re you all right, Ken?" Lauren asked. "You seem tense, darling." They were alone in the huge Harrison library. A maid and a butler had served a six-course dinner, and during dinner he and Alex Harrison—Call me Alex— had chatted about Mallory's brilliant future. "Why are you tense?"

Because this pregnant black bitch expects me to marry her. Because any minute word is going to leak out about our engagement and she'll hear about it and blow the whistle. Because my whole future could be destroyed.

He took Lauren's hand in his. "I guess I'm working too hard. My patients aren't just patients to me, Lauren. They're people in trouble, and I can't help worrying about them."

She stroked his face. "That's one of the things I love about you, Ken. You're so caring."

"I guess I was brought up that way."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. The society editor of the Chronicle and a photographer are coming here Monday to do an interview."

It was like a blow to the pit of his stomach. "

"Is there any chance you could be here with me, darling? They want a picture of you."

"I... I wish I could, but I have a busy day scheduled at the hospital." His mind was racing. "Lauren, do you think it's a good idea to do an interview now? I mean, shouldn't we wait until...?"

Lauren laughed. "You don't know the press, darling. They're like bloodhounds. No, it's much better to get it over with now."

Monday!

The following morning, Mallory tracked down Kat in a utility room. She looked tired and haggard. She had no makeup on and her hair was uncurled. Lauren would never let herself go like that, Mallory thought.

"Hi, honey!"

Kat did not answer.

Mallory took her in his arms. "I've been thinking a lot about us, Kat. I didn't sleep at all last night. There's no one else for me. You were right, and I was wrong. I guess the news came as kind of a shock to me. I want you to have our baby." He watched the sudden glow on Kat's face.

"Do you really mean that, Ken?"

"You bet I do."

She put her arms around him. "Thank God! Oh, darling. I was so worried. I don't know what I would do without you."

"You don't have to worry about that. From now on, everything is going to be wonderful.'' You'll never knew how wonderful. "Look, I have Sunday night off. Are you free?"

She grasped his hand. "I'll make myself free."

"Great! We'll have a nice quiet dinner and then we'll go back to your place for a nightcap. Do you think you can get rid of Paige and Honey? I want us to be alone."

Kat smiled. "No problem. You don't know how happy you've made me. Did I ever tell you how much I love you?"

"I love you, too. I'll show you how much Sunday night."

Thinking it over, Mallory decided it was a foolproof plan. He had worked it out to the smallest detail. There was no way Kat's death could ever be blamed on him.

It was too risky to get what he needed from the hospi¬tal pharmacy because security had been tightened there after the Bowman affair. Instead, early Sunday morn¬ing, Mallory went looking for a pharmacy far away from the neighborhood where he lived. Most of them were closed on Sunday, and he went to half a dozen before he found one that was open.

The pharmacist behind the counter said, "Morning. Can I help you?"

"Yes. I'm going to see a patient in this area, and I want to take a prescription to him." He pulled out his" prescription pad and wrote on it.

The pharmacist smiled. "Not many doctors make house calls these days."

"I know. It's a pity, isn't it? People just don't care anymore." He handed the slip of paper to the pharma¬cist.

The pharmacist looked at it and nodded. "This will only take a few minutes."

"Thank you."

Step one.

That afternoon, Mallory made a stop at the hospital. He was there no more than ten minutes, and when he left, he was carrying a small package.

Step two.

Mallory had arranged to meet Kat at Trader Vic's for dinner, and he was waiting for her when she arrived. He watched her walking toward the table and thought,

It's the Last Supper, bitch.

He rose and gave her a warm smile. "Hello, doll. You look beautiful." And he had to admit that she did. She looked sensational. She could have been a model. And she's great in bed. All she lacks, Ken thought, is about twenty million dollars, give or take a few million.

Kat was aware again of how the other women in the restaurant were eyeing Ken, envying her. But he only had eyes for her. He was the old Ken, warm and atten¬tive.

"How was your day?" Ken asked.

She sighed. "Busy. Three operations in the morning and two this afternoon." She leaned forward. "I know it's too early, but I swear I could feel the baby kicking when I was getting dressed."

Mallory smiled. "Maybe it wants to get out."

"We should do an ultrasound test and find out if it's a boy or a girl. Then I can start buying clothes for it."

"Great idea."

"Ken, can we set a wedding date? I'd like to have our wedding as soon as possible."

"No problem," Mallory said easily. "We can apply for a license next week."

"That's wonderful!" She had a sudden thought. ' 'Maybe we could get a few days off and go somewhere on our honeymoon. Somewhere not too far away—up to Oregon or Washington."

Wrong, baby. I'll be honeymooning in June, on my yacht on the French Riviera.

"That sounds great. I'll talk to Wallace."

Kat squeezed his hand. "Thank you," she said husk¬ily. "I'm going to make you the best wife in the whole world."

"I'm sure of it." Mallory smiled. "Now eat your vegetables. We want the baby to be healthy, don't we?"

They left the restaurant at 9:00 P.M. AS they ap¬proached Kat's apartment building, Mallory said, "Are you sure Paige and Honey won't be home?"

"I made sure," Kat said. "Paige is at the hospital, on call, and I told Honey you and I wanted to be alone here."

She saw the expression on his face. "Is anything wrong?''

"No, baby. I told you, I just like our private times to be private." I'll have to be careful, he thought. Very careful. "Let's hurry."

His impatience warmed Kat.

Inside the apartment, Mallory said, "Let's go into the bedroom."

Kat grinned. "That sounds like a great idea."

Mallory watched Kat undress, and he thought, She still has a great figure. A baby would ruin it.

"Aren't you going to get undressed, Ken?"

"Of course.'' He remembered the time she had gotten him to undress and then walked out on him. Well, now she was going to pay for that.

He took his clothes off slowly. Can I perform! he wondered. He was almost trembling with nervousness. What I'm going to do is her fault. Not mine. I gave her a chance to back out and she was too stupid to take it.

He slipped into bed beside her and felt her warm body against his. They began to stroke each other, and he felt himself getting aroused. He entered her and she began to moan.

"Oh, darling... it feels so wonderful..." She began to move faster and faster. "Yes... yes... oh, my God!... don't stop..." And her body began to jerk spasmodically, and she shuddered and then lay still in his arms.

She turned to him anxiously. "Did you...?"

"Of course," Mallory lied. He was much too tense. "How about a drink?"

"No. I shouldn't. The baby..."

"But this is a celebration, honey. One little drink isn't going to hurt."

Kat hesitated. "All right. A small one." Kat started to get up.

Mallory stopped her. "No, no. You stay in bed, Mama. You have to get used to being pampered."

Kat watched Mallory as he walked into the living room and she thought, I'm the luckiest woman in the world!

Mallory walked over to the little bar and poured scotch into two glasses. He glanced toward the bedroom to make sure he could not be seen, then went over to the couch, where he had placed his jacket. He took a small bottle from his pocket and poured the contents into Kat's drink. He returned to the bar and stirred Kat's drink and smelled it. There was no odor. He took the two glasses back to the bedroom, and handed Kat her drink.

"Let's drink a toast to our baby," Kat said.

"Right. To our baby."

Ken watched as Kat took a swallow of her drink.

"We'll find a nice apartment somewhere," Kat said dreamily. "I'll fix up a nursery. We're going to spoil our child rotten, aren't we?" She took another sip.

Mallory nodded. "Absolutely." He was watching her closely. "How do you feel?"

"Wonderful. I've been so worried about us, darling, but I'm not, not anymore."

"That's good," Mallory said. "You have nothing to worry about."

Kat's eyes were getting heavy. "No," she said. "There's nothing to worry about." Her words were beginning to slur. "Ken, I feel funny." She was begin-ning to sway.

"You should never have gotten pregnant."

She was staring up at him stupidly. "What?"

"You spoiled everything, Kat."

"Spoiled...?" She was having trouble concentrat¬ing.

"You got in my way."

"Wha'?"

"No one gets in my way."

"Ken, I feel dizzy."

He stood there, watching her.

"Ken... help me, Ken..." Her head fell back onto the pillow.

Mallory looked at his watch again. There was plenty of time.