Angst in the Afternoon
Anna sat at the roulette table absent-mindedly swirling the remainder of her pinot grigio in its glass. She could not untangle the problem of how to find Faison. She'd uncovered another alibi, Herr Krieg, but it had been a dead end. She was trying to decide whether a trip to Switzerland would be worth the effort. Or to Denmark. Or to his former vineyard in the south of France. And what excuse could she give Duke for the excursion? She didn't want to involve him….
Speaking of which, where was Duke? she thought. They'd agreed to meet at 7 o'clock; she looked at her watch-that was a half hour ago….
Just then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and smiled.
"Hello, Anna," came a terrifyingly familiar voice from behind her. "You're looking lovely, as ever."
She could stop her search for Faison, Anna realized. He'd found her first. But, oh god, she thought, where was Duke?
In the security office, Duke was growing increasingly cross with his friend Louis. For three-quarters of an hour now, the man had detained him with one after another inconsequential problem. What the hell was the matter with him this evening? Duke thought impatiently. Renault could deal perfectly well with these things on his own. "Louis," he grumbled, grabbing his jacket off the back of a chair and heading toward the door, "I have to go. Anna's waiting. She'll be wondering where I am. We'll discuss this tomorrow, okay?"
"Daniel, wait," his friend stalled. "There's one more thing you should see."
"What is it?" Duke snapped.
"Here," Louis gestured toward one of the video monitors. "Look."
Duke saw a black-and-white image of a woman and a man in an intimate embrace, an army of stagehands moving to and fro around them. "Dr. Marick and the musician," he observed, annoyed. "Why are you showing me this?"
"Is it?" Louis asked coldly.
"What do you mean, man? Of course it is. I saw them before. Why have you even kept these tapes?"
"It is Eli Love. Are you certain about the woman?"
"We both met her. When I fell ill." Duke rubbed his hand over his face in remembered pain and current frustration. "She's Anna's sister."
"No, mon amie," Louis answered ironically. "That woman is not Alexandra Marick. She is your woman. Anna Devane." Aiming a remote control at the screen, he enlarged the image, bringing the couple into closeup.
The jealousy that Duke felt every time he thought of Anna with Scorpio reared up again. "That's a lie," he spat. "A damned lie."
"Why would I lie to you, mon amie? Am I not your friend? For many years, have I not been your friend?"
"I'll ask Anna. She's waiting for me in the casino. Right now, we'll ask her. Come on."
"Anna is in the casino," Louis granted, pointing the remote at the largest wide-screen video monitor and pushing another button. "See?"
Instantly, Anna's face was displayed, close up and larger than life. She looked angry, Duke thought-no, she looked frightened. No….
Louis pressed another button, the camera pulled back, and Anna was no longer alone in the frame. A man was with her-and Duke's jealously of the rock star and anger at Louis were supplanted by the same fear and rage that he saw on her face. Faison, he seethed. "My god," he said, dashing to the office door. "Louis, we have to go. Come on, man!"
"Daniel," Louis commanded. "Stop."
Duke turned to see his friend aiming a pistol at him. "Louis…" he said in confused, barely suppressed panic.
