There was a cheer from the crowded room. "He's going to make it!" someone yelled.
"Jesus, that was close!"
They have no idea how close, Kat thought.
Two hours later, Lou Dinetto was off the table and on a gurney, on his way back to intensive care. Kat was at his side. Rhino and the Shadow were waiting in the corridor.
"The operation was successful," Kat said. "He's going to be fine."
Ken Mallory was in deep trouble. It was the last day to make good on his bet. The problem had been growing so gradually that he had hardly been aware of it. From almost the first night, he had been positive that he would have no trouble getting Kat into bed. Trouble? She's eager it! Now his time was up, and he was facing disaster.
Mallory thought about all the things that had gone wrong—Kat's roommates coming in just as she was about to go to bed with him, the difficulty of getting together for a date, Kat's being called away by her beeper and leaving him standing naked, her cousin coming to town, her oversleeping, her period. He stopped suddenly and thought, Wait a minutel They couldn't have all been coincidences. Kat was doing this to him deliberately! She had somehow gotten wind of the bet, and had decided to make a fool of him, to play a joke on him, a joke that was going to cost him ten thousand dollars that he didn't have. The bitchl He was no closer to winning than he had been at the beginning. She had deliberately led him on. How the hell did I let myself get into this! He knew there was no way he could come up with the money.
When Mallory walked into the doctors' dressing room, they were waiting for him.
"Payoff day!" Grundy sang out.
Mallory forced a smile. "I have until midnight, right? Believe me, she's ready, fellows."
There was a snicker. "Sure. We'll believe you when we hear it from the lady herself. Just have the cash ready in the morning."
Mallory laughed. "You'd better have yours ready!"
He had to find a way. And suddenly he had the answer.
Ken Mallory found Kat in the lounge. He sat down opposite her. "I hear you saved a patient's life." "And my own." "What?"
"Nothing."
"How would you like to save my life?"
Kat looked at him quizzically.
"Have dinner with me tonight."
"I'm too tired, Ken." She was weary of the game she was playing with him. I've had enough, Kat thought. It's time to stop. It's over. I've fallen into my own trap. She wished he were a different kind of man. If only he had been honest with her. I really could have cared for him, Kat thought.
There was no way Mallory was going to let Kat get away.' 'We'll make it an early night,'' he coaxed. "You have to have dinner somewhere."
Reluctantly, Kat nodded. She knew it was going to be the last time. She was going to tell him she knew about the bet. She was going to end the game. "All right."
Honey finished her shift at 4:00 P.M. She looked at her watch and decided that she had just enough time to do some quick shopping. She went to the Candelier to buy some candles for the apartment, then to the San Francisco Tea and Coffee Company so there would be some drinkable coffee for breakfast, and on to Chris Kelly for linens.
Loaded down with packages, Honey headed for the apartment. I'll fix myself some dinner at home, Honey decided. She knew that Kat had a date with Mallory, and that Paige was on call.
Fumbling with her packages, Honey entered the apartment and closed the door behind her. She switched on the light. A huge black man was coming out of the
bathroom, dripping blood on the white carpet. He was pointing a gun at her.
"Make one sound, and I'll blow your fucking head off!"
Honey screamed.
Chapter Twenty-three
Mallory was seated across from Kat at Schroeder's restaurant on Front Street. It's the bottom of the ninth, he thought, and so far it's a shutout. What was going to happen when he couldn't pay the ten thousand dollars? Word would spread quickly around the hospital, and he would become known as a welcher, a sick joke.
Kat was chatting about one of her patients, and Mallory was looking into her eyes, not hearing a word she said. He had more important things on his mind.
Dinner was almost over, and the waiter was serving coffee. Kat looked at her watch. "I have an early call, Ken. I think we'd better go."
He sat there, staring down at the table. "Kat ..." He looked up. "There's something I have to tell you."
"Yes?"
"I have a confession to make." He took a deep breath. "This isn't easy for me."
She watched him, puzzled. "What is it?"
"I'm embarrassed to tell you." He was fumbling for words. "I ... I made a stupid bet with some of the doctors that . . . that I could take you to bed."
Kat was staring at him. "You ..."
"Please don't say anything yet. I'm so ashamed of what I did. It started out as a kind of joke, but the joke is on me. Something happened that I didn't count on. I fell in love with you."
"Ken . . ."
"I've never been in love before, Kat. I've known a lot of women, but never felt anything like this. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you." He took a shaky breath. "I want to marry you."
Kat's mind was spinning. Everything was being turned topsy-turvy. "I . . .1 don't know what to . . ."
"You're the only woman I've ever proposed to. Please say yes. Will you marry me, Kat?"
So he had really meant all the lovely things he had said to her! Her heart was pounding. It was like a wonderful dream suddenly come true. All she had wanted from him was honesty. And now he was being honest with her. All this time he had been feeling guilty about what he had done. He was not like other men. He was genuine, and sensitive.