Sidney Sheldon's Chasing Tomorrow (Tracy Whitney #2)(71)

ELIZABETH LOOKED UP WHEN the door opened, an expression of profound boredom etched on her face. Then she saw who it was and smiled broadly.

“Tracy!” She leaned back in her chair. If she were nervous, she was doing an excellent job of hiding it. “Well, well, well. Playing for the other team now, are we? I must say I’m surprised. Especially after our last run-in. Out of curiosity, how much did you get for Sheila Brookstein’s rubies?”

“One-point-seven million,” Tracy said coolly. “You’re so sweet to ask.”

On the other side of the mirrored glass, Milton Buck’s jaw hit the floor.

“Tracy Whitney pulled the Brookstein job?”

“Shhh.” Jean Rizzo waved a hand dismissively, his eyes glued to the two women. Tracy was talking.

“I donated the money to charity.”

“Of course you did.” Elizabeth’s upper lip curled slightly. “You always were quite the saint.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Tracy smiled. “Then again, it’s all relative.”

Milton Buck hissed in Jean Rizzo’s ear.

“You knew about this! You knew Whitney did the Brookstein job! Why the hell didn’t you say anything?”

“And compromise my source? Why should I?” said Jean. “Besides, you weren’t exactly falling over yourself to help me with my investigation. Remember?”

“Be quiet, both of you,” Special Agent Soltan snapped.

Tracy had sat down now, face-to-face with Elizabeth.

“It hasn’t been your year, has it?” she said mockingly. “First you screw up the Brookstein job and now you manage to get arrested by not one but two law enforcement agencies on the same night. Not very impressive. Especially when you consider that a monkey could have outsmarted Bianca Berkeley.”

“Bianca took the bait hook, line and sinker,” Elizabeth shot back. “I executed the job perfectly.”

“Hmm. That must be why you’re here.”

Tracy’s confidence was returning now. She was starting to enjoy herself. Elizabeth radiated the same cold beauty Tracy remembered. Her features were perfect, but she was as dead inside as a marble statue. Running her eyes up and down her slender figure, Tracy said, “They’re going to love you in prison. Trust me. I’ve been there.”

Elizabeth looked at her curiously.

“Why do you take things so personally?”

“Probably because I’m a person. Not a machine, like you.”

“A machine?” Elizabeth smiled, composed again now. “Come now, that’s not fair. We’re the same, Tracy, you and I.”


Tracy’s eyes narrowed. “The same? I don’t think so.”

“Why ever not? You’re a thief. I’m a thief.”

“I only robbed from the greedy, from people who deserved it.”

“Deserved it according to whom? You?” Elizabeth snorted with derision. “Who made you judge and jury?”

Outside, Milton Buck muttered under his breath, “Exactly.” He couldn’t understand how Rizzo and the others could listen to this baloney.

“You prey on the old and the weak,” said Tracy.

Elizabeth shrugged. “Sometimes. The old and weak can be greedy too, you know.”

“All you care about is money.”

“Again, not true. I care about Jeff. That’s something else we have in common.”

Tracy jumped in her seat as if she’d been shocked. The atmosphere inside the room was suddenly electric.

“Where’s your sense of sisterhood, Tracy?” Elizabeth taunted. “I’ll admit, in the beginning it was just business. I seduced Jeff as part of a job. But the sexual chemistry between us was so insane, it soon became more than a job. For both of us,” she added, like a scorpion delivering its sting.

Beneath the table, Tracy dug her nails into her palms so hard they bled.

Don’t cry. Don’t show emotion. Not to her.

“So what was this job?” Her voice was calm and measured. “I’m curious.”

“I was hired to split the two of you up.”

“Why? Who hired you?”

Elizabeth smiled. “That would be telling. Let’s just say that not everyone out there is as convinced of your saintly status as you seem to be. Some people just see you as a conniving, thieving little bitch who deserves to get her comeuppance. And did you ever get it, Tracy!” She laughed cruelly.

Tracy kept her cool. “How much were you paid?”

“Two hundred and fifty thousand,” said Elizabeth. “Of course I wouldn’t get out of bed for that today. But this was a decade ago. And all I had to do was get into bed, Jeff’s bed. Which wasn’t exactly a hardship.”

Jean Rizzo winced. He knew how much this exchange must be hurting Tracy, but he prayed she stayed on this track. Elizabeth was getting emotional, giving far more away than she intended to. If Tracy could just press the right button, surely, he told himself, she’d crack.

Tracy said, “They think Jeff’s involved in this, you know.”

“Oh, I know.” Elizabeth laughed. “Agent Buck seems to believe Jeff masterminded my entire career and that odd little Canadian fellow thinks he’s running around bumping off prostitutes. Or that I am, I wasn’t quite sure. He showed me some horrible photographs. Not very gentlemanly of him.”