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"Jane?"

"Oh, no, Brian, thanks I had hosts?"

"Not tonight I’m too tired"

"You really should take the haunted hayride trip tohosts haunting this town Pretty scary"

It was the second time she’d been told she should try out that particular Lily attraction Maybe she would She’d enjoy learning more about the history of the town

She s and earnest--if a bit too persistent "And yet," she said, "you seem to be okay As do the other actors"

"Well, we’re not sleeping in her rooht"

"If you need me, just holler I’ll be here in a second," he assured her

"I appreciate that," she told hi all day, you know I’ht to sleep A lot of people believe Sage ran away to Mexico, right? If so, she’s not here"

"Okay, but don’t forget Just scream if you need me Some people don’t believe she ran off"

"I’ll do that," she promised solemnly

With a reluctant nod, he returned to his room down the hall as Jane entered hers and closed the door

She’dwould-be lothario

She leaned against the door for ato lock it

Experience had taught her The living were usually far erous than the dead

Usually

3

Sloan’s house wasn’t but a hway 101 Although it was in the countryside, it was also within walking distance of the Gilded Lily Only two properties sat between hiht and spry--and the second belonged to Mike Addison, who noned the old sheriff’s office and jail bed-and-breakfast Mike was seldoood man of mixed Mexican, American and Indian descent, Barry Garcia Neither Mike nor Silvia ever had any trouble at their properties

Sloan’s house was ranch-style and had been built in the 1860s, first as a one-rooone by, as a far larger home The front door still opened into the main section of the house, a parlor with leather and wood furniture, Indian artifacts, a stone fireplace and a stone counter that separated it from the kitchen Beyond that was a screened-in porch with a pool; to the left were two bedrooht was a master suite It was a comfortable hoo in the future, he’d hang on to the house Johnny Bearclaw, an Apache who’d corandfather before Sloan made it home, still lived here Johnny’s wife had died of cancer and he had no children; running Sloan’s property and working with the horses seeood life for him He had an apartment above the barn, which was about an acre back on the land He looked after the house and grounds and the two buckskin quarter horses Sloan kept, Kanga and Roo

It was late Sloan had been out far longer than he’d expected, not thinking he’d actually stop by the Gilded Lily for dinner But as he’d driven through town from the sheriff’s office, the theater had beckoned hi artist

And he did have to eat That was a fact He knew he’d been rude, soa few minutes to benot rude would be a san would never have sent hian because they both knew there were forces in the world that weren’t obvious, that weren’t necessarily seen by everyone Logan had sent hiood that bothered hi the skull was all soun--or come to the surface--when the skull was found Dread had been building within him and he’d sensed it, felt it in the air, almost smelled itbut been unable to pin it down

Maybe that hy he’d wanted the da with a current tragedy, accident orperson they now sought to identify, it had happened way before they couldany responsible party to justice So why his concern?

He didn’t know