The Ugly Duckling by Iris Johansen

her, a chance to do something that would put him back in Gardeaux’s good graces.
    He was being like all the rest, he realized in disgust. Crawling, whining, afraid that Gardeaux would raise his hand against him.
    He crossed the drawbridge and looked back at the chateau. A king in his castle. Sometime he’d like to see if the king could be toppled.
    A shiver went through him as he remembered Gardeaux’s eyes when he had threatened him with Pietro. It wasn’t Pietro, it was the sword that chilled his blood.
    His pace quickened as he headed for his car. First the informant, and then the woman. That would make everything all right with Gardeaux.
    “G et here.
Now
,” Joel said.
    Nicholas flinched as the phone was crashed down at the other end. He turned to Jamie.
    “I have to go to Woodsdale. Something’s wrong.”
    “I thought you said Lieber told you the operation went well,” Jamie said. “It’s been over a week, too long for a relapse, right?”
    “Maybe. I don’t know.” He pulled on his suit jacketand closed the new dossier Jamie had gathered on Nell. He had been going over it when Joel called. “Anyway, I have to go. Want to come along?”
    “Why not? I haven’t seen Junot in a long time.” Jamie rose to his feet. “Did you know that I offered him a job as a bouncer in my pub when you broke up the network?”
    “Big mistake.”
    “I always liked Junot.” He followed Nicholas from the hotel room. “But he’s better off at Woodsdale. Less chance of confrontation.”
    “I thought so.”
    J unot met them at the gate that led to the underground parking garage at Woodsdale. He was not wearing a uniform. Nicholas had persuaded Joel it would not be needed.
    “I’ll park the car. Dr. Lieber wants you to go right up. Fourth floor.” Junot smiled slightly as he saw Jamie. “How you doing?”
    “Good enough. Thought I’d let you show me the grounds while Nicholas was busy.”
    “Great alarm system. You’ll be impressed. Even you’d have trouble.”
    “Ah, stabbed to the heart. You doubt me?”
    Nicholas left them and strode quickly down the ramp. The front entrance of Woodsdale was located in the concrete bunker of the parking garage. Totally secure and private so that no celebrity would be seen entering or leaving after they had surgery.
    Joel met him as he exited the elevator on the fourth floor a few minutes later.
    “She’s your responsibility,” Joel said grimly. “Fix it.”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “What’s been wrong all along. She’s withdrawing more and more every day. I’ve had a battery of psychiatrists in there with her. I even called in a priest. Nothing does any good. She doesn’t eat. She doesn’t talk. I started intravenous feeding yesterday.”
    “Are you saying she’s going to die?”
    “I think she’s willing herself to die, and she has a surprisingly strong will. I can probably keep her alive if I put her on machines.”
    Nicholas had a sudden memory of Terence begging him to turn off the respirator. “No machines.”
    “Then you find a solution.” He gestured. “Third room on your left.”
    Nicholas moved down the corridor.
    “Tania says she needs a purpose,” Joel called after him.
    “And I’m supposed to supply it.”
    “You’re supposed to make her want to live so that all my work won’t be wasted.”
    “You may not like my methods.”
    “I won’t like it if she dies or has to be institutionalized either,” Joel said. “As long as you don’t escalate either of those possibilities, you’ll get no argument from me. I’ve done everything I can.”
    And Nicholas was supposed to perform the miracle Joel couldn’t. Great. He pushed open the door.
    Nell’s face was still bandaged, and she looked smaller, slighter than when he had last seen her. She stared straight ahead and gave no sign she was aware that he had come into the room.
    Purpose.
    Oh, yes, he knew all about that subject. He could give her purpose.
    N icholas Tanek.
    She had thought he