Page 2 (1/2)
What, exactly, are you doing here Shannon?"
His anger vibrated in those low, id control She opened herskintight boots No words caht fantasize about the iet up now"
She did, quickly, and she felt her face heating beneath the ht, the ed it off and glared at him "Look, I tried to talk to you at the theater, but you left When I called, you hung up You really didn&039;t leave me much choice--"
"The choice I left you as to leave me alone"
His dark eyes burned with soht Hoas that possible? She blinked and shook herself The wind picked up a little, and it h the branches of the big oak tree Perfect October night wind She faced hinore the shiver of apprehension How could ascared her Not even death Not that she&039;d admit it, anyway She couldn&039;t afford to, in her present condition "I&039;m afraid I can&039;t leave you alone"
"Why not?"
"Let me in and I&039;ll tell you" She watched his face, and knehen he didn&039;t refuse that he avering "It&039;s ilanced down over her attire as he said it, and his sarcasm couldn&039;t be missed Just when her chin rose and a few choice set-downs jumped to her lips, he nodded once and stepped aside "Ten minutes Shannon Then you either leave on your own or I call anilancing back over her shoulder "Who do you think they&039;d pick up? Cat Worimaced, as if her little joke had been so bad it was painful, but he couldn&039;t hide the twitch at the corners of his lips She wondered, for a second, why he&039;d want to Then she turned to see where she was going, and all her thoughts sta barn
The short hall she&039;d traversed opened into a circular room that would put the Oval Office to shas One for the fire and the other to hold the neatly stacked logs The th of it, and was littered with artsy objects encased in clear-glass cubes of varying sizes The floor glea black marble as the hearth, accented here and there with colorful Turkish rugs Their patterns ild, order less, vivid Were those black eyes peering up at her fros, with their braided tassels and secret ic carpet One lay near the fireplace, all but invisible under a mound of pillows Round, square, oval, satin, silk, velvet, blacks and reds and golds
A chaise lounge the color of goldenrod, and big enough to hold a crowd, held court to one side of the fireplace Its shiht when there was a fire There was a couch, but it wasn&039;t really It had no back The plu over scrolled wooden ar to the floor all the way around it The wooden legs and triraved with obscure shapes and syave her head a shake
"Not what you expected?"
It was as though an icy wind had just blown over her, the way she shivered
But it wasn&039;t an icy wind It was a warm breath, and four simple words spoken softly, close to her nape
She drew a breath, closed her eyes, calmed herself She wouldn&039;t let the man&039;s mystic demeanor shake her After all, it was only part of the act A persona he put on and took off like the satin cloak he wore An ie He took it further than she&039;d anticipated, but that wasn&039;t proof he&039;d taken it to the ultie intact, Da There were tide, arched doorways, at ten o&039;clock and two o&039;clock if the fireplace was noon Neither of thes of beads that looked like onyx "Although," she went on, trying to keep the amazement from her voice as she found one wondrous item after another, "I don&039;t knohy you bother I was told few people ever get past the front gate So, who are you trying to impress?"
"The roo were plastered, their surfaces rough, like stucco, and slightly yellowed, as if very old, although she was sure they were new The lights were recessed into the walls, with half circles of intricate plaster work shading thelow that seemed to emanate naturally fro as she looked ures of bearded, al on its hind legs, apparently plated in gold A chipped piece of pottery shaped like a glass, with ani colors and perfect syular hunk of stone with line after line of tiny, detailed s as old as they look?"
"That depends on how old they look"
She faced hi "They&039;re artifacts, aren&039;t they? You collect thes like this, in souess Try a bit earlier and a little farther south" She bit her lip, racking her brain, but he cut her off "It doesn&039;t iven you tenatto tell me what it is that drove you to dress in that ridiculous outfit and break in?"
Her anger returned, and with it, her awareness of why she was here "You think it&039;s so, don&039;t you? That I&039;raph or a souvenir of Da his aret to the point It was infuriating She unzipped the small fanny pack that was snapped around her hips The manila envelope she pulled out wasn&039;t sealed "How often do you do that levitation routine, using an audience aze dipped to the envelope, then ht was only the third time I&039;ve done it I like to keep the act varied"
"This was the third time," she repeated "Do you happen to remember your volunteer last week?" She pulled out the photos, not giving hilance down at the pictures she held out to him She&039;d seen theon in those glittering black eyes When he took the stack, his fingertips brushed over hers and she shivered She turned away from him, paced to the piece of furniture that looked like Cleopatra&039;s bed and sat down
She refused to look at hiazed, instead, into the cold hearth, noticed the crumpled bit of paper there, wondered as on it and whether he&039;d leave the rooet a look
She never heard him approach, so it shocked her when his hand closed around her wrist and he jerked her to her feet His grip was like iron, and he glared down at her with a fire in his eyes that was potent, and dangerous
"What in hell is this garbage?" His other hand clutched the photographs
Fear should have taken over That it didn&039;t wasn&039;t on account of her unshakable courage More that she had nothing to lose Nothing at all What was the worst he could do to her? Kill her? So he&039;d beat the disease to the punch Big deal It was laughable
"Don&039;t you recognize her, Dah with her skin white as candle wax and her eyes glazed over like that Still, her hair is the saled, but basically the same She was an actress, you know At least, she wanted to be"
His grip tightened "What kind of sick prank are you trying to--"
"You do remember her Good It&039;s no prank, Damien Tawny Keller is dead She died in her bed, a few hours after she perforaze narrowed His grip on her arhtly, shook his head
Shannon reached into the fanny pack again, pulling out several stapled-together pages "Don&039;t believe it, huh? Well, try this, then" She thrust the papers under his nose "Medical exaaze rose to hers again Anguished She had the brief sense that he was bleeding inside, but it vanished as fast as it cas? Are you a cop?"
She squared her shoulders "Not a cop, a PI" He hadn&039;t taken the papers, so she tossed thes and fluttered to the floor Silence stretched tight between Daain, didn&039;t want to feel it again "I found the body" The ht it with everything she had Pounding on Tawny&039;s door Worried because she hadn&039;t answered the phone, and they always talked first thing in theThe door hadn&039;t even been locked God, she was careless!
Shannon felt a cold hand grip her heart as she recalled walking in, calling, hearing no answer But she&039;d known, she&039;d felt that dread even before she&039;d entered the bedroom and seen what no one should ever have to see
She turned to hide the pain fro quiet There&039;d be a circus if the apparent cause of death leaked to the press But I saw her I knew I traded my silence for the photos, the reports I&039;ve worked with this ME before, and he&039;s a stickler for the rule book He wouldn&039;t have let iven hi tears and eventually winning "They threatened to pull ot involved in this, but I don&039;t really give a damn She was my best friend"
He cleared his throat "I&039;ht behind her now He must walk like a cat "But I still don&039;t see--"