1977 Sidney Sheldon - Bloodline

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This edi t ion contains the cornplete and unabridged rexts of the or iginal edi t ions. Thev have

been comoletelv reset for this volume.

This omnibus *as originallv published in separate volumes under the tit les:The Naked Face, copyright @ 1970 bv Sheldon Literarv Trust

A Stranger In The Mirror, copvright @ 1976 bv Sheldon Literan, TrustBlood.Line, copvright @ 1977 bv Sidnev Sheldon

All rights reserved.

This 1992 edit ion is published b_v Wings Books, distributed bv Outlet Book Company. Inc.,a Randorn House Companv,

4O Engelhard Avenue, Avenel, New Jerser., 07fi)1,b! arrangement \{ i th Sri l l iam Nlorrow & Companv.

Randorn Hc'u"e

New \brk . Toronto' London'Svdnev ' Aucklant l

Pr intet l and bound in the United States of Arnerica

Librarv ol Congress Cataloging- irr - Pu bl icat ion f)ala

Shelclon, Siclner ' .

Sidnev Sheldon-three complete novels / Sidner Sheldon.

p . c n r .

Contents: Rloodl ine-A stranger in the mirror-The naked face.

lsBN 0-517-07773-6l . Tide. l l . l ' i t le; Three complete novels.

PS3569.H3927A6 1992813' .5,1-dc20 92-1399 CIP

B ; 6 5 . 1 3 2


BtOODtII.{E


For Natalie

with love


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

While this is a work of fiction, the backgrounds are authentic, andI wish to express my gratitude to those who so generously contrib-uted to my research. If, in adapting their information to therequirements of a novel, I have found it necessary to expand orcontract certain time elements, I take full responsibility. My deep-est appreciation goes to

Dr. Margaret M. McCarronAssociate Medical DirectorLos Angeles County,

University of Southern California

Dean Brady, USC Pharmacy School

Dr. Gregory A. ThompsonDirector, Drug Information CenterLos Angeles County,

Univeisity of Southern California

Dr. Bernd W. SchulzeDrug Information CenterLos Angeles County,

University of Southern California

Dr. Judy Flesh

Urs Jiiggi, Hoffmann-La Roche & Co., A. G., Basel

Dr. Gunter Siebel, Schering A. G., Berlin

The Criminal Investigation Divisionsof Scotland Yard, Zurich and Berlin

Charles Walford, Sotheby Parke Bernet, London

And to Jorja, who makes all things possible.


"The physician uill carefullyprepare a mixture of crocodile.dung, lizard Jlesh, bat's bloodand camel's spit . . ."

from a papvrus listing811 prescriptions usedby the Egyptians in1550 e.c.


T \ l n

500K une


Istanbul.Saturday, September 5.

Ten p.m.

lle was seated in the dark, alone, behind the desk of Hajib Kafir,staring unseeingly out of the dustv office window at the timelessminarets of Istanbul. He was a man who was at home in a dozencapitals of the worid, but Istanbul was one of his favorite cities.Not the tourist Istanbul of Beyoglu Street, or the gaudy LalezabBar of the Hilton, but the out-of-the-wav places that only theMoslems knew: the yalis, and the small markets be-vond the sozAs,and the Telli Baba, the cemeterv where onl,v one person \^'asburied, and the people came to pray to him.

His waiting had the patience of a hunter, the quiet stillness ofa man in control of his bodv and his emotions. He r,r'as Welsh, withthe dark, stormv good looks of his ancestors. He had black hairand a strong face, and quick intelligent eyes that were a deep blue.He r.as over six feet tall, with the lean muscular bod,v of a man w-hokept himself in good ph.vsical condition. The office was filled withthe odors of Hajib Kafir, his sicklv sweet tobacco, his acrid Turk-ish coffee, his fat, oilv body. Rhvs Williams was unaware of them.He was thinking about the telephone call he had received fromChamonix an hour earlier.

". . . A terrible act:ident! Believe me, Mr. Williams, we are alldevastated. It happened so quicklv that there was no chance tosar.e him. Mr. Rolle was killed instantly . . ."

Sam Roffe, president of Rofl'e and Sons, the second largest

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S l o N r y S u E r - o o N

pharmaceutical company in the world, a multibillion-dollar dy-nasty that girdled the globe. It was impossible to think of SamRoffe as being dead. He had always been so vital, so full of life andenergy, a man on the move, living in airplanes that raced him tocompany factories and offices all over the world, where he solvedproblems others could not deal with, created new conceprs.pushed everyone to do more, to do better. Even though he hadmarried, and fathered a child, his only real interest had been thebusiness. Sam Roffe had been a brilliant and extraordinarv man.Who could replace him? Who was capable of running the enor-mous empire he had left? Sam Roffe had not chosen an heirapparent. But then, he had not planned to die at fifty-two. He hadthought there would be plentv of time.

And now his time had run out.The lights in the office suddenly flashed on and Rhys Williams

looked toward the doorway' momentarily blinded."Mr. Williams! I did not know anyone was here."It was Sophie, one ofthe company secretarles, who was assigned

to Rhys Williams whenever he was in Istanbul. She lt-as Turkish.in her middle twenties, with an attractive face and a lithe. sensuousbody, rich with promise. She had let Rhys know in subtle, ancientways that she was available to bring him whatever pleasures hewished, whenever he desired them, but Rhys was not interested.

Now she said, "I returned to finish some letters for Mr. Kafir."She added softly, "Perhaps there is something I can do for vou?"

As she moved closer to the desk, Rhys could sense the muskysmell of a wild animal in season.

"Where is Mr. Kafir?"Sophie shook her head regretfully. "He has left for the day."

She smoothed the front of her dress with the palms of soft, cleverhands. "Can I help.vou in some wav?" Her eyes were dark andmoist.

"Yes," Rhys said. "Find him."She frowned. "I have no idea where he could-""Try the Kervansaray, or the Mermara." It would probably be

the former, where one of Hajib Kafir's mistresses worked as a bellvdancer. Although you never knew with Kafir, Rhys thought. Hemight even be with his u'ife.

Sophie was apologetic. "I will try, but I am afraid I-"

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B l o o o l r r e_iL_

"Explain to him that if he's not here in one hour, he no longerhas a job. "

The expression on her face changed. "I will see what I can do,Mr. Williams." She started toward the door.

"Turn out the l ights."

Somehow, it was easier to sit in the dark with his thoughts. Theimage of Sam Roffe kept intruding. Mont Blanc should have beenan easy climb this time of the year, earlv September. Sam had triedthe climb before, but storms had kept him from reaching the peak.

"I'll plant the company flag up there this time," he had prom-ised Rhys, jokingl,v.

And then the telephone call a short while ago as Rhys waschecking out of the Pera Palace. He could hear the agitated voiceon the telephone. ". . . The_v were doing a traverse over a glacier.. . . Mr. Roffe lost his footing and his rope broke. . . . He fell intoa bottomless crevasse , . "

Rhys could visualize Sam's body smashing against the unforgiv-ing ice' hurtling downward into the crevasse. He forced his mindaway from the scene. That was the past. There was the present toworry about now. The members of Sam Roffe's family had to benotified of his death, and they were scattered in various parts ofthe world. A press announcement had to be prepared. The newsw-as going to travel through international financial circles like ashock wave. With the companv in the midst of a financial crisis,it was vital that the impact of Sam Roffe's death be minimized asmuch as possible. That would be Rhys's job.

Rhys Williams had first met Sam Roffe nine years earlier. Rhys,then twentv-five, had been sales manager for a small drug hrm. Hewas brilliant and innovative, and as the company had expanded,Rhys's reputation had quickly spread. He was offered a job atRoffe and Sons and when he turned it down, Sam Roffe bought thecompany Rhys worked for and sent for him. Even now he couldrecal] the overwhelming power of Sam Roffe's presence at theirfirst meeting.

"You belong here at Roffe and Sons," Sam Roffe had informedhim. "That's wh,v I bought that horse-and-brgg)- outfit you werewith."

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1977 Sidney Sheldon - Bloodline

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