Dreams (Part One) (Dreams #1)(39)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

“I understand. But the first requirement is that you call off Harry.“ Diana was aware of the gathering ring of onlookers. “If there’s bloodshed, this will be the end of it, Mrs. Fulbrook. You’ll never see Brandon again.“

“But he was leaving,“ Mrs. Fulbrook wailed. “I was trying to talk to him and he walked away from me.“

“Only because you started to bad-mouth Dad,“ Brandon said, still not looking away from Harry. “I’m willing to talk to you, ma’am, but I won’t let you say anything against my father.“

There was an acute silence and then Margaret Fulbrook heaved a deep sigh. “Come away from him, Harry.“

“But, Mrs. Fulbrook…“

“I said, come away from him.“

Harry was clearly vastly disappointed, but he obeyed reluctantly.

“Now come back here and talk to me, boy.“

Brandon turned around slowly. “You give me your word you won’t criticize Dad?“

“It will be hard not to criticize him,“ Mrs. Fulbrook said honestly. “I’ve had twenty years of practice. But 111 do my best. Now come over here and let me look at those eyes again.“

Diana smiled slightly as Brandon went back toward his grandmother. “Ill do the grocery shopping while you two go have a cup of coffee,“ she said.

But neither Brandon nor Margaret Fulbrook were paying her any attention. They were too busy looking at each other’s eyes.

An hour later, a thoughtful Brandon dropped Diana and Specter off at the cottage. Brandon had said little on the way back from town, but when Diana started to climb out of the Jeep he spoke.

“What do you think of her, Diana?“

She sat back in the seat and studied Brandon’s intent, concerned expression. “She’s a bitter old woman who has denied herself her grandson for twenty years. Now she’s seen you and she’s regretting having let all that time go by.

You’re all she has left.“

“I felt kind of sorry for her. In spite of the way she sicced old Harry on us.“

“You were generous and kind to her today, Brandon. You gave her something she could never have bought, or stolen, or taken by force. Deep down she knows that.“ Impulsively Diana leaned across the seat and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Only a real man could have handled that situation as well as you did today. I’m proud to know you.“

She backed out of the Jeep. Specter jumped down beside her and immediately headed for the porch steps.

“Diana, wait.“ Brandon had turned brick red at her comment on his manliness, but he looked very pleased. “What do you think I should tell Dad?“

“I don’t know. The truth, I suppose. He must have known that with you in town the meeting was inevitable. I think his main concern was that Mrs. Fulbrook would try to hurt you somehow. But when he realizes how well you handled the whole thing, he’ll relax. And you did handle it well, Brandon. You had her eating out of the palm of your hand.“

Brandon grinned. “Not quite, but she’s certainly not the tough old bird Dad made her out to be.“

“Maybe she was a lot tougher twenty years ago.“

Brandon put the Jeep in gear. “Probably. See you later, Diana, and thanks.“

Diana watched him wheel the Jeep out of the drive, and then she turned toward the cottage. “Come on, Specter, old buddy, let’s get ourselves a snack.“

But for once Specter did not come to instant attention at the mention of food. He was sniffing around the front door and making odd snuffling sounds.

Diana felt chilled. “Specter? What is it? What’s wrong?“ She dug her keys out of her shoulder bag and started to fit them into the front door. Specter scratched at the screen, obviously impatient.

Maybe Colby was inside, Diana thought. But why hadn’t he come out when he heard the Jeep? She turned the key slowly and then instinctively stood back to let the dog enter first.

Specter didn’t hesitate. He trotted inside and began sniffing around the hall table. Diana followed slowly, trying to figure out what was so wrong in the hallway.

It took her a full three seconds to realize the small table with the empty vase was positioned on the left side of the hall instead of the right.

Someone had moved it. Someone who had studied Shock Value.

“My God, Specter. Someone’s deliberately spooking me. Someone’s trying to scare the daylights out of me.“

Whoever he was, he was succeeding.

Diana stared at the hall table for a few more seconds, aware of her pounding pulse and the cold dampness of her own nervous sweat. She tried to think clearly. The intruder must have long since departed, she assured herself.

Specter would not be this calm if there was someone hiding in the cottage.

She made herself walk past the table into the kitchen. This time she didn’t have to search through her copy of Shock Value to find the pertinent passage. The book was lying open on the table. Diana gazed down at page fifty-six.

For a moment she couldn’t seem to focus. Then the words settled into place on the page.

It was such a small thing, this new position of the table, just a minor adjustment in his everyday world. It was the kind of casual rearrangement of furniture that anyone might try, to see if the space could be better utilized or if eye appeal could be enhanced.

But the effect was devastating. Some minor demon had paused long enough in Donnelly’s personal universe to introduce an element of horrific chaos.

Because Donnelly knew that no human hand could have moved the table. There was no way anyone could have entered the house undetected. The security system he’d installed was foolproof.

But he refused to believe in demons, minor or otherwise.

Perhaps the time had come to ask himself if he was going insane. It would be interesting to see what the verdict was.

Diana couldn’t bring herself to read any further. She closed the book and went slowly into the living room. Specter had lost interest in the table. He followed his mistress and flopped at her feet when she sank down onto the sofa.

Diana was still huddled on the sofa half an hour later when the Jeep roared back into her drive. Specter raised his head and barked ferociously.

Relief flooded through Diana when she realized it had to be Colby. It was a shock to acknowledge to herself how much she needed him in that moment, needed to turn to him for comfort and reassurance, needed him for his strength and the protection he could provide. It was the first time in her life she had ever considered turning to a man for such things. But then, she had never known a man like Colby.