THE BRIDGE TO CARACAS (Volume 1 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 30

A freakishly late September heat wave had driven the temperature into the mid-nineties. Sweat drenched the armpits of Mike's shirt and visible stains marred his beige suit jacket. He was anxious to return to his apartment to take a cold shower and change, when the phone rang.

"King," he barked.

"Mike, it's Evelyn," Owen Christian's secretary said. "How are you?"

"Hot and sweaty. And you?"

"Fine. I'm sorry to bother you, but I had to call...." There was a pause, and he thought he heard a sound like coughing. "Owen's dying. He had a stroke in his office this afternoon. He isn't expected to survive."

"Where is he?"

"In the ICU at Toronto General." There was another muffled pause.

"Are you okay, Evelyn?"

"He's been fine, until today. He was on the phone with someone at Canam...thank God I was in his office."

Thirty minutes later, he entered the hospital's lobby.

"Hi, stranger," a familiar voice intoned, causing his heart to race. Mike stopped and wheeled to his left. Karen was no more than ten feet from him, smiling her perfect smile and still looking unreasonably attractive in a pale pink summer dress. Her face and body showed absolutely no signs of the years that had elapsed since their last meeting.

His mind blurred, his blue eyes glazed in disbelief. "Hi," he said, weak kneed. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"I do volunteer work," Karen said, walking closer. "One of my outpatients had to be admitted tonight. I'm here to see her. What are you doing here?"

"A former boss of mine had a serious stroke today. I'm here because my conscience wouldn't allow me to forget him."

"How serious is it?"

"His secretary said he isn't expected to live."

"I'm sorry," Karen said.

"Don't be. I hated his guts. Do you know where intensive care is?"

Karen pointed to the elevator doors to Mike's right. "Go to the second floor. You'll see the duty nurse when you get off—she'll tell you what room he's in. Will you be there for long?"

"I suspect not...why?"

"Would you be interested in a cup of coffee later?"

Mike grinned and winked. "I'll be back in thirty minutes. Where can I meet you?"

"Just take the elevator to the basement floor and follow the signs to the coffee shop."

Thirty minutes later, Mike joined Karen at a small, circular table in the most distant corner of the shop.

Karen pointed to a styrene cup on the opposite side of the table. "You still take it black?"

Mike smiled and nodded. "Thanks for remembering." He could scarcely believe he was finally, incredibly, exactly where he had wanted to be for so very long.

"How is he?" Karen asked.

"Comatose," Mike replied, shaking his head. "I couldn't wait to get out of there. All I could do was stand there and look stupid."

"I don't understand. If you hated the man's guts, why wouldn't your conscience let you forget him?"

"I've asked myself that question at least a hundred times in the last hour. It was what he did for me that I couldn't forget. He hired me and gave me my first real chance. He believed in me and gave me opportunities when no one else would. But then when it counted, he ran for cover."

Karen's eyes widened. "What did you do then?"

"I found a partner and bought a retail gasoline company. The partner and I parted company almost two years ago. Since then, I've struggled on alone."

Karen stared at Mike, intrigued. "You can't just end the story there. How did you get into the oil business?"

"It's a very long story. I don't want to bore you."

"You could never bore me.... Are you happy? Any regrets?"

"As far as the business is concerned, no. About my personal life, lots of regrets."

"I'm sorry," Karen urged.

"The biggest one is not being able to see my daughter as often as I would like. Unfortunately, my ex remarried and took her to San Diego.... But enough about me. Let's talk about you. Has your life been good?"

Karen took a deep breath and held it. Her brown eyes glimmered with sadness.

"Maybe you'd rather not talk about it."

Karen stared at Mike with a pensive melancholy. "I don't know.... It's Jim. I thought I knew him when I first met him. He seemed so sensitive and considerate. He made me feel alive again. But he also led me to believe in things that didn't exist, and blinded me to things that did." She dropped her head into her hands. "He never really wanted a wife," she confessed. "All he wanted was a trophy, and someone to give him a son."

"And you did?"

Karen nodded. "A beautiful boy. Phillip. He makes me feel like it was all worthwhile."

She used the fingers of both hands to wipe tears from her eyes. "It gets worse, much worse...for the longest time, I thought Jim was an honest businessman. Now I'm sure he's not."

Mike shook his head slightly. Getting involved in a bad marriage, he could understand. But crooked business was still outside his ken. "How do you know he's not?"

"I've overheard too many of his telephone calls. He has people hurt, even killed if they don't pay him," she whispered.

"Are you sure? Maybe he was just bluffing."

"Jim never bluffs where his money is concerned."

"Does he know you know?"

"No. He would kill me if he did." Again, Karen wiped tears from her eyes. "He really scares me, Mike."

Mike's mind was spinning within a torrid tumult of joy and a rage. "What business is he in?"

"I don't know, exactly, he's always been vague. Something in the gasoline business."

"That's strange. If he's in the business, I would have heard about him long before now. The community of players is not that large. What's the name of his company?"

"He has more than one. Most of them are numbered corporations. Every time he incorporates a new one, one of his lawyers asks me to sign papers—that's how I know. He said the documents were to protect me, because they exempted me from liability."

"Where's his office?"

"He owns a farm in the Caledon Hills. He spends more time up there than he does at home...there and on his plane."

"He owns a plane!"

"Yes, it's at the farm. He built an airstrip there."

"Does he use it for business?"

"I don't know. I suppose." Karen's eyes pleaded with his.

Mike reached across the table to cover her hand with his and stared affectionately into her eyes. "What are you going to do?"

Karen's eyes watered again. She looked away. "I'm confused...my heart tells me to leave him but my head won't let me."

"Why won't your head let you go?"

"Jim's an incredibly possessive man. He would never let Phillip go, and I couldn't leave without him."

Mike squeezed her hand tighter. "I never stopped loving you, Karen. My heart was broken the last time I talked to you. I was certain we had missed our last chance to be together again. I don't want to miss it this time."

Karen turned her hand and grasped Mike's. Her watery brown eyes suddenly grew radiant. "This time I won't let you," she whispered. "Do you know a place where we can be alone?"