It called to her, murmuring her name. Begging her to go farther, drawing her deeper into the woods. To something that waited for her there, something that knew her name.
Tree branches creaked, swaying in the wind. Tiny night creatures scampered away, as if even they sensed the evil there. The smell of pine and decay was overwhelming.
She wanted to stop and turn around, to run away, but she was powerless against the force that called her deeper into the woods. Whatever was there drew her inexorably into the nightmare.
Tory opened her eyes to the darkness in her room, her heart drumming in her chest. The bed was warm, but she shivered uncontrollably, and wrapped her arms around herself. The aroma of pine slowly faded, replaced by the scent of the lavender sachets in her closet.
She stared at the white walls surrounding her and struggled to banish the memory of the dream, but it refused to fade. The trees had been so vivid, whatever beckoned her so compelling, that she was afraid to look out her window.
At least she hadn’t dreamed about the policeman again, she told herself as she curled into a tight ball on her bed. Nothing had happened, she insisted as she tried to go back to sleep.
But it was no use. When she closed her eyes the voice called to her again, and she lay in bed shaking with terror. Finally pushing back the bedclothes, she pulled on her robe and walked down the stairs.
As it had the night before, the third step from the bottom creaked. By the time she got into the kitchen, her heart had slowed down to near its normal speed. She fixed another cup of tea, then walked into the living room and sat on the couch, not even bothering to turn on the lights. Staring at the curtained windows, she sipped the hot tea in the darkness.
“Dammit, Jack, why didn’t you call me?” Holt glared at the young police officer, who looked at him, bewildered.
“I did call you, but you weren’t home. I checked it out and everything was fine. It was probably just her imagination. After I got back to the office, I didn’t think there was any reason to bother you until this morning.”
“No reason to bother me?” Holt heard his voice rising and struggled to maintain his hold on his temper. “What about the little matter of two unsolved murders?”
Officer Williams flushed. “I didn’t see any footprints where she claimed she saw the prowler. There were no cigarette butts, no candy wrappers, nothing. There wasn’t anything there, Chief. I figured this morning would be soon enough.”
“You figured wrong. From now on, if you get a report of a prowler, I want to know about it if you have to call me every fifteen minutes all night.”
“Sure, Chief.” The young man looked at him and shrugged. “You’re the boss.”
“Someone has to take this seriously,” Holt said grimly. “I don’t want another murder in Eagle Ridge.”
“The guy is probably a thousand miles away from here by now.” Williams spouted the popular line around town. Holt just looked at him.
“Whose life are you willing to bet on that?”
Williams flushed again. “I’ll be more careful next time,” he muttered.
“Damn right you will.” Holt stared out the window. As soon as he could, he’d get out to talk to Tory about what she’d seen the night before and check out the area himself. Williams’s glib assurances about not finding anything made him uneasy. Even if Tory had only seen an animal, there should be some evidence.
As if by thinking about her he had conjured her up, he saw Tory walk into the small post office across the street from the police station. Ignoring the rush of heat he felt, he stood casually and reached for his jacket. By the time he crossed the street, she was walking out the door.
When she saw him approaching she stopped abruptly. Color washed over her face, then faded until her skin looked bleached. Her gaze darting frantically around him, she looked like a trapped animal searching for a way to escape.
“Good morning,” he said softly, watching her.
She licked her lips. “Good morning, Chief.” She stepped around him and started down the sidewalk, and he fell into step beside her.
“Why didn’t you call me last night?” He spoke in a low voice, but she flinched as if he had yelled at the top of his lungs.
Walking a little faster, she answered without looking at him. “I did. Officer Williams was very helpful.”
“I know you called Jack, and I’m glad you did. I meant, why didn’t you call me at home after you talked to him?” He heard the anger swirling in his voice and tried to rein it in.
At that she looked at him, an incredulous expression on her face. “That would have been somewhat presumptuous of me, don’t you think? After all, I hardly know you.”
He wanted to reach for her hand, but knew he didn’t dare. “You know I would have wanted you to, don’t you?” he murmured.
“You weren’t even home.” She slanted him a look, her eyes wary. “Officer Williams told me he tried to call you.”
“I was in the shower when Jack called.” Glancing at the small police station, his lips thinned. “Next time, he’ll call until he gets hold of me.”
They walked in silence for a while, and he realized she was heading for her truck. “What are you doing in town today, anyway? Don’t you have patients to see?”
“Even vets get a break for lunch.” She glanced at him, her eyes still guarded. When he looked back, she immediately looked away. “I had to make sure the new postmaster knew I was living at the clinic. Most of my supplies will come by mail, and I can’t afford to miss any shipments.”
“Since this is your lunch hour, why don’t we get something to eat while you’re here? I’d like to ask you about what happened last night.”
They’d almost reached her truck, and he could see her pause. After what seemed like a long time, she slowly nodded. “All right. I have some questions of my own.”
They turned and headed toward the small café down the block from the police station. Neither of them spoke as they walked. He could almost feel the wall she’d thrown up between them, and wondered why.
As they reached the cafe her steps slowed, and she looked in the window. He reached for the door, but stopped as she stiffened beside him.
“What’s wrong?”
She didn’t answer, just continued to stare. Finally she turned to him. “I’m not really hungry, I guess. Would you mind if we went somewhere else to talk? Somewhere a little more private, maybe?”
He nodded. “That’s probably a good idea.” He struggled to keep his voice casual. “I don’t particularly want our conversation overheard.”
He saw the flash of relief in her face. “I’d rather no one else knows about what happened last night.”
As she turned away, he looked into the small café. Three quarters of the booths were full, so there was no way of knowing who had spooked her. But someone had, he was sure.
His eyes scanned the crowd, cataloging it in his mind. As he started to walk away, his gaze connected with a pair of eyes that stared insolently at him. Bobby Duvall. He held the man’s gaze for a moment, then looked past him to finish scanning the room. Was it Bobby who had made her retreat from the café?
“How about we go back to the station? There shouldn’t be anyone there right now besides our dispatcher.”
“That’s fine,” she said, shoving her hands into her pockets and looking at the sidewalk. He wondered what she was thinking.
Ten minutes later she sat next to his desk, her hands wrapped around a cup of coffee. All her attention was focused on the dark brown liquid.
“Tell me what happened last night, Tory.”
Involuntarily she looked at him, then immediately she looked away. “I was walking back from the clinic,” she began in an emotionless voice. “I don’t think I heard anything, but just before I got to my front door I looked behind me. There was something standing at the edge of the woods. I watched it for a second, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I don’t even know if it was a person or an animal.”
She took a long d
rink of the scalding coffee, and as she lowered her hand he could see it shaking. “Then it vanished. One moment it was there, and the next it was gone.”
He picked up his coffee and sipped at it, never taking his eyes off her. “Jack Williams told me he didn’t find any traces of anyone there. Are you sure you actually saw something?”
She set the ceramic mug on the edge of his desk with a small snap. Some of the coffee slopped onto the plastic surface. “I saw something. I just don’t know what it was.”
Her hands tightened in her lap, and she finally looked at him. Her dark green eyes were huge, and the shadows under them looked like purple bruises. Her long dark red hair, which yesterday had been meticulously braided, was pulled into a haphazard ponytail. Taking a deep breath, she said softly, “Was it you, Holt? Were you checking on me, to make sure I got to the house safely?”
“My God, Tory, I wouldn’t do that to you,” he exploded. He banged his coffee cup onto his desk and leaned forward in his chair. “Is that what you think?”
She stared at him for a long time. He saw the fear flicker in her eyes, shadowed by something else. Something that looked like the suspicion he’d seen in the eyes of a few other people in Eagle Ridge. “It was the only thing that made any sense,” she whispered. “Who else could have any reason for watching me?”
“And why would I skulk in the woods to watch you, rather than just pull into your driveway?” He watched her as he spoke. “Did you think it was because I’m new to Eagle Ridge? Did the thought cross your mind that the two murders happened only since I arrived?”
She flushed, but she didn’t look away. “You weren’t home when the police officer called you,” she said defensively. “What would you have thought under the circumstances?”
“Do you think I’m the murderer, Tory?”
She stared at him like a small animal trapped by a predator. “I don’t know what to think,” she whispered. “I don’t know you at all.”
“What do your instincts tell you?”
Her gaze dropped and she reached for her coffee. “My instincts have been wrong before.”
Her hands still trembled as she held the mug cradled between them. He knew he shouldn’t touch her, but he couldn’t resist. He took her mug, then reached for her hands and curled his own around them. Her fingers felt ice cold. She tried to pull away from him, but he held on to her.
“Tory, listen to me. I was at home, taking a shower. If Jack had called me ten minutes before or after he did, he would have found me. I can’t prove it, but that’s where I was.” He turned her hands over in his and stroked his thumb across her palm. When he felt her muscles quiver in response and jerk away from him, he tightened his grip on her.
“Although I have to admit I was tempted to go back and wait until you were finished in the clinic and safely in your house. I wish to hell I’d followed my instincts last night. If I had been there, this may not have happened at all.”
She was staring at their joined hands almost as if she couldn’t believe what she saw. “If it wasn’t you out there, it wouldn’t have mattered. Whoever was there would still have been there. I just wouldn’t have seen him.”
She sounded so certain that he turned her hands over and gripped them hard. “Why are you so sure, Tory?”
She shrugged, sliding her hands out of his. “I just am.”
She gathered herself to stand up, then froze in her seat. “Who is that?”
“Who?” He leaned around her to look out the window.
“That man who just crossed the street. I can’t see his face, but he looks familiar.”
Holt looked at Tory, tensed in the chair, then out the window again. “I don’t know him, but then I haven’t met everyone in town yet. Hey, Marge,” he yelled. “Do you know that guy across the street?”
The middle-aged dispatcher stuck her head in the door. “No, but I’ve seen him around town a couple of times. I think he’s a fisherman who’s staying about ten miles out of town. I’ve seen him go into the bait store before.”
“Thanks, Marge.” Holt smiled at Tory. “You can see the benefits of having the head of the Eagle Ridge grapevine working for me. Do you know the guy?”
Tory shook her head slowly and took a deep breath. “No, I don’t. For a second he reminded me of someone else.”
Making a mental note to check on the man, Holt stood up. “I suppose you’re going to have to be getting back to the clinic.”
Tory’s gaze flew to her watch, then she stood up, too. “Thank you for reminding me. I have an appointment in half an hour.”
“How about I follow you back?” he suggested. “I can check out the spot where you saw the prowler. Daylight should make it a lot easier to see if anything’s been disturbed there.”
She nodded. “All right. I was going to check it myself this morning, but I was running late.”
Her gaze dropped. From the way her face changed when she talked about the forest, he suspected it had been more than running late that had kept her from the woods this morning. He wanted to know what it was, but knew she wasn’t ready to tell him.
“I’ll meet you out there, then,” he said, reaching for his keys and his hat.
She nodded, watched him for another moment, then turned and left. He watched her walk down the street before he followed her out the door.
Tory was too conscious of the black four-wheel-drive vehicle behind her as she drove down the tree-lined road toward her clinic. Every time she glanced in the rearview mirror, she saw Holt watching her. It was just the reflection of his mirrored sunglasses, she tried to tell herself, but the effect was unnerving. Almost as unnerving as having him take her hands in his office.
A powerful current had seemed to flow from his hands into her, both warming her and making her feel jittery and nervous. Sitting in his office, feeling the response he stirred in her, she had told herself her fears were ridiculous. The suspicions that had eaten away at her all night seemed foolish when she sat next to him.
But she didn’t really know him, she warned herself. She’d sensed uncharted depths in Holt Adams the first time she’d met him, and she had no idea what hid beneath his reassuring facade. She wanted desperately to think he was only concerned about her safety, but she knew better than to trust a man just because he wore a policeman’s uniform.
She slowed as she approached her driveway and breathed a sigh of relief to find the parking lot empty. Until her client showed up, she’d be free to help Holt look for clues. She ignored the small voice inside her that said she’d be able to make sure he didn’t cover up any evidence of his own presence there last night.
Parking her truck in the tiny garage next to the house, she walked toward Holt’s Blazer. He frowned as he watched her approach. “I thought you had a client to see.”
“They’re not here yet, so I thought I’d see what you found.”
“Are you sure?” He watched her with a question in his eyes. “I got the impression that the woods bothered you.”
Had she been that transparent? Or did he not want her to see what he found? “I’m just not used to being surrounded by them at night. They don’t bother me in the daylight.” That wasn’t completely true, but she found that the prospect of entering the woods with Holt by her side was somehow much less frightening.
He looked at her, frowned again, then shrugged. “Okay, then, let’s go.”
The trees seemed to loom over her as they approached the spot where she’d seen the intruder. Moving a step closer to Holt, she focused her attention where she’d seen the prowler disappear. Maybe if she didn’t think about it, the woods wouldn’t bother her.
They stepped into the woods and onto the blanket of pine needles that covered the ground, and she immediately felt cooler. She looked up involuntarily. The tall pines grew so close together that they seemed to block out every bit of the sky. For just a moment she felt trapped, her heart stumbling in panic.
Then she looked over and saw Holt next to her, and her hear
tbeat steadied. Swallowing hard, she forced herself to look around.
All she saw was an ocean of trees. There was no sense of menace, no force trying to pull her more deeply into the woods. She didn’t feel the evil that seemed to emanate from these trees at night.
Which just goes to show that your imagination is working overtime, she told herself. Looking around as she walked, she didn’t realize that Holt had stopped until she bumped into him. He didn’t look at her. As he stared at the ground, she felt a shiver crawl up her back.
“What is it?” she asked, hearing the fear in her voice.
“Come and see.”
Chapter 4
As he knelt in the pine needles, Tory moved closer and eased down next to him. “I don’t see anything,” she said after a moment, allowing herself to relax slightly.
“Look here,” he said, pointing. “Don’t you see these marks on the ground?”
She looked where he was pointing. All she could see was black earth showing through the covering of pine needles. “There’s nothing there but dirt.”
“Exactly.” He turned to her, his face grim. “Look around, Tory. The ground has been covered by pine needles for years and years. Do you see dirt anywhere else?”
Slowly she scanned the area. “No, I guess not.” She stared at the black patches again. “What does it mean?”
“It means someone was here last night. He was damned careful, but he was here.” He pointed at the two scuffedlooking patches of dirt. “This is where he stood. He probably shuffled his feet a little to keep warm. He was damned careful not to leave any other signs, but the pine needles have definitely been disturbed.”
Slowly Tory raised her head and looked around. She had a clear view of both her house and her clinic. Feeling slightly sick, she looked at Holt. “How do you know it wasn’t an animal? A deer could have made marks like that.” She heard the desperation in her voice, but she didn’t care.
“I haven’t seen many two-legged deer, Tory.” His eyes softened as he took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s see if he left us any more clues.”
The Dark Side Of The Moon Page 5