Страница 41 из 69
And she had no idea how to interpret a specific and yet enigmatic warning delivered from beyond the grave.
Gazing at the box filled with papers that might hold some vital clue in understanding her aunt's warning, Cassie wondered if her own reluctance to know Alex Melton might prove more costly than she could ever have imagined.
She got up from the sofa, went to the fireplace, and looked down at the note and envelope in her hand. Her hesitation was a brief one. She tossed them into the fire and watched them burn.
Then she got the box filled with her aunt's papers and began trying to understand a life.
"All right," Larry Ramsay said as he escorted the girls into the mall. "We're here." He adopted the long-suffering tone common to put-upon males who would much rather be somewhere else, preferably tinkering with?.n engine.
"I really appreciate this, Larry," Sue said, not quite batting her eyes.
"No problem," he said politely.
"It's just that I really do need to check about that software program today so I'll have the weekend to work on the project. So I'm really grateful."
Dea
"It's okay," Larry said, only his sister hearing the touch of impatience in his voice. "Radio Shack is – "
"Sue, didn't you say you saw the program at that computer store at the other end of the mall?" Dea
"Oh, yeah – I did see it there," Sue agreed obediently.
"Then, let's go." Larry gestured for the girls to precede him but stuck close as they joined the other brave souls who had ventured out to the mall.
Dea
And there was that little alcove between the store and one of the exits, which was perfect.
Just perfect.
Ha
Besides, the worries and what-ifs that were frightening in the wee hours of the night, when a body was alone in the house and jumping at shadows, looked absurd in the bright light of day with the world awake and going about its business as usual.
And, anyway, when they were out earlier, she'd forgotten she needed to pick up some material she'd ordered from the fabric store at the mall.
Ha
She probably should have taken Beason with her, but the dog was an uneasy traveler and prone to bark constantly if left in the car by himself, so she went alone. She left Joe a note explaining where she was going just in case he woke up while she was gone, and she locked the car doors and kept an alert eye out for strangers.
But she encountered no strangers and nothing suspicious, arriving at the mall without incident.
It was just past three-thirty when she parked her car as close as possible to the main entrance and went in.
Ca
The sight amused him. The shoppers spoke to one another warily if at all, their gazes suspicious. Children were kept close to their mothers' sides, and it was plainly apparent that both more husbands and fewer teenagers were present at the mall than was usual on a Friday afternoon.
But she was here.
And that was all that really mattered.
Ben drove his Jeep out to Cassie's place, while Matt arrived separately in his cruiser. The sheriff had not blinked when Ben made the suggestion, and he had not protested; Ben had an uneasy feeling that his own voice had been a bit forceful, perhaps even defiant. And that Matt understood all too well where Ben's motives lay.
It was a hell of a thing when a man with walls so thick that a psychic couldn't see past them still managed to wear his hopes on his sleeve.
Hopes he didn't want to think too much about. He was begi
It was simpler to just try to ignore them, at least for the present.
Cassie greeted them at the front door, the alert dog as usual at her side. She was smiling faintly and her voice was calm, but Ben knew immediately that she was even further away from him than she had been before they'd talked that morning. She was shut inside herself, remote, and when her gaze rested on him briefly, he didn't feel a warm hand – or even a cool one.
Second thoughts? Or something else?
With Matt close behind him as they went into the living room, Ben could hardly ask. Instead, looking at the neat stacks of papers on the coffee table and remembering what she had said about her plans to go through her aunt's papers, he said, "You've been busy."
Cassie gave the dog a soft command to lie down, and he did on what was obviously his rug near the fireplace. If she was aware of tension in Ben's voice, it wasn't apparent in her own serene reply. "I thought it was time to get this done. I even started reading one of Aunt Alex's journals."
"Did she say why she scared the hell out of Abby?" Matt demanded.
Cassie looked at him. "So she told you."
"Yes, she told me."
"And?"
"And what? Do I believe your aunt saw the future? No, I don't. Do I believe Abby could be in danger? Yes, I do. Aside from this maniac we have ru
Ben glanced at him but didn't comment.
Cassie said, "I'm glad she told you. As for Aunt Alex – so far I haven't even reached her move out here. The first journal starts more than thirty years ago."
"Skip ahead," Matt advised.
"Sorry, I'm one of those people who finds it physically impossible to skip ahead when reading a story. And this is quite a story." She shook her head. "In any case, I doubt she'll explain in her journal why she told Abby what she did. She just wanted to warn her, Matt, that's all. Because she thought Abby could do something to change her own future if she knew what to expect."
There was a grim set to Mart's jaw. "Maybe."
Cassie looked at him a moment. "The coffee's hot, if either of you -?"
Matt shook his head and Ben said no thanks.