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"Like I said, I didn’t know anything about how hteen About two ht their throats cut, people being stabbed in the chest--horrible drea" He paused, shuddering with memory "I re, even when I gasped out the dream I’d had He stood there, stared at me like I was a freak, like he was afraid of me Then he left, and he didn’t come back when I had the other dreams I woke up alone and I stayed alone" Martin looked at Savich "It was around that ti"

Martin’s father hadn’t said anything about this to Sherlock Hadn’t Townsend Barrister realized what the dreams meant? Of course he had

Savich sat forward on the sofa, his hands clasped between his knees "Later, did you talk to your father about the dreams?"

Martin shook his head "I couldn’t, and besides, I knew he didn’t want to know I’d look at him and my two little bratty and normal stepsisters at the dinner table, and I’d think, I could dreah her neck and cutting Tammy’s throat And I could see their blood, their surprise, the looks on their faces and then they’d be dead

"It wasn’t so I could talk about They wouldn’t understand My father behaved as if he’d rather not even have me there, as if he’d rather I didn’t even exist It was like he was afraid of ?"

"Yes, I asked him one day how my mother died"

"Out of the blue? For the first tiht to ask him?"

Martin nodded slowly "Yeah It came to me, probably because of my dreams, I’m not sure But it came out Suddenly I had to know"

"What did your father say?"

"He told me there’d been a terrible accident on the day of my sixth birthday My mother had slipped and fallen on a kitchen knife, and she’d died And he’d brought ain He called her death an accident Can you believe that?"

"I gather you didn’t believe hi back I realize now he didn’t want my half-sisters or my stepmother, Jenny, to find out, and be afraid, maybe be afraid of him

"So I went off to search on my own I looked up the Barristers in old newspaper files Remember, this was before the Internet, back in 1984 But it was enough to point n clear as day--Blessed Creek I kneas a little hick town in the Poconos, in northeastern Pennsylvania I drove out there It didn’t take h archives from that time to learn that she’d been ht after the funeral"

"Is that why you disappeared after your high school graduation? Did you think your father had so to do with it?"

Martin wouldn’t meet his eyes

"Listen to me, Martin You were only six years old when she was killed Kids have an as out that could harm the everything that happened until you were older, more ready to face up to what happened"

"I know, I know" He isting his hands together, and Savich knew that for the h

"Hey, don’t worry about it, Martin Show me how that remote works It looks pretty fancy"

CHAPTER 30

FIVE MINUTES LATER, Janet Thornton caent hoork a re a colorful wooden tray, coffee, tea, and a small plate of cookies on top of it She poured Savich so eyebrow as she handed it to hiht is fine Thank you"

The tea was delicious He hadn’t realized how cold he’d been This was soabout a reh why Martin had left the day after he’d graduated high school For now, drinking tea was just fine He drank, felt the warmth all the way to his belly, and thanked God he was still alive "My wife, who’s also an FBI agent, is outside with the police and your neighbors I’d like to call her, tell her that everything’s okay Also, I don’t want the cops to worry,in here Okay by you, Martin?"