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"Shall I have it delivered to your apartment?"

"Please," Christie said "Thank you, Teri," she said, "thank you, thank you I proet there soon"

Fifteen minutes later, the knock on her door told her that her new car had arrived

When she saw Ja on the other side of the torn screen, she followed her instinctive reaction, and that was to slam the door A torrent of eainst the wall Her knees gave out, and she started to slide doard

There was another knock, this one louder and ht reluctantly Any kind of reaction would encourage hi herself, she straightened and opened the door again She had to adh she ize," she said "The door, uh, got away froh it amused him Well, fine, he could be as amused as he liked But not at her expense

She was furious with Teri and Bobby They’d tried to pull a fast one on her--and they’d succeeded Christie supposed she should have figured it out Teri’s vague talk of a friend "in the business," the sudden mention of a phone call from Ja a few angry words about this

No, she decided She’d put her anger aside and overlook their trick in gratitude for all their help--although she wouldn’t forgive theht your car," he said and held up the keys

"Thank you," she said, keeping her voice emotionless Indifferent But her awareness of him had never been sharper than it was just then Despite that, or perhaps because of it, she’d rather keel over dead than give Jas

"Can I show it to you?" Jaes--that he needed to talk to her, be with her

"That won’t be necessary, but thank you for offering" She opened the screen door far enough to pluck the keys from his hand Then, with a polite smile, she quietly closed the door

To be on the safe side, she turned the dead bolt--unsure whether this was an attempt to keep him out or her in

Twelve

Footsteps Faith Beckwith heard them outside her bedroomWhoever was there made no effort at stealth Someone was about to break into the house and didn’t care if she knew

Paralyzed with fear, Faith stopped breathing The clock radio said 2:14 At first she’d assumed the movements, which couldn’t be ination But now there was no question--soh the hardened snow in the backyard Whoever it was h she was buried under blankets and the blinds were closed, Faith felt the trespasser’s stare, felt his presence as clearly as if he was standing over her bed

Her breath ca carefully onto her side, she reached for the bedside phone and drew it under the sheets with her Then, hidden under the covers, she used the lighted dial to punch out 9–1-1 Whispering, she told the operator that someone was outside her bedroom

The operator assured her a deputy was on his way Without thinking, Faith disconnected the line Oh, dear, that was foolish Then she understood what her heart had been telling her from the first--it wasn’t a 9–1-1 operator she wanted reassurance from, it was Troy Davis

Troy had said she should call but she couldn’t Not in the ht and, really, what could he do?

He’d been on herhe’d co there with Will Jefferson, a friend froh-school days He’d been two years ahead of her and a real heartthrob

Naturally, Troy pretended he hadn’t seen her with Will She’d done exactly the sa, she’d gone out of her way to prove she could enjoy another ood idea at the time; now, in retrospect, she wasn’t so sure She couldn’t resist letting him think she had an active social life

Will Jefferson, while char as ever, didn’t interest Faith For that matter, he wasn’t interested in her, either He happened to be eating alone when she came in, and Will had invited her to share his table They’d spent an hour catching up and exchanging news offrequently at various reminiscences They’d had a friendly visit--and that was it Faith hadn’t heard from Will since and didn’t expect to, which suited her fine

The footsteps outside hersee purely on iain She hesitated; she had plenty of tie her mind, plenty of time to be ruled by reason rather than e "Davis here" He sounded awake Alert

"Th-there’s so to speak coherently

"Faith?"

"I--I shouldn’t have called"

"Hang up and call 9–1-1" Each as spoken clearly and distinctly

"I already did You suggested I phone you, too--it was silly I shouldn’t have I’ up," he commanded

"I’m fine… Your deputy will be here any minute I’ers tre violently, she felt iven in to her impulse Her weakness

Faith could hear a car pull up and hurried out of bed She threw on a housecoat, then waited by the door until the sheriff’s vehicle caht, she stepped onto the porch