Heart of Shadows

by Joyce

  He wiped his lips on a napkin. “I don't fall apart."

  "Not even a crack?"

  "Not even a crack. I didn't get where I am by letting my personal life throw me off."

  "Your personal life?” She baited him. She wanted to make him uncomfortable to get some idea of what was happening inside. “Your brother died. Your niece has been kidnapped. In exchange for her life, these people are asking you to destroy the only other thing that you love besides her."

  "What does David's death have to do with it?"

  "Everything.” There was the tiniest fracture in his awareness again. This time she meant to have the truth. “I know that you and David had some problems before he died."

  "I think I know the situation. What's your point?"

  She shook her head, trying to put her thoughts together for him. “I sensed that there was a problem that involved you and David and Sharin. I've seen you and Sharin together. I believe that the problem was that you and Sharin had an affair. Somehow, David found out about it. Am I close?"

  Steve sat back from the table. “I think it's more important for you to concentrate on finding Bryce. I feel guilty that Bryce has to go through this right after her father's death. But I don't think the two are involved."

  "That guilt has everything to do with it if you feel responsible somehow for David's death,” she taunted him, trying to get to the truth that he was so reluctant to give her. “That's why you brought Bryce and Sharin here to live."

  Steve got to his feet. “I brought them here to live because I didn't think Sharin could take care of herself much less a four-year-old girl. But you know about life in the bottle, don't you?"

  Rae shot to her feet and started to leave the room.

  "I'm sorry.” He caught up with her. “I didn't mean it that way."

  "You meant it just the way it sounded. Don't deny it."

  His words came slowly and painfully. “I won't lie to you. I slept with Sharin. It was only one night and it wasn't recent. It was years ago, before Bryce was born. It was stupid. David found out about it after all these years. He was on his way over here to confront me when he died. But our business problems had nothing to do with that. David didn't want to be part of the company. I offered to buy him out. He was going to go back to designing software. People couldn't believe it. They thought we had an argument of some kind. If they knew about me and Sharin—"

  "They'd think that was why?"

  "Exactly. I wanted to protect Bryce and Sharin but only from Sharin's binges. Bryce can't protect herself. Sharin blames me for the kidnapping because she thinks I pushed David out of the company. Even she couldn't believe that David would give it all up."

  Rae nodded, satisfied that she'd been told the truth. “I believe you."

  "Is that an observation?” He caressed her hand. “Or is that psychic awareness?"

  She watched his fingers trail over hers. Every movement created a shiver of intense desire. “I think it's a combination of both.” I hope it's a combination of both.

  The phone rang. Reluctantly, he let her go. It was Steve's lawyer about the Nurvin's take-over bid. Rae excused herself and left him in the sunny tearoom. She needed some time and space anyway. She went to her room for a coat, an idea starting to run through her head like an old melody. Before she could get back downstairs, it consumed her.

  The sun was warm but the wind was stiff and cool as Rae left the house in a borrowed car. She was suddenly obsessed with the idea of taking a look at the house David and Sharin shared before his death. She wondered before about it but the obsession was born with Steve's confession. There was something at that house.

  She believed that Steve told her the truth about David. But she sensed that there was still something wrong. It didn't involve Steve exactly. It involved David and Bryce. There was nothing she could do for Bryce until another lead came to her or to one of Steve's investigators. She had to find out what was bothering her.

  Alabaster told her that David's house was still empty. It was about three miles away. “Steve hasn't had the heart to sell it. The two of them were very close."

  Rae watched the woman cut the thorns off of red roses as she put them into a vase. “I heard that they had a falling out before David died."

  "I think I'm not speaking out of turn when I say that it was about the company. David loved his wife and daughter. He didn't want to spend so much time working at the business. He wanted to be with Sharin and Bryce more. They settled it, though, before David's death."

  "How was that?"

  "Steve agreed to take full ownership of Solutions and let David work on new software from home. He was going to pay David a rather large salary. Both of them were happy with that."

  Rae thought about the information as she drove around the sharp, uphill curve to David's house. Alabaster confirmed Steve's words. There was no way for Lynn to know that David and Steve found a way to solve their disagreement. Or that a more serious one had taken place.

  If David loved his wife as much as Alabaster told her, he'd take the news hard. Steve lived with the knowledge that he'd slept with Sharin. Even if it was only one night. He was willing to take the brunt of the work so that David could spend time with his wife and daughter. Guilt was a powerful motivator.

  David's home was a less spectacular Tudor style house set on a hillside about a mile away. The grass was brown and dry. The wind whipped leaves down from the roof. The door was locked but she found a ground story window that was open a little. Rae pushed it open the rest of the way and climbed inside. She dusted off her hands on her pants. Apparently, the window had been left open for a while. There were dry leaves and some bird droppings on the floor. Otherwise, the house was empty of anything but whispers of the past.

  Rae closed her eyes and walked through the house with her hands on the walls. She wished desperately that she had something that belonged to David Williams. She could almost feel him there. Some emotional residue was left but she couldn't quite connect with it.

  She opened her eyes as she walked back downstairs. There was no use hurting herself falling down those polished wood stairs. She put her hand on the heavy oak banister. A cloud outside shifted, allowing a mote of sunlight to pass into the house through the skylight above her. It glinted on something in the corner of the foyer near the front door. She followed it downstairs like it was the end of a rainbow.

  She was on her knees in the thick dust that covered the floor. Rae passed her hand over the spot twice before she touched it. It would be easy for people to miss. She held the cold metal circlet in her hand. She didn't need to read the inscription on the inside of the gold band to know that it belonged to David.

  Hurt. Anger. Disbelief. The emotions ripped through her brain. Shouting, crying. It couldn't be true. The door slammed shut and she was outside in the driveway. It was so cold. Rae/David revved the car engine and the tires squealed.

  Rae ran down the drive and into the road. The wind whipped her hair across her face and shoulders. It started to rain. Cold, sharp stings hit her face. Her lungs were bursting. She kept running as she followed the specter of the car racing down from the house.

  The rain was freezing. There were patches of ice on the road. He swerved to avoid them. He put his foot down hard on the brake to slow down when he realized how bad the road was. Nothing happened. The car kept going faster and faster down the hill until it came to the curve. He pumped the brake like a madman. He tried to steer it clear of the trees but he couldn't control it. The car veered sharply to the right and flew off the road.

  The sound was deafening in Rae's ears. The horrible crunch of the metal as it impacted the tree. The even more terrible stillness after it happened. Soaking wet, shivering and tormented, Rae sat with her face against the deep, black scar in the tree and sobbed.

  Steve found her there after asking Alabaster where she went. By the time he reached her from the road, he was soaked through, too. He helped her to her feet and half dragged her to the car up the
muddy hill. “What are you doing here?"

  They were inside his car with their clothes ruining the upholstery. “David. David died here."

  "I know.” Grimly silent, he reached around her to fasten her seatbelt, then drove them back to his house.

  "I left the car at David's house.” She held David's ring in her hand. She didn't tell him. She knew what she saw. David's death wasn't an accident. Did Steve know? Is that why he tried to cover it up?

  "I'll send someone back for it. You need to get inside and get dried off. You'll catch pneumonia out there, for God's sake!"

  "Telephone for you, Steve,” Al shouted from the doorway when they reached the house.

  Rae cringed away from Steve when he tried to help her out of the car. He finally turned away as Al urged him to hurry. She followed him into the house a few minutes later.

  Sharin was on the phone in the library when they walked into the room. Tears were streaming down her face. Her hands were twisted nervously around the receiver. “I want my baby back. Please. Whatever you want us to do, we'll do it.” She looked up at Steve. “They want to talk to you."

  Steve nodded and took the phone, clicking it on speaker. His face was grave. His voice had the weariness of death in it. “I understand what you want. But I want my niece back. We can't negotiate anything else until I get her back. I know who you are, Mary. It's only a matter of time before we find you. You could still bring Bryce back and we could work this out."

  The line went dead in his hand.

  "What happened?” Sharin grabbed his arm.

  "She hung up."

  "What? How could you talk to them like that? What if they hurt Bryce?” She swatted at his face.

  He grabbed her hands and held her away from him. “They're already hurting Bryce. Don't you understand what it must be like for her? Do you think they're going to let her go when this is over? If it's ever over?"

  Sharin crumpled. “They'll kill her. They said six days. This is the fifth day."

  "Don't you think I know that?” Steve stared at her. “I've done everything I can do to bring her home."

  "They're going to kill Bryce unless you give up the patent on the software you and David developed."

  "That's ridiculous, Sharin! This has gone far enough."

  She stopped crying. “I understand now. I know why you're doing this, Steve. And you won't get away with it."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "I'm talking about this whole thing! You set this up to make all of us think Bryce was kidnapped! Who's at the other end of the line? One of your hired thugs? Did you give someone that three hundred and fifty thousand dollars to pretend to kidnap Bryce?"

  Steve was blindsided by her accusations. “You've lost your mind."

  She looked at him with a crazed, wild cunning in her eyes. “You killed Bryce, didn't you? This is all an elaborate game to hide that fact! You screw around with your bimbo here while my poor little girl is lying cold somewhere. At some point, you pretend that the kidnapers give up and we find her body."

  "You're insane.” Steve pushed her away from him. “I would never hurt Bryce!"

  "You're capable of anything! I'm going to tell the police!” She ran out and slammed the door shut.

  Steve leaned heavily against the wall. “She just gets worse."

  "Aren't you afraid that she might call the police?” Rae had a difficult time dragging her reality away from David's death. But Sharin's threat held notes of disaster.

  "I'm not any more afraid of that than I am anything else in my life right now,” he responded blankly.

  She wanted to comfort him. She wanted to believe in him. But the terrible sound of metal grinding against that tree held her back.

  He sat down at his desk, lost in his thoughts. “I'll have to see what can be done about the patent today. I'll let you know if I hear anything else."

  * * * *

  A storm was passing over Georgia. It threatened to dump a few inches of snow and ice on Atlanta and the surrounding areas. Rae fell asleep in her room, waiting to hear some news. She awakened to an afternoon twilight almost as dark as night. The sky was thick with flurries and rolling gray clouds that reached beyond the mountains. She'd seen Bryce again. The link between them was strong.

  Mary was forced from her comfortable, familiar surroundings in the city. Her flight made her position with Bryce more difficult to maintain. The little girl was crying and anxious. There was no extra room to shut her in. A big man walked the floor impatiently. Mary tried to quiet the frightened child.

  "Can't you shut her up?” The voice sounded familiar but Rae couldn't see his face.

  "She's scared.” There was a quality to Mary's voice that made Rae feel she cared something for Bryce, despite her actions.

  "Well, keep her quiet unless you want me to give her something to be scared of!"

  This time, Rae didn't doubt that the dream was real. She didn't waste any time. Truly afraid for Bryce and certain that she could find the motel where they were staying, she ran downstairs to find Steve.

  "We have to go.” She pulled on her coat over her slacks and tunic. “We have to go right away. Bryce needs us."

  "Where are we going?"

  "I can find her.” Rae realized she forgot something. “I'm going to get my geo-tracker."

  Steve was ready to go when she returned. He had the phone to his ear. Rae pushed down the cut off button on the phone and looked at him. “Don't call your men. One of them is giving us away. One of them is working with Mary.” Please don't let it be you.

  He walked to his desk and took out a small caliber handgun. He checked it to make sure that it was loaded, and nodded to her. “All right. Let's go."

  They left the house, dark and silent around them. It surprised Rae and angered Steve that they were able to reach the garage and take out a car. They weren't questioned or stopped. What was the point in having a security team checking up on the house if they could take a car so easily?

  "When we get back, someone's ass will be in a sling."

  Rae was too caught up in the delicate thread that was leading her to Bryce. It coiled inside of her again, pulling her to the girl. But this time, she knew that wherever they ended up, Bryce was there. And if she had to rip apart the motel she saw in her dream, she'd do so with her bare hands. Bryce was coming home with them.

  "How much further?” Steve drove through the heavy snow, following her instructions.

  Rae looked out into the night around them, trying to get her bearings straight. She pointed as they passed a sign for the Sleepy Time Motel. “That's it."

  He looked like a man who stepped into another dimension. “Are you sure about this? You saw all of it in a dream?"

  "She's at the motel, Steve. I'm trying to stay focused. I don't want to miss her this time."

  "You think one of the security staff is giving us away?"

  "Someone is.” Rae didn't tell him that he could be a suspect. He tested her at the hospital. Now she was testing him. “Someone told Mary that we were coming at her house. And I saw a man with them tonight."

  "Who was it?"

  "His voice was familiar but I couldn't place it. I couldn't see his face."

  "I've known all of the men for years who were with us that night. I trust them with my life.” Steve continued his stubborn denial of their guilt.

  "You're trusting them with Bryce's life,” she reminded him. “Slow down now. There's the turn."

  Another Sleepy Time Motel sign, this one smaller and more faded, showed the right road. Steve made the turn. The car plunged out on the road that was slick with snow and ice. The storm was worse and the darkness was deeper as they left the highway. There were no streetlights along the road that led to the motel. A few houses rested quietly along the way. Those were dark and shuttered, sleeping in the freezing air.

  "I can't believe that any of those men would hurt Bryce.” He watched the slippery road carefully.

  "But you agree that someone t
ipped Mary?"

  He gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. “I suppose so."

  "And there isn't anyone else who would know everything, is there?” She held her breath, waiting for an impression from him. None came.

  The Sleepy Time Motel swung into view. Steve pulled the car quickly into the nearly vacant lot. “If we can find her, you won't get an argument from me. I hate going in there without backup."

  Rae gazed intently at the tiny bungalows. “There isn't time. In this storm, it would take forever for them to get here. Let's find her and the kidnapers. Then we can call the police to pick them up."

  Steve took out his gun. “Stay in the car, Rae."

  "That's not going to happen."

  "You don't have a weapon. I can't protect you and look for Bryce."

  "Don't worry about protecting me. I can take care of myself. Find Bryce.” She pushed open her car door. There were six bungalows nestled against a backdrop of pine trees. Two of them had lighted windows and the other four were dark. She closed her eyes and thought about Bryce. There was nothing to guide her.

  Relying on her physical skills, she walked to each car. Only one had a warm hood. The other five were cold. She walked up to the door that fronted that car. Shining her flashlight through the snow, she examined the marks on the ground. There was an imprint of a woman's boot. And a tiny footprint beside hers. No sign of a man's larger print. Bryce is here!

  Cautiously, she backed away from the door. She wished she had a weapon of some kind. Or at least a cell phone to call for help. Would Mary surrender Bryce without a fight? She saw Steve walk around the back of the first bungalow. She followed him quickly into the night.

  Chapter Twelve

  The trees whispered around her as the wet snow pushed dead leaves to the ground. Their rustling made her think about how her grandmother always claimed to hear voices in the autumn leaves. She claimed that the leaves spoke in the voices of the dead. If she listened, she could tell things about people who had passed beyond the veil.

  The thought brought a shiver to her spine. She wasn't normally nervous. The dead and their doings were normal conversation on Sullivan's Island. Rae pulled her jacket a little closer as she followed Steve behind the first bungalow.