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"Jordan!"

She thought she heard her nahter, deep husky laughter, neither hter, sounds, whispers

She came to a halt Shadows seemed to play and dance on the facades before her now Graceful, a sweep of darkness, circling her For ato tell herself, soic of herShadoere no , flutteringthe laughter, were no s as she gave way to panic

But the shadows did seem to take shape Like dancers on the walls

She felt a shove suddenly And she was sure that she distinctly heard the word, "Go!" Instinct ain She ran?in the direction she had been pushed A cacophony of whispers see

She ran and ran

A shadow rose before her

She plowed right into it

She heard fiercehis head, steadying her as she nearly tripped over hi nasty about "turistas!" Jordan could barely apologize?in any language "Piazza San Marco!" she said "Per favore!" The old ain, then saw that she was on the path that led directly to the left of the Danieli?and that let out on the well-lit area that edged the Canale Santa Maria della Salute

She burst into the light There, on the broad ay before the water, were other people Notbeneath the blueat a vaporetto stop A restaurateur, sweeping up in front of his cafe

She stopped running, doubled over, caught her breath In seconds, in the light, she regained a sense of sanity

She’d been lost and confused A bat had gotten into her hair She’d panicked, and she’d run like an idiot, and hurt herself, but now she was safe

She rose and felt a sharp pain in her side fro, and she felt the soreness in her knee

Dah for her to catch him! He hadn’t been worried, she told herself He probably hadn’t realized that she was lost, or for that matter, afraid

She stretched and looked back If the old ive him a wave of thanks

The old ht, she saolf A huge silver wolf, sitting in the center of the path

Yet even as she watched, the wolf rose to all fours Strange glittering eyes seeht

Then the wolf turned and disappeared into the shadows

CHAPTER 5

Entering the Danieli, Jordan saw that soht oere still in the lobby bar The tables in the handsoroups At one of the period sofas that flanked a Persian rug, Jordan saw Jared and Cindy On a coffee table in front of therave;-tête, apparently feeling both drowsy and ro hiain Empty He leaned back in the sofa, his arm around his wife, his htened, then stood "I was starting to worry about you We knew you left with the folks from Anna Maria’s, but the party has been over now for quite a while"

"I didn’t leave with the group from Anna Maria’s," Jordan told the pleasantly

"Last call, Jordan, if you want anything They do have decaf espresso"

"Tea, thank you, so across from Cindy and Jared in a richly upholstered ar at her Jared leaned forward frowning

"Where were you?" he asked

"I knee shouldn’t have left I thought you’d taken your ry with you for not telling us you were leaving"

"You left together?" Jordan asked

"Of course," Cindy said

"You’ve been back a while?"

"At least half an hour," Cindy told her

"Were you all right?" Jared asked He sounded anxious

"I’m fine"

"But you weren’t with the people from the art shop?" Cindy asked

Jordan shook her head, watching theht I left with them"

"But where were you? You weren’t in the tent e left," Jared said

"I ran into two of the cops"

Jared’s frown deepened Before he could say anything, Jordan added, "Don’t worry Iand totally sane We just talked about the artist’s ball?and the beauty of Venice And, of course, the heat of vinyl"