She put her hands over her ears. "I don't want to hear any more!"

Dr. Keller went to see Otto Lewison.

"I think we're finally making the breakthrough. It's very traumatic for Ashley, but we're nearing the end. We still have two murders to retrieve."

"And then?"

"I'm going to bring Ashley, Toni and Alette together."

Chapter Twenty-seven.

TONI? Toni, can you hear me?" Dr. Keller watched Ashley's expression change.

"I hear you, Dockie."

"Let's talk about Jean Claude Parent."

"I should have known he was too good to be true."

"What do you mean?"

"In the beginning, he seemed like a real gentleman. He took me out every day, and we really had a good time. I thought he was different, but he was like all the others. All he wanted was s.e.x.

"I see."

"He gave me a beautiful ring, and I guess he thought that he owned me. I went with him to his house."

The house was a beautiful two-story, redbrick house filled with antiques."It's lovely.""There's something special I want to show you upstairs in the bedroom." And he was taking her upstairs, and she was powerless to stop him. They were in the bedroom, and he took her in his arms and whispered, "Get undressed.""I don't want to-""Yes, you do. We both want it." He undressed her quickly, then laid her down on the bed and got on top of her. She was moaning, "Don't. Please don't, Father!" "Don't. Please don't, Father!"But he paid no attention. He kept plunging into her until suddenly he said, "Ah," and then stopped. "You're wonderful," he said.And the malevolent explosion shook her. She grabbed the sharp letter opener from the desk and plunged it into his chest, up and down and up and down."You won't do that to anyone again." She reached for his groin.Afterward, she took a leisurely shower, dressed and went back to the hotel.

"Ashley..." Ashley's face began to change. "Wake up now."

Ashley slowly came awake. She looked at Dr. Keller and said, "Toni again?"

"Yes. She met Jean Claude on the Internet. Ashley, when you were in Quebec, were there periods when you seemed to lose time? When suddenly it was hours later or a day later, and you didn't know where the time had gone?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes. It-it happened a lot."

"That's when Toni took over."

"And that's when...when she-?"

"Yes."

The next few months were uneventful. In the afternoons, Dr. Keller would listen to Toni play the piano and sing, and he would watch Alette painting in the garden. There was one more murder to discuss, but he wanted Ashley to be relaxed before he started talking about it.

It had been five years now since she had come to the hospital. She's almost cured, She's almost cured, Dr. Keller thought. Dr. Keller thought.

On a Monday morning, he sent for Ashley and watched her walk into the office. She was pale, as though she knew what she was facing.

"Good morning, Ashley."

"Good morning, Gilbert."

"How are you feeling?"

"Nervous. This is the last one, isn't it?"

"Yes. Let's talk about Deputy Sam Blake. What was he doing in your apartment?"

"I asked him to come. Someone had written on my bathroom mirror, 'You Will Die.' I didn't know what to do. I thought someone was trying to kill me. I called the police, and Deputy Blake came over. He was very sympathetic."

"Did you ask him to stay with you?"

"Yes. I was afraid to be alone. He said that he would spend the night, and then in the morning, he would arrange for twenty-four-hour protection for me. I offered to sleep on the couch and let him sleep in the bedroom, but he said he would sleep on the couch. I remember he checked the windows to make sure they were locked, and then he double-bolted the door. His gun was on the table next to the couch. I said good night and went into the bedroom and closed the door."

"And then what happened?"

"I-The next thing I remember is being awakened by someone screaming in the alley. Then the sheriff came in to tell me that Deputy Blake had been found dead." She stopped, her face pale.

"All right. I'm going to put you to sleep now. Just relax... Close your eyes and relax...." It took ten minutes. Dr. Keller said, "Toni..."

"I'm here. You want to know what really happened, don't you? Ashley was a fool to invite Sam to stay at the apartment. I could have told her what he would do."

He heard a cry from the bedroom, quickly rose from the couch and scooped up his gun. He hurried over to the bedroom door and listened a moment. Silence. He had imagined it. As he started to turn away, he heard it again. He pushed the door open, gun in hand. Ashley was in bed, naked, asleep. There was no one else in the room. She was making little moaning sounds. He moved to her bedside. She looked beautiful lying there, curled up in a fetal position. She moaned again, trapped in some terrible dream. He meant only to comfort her, to take her in his arms and hold her. He lay down at her side and gently pulled her toward him, and he felt the heat of her body and began to be aroused.She was awakened by his voice saying, "It's all right now. You're safe." And his lips were on hers, and he was moving her legs apart and was inside her.And she was screaming, "No, Father!" "No, Father!"And he moved faster and faster in a primal urgency, and then the savage revenge took over. She grabbed the knife from the dresser drawer at her bedside and began to slash into his body.

"What happened after you killed him?"

"She wrapped his body in the sheets and dragged him to the elevator and then through the garage to the alley in back."

".. . and then," Dr. Keller told Ashley, "Toni wrapped his body in the sheets and dragged him into the elevator and through the garage to the alley in back."

Ashley sat there, her face dead white. "She's a mon-I'm a monster." a monster."

Gilbert Keller said, "No. Ashley, you must remember that Toni was born out of your pain, to protect you. The same is true of Alette. It's time to bring this to a closure. I want you to meet them. It's the next step to your getting well."

Ashley's eyes were tightly shut. "All right. When do we...do this?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Ashley was in a deep hypnotic state. Dr. Keller started with Toni.

"Toni, I want you and Alette to talk to Ashley."

"What makes you think she can handle us?"

"I think she can."

"All right, Dockie. Whatever you say."

"Alette, are you ready to meet Ashley?"

"If Toni says it's all right."

"Sure, Alette. It's about time."

Dr. Keller took a deep breath and said, "Ashley, I want you to say h.e.l.lo to Toni."

There was a long silence. Then, a timid, "h.e.l.lo, Toni..."

"h.e.l.lo."

"Ashley, say h.e.l.lo to Alette."

"h.e.l.lo, Alette..."

"h.e.l.lo, Ashley..."

Dr. Keller breathed a deep sigh of relief. "I want you all to get to know one another. You've suffered through the same terrible traumas. They've separated you from one another. But there's no reason for that separation anymore. You're going to become one whole, healthy person. It's a long journey, but you've begun it. I promise you, the most difficult part is over."

From that point on, Ashley's treatment moved swiftly. Ashley and her two alters talked to one another every day.

"I had to protect you," Toni explained. "I suppose every time I killed one of those men, I was killing Father for what he had done to you."

"I tried to protect you, too," Alette said.

"I-I appreciate that. I'm grateful to both of you."

Ashley turned to Dr. Keller and said wryly, "It's really all me, isn't it? I'm talking to myself."

"You're talking to two other parts of yourself," he corrected her gently. "It's time for all of you to unify and become one again."

Ashley looked at him and smiled. "I'm ready."

That afternoon, Dr. Keller went to see Otto Lewison.

Dr. Lewison said, "I hear good reports, Gilbert."

Dr. Keller nodded. "Ashley's made remarkable progress. In another few months, I think she can be released and go on with her treatment as an outpatient."

"That's wonderful news. Congratulations."

I'll miss her, Dr. Keller thought. Dr. Keller thought. I'll miss her terribly. I'll miss her terribly.

"Dr. Salem is on line two for you, Mr. Singer."

"Right." David reached for the phone, puzzled. Why would Dr. Salem be calling? It had been years since the two men had talked. "Royce?"

"Good morning, David. I have some interesting information for you. It's about Ashley Patterson."

David felt a sudden sense of alarm. "What about her?"

"Do you remember how hard we tried to find the trauma that had caused her condition, and we failed?"

David remembered it well. It had been a major weakness in their case. "Yes."

"Well, I just learned the answer. My friend, Dr. Lewison, who's head of the Connecticut Psychiatric Hospital, just called. The missing piece of the puzzle is Dr. Steven Patterson. He's the one who molested Ashley when she was a child."

David asked incredulously, "What?" "What?"

"Dr. Lewison just learned about it."

David sat listening as Dr. Salem went on, but his mind was elsewhere. He was recalling Dr. Patterson's words. "You're the only one I trust, David. My daughter means everything in the world to me. You're going to save her life....I want you to defend Ashley, and I won't have anyone else involved in this case...." "You're the only one I trust, David. My daughter means everything in the world to me. You're going to save her life....I want you to defend Ashley, and I won't have anyone else involved in this case...."

And David suddenly realized why Dr. Patterson had been so insistent on his representing Ashley alone. The doctor was sure that if David had ever discovered what he had done, he would have protected him. Dr. Patterson had had to decide between his daughter and his reputation, and he had chosen his reputation. The son of a b.i.t.c.h! The son of a b.i.t.c.h!

"Thanks, Royce."

That afternoon, as Ashley pa.s.sed the recreation room, she saw a copy of the Westport News Westport News that someone had left there. On the front page of the newspaper was a photograph of her father with Victoria Aniston and Katrina. The beginning of the story read, "Dr. Steven Patterson is to be married to socialite Victoria Aniston, who has a three-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. Dr. Patterson is joining the staff of St. John's Hospital in Manhattan, and he and his future wife have bought a house on Long Island...." that someone had left there. On the front page of the newspaper was a photograph of her father with Victoria Aniston and Katrina. The beginning of the story read, "Dr. Steven Patterson is to be married to socialite Victoria Aniston, who has a three-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. Dr. Patterson is joining the staff of St. John's Hospital in Manhattan, and he and his future wife have bought a house on Long Island...."

Ashley stopped and her face contorted into a mask of rage. "I'll kill the son of a b.i.t.c.h," Toni screamed. "I'll kill him!"

She was completely out of control. They had to put her in a padded room where she could not hurt herself, restrained by handcuffs and leg-irons. When the attendants came to feed her, she tried to grab them, and they had to be careful not to get too close to her. Toni had taken total possession of Ashley.

When she saw Dr. Keller, she screamed, "Let me out of here, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Now!"

"We're going to let you out of here," Dr. Keller said soothingly, "but first you have to calm down."

"I'm calm," Toni yelled. "Let me go!"

Dr. Keller sat on the floor beside her and said, "Toni, when you saw that picture of your father, you said you were going to hurt him, and-"

"You're a liar! I said I was going to kill kill him!" him!"

"There's been enough killing. You don't want to stab anyone else."

"I'm not going to stab him. Have you heard of hydrochloric acid? It will eat through anything, including skin. Wait until I-"

"I don't want you to think like that."

"You're right. Arson! Arson is better. He won't have to wait until h.e.l.l to burn to death. I can do it so they'll never catch me if-"

"Toni, forget about this."