but there's no proof yet. I have two more stops to make. I'm leaving for Rome in the morning,» Dana said. «I'll be home in a day or two.»
«Take care of yourself.»
«Deal.»
At the FRA headquarters, three men were watching Dana on a big wall television screen talking on the telephone in her hotel room.
«I have two more stops to make,» she said. «I'll be home in a few days…I'm leaving for Rome tomorrow morning.»
The men watched as Dana replaced the receiver, rose, and walked into the bathroom. The scene on the screen switched to a hidden peephole camera in a bathroom medicine cabinet. Dana started to undress. She slipped off her blouse and bra.
«Man, look at those tits!»
«Spectacular.»
«Wait. She's taking off her skirt and panties.»
«Fellows, look at that ass! I want a piece of that.»
They watched Dana get into the shower and close the shower door. The door began to steam up.
One of the men sighed. «That's it for now. Film at eleven.»
The chemotherapy treatments were hell for Rachel. The chemicals Adriamycin and Taxotere were given intravenously from a bag, and the process took four hours.
Dr. Young said to Jeff, «This is a very difficult time for her. She's going to feel nauseous and drained and she'll suffer a loss of hair. For a woman, that can be the most devastating side effect of all.»
«Right.»
The following afternoon Jeff said to Rachel, «Get dressed. We're going for a ride.»
«Jeff, I really don't feel up to—»
«No arguments.»
And thirty minutes later they were in a wig shop and Rachel was trying on wigs, smiling and saying to Jeff, «They're beautiful. Do you like the long one or the short one?»
«I like them both,» Jeff said. «And if you get tired of these, we'll come back and change you into a brunette or a redhead.» His voice softened. «Personally, I like you the way you are.»
Rachel's eyes filled with tears. «I like you the wayyou are.»
XVII
EACH CITY HAS its own rhythm, and Rome's is like that of no other city in the world. It is a modern metropolis cocooned in the history of centuries of glory. It moves at its own measured pace, for it has no reason to hurry. Tomorrow will come in its own good time.
Dana had not been in Rome since she was twelve years old, when her mother and father had taken her there. Landing at the Leonardo da Vinci airport triggered a host of memories. She remembered her first day in Rome when she had explored the Colosseum, where the Christians had been thrown to the lions. She had not slept for a week after that.
She and her parents had visited the Vatican and the Spanish Steps, and she had thrown lire into the Trevi Fountain, wishing that her parents would stop quarreling. When her father disappeared, Dana felt that the fountain had betrayed her.
She had seen a performance of the operaOtello at the Terme di Caracalla, the Roman baths, and it was an evening she would never forget.
