At Twilight
Page 8
entreaty.
“Try to imagine how I felt when I discovered it, Tamara. The woman
who’d been calling me to her, living; under the same roof as the man
who has doggedly pursued; me for months. How could I not suspect a
conspiracy to j entrap me?”
| She listened as he presented his case.
She supposed he ; had a point.
She would have thought the same if she’d been in his place.
“I suppose you had cause to be suspicious.”
She looked at the floor, bit her lip.
She could reassure him without revealing any sensitive information.
The truth was, she knew very little that was classified.
“I have a low security clearance. Sometimes I think they invented a
new one, just for me, it’s so low.”
She smiled slightly when she said that, and she faced him.
“I can’t count the number of times I’ve tried to argue Daniel out of
this crazy idea that you’re…”
Why couldn’t she finish the sentence?
She swallowed and went on.
“He always counters my rationale with the claim that he has loads of
evidence to prove his theories.
And I always respond by asking to see the files.
The answer never changes.
My clearance isn’t high enough.
” She studied his face, but it gave no evidence of whether he believed
her. He listened attentively. ” I never told him about the dreams.
I didn’t want to worry him.
” He nodded.
“Is there a chance he might’ve found out in another way?”
“How could he, short of reading my mind?
” She blinked and looked away suddenly.
“Unless…”
He waited expectantly.
She made up her mind.
What she had to say couldn’t hurt Daniel.
If anything, it might help him avoid a lawsuit if she could stay on
good terms with Marquand.
She tried to avoid the burning knowledge of her own powerful feelings
for a man she barely knew.
“There were times when I cried out loud, loud enough to alert Daniel
and bring him to my room. He always told me he hadn’t heard clearly
enough to guess what I’d said in my sleep, but I suppose there’s a
chance he might not have told me if he thought it would add to the
problem.”
“Or if he knew I would come to you, and planned to lie in wait.”
Until that point she’d done her best to see his side of things.
Now her head came up fast and she bristled.
“You need to get that idea out of your mind. I admit, Daniel follows
you, lurks outside your house and watches everything you do. But why
on earth would he want to trap you, as you say? What do you suppose
he’d do with you when he got you?”
“He specializes in research, Tamara, not surveillance.
What do you suppose he’d do with a live specimen of what he considers
an unstudied species?
“
Tamara’s stomach lurched.
Her hand flew to her mouth, and she closed her eyes.
“That’s ludicrous! Daniel would never… He’s the most gentle man I’ve
ever known.”
She shook her head so hard her hair flew around her.
“No.
No, Daniel couldn’t even entertain the thought.
” “You don’t know him so well as you believe to.”
He spoke gently, but his words were brutal.
“Has it occurred to you that he might have known of the connection
between us all along, that it might have been what drove him to take
you in from the start?”
Eyes wide, she stared at him, shaking her head in disbelief.
“It would never occur to me to think that. Daniel loves me. I love
him!
He’s the only family I have. How can you suggest” — She stopped and
tried to catch her breath.
Suddenly her head throbbed.
The lack of sleep seemed to catch up to her all at once.
Every limb of her body ached with exhaustion.
“You have to at least consider the possibility. He knew about me, even
then. I can prove it to you, if—” ” Stop it!
” She pressed her palms flat to the sides of her head.
“Tamara” — “Please, Eric,” she whispered, suddenly too tired to shout
or to argue any longer.
“Please don’t do this, don’t say these things to me. I feel so close
to losing my mind I don’t trust my own senses anymore. I’m not sure
what’s real and what’s delusion. I can’t deal with all of this.”
Her head bowed, her eyes tear filled, she didn’t see him come closer.
He gathered her into his arms and held her.
His arms offered only comfort this time.
There was no lust in his touch.
“Forgive me, Tamara. My thoughtless words cause you pain. Forgive me.
I don’t wish to hurt you. My concern for you overwhelmed my common
sense.”
He sighed, long and low.
“God, but I’ve bungled this.”
She found too much comfort in his arms.
She felt too warm and safe and cherished there.
It made no sense.
She needed to be away from him.
She couldn’t think when he was so close.
She straightened, stepping out of his embrace.
“I think… I think you ought to leave.”
The pain that flashed in his onyx eyes was almost more than she could
bear to see.
He dipped his head.
“If you wish.”
He met her gaze again, his own shuttered now.
“Please do not forget the things I’ve said to you tonight.
If ever you need me, you have only to call to me.
I will come.
” She blinked, not bothering to argue that his claim was impossible.
Perhaps he had picked up on her dreams, but they had been exceptionally
powerful dreams.
He couldn’t possibly think this odd mental link of theirs extended
beyond the one isolated incident.
He didn’t give her time to ask.
His hand at the small of her back, he urged her toward the French
doors.
He opened them for her and gently pushed her through.
She stepped inside and stopped, suddenly aware of the cold.
Goose bumps rose on her arms and an involuntary shiver raced through
her.
She stood there a moment, then whirled to ask him how he’d gotten onto
her balcony in the first place, a question she’d stupidly not thought
of sooner—but he was gone.
She shook her head hard and looked around her.
It was as if he’d never been there.
CHAPTER FIVE J amey Bryant squirmed in his chair, his eyes focused
more often on the falling snow beyond the window than on Tamara or the
box in the center of the table.
“Come on, Jamey. Concentrate.”
She felt guilty ordering the boy to do what she found impossible.
All day she’d been unable to get Eric Marquand out of her mind.
His face appeared before her each time she closed her eyes.
The memory of his touch, the way his lips had felt on hers, the
security of being rocked in his arms haunted her without letup.
The pain she’d seen in his eyes before he’d vanished haunted her more
than anything else.
Then again, she still had a tiny doubt he’d been real.
He could have been a figment of her imagination, a delusion, a dream.
How else could he have vanished from her balcony so quickly?
He couldn’t have jumped.
At the very least he’d have broken a leg.
So maybe he hadn’t been real.
But he had.
She knew he had, and the way he made her feel had been real, as well.
Nothing so intense could be imaginary.
Jamey sighed and fixed his gaze on the cube of cardboard between
them.
He screwed up his face until it puckered and the furrow between his
fine, dark brows became three.
He leaned forward and his freckle-smattered face reddened until Tamara
thought he was holding his breath.
Her suspicion was confirmed a moment later when he released it in a
loud whoosh and sank back into his chair.
“I can’t,” he said.
“Can I go now?”
Tamara tried to summon an encouraging smile.
“You really hate this, don’t you?”
He shrugged, glanced toward the window, then back to the box again.
“I wish I could be like other kids. I feel weird when I know things.
Then when I don’t know something I think I should, I feel stupid. And
then there are times when I get things that don’t make any sense at
all. It’s like I know something, but I don’t know what it means, you
know?”
She nodded.
“I think so.”
“So what good is it to be able to know something if you can’t make
sense out of it?”
“Jamey, you aren’t weird and you know you aren’t stupid.
Everyone has some quality that sets them apart.
Some people can sing notes that seem impossible to the rest of us.
Some athletes do things that seem supernatural to those who can’t do
the same.
That’s exactly what extrasensory perception is, something you do a lot
better than most people.
It’s just not as understood as those other things.
” She studied his face, thinking he didn’t look much comforted by her
pep talk.
“Maybe you should tell me what it is that’s bothering you.”
He blew air through his lips, and shook his head.
“You know I’m lousy at this.
It’s probably nothing.
I—I don’t want to scare you for no reason.
” She frowned.
“Scare me? This is about me, Jamey?”
He nodded, avoiding her eyes.
She rose from her seat, walked around the table and dropped to one knee
in front of him.
Since she’d begun working with Jamey six months ago, they’d formed a
tight bond.
She couldn’t have loved him more if he were her own son.
She hated that he was agonizing so much over something involving her.
Always, he’d been incredibly sensitive to her feelings.
He always knew if she felt upset, or under the weather.
He’d known about the nightmares and insomnia, too.
“You are not lousy at this. At least, not where I’m concerned.
If you’ve picked up on something, just tell me.
Maybe I can explain it.
” His mouth twisted at one side.
He looked at her seriously.
His intense expression made him look like a miniature adult.
“I keep feeling like something’s going to happen to you… like someone
is going to—to hurt you.”
He shook his head.
“But I don’t know who and I don’t know what, so what good is it to know
anything?”
She smiled softly.
“There’s been a lot going on with me lately, Jamey. Personal stuff.
Stuff that’s upset me quite a lot. I think you might be picking up on
that.”
“You think so?”
His dark eyes met hers hopefully, then darkened again with worry.
“Is everything okay?”
She nodded hard.
“I think so. And, yes, everything is working itself out. The
nightmares I’d been having are gone now.”
“Good.”
His frown didn’t vanish, though.
“But I still get the feeling there are people out to get you.”
He chewed his lip.
“Do you know anyone named Eric?”
Something hard, like a brick, lodged in the center of her chest.
She gasped audibly, and rose so fast she nearly lost her balance.
“Eric?”
she repeated dumbly.
“Why? Is there something about him” — “I dunno.
I just keep getting that name floating in at the oddest times.
I always feel really sad, or else really worried, when it comes.
I think maybe that’s what he’s feeling like, but like I said, I’m lousy
at this.
I could be reading it all wrong.
” She let the moment of panic recede.
She’d thought he might say Eric was the one out to hurt her.
She still wondered if it might not be the case, but didn’t want to let
Jamey sense it.
She drew several calming breaths and tried to compose her face before
she looked at him again.
“Thanks for the warning, Jamey, but I think you’re overreacting to this
danger thing.
Look, why don’t you open the box?
At this point I don’t even remember what was inside.
” After a last cursory glance, as if assuring himself he hadn’t
frightened her, he leaned forward, swung one arm out and caught the
box, drawing it to him on the follow through.
When he looked inside his eyes widened, and he pulled the video game
cartridge out.
“Dungeon Warriors!
Mom’s been looking all over for this—where’d you find it?
” “Your mom didn’t look as hard as you thought. I told her not to.”
He examined the colorful package eagerly.
“Thanks, Tam.”
He stood, obviously in a hurry to get home and try out the new game.
“Go ahead, Jamey. Your mom’s waiting right downstairs.”
He nodded and started for the door.
“Jamey,” she called after him.
When he glanced back at her she said,
“If you get any more of these weird vibes about me, and if they bother
you, just call.
You have my number.
Okay?
” “Sure, Tam.”
He gave her a broad, dimpled grin that told her his mind had been eased
for the moment, and hustled through the door, leaving Tamara alone to
contemplate his warning.
She worked late that evening, trying to use her mundane duties to fill
her mind.
It didn’t work.
She finally went home to find the house looking abandoned.
Of course, it was past dusk, so Daniel and Curtis had already left on
their nightly spying mission.
Despite his unfounded accusations against Daniel, Tamara felt a little
sorry for Eric Marquand.
It must get tiresome looking out his window night after night to see
them there.
She bounced in her VW Bug over the curving, rutted driveway.
Snowflakes pirouetted over the rambling Victorian mansion, caught in
the glow of her headlights.
>
Their pristine whiteness emphasized the age-yellowed paint.
Tall, narrow windows stood like sad eyes.
Rusty water stains like teardrops beneath each one enhanced that
fanciful image.
Tamara set the brake and got out to wrench open the stubborn overhead
garage door, muttering under her breath.
She’d argued for an automatic one every winter for the past three, all
without success.
Daniel wouldn’t budge an inch.
What he couldn’t do to the old house himself simply wouldn’t get
done.
He didn’t want a crew of strangers snooping around and that was
final.
She drove her car inside, noting the absence of Daniel’s Cadillac.
A finger of worry traced a path along her spine.
She hoped he wasn’t driving tonight.
The roads were slippery and, dammit all, she’d never replaced the spare
after he’d had that flat two months ago.
She imagined Curt was with him, and comforted herself with the
thought.
She nicked on lights as she moved through the foyer.
The phone began ringing before she’d even sat down to remove her
boots.
She tracked across the faded carpet to pick it up.
“Tam my, it’s about time you got home. Where’ve you been?”
She bit back the sharp retort that sprang to her lips.
“Curtis, are you with Daniel?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t answer the question.”
“I came straight home from the office, if you must know.
I worked a bit late and the roads are slick.
I don’t want him driving.
” “I’ll take care of him. Look, Tam, are you in for the night?”
She frowned hard.
“Why?”
He hesitated, started to speak, stopped and started again.
“It’s just, after that incident with Marquand the other night, Daniel
and I both feel it would be best if you, uh, try to stick close to home
after sundown. I know how much you resent being told what to do, but
it would be for your own—” ” My own good, I know.
” She sighed and shook her head. ” Look, I don’t have any plans to
leave the house tonight.
Besides, I thought you guys were watching Marquand’s every move.
” “We are, but” — “Then you don’t have anything to worry about, do
you?
I’m heading for a long soak in a scalding bath, and then straight to
bed, if that makes you feel any better.
” “It does.”
He was quiet for a moment.
“It’s only because we’re worried. Tam my.”
“Yeah, I know it is. Good night.”